A Knowledge-Driven Framework for Integrating e-Communities of Practice into Intelligent Organizational Decision Systems
, YANNIS ANGELOPOULOSThe present paper focuses on the necessity of systematically incorporating knowledge produced within e-Communities of Practice (eCoPs) into formal organizational decision-making mechanisms, especially in environments of complexity, uncertainty, and accelerated digital evolution.
Even though eCoPs have been acknowledged as formidable tools for collaborative learning and knowledge sharing, their systematic integration into executive-level Decision Support Systems (DSS) has yet to be achieved. A coherent theoretical integration has not yet been developed.
The study takes a conceptual and design-based research approach in which the authors synthesize the modern literature on digital collaboration, knowledge management, leadership, and intelligent decision-support systems. Based on this, a knowledge-based, leadership-focused decision model is created.
The paper also proposes a reference architecture that serves as a layer of knowledge formation between eCoPs collaboration platforms and Intelligent Decision Support Systems (IDSS), facilitating two-way integration of tacit community insights and formal analytical models. In contrast to conventional data-based DSS models, the proposed model integrates socially constructed, practice-based knowledge into the decision-making process.
The discussion shows that the systematic integration of knowledge generated by eCoPs makes decision-making more rational, helps address semi-structured and unstructured issues more effectively, and improves organizational learning and adaptive capacity.
The eCoPs should be strategically institutionalized within organizations, supported by collaboration-enabling infrastructures coupled with decision systems, and embedded in leadership practices that encourage trust, openness, and the co-creation of knowledge. The model is especially relevant in SMEs and organizations undergoing digital transformation, where tacit knowledge is essential in strategic responsiveness.
In future research, the framework should be empirically tested in organizational settings, the governance and trust mechanisms of eCoPs-based decision systems should be studied, and the ways AI could be used to improve collaborative knowledge extraction and structuring should be identified.
The framework helps to make organizational decision-making more transparent, inclusive, and knowledge-based by formally integrating collective expertise into organizational decision systems.
Future research must use longitudinal and mixed-method designs to identify the quantifiable effects of eCoPs-created knowledge on decision quality and organizational performance, and to conduct cross-sector and cross-cultural comparisons.
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