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Despite increasing investment in building, supporting, and managing communities of practice (CoPs) that meet the strategic business needs of the organization, the literature indicates that little is known about strategic CoPs in organizational work settings. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among participants’ characteristics, perceptions, nature of involvement, and outcomes in CoPs which are highly structured for strategic purposes.Two strategic CoPs in an electric utility company that provides services in the United States were selected for this study. Multiple regression analyses of an online survey showed that participants’ perceptions were related to the nature of involvement in CoP. Level of involvement in CoP was shown to be related to participant outcomes, and time of involvement was shown to be related to learning from the CoP. Results of a qualitative content analysis of interviews with CoP leaders, coaches, and members assisted in interpreting the results of the quantitative data analysis and identified four CoP outcomes: gaining job-related information, solving problems at work, experiencing changes in affect, and communicating across the organization. Implications for future research and practice of CoPs in the HRD field were provided.

Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) is a phenomenon in which some individuals who experience trauma report positive development in various aspects of their lives that surpassed their pre-trauma level of functioning (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996; 2004). PTG has been investigated in various populations of trauma survivors, including people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) (Milam, 2002, 2004). Until this point, the research has only focused on PTG and its correlates as an outcome variable in PLWHA, however additional studies are needed to develop a better understanding of the process of PTG in PLWHA (Milam, 2006b). The current study examined the extent to which the theoretical precursors to PTG (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004) exist across PLWHA who report higher or lower levels of PTG. In addition, the current study attempted to address the gaps in the literature by exploring positive changes in PLWHA using a discernable theoretical framework (PTG; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), a standardized assessment of growth (Posttraumatic Growth Inventory [PTGI]; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), and a theoretically based qualitative methodology (grounded theory; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The current study also explored the process for developing PTG in PLWHA by comparing the differences in coping, quality of life, and meaning-making in PLWHA who report higher or lower levels of PTG. Results were based on a sample of PLWHA (N = 109) who completed questionnaires. Participants were screened into higher-PTG (n = 8) and lower-PTG (n = 8) groups based on PTGI total growth scores, and invited to complete semi-structured interviews. The results of this study indicated that there were few discernible differences in personal narratives between the higher- and lower-PTG groups. The participants from both higher- and lower-PTG groups met criteria for the precursors of PTG. During the interviews, participants from both higher- and lower-PTG groups reported factors of PTG in their daily lives and the number of lower-PTG participants who reported each factor was similar to the number of higher-PTG participants endorsing that particular factor. Therefore, the presence or absence of theoretical precursors to PTG, and the factors of PTG, in the participants’ self-reported narratives were not predicted by their scores on the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996). In addition to leading to some questions about PTG and the PTGI, the results of the current study demonstrate the challenges of data analysis in a mixed method design where there is a lack of convergence in the quantitative and qualitative data.

This mixed-methods study examined the experiences of professional school counselors trained at Transforming School Counseling Initiative (TSCI)-based programs and their ability to implement their graduate training principles (advocacy, leadership, counseling, teaming and collaboration, and data usage and assessment) throughout their professional practice. This mixed method study followed the sequential exploratory strategy design and was conducted in two phases; an initial qualitative phase and a subsequent quantitative phase. Interviews with TSCI-trained professional school counselors in their second year of practice were conducted to understand their experiences and to identify barriers and contributing factors to the implementation of the TSCI principles. The data from the first phase also served as the foundation for a quantitative electronically distributed survey to a snowball sample of TSCI-trained school counselors from six TSCI-based training programs. The survey collected data regarding participants’ self-perceived ability to implement the TSCI principles and a variety of variables drawn from the literature and this study’s survey data. Multiple regression analysis identified which factors positively and negatively contributed to the participants’ ability to implement the TSCI principles into professional practice. The qualitative data revealed that as new professionals, the participants experienced a professional identity crisis and a sense of isolation. Despite this, participants presented a variety of examples of ways in which they implemented the TSCI principles. However, participants were unable to describe how supervision helped them implement their graduate training. The qualitative data produced six multiple regression models predicting the implementation of each TSCI principle and the overall TSCI. The models contained a variety of independent variables; however, no model had an R-squared greater than 0.326. Of particular interest, was the repeated significance of predictors such as exposure to administrators during internship, age, and years of professional school counseling experience. The data encouraged school counselors to build professional alliances with politically valuable individuals and to establish strong support networks. For counselor educators, implications included the importance of promoting TSCI principles to experienced school counselors and improving induction and support mechanisms for new professionals. The implications for researchers included a need for research about the TSCI and its impact on student achievement.