6. Communities of Practice

The focus of this chapter will cover ground associated with technology innovation in sport through a communities-of-practice perspective. My perusal of technology innovation texts failed to find any systematic examination of sport, thus it is useful to build on existing research in other fields. Thus, it is important to study sport technology innovation from a community perspective rather than just focusing on technology innovation in a sports environment. The core message of this chapter is that a new theory of sport technology innovation is needed that builds on the teamwork and communities inherent in sport. To really learn about the evolving nature of sport we need to study technology innovation by looking at knowledge management and strategy. Sport organizations differ in their attitudes toward technology innovation and exhibit higher levels of innovative behavior when engaged in a community of practice.