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176 Chapter 5

• Knowledge sharing occurs quite effi ciently and effectively in communities of practice
where members share a professional interest and goal.
• In order for effective knowledge sharing to occur in CoPs, a number of key roles
need to be in place, such as knowledge sponsor, champion, facilitator, practice leader,
KSO, membership manager, discussion moderator, knowledge editor, librarian, archi-
vist, usage analyst, and knowledge broker.
• Virtual communities are the primary sources of social capital produced that is of
value to the organization.
• Social network analysis can be used to visualize the people and their connections in
virtual communities.
• Social presence and media richness are two dimensions that can be used to assess
how well technological channels such as e-mail, blogs, wikis, and so forth can accom-
modate the sharing of both tacit and explicit knowledge.
• Some of the key obstacles to knowledge sharing are notions such as knowledge is
property, knowledge is power, credibility of the content and the source, organizational
culture, and the presence of undernets.

Discussion Points

1. What are the major distinguishing characteristics of a community of practice that
a community of interest would not possess?
2. Compare and contrast some different types of communities of practice. Describe
how they would differ with respect to their goals.
3. What are the key differences between the functionalist and the social constructivist
perspectives on knowledge? Why is the latter better suited to knowledge management?
4. Describe the roles and responsibilities of a knowledge broker in a virtual com-
munity. Provide examples of how they could help promote knowledge sharing and
increase the value of the social capital of the fi rm.
5. What is the difference between human and social capital?
6. What are some of the key deterrents to knowledge sharing and knowledge fl ow
within an organization? How could you help overcome them?
7. List some of the ways in which social network analysis techniques can be used to
better understand how knowledge is circulated within an organization.
8. What lesson can be learned from the tragedy of the commons? Provide some
modern-day examples and discuss how you would ensure effective knowledge