Table of Contents

Preface 1. Communities of Practice and Their Value to the Organization 2. Communities of Practice and Their Structural Elements 3. Seven Principles for Cultivating Communities of Practice 4. The Early Stages of Development: Planning and Launching Communities of Practice 5. The Mature Stages of Development: Growing and Sustaining Communities of Practice 6. The Challenge of Distributed Communities 7. The Downside of Communities of Practice 8. Measuring and Managing Value Creation 9. Community-based Knowledge Initiatives 10. Reweaving the World: Communities beyond Organizations Notes Bibliography Index About the Authors

About the Author

Etienne Wenger is a renowned expert and consultant on knowledge management and communities of practice in San Juan, California.