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<font size=3>Whether a company is a community depends on how people use
it, not just its objective characteristics. You could also ask
about the difference between a company and a religion. <br><br>
Best, - Craig<br><br>
At 09:17 AM 12/13/2001 -0800, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Colleagues,<br><br>
I teach an MBA E-Commerce class. In the customary class on
online<br>
communities, we started off with a simple question- "What is the
difference<br>
between a (for-profit)company and a community?"<br><br>
This seemingly simple question tied us up into knots as we tried to
identify<br>
attributes that distinguished the two. The ones we did come up
with<br>
included contractual vs. voluntary membership, rigid vs. loose<br>
organizational structure, paid vs. unpaid participants etc. I think
you see<br>
where I am going.<br><br>
At the end of the discussion, one student(who has a Ph.D in biology)
said-<br>
"Isn't community an all-encompassing construct? Can it not be argued
that a<br>
company is really a type of community?" While I respected his
comments, it<br>
really underscored the need to understand this better.<br><br>
I know community is a construct that is backed by decades of
research. I<br>
have seen some of the seminal works- but perhaps, not all.<br><br>
How would you answer the basic question I started out with?<br><br>
<br><br>
Best,<br>
Sandeep<br><br>
---<br>
Visit my Thought<br>
Central-http://faculty.washington.edu/sandeep/blog/blogger.html<br><br>
<br>
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</blockquote>
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* * * * Craig Stroupe / Assistant Professor / University of Minnesota Duluth / Department of Composition / 1201 Ordean Court # 420/ Duluth, MN 55812 / 218-726-6249 / fax 218-726-8228 / <<a href="http://www.d.umn.edu/~cstroupe" eudora="autourl">http://www.d.umn.edu/~cstroupe</a>> * * * * </font></html>