Communities of Practice, Social Capital and Organizational Knowledge

Lesser, Eric; Prusak, Laurence

doi:10.1016/b978-0-7506-7293-1.50011-1

Cited by 160 publications

(130 citation statements)

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“…This confirms the widely held view in the extant literature that CoPs exist in most organizations (Brown and Duguid, 1991;Hildreth et al, 2000;Lesser and Prusak, 1999;Wenger, 1998;Wenger et al, 2002). Three types of CoPs were identified: apprentice-based CoPs that support individual learning; intra-organizational CoPs that facilitate internal knowledge sharing (particularly between different professional groups, e.g.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 79%

Communities of practice, knowledge acquisition and innovation: a case study of science-based SMEs

Pattinson

Preece

2014

Journal of Knowledge Management

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Purpose -Recent research into communities of practice (CoPs) has focused on large organizations, suggesting they can be constructed for the purposes of knowledge acquisition and innovation. The study provides evidence that for small science-based firms CoPs are more likely to emerge unplanned to support incremental innovation in the form of problem solving activities.Design/methodology/approach -Thematic template analysis was used to analyze 25 indepth interviews conducted with a range of employees in science-based SMEs.Findings -Analysis of the interview data from a case study of six science-based SMEs provides evidence that both intra and inter-organizational CoPs were leveraged for a variety of purposes, including the acquisition of knowledge and improving firm's ability to generate innovative solutions. Research limitations/implications -Whilst there cannot be any claim of 'representativeness'of the sample in relation to the wider population of science-based firms, the authors do maintain that the new empirical material has made a contribution to a research area which has been dominated, especially in recent years, by a focus upon large organizations that have adopted a managerialist orientation.Practical implications -a contextualized framework for the construction of CoPs in sciencebased SMEs has been developed from the findings of this study.Originality/value -The challenges of understanding the role of CoPs in science-based SMEs and the factors that influence their success, or otherwise, have not been sufficiently investigated and have received little attention in the extant literature. Hence, this paper makes an original contribution to this body of knowledge.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 79%

Communities of practice, knowledge acquisition and innovation: a case study of science-based SMEs

Pattinson

Preece

2014

Journal of Knowledge Management

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“…According to Lesser, Fontaine and Slusher [29] actions of mutual support positively influence the social capital in two ways. First, the support given and received becomes a sort of informal currency.…”

Section: Support Received and Providedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The fact that knowledge is shared and requests are fulfilled is not only a goal, but also an influence by itself. It defines the effectiveness of the community as a whole, as well positively influences factors such as the sense of belonging [29].…”

Section: Fig 1 Ahtc Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing the Social Capital of Learning Communities by Using an Ad Hoc Transient Communities Service

Fetter

Berlanga

Sloep

2009

Advances in Web Based Learning – ICWL 2009

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Abstract. In online learning, communities can help to enhance learning. However, because of the dynamic nature of communities, attaining and sustaining these communities can be difficult. One aspect that has an influence on, and is influenced by these dynamics is the social capital of a community. Features of social capital are the social network structure, the sense of belonging and, the support received and provided. It is hypothesized that these features can be improved by using Ad Hoc Transient Communities (AHTCs). Through an AHTC learners are brought together for a specific, learning-related goal ('ad hoc') and for only a limited amount of time ('transience'). To test whether the use of AHTCs has a positive influence on the social capital, a learner support service which enables the use of AHTCs is proposed. Furthermore, requirements, pre-requisites, and future research are discussed.

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“…In a virtual setting, social capital is a common social resource that facilitates information exchange, knowledge sharing, and knowledge construction through continuous interaction, built on trust and maintained through shared understanding [4]. Social capital is built on shared social resources including a common identity, familiarity, trust, and a degree of shared language and context among individuals [5,6]. Huysman and Wulf [7] propose that with higher levels of social capital within a group, more members are stimulated to connect and share knowledge.…”

Section: Building Social Capital In Copsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Roles of Knowledge Sharing and Trust in Online Learning Communities

Thoms

Garrett

Herrera

et al. 2008

Proceedings of the 41st Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2008)

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Communities of Practice, Social Capital and Organizational Knowledge

Cited by 160 publications

References 0 publications

Communities of practice, knowledge acquisition and innovation: a case study of science-based SMEs

Communities of practice, knowledge acquisition and innovation: a case study of science-based SMEs

Enhancing the Social Capital of Learning Communities by Using an Ad Hoc Transient Communities Service

Understanding the Roles of Knowledge Sharing and Trust in Online Learning Communities

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