دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی رسانه اجتماعی، سرمایه اجتماعی و اشتراک گذاری دانش در یک شرکت - IEEE 2017

Abstract

This article provides insight into the transformative role that social media may play in informal knowledge sharing (KS) in an enterprise through the lens of social capital. This work explores the ways in which the use of social media results in digital transformation of informal ties that provide the social capital needed for KS, both within and across organizations. The effects of social media on these social ties are observed in a field study of social media adoption by consultants.

The use of social media in enterprise and digital transformation

Decades ago, organizations owned ICT and employees were limited to a few corporate-owned technologies for communication and KS. However, the technological landscape has shifted dramatically, requiring both individuals and organizations to adapt to new technological realities. Employees now have access to dozens of social technologies that arise from the consumer market. They may therefore use multiple social tools to reach out to, communicate, and share knowledge with their colleagues and other social and professional contacts. In particular, the proliferation of social media in recent years has spurred digital transformations inside and outside of the enterprise. Social media transform the nature and scope of informal networks due to their unique information and communication capabilities. An important dimension of social networks around workers that is transformed by the use of these technologies is the social capital embedded in these networks. It is however important to note that the ongoing digital transformation is not exclusively determined by social technologies and their unique features. The true benefits and transformative affordances of these technologies for informal KS are realized through a complex array of sociotechnical changes, shaped by both the use of technology and the ways in which workers interpret and appropriate them, and in a broader sense, factors such as culture and norms. Some of the distinct impacts of social media on knowledge practices are rooted in how workers make sense of them based on their individual preferences, and in the norms of workplace and social networking, rather than being direct consequences of these technologies. For instance, management consultants working for merger and acquisition practices refrain from using geotagging features on public social media websites because it may reveal private information about clients who may be involved in the merger.