Moderation of Enterprise Social Networks – A Literature Review from a Corporate Perspective

The implementation of internal social collaboration technologies confronts corporations with new challenges. Former unidirectional information flows become multidirectional and user-content driven networks. Prior research describes the successful implementation as a challenging management task with employees’ usage at the center of attention. Consequently, corporations need to select a moderation style to encourage the usage. The degree of corporate engagement might have repercussions on the contribution behavior. We conduct a structured literature review to identify pre-existing IS contributions to the moderation phenomenon in social media tools, which help to explain on how to moderate these communication platforms in the enterprise context. We reviewed over 150 articles on the subject and assessed 31 articles in depth on the degree of corporate engagement and user content encouragement. We analyze the identified literature for gaps in understanding the phenomenon and provide a first assessment of three different moderation approaches and give implication for future research

DYNAMICS OF IDENTITY THREATS IN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS: MODELLING INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

This dissertation examines the identity threats perceived by individuals and organizations in Online Social Networks (OSNs). The research constitutes two major studies. Using the concepts of Value Focused Thinking and the related methodology of Multiple Objectives Decision Analysis, the first research study develops the qualitative and quantitative value models to explain the social identity threats perceived by individuals in Online Social Networks. The qualitative value model defines value hierarchy i.e. the fundamental objectives to prevent social identity threats and taxonomy of user responses, referred to as Social Identity Protection Responses (SIPR), to avert the social identity threats. The quantitative value model describes the utility of the current social networking sites and SIPR to achieve the fundamental objectives for averting social identity threats in OSNs. The second research study examines the threats to the external identity of organizations i.e. Information Security Reputation (ISR) in the aftermath of a data breach. The threat analysis is undertaken by examining the discourses related to the data breach at Home Depot and JPMorgan Chase in the popular microblogging website, Twitter, to identify: 1) the dimensions of information security discussed in the Twitter postings; 2) the attribution of data breach responsibility and the related sentiments expressed in the Twitter postings; and 3) the subsequent diffusion of the tweets that threaten organizational reputation

“It Takes All Kinds”: A Simulation Modeling Perspective on Motivation and Coordination in Libre Software Development Projects

This paper presents a stochastic simulation model to study implications of the mechanisms by which individual software developers’ efforts are allocated within large and complex open source software projects. It illuminates the role of different forms of “motivations-at-the-margin” in the micro-level resource allocation process of distributed and decentralized multi-agent engineering undertakings of this kind. We parameterize the model by isolating the parameter ranges in which it generates structures of code that share certain empirical regularities found to characterize actual projects. We find that, in this range, a variety of different motivations are represented within the community of developers. There is a correspondence between the indicated mixture of motivations and the distribution of avowed motivations for engaging in FLOSS development, found in the survey responses of developers who were participants in large projects.free and open source software (FLOSS), libre software engineering, maintainability, reliability, functional diversity, modularity, developers’ motivations, user-innovation, peer-esteem, reputational reward systems, agent-based modeling, stochastic simulation, stigmergy, morphogenesis.

Essays on enterprise social media: moderation, shop floor integration and information system induced organizational change

The digital transformation increases the pressure on innovation capabilities and challenges organizations to adapt their business models. In order to cope with the increased competitiveness, organizations face two significant internal challenges: Enabling internal digital collaboration and knowledge sharing as well as information system-induced change. This dissertation will investigate seven related research questions divided in two main parts. The first part focuses on how an organization can foster digital knowledge exchanges and collaboration in global organizations. Enterprise social media has attracted the attention of organizations as a technology for social collaboration and knowledge sharing. The dissertation will investigate how organizations can moderate the employee discourse in such platforms from a novel organizational perspective and provide insights on how to increase the encouragement for employees to contribute and assure content quality. The developed framework will provide detailed moderation approaches. In addition, the risk of privacy concerns associated with organizational interference in the new digital collaboration technologies are evaluated. The second part of the dissertation shifts the focus to the shop floor environment, an area that has faced substantial digital advancements. Those advancements change the organizational role of the shop floor to a more knowledge work-oriented environment. Firstly, a state of research regarding technology acceptance and professional diversity is presented to create an enterprise social media job-characteristic framework. Further, a unique and longitudinal shop floor case study is investigated to derive organizational challenges for enterprise social media and potentials for empowerment. To validate the future shop floor environment needs use cases for the shop floor are derived and a user profile is established. The case study is extended by expert interviews to focus on conceptualizing organizational information systems-induced change. In this regard, the role of work practices, organizational and employee mindset and information system change are integrated into a holistic organizational change model that targets employee empowerment. This dissertation provides a comprehensive overview of enterprise social media from an organizational management and shop floor perspective. It contributes to understanding new digital needs at the shop floor and the information systems-induced change journey towards digital employee empowerment

Completing the adaptive turn: An integrative view of strategy implementation

Based on our review of the past forty years of strategy implementation research, we find that the focus of the research area has moved from the pioneering structural control view to a more adaptive conception of strategy implementation. While early research focused mainly on how to conceptualize strategy implementation plans and how to establish optimal structures, systems, incentives, and controls for strategy implementation, the adaptive turn has shifted the research emphasis on to how organizations make sense of and enact strategies in practice. Although this adaptive turn has contributed significantly to understanding how strategies are implemented and adapted, it has also led to a further fragmentation of the field. We put forward an integrative view that aims at combining the distinctive strengths of the two complementary views. Instead of focusing either on conceptualizing or on enacting, we call for researchers to examine the continuous interplay of conceptualizing and enacting strategies at multiple hierarchical levels and in multiple organizational units simultaneously. We hope that our review will inspire future strategy implementation research to complete the adaptive turn through an enhanced, integrative view of strategy implementation

Demystifying Internet of Things Security

Break down the misconceptions of the Internet of Things by examining the different security building blocks available in Intel Architecture (IA) based IoT platforms. This open access book reviews the threat pyramid, secure boot, chain of trust, and the SW stack leading up to defense-in-depth. The IoT presents unique challenges in implementing security and Intel has both CPU and Isolated Security Engine capabilities to simplify it. This book explores the challenges to secure these devices to make them immune to different threats originating from within and outside the network. The requirements and robustness rules to protect the assets vary greatly and there is no single blanket solution approach to implement security. Demystifying Internet of Things Security provides clarity to industry professionals and provides and overview of different security solutions What You'll Learn Secure devices, immunizing them against different threats originating from inside and outside the network Gather an overview of the different security building blocks available in Intel Architecture (IA) based IoT platforms Understand the threat pyramid, secure boot, chain of trust, and the software stack leading up to defense-in-depth Who This Book Is For Strategists, developers, architects, and managers in the embedded and Internet of Things (IoT) space trying to understand and implement the security in the IoT devices/platforms

International SMA Behavioural Implications: An Analysis of the Mediating and Moderating Effects

The exponential growth of social media and the success of SMA around the globe has captured the attention of marketers, that now use SMA as an integrating part of their communication strategies. Even though, SMA has proven its worth as an important advertising tool, it is still making its way into academic research. Moreover, there is scant knowledge on consumers’ behaviour towards SMA, and even more so in cross-cultural settings. In this work I test a theory-grounded, four-stage model that considers the antecedent/outcome – belief, value, attitude and behaviour - process that consumers go through when they come across SMA. Additionally, this model enables the assessment of the interactive behavioural responses and contributes to the understanding of the mediating effects of SMA attitude and value, also considering the differences of consumers’ behaviours through cultures and social media types. The results confirm the mediating role of value and the partial mediating role of attitude, with the exception of the relationships of SMA credibility and the behavioural constructs, social interaction behaviour and message interaction behaviour. Additionally, empirical evidence is presented on positive attitudes towards SMA increasing consumers’ behavioural responses towards SMA. The moderating effects of culture and social media types were not confirmed, what might contribute to the discussion of the globality of international SMA. This reach provides a better understanding on the consumers’ international SMA behavioural responses

The Current State of and Possible Future Avenues for IT Value Research: A Review of the past 10 Years

Since the ongoing proliferation of information technology (IT) in our private and professional lives, researchers have been concerned with the conceptualization and measurement of the “value” that technology brings us. To this end, researchers have based their assumptions and theories on the technological achievements and perceptions of technology at that time. Ever since the introduction of smart phones, broadband Internet, and social networks, much has changed in the way we perceive and appropriate IT value. In order to identify possible white spots for future research, we present a systematic literature review of the past 10 years of research in this area. In doing so, we develop a taxonomy for analyzing the IT value literature. The results of our analysis indicate that the majority of current work focuses on ex post measurement of the monetary value of IT for businesses. Only a few articles were found that employed an alternative lens in defining IT value. With the blurring boundaries between private and professional life, these approaches become increasingly more important. We discuss the general implications of our findings with a view to possible new themes for the next years of research

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis project is an activity-based study of American teens (13-17 years of age) and their material engagement with new media. This study documents the participants' engagement with new media in networked spaces and the everyday practices that surround their participation. Study participants were asked to orally report what they are experiencing as they experience it. Reports and on-screen activities are recorded by a laptop computer. Theoretical findings emerged from the axial coding across four code categories and suggested a leitmotiv pattern of a complex but stable relationship between interpersonal communication channels, the relative immediacy and intimacy of the channel, and the social relationship between participants. This pattern appeared to have a structuring influence on communication practices of youth in networked publics, and led to some tensions, concerns, and strategies relating to controlling the flow of information in those spaces. Overall, 10 code patterns and themes emerged to provide insight into the everyday practices of young people as they negotiate and construct meaning and identity in networked publics. The implications of the findings are discussed in the context; of the research questions. To my wife, Esther, for her love and unwavering support. To my children, who have never known a father who was not in working on a PhD. To my mother and father, who never lost confidence. My family was and is my inspiration