The recently developed knowledge-based view of the firm argues that knowledge is the firm’s most valuable resource, yet as managers are discovering, valuable firm knowledge can easily leak across the firm’s legal boundaries just as it can get stuck within them.  Research on work practices has consistently shown that social relationships are an important factor in these knowledge flows (or lack of them).  However, the twist is that individuals generally form these relationships not according to what the formal organization dictates, but based on personal biases and preferences for others who may be either inside or outside the firm.  These relationships are the basis for informal, naturally occurring networks or “networks of practice”.  A tension then arises because much of the knowledge within organizations is controlled by individuals who make discretionary choices about the sharing of their knowledge, and as a result, management is finding that knowledge cannot be “managed” using the same tools that once were appropriate for dealing with physical goods.

The overarching goal of this thesis is to improve our understanding of networks of practice from a business firm’s perspective, and in particular to investigate issues of structure and performance, two important areas generally left by the wayside in previous network of practice research.  The study incorporates seven empirical studies in organizations including business firms, such as the more traditional Cap Gemini and Hewlett-Packard and the “less” traditional internet-consulting multinational, Icon Medialab; a large infrastructure project led by Skanska; and an online discussion community, consisting of U.S. lawyers nationwide. Using concepts, such as collective action, public goods, weak ties, and knowledge integration, and methods including a social network analysis of 1698 individuals across 16 countries, surveys, and case studies, this thesis supports taking a differentiated view of networks of practice over a unitary one.  For example, our results reveal difficulty in applying a common set of structural properties to all types of networks of practice and that levels of efficient and creative performance vary depending on the network of practice.

Thus, this research contributes to an expanding inter-disciplinary field that examines the creation and sharing of knowledge in organizations as a source of competitive advantage.  The results have theoretical implications for research fields such as networks of practice, social networks, and the knowledge-based view of the firm as well as empirical implications for managers striving to encourage knowledge creation and sharing within their firms.