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

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 4; p. e0232204
• Main Authors: Webber, Emily, Dunbar, Robin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 29.04.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Biology and Life Sciences; Business administration; Communities of practice; Company structure; Computer and Information Sciences; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Fractals; Hypotheses; Leadership; Meetings; Physical Sciences; Research and Analysis Methods; Social interactions; Social networks; Social organization; Social Sciences; Structure (Literature); United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; England
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232204

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.