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CASE STUDY 8.1

KIN RESEARCH STUDY OF

MANAGED COMMUNITIES

The impact of managed communities on organizational performance was investigated
in a recent study carried out by the Knowledge and Innovation Network (KIN) at War-
wick Business School. The study was carried out across 52 different communities with
ten major firms that spanned a range of sectors (oil, consulting, aerospace) in both the
United Kingdom and internationally. This study found that these communities were
becoming increasingly formalized, with their own forms of governance, including
community ‘leaders’ and business ‘sponsors’, as well as more explicit and organiza-
tionally focused goals. The study also identified a number of factors which were seen
as increasing the impact of communities, including the provision of time and training
support for leaders, and the holding of face-to-face events. These findings highlight
the importance of active support and cultivation in ensuring that managed communi-
ties deliver benefits both to their individual members and to the wider organization.
A further important set of findings from this study highlighted the innovative
approaches which some organizations were taking to communities. A few examples
of these innovative approaches are outlined below:

Strategic communities: Following a merger between two oil companies, a new cor-
porate KM support team was formed and with its new charter shifted its approach
to developing the so-called ‘strategic communities’. After two years, there were 54
of these in the company, ranging in size from 60 to 500 people, each of them with
a clear business case that linked back to the improvement goals identified by the
management improvement team. Community members were invited to join, based
on their experience of the issue.
Organizational improvement: In one of the oil companies, communities reported into
eight member management groups responsible for stewarding improvements in
their area. There were four of these councils, one for each stage of exploration and
development. The councils had challenging, measurable goals, such as reducing the
number of unrecovered barrels of oil. Each community owned part of the overall
improvement goal and tracked its progress towards achieving it.
Community as an agent of change: In one of the organizations studied – a govern-
ment intelligence office – the managing director established a volunteer network of
people aimed at increasing collaboration across its functional silos. The idea behind

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