When communities of practice fail: Community ties and organizational commitment

This chapter reports the results of three waves of examination of the relationship between strength of community and organizational commitment. Social network analysis (SNA) was used to gather information about community structure and strength of community among groups of staff working together within the study organization. The hypothesis that organizational commitment is lower among communities of practice with strong internal ties is supported, suggesting that notwithstanding their strengths in promoting knowledge sharing, communities of practice are not without their costs, particularly for organizations that rely on strong organizational commitment.