Post on 30-Oct-2014
description
transcript
1
Blogging and Micro-Blogging Inside a Large, High-Tech Corporation: Impacts on the Formation of Organizational Social Capital
Konstanze Alex-Brown, PhD
Results & discussion
Relevance & outlook
AG
EN
DA
Literature review
Methodology
Introduction
2 7/25/2014
Changes in the
formation of organization
al social capital
Case Study
Research
Corporate employee
blog µ-blog
INTR
OD
UC
TIO
N
3 7/25/2014
INTR
OD
UC
TIO
N
4 7/25/2014
Why this study?
http://iphonasia.com/?p=2664
Research gap revealed in literature:How do social media communication technologies used for internal (employee) communication change the ways in which organizational social capital is formed? Few studies.
Potential implications:
Find new ways to facilitate the generation of organizational social capitalImpact knowledge transfer efficiencyImpact firm’s ability to innovateChange managers’ ability to foster the creation of organizational social capitalChange employees’ ability to pursue common goals (M&A)Change employee online social networks
The perfect storm:Unique opportunity for research collaboration between industry and academia (Spilka, Gurak and Hill Duin, Clark, Winsor)Opportunity to position TC practitioners as communication strategists / leverage industry insights in TC curriculum (Spilka, Gurak and Hill Duin, Clark, Salvo and Rosinski)Very recent introduction of social media tools for employee communication at DellDell at forefront of social media use not only in IT industry but also overall
INTR
OD
UC
TIO
N
5 7/25/2014
Questions guiding this research
1. How do the corporate blog and micro-blog change the ways in which organizational social capital is generated at Dell?
2. How is the existence of the three dimensions of organizational social capital reflected in the information product of the two tools?
3. What are other indicators (beyond those defined in current scholarship) for measuring an increase in organizational social capital generated by the blog and micro-blog?
4. How does the formation of social capital as well as information and knowledge sharing differ on the blog versus on the micro-blog?
5. From a business perspective, what aspects of the blog and micro-blog are valued most by Dell’s leadership?
Network benefits & resources
LITER
ATU
RE R
EV
IEW
6 7/25/2014
Change
Capital
Surplus
Change
Capital
Surplus
Change
Capital
Surplus
Change
Capital
Surplus Change
Capital
Surplus
Change
Capital
Surplus
LITER
ATU
RE R
EV
IEW
7 7/25/2014
• Complement f2f networks
• Individualized networks vs. socialized communities
• Social communication tools create ties via knowledge exchange
• Archived information product
• Benefits resulting from social network relationships
• Firm’s ability to innovate via improved knowledge transfer
• People-centric• Social context• Motivational factors ▪
Organizational knowledge management
(Lesser, Prusak, Cohen, Davenport,
Dalkir, Rao, Hackos, Rockley)
▪ Social capital ▪ Organization
al social capital
(Granovetter, Coleman, Putnam, Portes, Burt, Lin,
Nahapiet and Ghoshal, Tsai and
Ghoshal, Okoli and Oh)
▪ Online social
structures (Dal Fiore,
Wellman, Wellman and Gulia, Gruzd,
Takhteyev, Resnick, Quan-Haase and
Wellman, Hampton)
▪ Blog▪ Micro-
blog (Clark, Gurak and Antonijevic, Hsu
and Lin, Okoli and Oh)
8 7/25/2014
Organizational social capital – three dimensions
Changes in structure
LITER
ATU
RE R
EV
IEW
(Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998; Tsai and Ghoshal, 1998)
9 7/25/2014
Changes in relationships
Changes in common paradigm/knowledge
Changes in structure
LITER
ATU
RE R
EV
IEW
(Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998; Tsai and Ghoshal, 1998)
Organizational social capital – three dimensions
IRB-approvedSigned NDA
Multi-method
case study
METH
OD
OLO
GY
10 7/25/2014
Context-sensitive
Mixed methodsHolistic
approachNot one measure
Online
survey
Interviews
Content analysis
METH
OD
OLO
GY
11 7/25/2014
Web analytics
STRUCTURAL DIMENSION
RELATIONAL DIMENSION
COGNITIVE DIMENSION
Multi-method case study
Follow the person and follow the text (Berkenkotter, 2006)• content evaluation between 2007 and 2011, final corpus assembly between Februrary and
May 2011. • interviews were conducted between August 2010 and February 2011;• the online survey was open to collect responses between October 2010 and February 2011;
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
n
12 7/25/2014
Change
Capital
Surplus
Change
Capital
Surplus
Change
Capital
Surplus
Change
Capital
Surplus
MICRO-BLOG
Change
Capital
Surplus
Change
Capital
Surplus
BLOG
13
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
n
7/25/2014
1. Both tools do change the ways in which organizational social capital is formed at Dell.
2. The tools do this in different ways. Different activity streams can facilitate different dimensions of social capital.
3. The content analysis is a valuable tool for the measurement of organizational social capital and communicative instances can be used as indicators for the generation of organizational social capital.
4. Results can be used as tools to improve employee social media communication strategies.
5. Lack in leaders’ ability to articulate the tools’ business value.
Main trends in findings
14 7/25/2014
http://www.coeforict.org/resources/center-of-excellence-presentations-and-powerpoints/
Dell’s moderated blog: facilitating cognitive social capital
So Steve is our expert on VIS! I will contact him.
Steve
VIS solves problems
Great job, Steve!
Excellent, Steve!
Good talk, Steve!
Steve, how does VIS relate to vStart 50?
Controlled, moderated presentations
Presentation-tied comments/cheering
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
n
15 7/25/2014
http://www.coeforict.org/resources/center-of-excellence-presentations-and-powerpoints/
Steve
VIS solves problems
Controlled, moderated presentations
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
nDell’s moderated blog: facilitating cognitive social capital
16 7/25/2014
http://www.networksolutions.com/blog/2009/04/event-review-social-matchbox-dc/
Nick D: Does anybody know an expert in virtualization? (1)
Sameer F: @Nick D check with @Carlos N from IT (2)
Tom G: We sold a full data center solution to a new customer. (1)
Gina A: @Tom G – Nice! (2)
Nick D: @Sameer F thanks! @Carlos N was very helpful. (3)
Katja B: @Sameer F your answer helped me too (4)
(3)
(4)
Dell’s un-moderated micro-blog: facilitating structural and relational social capital
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
n
17 7/25/2014
http://www.networksolutions.com/blog/2009/04/event-review-social-matchbox-dc/
Dell’s un-moderated micro-blog: facilitating structural and relational social capital
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
n
Invit
ed c
ollea
ge to
par
ticipa
te
Conta
cted
coll
eagu
e ba
sed
on th
eir p
ost
Answer
ed c
ollea
gue's
que
stion
Forwar
ded
colle
ague
's qu
estio
n
Crowds
ourc
ed q
uest
ion
Met
f2f w
ith o
nline
con
tact
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
70
6062
51
30 30
8581
85
68 67
55
blog micro-blog
18 7/25/2014
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
nSurvey results – structural social capital
RES
ULT
S
0102030405060708090
57
6860
80
6254
47
80 8478
8580
7669
blog micro-blog
19 7/25/2014
Survey results – relational social capital
RES
ULT
S
Use D
ell l
angu
age
and
acro
nym
s
Readi
ng to
ol co
nten
t im
prov
es m
y fa
mili
arity
with
Del
l jar
gon
Readi
ng to
ol co
nten
t im
prov
es m
y fa
mili
arity
with
Del
l cul
ture
Readi
ng to
ol co
nten
t im
prov
es m
y ab
ility
to d
o m
y jo
b
Post
ed b
est p
ract
ices
Foun
d be
st p
ract
ices
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
47
6976
6459
94
52
65
76
67
7883
blog micro-blog
20 7/25/2014
Survey results – cognitive social capital
RES
ULT
S
21 7/25/2014
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
89
6172
7872
100
67
85
6271
Blog Micro-blog
Interview results –structural, relational and cognitive social capital
Structural SC Relational SC Cognitive SC
structural 27%
relational 9%cognitive 64%
Content analysis results: Sample blog posts
structural 80%
relational 10%
cognitive 10%
Content analysis results: Micro-blog - daily activity stream
structural 29%
relational 52%
cognitive 19%
Content analysis results: Micro-blog - topic discussion stream
Structural 39%
relational 30%
cognitive 31%
Content analysis results: Micro-blog - event reporting stream
22 7/25/2014
Content analysis results: blog/micro-blog activity streams
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
n
Future research
opportunities
Academia &
industry
RELE
VA
NC
E/
OU
TLO
OK
23 7/25/2014
BeginningsMore
researchExciting frontier
BeginningsMore
researchExciting frontier
RELE
VA
NC
E/
OU
TLO
OK
24 7/25/2014
Relevance of results for industry and academia
Industry/DellWarranted investment in tools that facilitate the generation of organizational social capital
Tools are not redundant but fulfill different purposes
Targeted improvements to internal social media communication strategies (activity streams)
Equip managers with tools to foster all three dimensions of organizational social capital
Improve infrastructure for knowledge sharing (innovation)
Improved understanding of how the blog and micro-blog facilitate organizational social capital to improve new employee integration (M&A)
RELE
VA
NC
E/
OU
TLO
OK
25 7/25/2014
Relevance of results for industry and academia
Academia/Technical CommunicationNew knowledge regarding organizational social capital theory from the perspective of technical communication
New knowledge regarding the use of social communications technologies inside of a global, high-tech organization. (Gurak and Hill Duin, 2004)
Position the technical communication practitioner as communication strategist/leader in digital literacy/pioneer in the digital revolution (Spilka, 2010)
First-hand insights into use of social communication technologies in industry help to prepare students for jobs
Content analysis as viable tool for organizational social capital research
New, early concept for positioning online social structures on a continuum between purely social and purely individual control
RELE
VA
NC
E/
OU
TLO
OK
26 7/25/2014
Study limitations & research opportunitiesLimitations
Single case study at one organization
Content analysis was experimental, categories need to be validated, single content rater
Corpus of data is relatively small, different activity streams or different data parsing methods could yield different results
Potential bias of researcher (Dell employee)
Research opportunitiesReplicate the case study at another organization for validation
Develop content analysis further, refine categories as viable tool for organizational social capital research
Assess cultural and linguistic impact on tool use
Further develop new concept for positioning online social structures on a continuum between purely social and purely individual control
27 7/25/2014
Futu
re R
ese
arc
h
Anschuetz, L. & Rosenbaum, S. (2002) Chapter 9: Expanding roles for technical communicators. Reshaping technical communication: New directions and challenges for the 21st century. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Baehr, C., & Alex-Brown, K. (2010b). Assessing the value of corporate blogs: A social capital perspective. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 53, 358-369. Berkenkotter, C. (2002). Chapter 3: Analysis Everyday Texts in Organizational Settings, 47-65. In Gurak, L. & Lay, M. (Eds.) (2002). Research in technical communication. Westport, CT: Praeger.Burt, R. (2005). Brokerage and closure : An introduction to social capital. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Chen, D., & Hu, N. (2007). Corporate blogging and firm performance: An empirical study. International Conference on Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile Computing, 1-15, 6158-6161.Clark, D. (2010). Shaped and shaping tools: The rhetorical nature of technical communication technologies. Digital literacy for technical communication: 21st century theory and practice. Routledge.Cohen, D., & Prusak, L. (2001). In good company: How social capital makes organizations work. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.Coleman, J. (1988a). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 94, Supplement: Organizations and Institutions: Sociological and Economic Approaches to the Analysis of Social Structure (1988), 94, S95-S120.Dalkir, K. (2005). Knowledge management in theory and practice. Amterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.Davenport T. & Prusak, L. (2000). Working knowledge. How organizations manage what they know. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.Davidson, E., & Vaast, E. (2007). Tech Talk: An investigation of blogging in technology innovation discourse. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 52(1), 40-60.Fiore, F. D. (2007). Communities versus networks: The implications on innovation and social change. American Behavioral Scientist, 50, 857-866. Granovetter, M. S. (1973) The strength of weak ties. The American Journal of Sociology, 78, 6, 1360-1380.Gruzd, A., Wellman, B., & Takhteyev, Y. (2011). A research primer for technical communication : methods, exemplars, and analyses. Special issue of the American Behavioral Scientist on Imagined Communities.Gurak, L., & Antonijevic, S. (2008c). The psychology of blogging: You, me, and everyone in between. American Behavioral Scientist, 52, 60-68. Gurak, L., & Duin, A. H. (2004). The impact of the internet and digital technologies on teaching and research in technical communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 13(2), 187-198. Hackos, J. (2007). Information development. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing Inc.Hampton, K., & Wellman, B. (2001). Long distance community in the network society: Contact and support beyond netville. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(3), 476-495. Hsu, C., & Lin, J. (2007). Acceptance of blog usage: The roles of technology acceptance, social influence and knowledge sharing motivation. Information & Management, 45(1), 65-74. Lesser, E. & L. Prussak (Eds.) (2004). Creating value with knowledge. New York: Oxford University PressLesser, E. (2000). Knowledge and social capital: Foundations and applications. Boston; Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.Lin, N. (2008). Social capital : A theory of social structure and action (1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Longo, B. (2010). Human + machine culture: Where we work. Digital Literacy for Technical Communication: 21st Century Theory and Practice. Routledge.Miller, C. & Shepherd, D. (2003) Blogging as social action: A genre analysis of the weblog. Into the Blogsphere: Rhetoric, Community, and Culture of Weblogs. Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. The Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242-266.Ojala, M. (2005). Blogging: For knowledge sharing, management and dissemination. Business Information Review, 22(4), 269-276. Okoli, C., & Oh, W. (2007). Investigating recognition-based performance in an open content community: A social capital perspective. Information & Management, 44(3), 240-252. Portes, A. (1998) Social Capital: Its origins and applications in modern sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 1-24Prusak, L. & Cohen, D. (2001) How to invest in social capital. Harvard Business Review, 79 (6), 86-93, 147.Prusak, L. (1997). Knowledge in organizations. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.Putnam, R. (2000) Blowing alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster:Rao, M. (Ed.) Knowledge management tools and techniques. (pp. 185-196) Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heineman.Rao, Madanmohan. (2005). Knowledge Management Tools and Techniques. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heineman.Rockley, A. (2003). Managing enterprise content : A unified content strategy (1st ed.). Indianapolis IN.: New Riders.Spilka, Rachel. (2010). Digital literacy for technical communication : 21st century theory and practice. New York: Routledge.Tsai, W. & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social capital and value creation: The role of intrafirm networks. The Academy of Management Journal, 41(4), 464-476.Van Deth, J. (2003). Measuring social capital: Orthodoxies and continuing controversies. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 6(1), 79-92. Wellman, B. (2001). Does the Internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? Social networks, participation, and community commitment. American Behavioral Scientist (45), 3, 436 – 455.Wellman, B., Haase, A. Q., Witte, J., & Hampton, K. (2001). Does the internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? Social networks, participation, and community commitment. American Behavioral Scientist, 45, 436-455. Winsor, D. (2001). Learning to do knowledge work in systems of distributed cognition. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 15(1), 5-28.
Texas Tech University28
References
BACKUP
Texas Tech University29 7/25/2014
METH
OD
OLO
GY
Texas Tech University30 7/25/2014
Dimensions of organizational social capital structuring research methods Dimension of Organizational Social Capital
STRUCTURAL
Examine whether connections to other employees can be made via the blog/micro-blog
RELATIONAL Examine whether relational assets can change via the use of the blog/micro-blog
COGNITIVE Examine how the blog/micro-blog helps to build a shared paradigm among users
METH
OD
OLO
GY
Texas Tech University31 7/25/2014
Research participants / data corpusSurvey
participants
Recruitment:Link to survey on blog and micro-blogRespondents- 60GlobalCross-functionalDiverse Dell tenureDiverse seniority
Interview
participants
Recruitment:Via emailInterviewees- Blog 18- Micro-blog 15GlobalCross-functionalDiverse Dell tenureDiverse seniority
Information
product
Blog - Subset of monthly activity streamMicro-blog- Daily activity stream- Topic discussion stream- Event reporting stream
1. How do the corporate blog and micro-blog change the ways in which organizational social capital is generated at Dell?
– Survey, interviews and content analysis confirm changes in structural, relational and cognitive social capital› Structural ties are generated by use of both tools via communication
based on content found in the information product
› Relations change via use of both tools
› Common knowledge is generated via use of both tools
2. How is the existence of the three dimensions of organizational social capital reflected in the information product of the two tools?
– Content analysis shows patterns of communicative activity between employees that indicate that new connections are formed, relationships are deepened and common knowledge is created
› directly addressing an individual, seeking a connection with another employee based on his/her comment or visible subject matter expertise, responding or acknowledging information being shared, forwarding a another user’s query to someone who might have the answer, answers to questions (crowdsourcing)
Results: research questions
Texas Tech University32 7/25/2014
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
n
3. What are other indicators (beyond those defined in current scholarship) for measuring an increase in organizational social capital generated by the blog and micro-blog?
– The content analysis is a valuable tool for the measurement of organizational social capital and communicative instances can be used as indicators for the generation of organizational social capital.
– Patterns of instances of communicative activity allow for a very detailed assessment of specific usage models within the tools that cannot be extracted via survey or interview methods.
4. How does the formation of organizational social capital as well as information and knowledge sharing differ on the blog versus on the micro-blog?
– Blog: information dissemination with limited author/audience and audience/audience engagement – great for diffusion of a common paradigm to aide the organization in enabling employees to pursue common goals
– Micro-blog: making connections, deepening relationships with high employee engagement – very flexible tool with multiple usage models yielding different levels of organizational social capital formation
5. From a business perspective, what aspects of the blog and micro-blog are valued most by Dell’s leadership?
– Very limited responses mostly due to limited understanding of the exact value of the tools. Assessing the value the leadership places on these tools will take further research.
Results: research questions
Texas Tech University33 7/25/2014
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
n
Texas Tech University34 7/25/2014
Structural28%
Relational34%
Cognitive38%
Survey results: BlogStructural
33%
Relational35%
Cognitive32%
Survey results: Micro-blog
Survey and interview results – relative distribution of structural, relational and cognitive social capital
Structural34%
Relational32%
Cognitive34%
Interview results: Blog
Structural36%
Relational36%
Cognitive28%
Interview results: Micro-blog
RES
ULT
S/D
iscu
ssio
n