Communities of Practice

The following is general information about communities of practice (COP).  The approaches discussed have been used in the academic and business communities.  The information is presented for references purposes only and is not suggested as a general model for other MORS COPs.

 

Karen Grattan at Group W pointed out at our first meeting of the DC chapter of the MORS Social Science Community of Practice that there is literature that studies COPs, with information on what makes them successful or unsuccessful.  Please feel free to post and add to content on this page.

 

"Communities of practice:  a brief introduction," by Etienne Wenger:  http://www.ewenger.com/theory/

An introduction to communities of practice.  (Just like the title implies.)

 

"Cultivating communities of practice:  a quick start-up guide," by Etienne Wenger:  http://www.ewenger.com/theory/start-up_guide_PDF.pdf

A Power Point ranger-worthy pictoral slide on starting up a COP.

 

"Communities of practice:  learning as a social system," by Etienne Wenger:  http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml

Interesting look at stages of COP development, different types of relationships between COPs and organizations, best practices on developing and nurturing COPs.

 

"Seven principles for cultivating communities of practice," Cultivating Communities of Practice:  a Guide to Managing Knowledge (Boston, MA:  Harvard Business School Press, 2002), by Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. Synder.  http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/2855.html

Seven principles to designing communities of practice.  Less theoretical, more practical than the other links above.