Application of Knowledge Management in University Research and Higher Education: An Experiment With Communities of Practice (COP)

Abstract

Institutions of higher learning are continuously striving to create and sustain excellence. In this endeavor, one of the major initiatives is to harness the available inputs i.e., the in-house resources and put the same to optimal use. In organizations of higher learning, knowledge creation and dissemination are the assets of the institution. The Department of Commerce and Management at Jyoti Nivas College has initiated the formation of COPs .These COPs are created by the workforce among themselves. It is not handed down from the top level management. It fits into the framework of a ‘peer group' which can function as an informal community of peers and which can evolve into an institutionalized forum for interactions that creates and generates knowledge. In these COPs parallel or concurrent thought process happens, wherein, decentralization increases, dependence on one person as source for ideas reduces. These communities' sharing activity can be taken up at academic research community, researcher's group on KM. It is a step towards collaborative learning.