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The fractal structure of communities of practice: Implications for business organization

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  • Emily Webber
  • Robin Dunbar

Abstract

Communities of practice (COP) are informal (sometimes formal) groupings of professionals with shared interests that form to facilitate the exchange of expertise and shared learning or to function as professional support networks. We analyse a dataset on the size of COPs and show that their distribution has a fractal structure similar to that found in huntergatherer social organisation and the structure of human personal social networks. Small communities up to about 40 in size can be managed democratically, but all larger communities require a leadership team structure. We show that frequency of interaction declines as size increases, as is the case in personal social networks. This suggests that professional work-oriented organisations may be subject to the same kinds of constraint imposed on human social organisation by the social brain. We discuss the implications for business management structure.

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  • Emily Webber & Robin Dunbar, 2020. "The fractal structure of communities of practice: Implications for business organization," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0232204
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232204
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    Cited by:

    1. Marcus J Hamilton & Robert S Walker & Briggs Buchanan & David S Sandeford, 2020. "Scaling human sociopolitical complexity," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, July.

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