Abstract:

Technology is playing an important role during the pandemic crisis as organisations shifted to remote and virtual working conditions for business continuance.

Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoP) have recently gained popularity in countries with high degree of mobility restrictions. Mauritius, the country where this study took place, had to undergo a lockdown for three months during the initial stages of the pandemic in 2020. Despite the Governmental restrictions, a group of professionals, academics, students and researchers connected virtually to develop a prototype of ventilator, due to a complete shortage locally, and a necessity to collaborate quickly and efficiently.

The success of this group was due to the use of virtual communities of practice using an innovative message sharing platform - Discord. This study is based on an extensive literature review of Communities of Practice and Knowledge Management. The main objective is to have a better understanding of the enabling factors and barriers of cultivating virtual communities of practice. The group brought together mostly a team who had previously never worked before or even met before physically.

The factors were mainly the characteristics and foundation of Communities of Practice, the knowledge-management processes, the roles and responsibilities of the members and the use of technology. The barriers have also been studied so as to develop a specific set of recommendations. The study adopted a mixed method to collect data.

Despite the amplification of virtual communities of practice across the globe, limited studies have focused on the success and failure factors. Furthermore, this study is unique in the
sense that it focuses on establishment of a VCoP during a time of crisis. In this perspective, this study will investigate the foundations and characteristics of the VCoPs, analyse
knowledge management process, the roles and responsibilities of the community members. Lastly to analyse the role of technology and barriers of VCoPs.

Therefore the research questions are :
1. Does the VCoP share the characteristics and foundations of a successful one?
2. What roles and responsibilities do the community members play within the VCoP?
3. Does the VCoP have an effective knowledge management process?
4. What is the role of technology in facilitating knowledge?
5. What are the major barriers and challenges faced in the VCoP lifecycle?

The analysis has used descriptive statistics and reliability tests. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations, limitations of study and future directions.

Keywords:

Virtual, Community of Practice, Knowledge Management, Discord.