This book shows business leaders how to develop successful online communities of practice in their organizations by describing the approach for organizing and supporting such communities used by Clarica Life Insurance Company in Canada--widely regarded as one of the best companies for managing knowledge under the direction of Hubert Saint-Onge. Saint-Onge has been recognized by Fortune magazine as a leader in the field of leveraging knowledge capital. He is responsible for integrating progressive knowledge-based strategies within Clarica's overall strategy. Communities of Practice are an integral part of Clarica's Knowledge Capital Initiative to increase intellectual capital through knowledge creation and sharing. Based on the success of a recent project to establish an online community of practice for Clarica's independent agents, this book combines theory and practice to outline a model for successfully developing communities of practice. The authors argue that by acknowledging the value of such communities (e.g., recognition of membership contribution, support for time commitment) and providing them with an infrastructure (e.g., communication platforms, facilitation, information resources), organizations can increase the speed at which communities innovate, extend the reach of the community's knowledge sharing, and provide an opportunity to make the community's knowledge persistent.

How can you build a successful community of practice that is integrally linked to your company's strategic vision? Learn from the first-hand experience of Hubert Saint-Onge, recognized by Fortune magazine as a leader in the field of knowledge capital, and co-author Debra Wallace, the people responsible for a recent project to establish a community of practice for independent agents at Clarica Life Insurance Company voted one of the most admired knowledge enterprises in the world by practitioners and researchers. 'Leveraging Communities of Practice for Strategic Advantage' combines theory and practice to outline a model for developing successful communities of practice and proposes a direction for establishing communities of practice as an integral part of the organizational structure. Saint-Onge and Wallace relate what worked, what didn't, and why as they tell the story from inception through implementation to assessment. Whether you're developing communities of practice or want to learn how to leverage existing communities for strategic gain, this book provides you with everything you need to launch successful communities of practice in your organization.