Investigating the Influence that Media Richness has on Learning in a Community of Practice

Abstract

This chapter explores the influence that rich media has on learning in a Community of Practice (CoP) at a large multi-billion dollar infrastructure project, the bridge between Sweden and Denmark. The findings show that an increase in the number of deviations from customer requirement was associated with an organizational change that impeded the community from communicating through face-to-face interaction. In turn, it is suggested that the CoP studied could not reduce equivocality through collaborative narratives because of the absence of rich media. Thus it is argued that rich media are essential for effective learning in Communities of Practice (CoPs). The author hopes that the understanding of how communication influences learning will assist managers, through providing an understanding of the central role that communication has on learning, and researchers, through introducing the concept of equivocality and media richness into the domain of CoPs.