Virtual Communities as Narrative Networks

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41 ◽  
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 ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice

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.

The 'Social Experience Factory' and the Fabrics of Collaboration in Virtual Communities of Practice

2010 ◽  
pp. 101-124
Author(s):  
Demosthenes Akoumianakis
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Social Experience ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
The Social ◽  
Technical Details ◽  
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.

The Search for the 'Hidden' Virtual Communities of Practice

2010 ◽  
pp. 42-59 ◽  
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 ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice ◽  
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

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 ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice ◽  
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

2009 ◽  
pp. 339-355 ◽  
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 ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice

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

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 ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice

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.

scholarly journals Virtual communities of practice: do they work, where and why?

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (44) ◽  
pp. 171-186
Author(s):  
Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice

This paper highlights various results from a research on communities of practice in Canada, in particular the main conditions and challenges of such new modes of knowledge creation and management. It does this on the basis results to a questionnaire survey administered to the participants of these communities of practice. Participants’ commitment and motivation in the project, dynamism and continuity of leadership, organizational support and recognition of employees’ involvement appear to be the key elements. Some of these variables present interesting differences by age and by gender, and these will be adressed.

Knowledge Management and Interaction in Virtual Communities

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 ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice

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.

The ‘Social Experience Factory' and the Fabrics of Collaboration in Virtual Communities of Practice

2010 ◽  
pp. 527-549
Author(s):  
Demosthenes Akoumianakis
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Social Experience ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
The Social ◽  
Technical Details ◽  
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.

Facilitating Social Learning in Virtual Communities of Practice

2008 ◽  
pp. 1155-1176
Author(s):  
Rosanna Tarsiero
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Human Computer Interaction ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Interaction Design ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Virtual Community Of Practice ◽  
Virtual Communities Of Practice

This chapter introduces communities of practice as a means to explore human computer interaction in online collaborative environments. Through a wide review of the literature on communities of practice and their virtual counterparts, it argues that the focus for successful interaction design in these communities lies on those sociability and usability aspects that allow greater participation in social learning. It also argues that the facilitator assumes a fundamental role in guiding a virtual community of practice to accomplish work-related informal learning activities in a climate of trust and collaboration. The author hopes that understanding the special opportunities provided by virtual communities of practice will advocate for their widespread routine use.

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