The adoption of social enterprise software

Social enterprise software is a highly promising software application for firms, though it is still in an infancy state. It offers rapid real-time information transfer based on business collaboration tools or instant messaging. The software collects and processes customer data from surveys, consumer feedback, reviews, blogs or social networks. This enables firms to build up detailed customer profiles potentially anticipating upcoming trends. We analyze the determinants of social enterprise software adoption based on the literature on the adoption of new technologies. In our analysis, we control for factors like firm size, intensity of information and communication technology, human capital and international competitive situation. Exploiting recent German firm-level data and a model controlling for sample selection, the results reveal that firms with highly qualified workers, a large share of young employees and international business activity are more likely to adopt social enterprise software. Larger and more ICT-intensive firms and recent innovators also have a higher propensity to use social enterprise software. In addition, firms belonging to the service sector are more eager to implement social enterprise software applications than manufacturing firms. --enterprise software,social software,social enterprise software

Social Collaboration Analytics for Enterprise Collaboration Systems: Providing Business Intelligence on Collaboration Activities

The success of public Social Media has led to the emergence of Enterprise Social Software (ESS), a new type of collaboration software for organizations that incorporates “social features”. Surveys show that many companies are trying to implement ESS but that adoption is slower than expected. We believe that in order to understand the issues with its implementation we need to first examine and understand the “social” interactions that are taking place in this new kind of collaboration software. We propose Social Collaboration Analytics (SCA), a specialized form of examination of log files and content data, to gain a better understanding of the actual usage of ESS. Our research was guided by the CRISP-DM approach. We first analyzed the data available in a leading ESS. Together with leading user companies of this ESS, we then developed a framework for Social Collaboration Analysis, which we present in this paper

Motivators of adopting social computing in global software development: Initial results

context: Real-time collaboration is critical for developing high quality software systems at low cost in a geographically distributed Global Software Development (GSD) environment. It is anticipated that emerging Social Computing tools can play an important role in facilitating realtime effective collaboration among teams working in the GSD. Objective: The objective of this research paper is to identify motivators for adopting social computing in GSD organizations. Method: We adopted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach by applying customized search strings derived from our research questions. Results: We have identified factors such as real-time communication and coordination, information sharing, knowledge acquisition and expert feedback as key motivators for adoption of social computing in GSD. Conclusion: Based on the SLR results, we suggest that GSD organizations should embrace social computing as a tool for real-time collaboration between distributed GSD teams. The results of this initial study also suggest the need for developing the social computing strategies and policies to guide the effective social computing adoption by GSD teams

The adoption of social enterprise software

Social enterprise software is a highly promising software application for firms, though it is still in an infancy state. It offers rapid real-time information transfer based on business collaboration tools or instant messaging. The software collects and processes customer data from surveys, consumer feedback, reviews, blogs or social networks. This enables firms to build up detailed customer profiles potentially anticipating upcoming trends. We analyze the determinants of social enterprise software adoption based on the literature on the adoption of new technologies. In our analysis, we control for factors like firm size, intensity of information and communication technology, human capital and international competitive situation. Exploiting recent German firm-level data and a model controlling for sample selection, the results reveal that firms with highly qualified workers, a large share of young employees and international business activity are more likely to adopt social enterprise software. Larger and more ICT-intensive firms and recent innovators also have a higher propensity to use social enterprise software. In addition, firms belonging to the service sector are more eager to implement social enterprise software applications than manufacturing firms

The Concept of Social Business: Oxymoron or Sign of a Changing Work Culture?

The article discusses the source and pertinence of the term “Social Business”. We present the findings from a study of projects that are in the early stages of adoption of Social Software in organisations. Using a qualitative research approach we examine real-world cases of implementations of integrated Enterprise Collaboration Systems. 16 existing cases (desk research) and three new cases (field research) are analysed and the findings are compared and aggregated. We apply the 8C Model as an analytical lens to guide the coding of the case data. The study’s results reveal the relations between the different concepts (features, components, collaboration scenarios) that can be identified in the cases. The findings show that the most popular usage scenarios of the software are not very “social” but support people in their daily joint work with a focus on getting the job done. The study also reveals possible beneficial factors for the adoption of Social Software such as improved personal information management, mobile devices and unified communication, and better workspace and presence awareness

Micro-Blogging Adoption in the Enterprise: An Empirical Analysis

Given the increasing interest in using social software forcompany-internal communication and collaboration, this paperexamines drivers and inhibitors of micro-blogging adoption at theworkplace. While nearly one in two companies is currentlyplanning to introduce social software, there is no empiricallyvalidated research on employees’ adoption. In this paper, we buildon previous focus group results and test our research model in anempirical study using Structural Equation Modeling. Based on ourfindings, we derive recommendations on how to foster adoption.We suggest that micro-blogging should be presented to employeesas an efficient means of communication, personal brand building,and knowledge management. In order to particularly promotecontent contribution, privacy concerns should be eased by settingclear rules on who has access to postings and for how long theywill be archived

Modeling Microblogging Adoption in the Enterprise

Despite a broad range of collaboration tools already available, enterprises continue to look for ways to improve internal and external communication. Microblogging is such a new communication channel with some considerable potential to improve intra-firm transparency and knowledge sharing. However, the adoption of such social software presents certain challenges to enterprises. Based on the results of four focus group sessions, we identified several new constructs to play an important role in the microblogging adoption decision. Examples include privacy concerns, communication benefits, perceptions regarding signal-to-noise ratio, as well codification effort. Integrating these findings with common views on technology acceptance, we formulate a model to predict the adoption of a microblogging system in the workspace. Our findings serve as an important guideline for managers seeking to realize the potential of microblogging in their company

Diffusion of Big Data in Indian Scientific Literature: Study of Research Productivity and Scientific Collaboration

Purpose: Big data, a buzzword of the present time, is a term used for extremly large data sets generated from the digital process which is not possible to analyze by traditional methods. These data sets are produced by digital devices such as smart phones, remote sensing, camera, microphones, RFID etc. The literature on big data is growing exponentially since 2011. Big data is tending to establish as a very important research field. This paper aims to explore the evolution, growth and scientific collaboration of the Indian publications in the field of big data. Design/methodology/approach: A survey approach is used in the study while data for the study is collected from Scopus database for the year 2001 to 2015. Bibliometric analysis, visualization and mapping software are used to present the current status, growth trends and collaboration in big data research to examine its diffusion in Indian scientific literature. Findings: We found that the big data research in India is gaining momentum and its diffusion and adoption is increasing tremendously. Conference and seminars are used to do social connect and interaction within the research community. The collaboration at institution level is found usual while collaboration at international level is low. Application of big data in health sciences and life sciences is yet to be explored in comparison to the social sciences and physical sciences. Originality/ Value: This paper presents the growth, trends and collaboration in big data literature by the use of sophisticated bibliometric software and visualization software

A case study at Cisco Systems, Inc.

This research aims to provide a better understanding on how firms stimulate knowledge sharing through the utilization of collaboration tools, in particular Emergent Social Software Platforms (ESSPs). It focuses on the distinctive applications of ESSPs and on the initiatives contributing to maximize its advantages. In the first part of the research, I have itemized all types of existing collaboration tools and classify them in different categories according to their capabilities, objectives and according to their faculty for promoting knowledge sharing. In the second part, and based on an exploratory case study at Cisco Systems, I have identified the main applications of an existing enterprise social software platform named Webex Social. By combining a qualitative and quantitative approach, as well as combining data collected from survey’s results and from the analysis of the company’s documents, I am expecting to maximize the outcome of this investigation and reduce the risk of bias. Although effects cannot be universalized based on one single case study, some utilization patterns have been underlined from the data collected and potential trends in managing knowledge have been observed. The results of the research have also enabled identifying most of the constraints experienced by the users of the firm’s social software platform. Utterly, this research should provide a primary framework for firms planning to create or implement a social software platform and for firms willing to increase adoption levels and to promote the overall participation of users. It highlights the common traps that should be avoided by developers when designing a social software platform and the capabilities that it should inherently carry to support an effective knowledge management strategy

Organizational challenges for successful end user adoption of internal enterprise social software

Objectives of the Study: Web 2.0 technologies and social software are making their way to the workplace in hopes of enhancing internal collaboration, communication and knowledge management. The success of these deployments depends on end user adoption as they build on active participation, encouraging of which, in turn, may be more complicated in a business environment than in our personal lives. Besides technological issues, the organizational culture may create significant barriers for end user adoption. This study aims at finding out what these challenges may be in order to better understand the most critical issues in enterprise social software deployments in terms of internal tools for collaboration and knowledge sharing. Academic background and methodology: Not much academic research has been done on this specific topic, but studies in enterprise social software in general, organizational culture, computer-supported group work and knowledge management can be used to depict organizational challenges in social software deployments as well. This thesis is based on a literature review and an empirical study to test the challenges suggested by earlier research. The empirical study is conducted using a survey to screen for possible interviewees and as eight semi-structured interviews with the chosen interviewees. Findings and conclusions: A framework of possible organizational challenges for the end user adoption of internal social software is created on the basis of a comparison between the results of the literature review and the empirical study. The results show that instead of the organizational culture having specific characteristics, such as practices or policies, that hinder the adoption, the main issues represent a more strategic level: They implicate a technology driven approach with a lack of understanding of how social software is merely an enabler of a much larger change. This, in turn, results in a lack of engagement, vision and transformational management ability to drive user adoption and to become a truly social business