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Lesser, E. L. & Prusak, L. (2000). Communities of practice, social
capital and organizational knowledge. In E.L. Lesser, M.A.
Fontaine & J.A. Slusher, _Knowledge and communities_ (p.
123-131). Boston: Butterworth Heinemann.
Communities of practice are collections of individuals who associate
to more effectively face similar issues. In the workplace these are
often informal clusters of workers who share organizational knowledge
(both formal descriptive knowledge of how things should be done as
well as representations of practice: how things _are_ done) that allows
them to get their work done. Lesser and Prusak distinguish their
discussion by placing communities of practice within the context of a
larger economic and sociological principle: social capital. Social
capital is defined as "the sum of the actual and potential resources
embedded within, available through, and derived from the network of
[inter-personal] relationships possessed by an individual or social
unit." From an economic standpoint social capital is the intangible
currency by which members of a community of practice share and gain
value. This is done through shared language and values, concrete
personal relationships and the sharing of stories. All of these help to
create knowledge. Knowledge creation in the workplace can be valuable for
organizations. In order for managers to capitalize on the ability of
communities of practice to manage knowledge they should: identify
existing or potential communities of practice, provide those
communities with a means to meet face to face, provide tools that
facilitate the growth and function of the community, identify experts
within the community and enable their leadership, and remember that
the social capital in communities of practice need investment to grow.
By flexibly following these guidelines organizations should be able to
further their ability to manage knowledge. -cjd
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