Sungjin Kim, Euiho Suh, Suhcul Lee, Junghan Kim The 4 th International Conference on Operations and Supply Chain Management, Hongkong&Guangzhou, Jul.25 to Jul.31, 2010 A Diagnosis Framework for Identifying the Current Knowledge Sharing Activity Status in a Virtual Community of Practice Sungjin Kim * , Euiho Suh, Suhcul Lee, Junghan Kim Department of Industrial and Management Engineering POSTECH (Pohang University of Science & Technology), Pohang, Kyungbuk, Korea * EMAIL: sciv@postech.ac.kr Abstract: In accordance with Communities of Practice(CoP) becomes highlighted as an effective method for knowledge sharing in Knowledge Management(KM), CoP has been used in many organizations strategically. Therefore, the needs of diagnosing knowledge sharing activities in CoP have been increased. Previous researches about CoP strategies, which are usually suggesting general guidelines without diagnosis of current status, are not sufficient to diagnosing individual CoP. Furthermore, diagnosis methodologies are not connected to strategic direction or take too much time and effort to conduct regularly. The purpose of this paper is to develop sustainable diagnosis framework for identifying knowledge sharing activities in CoP using Social Network Analysis(SNA) and to suggest strategies for individual CoP based on proposed diagnosis framework. And the last, we applied proposed diagnosis framework to the industry case. Keywords: Diagnosis framework, knowledge sharing, CoP, Social Network Analysis I. Introduction Knowledge is one of the most valuable resources for business organizations [31]. It helps to create and sustain a competitive advantage by applying collected knowledge to the production of goods and services [9]. The purpose of Knowledge Management (KM) is to maximize the utilization of knowledge and to gain an advantage relative to other competitors. Communities of Practice (CoP) have been highlighted recently as one of the most effective methods to build effective KM [10]. A CoP is defined as an informal structure of groups that share a common work environment [4] [16]. By working together, members of a CoP share their concerns, problems or passion about specific topics to cultivate their knowledge and expertise [30]. CoP activities facilitate mutual trust among CoP members based on social capital; connections, relationships and common context [18] [24]. Consequently, knowledge sharing activities in a CoP, create and sustain a competitive advantage for an organization [9]. As the importance of CoP activities increase, organizations align their CoP activity with organizational strategy and as a consequence, the need to assess the current status of CoP is also increasing [21] [3]. Several research groups have suggested general guidelines for CoP (e.g., [19] [28] [15] [32]). These guidelines were proposed without assessing the current status of a CoP and are only useful when determining an organization’s KM or CoP philosophy. Other researchers suggested a diagnosis framework. However, proposed frameworks were usually based on subjective methods. Also, guidelines are hard to apply at an individual CoP level since most research regarding CoP diagnosis was focused at the organization level, but actual activities are conducted at an individual CoP level. Some other researchers tried to use objective methods, such as SNA, but it takes too much time, costs too much to implement and has no strategic direction [6]. The first purpose of this paper is to develop a diagnosis framework to identify the current knowledge sharing activity status in a virtual CoP. The proposed framework should be conducted periodically and in an objective way. The second purpose of this paper is to derive knowledge sharing strategies based on the proposed diagnosis framework. The strategies should be suited to the activity of an individual CoP. II. Literature Review CoP diagnosis methodology and strategy General guidelines Some researchers have suggested general guidelines for CoPs by identifying current CoP issues, e.g proposing future directions for linking CoP activity to an organization’s performance [19], pinpointing executive level management issues [28], identifying the current key issues and proposing strategies [29], providing direction to solve potential problems in a CoP [15] and suggesting guidelines for online CoPs [32]. However, these guidelines are based on the philosophy or general issues of CoPs and not the status of individual or organization CoPs. From this point of view, some researchers have mentioned that a measurement of activity is needed [19]. Diagnosing CoP McDermott [20] measured the impact of CoP in three dimensions. The first dimension is personal knowledge. By sharing ideas or helping each other, members of a CoP increase their personal knowledge and ability to solve problems. The second dimension is strength of relationship. Members of a CoP get to know who has certain knowledge, and as their level of interaction grows, trust and the comfort 63