Mar 19, Part 2 - Reweaving the world & Electronic Business

Communities of practice are important within an organization because they create value though knowledge sharing, increasing member confidence, and stimulating communication. But, communities of practice are not only effective inside organizations, but also outside of structured organizations or even across company boundaries. Wenger, McDermott, & Synder (2002) call this an extended knowledge system; communities build relationships “both within and beyond the boundaries of the firm” (Wenger & McDermott, 2002, p. 220). Communities can branch outside of an organization by reaching out to suppliers and customers. Creating a knowledge sharing network between suppliers can improve quality because suppliers can share lessons learned with one another (Wenger & McDermott, 2002, p. 221). The COP then creates value for the organization, its suppliers, and its customers. Communities reaching out to customers are important because the tie will provide the organization with direct access to consumers’ needs and desires. The organization can tailor products to fit the requests given by consumers in forums created by the community. Communities outside of the organization can also be created to build relationships between firms and also for the good of society.

In support of crossing boundaries, Post & Anderson (2006) explain that when advertisers pay to publish on a website, they expect to receive important demographic information about who was exposed to the advertisement (p. 289). This is often extremely hard for publishers to accomplish since customers are reluctant to take the time to fill out forms or are reluctant to give personal information to an impersonal information system. This gap between the customer and the advertisers’ requirements can be bridged by a community of practice. If an advertiser chose to promote its services on a community forum that enticed people to freely share information about themselves, lessons learned, solutions to common problems, then the advertiser would have all of the information that they need and more. The advertiser would have this information without forcing people to expose themselves in a way that makes them uncomfortable, but instead be willing to share the information.

Creating communities of practice that interact with customers in order to build relationships are proven to be effective, per our author, but wouldn’t it be more likely for this COP to turn into a social club rather than staying a business to customer relationship?

Post, G. V., & Anderson, D. L. (2006). Management Information Systems: Solving business problems with Information Technology. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder W. M. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.