7 research outputs found
Which Factors Determine Our Online Social Capital? An Analysis Based on Structural Equation Modelling
No full textThe relationship between social network sites and social capital has received much research attention. However, two research gaps can be identified in the existing literature. First, only few studies have examined online social capital as a resource in online social networks. In this regard, it is not clear how to validly measure online social capital. Second, while the factors influencing social capital, among them properties of an individual’s social network, have been investigated in offline settings, such factors have not yet been investigated in terms of online social capital. Addressing these gaps, we asked 1000 Facebook users to provide information on their Facebook usage and online friendship network. Employing structural equation modelling for analysing the survey data, we show that Williams’ Internet Social Capital Scales, which are commonly used to assess social capital in offline settings, can be used to validly measure online social capital. Moreover, we find that some of the variables influencing offline social capital, among them similarity in terms of sociodemographic attributes, seem less important in an online setting
A framework to identify knowledge actor roles in enterprise social networks
No full text
Purpose
Enterprise social networks (ESN) are increasingly used by companies to reinforce collaboration and knowledge sharing. While prior research has investigated ESN use practices, little is known about potential user roles emerging on these platforms. Against this backdrop, this paper develops an ESN knowledge actor role framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is constructed based on a systematic review of literature covering knowledge worker role typologies, user roles identified in public online social spaces as well as findings from ESN research.
Findings
The ESN knowledge actor role framework distinguishes eight contributing and two reading roles. It describes the associated participation behaviours and establishes metrics to identify the roles.
Research limitations/implications
Providing a notion of knowledge management-related roles in ESN, the framework enables a better understanding of knowledge processes and the involved actors. Moreover, the paper advances the field of ESN data analytics by designing a set of ESN metrics to characterise user behaviour.
Practical implications
Understanding ESN user roles, in particular regarding their knowledge contributions to the platform, can improve knowledge transparency in companies. The framework may usefully support the identification and management of critical knowledge resources and support decision-making in the areas of human resources management and knowledge management.
Originality/value
Providing a platform for knowledge-intensive interactions as well as record of user activities, ESN are well suited to observe and identify knowledge actor roles emerging in this context.
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Do You Write What You Are in Business Communications? Deriving Psychometrics from Enterprise Social Networks
No full textA Framework to Analyze Enterprise Social Network Data
No full textInternational audienceEnterprise Social Networks have a similar set of functionalities as social networking sites but are run as closed applications within a company's intranet. Interacting and communicating on the Enterprise Social Networks, the users, i.e. a company's employees, leave digital traces. The resulting digital record stored in the platform's back end bears great potential for enterprise big data engineering, analytics, and management. This book chapter provides an overview of research in the area of Enterprise Social Networks and categorizes Enterprise Social Network data based on typical functionalities of these platforms. It introduces exemplary metrics as well as a process for the analysis of ESN data. The resulting framework for the analysis of Enterprise Social Network data can serve as a guideline for researchers in the area of Enterprise Social Network analytics and companies interested in analyzing the data stored in the application's back end
Helper, Sharer or Seeker? – A Concept to Determine Knowledge Worker Roles in Enterprise Social Networks
No full textInternational audienceIn order to manage knowledge work, companies need to understand how knowledge is shared, integrated, translated and transformed in organisational practice. However, knowledge work often happens in informal organisational structures, thus, making it difficult to identify and understand the occurring knowledge practices and participating actors. Enterprise Social Networks (ESN), i.e. internally accessible social networking services, have evolved as important platforms for knowledge work. Facilitating knowledge interactions between users, the analysis of ESN data might be well suited for characterising and identifying knowledge actions and different knowledge worker roles. Drawing on an existing knowledge worker role typology as well as findings from social media research, this paper develops a conceptual basis that serves as starting point for determining knowledge worker roles using ESN data. The next steps of this research involve the empirical testing of the typology using data obtained from a real case scenario
Trust in Virtual Teams: A Multidisciplinary Review and Integration
No full textOrganizations have increasingly turned to the use of virtual teams (VTs) to tackle the complex nature of today’s organizational issues. To address these practical needs, VTs researchers from different disciplines have begun to amass a large literature. However, the changing workplace that is becoming so reliant on VTs comes with its own set of management challenges, which are not sufficiently addressed by current research on VTs. Paradoxically, despite the challenges associated with technology in terms of its disruption to trust development in VTs, trust is one of the most promising solutions for overcoming myriad problems. Though the extant literature includes an abundance of studies on trust in VTs, a comprehensive multidisciplinary review and synthesis is lacking. Addressing this gap, we present a systematic theoretical review of 124 articles from the disparate, multidisciplinary literature on trust in VTs. We use the review to develop an integrated model of trust in VTs. Based on our review, we provide theoretical insights into the relationship between virtuality and team trust, and highlight several critical suggestions for moving this literature forward to meet the needs of workplaces of the future, namely: better insight into how trust evolves alongside the team’s evolution, clarity about how to adequately conceptualize and operationalize virtuality, and greater understanding about how trust might develop differently across diverse types of virtual contexts with various technology usages. We conclude with guidelines for managing VTs in the future workplace, which is increasingly driven and affected by changing technologies, and highlight important trends to consider
