Table of tents
Go Ba
A System Dynamics Approach for Community of Practices
Xu Qingrui! Wang Y ong” Zheng Gang*
Key Words: system dynamics; Community of Practices; interactive learning mechanism
In now turbulent business environment, organizational learning and knowledge management
capability has become the requisite competences to survive and win the fiercely competitiveness.
Managing organizational learning effectively is the main challenge for most organizations.
Community of Practices (CoPs) is one of the most effective organizational learning if organizing
well. However, group leaning in social interactive environment is very complex. In fact, CoPs are
very complex system in which the members interact each other. Using system dynamics model to
simulate the process of the members learning is a useful approach to explore the learning
mechanism in CoPs. In this article we will disclose the key factors for organizing CoPs
successfully based on simulation.
In the first part of this paper, the concept of CoPs and the basic operational approach is given for
the purpose of following modeling.
In the second part, the key variables for modeling CoPs are identified. The level of
variable using to measure the learning results in CoPs is intellectual capital. The rate
variables that decide the level variable in the model is the increasing rate and devalue
rate. The factors that affect the rate variables are extracted from the CoPs operating in
some Chinese enterprises. The key factors considered are organizational structure, the
IT infrastructure, organizational culture, the interactive mode of members within
CoPs, the number of members in CoPs, frequency of interaction and meeting, the
stability of CoPs, the environment of enterprises facing, diversity of membership, the
percentage of knowledge transferred benefit to organization etc.. The causal loop and
the interactive relationship is shown as figure one. The system dynamics modeling
will be provided in the full paper.
In the third part, policy analysis is given. The focus of this part is to highlight the key
factors that affect the CoPs operating result in various and at the different stage of
CoPs by the modeling result.
In the final part, a case is given to validate the modeling.
Xu Qingrui, Professor, the senior membership of IEEE, School of Management, Zhejiang
University, P. R. China, 310027, e-mail: sbaxuar@ dial.zju.edu.cn;
? Wang Yong, Doctoral candidate, Research Center for Managerial Science and Strategy,
Zhejiang University, P. R. China, 310027,e-mial: wysoar@ sohu.com
3 Zheng Gang, Doctoral candidate, Research Center for Managerial Science and Strategy,
Zhejiang University, P. R. China, 310027,e-mial: zhg1213@ cma.zju.edu.cn
Oryanizational Policy of
culture motivation
Corporation
Strategy
Environment
of corporatios
Interactive modes between
IT infrastructure members in CoPs
Frequency of
interaction and meeting
Diversity of
members in CoPs
‘The amount of
knowledge transferred
Tumover of
members
The percentage of
knowledge transferred
Tumover of
employees
benefit to organization
Growth of
Devalue rate of
intellectual capital
intellectual capita
‘The level of intellectual
capital
Figure one: The casual loop of intellectual capital increasing by organizational learning in C oPs
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