Community Of Practice

Writers' First Review Draft    (2UZD)

Term    (2UZE)

Community of Practice    (2UZF)

Origin/Source for Inclusion of the Term    (2UZG)

Data Reference Model Wiki http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Enterprise_Architecture_Glossary_Of_Terms http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Community_Of_Practice    (2UZH)

OMB Context Definition    (2UZI)

Reference/URL OMB Context Definition    (2UZJ)

Business Definition    (2UZK)

Groups whose members regularly engage in sharing and learning, based on common interests    (2UZL)

Reference/URL for Business Definition    (2UZM)

E. L. Lesser and J. Storck, " Communities of practice and organizational performance"; Available from http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/404/lesser.html; accessed June 22 2005.    (2UZN)

Technical Definition    (2UZO)

Reviewer Comment: A Community of Practice (COP) is a special type of informal network that emerges from a desire to work more effectively or to understand work more deeply among members of a particular specialty or work group. Reference/URL Technical Definition    (2UZP)

John Sharp, "Communities of Practice: A Review of the Literature"; Available from http://www.tfriend.com/cop-lit.htm; Accessed June 22 2005    (2UZQ)

Context Definition 1    (2UZR)

" ...small group of people who've worked together over a period of time. Not a team, not a task force, not necessarily an authorized or identified group. They are peers in the execution of "real work." What holds them together is a common sense of purpose and a real need to know what each other knows." The term "Community of Practice" was coined by John Seely Brown of the Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) back in the 1980s. For a variety of definitions and other resources on CoP's, see: http://community.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?CommunityofPractice#nidABL    (2UZS)

Reference/URL Context Definition 1    (2UZT)

Data Reference Model Wiki http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Enterprise_Architecture_Glossary_Of_Terms http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Community_Of_Practice    (2UZU)

Context Definition 2    (2UZV)

Communities of practice exist in any organization. Because membership is based on participation rather than on official status, these communities are not bound by organizational affiliations; they can span institutional structures and hierarchies. They can be found: Within businesses: Communities of practice arise as people address recurring sets of problems together. So claims processors within an office form communities of practice to deal with the constant flow of information they need to process. By participating in such a communal memory, they can do the job without having to remember everything themselves. Across business units: Important knowledge is often distributed in different business units. People who work in cross-functional teams thus form communities of practice to keep in touch with their peers in various parts of the company and maintain their expertise. When communities of practice cut across business units, they can develop strategic perspectives that transcend the fragmentation of product lines. For instance, a community of practice may propose a plan for equipment purchase that no one business unit could have come up with on its own. Across company boundaries: In some cases, communities of practice become useful by crossing organizational boundaries. For instance, in fast-moving industries, engineers who work for suppliers and buyers may form a community of practice to keep up with constant technological changes.    (2UZW)

Reference/URL for Context Definition 2    (2UZX)

Etienne Wenger, "Communitees of Practice: Learning as a Social System"; Avaiable from http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml; accessed June 22 2005    (2UZY)

Context Definition 3    (2UZZ)

an engine for the development of social capital    (2V00)

Reference/URL for Context Definition 3    (2V01)

E. L. Lesser and J. Storck, " Communities of practice and organizational performance"; Available from http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/404/lesser.html; accessed June 22 2005.    (2V02)

See Also Related Terms    (2V03)