Navigating workplace conflicts and fostering innovative behaviors: the role of job commitment and socio-instrumental ESM utilization

This study explores the dynamics of intersection between workplace conflicts, job commitment, and socio-instrumental enterprise social media (ESM) utilization for improving innovation. This study proposes job commitment as a pivotal mediator that influences employees' attitudinal responses to the array of conflicts encountered in the workplace. Additionally, it introduce socio-instrumental ESM use as a potent moderator, influencing employees' appraisals of workplace conflicts. To illuminate the intricate tapestry of these interactions, we present a moderated mediation model that delineates the complex nomological network governing the interplay among workplace conflicts, job commitment, and the cultivation of innovative behaviors. Based on empirical data encompassing 447 employees, our findings illuminate the distinctive moderating roles played by these socio-instrumental ESM usage. These patterns differentially moderate the connections between workplace conflicts and job commitment, as well as the indirect connections between workplace conflicts and the stimulation of employee innovation through job commitment. This research significantly advances our theoretical understanding of the multifaceted interplay among workplace conflicts, job commitment, socio-instrumental ESM utilization, and employee innovation. Moreover, it offers implications that can faciliate organizational strategies aimed at fostering innovation. By recognizing the pivotal roles of job commitment and socio-instrumental ESM, organizations can strategically harness these factors to cultivate a culture of innovation, positioning themselves for success in an increasingly competitive and dynamic business environment.

The dark side of enterprise social media and employee digital creativity: Communication visibility perspective

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the significances of excessive usage of enterprise social media (ESM) on individuals' digital creativity through ESM exhaustion. In addition, we intend to investigate the significance of ESM visibility as a moderator in the connection between excessive usage of ESM, ESM exhaustion, and digital creativity. The results presented in this study are derived from primary data collected from 718 Chinese workers who utilize ESM. The data analysis were conducted using SPSS version 23.0. Findings revealed that excessive usage of ESM is negatively linked to employee digital creativity and has a significant impact on ESM exhaustion. ESM exhaustion is negatively related to employee digital creativity. ESM visibility is further found to play a significant moderating role in strengthening the connection between excessive use of ESM and ESM exhaustion. Additionally, ESM visibility reinforces the negative association between excessive use of ESM and employee digital creativity. This study encompasses ESM users' perceptions of the connection between excessive ESM usage and its exhaustion, providing evidence for organizations to develop and manage ESM usage policies to mitigate the negative impact of ESM usage for employees.

Emotional exhaustion weakens the relationship between social media use and knowledge sharing behavior

PURPOSE

Knowledge sharing behavior is crucial for ensuring organizational success, fueling innovation, solving problems, and informing decision-making. While social media platforms offer powerful tools for employees to share knowledge, the intricate relationship between social media use and knowledge sharing behavior remains unclear. Few studies have examined the influencing mechanisms of emotional exhaustion on the above relationships, especially through self-determination perspective.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

As knowledge is inherently private to the individual, grounded in self-determination theory, this study employed a moderated mediation analysis to explore the internal mechanisms of social media use on employee knowledge sharing behavior. The survey of 356 full-time employees was collected from a large environmental protection group in China. Hypotheses are tested using hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrap tests.

FINDINGS

The results show that social media use positively affects employee knowledge sharing behavior; knowledge sharing intention partially positively mediates the influence of social media use on knowledge sharing behavior; emotional exhaustion negatively moderates the relationship between social media use and knowledge sharing intention.

CONTRIBUTION OF RESEARCH

The study identifies how two styles of social media use - work-related purpose and social-related purpose - affect knowledge sharing behavior. It significantly advances the understanding of social media use on knowledge sharing behavior from self-determination perspective.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

This study has several important practical implications for organizations seeking to facilitate employee knowledge sharing behavior through social media use. Organizations should improve employees' knowledge sharing intention and avoid emotional exhaustion.

Catalysts of digital excellence: Unraveling the threads of connectivity, embedment, and visibility in enterprise social media for enhanced task and innovative performances

In an era characterized by rapid digital transformation, this research delves into the intricate dynamics of enterprise social media (ESM) ubiquitous connectivity, drawing on the influential framework of social cognitive theory (SCT), we unravel the complex relationships among compatibility, presenteeism, ESM-enabled embeddedness, and the visibility of digital interactions, shedding light on how these factors collectively shape task performance and innovative contributions in the contemporary hybrid work landscape. By incorporating SCT into our research model, we not only enhance the theoretical underpinning but also respond to the imperative of understanding how individual cognition and observational learning impact behaviors in digital work environments. Data is collected from 467 participants from China. Results indicated that ESM-enabled embeddedness mediates the connection between presenteeism and both digital-enabled task performance, digital-enabled innovative performance. Findings conformed that ESM-enabled embeddedness mediates the connection between compatibility and both digital-enabled task performance, digital-enabled innovative performance. ESM visibility strengthens the connection between ubiquitous connectivity (presenteeism, compatibility) and ESM-enabled embeddedness. In addition, results also indicated that ESM visibility moderates the mediation effect of ESM-enabled embeddedness between the dimensions of ESM ubiquitous connectivity (presenteeism) and both digital-enabled task performance, digital-enabled innovative performance. In contrast, ESM visibility did not moderates the mediation effect of ESM-enabled embeddedness between the dimensions of ESM ubiquitous connectivity (compatibility) and both digital-enabled task performance, digital-enabled innovative performance. This study not only contributes depth to ESM literature but also lays the groundwork for future research endeavors, encouraging exploration of diverse contexts and additional moderating factors to comprehensively grasp the intricate dynamics within modern digital workspaces.

Sharing or Hiding? Exploring the Influence of Social Cognition and Emotion on Employee Knowledge Behaviors within Enterprise Social Media

As emerging knowledge management platforms, enterprise social media (ESM) provide an important way for employees to engage in knowledge sharing and information communication within their organization. However, the question of how to encourage employees to engage in continuous knowledge sharing rather than knowledge hiding on ESM has not received sufficient attention from scholars. In contrast to previous studies that focused on a single theory perspective and a single knowledge behavior, in this study, we took a user cognition and emotion perspective and constructed a mechanism model for the impact of knowledge sharing and knowledge hiding among employees on ESM based on social cognition theory and emotion as social information theory. A total of 240 valid questionnaires were collected and used to empirically test the model. The results indicate that reciprocity and outcome expectancy have a significant positive effect on employees' knowledge-sharing behavior, while reciprocity and trust have a significant negative effect on employees' knowledge-hiding behavior. Positive emotions play a positive (enhancing) moderating role on the path between outcome expectancy and knowledge-sharing behavior, while negative emotions play a negative (weakening) moderating role on the path between reciprocity and knowledge-hiding behavior, as well as between trust and knowledge-hiding behavior. By incorporating employee emotions into the framework of social cognition's impact on employee knowledge behavior, this study enriches theories related to enterprise social media, knowledge management, and user behaviors. Our research findings have practical implications for guiding employees to engage in positive knowledge sharing and reducing knowledge hiding on enterprise social media.

Role of social media to improve job performance with mediating role of transactive memory capability and employee creativity

The increased usage of social media in organizational settings has raised questions about its effect on job performance. This study explains the interplay between social media usage, transactive memory capability, employee creativity, and job performance within the Chinese organizational context. The rationale for this study stems from the need to understand how social media usage can enhance job performance through cognitive and creative processes within teams. On the basis of earlier literature, the survey questionnaire was designed to collect data and the survey included validated scales to measure these constructs. The data is collected from 816 employees in China via online resources like social media and emails and then Structural Equation Modeling is used for empirical analysis through AMOS software. The findings show the positive impact of social media on job performance while transactive memory capability and employee creativity mediates this relationship. These findings contribute to a better understanding of how social media can be leveraged to improve job performance. Practical implications highlight the importance of fostering transactive memory capability through social media platforms, facilitating employee creativity, and ultimately, bolstering job performance. Additionally, this study underscores the need for organizations to strategically harness the potential of social media as a catalyst for innovation and knowledge sharing, thus optimizing workforce performance in the digital era.

Integrating the ESM usage and work engagement for employee agility performance: based on regulatory focus theory

This present research aims to clarify the intricate conjunction of enterprise social media (ESM) utilization and employee agility with a main focus on uncovering the underlying mechanisms that work through the mediating influence of work engagement and the moderating influence of regulatory focus. Drawing upon regularity focus theory, 353 Chinese samples of ESM users in organizational contexts are analyzed using SPSS 23.0. The empirical findings substantiate a robust and significant positive linkage between ESM usage and worker agility. Further reinforcing the model, the mediating role of work engagement is established as it channels the impact of ESM usage on worker agility. Turning to the moderating effects, the study unveils the differential impact of prevention focus and promotion focus, wherein individuals with a lower prevention focus exhibit a more pronounced positive linkage between ESM usage and worker agility. Similarly, individuals with a higher promotion focus demonstrate a heightened positive association between ESM usage and worker agility. By comprehensively inspecting the intricate dynamics of ESM usage, work engagement, and regulatory focus, this study enhances our theoretical understanding of how these factors synergistically shape employee agility, ultimately furnishing organizations with invaluable insights to foster and cultivate an agile workforce.

Mediation of transactive memory capability in relationship of social media usage and job performance

This study explores the role of transactive memory capability as a mediator in the relationship between social media usage and job performance. Drawing on transactive memory theory, we hypothesized that individuals who use social media more intensively for task-oriented purposes and relationship building are more likely to develop transactive memory capability, which in turn enhances their job performance. A survey was conducted among 816 employees in China from various industries to collect data on their social media usage patterns, transactive memory capability, and job performance. Results from structural equation modeling indicate that social media usage has a positive impact on job performance. Additionally, transactive memory capability mediates the relationship between social media usage and job performance. This study has contribution in literature by demonstrating the beneficial effects of social media usage on the development of transactive memory capability and job performance. It is suggested that social media usage can be used a valuable tool for enhancing performance of employees. Employees should gain an understanding of how social media fosters the development of transactive memory capability to utilize it more effectively. These findings also suggest that the way individuals use social media can influence their ability to access and share knowledge within their social networks, ultimately impacting their job performance.

A moderated mediation investigation of the influence of enterprise social media visibility on work stress

Drawing upon the communication visibility theory, this study delves into the intricate dynamics of message transference and network translucence within the context of enterprise social media (ESM), unraveling their profound impact on information overload and social overload experienced by employees. Consequently, we examine the consequential relationship between these overwhelming cognitive burdens and the levels of work stress experienced by individuals in the organizational setting. Moreover, our study explores the moderating role of resilience, shedding light on how this intrinsic psychological trait can shape the connection among information overload, social overload, and work stress. Based on empirical analysis of the data collected from 351 ESM users, the findings demonstrate a significant positive association between message transference, network translucence, and the occurrence of information overload and social overload among employees. Furthermore, the results reveal a strong positive association among information overload and social overload over work stress. However, the salient contribution of this study lies in uncovering the pivotal moderating effect of resilience, revealing that high levels of resilience act as a buffer against the adverse impacts of information overload and social overload, leading to lower levels of work stress among individuals. By advancing our comprehension of communication visibility theory, this study adds to the theoretical underpinnings of communication visibility, resilience, and their interplay in the context of ESM while providing practical insights for employees and organizations to navigate the challenges posed by information overload, social overload, and work stress. Through its meticulous examination of these multifaceted phenomena, this study opens avenues for further research and invites scholars to probe deeper into the complex dynamics of communication visibility and resilience in the evolving landscape of contemporary organizations.

Periodontists' perceptions and attitudes toward the use of social media for professional purposes in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND

There is a notable increase in the usage of social media platforms, especially for health communication, as more clinicians and patients count on this kind of technology. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the perception and attitude toward social media (SM) use for professionalism and dental practice promotion among periodontal specialists working in Saudi Arabia (KSA).

METHODS

Electronic surveys were distributed in person or online using WhatsApp, Snapchat or Email from October 2022 until March 2023. The questionnaire was targeting periodontists in KSA, and it consists of three parts: the first part includes sociodemographic and professional data; the second part asks about the daily usage of SM in dental practice; and the third part asks about the periodontist's opinion about SM usage. Descriptive data were presented as numbers and percentages. The association between the demographic variables and the means of periodontists' opinions was tested using Pearson's chi-square test. Any value equal to or less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

A total of 121 responses were received from the periodontists. Most of the participants were in the 36-45 age group, with a percentage of 40.5%. In terms of gender, males made up 52.9% of the population, while females made up 47.1%, and the majority of the participants were consultants. The most common SM platform used by periodontists for daily using and dental practice promotion was Snapchat (56.2%), followed by Instagram and Twitter (54.5% and 49.6%, respectively). There was a significant difference in proportions among Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok between older and younger periodontists, with a p value < 0.05. There was no significant difference between the gender of the participants and their opinions regarding the usage of SM.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlighted the effectiveness of SM in the promotion of dental practices and the discipline of periodontics, as more clinicians and patients rely on this kind of technology. These online platforms can improve periodontal practice in terms of dental health education, counseling, advertising, and oral health services.

Understanding TMS and knowledge transfer in the social media mobile App context

Purpose

Knowledge transfer which refers to the communication of knowledge from a source so that it is learned and applied by a recipient has long been a challenge for knowledge management. The purpose of this study is to understand influencing factors of transactive memory system (TMS) and knowledge transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the theories of communication visibility, social distance and flow, this study develops a research model. Then, data are collected from users of the social media mobile App. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is employed to analyze data.

Findings

TMS is a valid second-order construct in the social media mobile app context, which is more reflected by credibility. Meanwhile, communication visibility and social distance each have positive effects on TMS which further has a positive effect on knowledge transfer. Flow has a positive effect on knowledge transfer.

Practical implications

Developers of the mobile App should carefully consider the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in supporting TMS and knowledge transfer. They should consider recommendation algorithm so that the benefit of communication visibility can be retained. They should design the feature to classify users based on similarity so as to stimulate users' feeling of close social distance. They should keep on improving features based on users' holistic experience.

Originality/value

This study incorporates the perspectives of communication visibility, social distance and flow to understand TMS and knowledge transfer, presenting a new lens for research.

Enterprise social media and organizational learning capability: mediated moderation effect of social capital and informal learning

Purpose

With the increasing prevalence of social media in everyday life, scholars have argued the need of exploring enterprise social media (ESM) for workplace outcomes. This study investigates the relationship between ESM use and organizational learning capability (OLC) by focusing on the mediating role of informal learning (INFL) and the moderating role of social capital (SC).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper developed and tested a mediated moderated model explaining the impact of ESM on OLC. The study used temporally separated data of 281 respondents collected in two waves from firms in India that use organizationally facilitated ESM platforms for internal workplace communication.

Findings

An analysis of temporally separated two-wave data indicates that INFL mediates the relationship between ESM use and OLC. Also, SC is found to moderate the effect of ESM use on INFL, and INFL mediated the moderation effect of SC on relationship between ESM use and OLC such that the relationship will be stronger when employees have a higher rather than lower level of SC.

Research limitations/implications

The study theoretically contributes and extends the literature on ESM and learning in organizations. The study provides important practical implications to support and institutionalize learning at work. The results of the study provide evidence that ESM are not just networking tools but a platform for learning. Findings of the study suggest that ESM can be one such tool to promote and capture employee INFL. The results also show that SC plays a critical role in predicting the extent to which employees learn informally using ESM, thereby building OLC. This result suggests that organizations should make conscious and concerted efforts to build employee SC. The above findings also have interesting implications for learning and development (L&D) and information technology (IT) managers who wish to implement technology for collaborative purposes.

Originality/value

Addressing the underlying processes that explain how ESM positively influence OLC was highlighted as a critical research gap that needs attention. The paper is novel in its approach as it provides empirical evidence for the relationship between ESM and its impact on employee outcomes, an area pertinent in today's digital economy, however, received sparse attention by management scholars so far. It also provides empirical grounds toward a meaningful shift in the social media discourse – transition from being traditionally viewed primarily as “a networking platform” to “a learning platform.”

Knowledge sharing and innovation in business organization: A literature review

BACKGROUND: This study is a review of the literature related to the linkage of knowledge sharing and innovation in organizations. This is among the very few studies related to analyzing the extant literature about the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation to reveal the knowledge gaps and recommend future research directions. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this review of literature is to highlight the most essential concepts that may affect knowledge sharing and innovation, as well as to provide a foundation for future research on knowledge sharing and innovation through bibliometric analysis. The study identifies perhaps the most important popular keywords directly related to knowledge sharing and innovation. METHODS: This study systematically reviews papers on knowledge sharing and innovation extracted from the Web of Science. RESULTS: The study identified the five clusters, each comprising a set of closely related concepts of knowledge sharing and innovation. The first cluster was comprised of the concepts directly revealing the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation. This stream of research consists of a well developed of research. The other clusters such as knowledge management, innovation performance, mediation processes underlying the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation also revealed the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation. IMPLICATIONS: This research has a number of theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, this study identifies knowledge gaps and new avenues for future research. This study also helps managers and decision makers to identify and examine trends in promoting the linkage between knowledge sharing and innovation.

Modeling the influence of individual differences on knowledge hiding

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the longitudinal influence of gender, age, education level, organizational tenure and emotional intelligence on three dimensions of knowledge hiding over time.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal study using two-wave data sets of 390 employees in Chinese enterprises was conducted to build fixed, continuous and interacting models for investigating the effects of individual differences on the processes of knowledge hiding over time.

Findings

This research uncovered the changing relationships of individual differences on knowledge-hiding behaviors over time, such that age correlates with rationalized hiding in the interacting model, indicating younger employees are less likely to choose rationalized hiding when facing situation changes; and education level, organizational tenure and emotional intelligence moderate knowledge hiding over time, implying individuals with better education, longer tenure and higher emotional intelligence tend to exhibit more rationalized hiding behaviors rather than evasive hiding and playing dumb behaviors at Time 2.

Originality/value

One of the novel contributions of this study is that it tests the longitudinal effect of individual differences on knowledge hiding, providing a vertical perspective, and thereby contributing to the body of knowledge in knowledge management. The study also constructs fixed, continuous and interacting models to measure the covering longitudinal influences, thus making the research original.

Online knowledge sharing and creativity in the context of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose

The COVID-19 lockdown has forced many organizations and employees to work from home. In such uncertain and unprecedented context, it is crucial for organizations to stimulate their employees’ creativity to adapt to new working environment and thus to sustain and improve organizational performance. This paper aims to examine how to stimulate employees’ creativity by focusing on their online knowledge sharing (OKS) behaviors, their use of online platforms and their organizations’ innovation climate in a working from home (WFH) context because of the lockdown. For empirical analysis, this research uses data from Vietnam – a developing country in the Southeast Asia.

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected from employees working in Ho Chi Minh City but WFH during the COVID-19 lockdown. Structural equation models are used for analyzing the data.

Findings

Online platform use and organizational innovation climate are positively associated with creativity directly and indirectly via the mediating roles of internal and external OKS.

Research limitations/implications

This research provides policymakers, organizational leaders and managers with an important evidence on how to stimulate creativity by emphasizing the roles of knowledge sharing, online platforms and innovation climate. Accordingly, relevant practical implications are also drawn to sustain or improve organizational performance in the context of WFH context because of COVID-19 lockdown. This research also contributes to knowledge management literature by providing an evidence on the relationships between online platform use, organizational innovation climate, OKS and creativity.

Originality/value

This research is among the early attempts that explore the associations between employees’ use of online platforms, their organizations’ innovation climate, their internal and external OKS behaviors and their creativity in the context of WFH because of a lockdown.

Facilitating or inhibiting? The role of enterprise social media use in job performance

Purpose

Organizations use enterprise social media (ESM) platforms to operate, function, and develop. However, the effectiveness of the use of ESM is inconclusive. This study aims to explore the mechanism and boundary conditions of the relationship between employee ESM use and job performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a 2-wave survey design, with a final sample of 481 employees from a large automobile company.

Findings

The results indicate that ESM use is beneficial and detrimental to job performance. On the one hand, ESM use is positively related to work overload, decreasing job performance. On the other hand, ESM use is positively associated with informational support, increasing job performance. A mediation test revealed that both work overload and informational support mediate the relationship between ESM use and job performance. Furthermore, job autonomy weakens the positive relationship between ESM use and work overload, but strengthens the positive relationship between ESM use and informational support.

Originality/value

This study provides a more balanced view of how ESM use influences job performance by demonstrating the opposing mediating roles of work overload and informational support. Further, this study fills a research gap by considering job characteristics when examining the boundary conditions of ESM use. Third, this study validates the generalization of the job demands-resources model in social media research.

Linking enterprise social media use, trust and knowledge sharing: paradoxical roles of communication transparency and personal blogging

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of enterprise social media (ESM) use on two trust dimensions – affect-based trust (ABT) and cognition-based trust (CBT) – as mediators in the relationship between ESM use and knowledge sharing. In the first stage of the proposed model, the authors also consider transparent communication (TC) and personal blogging with colleagues (PBC) during work and non-work hours as moderators that reshape trust levels and subsequently promote knowledge sharing within the organisation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected the data in three waves from employees in China, the world’s largest market for social media. Five companies, including three information technology companies and two software companies, were targeted for data collection. Initially, a total of 403 ESM users were recruited, but the final sample in the final round was reduced to N = 292. The authors used Mplus (v8.5) to calculate direct path coefficients and indirect moderated-mediation effects.

Findings

The use of ESM promotes ABT and CBT, thereby improving knowledge sharing. ABT and CBT both fully mediate the effect of ESM use on knowledge sharing. However, the research reveals paradoxical findings regarding moderation. For example, on the one hand, TC negatively moderates the association between ESM use and ABT, thereby reducing knowledge sharing in the workplace. On the other hand, TC strengthens the relationship between the use of ESM and CBT, thereby increasing knowledge sharing. These contradictory findings indicate that TC functions as a double-edged sword; thus, the effective use of ESM in the workplace requires managers’ intervention. Finally, the analysis reveals that the moderating role of PBC strengthens the association between ESM use and both ABT and CBT, thereby increasing knowledge sharing.

Originality/value

While stakeholders have expressed concern regarding the adverse impacts of workplace ESM adoption on employee performance, the authors provide a broad, novel perspective on the potential of ESM use to enhance knowledge sharing via trust (i.e. ABT and CBT). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to offer a comparative view of trust dimensions, such as ABT and CBT, and to discuss how, why and when TC and PBC interactions moderate the relationship of ESM to ABT and CBT and thereby lead to knowledge sharing. These interesting findings guide further research into the role of ESM in the workplace, especially research based on rational choice theory and communication visibility theory, by illuminating the ways in which employees can use ESM to reshape social communication in the workplace and thereby enhance knowledge sharing.

Predicting the Factors of Employee Agility Using Enterprise Social Media: The Moderating Role of Innovation Culture

This study aims to create a research model that examines how employee agility is affected by enterprise social media usage (ESMU), and to discuss the moderating role of innovation culture in communication quality, trust, and employee agility using the relational capital theory. Data of 477 Chinese employees from different companies were collected in this study for analysis, and the hypotheses developed were examined. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence mechanism that propels employees' ESMU, communication quality and trust and the moderating effect of innovation culture. This study conducts PLS-SEM to analyze collected data. The results show that ESMU is positively associated with communication quality and trust; innovation culture plays a positive moderating role in ESMU and employee agility; and high communication quality and trust can lead to high agility. However, innovation culture does not have a remarkable moderating effect on ESMU and communication quality. This study offers empirical evidence on how the effect of ESMU on employee agility is transferred by innovation culture. In addition, the benefits of enterprise social media for organizational management are also measured in this study, which may motivate the managements to introduce enterprise social media in work spaces.

Investigating the Role of Perceived Information Overload on COVID-19 Fear: A Moderation Role of Fake News Related to COVID-19

During crises and uncertain situations such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, social media plays a key function because it allows people to seek and share news, as well as personal views and ideas with each other in real time globally. Past research has highlighted the implications of social media during disease outbreaks; nevertheless, this study refers to the possible negative effects of social media usage by individuals in the developing country during the COVID-19 epidemic lockdown. Specifically, this study investigates the COVID-19 fear using the survey data collected from a developing country. In total, 880 entries were used to analyze the COVID-19 fear using the AMOS software. Findings indicated that information-seeking and sharing behavior of individuals on social media has a significant impact on perceived COVID-19 information overload. Perceived COVID-19 information overload has a positive impact on COVID-19 fear. In addition, fake news related to COVID-19 strengthens the relationship between perceived COVID-19 information overload and COVID-19 fear. The implication and limitations of the study are also discussed in the final section of the study.

Network Centralization and Collective Adaptability to a Shifting Environment

We study the connection between communication network structure and an organization’s collective adaptability to a shifting environment. Research has shown that network centralization—the degree to which communication flows disproportionately through one or more members of the organization rather than being more equally distributed—interferes with collective problem-solving by obstructing the integration of existing ideas, information, and solutions in the network. We hypothesize that the mechanisms responsible for that poor integration of ideas, information, and solutions would nevertheless prove beneficial for problems requiring adaptation to a shifting environment. We conducted a 1,620-subject randomized online laboratory experiment, testing the effect of seven network structures on problem-solving success. To simulate a shifting environment, we designed a murder mystery task and manipulated when each piece of information could be found: early information encouraged an inferior consensus, requiring a collective shift of solution after more information emerged. We find that when the communication network within an organization is more centralized, it achieves the benefits of connectivity (spread of novel better solutions) without the costs (getting stuck on an existing inferior solution). We also find, however, that these benefits of centralization only materialize in networks with two-way flow of information and not when information only flows from the center of the network outward (as can occur in hierarchical structures or digitally mediated communication). We draw on these findings to reconceptualize theory on the impact of centralization—and how it affects conformity pressure (lock-in) and awareness of diverse ideas (learning)—on collective problem-solving that demands adaptation.

Exploring the factors influencing users' learning and sharing behavior on social media platforms

Purpose

The research goal is to understand what factors affect users' knowledge and information learning and sharing on social media platforms. This study focuses on the impact of platform characteristics on users' behavior. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to investigate (1) what factors affect users' learning and dissemination of knowledge and information on social media platforms, (2) whether knowledge and information learning behavior will have a positive effect on sharing behavior and (3) try to establish an impact model of users' learning and sharing behavior about knowledge and information.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes an impact mechanism model to test these hypotheses. To achieve this, the authors collected data from 430 users who have used the social media platforms to acquire and share knowledge and information to test the hypothesis. The tools SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 23.0 were used to analyze the reliability, validity, model fits and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that the learning of knowledge and information can influence the sharing behavior on social media platforms. Users' platform-based trust and platform-based satisfaction affect their knowledge and information learning and sharing on the platform. Factors affecting users' trust in social platforms include privacy protection effectiveness and network effects. And, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are related to users' satisfaction with social media platforms.

Originality/value

This study constructs an impact model on the learning and sharing of knowledge and information. The model takes the information system continuance model as the theoretical framework and integrates other factors, including the network effect, the effectiveness of privacy protection and trust. Most of the hypotheses of this research were confirmed. The conclusions provide practical guidance for the dissemination of knowledge information and platform management.

Benefits and drawbacks of communication visibility: from vicarious learning and supplemental work to knowledge reuse and overload

Purpose

This study aims to examine some of the benefits and drawbacks of communication visibility. Specifically, building on communication visibility theory, the authors study how and why message transparency and network translucence may increase knowledge reuse and perceived overload through behavioral responses of vicarious learning and technology-assisted supplemental work.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on survey data obtained from 1,127 employees of a global company operating in the industrial machinery sector, the authors used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized model.

Findings

The results demonstrate that the two aspects of communication visibility yield somewhat differential benefits and drawbacks in terms of knowledge reuse and communication overload, through vicarious learning and supplemental work practices.

Research limitations/implications

The results demonstrate the relationship between different aspects of communication visibility and knowledge reuse, specifically through vicarious learning. Furthermore, the findings highlight a potential drawback of visibility – communication overload – specifically through technology-assisted supplemental work. Overall, network translucence seems more beneficial compared to message transparency in terms of knowledge reuse and communication overload.

Originality/value

The study connects with recent work on communication visibility by distinguishing differential direct and indirect effects of message transparency and network translucence. It also extends this work by testing relationships between communication visibility and a potential drawback of visibility – communication overload – specifically through technology-assisted supplemental work.

Assessing the Impact of Community Factors on Local Community Support for Tourism: An Empirical Investigation of the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor

This research probes the influence of the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on the tourism development behavior of local residents. By applying social exchange theory (SET), this study examines the impact of the community dimension on tourism development behavior through overall attitude. In addition, this study also examines the use of social media as a moderator in the relationship between overall attitude and tourism development. A survey tool has been used to obtain data from the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. Hypotheses were examined using the structural equation method (SEM) on 417 survey responses. The findings indicated community satisfaction and an overall positive attitude to the effects of development, although a negative attitude regarding concerns about community resources. Overall, attitude has a significant impact on tourism development behavior. Additionally, the use of social media strengthens the relationship between overall attitude and behavior that favors tourism development.

Investigating the factors of enterprise social media strain: The role of enterprise social media's visibility as a moderator

The significant effect of enterprise social media (ESM) usage has been extensively researched. However, recent studies and analysis have also emphasized the importance of understanding the negative aspects of ESM's use. By applying uses and gratifications theory (UGT), this study proposes a research model that tests how employees' ESM usage (hedonic, social, and information values) leads to ESM-related strain through perceived information overload. The study collected data from 315 Chinese employees using a survey method and analyzed the results using AMOS 21.0 software. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the proposed hypothesis. The results indicate that perceived hedonic, social, and information values are significant predictors of perceived information overload. Such overload is also significantly associated with ESM-related strain. The results also indicate that ESM visibility strengthens the significant relationship between perceived information overload and ESM-related strain. Furthermore, managers can also train individuals to use ESM appropriately. We recommend that employees can better control and manage their ESM usage by recognizing the causes of excessive use.

Exploring factors affecting mobile-banking app adoption: a perspective from adaptive structuration theory

Purpose

The study has two aims: first, it aimed to investigate the impact of contextual factors (such as information quality, service quality, system quality, trust in applications (app) and COVID-19 health anxiety) on the intention to use the Mobile Payment (MP) app, and subsequently, the actual use of the app. Second, the aim of this study is whether the COVID-19 threat has a moderating influence on the relationship between customers' intent to use MP app and the actual use of MP app.

Design/methodology/approach

The data are collected through an online survey from 341 Mobile Banking (MB) app users from Pakistan to empirically analyze the relationship between service quality, system quality, information quality, trust in the app, COVID-19 health anxiety and COVID-19 threat, intentions to use MB-app and actual use of MB-app.

Findings

The empirical analysis of the data collected from MB-app users from Pakistan shows that service quality, system quality, information quality, trust in the app and COVID-19 health anxiety positively related to intentions to use MB-app, consequently affect the actual use of MB-app. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the COVID-19 threat positively moderates the relationship between intentions to use MB-app and actual use of MB-app.

Originality/value

Although, prior research established a positive impact of mobile apps on customer service and consumer satisfaction. Yet, it is not clear which factors influence customers to adopt MB-app. This study contributes to the research on MB-apps based on adaptive structuration theory and examines the technological factors and contextual factors that collectively explain when and how individuals decide to adopt MB-app.

Outlier knowledge management for extreme public health events: Understanding public opinions about COVID-19 based on microblog data

Based on complex adaptive system theory and information theory for investigating heterogeneous situations, this paper develops an outlier knowledge management framework based on three aspects-dimension, object, and situation-for dealing with extreme public health events. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we apply advanced natural language processing (NLP) technology to conduct data mining and feature extraction on the microblog data from the Wuhan area and the imported case province (Henan Province) during the high and median operating periods of the epidemic. Our experiment indicates that the semantic and sentiment vocabulary of words, the sentiment curve, and the portrait of patients seeking help were all heterogeneous in the context of COVID-19. We extract and acquire the outlier knowledge of COVID-19 and incorporate it into the outlier knowledge base of extreme public health events for knowledge sharing and transformation. The knowledge base serves as a think tank for public opinion guidance and platform suggestions for dealing with extreme public health events. This paper provides novel ideas and methods for outlier knowledge management in healthcare contexts.

Dealing with the Social Media Polycontextuality of Work

Practice and Policy Oriented Abstract

This article views social media for work not only as technologies that enable people to do certain things, but also as contexts with emerging norms and roles in which people participated. As they do so, people are confronted with opportunities and challenges that are inherent to social media polycontextuality, that is, with multiple social media–based contexts of relevance to work. This study offers guidance for people on how their participation in multiple social media contexts affects their work positively and negatively and how they can manage the associated opportunities and challenges. It also reveals how people’s engagement with social media polycontextuality may change as their employment status and work experiences evolve. Moreover, this study holds managerial implications by bringing awareness to how employees’ participation in social media contexts bypasses the organization and, thus, their typical purview but is still associated with work rather than leisure. Managers can understand better their employees’ situations and examine how social media contexts affect them within and beyond organizational boundaries and shape what they can or cannot do in their work. A better understanding of social media polycontextuality also brings managers new insights to communicate with employees.

Learning Social Media Content Optimization: How Can SMEs Draw the Users' Attention on Official WeChat Accounts?

Application of artificial intelligence is accelerating the digital transformation of enterprises, and digital content optimization is crucial to take the users' attention in social media usage. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate how social media content reaches and impresses more users. Using a sample of 345 articles released by Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on their official WeChat accounts, we employ the self-determination theory to analyze the effects of content optimization strategies on social media visibility. It is found that articles with enterprise-related information optimized for content related to users' psychological needs (heart-based content optimization, mind-based content optimization, and knowledge-based content optimization) achieved higher visibility than that of sheer enterprise-related information, whereas the enterprise-related information embedded with material incentive (benefits-based content optimization) brings lower visibility. The results confirm the positive effect of psychological needs on the diffusion of enterprise-related information, and provide guidance for SMEs to apply artificial intelligence technology to social media practice.

Team Social Media Usage and Team Creativity: The Role of Team Knowledge Sharing and Team-Member Exchange

Given that work teams have been widely used in a variety of organizations to complete critical tasks and that the use of social media in work teams has been growing, investigating whether and how team social media usage (TSMU) affects team creativity is imperative. However, little research has empirically explored how TSMU affects team creativity. This study divides TSMU into two categories, namely, work-related TSMU and relationship-related TSMU. Basing on communication visibility theory and social exchange theory, this study constructs a moderating mediation model to understand how TSMU affects team creativity. In this model, team knowledge sharing is used as mediating role and team-member exchange (TMX) is used as moderating role. Two-wave research data collected from 641 employees in 102 work teams in Chinese organizations are used for regression analysis. Results show that (1) Work-related TSMU and relationship-related TSMU are positively affect team creativity. (2) Team knowledge sharing plays a partly mediating effect on the relationship between work-related TSMU and team creativity and that between relationship-related TSMU and team creativity. (3) TMX not only positively moderates the indirect effect of work-related TSMU and relationship-related TSMU on team creativity through team knowledge sharing. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Organizations Decentered: Data Objects, Technology and Knowledge

Data are no longer simply a component of administrative and managerial work but a pervasive resource and medium through which organizations come to know and act upon the contingencies they confront. We theorize how the ongoing technological developments reinforce the traditional functions of data as instruments of management and control but also reframe and extend their role. By rendering data as technical entities, digital technologies transform the process of knowing and the knowledge functions data fulfil in socioeconomic life. These functions are most of the times mediated by putting together disperse and steadily updatable data in more stable entities we refer to as data objects. Users, customers, products, and physical machines rendered as data objects become the technical and cognitive means through which organizational knowledge, patterns, and practices develop. Such conditions loosen the dependence of data from domain knowledge, reorder the relative significance of internal versus external references in organizations, and contribute to a paradigmatic contemporary development that we identify with the decentering of organizations of which digital platforms are an important specimen.

Crowd-Based Accountability: Examining How Social Media Commentary Reconfigures Organizational Accountability

Organizational accountability is considered critical to organizations’ sustained performance and survival. Prior research examines the structural and rhetorical responses that organizations use to manage accountability pressures from different constituents. With the emergence of social media, accountability pressures shift from the relatively clear and well-specified demands of identifiable stakeholders to the unclear and unspecified concerns of a pseudonymous crowd. This is further exacerbated by the public visibility of social media, materializing as a stream of online commentary for a distributed audience. In such conditions, the established structural and rhetorical responses of organizations become less effective for addressing accountability pressures. We conducted a multisite comparative study to examine how organizations in two service sectors (emergency response and hospitality) respond to accountability pressures manifesting as social media commentary on two platforms (Twitter and TripAdvisor). We find organizations responding online to social media commentary while also enacting changes to their practices that recalibrate risk, redeploy resources, and redefine service. These changes produce a diffractive reactivity that reconfigures the meanings, activities, relations, and outcomes of service work as well as the boundaries of organizational accountability. We synthesize these findings in a model of crowd-based accountability and discuss the contributions of this study to research on accountability and organizing in the social media era.

Serial Multiple Mediation of the Impact of Customer Knowledge Management on Sustainable Product Innovation by Innovative Work Behavior

Customer knowledge management (CKM) is a relatively new research domain, aiming at exploring the potential of customer knowledge for the open innovation process of companies. The present paper aims at performing a complex analysis of the serial mediation phenomenon of the impact of CKM on sustainable product innovation (SPI) by innovative work behavior (IWB). The dimensions considered for IWB in the present research are the following: idea exploration, idea generation, idea championing, and idea implementation. In the first phase of our research, we performed a semantic analysis of the main concepts, ideas, and theories, based on a critical literature review. Thus, we reached a deeper understanding of the complexity of the concept of knowledge by learning the theory of knowledge fields and knowledge dynamics. As a result of this conceptual phase, we designed the research model and a questionnaire to be addressed to managers from the business environment. In the quantitative phase of the present research, we used the statistical software packages, SPSS version 26.0, and the PROCESS macro for SPSS, version 3.5. We used well-known criteria for reliability, validation, and interpretation of the numerical results. The final results demonstrate a significant serial mediation phenomenon regarding the impact of CKM on SPI by the IWB. These results are important in developing the co-creation process of new products by using customer knowledge. The present research reveals some original ideas concerning the impact of CKM on SPI by using a serial mediation process performed by basic innovative work dimensions. The implications of the present research are significant for both academics and practitioners in designing open innovation in knowledge ecosystems.

Work along Both Lines: The Positive Impact of Work-Based Social Media Use on Job Performance

Social media has rapidly become an important tool in organizations and has a significant impact on employees’ work and organizational operations. By applying social media to their daily work, employees gain access to important information resources that can help them get things done. Using the conservation of resources theory, this study examines the impact of work resources generated by employees’ work-based social media use on work status, as well as job performance. Data were collected from the employees of Internet companies in Henan Province and Shanghai, China. We distributed 519 pairs of questionnaires, and 369 pairs of valid paired questionnaires were returned. To estimate the proposed relationships in the theoretical framework, we used SPSS and MPLUS. The results show that work-based social media use can increase employees’ work engagement, which in turn increases task performance, job dedication and interpersonal facilitation. It also reduces the negative effects of work interruptions on task performance and job dedication. Therefore, we conclude the positive effects of work-based social media use on job performance can be achieved by increasing work engagement and by reducing work interruptions.

Watchers, Watched, and Watching in the Digital Age: Reconceptualization of Information Technology Monitoring as Complex Action Nets

Despite increasing studies of information technology (IT) monitoring, our understanding of how IT-mediates relations between the watcher and watched remains limited in two areas. First, either traditional actor-centric frameworks assuming predefined watcher-watched relationships (e.g., panopticon or synopticon) are adopted or monitoring actors are removed to focus on data flows (e.g., dataveillance, assemblages, panspectron). Second, IT monitoring research predominantly assumes IT artifacts to be stable, bounded, designed objects, with prescribed uses which provides an oversimplified view of actor relationships. To redress these limitations, a conceptual framework of veillance applicable to a variety of possible IT or non-IT-mediated relationships between watcher and watched is developed. Using the framework, we conduct a conceptual review of the literature, identifying IT-enabled monitoring and transformations of actors, goals, mechanisms and foci and develop an action net model of IT veillance where IT artifacts are theorized as equivocal, distributable and open for diverse use, open to edits and contributions by unbounded sets of heterogenous actors characterized by diverse goals and capabilities. The action net of IT veillance is defined as a flexible decentralized interconnected web shaped by multidirectional watcher-watched relationships, enabling multiple dynamic goals and foci. Cumulative contributions by heterogenous participants organize and manipulate the net, having an impact through influencing dispositions, visibilities and the inclusion/exclusion of self and others. The model makes three important theoretical contributions to our understanding of IT monitoring of watchers and watched and their relationships. We discuss implications and avenues for future studies on IT veillance.

The Christian Ideal of Sustainable Development and Its Perception among Young Adults: A Case Study from Slovakia

In this article, we present the concept of the participation and responsibility of individuals in the sustainable development (SD) of the world from a Christian ethics point of view. The Christian ethics perspective is based on the biblical command to care for and protect creation. Nevertheless, errors have been repeated throughout history because of a misunderstanding of human responsibility for what has been entrusted to man from the beginning. The article explores not only these mistakes, but also the concept of a properly understood individual responsibility from the point of view of Christian ethics. The ideal from the perspective of Christian ethics is followed by our own qualitative research. The research sample consists of 120 young adults. During the research, the perception of a person’s individual responsibility tasks for SD is explored from the perspective of university students. The research findings answer the question of in which of the four areas of SD do respondents see the needs of their participation the most. The findings of the research also indicate the importance that the young respondents allocated to all four areas of SD, which were clearly defined by The National Strategic Document on Sustainable Development in Slovakia. Furthermore, we recorded a total of 12 main areas that the respondents considered to be important tasks of man for the world and its SD. We also evaluated the qualitative findings in the group of young adults that confirm the perception of each student’s individual participation and responsibility for the SD of society and the physical world.