Critical Success Factors of CoPs: Evidence From a Global Company

Recent times witness a wide diffusion of internally created Communities of Practice (CoPs), whose goal is to establish an environment that favours the circulation and diffusion of knowledge within a company and, by this way, improves its innovative potential and problem-solving capability. As a matter of fact, CoPs are now the norm more than the exception in most multinationals, whose global nature may hinder the effective sharing of knowledge. In spite of this, the real potential of such structures is still little known, as well as the factors affecting their success or failure. The paper aims to briefly illustrate and test an explanatory framework, proposed in a previous work, by applying it to a case-study concerning the formation and management of intentionally created CoPs inside a large Division of an Italian Oil Company. This is a very interesting case, due to both the size, geographical dispersion and strategic role of the Division in the company, and the “pioneering” nature of the implemented KM project. The aim of the paper is twofold. Firstly, the explanatory power of the framework is discussed and evaluated. Secondly, starting from the outcomes of the previous analysis, preliminary remarks on the possible replication of the pilot experience in other Divisions of the same company (or, more generally, in other contexts) are made.