Exploring Factors Influencing the Use of Enterprise Social Networks in Multinational Professional Service Firms

ABSTRACT

Organizations are increasingly implementing enterprise social networks (ESNs) for improved communication and collaboration, as well as enhanced knowledge sharing and innovation among employees. However, the paradoxical relationship between ESN implementation and the promised benefits has been attributed to employees’ underutilization. Our research focuses on factors influencing employees’ decision to use ESN in their work role and draws on case studies of two multinational professional service firms (PSFs) based in Australia. Qualitative data were collected during ten semi-structured interviews with employees from both organizations, to determine their perceptions of ESN usage and capture the factors that influence their use behavior. The findings illustrate that the likelihood of ESN use is significantly influenced by technological, organizational, social and individual factors. A successful ESN use within an organization involves the nexus between these four factors and recommendations are made, as guidelines for organizational actors about how ESNs usage can be increased.     

The Impact of Social Influence on Individuals' Adoption of Innovation

This article empirically examines the impact of social factors (peer and social network) on attitudes toward innovation and the impact of that attitude on individual employees adopting innovation in their workplaces in Australia. This research uses quantitative research methodology and specifically multivariate statistical analysis. The research framework is based on the theory of reasoned action, the technology acceptance model, Frambach and Schillewaert's conceptual framework, and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. Data were collected from employees of a tertiary institution in Australia using a structured questionnaire. The results of multiple regression analysis show that social network impacts significantly on attitudes toward an innovation which, in turn, affects the innovation adoption behavior of employees. Furthermore, social network has been found to directly influence the innovation adoption process. This outcome has strategic implications for organizations in the effective management of innovation involving employees. These implications are highlighted in the article. This research has focused on only one organization in a particular region in Australia. Future research can explore the relationship between variables by including a number of organizations across Australia and beyond to provide a deeper insight into the issues explored in this article.     

Marketing Services for the New Organizational Structure

Two trends in organizational structures warrant a reexamination of the ways that marketing services companies (Marketing, Advertising, Promotion, Public Relations, etc.) are asked to support the objectives of their client organizations. The first trend is the "flattening" of many organizations as layers of management are cut in an attempt to reduce overhead. However, there is seldom a concurrent reduction in projects with the result that the remaining managers must accomplish virtually all the previous tasks with a diminished staff. The second trend is an attempt to develop a competitive edge by refocusing the mission of the organization. Total Quality Management (TQM), task teams, and a new focus on customer service are examples of recent attempts to redefine the real goals of an organization and align employees behind the new goals. In this article the authors argue that a new structure in marketing services companies is needed to serve the new organizational structure. This new structure more nearly mirrors the client organization by encompassing multitude disciplines and operating with a lean organization of experienced professionals. The advantages are the same as those that lead to changes in the client companies; lower overhead, greater alignment along disciplines, and a competitive edge for clients.     

Stakeholder Learning Dialogues: How to Preserve Ethical Responsibility in Networks

The shift in corporate strategy, from vertical integration to strategic alliances, has developed hand in hand with the evolution of organizational structure, from the vertically integrated firm to the network organization. The result has been the elimination of boundaries, more flexible organizations, and a greater interaction among individuals and organizations. On the negative side, the specialization of firms on single areas of competence has resulted in the disaggregation of the value chain and in the disaggregation of ethical and legal responsibility. To illustrate this point, the paper considers some cases, such as the case of the "beer girls" of Southeast Asia, who are used unethically by distributors to sell beer and liquor. To deal with the problem of the disaggregation of ethical responsibility, managers can use organizational culture and ethical values to control the performance of employees and of other organizations. Contemporary developments in business ethics also offer tools for dealing with the problem. For example, "global corporate citizenship," integrated social contracting theory, and stakeholder learning dialogues provide ways of integrating the interests of all stakeholders. The task is now to use these new approaches to create a governance process that incorporates the voices of all stakeholders, especially the voices of those stakeholders that have legitimate and urgent moral claims, but lack the power to establish those claims.     

Labor process control in modern organizations: Subtle effects of structure

Labor process control in today's work organizations is more subtle and sophisticated than in previous eras. Mechanisms such as personnel selection, training and socialization, organizational technology, organizational architecture, organizational structure, and organizational ideology and languages produce strong compliance pressures, often without appearing part of an intricate control network. Studies of organizational control intellectually grounded in systems theory have focused on processes designed to correct the occasional “deviant” action, leaving unfocused mechanisms which tend to ensure routinely compliant behavior. This article identifies subtle controlling influences resulting from the structuring of organizations. Three major dimensions of organizational structure—specialization, hierarchy of authority, and formalization—are analyzed to determine their effects on patterns of employee compliance. Although modern organizational control processes such as structural design subtly produce powerful compliance pressures on employees, conflict in organizations between capital and labor is not suppressed. Workplace struggles are an inevitable aspect of modern organization and emerge even within the confines of sophisticated controls.     

流通网络组织开拓农村市场研究

基于网络组织理论视角,探讨以商业信用与法律契约网络、信息网络和创新网络为基础,通过流通企业、农村个体与组织以及中介组织等各个组织节点的互动协调,克服农村的小生产与大市场的矛盾,从而有效开拓农村市场途径。     

GESTO—A network organized company?

Despite its growing popularity, the concept of network organization is often used with different meanings and no empirical support. This paper attempts to fill these two gaps. To fill the theoretical gap, we discuss the content and applicability of network concepts inside a firm by presenting 10 footnotes toward a possible operational definition. The footnotes contain structural and process properties of network organizations. In the second section, we analyze through a case-study methodology GESTO, an Italian service company, and we show how its profile and operation approximate a network-like organization. Finally, we discuss future possible research on organizational forms.     

The impact of Enterprise 2.0 in organizations

Many organizations have embarked on Enterprise 2.0. However, not many have successfully implemented it. Availability of inexpensive tools does not guarantee their usage by organizations and their employees. To have Enterprise 2.0 implemented widely and effectively by organizations, it is important that both managers and employees benefit from using it. It is expected that the level of congruence of management–employees perceived benefits would affect the level of adoption of Enterprise 2.0 in organizations. Testing this is the purpose of this research. Using the case study of two large global organizations, this study analyzed the use of Enterprise 2.0 by both employees and managers. The results showed that even though both employees and managers believe that Enterprise 2.0 usage does have a positive impact on communication, collaboration, community building, and employee engagement, the level of belief is different: managers’ perception of Enterprise 2.0 benefits is less than that of employees. There was a greater degree of congruence though between both the groups on the perceived benefits of Enterprise 2.0 on knowledge management and organizational outcomes. The size and the type (not-for-profit) of organization was a disadvantage in adopting such tools. The not-for-profit organization was more at loss when applying Enterprise 2.0 as its employees are less aware of the type of tools and of their benefits, and there is less managerial support.     

Why do good employees stay in bad organizations?

Family and work are two of society's most important institutions. It is understandable, then, that some similarities would exist between the two. One unfortunate aspect of such relationships is that families and organizations may be abusive to members. When this occurs in familial relationships, research has identified dynamics that keep people in the abusive situation. We consider here how those same dynamics can occur in abusive organizations to identify factors that keep employees in unhealthy work environments. We then examine intervention techniques and concepts that can be used to enable people to recognize an abusive organization, the long-term damage such organizations can inflict on employees, and ways to assist individuals in exiting an abusive organization setting. Our intention is to create awareness of the harm that can be caused by abusive organizations and provide a framework that will enable people caught in a pattern of organizational abuse to understand their choices and behaviors.     

How to Become Central in an Informal Social Network: An Investigation of the Antecedents to Network Centrality in an Environmental SCM Initiative

Environmental supply chain management (SCM) initiatives often evolve as informal, grassroots efforts that are driven by policy entrepreneurs at lower management levels in an organization. These individuals usually are not in positions of power or authority to convince others to support the initiative. They thus rely on central positions in informal networks to gain access to and influence over other employees to be better able to sell these initiatives. This study examines how individuals arrive at positions of centrality within the networks surrounding environmental SCM initiatives. Linking social network theory and social capital theory with findings from the organizational behavior and environmental arena, the study investigates how an individual's proactive personality and commitment profile—affective, normative, and continuance commitment—might affect network centrality through the mediating role of championing behavior. Investigating the implementation of an environmental SCM initiative at a multinational enterprise, the authors identified a 90‐actor social network surrounding the initiative. The results provide evidence that championing behavior fully mediates the relationship between commitment and network centrality and to a lesser extent between proactive personality and network centrality. These findings suggest that championing behavior can enable an actor to become more central in social networks. Further, the results indicate that in an environmental SCM context, engendering the right type of commitment is a much more important driver of championing behavior than the proactive personalities of individual actors. This finding suggests that even employees who do not have proactive personalities can champion environmental initiatives and become central within the informal networks that surround these initiatives, if they strongly desire to support the initiative and believe that the initiative will lead to positive change.     

Do Environmental CSR Initiatives Serve Organizations’ Legitimacy in the Oil Industry? Exploring Employees’ Reactions Through Organizational Identification Theory

Little is known about employees’ responses to their organizations’ initiatives in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Academics have already identified a few outcomes regarding CSR’s impact on employees’ attitudes and behaviours; however, studies explaining the underlying mechanisms that drive employees’ favourable responses to CSR remain largely unexplored. Based on organizational identification (OI) theory, this study surveyed 155 employees of a petrochemical organization to better elucidate why, how and under which circumstances employees might positively respond to organizations’ CSR initiatives in the controversial oil industry sector. Findings first support that perceived CSR (i.e. environmental CSR) positively relates to employees’ OI which is known as an important antecedent of employees’ outcomes (Riketta, J Vocat Behavior, 66(2):358, 2005). Furthermore, results highlighted that the relationship between perceived CSR and employees’ OI is mediated by organizational trust. Finally, this study also revealed that some contingency factors such as employees’ attributions of self-centred motives to their organization’s investment in environmental issues can moderate the relationship between perceived CSR and organizational trust. Based on these findings, it is argued that CSR initiatives can support organizations’ efforts to maintain a strong relationship with their employees, and gain their support even in a controversial industry sector.     

The employee brand: Is yours an all-star?

In this article, a typology is presented which will help organizations better reflect the brand image they desire. The assisting typology is based on the extent to which employees know and understand the organization's mission, values, and desired brand image, and the degree to which they perceive their psychological contracts with the organization as being honored. Organizations can be classified as all-stars, rookies, injured reserves, or strike-out kings, based on the characteristics of a preponderance of their employees. As categorized, rookie organizations cannot deliver the desired brand image because most of their employees lack the knowledge and understanding to do so. Injured reserve organizations, on the other hand, cannot achieve the same because firm employees perceive their psychological contracts with the organization as having been violated, which renders the individuals unwilling and unmotivated. For their part, strike-out king organizations share rookie and injured reserve organizations' worst characteristics. Finally, and conversely, all-star organizations consistently deliver the desired brand image to others because their employees are both able and motivated to do so. To help firms attain this highly desired status, specific guidelines are presented herein which may help organizations become “all-stars” in their own right.     

Boundaries on the Move. The Impact of Cultural Values and Language on Organizational Design and Communication within an Organization in Thailand

Multinational organizations cross national boundaries in their search for higher profits. As national boundaries are becoming less significant, new boundaries emerge within multination organizations. This paper will explore the interrelations between culture, organizational design and business language within such an organization. It is based on extensive fieldwork in a Thai–Western organization in Thailand. In accordance with Thai law, this organization has both Thai and Western employees. Several of these employees have been interviewed and surveyed about their perceptions of the organization, the management and the effectiveness and efficiency of the management policies. This anthropological approach revealed rather divergent perspectives of two very different groups working together in one organization. The paper will discuss the impact of the management approach on the studied organization, which determines the way cultural boundaries are dealt with. Furthermore, it will demonstrate that the influence of the chosen business language on the studied organization was very strong. A close interrelation between business language, organizational design and power relations impacted on the Thai–Western relations within the organization.     

Princes and Paupers: Network Ties and Financial Contributions Among Nonprofit Arts Organizations

ABSTRACT

In the United States, nonprofit organizations are the primary vehicle through which wealthy patrons nurture arts and culture. They provide support for theatres, orchestras, operas, and ballet troupes of all sizes, as well as museums, galleries, zoos, and public radio and television stations. The survival of this subsector is dependent on the ability of individuals and foundations to raise and funnel money to the almost 7,000 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in the United States. Nonprofit arts organizations have historically fared well during periods of financial constraint, in part because they have not depended heavily upon government subsidies. But another explanation for this stable funding picture may be the networks of overlapping board member and interpersonal ties of collegiality and friendship which characterizes the world of nonprofit arts organizations.

We began our research with the idea that network position, particularly as measured by network centrality, is an important resource for nonprofit arts organizations. We hypothesized that the more central an arts organization is in the entire network of for-profit and nonprofit arts organizations in the community, the greater will be the level of support it can generate from local donors. We also hypothesized that the more wealthy a nonprofit arts organization, the more central it is likely to be in the entire network of for-profit and nonprofit organizations.

Using an extensive database of almost 3,000 directors in the Louisville, Kentucky area, and special computer-based network analysis software packages, we were able to calculate the precise centralities of local arts organizations within a network of 149 organizations, corporations, and umbrella funding agencies. In order to determine the local financial support, we collected the 1990 IRS (Internal Revenue Service) Form 990 returns for nineteen of the twenty-five organizations (76%) we identified as active in the Louisville area. After determining organizational centrality, we did a bi-variate analysis between the centrality of an individual arts organization and total organizational wealth. What we found was that centrality is strongly associated with level of contributions and weakly associated with overall wealth. We believe that nonprofit arts organizations can take deliberate steps to maximize this resource by being aware of the other organizational (and social) ties of prospective directors.     

社会网络与区域性企业家集群演进——以温商为例

区域性企业家集群（商帮）是具有社会网络特点的群体,网络联系、网络结构对企业家集群的形成、发展及其演进具有重要的影响。强关系有利于企业家网络的形成,弱关系有利于企业家网络的创新。网络规模和网络密度对企业家集群具有两面性,处于结构洞位置的网络节点拥有信息利益和控制利益。文章以温商为例,对企业家集群网络（温商网络）形成的外部条件、网络联系、网络结构、变迁现状及路径进行分析,得出社会网络对企业家集群演进具有重要作用。     

Political Skill,Gender, and Social Network Positioning of Chinese Employees

We collected data from 156 Chinese hospital employees to investigate how political skill and gender affect their advice and friendship network positioning. We found employees with high levels of political skill are more likely to proactively seek friendship ties, while political skill does not affect employees’ advice networks overall. In addition, results show that for men, those with high levels of political skill have lower in-degree centrality in advice and friendship networks than those with less political skill. Political skill does not affect women’s network positions.     

Promises Made, Promises Broken: An Exploration of Employee Attraction and Retention Practices in Small Business

Entrepreneurial organizations have undergone substantial workforce changes and transformations during the last two decades in order to compete successfully on a global scale. The ability to attract and retain reliable and competent employees has become a key component in developing an effective and sustainable competitive advantage. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of the psychological contract and the types of promises made and communicated by small business organizations to attract and retain their employees. From a sample of 151 employees within small businesses, the results demonstrate that perceived unfulfilled promises can have a considerable impact on workplace attitudes, commitment, and intentions to leave the organization. Implications and recommendations for small businesses as well as directions for future research are discussed.     

The generation of organizational commitment in a cross-cultural context

This contribution explores the cross-cultural variations in the generation of organizational commitment. Participants were Chinese and Western employees of organizations operating in Hong Kong. Both groups believed that effort should be rewarded. However, Chinese and Western participants were committed to different constituencies within the organization. Westerners viewed interpersonal relationships as a means to the end, with the organization being the object of commitment. Chinese committed to interpersonal networks and saw these relationships as the primary organization-member engagement. Chinese and Westerners defined the organization differently and this influenced the way they generated their attachment to the firm.     

展会组织网络的治理分析

目前,在我国展会领域存在以政府为中心,和以展会与组办方为中心两种典型的组织网络。这两种组织网络在结构性嵌入、关系与知识治理等方面存在着诸多不同,后一种组织网络更符合网络治理的发展趋势,并在关系与知识治理等方面具有优势。但是,前者与中国渐进式改革进程相对应,也具有一定的历史合理性逻辑,转变自身也应符合这一历史逻辑逐步进行。     

Practical Wisdom: Management’s No Longer Forgotten Virtue

Whistleblowing refers to the disclosure by organization members of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices to persons or organizations that may be able to effect action. Most studies on the topic have been conducted in North American or European private sector organizations, and less attention has been paid to regions such as Turkey. In this study, we study the whistleblowing intentions and channel choices of Turkish employees in private and public sector organizations. Using data from 327 private sector and 405 public sector employees, we find that public sector employees are more idealistic and less inclined to whistleblow externally and anonymously. Higher idealism among public sector employees does not moderate these effects. We find that private sector employees are more relativistic, and that they are more inclined to whistleblow through external and anonymous channels. More relativistic private sector employees are more likely to prefer external whistleblowing; however sector does not moderate the propensity to whistleblow anonymously.