How can brokers in external communities of practice introduce external practices into internal communities of practice?

Abstract

The increase in knowledge acquisition and co-configuration work has in the past prompted discussions about the impact of changes in learning beyond company borders. The purpose of this study is to analyze how brokers in external communities of practice can introduce external practices into internal communities of prac- tice. A total of 15 brokers were interviewed in this study. The major findings are as follows: 1) Brokers acquire skills suited to co-configuration work. 2) Brokering generates conflicts in internal communities of practice. However, eventually, brokers can introduce external practices into such communities. Therefore it is suggested that companies should understand the importance of brokering and its role in internalizing new practices. Keywords： broker, brokering, community of practice, co-configuration work