Research Groups as Communities of Practice--A Case Study of Four High-Performing Research Groups

Autor/inn/en	Degn, Lise; Franssen, Thomas; Sørensen, Mads P.; de Rijcke, Sarah
Titel	Research Groups as Communities of Practice--A Case Study of Four High-Performing Research Groups
Quelle	In: Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research, 76 (2018) 2, S.231-246 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0018-1560
DOI	10.1007/s10734-017-0205-2
Schlagwörter	Communities of Practice; Case Studies; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Groups; Researchers; Denmark; Netherlands + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Community; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Ausland; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Researcher; Forscher; Dänemark; Niederlande
Abstract	The aim of this paper is to investigate the organization of research in high-performing research groups in an age of increasing competition and pressure from outside and within higher-education institutions. To explore how researchers navigate such pressures and demands, the practice and perceptions of four high-performing research groups in Denmark and the Netherlands are examined, and the extent to which these groups can be understood as "communities of practice" or if they are displaying "team"-like characteristics is discussed. Previous studies have shown the benefits of communities of practice for organizational performance, and the present study demonstrates that the successful groups do indeed share many characteristics with such communities. A central argument of the paper is, however, also that incentive structures, inherent in many new policy initiatives that are meant to foster excellence in science, are more directed at "team-like" organization by focusing on, e.g., formally organized work processes, predefined goals, milestones, work packages, and hierarchically organized consortia. The potential implications of this are discussed. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01