The sustainability and dynamics of knowledge in expert communities: a comparative exploration of communities of practice

Abstract

Resiliant and appropriate mechanisms of learning and knowledge sharing are key to the constructive and sustainable development of knowledge and innovation in expert communities. Research exploring such mechanisms among different groups of experts, as examples of communities of practice, was undertaken both inside and outside formal organizations to reveal common foundations and different motivations. In the expanding knowledge economy, the need for organizations to cultivate and manage knowledge s their critical resource is an imperative. There is no doubt that communities of practice have a central role in the capability development. An interpretive approach was employed for this exploratory research; the findings indicate that expert knowledge is a complex outcome of social and contextual factors, and individual agendas. Further the sustainability and dynamics of expert knowledge in communities of practice is an outcome of these socio-contextual drivers as each collective negotiates the relevance or redundancy of knowledge for their shared objectives.