Knowledge creation and application in high-technology firms: the role of communities in the Italian experience
by Giovanni Battista Dagnino; Maria Cristina Longo
International Journal of Strategic Change Management (IJSCM), Vol. 4, No. 1, 2012

Abstract: This paper aims to contribute to the advancement of firm knowledge theory and practice by emphasising and assessing the substantial role of communities of practice in generating new knowledge and promoting its application in high-technology firms. Drawing on Brown and Duguid's study, we argue that high-tech firms are composed of a myriad of overlapping communities (i.e. internal and/or external to the firm; virtual or distributed, comprising individuals located in partners, suppliers, distributors, universities and colleagues) each of which presents a dominant mode of learning and collective behaviour, and each of which, both individually and collectively, favours the processes of knowledge creation and application. On the ground of an in-depth biannual longitudinal study of the Italian subsidiary of a large high-tech multinational firm operating in the Information and Communication Industry, we eventually show how the observation and reconstruction of significant evidence of community interactions convey various compelling managerial consequences.

Online publication date: Wed, 31-Dec-2014

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