Study on the knowledge sharing of communities of practice based on the small-world network model

In view of the crucial importance of communities of practice (CoPs) for organizations, the aim of our study was to further explore how to cultivate and support them for organizations from the perspective of network structure. Based on the small-world network model, we developed a model about the knowledge sharing network of CoPs, proposed the concepts of knowledge sharing frequency and centralization of CoPs, addressed the relation with knowledge sharing of CoPs, and found knowledge sharing frequency and centralization of CoPs should keep in a moderate level. At last, according the results of our study, we provided some useful theoretical guidance for organizations to cultivate and support CoPs.