Lecture 5
Communities of Practice

Forms of Joint Work in Organizations

Characteristic

Common Goal

Commitment

Virtual Workspace

Social Network Analysis (SNA)

Knowledge Person

Knowledge Hoarder

Knowledge Sharer

Knowledge Broker

Technique

visualization tools that can be used together with surveys

Cluster Analysis - process of identifying highly integrated subgroups

can be automated (e.g. email mapping)

Metrics

Centrality

Betweenness

Closeness

Communication Yellow Pages

one of the earliest KM application, aka Expertise Location System

to create profile of individual’s expertise and connections between people

provide significant organizational benefit

Ensure Success in Formal Organization

Knowledge Integrator

Practice Leaders

Facilitator

Members

Sponsor

Champion

Roles and Responsiblities

Visitors

Novices

Regulars

Leaders

Elders

Knowledge Sharing Communities

Provide access to data and documents

Interconnecting the social networks of people who produced the knowledge

Evolution

Best Practice

Lessons Learned

Social Computing

Digital systems that draw upon social information and context

to enhance the activity and performance of people, organizations and systems.

Example
- recommender systems such as those the advise you on which books you would enjoy

Social Presence

How much of a sense members have that other people are present

Example
- Facebook news feed on recent posts on friend's walls

Undernet

informally

Knowledge exchange is bidirectional

Sender and receiver view each other as credible

Knowledge Sharing

Facilitating

knowledge is power

knowledge is property

organizational culture and climate

credibility of content and the source

Obstacles

rewarded for what they know

disincentive to share

lack of trust between provider of knowledge and receiver of knowledge

Implications

Connecting professionals across platforms, across distances.

Standardizing professional practices.

Avoiding mistakes

Organizational Learning & Social Capital

Human Capital

education, skills and background necessary to be productive in an organization or profession

Social Capital

institutions, relationships and norms that shape the quality and quantity of an organization's social interactions

Values

different than other types of capital

maintenance of positive relations between different subgroups

need strong relationships within groups as well as "bridging" ties between groups

Hard to quantify value