Knowledge Management Based on Communities of Practice: Literature Review and Prospect

Abstract

[Purpose/significance] In the era of knowledge economy, it is very important to manage the enterprise knowledge effectively, and the community of practice is widely regarded as an important knowledge management tool. Reviewing and forecasting the research on knowledge management based on communities of practice can provide references and basis for the research and practice of knowledge management. [Method/process] CiteSpace software was used to analyze the thematic co-occurrence of the research literature of communities of practice, and analyzed the content of the core research literature. Furthermore, the research status and future development trend of the knowledge management based on communities of practice were revealed. [Result/conclusion] Communities of practice origin from enterprises’ knowledge management, situational learning, practice-based learning and other needs in the knowledge economy era. The usage of communities of practice to promote enterprise knowledge management can improve the enterprise innovation ability, responsiveness, core competitiveness and efficiency. It is essential to consider the three levels of factors: organization, community and individual to make full use of the knowledge management of communities of practice.

Keywords

• communities of practice