| Communities of practice (CPs) are of strategic interest to the firm because they are thought to be where knowledge is located, maintained, and reproduced. Previous CP research, largely rich ethnographic accounts, has provided a deep view of a small number of CPs. This study combines qualitative and quantitative methods, with particular emphasis on social network methods. Data were gathered from a global specialty chemical company by visiting the research site approximately monthly over a three year period. Analytic methods placed particular emphasis on network analysis of worker behavior documented in information and communication technology (ICT) logs. These logs are the empirical core of the project.; The first study investigated new sources of data on CP activity. Given the prevalence and use of ICTs in today's work environment, worker participation and reification activities documented in email, telephone, and intranet hit logs were investigated as possible data sources for use in CP studies. The second study applied social network methods to ICT data to measure CP activity. It compared the structural characteristics of a qualitatively identified reference CP with those of (a) groups identified by hierarchically clustering worker participation and reification activity documented in the ICT logs and (b) groups identified by common worker attributes. The findings indicate that email, in particular, may be an indicator of overall communication, and network methods applied to ICT data may be credible for studying CPs. The findings highlight task interdependencies and co-location as important worker attributes within CPs. Group size was found to negatively influence the overall level of communication among workers within CPs. The third study tracked and analyzed worker communication during the first 32 months of the post-acquisition integration process. The findings suggest that, over time, the level of communication between target and acquiring firm workers, as well as the centrality of target firm workers exhibit an inverse U shape. Interdependent tasks were found to lead to increased communication between target and acquiring firm workers. Overall, these studies demonstrate promise for using social network methods and ICT data to study issues of strategic interest, particularly knowledge-related issues, to the firm. |
