The &#39;Social Experience Factory&#39; and the Fabrics of Collaboration in Virtual Communities of Practice

Automated Software ◽

Product Assembly

This chapter proposes and discusses the “social” experience factory (SEF). The SEF provides a general model and architecture supporting information- based product assembly by cross-organization communities of practice using interactive toolkits and practice-specific technologies. In terms of engineering ground, the SEF builds on two prevalent research tracks, namely experience-based and reuse-oriented proposals for the management of virtual assets and automated software assembly as conceived and facilitated by recent advances on software factories. Our account of the SEF focuses on functions facilitating electronic squads (i.e., cross-organization virtual community management) and workflows (i.e., practice management) which collectively define the scope of collaboration using the SEF. Further technical details on operational aspects of the SEF as deployed in the tourism sector to facilitate vacation package assembly are presented in Chapter XXI in this volume.

Virtual Communities of Practice as a Support for Knowledge Sharing in Social Networks

Handbook of Research on Business Social Networking ◽

10.4018/978-1-61350-168-9.ch019 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 374-387

Author(s):

Yóris Linhares de Souza ◽

Fernanda Farinelli ◽

George Leal Jamil ◽

Maria Celeste Reis Lobo de Vasconcelos ◽

Gutenberg Marques Dias

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Communities Of Practice ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Business Environment ◽

Professional Relationship ◽

The Social ◽

Fast Pace ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Knowledge as a result of people’s interaction is an essential factor for organizations facing actual business complexity. Social networks, whose creation and usage have been facilitated from the development of information and communication technologies, improved the conditions for interactive and collaborative answers at a very fast pace. In this sense, virtual communities of practice appear as an important way to share knowledge among groups of people joined by common interests, such as the search for solutions for problems, development of competences, professional relationship upgrades, growth of productivity, and general working quality. However, some barriers have emerged to the social network members, such as lack of trust, real incentives, and time to dedicate in order to contribute in these communities. In this chapter, aiming to evaluate such scenarios, a multiple case study methodology was conducted, starting from a literature review of main concepts, giving support for a final assessment of cases to provide better understanding and identification of the main benefits and barriers for the participation and collaboration in these new platforms. As a result of the present study, these reflections could lead to a better comprehension of the application of the social networks structured over virtual communities of practice in the business environment.

The Search for the 'Hidden' Virtual Communities of Practice

Virtual Community Practices and Social Interactive Media ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-340-1.ch003 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 42-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Richard Ribeiro ◽

Chris Kimble

Keyword(s):

Communities Of Practice ◽

Community Of Practice ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Virtual Community ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Electronic Networks ◽

Virtual Community Of Practice ◽

Seci Model ◽

Fully Functioning

This chapter examines the possibility of discovering a “hidden” (potential) Community of Practice (CoP) inside electronic networks, and then using this knowledge to nurture it into a fully functioning Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP). Starting from the standpoint of the need to manage knowledge and create innovation, the chapter discusses several issues related to this subject. It begins by examining Nonaka’s SECI model and his notion of Knowledge Transfer; the authors follow this by an investigation of the links between Communities of Practice (CoPs) and Knowledge Management; the chapter concludes by examining the relation between Nonaka’s Communities of Interaction and CoPs. Having established this the authors start their examination of the characteristics of “hidden” Communities of Practice. Following on from the previous discussion, they look at what is meant by “hidden” CoPs and what their value might be. They also look at the distinction between Distributed CoPs (DCoPs) and Virtual CoPs (VCoPs) and the issues raised when moving from ‘hidden’ CoPs to fully functioning VCoPs. The chapter concludes with some preliminary findings from a semi-structured interview conducted in the Higher Education Academy Psychology Network (UK). These findings are contrasted against the theory and some further proposals are made.

The Search for the ’Hidden’ Virtual Communities of Practice

Virtual Communities ◽

10.4018/978-1-60960-100-3.ch717 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 2395-2411

Author(s):

Richard Ribeiro ◽

Chris Kimble

Keyword(s):

Communities Of Practice ◽

Community Of Practice ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Virtual Community ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Electronic Networks ◽

Virtual Community Of Practice ◽

Seci Model ◽

Fully Functioning

This chapter examines the possibility of discovering a “hidden” (potential) Community of Practice (CoP) inside electronic networks, and then using this knowledge to nurture it into a fully functioning Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP). Starting from the standpoint of the need to manage knowledge and create innovation, the chapter discusses several issues related to this subject. It begins by examining Nonaka’s SECI model and his notion of Knowledge Transfer; the authors follow this by an investigation of the links between Communities of Practice (CoPs) and Knowledge Management; the chapter concludes by examining the relation between Nonaka’s Communities of Interaction and CoPs. Having established this the authors start their examination of the characteristics of “hidden” Communities of Practice. Following on from the previous discussion, they look at what is meant by “hidden” CoPs and what their value might be. They also look at the distinction between Distributed CoPs (DCoPs) and Virtual CoPs (VCoPs) and the issues raised when moving from ‘hidden’ CoPs to fully functioning VCoPs. The chapter concludes with some preliminary findings from a semi-structured interview conducted in the Higher Education Academy Psychology Network (UK). These findings are contrasted against the theory and some further proposals are made.

Virtual Communities of Practice

Connectivity and Knowledge Management in Virtual Organizations ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-070-7.ch019 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 339-355 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jens Gammelgaard

Keyword(s):

Communities Of Practice ◽

Knowledge Sharing ◽

Multinational Corporations ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Virtual Community ◽

Virtual Communication ◽

Physical Proximity ◽

Geographically Dispersed ◽

Knowledge Transfers ◽

In geographically dispersed organizations, like multinational corporations (MNCs), contextual gaps exist between senders and receivers of knowledge. Employee socialization resulting from physical proximity facilitates contextualization of the transferred knowledge. However, in MNCs most knowledge transfers take place through virtual communication media. We investigate the phenomenon of virtual communities of practice, and propose them to be efficient for individual’s knowledge retrieval as participation in such communities reduces the contextual gaps between senders and receivers of knowledge. However, the organization must provide a knowledge-sharing friendly culture, and an institutional protectionism, in order to establish the required level of swift trust within the virtual community.

Virtual Communities of Practice as a Support for Knowledge Sharing in Social Networks

Cyber Behavior ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-5942-1.ch020 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 350-363

Author(s):

Yóris Linhares de Souza ◽

Fernanda Farinelli ◽

George Leal Jamil ◽

Maria Celeste Reis Lobo de Vasconcelos ◽

Gutenberg Marques Dias

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Communities Of Practice ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Business Environment ◽

Professional Relationship ◽

The Social ◽

Fast Pace ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Knowledge as a result of people's interaction is an essential factor for organizations facing actual business complexity. Social networks, whose creation and usage have been facilitated from the development of information and communication technologies, improved the conditions for interactive and collaborative answers at a very fast pace. In this sense, virtual communities of practice appear as an important way to share knowledge among groups of people joined by common interests, such as the search for solutions for problems, development of competences, professional relationship upgrades, growth of productivity, and general working quality. However, some barriers have emerged to the social network members, such as lack of trust, real incentives, and time to dedicate in order to contribute in these communities. In this chapter, aiming to evaluate such scenarios, a multiple case study methodology was conducted, starting from a literature review of main concepts, giving support for a final assessment of cases to provide better understanding and identification of the main benefits and barriers for the participation and collaboration in these new platforms. As a result of the present study, these reflections could lead to a better comprehension of the application of the social networks structured over virtual communities of practice in the business environment.

Virtual Communities as Narrative Networks

International Journal of Knowledge Management ◽

10.4018/jkm.2013010102 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 21-41 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Michael R. Weeks ◽

Natasha F. Veltri

Keyword(s):

Communities Of Practice ◽

Knowledge Creation ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Virtual Community ◽

Social Structures ◽

Discussion Forums ◽

Community Knowledge ◽

Primary Attraction ◽

Networks Analysis ◽

This paper extends our understanding of knowledge creation in virtual communities of practice by examining crowdsourcing activities that enable knowledge creation in these social structures. An interpretive methodology, narrative networks analysis, is used to systematically study the narratives of discussion forums in a virtual community. The virtual community studied is voluntary for the participants, and open to anyone. Through the analysis of the narrative, a model of knowledge creation is developed that identifies types of evidentiary knowledge contributions, as well as conversation mitigators that help or hinder knowledge creation within the community. Knowledge is a primary attraction of a virtual community for many of its members, and this study aims to understand how knowledge is shared and created in such voluntary communities of practice. The model highlights elements that enhance and impair knowledge creation in this type of crowdsourced environment.

Virtual Communities of Practice

Virtual Communities ◽

10.4018/978-1-60960-100-3.ch612 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 2068-2085

Author(s):

Jens Gammelgaard

Keyword(s):

Communities Of Practice ◽

Knowledge Sharing ◽

Multinational Corporations ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Virtual Community ◽

Virtual Communication ◽

Physical Proximity ◽

Geographically Dispersed ◽

Knowledge Transfers ◽

In geographically dispersed organizations, like multinational corporations (MNCs), contextual gaps exist between senders and receivers of knowledge. Employee socialization resulting from physical proximity facilitates contextualization of the transferred knowledge. However, in MNCs most knowledge transfers take place through virtual communication media. We investigate the phenomenon of virtual communities of practice, and propose them to be efficient for individual’s knowledge retrieval as participation in such communities reduces the contextual gaps between senders and receivers of knowledge. However, the organization must provide a knowledge-sharing friendly culture, and an institutional protectionism, in order to establish the required level of swift trust within the virtual community.

Selvets teknologier, e-læring og neo-traditionel islamisk selvudvikling

Tidsskrift for Islamforskning ◽

10.7146/tifo.v6i1.25306 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 54 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kasper Mathiesen

Keyword(s):

Communities Of Practice ◽

Situated Learning ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Social Psychological ◽

Technologies Of The Self ◽

Learning Patterns ◽

The Social ◽

Use Of The Internet ◽

Point Of Departure

This article addresses the ways in which contemporary Muslims make use of the Internet to establish new kinds of communities of practice and learning associated with the technologies of the self and Islamic self-cultivation. Within the confines of the new communities the fundamental aspiration and ambition is similar to that of the classical tradition, but the non-physical framework simultaneously yields new possibilities and new challenges in regard to learning. The didacticaltheoretical point of departure of the analysis is above all the social psychological learning perspective developed by Lave and Wenger. The analysis is based on a representative example of elearning from the Islamic learning portal Sunnipath/Qibla and is especially related to the transnational and globally influential Bâ’alawiyya order, here construed as an exponent of a broader neo-traditional Islamic current. Patterns of learning and of learning within the confines of the ecommunity of practice are compared with more traditional and physically constituted contexts of situated learning through participation in intensified Islamic practices of self-cultivation. On the basis of observation, participation and interview material from both types of contexts the learning patterns of the new virtual communities of practice are analysed with an emphasis on presence and motivation in regards to learning.

Knowledge Management and Interaction in Virtual Communities

Semantic Knowledge Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-034-9.ch010 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 216-232

Author(s):

Maria Chiara Caschera ◽

Arianna D’Ulizia ◽

Fernando Ferri ◽

Patrizia Grifoni

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Management ◽

Communities Of Practice ◽

Knowledge Sharing ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Virtual Community ◽

User Participation ◽

Knowledge Map ◽

Community Members ◽

Agent Based ◽

This chapter provides a classification of virtual communities of practice according to methods and tools offered to virtual community members for the knowledge management and the interaction process. It underlines how these methods and tools support users during the exchange of knowledge, enable learning, and increase the user ability to achieve individual and collective goals. In this chapter virtual communities are classified in virtual knowledge-sharing communities of practice and virtual learning communities of practice according to the collaboration strategy. A further classification defines three kinds of virtual communities according to the knowledge structure: ontology-based VCoP; digital library-based VCoP; and knowledge map-based VCoP. This chapter also describes strategies of interaction used to improve the knowledge sharing and learning in groups and organizations. It shows how agent-based method supports interaction among community members, improves the achievement of knowledge, and encourages the level of user participation. Finally, this chapter presents the system’s functionalities that support browsing and searching processes in collaborative knowledge environments.