In less than two years, the founders' innovative model for addressing last-mile challenges in an online grocery retailing operation was working. Although still consuming cash, the three-month-old pilot expansion to another city was experiencing three-digit monthly sales growth. To date, the company had followed a philosophy of low-cost experimentation, as it explored terrain that had been inhospitable to its predecessors. But now Relay needed to make some changes in its operations strategy.

Although many organizations initiate communities of practice to drive performance and innovation, managers typically have little insight into their internal effectiveness and business impact. Offers network analytics, interventions, and metrics (both in terms of network connectivity and business outcomes) to improve and track the success of such community initiatives. Specifically, shows how social network analysis can help move a community from an ad hoc, informal group to a value-producing network by focusing on five critical levers: improving information flow and knowledge reuse; developing an ability to sense and respond to key problems or opportunities; driving planned and emergent innovation; nurturing value-creating interactions; and engaging employees through community efforts.