CoPs emerege from a work-related or interest-related field that its members volunteer to join. (Lesser & Storck 2001)
CoPs benefit the organization by their potential to overcome the problems of a slow-moving traditional hierarchy in a fast-moving virtual economy. Open source online tools provide effective way for orgs to handle unstructured problems and to share knowledge outside of traditional structural boundaries. Developing and maintaining a long-term organizational memory. (Lesser & Storck 2001)
A community is an engine for the development of social capital. Social capital in CoPs leads to behavioral changes, which in turn positively influence business performance. (Lesser & Storck 2001)
Framework for understanding social capital in a business context developed by Janine Nahapiet at Oxford University and Sumantra Choshal at the London Business School. (Lesser & Storck 2001)
CoP generators for social capital:
1) developing connections among practitioners who may or may not be collocated
2) fostering relationships that build a sense of trust and mutual obligation
3) creating a common language and context shared by the members of the CoP. (Lesser & Storck 2001)
Four areas of organizational performance that were impacted by the ongoing activities of communities of practice.
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Decreasing the learning curve of new employees
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Responding more rapidly to customer needs and inquiries (e.g. FAQs)
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Reducing rework and preventing “reinvention of the wheel”
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Spawning new ideas for products and services (Lesser & Storck 2001)
Community relationships are formed around practice. Authority relationships in a community of practice emerge through interaction around expertise. Communities are only responsible to their members. Communities develop their own processes. (Lesser & Storck 2001)
E-mail, electronic discussion groups, and electronic chat rooms have facilitated the development of CoPs whose members are not all collocated. (Lesser & Storck 2001)
Wikis can be created for specific projects with a set group of allowable users and provide an excellent collaborative environment, since changes are logged along with identification of the author. (Godwin-Jones 2003)
Maintaining CoPs has been eased by web-based tools, that allow members to participate nad contribute to the community anytime, anywhere. Wikis and blogs are online communities of practice. (Espiritu 2006).
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