ABSTRACT
The literature has identified a number of different forms of virtual organisation. The most radical of these forms is the Enterprise Web (Lorenzoni and BadenFuller 1995; Hagel 1996), which describes where a number of partners come together around a core technology or competence, to deliver new products or services into the marketplace. One of the most challenging aspects of the Enterprise Web is the issue of knowledge management and information transfer among the partners. The success of any Web enterprise will only come through optimising the learning processes of the Web to ensure the next generation of products and services. Although it is accepted that organisational Webs must create systemic learning systems to ensure innovation and future growth, our understanding of how this will be achieved is at present unclear (Drucker 1992; Amidon Rogers 1996). As a means of resolving this issue, some commentators are proposing that Enterprise Webs will in effect be communities of practice (Lave and Wenger 1991). Communities of practice describe social learning, where groups are bound together by similar values and beliefs to resolve a common set of problems. In a situation where an inherent tension is created between loyalty to the Web and the parent organisation, communities of practice may offer some insight into the learning processes and knowledge management of distributed enterprises. This chapter further explores the concept of Enterprise Webs, and the potential of communities of practice to resolve the problem of knowledge management across a virtual network.
