Yuan Sun, Chenyan Gu, Xinjie Zhou and Rong-An Shang
In the digital age, enterprise social media (ESM) use is becoming more prevalent in the workplace. The “group” function is a very important part in the use of ESM. This paper…
Abstract
Purpose
In the digital age, enterprise social media (ESM) use is becoming more prevalent in the workplace. The “group” function is a very important part in the use of ESM. This paper explores how the characteristics of employees' task requirements affect their group participation behaviors on the ESM.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on information processing theory, the authors establish a two-stage research model to explore the impact of task characteristics on employees' online group participation behavior in the context of ESM. Data were collected using a survey of 341 Chinese employees.
Findings
The results indicate that (1) task interdependence was positively correlated with participation in small closed groups; (2) task complexity was positively correlated with participation in small groups, large closed groups and open professional groups and (3) task non-routineness was positively correlated with participation in small groups, large closed groups and open professional groups.
Originality/value
This study builds on the literature on task characteristics, information processing theory and employees' online group participation behavior, contributing to the research on ESM in the field of information systems and providing guidance for enterprise practice.
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Yuan Sun, Rong-An Shang, Haiyang Cao, Hongyu Jiang, Klaus Boehnke and Jindi Fu
Enterprise social media can be the organizational transactive memory in which the knowledge dialogue provides users with the metaknowledge to support knowledge transfer. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Enterprise social media can be the organizational transactive memory in which the knowledge dialogue provides users with the metaknowledge to support knowledge transfer. The purpose of this study is to examine a mediation model to show how perceived critical mass, openness and affiliation climate affect organizational knowledge transfer through the mediation of improving the metaknowledge of who knows what and whom.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the mediation model and corresponding hypotheses, this study employs structural equation modeling analysis using 264 valid questionnaires.
Findings
The study found the two mediators fully explained the effects of the three preconditions on knowledge transfer.
Originality/value
These results help us to better understand the benefits of enterprise social media and the functions of transactive memory in organizations.
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Jindi Fu, Rong-An Shang, Anand Jeyaraj, Yuan Sun and Feng Hu
Enterprise social media (ESM) usage has gained considerable momentum within organizations. The purpose of this paper is to seek a better understanding of ESM usage based on the…
Abstract
Purpose
Enterprise social media (ESM) usage has gained considerable momentum within organizations. The purpose of this paper is to seek a better understanding of ESM usage based on the task environments and the technology affordances of ESM.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on a survey consisting of 556 usable responses. Regression methods are applied to analyze the data.
Findings
This study finds strong support for the positive impact of task-technology fit on ESM usage. Considering separately, task equivocality had no impact; task interdependence had a negative effect on ESM usage; bridging social capital had a positive effect; and bonding social capital had a marginal impact on ESM usage.
Research limitations/implications
This research incorporated social capital into discussions of task-technology fit. A 2×2 matrix based on task equivocality and task interdependence was developed, which may be extended to other contexts or technologies.
Practical implications
ESM implementation should account for both task environments and the appropriate technology affordances. Individuals access bridging social capital to a greater extent than bonding social capital using ESM, and they do not use ESM when the task environments alone are considered.
Originality/value
This is an original study that considers task environments and technology affordances in the context of ESM usage. The findings offer valuable and timely contributions to both scholars and practitioners.
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Yuan Sun, Xinjie Zhou, Anand Jeyaraj, Rong-An Shang and Feng Hu
Enterprise social media platforms (ESMPs) are web 2.0-based computer media tools that facilitate knowledge sharing by employees. The purpose of this paper is to outline the…
Abstract
Purpose
Enterprise social media platforms (ESMPs) are web 2.0-based computer media tools that facilitate knowledge sharing by employees. The purpose of this paper is to outline the potential of ESMPs in both enabling and hindering knowledge sharing from the perspective of affordances.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper which integrates the literature on ESMPs’ affordances and knowledge sharing.
Findings
This paper finds that prior research on affordances only considered artifacts without much attention on the role of individual goals and organizational context. ESMPs may both enable and hinder knowledge sharing by affording different user behaviors contingent on artifacts, individual goals and organizational context.
Practical implications
The results of the paper will help managers and ESMPs designers to better understand the potential of ESMPs and pay attention to the positive and negative impacts of ESMPs in the process of knowledge sharing.
Originality/value
The paper derives a new categorization of affordances based on individual goals and organization context and portrays a model to describe how and when these affordances enable knowledge sharing through the development of transactive memory system and social capital and hinder knowledge sharing through overload, groupthink and privacy invasion.
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Avus C.Y. Hou, Wen-Lung Shiau and Rong-An Shang
Can mobile instant messaging (MIM) make people entering into the state of cognitive absorption (CA)? The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether CA can help explain users’…
Abstract
Purpose
Can mobile instant messaging (MIM) make people entering into the state of cognitive absorption (CA)? The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether CA can help explain users’ satisfaction during the process of MIM, while interactivity and interest are operated as determinants of CA as well as directly associated with satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes a satisfaction model that is adapted from the CA theory to investigate MIMs users’ satisfaction with two determinants, interactivity and interest. Specifically, CA is operated as a second-order formative construct with four reflective dimensions, including curiosity, focused immersion, heightened enjoyment and temporal dissociation. Partial least square structural equation modeling was applied to evaluate the causal links of the model with the data collected from 472 LINE users who all had long using experience.
Findings
The results showed that CA in MIM, fueled by interactivity and interest, is positively related to satisfaction. Interactivity and interest themselves were also significantly associated with satisfaction. Among them, interactivity has the most influence on satisfaction, followed by interest and CA. Surprised, curiosity and focused immersion did not formative CA in MIM.
Research limitations/implications
The present study focuses on user satisfaction of a specific MIM (LINE) and collects data from users within a specific region (Taiwan). Other researchers must take these constrains into consideration when referencing this study.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which confirmed that people still enter into the state of CA when using MIM on smartphone, even though the using environment is drastically different from that on desktop. It indicates that prior theories in CA with desktop-based software are still applicable and serve as a basis for more studies in the mobile context to a certain extent, but other factors should also be considered. As interactivity and interest are conducive to CA, leading to user satisfaction, an MIM app can be more popular if the two factors are incorporated.
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Rong‐An Shang, Yu‐Chen Chen and Hsueh‐Jung Liao
To examine the effects of consumers' lurking and posting behaviors in virtual consumer communities on specific brand loyalty.
Abstract
Purpose
To examine the effects of consumers' lurking and posting behaviors in virtual consumer communities on specific brand loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey of a virtual community of Apple computer users was conducted to test a model of involvement, participation, loyalty, trust, and attitudes toward the brand exist in messages within the community.
Findings
The causes and effects of lurking and posting differed. Lurking contributed to brand loyalty more than posting did, and the primary purpose of lurking was to look for information regarding product function/performance, instead of satisfying consumers' affective needs.
Research limitations/implications
As a result of the limitations in a computer mediated communication environment, virtual consumer communities should be perceived as an arena for weak‐tied strangers to communicate for word‐of‐mouth (WOM) behavior, rather than as a brand community.
Practical implications
Although negative messages in a community can hurt brand image, companies should encourage the establishment of communities about their products and encourage consumers to participate in them.
Originality/value
Although the importance of virtual communities has been recognized, few studies have been done to examine the business value of consumer communities. Based on perspectives of brand community and WOM behavior, this paper contributes to virtual community and marketing research by clarifying the effects of consumers' lurking and posting behaviors in a consumer community on brand loyalty.
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Rong‐An Shang, Yu‐Chen Chen and Chun‐Ju Chen
The purpose of this paper is to explore the social value of information in virtual investment communities and compare its effects with objective information value. A model…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the social value of information in virtual investment communities and compare its effects with objective information value. A model including information quality, social comparison, and herding orientation, and their effects on decision usefulness and member satisfaction, is proposed and tested.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey with a sample of 215 members of investment communities was conducted to test the proposed model.
Findings
The opinion comparison orientation of members and information credibility are positively related to their perceived decision usefulness and satisfaction. Consistency is positively related to decision usefulness, but not to member satisfaction. Members' herding tendency moderates the effect of opinion comparison orientation on decision usefulness and the effect of ability comparison orientation on satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
The sample is small and not random. The proportion of students in the sample seems to be higher than it should be among virtual investment community members.
Practical implications
Investors should be careful regarding the social influences of their communities; the effects may not always be good for investment decisions.
Social implications
Virtual communities provide members with social comparison information, which may yield positive effects for members in inspiration, self‐improvement, and self‐enhancement.
Originality/value
The virtual community can be a forum where people gain information regarding others to satisfy their needs for social comparison. Virtual communities provide special social value for their members, even for those who do not interact with others by posting in the communities.
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Qi Zheng, Petros Ieromonachou, Tijun Fan and Li Zhou
Fresh product loss rates in supply chain operations are particularly high due to the nature of perishable products. The purpose of this paper is to maximize profit through the…
Abstract
Purpose
Fresh product loss rates in supply chain operations are particularly high due to the nature of perishable products. The purpose of this paper is to maximize profit through the contract between retailer and supplier. The optimized prices for the retailer and the supplier, taking the fresh-keeping effort into consideration, are derived.
Design/methodology/approach
To address this issue, the authors consider a two-echelon supply chain consisting of a retailer and a supplier (i.e. wholesaler) for two scenarios: centralized and decentralized decision making. The authors start from investigating the optimal decision in the centralized supply chain and then comparing the results with those of the decentralized decision. Meanwhile, a fresh-keeping cost-sharing contract and a fresh-keeping cost- and revenue-sharing contract are designed. Numerical examples are provided, and managerial insights are discussed at the end.
Findings
The results show that the centralized decision is more profitable than the decentralized decision; a fresh product supply chain (FPSC) can only be coordinated through a fresh-keeping cost- and revenue-sharing contract; the optimal retail price, wholesale price and fresh-keeping effort can all be achieved; and the profit of a FPSC is positively related to consumers’ sensitivity to freshness and negatively correlated with their sensitivity to price.
Research limitations/implications
This research is based on the assumption that demand is relatively stable. It has not addressed when demand is stochastic.
Practical implications
The findings would be useful for managers in fresh food sector in terms of how to deal with suppliers in order to maximize total profit while also provide freshest food to the customers.
Originality/value
Few studies have considered fresh-keeping effort as a decision variable in the modelling of supply chain. In this paper, a mathematical model for the fresh-keeping effort and for price decisions in a supply chain is developed. In particular, fresh-keeping cost-sharing contract and revenue-sharing contract are examined simultaneously in the study of the supply chain coordination problem.
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Malleswari Karanam, Lanka Krishnanand, Vijaya Kumar Manupati and Sai Sudhakar Nudurupati
The primary goal of this review is to identify emerging themes in the cold supply chain (CSC) and their future research directions, methodologies, and theories.
Abstract
Purpose
The primary goal of this review is to identify emerging themes in the cold supply chain (CSC) and their future research directions, methodologies, and theories.
Design/methodology/approach
The review looks at CSC related articles from Scopus database published in the years 2000–2020. Thereafter, bibliometric and co-citation analyses have been conducted to identify emerging themes, methodologies, and theoretical perspectives related to CSC management.
Findings
This study revealed a clear research gap in CSC literature with emerging themes relevant to diverse aspects. Primarily, the most prominent authors, methodologies, and theories were identified from bibliometric analysis. Next, we generated clusters to identify the insights of each cluster using co-citation analysis. Consequently, the significance of clusters concerning the number of articles, theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and themes was recognized. Finally, a few future research questions regarding emerging themes have been identified.
Practical implications
The importance of co-citation and bibliometric analyses in studying the evolution of research over a definite time is emphasized in this work. As per emerging themes, implementing digital technologies has increased the efficiency of traditional CSC and transformed it into digital CSC.
Originality/value
As per the authors' knowledge, this work is the first in literature to explore the significance of identifying emerging areas and future research directions in managing CSC through literature review based on bibliometric and co-citation analysis.
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Bin Jiang, Gregory V. Frazier and Daniel Heiser
The purpose of this paper is to examine the stream of China‐related POM research over 25 years (1980‐2005) to determine trends in quantity, topical coverage, research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the stream of China‐related POM research over 25 years (1980‐2005) to determine trends in quantity, topical coverage, research contribution, and data sources.
Design/methodology/approach
From 31 POM‐relevant journals, 144 articles were identified and classified across the four parameters. The data was also segregated into three time periods to facilitate comparison and analysis. Descriptive statistics were then generated to identify trends.
Findings
China‐related POM research has grown rapidly in the past 25 years. The topical coverage has expanded from an initial focus on strategy and policy issues to include quality, technology, and logistics management topics. The focus of articles has matured from a base of descriptive articles to include a growing emphasis on novel applications of POM techniques and new frameworks. Finally, the data sources tapped for the growing body of China‐related POM research has trended toward case studies and survey data.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to examine a body of literature related to one of the world's fastest growing, large economies. Based upon the findings, several areas worthy of future research related to operational risk, environmental issues, supply chain management, cultural issues, product and process development, technology transfer, service operations, and research methodology are identified.