The strategic drivers and objectives of communities of practice as vehicles for knowledge management in small and medium enterprises

Communities of practice arc a concept that has appeared in the world of knowledge management for a number of years. Many organisations have implemented them and they remain one of the important vehicles of knowledge management in the 21st century. Organisations use communities of practice for different purposes and achieve different goals with them. The concept has its origins in the private sector, where groups of staff members at organisations such as Xerox and Boeing met regularly to share stories and learn from each other via communities of practice. The value of these communities of practice is increased innovation, responsiveness, improved staff skills, and reduced duplication. Very little attention has, however, been given to how small and medium enterprises have accepted and implemented communities of practice, what the rate of implementation and acceptance has been, and how successfully it is working for these organisations. The aim of this article is to focus on communities of practice as a concept in the world of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and how that concept translates to value for SMEs. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.