Communities of Practice

This chapter analyses the internal dynamics of communities of practice as well as the different types of communities of practice, and how and if they can be managed. It starts with defining communities of practice and describing the term's origins, features, and dynamics. Then it talks about the intra-community knowledge processes that take place inside a community of practice. Different types of communities of practice are introduced. How social network analysis can help to visualize the network sharing relations in a community and how it can be used to probe problems that need attention is also discussed. The chapter closes by presenting some critical perspectives on communities of practice.