Purpose - The extant literature provides evidence that control measures employed in communities of practice (CoPs) have undergone significant changes with the evolution of the concept. When it started as a self-organi...
详细信息
Purpose - The extant literature provides evidence that control measures employed in communities of practice (CoPs) have undergone significant changes with the evolution of the concept. When it started as a self-organized group, its members had the freedom to pursue their own interests. Now, CoPs are moving closer toward bureaucratic form of control. The purpose of this paper is to discuss that although it might still be difficult to locate the power base in a CoP, undercurrents suggest that they have a strong affinity for managements' interests. Design/methodology/approach - This approach taken in this paper is to present a historical background, contrast characteristics of present CoPs with its earlier versions and develop propositions highlighting a power-based perspective on leadership, sponsorship and objectives for CoPs within an existing organization. Findings - The authors have found that power in a CoP has undergone tremendous changes from the time when it was introduced by Lave and Wenger (1991). When it started as a self-organized group, control exerted was null and void, as the members were given freedom to pursue their interests. The paper shows that CoPs can be formed intentionally, which is quite contrary to the common belief that they emerge naturally. Now, CoPs are moving closer toward bureaucratic form of control with the setting up of governance committees. This has serious repercussions for their autonomy, as envisaged by the early proponents of CoP, who believed that closely knit informal groups would enhance situational learning. Originality/value - There is a general feeling that the word "autonomy" is a misnomer for CoP today. The power that once rested with the CoP group has been taken over by management in the form of sponsorship, goal congruency, etc. What appears as powerful in a CoP today is the sponsor and the CoP has ceased to exist as they used to be. This paper makes it clear that a CoP approach can provide value to the modern organiz
Bow tie diagrams have become popular methods in risk analysis and safety management This tool describes graphically;in the same scheme, the whole scenario of an identified risk and its respective preventive and protec...
详细信息
ISBN:
(纸本)9783642130243
Bow tie diagrams have become popular methods in risk analysis and safety management This tool describes graphically;in the same scheme, the whole scenario of an identified risk and its respective preventive and protective barriers The major problem with bow tie diagrams is that, they remain limited by then technical level and by then restriction to the graphical representation of different, scenarios without any consideration to the dynamic aspect. of real systems This paper overcomes this weakness by proposing a new Bayesian approach to construct bow ties horn teal data
This paper describes our efforts at the University of Michigan in addressing globalization in project-centered engineering design courses at the first-year level. The additional challenges that come from doing enginee...
详细信息
ISBN:
(纸本)9781424419692
This paper describes our efforts at the University of Michigan in addressing globalization in project-centered engineering design courses at the first-year level. The additional challenges that come from doing engineering design over multiple countries tend to be social. We have subsequently engineered social network motifs that allow a class to adapt to such projects and their associated clients/stakeholders. Emphasis has been on the transmission of artifacts from one team to the next, one term to the next, one country to the next that afford the creation of realizable designs that work for the people / culture for which such designs are intended. From Spring 2006 to Fall 2007, approximately 630 students in the United States and China have participated in this course. Data suggests that this network-based, artifact-centric method can have a positive impact on a student's learning about globalization and engineering.
The author suggests we know a lot less about learning than we normally admit – in fact there is no generally accepted definition of what it is. He suggests that this is a big problem with designing so-called e-Learni...
详细信息
The article presents a practical approach to generating collective learning in organisations. The approach utilises a low profile on-line group process support technology known as Teamworker, which is based on a wirel...
详细信息
The article presents a practical approach to generating collective learning in organisations. The approach utilises a low profile on-line group process support technology known as Teamworker, which is based on a wireless handset design. Group interactive sessions are arranged with a series of groups of eight to 16 employees from across the organisation, A case study is presented in order to demonstrate that this method can capture the interplay between individuals and groups of employees by aiding a process of dialogue that is central to organisational learning. The mode of operation of the technology, and the design of the group process, are critical elements to minimise defensive reactions of individuals, while seeking to maximise the outputs of collective communication and learning taking place in a political environment. Our conclusion at this stage is that this is a promising approach that is capable of further research and development by means of fieldwork linked with theory.
This research was motivated and initiated by a request from industry to present a life skills learning programme to supplement young workers’ training. Subsequently, the dilemma faced by facilitators and trainers to ...
详细信息
The article deals with the creation of employee learning programs in relation to the work they perform. The aim of the study was to gather empirical evidence for an actor model as an analytical framework for learning-...
详细信息
The article deals with the creation of employee learning programs in relation to the work they perform. The aim of the study was to gather empirical evidence for an actor model as an analytical framework for learning-program creation in work contexts. This process is understood as combining various types of learning situations into a coherent set of learning activities by a network of actors. After an outline of the actor model, the empirical basis for five of its core assumptions is investigated: (a) learning programs in different work contexts; (b) views and interests of actors; (c) social interactions among actors; (d) learning programs as combinations of learning situations; and (e) the typological approach. Based on this research overview, conclusions are drawn about the empirical basis of the actor model and about promising directions for further research.
At any given time 86 per cent of Buckman Laboratories’ 1,300 employees are out of the office working with customers located in 102 countries. This diverse and dispersed workforce presents special problems for the cre...
详细信息
暂无评论