Communities of Practice/Interest

The community of practice (CoP) refers to a group of volunteers with a unified approach,
providing an environment in which professionals can share work experiences, develop areas of
interest, consider and create synergy within a community of interest [ CITATION Eti00 \l 1033 ].

Etienne Wenger definition refers to CoP as a group of people who comes together to share a
greater commitment. For a team to succeed, it must add value to the area of interest, knowing
that it is its responsibility to guide its members and also ensure that it remains relevant.
[ CITATION Eti00 \l 1033 ]. In general, the elements of a community of practice include the public
interest, collaboration and collective work practice. The concept of Chevron Texaco who is a
very good example that applies to possible means of knowledge management, such as
organizations, education, government, the social sphere and international development which are
included in the network policy and also help to close the profitability of the business unit and
understand the potential of the organization.

Strategic communities, including internal and external partners, can help stakeholders respond to
vibrant deviations of the business environment by developing new knowledge [ CITATION Mit05 \l
1033 ]. In addition, the informal networks suggested by [ CITATION YAw04 \l 1033 ], which
include specific social and interpersonal relationships, contribute to the integration of knowledge
and increase the competitive advantage. This fully demonstrates that Community of practice are
not linked by formal structures, in which professionals have the capacity to manage the
necessary knowledge themselves and to manage the boring and ambiguous parts of knowledge
sharing. They also develop a relationship of trust between performance and learning, because the
same group of people in a work community can be part of the same team and the same business
unit and have the capacity to see constantly based on the flexibility of the location.

In summary, it is interesting to find a competitive advantage in the product or service of an

organization. Innovation is the ability to use information and knowledge to solve old and new
problems. Thanks to the community of practice, best practices and innovations have been
developed and solutions to common problems identified. However, it is important to realize that
for many companies looking for growth and productivity, the implementation community does
not guarantee immediate results. Instead, they should be viewed as an investment in future
prosperity, which may not be a quick fix for short-term gains [ CITATION Ant09 \l 1033 ].