Business Functions in Context Notes
B203 Business Functions in Context – Revision Notes
Introduction
* Communities of Practice (Wenger, 2007) - are groups of people the come together to share knowledge and experiences and learn from one another whilst providing a social context for that work. Three characteristics are crucial:
1. The Domain - It has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest. Membership implies a commitment to this and therefore a shared competence that distinguishes members from other people. 2. Community - In pursuing their interest, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. 3. Practice - Members of a community of practice are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools and ways of addressing recurring problems - in short a shared practice. This takes time and sustained interaction
* Hoftstede’s (1980) dimensions of culture
1. Power distance 2. Individualism/ Collectivism 3. Masculinity/ Femininity 4. Uncertainty avoidance 5. Confucian/ Dynamism
* Varieties of knowing action (Amin and Roberts, 2008)
Knowledge-in-action type | Innovation | Organisational dynamic | Craft/task-based | Customised, incremental | Hierarchically managed. Open to new members | Professional/specialised | Incremental or radical but strongly bound by institutional/professional rules. Radical innovation stimulated by contact with other communities | Large hierarchical managed organisations, or small, peer-managed organisations. Institutional restrictions on the entry of new members | Epistemic/creative | High energy, radical innovation | Group/project managed. Open to those with a reputation in the field. Management through intermediate and boundary objects | Virtual | Incremental and radical | Carefully managed by community moderators or technological sequences. Open,
Introduction
* Communities of Practice (Wenger, 2007) - are groups of people the come together to share knowledge and experiences and learn from one another whilst providing a social context for that work. Three characteristics are crucial:
1. The Domain - It has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest. Membership implies a commitment to this and therefore a shared competence that distinguishes members from other people. 2. Community - In pursuing their interest, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. 3. Practice - Members of a community of practice are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools and ways of addressing recurring problems - in short a shared practice. This takes time and sustained interaction
* Hoftstede’s (1980) dimensions of culture
1. Power distance 2. Individualism/ Collectivism 3. Masculinity/ Femininity 4. Uncertainty avoidance 5. Confucian/ Dynamism
* Varieties of knowing action (Amin and Roberts, 2008)
Knowledge-in-action type | Innovation | Organisational dynamic | Craft/task-based | Customised, incremental | Hierarchically managed. Open to new members | Professional/specialised | Incremental or radical but strongly bound by institutional/professional rules. Radical innovation stimulated by contact with other communities | Large hierarchical managed organisations, or small, peer-managed organisations. Institutional restrictions on the entry of new members | Epistemic/creative | High energy, radical innovation | Group/project managed. Open to those with a reputation in the field. Management through intermediate and boundary objects | Virtual | Incremental and radical | Carefully managed by community moderators or technological sequences. Open,