DEVELOPING GUANXI THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA: USER ARCHETYPES AND INFLUENCING FACTORS

Existing studies have suggested that enterprise social media (ESM) may be especially appropriate in facilitating the initial formation of guanxi, while public social media (PSM) is more suited to driving guanxi development past the initial stage. However, the different patterns of social media use in the context of guanxi development, and the antecedent factors that give rise to those patterns are two salient issues that remain understudied. We conducted a case study with the aim of exploring these issues, which revealed six user archetypes representing the different ways that the use of ESM and PSM can be combined for guanxi development. In addition, we identify a range of antecedent factors that influence how ESM and PSM are used. The user archetypes identified not only constitute a conceptual innovation, but also advance the sophistication of the current perspective of social media use in the context of guanxi development

I heart you: how businesses are using social media to increase social capital

The popularity of social media is increasing as more social media platforms are produced. Businesses have seen the potential for social media and have changed their business strategies to suit this change. Social media allows businesses to communicate and provide awareness to their customers about offerings. It also provides a good platform for individuals or customers to communicate to the business on how they are operating, their views on products or services. The research problem we address in this study is with this amount of freedom to share information through social media, we need an understanding of the considerations of how businesses maintain social capital and social trust. This paper presents a preliminary study which explores the effectiveness of how businesses maintain good social capital. This study uses primary data collected from interviews with businesses about their social media use with their customers. The preliminary results show that businesses do understand the importance of maintaining a high social capital within social media. This paper contributes to the social capital theory literature within the context of social media usage by organisations, and thus the results may also provide some practical guidance organisations

Bridging and bonding social capital and their effects on internationalisation: an empirical study of international ‘take-off’ in Chinese SMEs

This paper is concerned with the role of social capital in effecting international take-off in Chinese SMEs. Social capital is posited as having different forms; a local bonding dimension and an international bridging dimension which spans structural holes between local networks and international opportunities. However, each of these forms is explored as having further constraining and enabling effects. This paper reports the results of a first phase investigation into 16 Chinese SMEs that have gone through the international take-off process. Interim findings suggest two stages in take-off, opportunity search and value proposition development. Initial findings report some previously under discussed constraining effects of international bridging social capital which include the constraint of non-exclusive international bridges, and the local peer pressure to continue to seek further international bridges, rather than focus on strengthening an initial bridge. Findings contribute to the strand of internationalisation literature positing the importance of network insidership in internationalisation and internationalisation as a by-product of entrepreneurial networking activities

Social capital and Facebook use of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan

This case study examined the extent to which social media can help build and strengthen the social capital of communities in the face of natural disasters. It investigated Tacloban City, an area hit hardest by Super Typhoon Haiyan on 08 November 2013. Haiyan is considered as the most powerful tropical cyclone in recorded human history. With the vast international attention it received, it also highlighted the growing role of Facebook in facilitating and influencing disaster aid and response, particularly in a developing country such as the Philippines. Social capital describes how networks and resources within the community are made available to people through their connections with others. This concept is gaining popularity because of the increasing role of social media during disasters. While its effects on the behaviour of people in disasters are generally perceived to be useful, few studies have actually examined how social media changes the way people mobilise themselves in a disaster-stricken and politically tensed society. Separate interviews and focus group discussions among selected residents of two coastal communities (Barangays 89 and 48-B), selected members of two local NGOs (Community & Family Services International and Operation Blessing - Visayas), and three members of the city government (vice-mayor, urban and environmental consultant, and city councillor) revealed that Facebook extended the geography of the social capital of Tacloban City after Super Typhoon Haiyan. It allowed the survivors to inform their families and relatives, who are residing in different countries, of their condition and consequently receive physical help, like money and goods, from them. However, as a mediated form of communication, Facebook was limited in addressing the socio-political realities of Tacloban City, which was marked by widespread mistrust and uncertainty. Paradoxically, Facebook has amplified the structural inequalities already present in Tacloban City before it was hit by Super Typhoon Haiyan. While it enhanced strong ties, it has failed to forge weaker ties. As a result, it has instead widened the gap between those who have more power over the access to resources and those who have less

The appraisal of Facebook online community: An exposition of mobile commerce in social media reviews

Peer reviewe

Information Management in Supply Chain Partnering: Improving Maintenance Processes in Dutch Housing Associations

From the article: "Abstract Maintenance processes of Dutch housing associations are often still organized in a traditional manner. Contracts are based on lowest price instead of ‘best quality for lowest price’ considering users’ demands. Dutch housing associations acknowledge the need to improve their maintenance processes in order to lower maintenance cost, but are not sure how. In this research, this problem is addressed by investigating different supply chain partnering principles and the role of information management. The main question is “How can the organisation of maintenance processes of Dutch housing associations, in different supply chain partnering principles and the related information management, be improved?” The answer is sought through case study research.