From Communities to Networks of Practice Through Intranet Use

“The use of the intranet somewhat dislocates the situated dimension of work. In this way, it favors the

MANAGEMENT 10.1177/0893318904265125 AUGUST Vaast / INTRANET 2004 COMMUNICATION CONNECTIONS QUARTERLY /

O BROTHER, WHERE ARE THOU?

From Communities to Networks of Practice Through Intranet Use

EMMANUELLE VAAST Long Island University

emergence of links among communities of practice and the overall network of

”

practice.

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6 MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY / AUGUST 2004 Communities of practice are highly situated and, yet, networks of practice supposedly connect them. Assuming the situated dimension of work and identity in communities of practice, how may dispersed agents be connected, and how may the features of communities of practice be extended from the local to the network level? This article proposes that the use of intranets contributes to the interconnections of local communities and to the emergence of a network of practice. It draws on two case studies in which members of local communities used an intranet system to establish communications with remote colleagues in ways that did not merely reproduce their immediate context. The use of the intranet contributed to the mutual reinforcement of local communities, and of the overall network, and to growing complementarities among colleagues at different levels.

Conceptually, in a relational perspective, the use of the intranet extended the situatedness of practice.

Keywords: communities of practice; networks of practice; situation; emergence; intranet

C

ommunities of practice (CoPs) are situated; they emerge from recurrent face-to-face interactions taking place in materially and historically bounded contexts (Lave, 1988; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). This local dimension of CoPs ensures the sharing of meaning and a partially tacit mutual sense of membership (Brown & Duguid, 1991; Gherardi & Nicolini, 2000; Sole & Huysman, 2002). Members of CoPs engage in close work practices, and they experience similar identification processes with their occupational local group. Yet the literature on CoPs also claims that local CoPs get connected to each other and may form networks of practice (NoPs) that transcend geographical distance (Brown & Duguid, 2001; Pan & Leidner, 2003; Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002). Such networks cannot benefit from the shared material and social context that is typical of CoPs. Their members do not interact directly and do not share practices per se, and yet they are connected to each other. The emergence and features of NoPs thus still need to be better understood. This article investigates the emergence of NoPs with the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), and, especially, of intranet systems. The use of new technologies does not merely reproduce the local material and social context of communities. Instead, as agents use and appropriate ICTs, they contribute to the reproduction or the transformation of the structural properties of the social systems they are engaged in (Orlikowski, 2000, 2002; Poole & DeSanctis, 1994). Agents have more and more recourse to new technologies to establish communications with remote peers (Hiltz

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& Turoff, 1993; Sproull & Kiesler, 1991). Agents may thus use ICTs to exchange with colleagues beyond geographical or temporal distances. They may become aware that they share aims, practices, and competencies with these remote colleagues. The use of new technologies, especially of network systems such as intranets, may then contribute to the appearance of a sense of common professional membership not only at the local communitarian level, but also at the network level. Identification with the NoPs may neither be as strong nor as socially and materially supported as belonging to local CoPs, but it may allow distant colleagues to exchange and mutually cultivate their practices. The use of ICTs may thus redefine the situatedness of CoPs and extend what is considered local from the community level to the network level.

Relying on a literature review of CoPs, NoPs, and their potential links thanks to ICTs as well as on two case studies, this article attempts to provide elements of answers to the following question: Assuming that work, knowledge, and the learning of local CoPs are situated, how may the use of intranets connect dispersed agents and extend the features of CoPs from the local to the network level?

The next section of the article provides the conceptual framework adopted in this research. The methodology section justifies and presents the research design that compared the transformations observed in two empirical settings. The cases are then described and, subsequently, analyzed to identify whether and how the use of intranet systems helped to connect members of distant CoPs and favored the emergence of NoPs.

COPS AND NOPS: INTRANET USE AS A LINK? CoPs are highly situated work groups that arise from the sharing of material, social, and historical contexts (Brown & Duguid, 1991; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Orr, 1990). NoPs, whose members do not share the same immediate environment and cannot easily interact, supposedly connect local CoPs. Given the situated dimension of CoPs, how may such connections appear? Moreover, members of NoPs do not experience the same material and social context: What can they share at the network level? This first section describes the

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main features of contextualized CoPs and of decontextualized NoPs. It then proposes that the use of new technologies, especially of intranet systems, is likely to foster connections among members of local communities.

COPS ARE SITUATED WORK GROUPS CoPs Rely on Direct, Frequent Interactions and Shared Material Context

CoPs rely on a situated context (Lave, 1988; Suchman, 1987).

Their members experience close practices, frequently interact, and share knowledge and close concerns (Gherardi, 2001; Gherardi & Nicolini, 2000; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). They work together and engage in activities that are for some similar and for others complementary. They also have the occasion to discuss directly their activities and unusual concerns (Orr, 1990). These repeated, direct interactions account for the socialization processes that make newcomers in the community become legitimate participants (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Old-timers acquaint newcomers with the rules and rituals that distinguish the community. These socialization processes are partly implicit as well, and they entail mimetic and shared habits. Furthermore, the situation of CoPs favors learning by doing and the strategic creation of knowledge (Argyris & Schon, 1978; Brown & Duguid, 1991; Heaton & Taylor, 2002).

CoPs, therefore, unfold from their situation, which creates a context favorable to direct interactions, mutual assistance in practice, and the sharing of collective goals (Iverson & McPhee, 2002).

The situation of CoPs illuminates their three defining features and two related foundations.

The Three Defining Features and Two Foundations of CoPs

According to Wenger (1998), CoPs display three distinguishing attributes and rest on two related foundations.

Mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire constitute the three specific features of CoPs:

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Vaast / INTRANET CONNECTIONS 9 •

•

•

Mutual engagement: People join the CoP by committing themselves to actions whose meaning is mutually negotiated. Members of a CoP are complementary and linked through their mutual engagement in social practices. For instance, in Wenger’s book (1998), claim processors all operate on the same floor and are engaged in close tasks.

Their activities are very similar even though they are not jointly achieved.

Joint enterprise: Socialization processes and operations in the community aim at achieving a joint enterprise. The latter results from the constant process of negotiation that reflects the dynamics of mutual engagement. The copier repairers studied by Orr (1990), for example, fix machines at Xerox clients’ plants, but they frequently meet to discuss failures and their solutions. Repeated interactions give them a sense of their professional duties and occupational goals.

Shared repertoire: The shared repertoire has gradually been constituted and regenerated through engagement in practices and maintains the social construction of meaning. It may be material and concrete (e.g., files and forms) or more intangible (e.g., routines, symbols, and specific idioms). Claim processors, for instance, rely mostly on reified procedures and on information systems (Wenger, 1998), whereas repairers’ technical craft depends on socially distributed knowledge that is stored and enriched through informal conversations (Orr, 1990).

These three features of communities indicate an interplay between what members of CoPs actually do and whom they consider themselves to be. Indeed, practice and identity jointly found CoPs. First, practice unifies and gives coherence and significance to CoPs (Gherardi, 2000, 2001). Tenants of the practice perspective refer to sociological works devoted to the notion (cf., in particular, Bourdieu, 1990, 1994, 2000; De Certeau, 1980; Giddens, 1984) and propose an integrative and critical approach (Contu & Willmott, 2000, 2003). They define practices as temporally, materially, and socially situated actions (Cook & Brown, 1999, p. 386).

This situated context gives meaning to what members of the community actually do (Orlikowski, 2002, p. 256).

The second foundation of CoPs relates to this shared meaning and interpretive consistence of the community. Members of CoPs share a common work identity (Wenger, 2000; Wenger et al., 2002). Identification processes (which arise from direct, repeated

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encounters and implicit learning on the job) ensure that members of the community feel part of a group, which gives meaning to their job. The identity of the community relies on both the internal image (what members of the group consider themselves to be) and the external image (how they think other people, who do not belong to the community, perceive the community) of the group (Dutton, Dukerich, & Harquail, 1994). These identification processes are also usually positively connoted as CoPs provide their members with professional competencies and knowledge. The community sustains itself partly because its members value their participation in a group that provides them with a prized professional identity.

THE MISSING LINK BETWEEN COPS AND NOPS The Notion of NoPs

CoPs are thus highly situated work groups. The colocation of their members and the sharing of material contexts make it possible for mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoires to emerge (Sole & Huysman, 2002). Also, members of the community share practices and identities as they work together and repeatedly interact. Yet the literature proposed that local CoPs get connected into constellations of CoPs (Brown & Duguid, 1991; Wenger, 1998), constellations of practices (Gherardi & Nicolini, 2002), or NoPs (Brown & Duguid, 2001). The literature has not yet been unified, and the three preceding terms have so far been used in somewhat distinct but not always clearly differentiated ways. Constellations of CoPs supposedly deal with organizations as a whole (Brown & Duguid, 1991), constellations of practice concern interdependent professions (Gherardi & Nicolini, 2002), whereas NoPs encompass local communities bound by the sharing of practices (Brown & Duguid, 2001). This article concentrates on the notion of NoPs as an extension of remote CoPs that may get connected as their respective members share the same kinds of work activities.

NoPs may arise from local CoPs that are geographically separate but that are characterized by close practices and identification processes. Aggregates of local CoPs may result in wider and more broadly based NoPs (Brown & Duguid, 2000, 2001). In such net-

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works, learning may flow, “leak” in Brown and Duguid’s (2001) terms, regardless of formal boundaries or of geographical distance.

How to Connect NoPs and CoPs?

The specific ways in which local CoPs may get connected and pave the way for the emergence of NoPs have not, however, been much investigated so far. How NoPs appear from specific, separate CoPs remains largely unexplored. This gap in the literature is all but surprising as it points to an intriguing conceptual puzzle: Given that CoPs rely heavily on the sharing of material contexts and on situated, recurrent, direct interactions, how may such idiosyncratic CoPs get connected into NoPs? The sharing of locally meaningful practices should not be considered an automatic process. The very idea of a NoP that would not be supported by a shared context could even be considered a contradiction in itself, as practice is highly situated. From a practice perspective, only members who share the same local context, face the same kinds of concerns, and directly interact may actually share practices. Two questions, therefore, immediately arise when one considers the notion of NoPs. First, what would be the characteristics of these so-called dislocalized NoPs? Second, how may NoPs emerge from the actions of members of local CoPs? Concerning the first question, the three defining features and two foundations of CoPs cannot merely be transposed from the community to the network. First, mutual engagement requires that people get involved in interdependent activities whose meaning emerges from direct interactions. Second, the joint enterprise requires that members share common goals or act collectively.

Third, members of CoPs constitute shared repertoires over time as they get to know their job and each other better. Virtual teams— teams whose members remain geographically dispersed but jointly accomplish a complex project—constitute usual examples of the challenges of creating mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoires when members cannot either interact on a recurrent basis or work in the same context (DeSanctis & Monge, 1999; Kraut, Steinfield, Chan, Butler, & Hoag, 1999; Majchrzack, Rice, Malhotra, King, & Ba, 2000). Finally, as already pointed out, practices are situated; they depend on common material and historical

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and social conditions. The sharing of work practices when members remain geographically distant and have no way to experience each other’s activities is anything but obvious.

The second question (How may NoPs emerge from the actions of members of local CoPs?) is closely related to the first one. The relationships among local CoPs and the emergence of NoPs that connect these communities deserve attention. This article contends that a better understanding of the emergence of NoPs and of the connections between CoPs and NoPs should illuminate the question of the foundation and characteristics of NoPs as well. Investigating the emergence of NoPs should help to understand what can be shared across local contexts and how a situation of shared practice may be extended beyond material settings of direct encounters.

More specifically, this article investigates how ICTs, especially intranet systems, might be used to connect CoPs and NoPs. ICTS TO CONNECT COPS AND NOPS Indeed, tenants of the CoPs literature have proposed that CoPs may appropriate ICTs, and that these appropriations may transform their internal dynamics (Hayes, 2001; Hayes & Walsham, 2001).

Wenger (2000) described software packages dedicated to CoPs, whereas Brown (1998) claimed that the intranet technology could be integrated in real and local work practices. Also, Pan and Leidner (2003) showed that ICTs may be used to connect CoPs and to allow for the sharing of knowledge beyond geographical distances. However, the link between CoPs and NoPs through ICTs has not yet been fully explored.

For more than two decades, the information systems (IS) field has, however, developed several streams of research that offer key insights to understand how the use of ICTs may constitute a link between CoPs and NoPs. A first, abundant body of research has investigated how remote groups may be interconnected via ICTs (Hiltz, 1984; Hiltz & Kerr, 1982). Technologies such as computer conferencing, discussion Listservs, or online support groups may help members of different groups exchange information and ideas (Sproull & Kiesler, 1991). This stream of research provides interest-

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ing observations on how, thanks to electronic communications, agents create new links beyond their usual spheres of sociability (Rheingold, 2000; Wellman et al., 1996). The issue of interconnection of local CoPs in an overall NoP, however, differs slightly from the topics investigated by this body of literature. Indeed, online communities consist of members who do not need to know each other, other than from electronic communications, and who do not necessarily share the same occupational practices. Members of NoPs, on the other hand, are supposedly connected beyond geographical distance by shared practices. Although much can be transferred through digital media, the richness of a material context, direct interactions, and idiosyncrasies of work can hardly be conveyed without actual copresence. NoPs, therefore, do not pose exactly the same challenges as online communities.

Another stream of research in the IS literature has investigated how different social contexts influence the use of ICTs and how, in turn, the appropriation of ICTs transforms these contexts. Rice and Gattiker (2001), for instance, provided a review of this abundant body of research works. In this view, the use of ICTs does not merely replace or mimic direct interactions or real-world collaboration, and it inherently takes place in a specific social context. New technologies make it possible to communicate beyond usual temporal and geographical barriers, but they do not provide their users with the physical and social cues that accompany face-to-face interactions (Daft & Lengel, 1984, 1986; Trevino, Lengel, & Daft, 1987). The use of new technologies does not, therefore, simply reproduce or replace face-to-face communications. What happens online is not the mere mirror of what happens in the material world.

Also, the use of new technologies depends on macro-, meso-, and microsocial contexts (Markus, 1994a, 1994b; Zack, 1994; Zack & McKenney, 1995). For instance, members of groups who already collaborated often appear to be the main users of groupware systems (Vandenbosch & Ginsberg, 1996).

The use of new technologies, however, also takes part in the ongoing transformation of work and sociability contexts (Orlikowski, 2000). It may thus contribute to the emergence of networks that would connect geographically distant CoPs. The structurationist perspective on the incidence of the use of ICTs in organizations has

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insisted on the idea that, over time, agents use technologies in ways that contribute to the reproduction and transformation of structural properties of social systems (Orlikowski, 1992; Poole & DeSanctis, 1990, 1994). The structuration perspective accounts for the contradictory impacts of ICTs in organizations (Robey & Boudreau, 1999). It suggests that the implementation and gradual appropriation of new technologies get integrated in a social context that simultaneously informs the use of ICTs and becomes transformed by it. Social contexts get redefined as agents, possibly from diverse locations, start using ICTs. The social dimensions of the use of technology may change over time, and the reflexivity of users gives meaning to the use of the new technologies (Ngwenyama & Lee, 1997).

Building on these insights, this article studies how members of local CoPs may use ICTs and, more specifically, intranet systems, and how such use may contribute to the creation of relationships among local CoPs and to the emergence of NoPs. Intranet systems, internal networks based on IP universal standards, aggregate and integrate various computing applications, such as e-mail, databases, groupware systems, forums, and occupations software (Ryan, 1998; Scheepers & Damsgaard, 1997). Intranet systems may be made available to some or all members of an organization. Therefore, specific groups may implement and appropriate their own specific intranet and protect it with passwords and various levels of security. Intranets mark a distinction between insiders and outsiders of the system (Newell, Scarbrough, & Swan, 2001). Furthermore, flexible features of intranet systems may be adapted to various organizational contexts and used to achieve diverse goals (e.g., to communicate, work, collaborate, and control, in particular).

They may then be appropriated by members of specific CoPs and contribute to the emergence of NoPs, as this article reports.

Understanding how this emergence may or may not take place requires empirical investigations. The research this article reports, therefore, relied on two case studies to provide tentative answers to the following key question: Assuming that work, knowledge, and the learning of local CoPs are situated, how may the use of intranets connect dispersed agents and extend the features of CoPs from the local to the network level?

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METHODOLOGY The two case studies this research relies on relate how members of local CoPs used intranet systems and how their use contributed to the emergence of NoPs connecting remote communities.

A TWO-CASE RESEARCH DESIGN The adopted research design balanced potentially conflicting objectives of empirical investigations to track the emergence of NoPs. On one hand, observations had to be sufficiently detailed to track idiosyncratic practices and to identify the main features of identification processes that occur in real work contexts (Barley, 1996; Barley & Kunda, 2001). Attention to both micro- and mesoprocesses required fine-grained investigations and thus did not allow for the examination of multiple, distinct contexts. On the other hand, cross-case comparisons allowed researchers to identify and analyze frequent patterns and their conditions of appearance (Eisenhardt, 1991; Yin, 1989).

This research, therefore, relied on two case studies. Investigations for each case, Buyers’ Fasty (BF) and Environmental Health (EH), depicted the specific work activities, interactions, and socialization processes occurring in each setting. For each case, observations concerned both local CoPs (colleagues who shared the same material work environment) and the overall network relating these communities (the connections of these distinct communities). For each case, investigations assessed whether and how the use of an intranet system had encouraged the appearance of links among local communities and of an overall network that could be labeled as an NoP. Cross-case analysis then aimed at identifying common and differing patterns to get a deeper understanding of the processes at hand.

CASES SELECTION Three conditions helped select the cases. First, the two cases had to concern specific occupations whose members worked for the

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same overall organization but in dispersed local services. This first criterion made it likely that CoPs had emerged at the local level. In both cases, members from the same local service interacted daily, exhibited close work activities, cooperated on some projects, and mutually experienced the building of a joint history. According to the second condition, before the implementation of the intranet, these remote local teams, in both cases, had no experience of sustained relationships or communications. Members from dispersed teams did not meet or talk over the phone on a regular basis. This second condition made it probable that no NoP preexisted the intranet. This second condition presumed that an NoP only exists if its members are at least partially aware of it and if they exchange knowledge or practices throughout the network. Third, agents from the two cases had to have been using the intranet system for at least 2 years. This third condition ensured that most agents could have become familiar with the intranet. Also, it made it possible to review midterm processes. As NoPs supposedly connect numerous local communities, it was likely that processes of emergence of such NoPs would take time.

The combination of these three conditions does not allow me to conclude from the empirical observations that the use of the intranet had actually created the NoP. Rather, consistent with the structurationist perspective, it allows for the exploration of complex processes of reproduction or transformation of social-structural properties with the gradual appropriations of new technologies.

Data collection and analysis aimed at identifying the processes that concerned the connection among local communities and the appearance of an NoP. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Each case relied on 20 semistructured interviews (denoted as personal communications). The selection of respondents attempted to represent agents’ diversity in terms of length of service, localization, and specialization. Interviews aimed at understanding agents’ daily environment, actions, and sense of belonging to diverse occupational groupings. Interviewees also described their use and perceptions of the intranet dedicated to their work

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group and recounted how their use may have changed over time and affected their work habits and communications with colleagues.

Moreover, two focus groups (one for each case) also took place to determine if the processes that characterize CoPs are fundamentally social. Focus groups consisted of 3-hour meetings with five colleagues, who belonged to the same organization and achieved similar tasks, from different local CoPs. Respondents discussed their use of the intranet and talked about recent changes in their occupation. Open-ended, follow-up questions served as back up if the discussion extinguished, which seldom occurred. Repeated visits on site also allowed for instructive, informal conversations with key informants. These discussions proved invaluable to getting a more longitudinal perspective on the cases. Finally, the intranet sites specifically dedicated to CoPs were also browsed. Table 1 summarizes the collected data.

To extract proper interpretations from these rich but bulky qualitative data and to relate empirical observations to the theoretical account of CoPs (Klein & Myers, 1999; Miles & Huberman, 1984; Yin, 1989), monographs were written. Then, the main conceptual dimensions were applied and compared to empirical investigations. Analyses developed from a two-fold comparison: between cases and between cases and theory.

CASES DESCRIPTIONS THE BF CASE About 2,500 buyers dealt with orders from the local agencies and headquarters of a public transportation company, Fasty,1 and relationships with multiple suppliers for routine or exceptional supplies. Buyers worked in local services of about 15 to 20 people and in the headquarters of the company. Save for an annual meeting in the headquarters, in which they reviewed the previous year’s performance and previewed forthcoming challenges, buyers from different local entities did not usually meet.

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TABLE 1: Collected Data for the Case Studies What?

Interviews

Focus groups

Key informants Browsing of intranet

How?

Why?

Comprehend the perception and main use of the intranet and the work group for different employees. Observation of the main use of the intranet. Description of jobs and work environment.

3-hour meetings with about five respondents (colleagues from Get a view of the social dimension of use of the intranet and of the dynamics of CoPs. Processes experienced by different different groups but similar tasks). Informal discussion and groups accounted for thanks to the confrontation of and semistructured meeting guide. Entirely recorded and discussion among different members. transcribed.

Repeated visits to sites. Privileged relations with specific Selection of respondents for interviews and focus groups. members of CoPs. Lengthy discussions that put processes in perspective.

Browsing of dedicated intranet on site, most of the time in Knowledge of the structure and content of the site. Underpresence of a member of a local CoP. standing of the perception of the intranet by members of COPs. 20 interviews for each case. Semistructured, recorded, transcribed. Maximal diversity of respondents (length of service, localization, jobs).

NOTE: CoPs = communities of practice.

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Until 1985, the supply process was entirely achieved at the local level. Buyers collected orders from the different services of their local offices, and transmitted them to their closest, geographically, suppliers. In 1985, the buyers’ head management at the national level decided to take advantage of a new available technology, called minitel. Minitel was a nationwide proprietary network that made it possible to exchange basic information among all local services. Minitel offered a list of the most common supplies (about 50% of the goods buyers usually dealt with) and helped aggregate the ordering of some of these supplies to the least-expensive suppliers. However, because the minitel system was not user-friendly, many buyers did not know how to integrate it into their daily practices. Moreover, the system was very fastidious to update; its listing was not exhaustive or up-to-date.

In 1996, the minitel system migrated to an intranet system. The intranet comprised an expanded catalog of supplies (85% of stock) and, thanks to a dynamic database, prices and specifications of goods were automatically updated. Based on the browser system, the intranet was also very user-friendly; most buyers spontaneously knew how to use it. From 1996 to 1998, not all local services had access to the intranet, so for 2 years the minitel and the intranet systems were simultaneously used.

Buyers and their internal clients used the various intranet applications in the process of procurement. Clients had access to the catalog of supplies. They chose among supplies and filled out a form.

Clients could still order their supplies in the traditional way (calling buyers on the phone to order supplies and then sending a fax of confirmation), but in about 3 years, this traditional way was virtually abandoned. Clients ordered most of their supplies online. Local suppliers received the order form via e-mail. Orders were then aggregated beyond the local level. The high volume of orders made it possible for buyers to negotiate with suppliers. The new deals made the prices of supplies drop (about 5% for most items) and led to less expensive and faster shipments.

In 1999, a new application made it possible for buyers and their clients to track the shipment of orders. Clients highly appreciated this application for it gave them direct access to information regarding their shipment and informed them of potential problems.

Buyers valued the professionalism this feature provided them, but

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they sometimes resented this application for leading to excessive transparency. Because the purchasing process had become highly visible, they felt they could be blamed for any delay in shipment.

Other folders and applications were gradually integrated in the system. A home page presenting the mission statement of buyers in the company and its organizational and geographical structure introduced the site. A forum provided tools for buyers to exchange views on their occupation and current problems. Only buyers and their managers could access the forum. However, contributions (i.e., questions and answers) remained scarce: Buyers feared that if they contributed too much to the forum, their superiors would think that they were wasting their time. On the other hand, another application gained immediate popularity: the frequently asked questions (FAQ) folder. Via e-mail, buyers sent questions regarding changes or new offerings in the human resources policy or new strategic orientations of their occupation to their headquarters.

Employees from headquarters posted officially ratified answers to topical issues. The FAQ, which was automatically updated, was frequently used and highly praised by buyers. The intranet also offered a training application. Newcomers frequently used the application to become acquainted with buyers’ main activities and with details of the ordering and shipping processes. Finally, in 2001, a new extranet system was implemented. It connected buyers with about 10 of their most common suppliers and made it possible to automatically check information regarding the availability and prices of supplies and to send orders directly to suppliers (without recourse to phone, fax, and regular mail). Table 2 summarizes the information about BF’s intranet.

THE EH CASE About 1,500 EH professionals from a governmental health agency worked in local services of 15 to 20 agents. These units were composed of 1 professional manager (an EH engineer), about 5 other EH engineers, and about 10 EH technicians. These professionals dealt with issues related to the application of environmental law (e.g., pollution levels in the air or in drinkable or pool water).

They checked whether new regulations were being applied in their

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TABLE 2: Buyers’s Fasty Intranet Downloaded from mcq.sagepub.com by Giorgio Bertini on October 13, 2010

Intranet Page/Application Homepage Repertory Catalog and price index Ordering forms Tracking system Link to an extranet system Forum Frequently asked questions

Content Mission statement and objectives of the buyers’ occupation Index of all names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of buyers Listing of 85% of the most frequently bought supplies Forms to be sent electronically to order new supplies Application that tracks the state of the ordering process and the probable date of delivery Direct orders from Fasty buyers to some of their main suppliers Free contributions on various occupational topics Questions and validated answers on occupational topics

Availability Fasty employees

Uses

Buyers and their internal clients

By Fasty employees other than buyers Fasty employees, especially buyers Buyers and their internal clients

Buyers and their internal clients

Buyers and their internal clients

Buyers and their internal clients

Buyers and their internal clients

Buyers and their suppliers

Buyers and their suppliers

Buyers and their managers Buyers and their managers

Seldom used Used by buyers

Fasty employees

NOTE: The pseudonym Fasty is used to preserve the confidentiality of the real organization.

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geographical area of operation and controlled public facilities, restaurants, pools, and so forth. They were also in charge of alerting the public when pollution levels in the air were reached or when sanitary problems arose, such as local cases of meningitis and salmonella. Members of local units met quarterly at the regional level and managers of local services met once a year at EH’s headquarters.

Members of local services complained that they lacked opportunities to exchange thoughts on their occupational practices and to get information on specific projects (e.g., new local media campaigns and public health emergencies) that other services could have undertaken. In the late 1980s to the beginning of the 1990s, Marc,2 the manager of a local service, proposed the creation of a paper-based newsmagazine dedicated to these occupational issues.

To get the financial backup and logistical resources to create the journal, Marc had to convince various committees from the headquarters of the governmental agency. Because of the bureaucratic organization of the agency, it took a few years for the project to be officially validated. In 1995, when the project obtained its final approval, its very nature had changed: An electronic version of the project was to be carried out. More specifically, in 1995, the governmental agency started implementing intranet systems. Marc, therefore, created an occupational intranet, Enviro, aimed at publishing legal information as well as concrete experiences from local teams. Enviro became available in late 1996 and the beginning of 1997.

Marc became the Webmaster of the intranet. He worked with two assistants, previously an EH engineer and a technician, who were acquainted with the idiosyncrasies of the occupation. The Web team worked in a local service. This location in a local service rather than in the headquarters made EH professionals feel that Enviro was their tool and not just a token measure from the official headquarters. EH professionals, therefore, soon adopted the intranet. They frequently browsed and actively contributed to it by sending Marc narrations of specific projects or experiences. The database of occupational experiences soon comprised more than 2,500 entries that could be accessed directly or through a search engine.

The downside of this was that updating was a fastidious and lengthy process. Until the very beginning of 2003, there was no

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Vaast / INTRANET CONNECTIONS 23

local server for Enviro. New contents for the intranet were thus burned on a CD-ROM that was eventually sent to the IT department of the headquarters to be put online. Updates and enrichments of the intranet occurred only on a monthly basis, which limited the interest in the intranet in cases of public health emergencies.

All agents who worked for the governmental agency could browse all folders and applications of Enviro. Enviro became known throughout the agency as the only occupational intranet.

Other existing intranet sites posted official information regarding specific departments (e.g., department of hospitals, department of human resources, etc.), but they did not present occupational materials to be integrated into daily work activities. The EH profession gained greater visibility throughout the agency thanks to the availability and reputation of Enviro, and its members highly praised the positive image they considered Enviro provided their profession.

When they wanted to get new information on unusual topics, however, they sent an e-mail to all or some of their colleagues rather than putting a question on the EH forum from the intranet. The email system was more private and favored faster exchanges on a topic. Once the topic had been examined at length and a professionally validated answer had been given to a question, Marc usually integrated it as a new entry in the database.

The intranet comprised a home page with a link to a page dedicated to the mission statement and objectives of the EH profession.

In addition to the occupational experience database and the forum, Enviro also provided an exhaustive repertory of EH engineers and technicians and a database of EH-related laws and regulations.

Table 3 summarizes the information about EH’s intranet.

FROM COPS TO NOPS WITH INTRANET USE This section presents how, in the BF and EH cases, members of local CoPs used their intranet in ways that contributed to the emergence of an NoP. It then explores which conditions supported this emergence and investigates the building of complementarity between the community and network levels. Finally, it extends the situatedness of CoPs in a relational perspective.

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24 TABLE 3: Environmental Health’s Intranet Downloaded from mcq.sagepub.com by Giorgio Bertini on October 13, 2010

Intranet Page/Application Homepage Repertory Law and regulation database Experiences database Forum Link to the e-mail system

Content Mission statement, official objectives, and organization of the EH profession Listing of the areas of expertise, address, phone number, and e-mail address of all EH agents Access to all laws and regulations (that emanate from national and EU institutions) concerning EH Entries of more than 2,500 specific experiences encountered by EH agents on various topics Questions and answers on various topics of occupational interest Link to the mailbox of the browsing ministerial agent

Availability

Uses

All agents from the ministry

Used by ministerial agents

All agents from the ministry

Frequently used by EH professionals

All agents from the ministry

Frequently used by EH professionals

All agents from the ministry

Frequently used by EH professionals

All agents from the ministry

Seldom used—scarce contributions

All agents from the ministry

Used by EH professionals to post questions to their colleagues

NOTE: The pseudonym EH is used to preserve the confidentiality of the real organization. EH = Environmental Health.

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EMERGENCE OF NOPS FROM THE USE OF INTRANETS In the two case studies, the use of the intranet extended the three features that characterize CoPs from the local communitarian level to a broader level. The stretching of these features made members of various local CoPs feel that they shared practices and identity and contributed to the emergence of an NoP. According to Wenger (1998) (cf. The Three Defining Features and Two Foundations of CoPs section), mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire constitute the three defining features of CoPs. Observations from the cases suggested that the use of the intranet extended these three features from the local to the network level. First, people who belong to a CoP engage in actions whose meaning is mutually negotiated. An occupational intranet system frequently contains databases with reports or narrations on actions accomplished by people who share the same occupation and deal with close issues even though they are not colocated. The use of such intranets makes distant colleagues aware of their mutual engagement in a common activity. For instance, members of local services from the EH case worked to promote the enforcement of EH legislation in their regional zone. Exactly how they enforced these laws depended on their local context (i.e., specific needs in the geographic area, what should be the focus of communication plans, and so forth). In all local services, however, agents had to accomplish the same kinds of activities. In the EH case, as agents contributed to and browsed the experiential database, they gained a sense that they were mutually engaged with colleagues beyond their local service.

The experiential folder, it’s so good for us. You know, we used to rely only on what a colleague from the same service would do when faced with a particular problem. Now, we have access to what the other ones from EH are doing. And they deal with the same issues as we do, even though we do not meet them. (Ghislain, EH engineer, personal communication, January 25, 2000)

In the BF case, too, the use of the intranet contributed to the stretching of mutual engagement.

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Look, with the intranet, it’s not just that we are more efficient, it is also that we are more numerous. Put it simply, we are something like 2,000 buyers to deal with supplies at [Fasty]. That’s a lot. (Eric, BF buyer, personal communication, November 21, 1999)

In their own words, Ghislain and Eric expressed that their use of the intranet made them aware of their mutual engagement with colleagues beyond their immediate work environment.

Second, the use of the intranet may also create a sense of joint enterprise that goes beyond local CoPs. An intranet system makes it possible for geographically remote groups to exchange information on what they are doing and why they are doing it and to get connected to a network unified by joint enterprise. In the BF case, for instance, buyers from all local services aggregated their local orders on a national base, which provided them with a sense of their joint enterprise that exceeded the communitarian level.

With the intranet, our occupation has really been taken at another level. We are not just dealing with local supplies anymore, but our orders are put together on a national basis. Our job is halfway local, halfway national. (Lilian, BF buyer, personal communication, December 21, 1999)

In the EH case, the use of the intranet did not change the scale of activities of local agents (local agents still dealt mainly with local concerns). However, it made these agents aware that geographically remote colleagues shared their concerns and acted in close ways. This also contributed to the emergence of a sense of joint enterprise connecting local EH services.

Enviro, I think, is especially valued by EH engineers and technicians because it made them attentive to their sharing activities beyond distance. They felt more supported. (Marc, founder of the EH intranet, personal communication, January 25, 2000)

Third, an intranet may also present folders and applications that provide a shared repertoire jointly constituted by local CoPs. Such a common repository on the intranet takes an explicit and concrete form (e.g., the mission statement on the home page and the repertory of all members of the occupation throughout the organization).

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Members of local CoPs appropriate the repository from the intranet and combine it with their own more local, implicit, and intangible repository (e.g., socialization rituals and work routines). In the EH case, the experiential folder indexed multiple experiences. Also, EH professionals could refer to the exhaustive repertory to contact colleagues who had authored these narrations.

I have access to experiences from everywhere. . . . If I want, also, I can contact the one who has written the experience to get more details. It is good to know that we have these pieces of information at hand. (Gaelle, EH technician, personal communication, February 28, 2000)

In the BF case, the catalog of supplies constituted a reliable reference for buyers and their clients. This common repertoire made buyers more efficient in their work because the database was dynamically updated and they could negotiate better prices with suppliers.

In the two cases, the use of the intranet favored the emergence of the three defining features of CoPs (i.e., mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire) at the level of the network connecting local CoPs. The emergence of such an NoP also came with the extension of shared identity and practice from the local communitarian level to the overall network level.

Regarding identity, the availability of an intranet dedicated to a specific occupation favors identification processes thanks to internal and external recognition of work achieved by these professionals. The use of the intranet may then support Dutton et al.’s (1994) two main dimensions of identity: the internal image (who one believes oneself to be) and the external image (how one thinks others see her or him). In the BF case, for instance, using the intranet nurtured the buyers’sense that they shared common goals and close competencies not only servicewide, but nationwide.

We are all buyers for [Fasty]. You can work in the North, South, anywhere, if you’re a buyer from this company, there are things that you just know and that make you a good professional. When you browse the intranet, it becomes even more obvious. (Lilian, BF buyer, personal communication, December 21, 1999)

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Identification processes at the network level also come from the external recognition that members of the occupation consider the intranet provides them. This was especially exemplified in the EH case: The intranet made the EH occupation more visible throughout the governmental agency, whose long-established bureaucratic structure had not favored the recognition of specific occupations.

EH professionals considered that their occupation had become much more recognized by all agents in the governmental agency thanks to the availability of the intranet. Note that observations from the case did not determine whether agents other than EH professionals actually valued the EH profession more than they used to. What was significant, nevertheless, was the change in the external image that EH members themselves associated with their profession.

Enviro has been especially good because it has made the others from the [governmental agency] aware that we existed, first of all (laughs). . . . And, also, that what we did was important, concerned topical issues, and that we had specific significant competences.

(Edouard, EH engineer, personal communication, February 9, 2000)

The use of the intranet also makes it possible for members of geographically dispersed CoPs to share work practices, whether part of their job is accomplished online. In the BF case, the use of the intranet became an integral part of buyers’ daily work. Buyers received e-mail orders that had been downloaded from the intranet by their clients, and they processed the orders by aggregating local demands at the regional and national levels. This application of the intranet transformed actual work practices of individual buyers and gave a national dimension to their job as orders were now aggregated at the national level. Part of their job was to relate with their remote colleagues to get the best conditions in ordering.

In the EH case, the use of the intranet was not directly integrated in the job, but it informed actual work practices and contributed to the emergence of a common practice at the NoP level. The experiential database, in particular, constituted a resource that all members of local services shared. Agents accessed work experiences from remote locations, and they found inspiration to solve their own concerns by knowing the practices of their colleagues.

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WHAT FAVORED THE EMERGENCE OF THE NOP? A COMBINATION OF OCCUPATIONAL INITIATIVES, OFFICIAL LEGITIMATION, AND TECHNICAL FLEXIBILITY In both cases, the combination of three conditions seemed to have facilitated the links among CoPs and the appearance of an NoP: occupational initiatives, official legitimation, and technical flexibility.

First, CoPs and NoPs are based on the sharing of work practices and identities. In the two cases, members of actual CoPs had launched the intranet project, and the management of the intranet remained mainly in the hands of the professionals themselves. This contributed to the appropriation of the intranet as a work tool and to its consideration as contributing to the recognition of the profession at the level of the overall organization and not just of local services.

Enviro is our intranet. Marc launched it from a local service, and this meant a lot. It signified that the intranet was not controlled by Paris [i.e., by the official headquarters of the governmental agency], but, on the contrary, that it was a truly professional intranet. Something for us and by us. (Marie, EH engineer, personal communication, February 14, 2000)

Also, as members of the occupation managed and contributed to the intranet, the latter contained folders and applications that were of direct use in daily work practices. The application that aggregated orders on the BF intranet, in particular, fit the specific needs of buyers’ practice and made them feel they were becoming better professionals.

Although occupational initiatives and leadership in the intranet project seemed a necessary condition to ensure its appropriation by members of the CoPs, they did not warrant the resources to sustain and develop the intranet over time. A second condition contributed to the success of the intranet project and the subsequent emergence of an NoP: the official validation and support of the intranet project.

In the two cases, the official management of the host organizations authorized and funded the intranet projects. Official approval and

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resources gave the Webmasters room and legitimation to enrich the intranet.

[The headquarters] have always been supportive of BF intranet.

Imagine, they released me of my functions of manager of a service and gave me the budget to build a team for the intranet. Money is tight, as usual, but we’ve been pretty lucky with this support. (JeanPierre, Webmaster of the BF intranet, personal communication, December 21, 1999)

The official validation also ensured that the intranet project could go beyond its local origin and reach virtually all groups of professionals regardless of their location. The absence of official authorization and logistical supplies would have made it much more difficult for the intranet to gain its visibility among professionals and throughout the host organization.

Our team is not located in [the headquarters], but as the [governmental agency] had authorized the project and, to some extent, provided means to achieve it, the site has very easily found its way in most local services. (Marc, founder and Webmaster of the EH intranet, personal communication, January 25, 2000)

Yet, these two favorable circumstances could not ensure that the site would actually work. A third important condition concerned technology. Indeed, the intranet technology provided a very userfriendly environment and a highly flexible technological platform.

Professionals from both cases acknowledged and valued such userfriendliness because the use of new technologies had not previously been part of their work routines.

I know how to use the intranet. I almost always find the information I am looking for. That’s another good thing about Enviro. And I’m telling you, technophobe as I used to be, if I can browse the intranet, anybody can. (Marie-Pierre, EH engineer, personal communication, February 3, 2000)

Also, user-friendliness of the intranet contributed to professionals’ perception of the intranet as a tool designed by and for them, which, in turn, favored their actual appropriation of the intranet.

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Fasty is not pure technology. It is technology for us, technology to help us offer a better service. (Jean-Jacques, BF buyer, personal communication, January 31, 2000)

The second feature of the intranet technology (i.e., a flexible technological platform) made it possible to upgrade the site continuously and to adapt to the needs of local communities and the overall network. On the other hand, the EH case exemplified the importance of the technological dimension. The lack of direct access to the intranet server rendered the updating and upgrading of Enviro especially laborious and lengthy. Therefore, to deal with an especially topical and urgent issue (e.g., in case of sanitarian crises such as the embargo related to the Creutzfeld-Jakob disease), Marc could not rely on the intranet, so he had to send a collective e-mail to the managers of local services, hoping that the message would be relayed to all members of these services.

In the BF case, on the other hand, the intranet became gradually more sophisticated and more in line with the needs of the overall profession of buyers in the company. At first, the intranet merely contained the same listing of supplies as the minitel. Then, the implementation of a dynamic database ensured that a more exhaustive and up-to-date catalog of supplies was online. Then, the electronic, automatic order form simplified, quickened, and made the ordering process more efficient. Finally, the intranet was connected to an extranet system with the biggest suppliers.

In short, the combination of these three auspicious conditions (i.e., occupational initiative and management, official legitimation, and suitable technology) contributed to the appropriation of the intranet by individual professionals and favored the emergence of a network of practice connecting local CoPs. INTERDEPENDENCIES AND TENSIONS WITH THE USE OF THE INTRANET In the two cases, the use of the intranet favored growing interdependencies between the local and network levels. Agents learned to obtain resources from the overall network and their local communi-

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ties, according to their specific needs, and to combine these resources in their actual work practices. For instance, in the EH case, the experiential data basis soon constituted a trusted reservoir of experiences narrated by experts located throughout the network.

These network experts provided their experiences online and could be reached via telephone or e-mail. Agents had recourse to these experiences and to network experts when they had to deal with unusual issues (e.g., media planning for new audiences such as schools). Simultaneously, they continued to appeal to their closest colleagues, with whom they directly interacted daily, to get answers on routine issues. The use of the intranet combined with direct socialization processes made local and network experts complement each other according to specific needs.

When I face an arduous problem, now I ask my colleagues around.

Just as I used to do. But there are some issues that are new to us and might not be so new to other colleagues from other services. On the intranet, we find information on any subject. I got to know things and people from any part of the territory, and this helps me deal with most unusual issues. (Jean, EH technician, personal communication, February 10, 2000)

Also, local experts turned into network experts as they increasingly put some of their experiences online. Overall, the use of the intranet and direct interactions made EH agents know more experts on a greater variety of subjects. They also had access to their experiences and could have exchanges with them. The community and the network levels became more and more connected as agents had spontaneous recourse to their local communities and to their network to find answers to issues of professional concern. NoPs and CoPs interconnected as they met the complementary needs of their members, which helped them become better professionals. More precisely, members of CoPs and NoPs considered themselves better professionals when they combined resources from both levels to accomplish their work.

My colleagues in the service, the intranet, anything, as long as it gives me the answers to deal with my work. (Jean, EH technician, personal communication, February 10, 2000)

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Socialization and learning processes of newcomers in local communities also exhibited this interplay between the community and network level. Socialization processes of “peripheral participants” that help them become native in their new work environment and knowledgeable of the meaning of the actions that are expected from them have long been presented as key features of CoPs (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The implementation and use of the intranet, in our two cases, transformed these socialization processes. In particular, newcomers in local CoPs were usually already familiar with Web technologies and easily learned how to browse their new occupational intranet. They remained unaccustomed to the specificities of their new job and had to learn many tricks of the trade from oldtimers. Old-timers taught them how to deal with daily issues and made them aware of some of the official and informal expectations of their jobs. Old-timers, on the other hand, had usually worked for a long time without the intranet. They, therefore, did not feel the desire to learn how to use the intranet and were not spontaneously aware of its contents. Newcomers and old-timers thus complemented each other: Old-timers learned how to use the intranet from newcomers, and newcomers became cognizant of the specificities of their new job thanks to the old-timers.

Since I’ve been here I’ve used the intranet. It’s very useful. Funny, though, because not all my colleagues used it a lot before I arrived.

You know, they were doing their job pretty well without the intranet. . . . My colleagues have helped me a lot understanding this crazy, complex structure that we have at [Fasty]. I’ve also showed them a few shortcuts to the intranet. (Dominique, BF, personal communication, March 3, 2000)

The use of the intranet, therefore, was integrated into the socialization processes of newcomers. At the level of a CoP, the power dynamic between newcomers and old-timers shifted with the use of the intranet. In the two cases, these changes came with increased collaboration and alignment between these two groups.

Nevertheless, the use of the intranet came with tensions and latent uneasiness as the intranet increased the visibility of the CoPs and the NoP. The availability of the intranet gave transparency to some processes that professionals once kept to themselves. Mem-

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bers of CoPs and the NoP feared that part of their use of the intranet could be considered by others (i.e., their peers, their hierarchy, and other, more remote, colleagues) as unprofessional. In both cases, the pressure associated with increasing visibility of the communities and the network was especially discernible in the lack of use and contributions to the forum. Professionals feared that their peers would consider them less competent if they posted obvious questions. They also expected suspicion from their management if they spent too much time online (as opposed to directly on the job) asking questions or contributing to the intranet. The forum constituted an application whose inherent transparency made professionals anxious that they would not be perceived as professionals if they used it too much.

On the other hand, such transparency also made it possible for network experts to emerge and become valued as experts at the national level. Therefore, professionals and the Webmaster teams had to find a balance between the positively expected and the negatively resented incidences of increasing transparency. In the BF case, the Webmaster solved this dilemma by implementing access rights and several security levels on the intranet. The flexibility of the intranet technology gave the Webmaster the ability to differentiate between audiences on the intranet and to ensure that only authorized users accessed private parts of the intranet, such as the FAQs. Also, the ordering application was available to all buyers, but clients could only track orders that concerned them, which gave an additional sense of professionalism to the intranet. In the EH case, the technology in use was less sophisticated, and all ministerial agents had access to all parts of the intranet. To reintroduce privacy to the professional network, the intranet Webmaster had recourse to the e-mail system rather than the intranet. He sent emails to collect data on new subjects and aggregated the most reliable answers on the intranet.

IT IS ALL RELATED: REDEFINING SITUATEDNESS Conceptually, the emergence of NoPs through the use of intranets by members of local CoPs leads us to reconsider the situatedness of practice. This discussion is summarized in Figure 1 and

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Individual agents

Community of practice

Network of practice

Figure 1: Connecting Agents, Communities of Practice and a Network of Practice

Table 4. It shows that the use of an intranet dislocates what is local.

It contends that situatedness is relational and discusses what is shared in extended contexts through the use of intranets.

Our two case studies suggest that the use of intranets contributed to the extension of what agents considered their context of work beyond their usual local setting. The recurrent use of the intranet enforced a sense of joint enterprise, provided a reservoir of best practices and tools, and, through this, supported an alignment of practices and identities beyond local communities. The use of the intranet thus extended what agents defined as their work environment. It dislocated features of organizational life that were once restricted to the local environment. Of course, agents still relied on face-to-face interactions with their geographically close colleagues. Moreover, their actions still took into account the idiosyncrasies of their local environment. With the use of the intranet, however, agents also had access to resources beyond their immediate material setting and reached remote experts whose knowledge was relevant to their specific concerns. The use of the intranet created a sense of proximity beyond geographical distance and made agents more aware of how close their practices were to those of their distant peers. Through the use of the intranet, the sense of locality of work gained partial autonomy from the immediate material context of daily activities and face-to-face interactions.

This finding of the extension of what is local echoes previous findings that situatedness is relational (Carlile, 2002; Latour, 1996).

Sharing at the network level is not confined to settings in which agents actually work together. Rather, it comes from knowing that peers work on the same issues and can provide insights on these

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36 TABLE 4: Relations Among CoPs, the NoP, and the Use of Intranets Downloaded from mcq.sagepub.com by Giorgio Bertini on October 13, 2010

Item Mutual engagement Joint enterprise Common repository Practice Identity

CoP Recognition of the engagement in close tasks through direct interactions Common goals and duties expressed in repeated interactions Material and more symbolic resources; enacted in interactions and daily work Recurrent and materially bounded work activities Internal and external image in the proximate setting

NOTE: CoPs = communities of practice. NoP = network of practice.

Agents Use of the Intranet Awareness of the presence of peers beyond local settings Contents of the intranet reaffirm the joint enterprise Constant access to multiple resources and experts via direct or indirect relationships Agents rely on immediate and electronic resources to develop their practices Identity at work developed with relationships and practices

NoP Extension of the recognition of mutual engagement; visibility of close tasks Remote colleagues exchange thoughts on their actions and objectives The intranet provides electronic resources that make sense to members of the NoP Transformation of daily work activities; greater visibility of practice Internal and external image: visibility of the overall network through the intranet

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issues. The notions of CoPs and NoPs appear relational. To be connected, members of different local communities do not have to work together, interact directly, or collaborate, per se, on joint activities. Of course, it is easier for agents who are colocated to relate to each other, exchange knowledge, and get a sense of what the others do. By extending what is local, however, the use of ICTs makes it possible for remote colleagues to get connected despite geographical distance.

In this relational view, both CoPs and NoPs consist of the relationships among their members. The links among members of CoPs or NoPs may be more or less dense and strong, but the insights provided by the two case studies suggested that NoPs and CoPs possess the same features and are based on the same two foundations. Moreover, both CoPs and NoPs emerge from the relationships among their members. Therefore, there does not seem to be any difference in nature between CoPs and NoPs. This relational common nature of CoPs and NoPs may be exemplified in the following situation. An old-timer from a local CoP who moves to another local CoP theoretically becomes a newcomer in this second CoP. Indeed, to become an insider in this new environment, he or she would have to learn the details of the material arrangements of work and meet and make do with new colleagues, subordinates, and bosses. He or she would, however, quickly adapt to the new situation faster than a complete newcomer in the CoP and NoP. He or she would take advantage of being an old-timer in the NoP and rely on previous practices and relationships to learn more quickly how to perform in the new community.

This relational perspective on CoPs and NoPs sheds light on what is shared at the community and network levels through intranet use. Without restricting their reflections to settings of material and face-to-face encounters, advocates of the practice perspective insist on the local and situated dimension of practice (Bourdieu, 2000; De Certeau, 1980; Lave, 1988). ICTs cannot transfer the most implicit and intricate aspects of work. They only provide impoverished interpretations of local practices. Findings from the case studies (in line with the previously mentioned literature on the structuring of organizations with the use of new technologies) have, however, shown how members of local CoPs make sense of the resources provided by the technology. Agents recon-

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textualize them in their context of work. Members of CoPs and NoPs appropriate the intranet in ways that fit their activities. The same intranet would not make much sense if it was used by outsiders from the practice at hand. The intranet thus appears as an instrument for insiders (of the CoPs and, in a related way, the NoP).

Expressed in another way, in such a multilayered, relational context, through their reflexivity, identity, and experiences, individual agents create links between CoPs and NoPs. The relational view suggests an interesting three-way relationship between agents, communities, and the network. Agents connect communities and the network by using the intranet and by connecting themselves with some of their peers beyond their local environment. Agents who are densely related to each other at the level of local communities also get connected with remote colleagues who do not share the same material context but share practice and identity. A combination of strong and weak links connects CoPs and enacts the NoP. The use of the intranet and the NoP only make sense because situated agents and communities populate the network. On the other hand, the emergence of the NoP also contributes to the transformation of agents’practices and of relationships in local communities.

CONCLUSION This article pointed out an intriguing gap between the situated nature of CoPs and their interrelationships in NoPs whose remote members share occupational activities but do not interact regularly and do not experience the same work context. It then introduced intranet use as potentially favoring the emergence of such NoPs. This article considered that people appropriate new technologies in ways that do not merely reproduce their immediate context but rather contribute to the transformation of their work environment and sociability. It therefore aimed at understanding how the use of intranet systems may contribute to the emergence of NoPs given the situated dimension of local CoPs. The two case studies depicted how members of local CoPs used intranet systems, established relationships with remote colleagues, and transformed their work activities. It showed that the three dis-

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tinctive features of CoPs (mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and shared repertoire) were extended from the communitarian to the network level thanks to intranet use. Also, processes of identification and experiences of common practices expanded beyond the local level. Members of local CoPs started electronically interacting regularly with remote colleagues, found resources to achieve their activities from all parts of the networks, and prized the image of professionalism they considered the intranet provided them.

Three conditions combined and supported the emergence of the NoP in the two case studies. First, members of local CoPs implemented and still managed the intranet themselves. The intranet thus corresponded exactly to the needs of members of local CoPs and made it possible to establish links among them. Second, the official management of the host organization validated the project and provided material, organizational, and financial resources. Third, the intranet technology was user-friendly and highly flexible. It thus warranted that the system be appropriated by most professionals and be gradually transformed according to the changing needs of local CoPs and of the overall NoP. Managers hoping to encourage the emergence of NoPs should try to set a supportive context by combining these three conditions of occupational leadership of the project, official resources, and technological flexibility.

Conceptually, results of this article appeared consistent with a relational perspective. In this view, CoPs and NoPs arise from more or less dense and strong links among their members. Agents relate to each other directly and through electronically mediated communications. More specifically, NoPs emerge as members of different local CoPs start to communicate with each other and refer to a wider structure than their usual materially bounded work environment. The use of the intranet somewhat dislocates the situated dimension of work. In this way, it favors the emergence of links among CoPs and of the overall NoP. Finally, the use of the intranet creates an emergent complementarity between the local communitarian level and the network level. Local- and network-level experts complement each other: They offer support to unusual occupational problems and, in turn, receive the benefit of the recognition of their competencies beyond geographical distance. Further research could fruitfully deepen this observation by studying more precisely how, in their daily practice,

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40 MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION QUARTERLY / AUGUST 2004

agents interweave CoPs and NoPs and how this impacts work, socialization, and learning at the individual, communitarian, and network levels.

NOTES 1. To preserve the confidentiality of the cases, the real names of the two studied organizations in which investigations took place have been concealed.

2. To preserve the confidentiality of the people, their real names have been concealed.

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Emmanuelle Vaast (Ph.D., Ecole Polytechnique) is an assistant professor in management of information systems at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus. Her research interests include the situated practices of information technology, their role in the transformation of work environments, and their relationships with social representations of work. Her research has been published in Information Research and Systemes d’Information et Management.

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