Social network theory has produced conflicting results regarding the link between different social network structures-bridging versus bonding-and idea generation. To address this conundrum, we ...conduct a naturally occurring quasi-experiment of 126 open and 108 closed groups within an Enterprise Social Media (ESM) system of a multinational enterprise. Our findings show that idea generation occurs when the type of social network structure-bridging or bonding-is matched to a group's openness or closedness, respectively. We further show that the reverse is counterproductive: when closed groups display bridging ties and open groups display bonding ties, idea generation is significantly undermined. Theoretically, these findings clarify the conditions and mechanisms by which both bridging and bonding can result in idea generation and provide a deeper understanding of the use of ESM for idea generation. Practically, our findings provide valuable and actionable insights regarding the use of ESM for idea generation in groups.
Effective workgroups engage in team boundary spanning, that is, using communication ties as conduits to critical external resources. The proliferation of enterprise social media (ESM) and the ...associated increase in visibility of people, content, and interactions, has resulted in a widespread assumption that unlimited visibility improves boundary spanning. Consequently, the ESM literature has generally ignored the sentry functions of teams and failed to examine the possible strategic nature of visibility choices by ESM groups. Using log and content data from 655 ESM-based workgroups at a multinational enterprise, we contribute a deeper understanding of the distinct ways that ESM visibility-bounded or unbounded-is leveraged strategically to evoke diverse network structures, which in turn have implications for distinct boundary-spanning activities. Practically, these findings show that ESM present a unique opportunity for workgroups to simultaneously sustain multiple virtual spaces-with varying levels of visibility-through which they can manage their diverse boundary-spanning goals.
Transparency—the observability of activities, behaviors, and performance—is often treated as a panacea
for modern management. Yet there is a conundrum in the literature, with some studies suggesting ...that
transparency may benefit group creativity and others suggesting that privacy may do so. A similar
conundrum exists regarding the effects of different social capital types—structural holes vs. network
cohesion—on group creativity. Enterprise social media (ESM) provide a unique opportunity to solve these
conundrums by allowing groups to be “transparent” (non-group members can observe and/or participate
in group activities) or “private” (group members and activities are hidden from the community) and
enabling groups to develop distinct social capital structures. Using data from 28,083 written interactions
produced by 109 transparent and 106 private groups in an ESM of a multinational design firm, we found
strong support for our contingency hypotheses that both transparent and private groups may produce high
levels of creative dialogues, yet in different forms. Specifically, expansion-focused creative dialogues—
those focused on combining or expanding existing concepts—emerge in transparent groups, but only
when the group’s social capital is characterized by structural holes. Conversely, we found that reframingfocused dialogues—those focused on challenging and rethinking—emerge in private groups but only
when the group’s social capital is characterized by network cohesion. Theoretically, these findings can
help to solve the conundrums in the literature on group creativity and shed light on the role of ESM use
in this context. Practically, our findings offer a critical reflection o contemporary initiatives for increasing
transparency, whether through physical design or digital transformation.
Prior studies report organizations' increasing fiscal investments in social media marketing communications reflecting anticipated benefits for bottomline improvements. Yet, few studies have looked at ...the empirical link between messaging dimensions, brand equity, consumer engagement and associated purchase intentions. Through a four-week long, between-group longitudinal experiment, we assess the relationships between these factors, and produce the following contributions: (i) developed and empirically supported our proposed monitoring metric, Brand Social Media Engagement Index, (ii) observed that brand equity is a full, direct mediator between engaging brand content and both purchase intention and brand social media engagement intention, and (iii) demonstrated the positive effect of engaging brand content on consumer brand equity, thereby establishing the value behind brand social media marketing communications to consumers.
Effective work groups engage in team boundary spanning, that is, the use of communication ties as conduits to critical external resources. With the proliferation of social media technologies in ...enterprise settings and the associated increase in visibility of communication ties, understanding their impact on boundary spanning becomes imperative to improving cross-boundary knowledge creation and management inside organizations. In this paper, drawing on log data from 415 unique work groups in an enterprise social media (ESM) system, we use a machine learning approach to automatically detect three distinct team boundary-spanning activities. Using zero-inflated poisson regressions, we further show the effect of group visibility as well as three distinct sources of group structural diversity -- geographic, functional, and hierarchical -- on the extent to which teams engage in boundary spanning through ESM. Implications for theory and practice around the use of data science approaches as well as visibility and diversity constructs for understanding team boundary spanning are discussed.
Social media is a relatively new and dynamic field dealing with the development and use of social media technologies by individuals and more recently by organizations. Although several frameworks and ...models have been proposed for studying social media, most provide only limited insights into the complex social activities that are supported by the strategic usage of social media in organizational settings. In this article, we take up this challenge and introduce a Strategic Social Action Framework for analyzing social media technologies and their strategic usage in and by organizations. This framework is based on Habermas' theory of social action and the idea that social media platforms serve as sets of rules and resources that mediate strategic organizational (inter-)actions involving these platforms. We demonstrate the value of the framework by theoretically delineating the appropriateness of the framework to specific social media tools, as well as by empirically analyzing the strategic use of two publicly available social media platforms-Facebook and Twitter-by three large airlines-Delta, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and JetBlue. Our findings reveal that when implementing social media in organizational contexts, developers and managers should critically evaluate (a) the need for supporting a rich variety of action types, (b) the possible role of social media support in the specific action situation, and (c) the strategic alignment of social media affordances and specific social action categories. Finally, we discuss theoretical and practical implications as well as directions for future research.
Advice-giving systems such as decision support systems and recommender systems (RS) utilize algorithms to provide users with decision support by generating ‘advice’ ranging from tailored alerts for ...situational exception events to product recommendations based on preferences. Related extant research of user perceptions and behaviors has predominantly taken a system-level view, whereas limited attention has been given to the impact of message design on recommendation acceptance and system use intentions. Here, a comprehensive model was developed and tested to explore the presentation choices (i.e., recommendation message characteristics) that influenced users’ confidence in—and likely acceptance of—recommendations generated by the RS. Our findings indicate that the problem and solution-related information specificity of the recommendation increase both user intention and the actual acceptance of recommendations while decreasing the decision-making time; a shorter decision-making time was also observed when the recommendation was structured in a problem-to-solution sequence. Finally, information specificity was correlated with information sufficiency and transparency, confirming prior research with support for the links between user beliefs, user attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.
Affective dimensions of human–computer interaction design have the potential to elicit emotions and behaviours. However, there is little research into which affective treatments are systematically ...tested, let alone assessed in light of additional cognitive dimensions. In this study, we formulate and empirically test a Cognitive-Affective Model of Perceived User Satisfaction (CAMPUS) that displays high explanatory power (R2=.69). CAMPUS offers a comprehensive framework for assessing both direct effects of perceptions of cognitive and affective dimensions on satisfaction and the complex interplay between these two in terms of system design and use. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Recent team boundary spanning literature has recommended a shift toward assessing the
role of virtual tools – such as social media. Simultaneously the proliferation of
Enterprise Social Media (ESM) ...points to the need to theorize and investigate the
supra-individual usage of these tools, such as their usefulness for organizational groups.
This paper responds to both mandates through a theoretical integration of the team
boundary spanning and existing ESM literature. Using data from two studies – one
qualitative and one quantitative – this papers addresses two important research questions
regarding the empirical relationship between team boundary spanning and ESM for
understanding (i) the types of team boundary-spanning activities that group members enact
through ESM and (ii) the effects of ESM on extra-team stakeholders' perceptions and
reciprocating actions vis-à-vis the team boundary-spanning activities of these group
members. The results of this study show that ESM, largely as a function of their
visibility affordance, supports a narrow set of representational activities, but offers
only limited support for information search and coordination. Furthermore, the findings
reveal that ESM activity has a positive effect on extra-team stakeholders' recognition and
financial support of the representational ESM posts emanating from the boundary-spanning
group. Important implications for theory, strategy, and design are discussed.
The proliferation of enterprise social media (ESM) has created opportunities for employees to self-organize around common goals or interests. However, little is known about the different user classes ...that exist in ESM and the factors that drive contributions to ESM communities. Using multilevel analyses of secondary data from the ESM of a global organization, we find that (1) although ESM communities reflect a core-periphery structure similar to that identified in other forms of online communities, nearly two-thirds of the users represent promoters-a distinct class of users who use the platform primarily to post promotional content without viewing existing content created by others; and (2) despite individual differences in user type, the actual contribution to an ESM community is the result of an intricate interaction between a user's disposition for participation and a set of group characteristics. Our findings suggest that recognizing the unique contribution patterns of different user groups is key to understanding participation in ESM communities.
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