NEW MEDIA IN ORGANIZATIONS
SAMENVATTING
1. Wrap- up pagina 2
2. In General pagina 3
3. Internal Communication: ICT, Organizational Performance and Decision Making
pagina 4
4. Internal Communication: Nature and Consequences of ICT Use in the Organization
pagina 10
5. Internal Communication: Knowledge sharing and the role of culture
pagina 15
6. External Communication: Customer & Stakeholder Communication
pagina 19
7. External Communication: Inter-organizational Networks & Relations
pagina 25
8. Exam Type Questions pagina 30
9. Objectives pagina 31
,1. Wrap-up
Course goal: Overview of key areas of attention in research and practice related to the role of new
media in organization
Overall, an overview of:
– Various ‘older’ and newer media
– Key theories used in the field of organization research
-And newer models
– Variety of methods used
– Different levels of analysis: individual, group, organizational, inter-organizational
Media We Discussed
- ‘Older’: TPS, ERP, ES (enterprise systems), DSS, ESS, MIS, structured knowledge
management systems, inter-organizational systems (IOS) – e.g. EDI, etc.
- ‘Newer’: *enterprise social software] blogs, enterprise microblogging (e.g. Yammer),
enterprise portals, IM, unstructured KM systems, online communities, wikis, etc.
– Collaboration & communication technologies
Theories We Discussed
- Structural Contingency Theory (L2)
- Resource Based View (L2)
- Structuration Theory → Technologies of Practice (L3)
- Organizational and national culture (Schein & Hofstede) (L4)
- Institutional Theory (L6)
Models We Discussed
- Customer Engagement (Wagner & Majchrzak, 2007)
- Model of Unanticipated Consequences (Rennecker & Godwin, 2003)
– Which unanticipated consequences can new media use lead to, and how do they
affect productivity?
- OBES (organizational benefits from enterprise systems) model (Seddon et al., 2010)
– Which factors lead to organizational benefits?
Methods Used in the Articles
Qualitative = Case studies
- Content analysis of interviews, white papers (e.g. Alavi et al., 2006)
- Genre analysis of messages (e.g. Riemer et al. 2011)
Quantitative =
- Time series analysis/regression of social media participation (Brzozowski et al. 2009)
- Matched sample comparison group (Bharadwaj, 2000)
Mixed Method
- Brown et al.: Social network analysis + interviews
Levels of Analysis (Theorizing at different levels)
- Individual (e.g. Rennecker & Godwin, 2003)
- Group
- Organizational (e.g. Alavi et al)
- Inter-organizational → dyad, ego-network, whole network (Zaheer et al, 2010)
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, 2. IN GENERAL:
Organizational communication:
- “seeks to help people understand the central nature of communication in all aspects of
organizational functioning”
- “is the process of creating, exchanging, interpreting (correctly or incorrectly), and storing
messages within a system of human interrelationships
Again, the “New” in “New Media”
1. Historically “new”
- After a certain point in time
2. Conceptually “new”
- Communication practices and activities are substantively different
than the ones that existed earlier
A Useful Definition of New Media:
“information and communication technologies and their associated social contexts, incorporating:
– The artifacts or devices that enable and extend our abilities to communicate
– The communication activities or practices we engage in to develop and use these
devices; and
– The social arrangements or organizations that form around the devices and
practices.” (Lievrouw & Livingstone, 2002)
New Media In Relation to Organizations: Our ‘Definition’
- [Technical aspect] A set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store,
and distribute information and knowledge…
- [Human/organizational aspect] … to support decision making and other organizational
processes.
► Relation between people (individuals, groups, organization) and artifact of primary concern!
► Research is concerned with the study of the effects of IS on the behavior of individuals,
groups, and organizations and vice versa
Our Focus & Terminology =
- Both ‘older’ and ‘newer’ new media: ‘traditional’ information systems and newer media:
Highly complex systems (e.g. enterprise wide systems) vs. less complex technologies such as
at the application level
- Terminology to be used interchangeably
– New media
– ICT
– IT
– Information systems (IS)
- Nieuwe benamingen voor hedendaagse media: dvanced/tailored/adaptive media
3/31
