Development projects usually benefit when expertise is drawn from diverse sources, including potential users. Orchestrating the involvement of disparate groups requires finding a balance between differentiation, when teams work separately, and integration, when groups meet to exchange knowledge. This paper argues that a "community of practice" perspective can help project managers achieve this balance, by drawing attention to the assumptions, interests, skills, and formal and tacit knowledge of the different groups involved. Using a case study as illustration, we show that integration can be achieved by ensuring that the developing technology is comprehensible to all groups concerned, and that it satisfies their various interests. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd and IPMA.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Research Group:	Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
Research Field:	Innovation management
Objective Division:	Economic Framework
Objective Group:	Management and productivity
Objective Field:	Technological and organisational innovation
UTAS Author:	Robertson, P (Professor Paul Robertson)
ID Code:	48277
Year Published:	2004
Deposited By:	Australian Innovation Research Centre
Deposited On:	2007-10-03
Last Modified:	2010-06-18
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