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The impact of Communities of Practice (CoP)on inter-firm alliance research teams

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dc.contributor.advisor Yannakou, K. en
dc.contributor.author Erasmus, René en
dc.date.accessioned 2009-08-25T10:53:12Z
dc.date.available 2009-08-25T10:53:12Z
dc.date.issued 2005-11
dc.date.submitted 2005-11-30 en
dc.identifier.citation Erasmus, René (2005) The impact of Communities of Practice (CoP)on inter-firm alliance research teams, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1453> en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1453
dc.description.abstract The need for faster, more flexible and less risky ways for organisations to expand their capabilities and competencies increasingly lead to the formation and proliferation of networking strategies and partners. Understanding the potential contribution that CoP membership can provide within these teams is a step towards developing and refining a strategy to support and enhance the speedy progression of the team towards a productive phase. The study shows that membership of researchers to the same or similar CoPs have some impact on the norming stage, and assist in reaching the performing / productive stage faster in team development. The survey in particular has indicated that similar standards, practices, terminology, ethics, standards, peer recognition, trust and a sense of belonging have more of an impact on the productive phase of team forming, than on the norming phase. The hard factors such as terminology, standards and similar practices have a strong correlation with the softer factors such as a sense of belonging and trust. This information should be utilised in both the socialisation processes in academic institutions as part of the education of professionals, as well as organisational approaches to Research and Development (R&D), information sharing and development of the researchers. The paper also highlights emerging organisational and strategic Best Practices currently prevalent in R&D teams and collaborative projects. It is clear that research collaborations cuts across the whole spectrum of business and management areas - from strategy, across intellectual property issues, finance, strategic human resource management, R&D management and innovation, knowledge management, organisational values and culture, and many more. To support innovation and R&D on a strategic level, both internally and on inter-firm collaborations, requires a review of the total organisational strategy, culture and norms in an organisation. Innovation and R&D support should be a holistic approach, with strategic and pro-active risk management supported by appropriate strategic human resources management and systems. Literature on CoPs, teams, social capital (SC), knowledge management (KM), intellectual capital (IC), intellectual property (IP), strategy and governance provide theoretical grounding. en
dc.format.extent 1 online resource (132 leaves)
dc.language.iso en en
dc.subject Communities of Practice (CoP) en
dc.subject Social networks en
dc.subject Social Capital en
dc.subject Inter-firm Collaboration en
dc.subject Knowledge Management en
dc.subject Team development en
dc.subject Intellectual property en
dc.subject Research and Development strategic management en
dc.subject Risk management en
dc.subject Innovation en
dc.subject.ddc 658.406
dc.subject.lcsh Communities of practice
dc.subject.lcsh Business networks
dc.subject.lcsh Strategic alliances (Business)
dc.subject.lcsh Knowledge management
dc.subject.lcsh Organizational learning
dc.subject.lcsh Interorganizational relations
dc.subject.lcsh Communities of practise
dc.subject.lcsh Research and development partnership
dc.title The impact of Communities of Practice (CoP)on inter-firm alliance research teams en
dc.type Thesis en
dc.description.department Business Leadership en
dc.description.degree Ph. D. en


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  • Unisa ETD [12743]
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