The use of social network analysis to measure knowledge sharing in the New York State Project Management community of practice.

摘要

This study explored knowledge sharing relationships within the New York State Project Management Community of Practice (CoP) using Social Network Analysis. Communities of Practice are groups of individuals involved in a joint enterprise who are informally bound by shared experience (Wenger & Snyder, 1999). This study contributes to the general topic of knowledge sharing in communities of practice, and specifically to knowledge sharing in communities involved in the practice of project management. Findings of this research add to the understanding of various attributes of members and the knowledge sharing behavior that occurs in this community of practice. In addition, the research explored the role technology plays in supporting the community.;Social Network Analysis can reveal the roles and relationships within a community and also can provide a set of measures and diagrams for describing the community as a knowledge sharing network. The research explored the community's knowledge sharing activities, associations between attributes of the CoP members and their roles in the CoP, technology use, and patterns of knowledge transfer.;Lave and Wenger's Situated Learning (1991) generated a wave of research in the situated perspective of learning. Much of this research was within the context of the workplace and knowledge sharing in practice. Traditionally, these communities of practice formed around face-to-face meetings, but now depend increasingly on technology-based methods such as email and internet-based collaboration tools to facilitate communications and knowledge sharing.;This form of knowledge sharing through communities of practice is an important aspect of the overall subject of knowledge management. There is a wealth of literature from the management practice and consulting areas, but academia is also embracing the topic from many disciplinary perspectives, including those of organizational theory, cognitive science, education and learning, sociology, anthropology, and organizational culture.;The New York State Project Management Community of Practice provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, best practices, lessons learned, and other information among project managers in New York State governmental agencies.