Use of Social Media for Internal and External Collaboration: Evidence from US Local Governments

abstract: This dissertation examines the use of social media technologies by US local governments for internal and external collaboration. Collaboration is defined as the process of working together, pooling resources, sharing information and jointly making decisions to address common issues. The need for greater collaboration is evident from numerous examples in which public agencies have failed to effectively collaborate and address complex challenges. Meanwhile, the rise of social computing promises the development of ‘cultures of participation’ that enhance collaborative learning and knowledge production as part of everyday work. But beyond these gaps and expectations, there has been little systematic empirical research investigating the use of these powerful and flexible technologies for collaboration purposes. In line with prior research, my dissertation draws on sociotechnical and resource dependence theoretical approaches to examine how the interaction between technological and social context of an organization determine the adoption and use of a technology for a task. However, in a break with prior work that often aggregates social media technologies as one class of technology, this dissertation theorizes different classes of social media based on their functionality and purpose. As a result, it develops more explicit means by which organization, technical, and environmental context matter for effective collaboration. Based on the aforementioned theoretical approaches, the dissertation develops a theoretical model and several hypotheses, which it tests using a unique 2012 national survey of local governments in the US conducted by the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Studies at ASU. Overall, the findings of this dissertation highlight that the adoption and use of social media technologies for collaboration purposes can be understood as an outcome of stakeholder participation, innovativeness, and social media type. Insights from this dissertation contribute both to our theoretical understanding about social media technology adoption and use in government and provide useful information for agencies.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Public Administration 201

ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks: a literature review

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is a complex and vibrant process, one that involves a combination of technological and organizational interactions. Often an ERP implementation project is the single largest IT project that an organization has ever launched and requires a mutual fit of system and organization. Also the concept of an ERP implementation supporting business processes across many different departments is not a generic, rigid and uniform concept and depends on variety of factors. As a result, the issues addressing the ERP implementation process have been one of the major concerns in industry. Therefore ERP implementation receives attention from practitioners and scholars and both, business as well as academic literature is abundant and not always very conclusive or coherent. However, research on ERP systems so far has been mainly focused on diffusion, use and impact issues. Less attention has been given to the methods used during the configuration and the implementation of ERP systems, even though they are commonly used in practice, they still remain largely unexplored and undocumented in Information Systems research. So, the academic relevance of this research is the contribution to the existing body of scientific knowledge. An annotated brief literature review is done in order to evaluate the current state of the existing academic literature. The purpose is to present a systematic overview of relevant ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks as a desire for achieving a better taxonomy of ERP implementation methodologies. This paper is useful to researchers who are interested in ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Results will serve as an input for a classification of the existing ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Also, this paper aims also at the professional ERP community involved in the process of ERP implementation by promoting a better understanding of ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks, its variety and history

The Interplay between Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Online User Communities

Firms have been increasingly relying on online user communities (OUC) to access external, distant knowledge and expertise. Previous research on OUC has largely investigated the influence of individuals\u27 social capital on their knowledge sharing behavior. In this study, we propose a spiral view on the relationship between social capital and knowledge contribution. We suggest that there are two-way interactions between individuals\u27 social capital and their knowledge contribution in online user communities. To test our proposition, we collected and analyzed participation data of 3,512 users from the OUC of BMC, a global leader in innovative software solutions. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our study for the online user community literature as well as the broader context of online community

The Role of Disgust in Eating Disorders

Disgust, a basic emotional response, which influences approach/avoidance behaviors, has been studied in various psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. The current study employed exploratory correlations and hierarchical linear regressions (controlling for race, anxiety, and depression) in order to be able to observe the relationships among three traditional domains of disgust (i.e., core, animal-reminder, contamination) and eating disordered behaviors. Results revealed significant correlations between core disgust and dieting behaviors, in addition to contamination disgust and bulimia and symptoms of food preoccupation as well as behaviors concerning self-control around food-related stimuli (i.e., oral control). More importantly, disgust sensitivity was significant in predicting oral control and significantly accounted for 4.7% of the unique variance in predicting symptoms of bulimia and preoccupation with food. These results reveal the significant role of contamination disgust in the development and maintenance of eating pathology above and beyond known predictors of maladaptive eating and other domains of disgust. Implications of the current findings as well as future directions are discussed

Advances in Social Media Research:Past, Present and Future

Social media comprises communication websites that facilitate relationship forming between users from diverse backgrounds, resulting in a rich social structure. User generated content encourages inquiry and decision-making. Given the relevance of social media to various stakeholders, it has received significant attention from researchers of various fields, including information systems. There exists no comprehensive review that integrates and synthesises the findings of literature on social media. This study discusses the findings of 132 papers (in selected IS journals) on social media and social networking published between 1997 and 2017. Most papers reviewed here examine the behavioural side of social media, investigate the aspect of reviews and recommendations, and study its integration for organizational purposes. Furthermore, many studies have investigated the viability of online communities/social media as a marketing medium, while others have explored various aspects of social media, including the risks associated with its use, the value that it creates, and the negative stigma attached to it within workplaces. The use of social media for information sharing during critical events as well as for seeking and/or rendering help has also been investigated in prior research. Other contexts include political and public administration, and the comparison between traditional and social media. Overall, our study identifies multiple emergent themes in the existing corpus, thereby furthering our understanding of advances in social media research. The integrated view of the extant literature that our study presents can help avoid duplication by future researchers, whilst offering fruitful lines of enquiry to help shape research for this emerging field

The effects of co-creation : differences across stages of new product development

Firms increasingly ask for customer participation in the NPD process. However, an important question remains: how do consumers perceive customer participation across the different NPD stages? Does it differ with the products’ complexity? These questions are relevant because of the impact of such perceptions on NPD performance. Through a causal mediation analysis, was found a positive relationship between the customer participation at all NPD stages and the higher NPD performance. In low complexity products, the relationship is explained by higher perceived innovativeness and product quality at the ideation stage, higher perceived innovativeness, product quality and lower perceived co-creator expertise at the product development stage, but no mediation effect at the commercialization stage. In high complexity products, the relationship is explained by higher perceived innovativeness and product quality at the ideation stage, higher perceived innovativeness, product quality, co-creator similarity and market knowledge at the product development stage and higher perceived innovativeness, co-creator similarity and market knowledge at the commercialization stage. Finally, the ideation stage in a high complexity product was identified as the NPD stage that gains most from customer participation, however, in a low complexity product, all the NPD stages have similar importance in the higher NPD performanceCada vez mais as empresas solicitam a participação de consumidores no DNP. Contudo, uma importante questão permanece: como é que os consumidores percecionam a participação de outro consumidor nas diferentes fases de DNP? Será que difere com a complexidade dos produtos? Estas questões são relevantes uma vez que tais perceções têm um impacto na DNP performance. Através de uma análise causal de mediação, foi demonstrada uma relação positiva entre a participação dos consumidores nas diferentes fases de DNP e uma maior DNP performance. Nos produtos de baixa complexidade, esta relação é explicada por uma maior perceção de inovação e qualidade do produto na fase de idealização, uma maior perceção de inovação, qualidade do produto e uma menor perceção de especialização do co-criador na fase de desenvolvimento do produto, mas nenhum efeito de mediação justificou esta relação na fase de comercialização. Nos produtos de elevada complexidade, esta relação é explicada por uma maior perceção de inovação e qualidade do produto na fase de idealização, uma maior perceção de inovação, qualidade do produto, especialização e similitude com o co-criador na fase de desenvolvimento do produto e uma maior perceção de inovação, qualidade do produto, similitude e conhecimento do mercado do co-criador na fase de comercialização. Finalmente, a fase da idealização no produto de complexidade elevada foi identificada como sendo a mais valorizada pelos consumidores. Todavia, no produto de baixa complexidade todas as fases de DNP apresentam uma importância idêntica

Government 2.5: The Impact of Social Media on Public Sector Accessibility

Innovative approaches to communicating with the masses continue to evolve in the private sector, while accessibility of goods, services, and public information within federal, state, and local government organizations has been declining for decades. This situation has resulted in a lack of trust and sense of isolation from communities. At the same time, the implementation and use of social media have increased exponentially. Despite the simultaneous occurrence of these events, limited research has explored the connection between them. Specifically, the purpose of this case study was to address the central research question of whether the adoption of social media platforms results in increased accessibility of goods and services within the public sector. Rogers\u27s diffusion of innovations theory founded the framework for this study. Data were collected within a local government organization through semistructured interviews with 15 employees and 15 clients, observations of daily operations, and analyses of postings made on selected social media platforms. Inductive coding and a comparative method of analysis generated emerging themes and patterns. Key findings of this study indicated significant increases in public accessibility of goods and services as the result of the implementation and use of social media. Relative to diffusion of innovations theory, findings illustrated the spread of new technology through certain channels among employees and clients. Recommendations focus on establishing strategies to ensure widespread diffusion of social media and to address socioeconomic disparities. Government agencies can use this research as a means to advance social change through open communication, an engaged workforce, and increased transparency

Three essays on innovation: the moderating roles of reputation for innovation, CSR principles and managerial perceptions of environmental turbulence

This dissertation examines three moderating effects on innovation. First, the impact of reputation for innovation on corporate and product evaluations in user design products. Secondly, the effect of corporate social responsibility principles (CSR) on innovation capabilities is analysed. Finally, the role of managerial perceptions of environmental turbulence is investigated to understand the impact on the relationship between innovativeness and performance. Two criteria guided the moderators selected. First, moderators were identified by looking at trends in marketing research and practice in the 21st century society. Secondly, by revisiting the work of Peter Drucker along such trends, observing that his ideas are still very much emphasised by today’s marketing scholars. Chapter 1 provides the background for the following chapters. We review Drucker’s insights on the moderators and how they relate to this dissertation. This chapter also sets the definitions that will guide the three essays. Chapter 2 introduces the question of open innovation, particularly how a user design label impacts corporate and product evaluations. This framework is tested in firms high and low in reputation for innovation, in the apparel and fashion industries. Insights were gained on how perceptions of innovation can be hampered (or helped) from a user design label. Chapter 3 analyses in a context of high-tech industries how innovation capabilities are developed for firms that pursue CSR principles. The result is a novel finding on how CSR principles and innovation can be synergistic to export performance. Chapter 4 questions whether the effectiveness of new service success is contingent upon managerial perceptions of the environment in the hotel industry. This essay shows that how managers perceive the environment has implications for resource allocation and consequently to innovation. Chapter 5 provides an overall discussion for managers and theory and leaves suggestions for future research