Connecting professional development and corporate strategy
The CoP builds value by connecting the personal development and also the professional identities of the practitioners to the strategy of the organisation. The successful ones usually deliver values to the community as well as the organisation. If the benefits of participation are not made clear to the members of the community then that community will not thrive because the members will not be encouraged to get themselves involved. In the same way, if the community's value importance is not understood as a whole then it becomes difficult to justify the investing resources in the community and also to legitimise its voice. The capability to combine the requirements of the needs of the organisation and the community members is important in the knowledge economy so that the companies succeed by completely engaging the creativity of the employees. The multiple and complex ways in which the communities continue to deliver the value to both the members and the organisations is the reason why it is fast becoming a central part of the management agenda.