Examining the Role of Community of Practice in the Electrification of Chinese Automobile Industry

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Abstract:

Measured by the market share of smart vehicles, China can be identified as one of the leading countries heading toward the auto industry paradigm shift. During this period of radical technological (and business mode) transition, from traditional internal combustion powered cars to the electrified, smart, and connected cars, and the various type of services (telematics service, software as a service, mobility as a service), the hidden reality is the big challenge on the organizational dysfunctions of car companies.
This paper examines the role of Community of Practice (CoP) for Chinese auto companies to ease inter and intra-organizational change in the period of electrification. We examine one CoP, Telematics@China Community (TCC) from 2008 to 2019, and study over 100 face-to-face conferences, symposiums, and events organized by TCC. This case study is one of the few research on the Chinese automobile industry’s electrification, from the perspective of CoP, and is based on the theoretical framework of SEAM (Socio-Economic Approach of Management) by Henri Savall (Buono & Savall, 2015; Savall et al., 2018; Savall & Zardet, 2008, 2015, 2017), being seen as a systemic approach to organizational change (Conbere & Heorhiadi, 2011).