Best Fit KM ‑ Linking Communities of Practice to an Innovation Strategy

Abstract

Best fit Knowledge Management (KM) aims to link KM activities and other managerial efforts to the business strategy. In this case study, an innovation strategy was pursued to be implemented by offshoring. Offshoring is defined as the restructuring of a firm along a dimension, namely geography. It entails the relocation of operations from the home nation to a foreign location where the same company activities are performed (Contractor et al., 2010). While the current literature states that offshoring aims to reduce costs or tap knowledge (Persaud, 2005), the aim in this case was to use offshoring as a means for innovation. This article aims to discuss the practices that facilitate community construction in a multinational context supporting an innovation strategy. This article is founded on practice based theorising (Feldman and Orlikowski, 2011; Wenger, 1998), which is used to theorise what people do when they try to develop community among themselves.