The creation of social and intellectual capital in virtual communities of practice: shaping social structure in virtual communities of practice
by Iwan Von Wartburg, Katja Rost, Thorsten Teichert
International Journal of Learning and Change (IJLC), Vol. 1, No. 3, 2006

Abstract: Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoPs) are Communities of Practice (CoPs) characterised by at least partially virtual interactions. CoPs are informal groups of people that share expertise and passion for actual practice within and on behalf of an organisation. CoPs are often said to be a more effective organisational form for knowledge creation than traditional and formal ways of structuring interaction. On the other hand, the informal nature of learning processes in CoPs is likely to stimulate managerial reluctance against introducing CoPs because of a lack of manageability of these learning collectives. We propose at least partial manageability of learning processes in VCoPs and develop a conceptual transformation framework for knowledge generation in VCoPs. On the basis of the proposed framework, testable hypotheses about how firms can manage knowledge generation in VCoPs at least indirectly, that is, by shaping the social structure within VCoPs, are derived.

Online publication date: Sun, 24-Sep-2006

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Learning and Change (IJLC):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com