Abstract:

The aim of the paper is to advance our understanding of the growing role of innovation communities, in particular the role of intermediaries in such communities, and also to look for new ways of learning in innovation communities using a new meeting format. The paper provides a literature survey on innovation communities, with an emphasis on intermediaries and their functions. A new form of meeting format called the ”systemic meeting” is used to understand and enhance the knowledge and learning processes in the innovation community of Centiro, a rapidly growing Borås company specializing in IS/IT solutions for demand chain management. There is a wealth of knowledge available in different innovation communities, not the least in the global IS/IT
community. But there is a dire need to develop the learning processes in order to get maximum benefit of that knowledge. Systemic meetings have shown to be powerful tools to surface the knowledge-learning interrelationship and to bridge the gap knowledge and learning in innovation communities. The paper focuses on a systemic meeting hold as a part of a Logistics Change Management class at the University of Borås. However, building on that it also provides reflections on how systemic meetings can be used as a tool for intermediaries, or for companies who want to develop their intermediating position as a way to bridge the knowledge/learning gap. The paper will deepen our understanding of how systemic meetings can be used to develop innovation communities.