In spite of the growing number of discussions about communities of practice in organizational theory, there have been still few academic studies on this subject in Brazil. As empirical basis, this paper takes the example of a consulting firm that had conducted and published a research on communities of practice, 10 years earlier, and had asked itself: "are we a community of practice?" The author addressed people still working at that company, asking them the same question (and others) to improve the understanding on the meaning of a community of practice. In conclusion, the research shows that the interviewees, even identifying in their professional experience typical elements of the communities of practice, do not consider the organization, in fact, a community of practice. At last, the question remains: are there really communities of practice in production and work organizations?
community of practice; organizational learning; knowledge; practice
