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As organizations grow in size, geographical scope, and complexity, it is increasingly apparent that sponsorship and support of communities of practice-groups whose members regularly engage in sharing and learning, based on common interests- can improve organizational performance. Although many authors assert that communities of practice create organizational value, there has been relatively little systematic study of the linkage between community outcomes and the underlying social mechanisms that are at work. To build an understanding
of how communities of practice create organizational value, we suggest thinking of a community as an engine for the development of social capital. We argue that the social capital resident in communities of practice leads to behavioral changes, which in turn positively influence business performance. We identify four specific performance outcomes associated with the communities of practice we studied and link these outcomes to the basic dimensions of social capital These dimensions include connections among practitioners who may or may not be colocated, relationships that build a sense of trust and mutual obligation, and a common language and context that can be shared by community members. Our conclusions are based on a study of seven organizations where communities of practice are acknowledged to be creating value.
Steve walked into the meeting room and quickly grabbed a seat. Having just recently joined the company, his boss had recommended that he attend this weekly lunchtime meeting of VisualBasic programmers. He felt it was a good way for Steve to get "plugged into" the company, and would give him an opportunity to see some of the projects that others, across the firm, were working on.
The meeting began with a series of short introductions around the table. Then, one of the senior designers, Cindy, plugged a laptop into the overhead
projector and started demonstrating a new set of programming tools that had been developed by one of the company's strategic partners. Steve took notice of the extended functionality of some of the tools, and saw an opportunity to use it on one of the new projects he would be spending time on. At the end of the meeting, Steve walked up to Cindy and introduced himself They spent another 20 minutes discussing the opportunity to use the tools on...