Understanding passive knowledge sharing within an online business community from the perspectives of Expectancy Theory & Social Capital Theory

With the growth of information and communication technology (ICT), more organizations are focusing on the development of online business communities (OBC) to help facilitate better knowledge sharing (KS) activities. Since today’s business environment is dynamic, having up-to-date and ongoing knowledge is an advantage for organizations to be competitive. Ironically, having employees to share their knowledge virtually is one of the biggest challenges faced in OBC. Low level of contributions is caused by withholding of efforts (social loafing - SL) by the employees. SL is known for its negative impacts on group performance. Unfortunately this effect is under-researched in knowledge management (KM) literature and have largely been ignored by IS researchers. Therefore this study will try to examine what are the factors that contributed to SL from Expectancy and Social Capital theoretical lenses. This study will also proposed a new construct call ‘Passive Knowledge Sharing’ to help give better understand of SL effects on KS activities

Research on user participation behavior of mobile short video APPs: Taking Xiaohongshu as an example

Short video apps for mobile devices are rising in popularity. Using Xiaohongshu as an example, this work carefully studies the user participation behavior of mobile short video Apps and contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of pertinent theoretical research. This study equips creators of short videos with the knowledge they require to improve user experience and content marketing on a more objective basis, as well as to enable app upgrading and optimization. The UTAUT theoretical model is used in this paper to develop hypotheses, which are then tested using survey data. Finally, the theoretical model and hypothesis are validated using multiple regression analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. The significant study results are as follows: Users\u27 behavior is significantly influenced by social value, perceived entertainment value, individual innovation, facilitating conditions, and privacy security when using communities; by social value, individual innovation, facilitating conditions, and privacy security when participating in communities; and by social value, facilitating conditions, and privacy security when contributing to communities. Finally, it makes some suggestions for the long-term expansion of mobile short video apps based on the testing results

Knowledge sharing and professional online communities acceptance : an integrated model

This study aims to advance empirical research in the realm of the use of professional online communities for knowledge sharing. Use of these communities is likely to be influenced not only by social factors but also by cognitive and technological factors. Hence, drawing upon theoretical and empirical foundations and contextually relevant previous research, three theoretical frameworks were developed and applied, in which relational factors (trust), individual factors (knowledge/system self-efficacy), and technological factors (system quality and content quality) were integrated together with the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to examine the use of professional online communities to acquire/provide knowledge among professionals. To test these theoretical models, an online web-survey was administered to 366 members of eight professional communities in Egypt.Employing covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM), the results of this study confirmed that professional online communities have emerged as an essential channel to facilitate knowledge sharing among professionals. Performance expectancy and personal outcome expectancy were found to be the strongest determinants of professional online community use. Relational capital - trust - was found to be a significant predictor of usage behaviour. However, for members who used the community for knowledge provision, trust was found to have a stronger influence than was perceived trust on using the community for knowledge acquisition. For members who used the community for knowledge acquisition, effort expectancy and social influence revealed significant effect, in contrast to members who use the community for knowledge provision. Regarding the hypotheses common to both use behaviours, the findings demonstrated some significant differences. Content quality, for example, seemed to have a clearly stronger influence on trust than system quality in all models. Content quality showed stronger effect on trust for using professional online communities for knowledge provision than using for knowledge acquisition, while system quality was found to be a stronger predictor of trust in the use for knowledge acquisition. For effort expectancy, system quality tended to have a stronger influence than system self-efficacy in all models; however, the influence of system quality on effort expectancy tended to be more important when online communities are used for knowledge acquisition.As for moderating effects, the influence of performance expectancy on use for knowledge acquisition and the influence of personal outcome expectancy on use for knowledge provision were found to be moderated by users’ gender (stronger for men) and age (stronger for younger users), while the influence of performance expectancy on use for knowledge acquisition was found to be influenced by users’ experience (stronger for less experienced users)

Zentrale Determinanten sozialer Beeinflussung und wesentliche Wirkungszusammenhänge mit Blick auf konsumentenseitige Wahrnehmungs- und Verhaltensprozesse

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Online Communities of Practice in the Contact Center Environment: Factors that Influence Participation

Knowledge is a critical element of competitive advantage. More specifically, tribal knowledge developed by workers from on-the-job experiences is of significant value and is also one of the most difficult forms of knowledge to capture and leverage across the workforce. In an effort to capture, store, and share tribal knowledge, organizations have begun to adopt a concept of social learning known as communities of practice. However, low participation by community members in many organizations has resulted in mediocre results. This has been particularly evident in the contact center environment, which has its own unique culture and challenges. Without a solid knowledge and understanding of the motivators, enablers, and barriers of participation critical to the adoption of and participation in contact center communities of practice, organizations often struggle to achieve sufficient gains in competitive advantage and efficiencies to justify the investment in such an intervention. Five research objectives guide the research in this study to identify the specific motivators, enablers, and barriers to participation in communities of practice in the contact center environment. The objectives break out participation in terms of passive use of information provided by others and active contribution of knowledge to the community. Through an exploratory-sequential, mixed methods design, the research presented serves as a cross-sectional, non-experimental study of a finite population of nearly 9,000 customer service representatives in a large organization with contact centers across the United States. The first stage involved qualitative focus group interviews with a small sample of participants across the different lines of business supported by the centers and was followed by a quantitative survey in the second stage. The study revealed that contact centers have many factors of participation in common with other organizations studied previously. However, it also revealed some stark differences, especially in terms of enablers and barriers to participation. The type of work and the way in which time is managed in the contact center world represented key factors specific to the environment. In addition, the team structures and the infrastructure supporting a company-wide community of practice were also significant factors that drove participation either up or down. The study provides initial research into the specifics of the contact center environment. However, additional research with other organizations and industries is needed to further validate the findings of this study

A Transcendental Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of Middle Managers: Self-determined Lifelong Learning in the Banking Industry

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of middle managers in the banking industry practicing heutagogy to develop lifelong learning skills. The theory guiding this study is Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory and its relationship with lifelong learning. This study aimed to answer the central research question: What are the lived experiences of middle managers in the banking industry practicing heutagogy to develop lifelong learning skills? Data collected from individual interviews, focus groups, and journal prompts were synthesized using open and axial coding to identify patterns and connections in the resulting data. Data analysis followed the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method described by Moustakas. Following an in-depth analysis of the collected data, five major themes emerged. Learning and employment growth, lifelong learning and adaptation, organizational implementation of learning, referrals and career advancement, and personal growth through experience and accomplishment offer a valuable perspective into middle managers\u27 experiences in the banking industry practicing heutagogy to develop lifelong learning skills. These themes provide insight into the various aspects of their personal and professional growth journey. The study concludes by discussing the implications and findings for future research

Exploring leaders’ value of participating in virtual leadership communities of practice

The research study explores a leader’s perceived value in participating in a virtual leadership community of practice. This research applied narrative inquiry by examining value creation stories through the lens of Wenger, Trayner and de Laat’s (2011) value creation framework to explore how leaders within the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office apply learning from these communities to their leadership practice. It explores how emerging, mid-level and senior leaders engage in their virtual leadership communities and what influences the value that the leaders find within them. Fieldwork includes an online survey blended with semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Findings reveal that leaders’ participation in leadership communities can traverse multiple cycles of value creation and similar experiences can be experienced and valued by leaders at all levels. Although leaders find immediate value with the interactions and immediate connections within their leadership communities, more find benefit from the ‘potential and future value’ of virtual leadership communities, especially if influential to their own leadership development practice. Developing and supporting leadership communities is increasingly a focus of leadership development efforts in organisations. However, evaluating leadership communities and networks is a challenge, especially when staff are dispersed across wide geographical areas. Similarly-intended communities vary depending on environmental and contextual characteristics and influences, such as the maturity of the community, the ability to develop trust, engagement and motivation, as well as delivering value applicable to a leader’s work and leadership practice. These differing influences lead to different strengths and challenges, which can be addressed by learning professionals and organisations. This research shows that, in order to ensure success, decisions and actions have to be fine-tuned towards the unique personalities of the virtual leadership communities

Why Don’t You Use It? Assessing the Determinants of Enterprise Social Software Usage: A Conceptual Model Integrating Innovation Diffusion and Social Capital Theories

Social software has recently attracted the attention of organizations. Nowadays organizational social software applications are often bundled within enterprise social software platforms (ESSPs). Given the popularity of social software in the private realm (e.g., Facebook), organizations expect their employees to use the ESSPs in the same frequency right after rollout. However, employees do not always meet this expectation, leading to internal social software platforms that starve for attention. While there is some research investigating users’ motives to adopt social software in the private realm, empirical research on social software adoption in an enterprise setting is still scarce. As a step towards closing this research gap, we collected a rich set of qualitative data aiming at investigating the determinants of employees’ ESSP usage. Based on theory and the collected qualitative data, this paper proposes a conceptual ESSP adoption model combining the theoretical perspectives of innovation diffusion theory and social capital theory

Learning with Mobiles. A Developing Country Perspective on Mobile Technologies use in Learning for Livelihood Support

Paper VI is excluded from the dissertation until it will be published.This doctoral thesis focuses on understanding the role of mobile technologies as tools to enhance learning for livelihood support. To date, the body of knowledge on the use of mobile technologies for development is growing, as mobiles avail a chance for many developing countries’ communities to improve their economic and social well-being. The current integration of mobile technologies for development has to a large extent focused on information dissemination, with less emphasis on how mobiles offer learning spaces to propel development. Yet, mobile technologies offer possibilities for access to learning for communities in resource constrained settings. Dedicated studies in pedagogical integration of mobile technologies in teaching and learning mainly focus on formal and informal learning classroom-related activities, neglecting the substantial majority like smallholder farmers who constitute the biggest percentage in many rural areas.publishedVersio

Contrasting Indigenous entrepreneurship in Australia and Canada : how three applied research perspectives can improve policy and programs

Abstract not available