A Morphological Review of Enterprise Social Media Literature

Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic
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A morphological review of enterprise social media

literature
Suchitra Veeravalli & V. Vijayalakshmi
To cite this article: Suchitra Veeravalli & V. Vijayalakshmi (2019) A morphological review
of enterprise social media literature, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic
Commerce, 29:2, 139-162, DOI: 10.1080/10919392.2019.1583456
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JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMPUTING AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
2019, VOL. 29, NO. 2, 139–162
https://doi.org/10.1080/10919392.2019.1583456
A morphological review of enterprise social media literature

Suchitra Veeravalli and V. Vijayalakshmi
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, India
ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Introduction of Enterprise Social Media (ESM) in organizations is driven by Enterprise social media;
a need to improve communication and knowledge sharing within the enterprise social software;
enterprise. Studies show that soon after ESM adoption, there is some initial enterprise social networks;
enthusiasm and subsequently there is a perceptible drop in usage. A review organizational social media;
of ESM literature in a morphological framework, with the aim of demystify- morphological analysis;
enterprise social network
ing the troubling trend, is presented here. Morphological analysis of litera-
adoption
ture helps exhibit relevant work on ESM in a framework consisting of
dimensions and options from which insights can be derived. The framework
developed depicts ESM literature through seven dimensions – organiza-
tional level factors influencing ESM, unit of analysis, business objectives of
ESM adoption, individual level factors influencing ESM, theoretical frame-
work used, outcomes of adoption, and context of ESM implementation. For
each of the dimensions, relevant options were explored and listed.
Preliminary observation indicates that at an individual level, themes such
as absorptive capacity and lurking behavior of individuals need to be
studied in the context of ESM. At an organizational level, the impact of
human resources (HR) policies on ESM adoption, uses of ESM for internal
crowdsourcing need to be evaluated. Practitioners can use these findings to
assess and design their ESM strategies and for academicians, the morpho-
logical framework reveals the state of current research in the field and
identifies gaps for further research in specific areas of ESM.
Recognizing the pervasive and permeable nature of social networking sites, Enterprise Social Media (ESM)
platforms are often embraced by organizations to streamline internal communication, facilitate collabora-
tion, improve group cohesion, and enable knowledge sharing across teams. However, to gain competitive
advantage, organizations need to be able to identify: (1) ESM technologies that are best suited for them, and
(2) key aspects of ESM that are important from the organization’s point of view. Of course, one could
question if ESM implementation will lead to competitive advantage. A similar question was explored in the
context of Information Technology (IT) adoption more than a decade ago (Carr 2003). As technology
becomes accessible and affordable, its potential to differentiate one company from another diminishes.
Hence, it is worthwhile to understand the outcomes expected from ESM adoption rather than delve on
what competitive advantage a commoditized technology provides. Considering the disparity in rates of
adoption of social media and ESM, it is important to analyze whether reasons that make social media
popular translate to ESM. Studies on usage patterns of social networking sites (SNS) identify the following
10 uses and gratifications derived from social media: social interaction, information seeking, pass time,
entertainment, relaxation, communicatory utility, convenience utility, expression of opinion, information-
sharing, and knowledge about others (Whiting and Williams 2013). Gratifications expected in an enterprise
setting, need to be investigated.
CONTACT Suchitra Veeravalli suchitraveeravalli72@gmail.com Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of

Technology, Chennai, India
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/hoce.
© 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
140 S. VEERAVALLI AND V. VIJAYALAKSHMI
Despite the extensive use of social media by individuals, ESM is not as popular in business
environments (Engler and Alpar 2017; Kugler, Smolnik, and Raeth 2013). Li (2015) notes that right
after ESM adoption there is some enthusiasm in usage after which the usage slowly dwindles. Few
companies can boast of successful implementation and adoption of ESM. Cognizant Technology
Solutions, an IT company with offices around the globe, is an example. Its CEO Frank D’Souza is
described by colleagues as a hands-on person who communicates and motivates team members
regularly through blogging forums. According to Daft (2012), participation from top management
helps build trust and collaboration. While individuals are rapidly embracing social media in society,
the acceptance of the same technology by people in a corporate setting seems to be middling.
Understanding the contrast between the burgeoning adoption of social media in the external world
and limited success in enterprises is the motivation behind this paper. The primary objective of this
study is to understand ESM literature through a morphological review with the aim of gaining
insights into reasons behind its poor adoption. To gain insights into the ESM utilization patterns and
issues in practice that this review can address, we conducted exploratory studies. Subsequently,
morphological review of literature was undertaken to find reasons behind poor adoption of ESM.
The paper is structured as follows: in the first section we present findings of our exploratory studies,
following which we: 1. contrast traditional, systematic and morphological approaches for literature
review, 2. introduce the review methodology, 3. present results of the review, and 4. present analysis
and conclusions.
Qualitative study
Qualitative studies are undertaken with the view of mining and capturing valuable perspectives and
experiences of the interviewee. In this study, the aim was to elicit information on trends in ESM
adoption. Participants were selected using purposeful sampling methods to gather rich data. We
approached chief information officers, senior managers, strategists, team leads and professionals
from software companies. A total of six members agreed to participate in a semi-structured inter-
view. As non-disclosure agreements were signed before the interviews, the names of the organiza-
tions are not specified here.
During the interview, the following questions were posed:
(1) Social media platforms are patronized by individuals in a social context rather than in an
enterprise context. In your opinion, what could be the reason for differential rates of
adoption?
(2) How does your organization measure return on ESM investment?
(3) What are the organizational factors that affect ESM adoption?
(4) In your opinion, what measures can be taken to encourage employee participation on the
ESM portal?
Participant responses were noted and later transcribed. Excerpts from the interview are presented in
the following paragraph.
Acknowledging that social media technologies help integrate knowledge within the firm, the
senior manager of a software firm, expressed that, “Barriers to participation in ESM include 'fear of
losing credit' and 'fear of being evaluated’. In a social context, this anxiety is allayed. To increase
contribution, ESM portals should be introduced at the time of employee onboarding. It is a great
asset in getting employees up to speed quickly. This will save the organization time, money and
improve performance.”, he said.
The senior manager of a leading software consultancy firm indicated that they were a traditional
company and key information was typically shared via group meetings and email. “, he said.
Citing impediments to engagement on enterprise portals, the vice president of a large software
services firm stated, “ESM adoption has led to socializing within the organization, but, human
JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMPUTING AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 141
resources should intervene and take steps to increase knowledge sharing. However, like on any social
media platform, employees can spend many hours looking for information. Time and information
overload are prime barriers to participation.”
According to the technical team lead of a software development firm, “Senior management sees ESM
as an important tool and encourages members to participate. However, the quality of knowledge shared
is key to success. Sharing the obvious is not the objective. Key motives behind ESM implementation
included enhanced knowledge sharing, improved individual performance, increased employee engage-
ment and improved communication. ESM adoption has led to significant improvement in networking
among members, however, its direct impact on individual performance is yet to be measured”.
“ESM portals are very important, but we do not have the time to partake. While it is easy to share
information, it is also necessary to be conscious about sensitive information. Hence, some members prefer
to lurk on these portals than contribute”. According to him, “Participation is required at all levels of the
organization and you cannot dictate teams to use it if management is not using it themselves. Success stories
must be shared broadly. If I can’t visualize how others have successfully used enterprise social platforms to
reach their goals, then I will find it hard to follow”, the junior manager of a software firm stated.
“ESM systems were introduced with the main aim of enhancing knowledge exchange, networking,
communication, and collective problem solving”, CTO of a multinational software services firm cited.
“We measure the success of ESM adoption by monitoring employee participation and contributions.
Statistics of views, visits, comments, downloads, etc., help track adoption rates. Fear of being judged and
evaluated dissuades employees from participating on ESM. HR team should stress the need for collective
problem solving and sharing of best practices to ensure return on investment on ESM”.
Nvivo, a popular text analytics tool, was used to identify themes discussed. Text query for the
terms “ESM” AND “PARTICIPATION” was run. A snapshot of the output is shown in Figure 1.
Query results indicate that participation on ESM platforms is influenced by many factors such as
“fear of losing credit” and “fear of being evaluated”. The role of human resources in popularizing
ESM portals is an important sentiment that was noted.
Analysis of practitioner’s views on the topic not only helped establish the practical relevance of
the study but also frame research questions that could be studied through a morphological review.
The questions developed were:
(1) What are the organizational level factors that affect ESM adoption?
(2) What are the underlying business objectives of ESM adoption? How might they impact
adoption of ESM?
(3) What are the factors that affect ESM adoption at the individual and team level?
Figure 1. Results of the text search query.

(4) What is the impact of ESM adoption for individuals, teams, and organizations?
(5) What affects the regular usage of ESM?
In the next section, we present different approaches to review of literature and the rationale
behind choosing morphological review for this study.
Traditional, systematic and morphological review

There are different approaches to reviewing the literature and two of the main ones are traditional
and systematic review. The goal of a traditional review is to generate an understanding of the state of
the art in a field, identify areas where a surfeit of research exists and uncover lacunae in the literature
which could lead to the advancement of the field. The traditional method involves collation of
literature based on a common theme and then classifying papers based on chronological, conceptual,
or any other template that serves the original goals of the review (Webster and Watson 2002).
Systematic review, in contrast, starts with a research question, focuses on the selection, assessment
and denouement, all driven by research questions that are being probed. Such a review clearly states
the processes involved in searching, selecting, validating, and summarizing results. It includes rigor
in the search process and stresses on reviewing quality peer-reviewed literature (Boell and Cecez-
Kecmanovic 2015). As a result, a systematic review is expected to provide objective, unbiased and
quantitative assessment in a hypothesis-driven framework. A morphological approach for review of
literature embeds aspects of both review methodologies. The review starts with a set of research
questions that need to be addressed, which is like the systematic review. However, collation of
literature is more broad-based just as in traditional review method with a goal to understand the
current state of knowledge and identify gaps in the literature. A unique aspect of the morphological
framework is that the review findings are organized in a tabular format using dimensions and
options. Organization in this format allows for easy interpretation of the findings and generation of
newer research questions. In the current study, the domain chosen for review is “Adoption of ESM”
in organizations.
Morphology explained
The term ‘Morphology’ is derived from the Greek root word “morphe” meaning shape or form.
Morphology is defined as “a study of structure or form” in Merriam – Webster dictionary. Primarily,
morphology refers to the arrangement of parts and how these parts create the whole (Ritchey 2006,
2010). The morphological approach has found several applications and was popularized by Fritz
Zwicky (1969). He developed a General Morphological Analysis (GMA) framework for understand-
ing and organizing the underlying relationships in multi-variable complex systems with features that
are not amenable to facile quantification.
Development of a morphological framework begins with establishing important “dimensions” of
the problem (or object/domain) under study. In some cases, based on the context of an application,
the dimensions can be broken down into sub-dimensions. The possible “values” or “options” that
each dimension (or sub-dimension) can take are then identified. The dimensions and their asso-
ciated options are placed in a morphological box also known as the Zwicky box (Ritchey 1998, 2010).
Relationships in the model are then scanned for mutually contradicting conditions. Such contra-
dicting conditions are removed thereby reducing the model. This is an iterative process that results
in a pertinent solution space (Ritchey 2010).
If we apply the morphological approach to study an object, say, a pen, the dimensions would be
body, refill, nib, and cap with material, color, and shape being sub-dimensions under each. The
options for body-material dimension, for example, would be steel, plastic, and wood and for body-
shape, it would be cylindrical or spherical. Any pen in the universe can be uniquely mapped to the
dimensions and options of the morphology framework, and a designer can discover new variations
of the pen that does not exist in the market. The morphology can be validated by choosing a set of
pens and verifying if every pen can be mapped to the framework.
Comprehensive identification of dimensions and options for a chosen object or domain requires
deep expertise and necessitates availability of enough information (from the literature review, in-
depth interviews, as well as researcher’s intuition). The development of morphological frameworks
for physical entities like pen, automobile, or mobile phone is relatively easier compared to con-
ceptual entities like a body of knowledge or problems because the latter involves a comprehensive
review and analysis of all existing literature in that domain. For instance, Shekhar and Ganesh (2007)
present a morphological framework of ‘Virtual Teams’ based on extant literature and Kumar and
Ganesh (2009) propose the same for ‘Knowledge Transfer in Organizations’. A morphological
method of review has been chosen for this study not only because it involves a methodical search
of literature considering research questions posed but also provides a lucid framework to organize
findings. This method is best suited for classifying studies that involve qualitative aspects that are
subjective in nature and hard to simulate.
Literature identification
Literature search was undertaken with the intention of identifying and selecting all seminal and
promising work in ESM. Due diligence was exercised while selecting key words for this study, which
included – “Enterprise Social Media”, “Enterprise Social Software “, “Enterprise Social Networks”,
“Organizational Social Media”, “Enterprise Social Network adoption” and “Enterprise 2.0”. It is
important to note that research in this field is still evolving and some terms have been adopted and
used interchangeably (Wehner, Ritter, and Leist 2017). While the terms chosen are all not synonyms
of one another, in literature, they have been used to denote similar systems and hence have been
included. Search terms included all possible combinations of the keywords chosen.
Literature for this study was sourced from ESM literature post year 2000, as the turn of the
millennium saw the introduction of several social media and enterprise social media systems. Review
and selection of literature pertinent to this study was done in two stages. The first involved searching for
peer-reviewed papers on popular online databases that publish significant contributions in the areas of
management, information systems, and business research; like EBSCO, ProQuest, Emerald, Wiley
Online Library, Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, Sage, and Science Direct. Considering the interdisciplinary
nature of the research, relevant papers from Information Systems (IS), computer science, computer-
mediated communication, computer supported cooperative work, and management disciplines were
included. Corporate publications and papers presented in quality IS conferences have also been con-
sidered. Duplication was avoided using Mendeley software. Our search excluded book chapters as well as
non-academic articles, such as articles in popular magazines and editorials.
The second step involved scrutinizing downloaded papers and articles. Papers from journals
which are ranked high either in SCIMAGO, ABDC or MIS Journal ranking were carefully chosen.
Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) rankings of conferences were used to identify proceedings of
important and relevant conferences. Further, reference sections of highly cited papers were also
scrutinized to determine articles that needed to be added to the pool. Peer-reviewed academic
journals that cited key articles were also incorporated. In addition, an organic search was done to
ensure that newer related studies were included.
Methodical evaluation undertaken helped us narrow down the number of publications initially
identified (~600) to 110 decisive papers for our study. A significant part of our literature is sourced
from conference proceedings; these are in line with the findings of Wehner, Ritter, and Leist (2017).
Table 1 presents the names of journals and conferences from where papers have been obtained. An
indication of the pattern of research publications on this topic (both journal papers and conference
proceedings) over the years is depicted below in Figure 2.
Table 1. Sources of literature.

Journals
American Behavioral Scientist
Behavior and Information Technology
Business & Information Systems Engineering
Computer Networks
Computers in Human Behavior
Computer Supported Cooperative Work
European Journal of Information Systems
Harvard Business Review
Information and Management
International Journal of Business Communication
International Journal of Information Management
Information Systems Research
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
Journal of Information Technology
Journal of Knowledge Management
Journal of Operations Management
Journal of Strategic Information Systems
Journal of Management Information Systems
Journal of Social Media for Organizations
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
Journal of Information Systems Applied Research
Knowledge-Based Systems
Long Range Planning
Management Science
MIS Quarterly
MIS Quarterly Executive
Sloan Management Review
Social Behavior and Personality
Conference proceedings
Americas Conference on Information Systems
Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)
Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS)
Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS)
Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Business Informatics
Proceedings of the Australasian Conference on Information Systems
Proceedings of the ACM SIGMIS Conference on Computers and People Research
International conference on information systems
European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS)
Morphological framework development

Further to identification of pertinent literature, a morphological framework was developed to
systematically represent and review the current state of ESM literature. The process diagram in
Figure 3 depicts steps taken to arrive at the morphological framework.
A morphological framework for ESM adoption is presented in Table 2. The morphological
framework comprises seven dimensions – organizational level factors influencing ESM, unit of
analysis, business objectives of ESM, individual level factors influencing ESM, theoretical frame-
works, outcomes of adoption and context of ESM implementation (industry sector, and geographic
location). Dimensions of the morphological framework were enumerated at the start based on
qualitative in-depth interviews, an extensive review of literature, and researcher’s intuition.
Further to investigating facets of each of the dimensions, a list of relevant values that these
dimensions could potentially be allotted was explored and enumerated. Option allocation is
a qualitative process that stems out of reviewing literature and judgment of the authors. Options
were culled out during an in-depth analysis of each paper.
Figure 2. No. of relevant ESM related publications each year.
Figure 3. Process flow for morphological framework development.
Options from this list that have been studied substantially in literature and the corresponding
references are tabulated in Table 3.
Considering that the process of development of a morphological framework depends on the
interpretative understanding of the underlying phenomenon and is subject to the judgment of the
researcher, it is important to bear in mind that each researcher is likely to develop a different
framework for the concept she/he wishes to represent. However, if the goal of the representation is
the same; then, the representations will be largely similar.
Table 2. Morphological framework of ESM literature.

Dimension Options
Organizational level factors Culture, climate, corporate strategy, platform design, leadership, resource facilitating
influencing ESM conditions, size, governance, technology, absorptive capacity
Unit of analysis Organizations, teams, individuals, virtual/online communities, intra-organizations, distributed
organizations
Business objectives of ESM
Business process Knowledge sharing/management, team collaboration/distributed collaboration at work,
internal crowd sourcing, innovation, expert identification
Business performance Team performance, operational efficiency, innovativeness, commitment, employee
engagement
Employee/Individual benefits Relationship building, improved performance, productivity, people sensemaking
Individual-level factors Peer pressure, impression formation, reputation, time required, lack of recognition, digital
influencing ESM tracing, privacy, visibility, perceived benefits of adoption, critical mass and feedback.
Theoretical framework UTAUT, affordances, TAM, transactive memory, social cognitive theory, social capital theory,
innovation diffusion theory
Outcomes of adoption Identification of experts, improved communication, employee engagement, benefits of
sharing meta-knowledge, organizational socializing, knowledge reuse
Context
Industry sector Professional services, IT, manufacturing, consulting, financial services, telecommunication,
Geographic location technology start-ups, SME
Geographic location Australia, Ireland, USA, Europe, Asia, Africa
The next section provides details of the dimensions and options that are studied. The inquiry
helps explore existing research and identify factors that need to be studied further.
Dimensions and options unveiled

Dimensions and the associated options identified in the ESM morphological framework are dis-
cussed in detail in this section.
Organizational level factors influencing ESM

This dimension examines enterprise level factors that influence ESM adoption and evaluates aspects
that indicate whether an organization is ready for ESM adoption. The options include organizational
culture, design of software platforms, corporate strategy, and organizational climate prior to the time
of adoption. This dimension is critical to this study as prior to introduction of any change in policy
or introduction of a new system, an entity needs to carefully gauge how prepared its structures,
policies, procedures, and members are to support the adoption of the proposed change.
Studies on the first option, namely organizational culture, reveal that it has an overwhelming
impact on the use of ESM for knowledge sharing. If culture is perceived as not conducive to
knowledge sharing, then ESM platforms are unlikely to be adopted (Vuori and Okkonen 2012).
Culture in association with a strategy that is aligned towards knowledge sharing positively influences
the decision to adopt Enterprise social systems (ESS) (Antonius, Xu, and Gao 2015). The next option
examined is the design of software platforms. Kane (2015) indicates that organizations often chase
the latest platforms and software. Platform designs need to be evaluated in the light of existing
knowledge sharing networks in practice (Wehner, Ritter, and Leist 2017).
The third option chosen is corporate strategy. Studies indicate that the knowledge strategy of the
firm along with the culture of the firm positively influences one’s decision to participate in ESS
(Antonius et al. 2015). Kane (2015) indicates that considering the ever-changing nature of technol-
ogy, the strategy should be geared towards managing interpersonal network and sharing. It is to be
noted that relatively fewer studies study the impact of corporate strategy on ESM adoption, revealing
a lacuna in literature.
Table 3. Literature references for ESM morphology.
Organizational level
factors Unit of analysis Business objectives Individual-level factors Theoretical framework Outcomes of adoption Context
Organizational Organizations Employee performance/ Behavioral aspects like Innovation Diffusion Communication IT Sector
culture 1. McAfee (2006) productivity Reputation, Impression Theory 1. Denyer, Parry, and 1.Brzozowski (2009)
1.Denyer, Parry, 2. Brzozowski (2009) 1. Leftheriotis and Formation 1. Kugler, Smolnik, and Flowers (2011) 2. Brzozowski,
and Flowers 3. Majchrzak, Cherbakov, Giannakos (2014) 1. Wasko and Faraj (2005) Raeth (2013) 2. Riemer and Scifleet Sandholm, and Hogg
(2011) and Ives (2009) 2. Kugler et al.(2015b) 2.Majchrzak, Wagner, and Yates 2.Cardon and Marshall (2012) (2009)
2.Vuori and 4.Turban, Bolloju, and 3. Kwahk and Park (2016) (2006) (2015) 3. Leonardi, Huysman, 3. Paroutis and Saleh
Okkonen (2012) Liang (2011) 3. DiMicco et al. (2009) and Steinfield (2013) (2009)
3. Antonius et al. 5. Saldanha and Krishnan 4. Cummings (2013) 4. Davison et al. (2014) 4. Riemer and Richter
(2015) (2012) 5. Kugler, Smolnik, and Raeth (2010)
6. Treem and Leonardi (2013) 5. Huang, Singh, and
(2012) 6. Kane (2015) Ghose (2015)
7. Gonzalez et al. (2013) 7..Kugler et al. (2015b) 6. Kugler, Smolnik, and
8.Kugler, Smolnik, and Kane (2015a)
Raeth (2013) 7. Oostervink,
9. Leonardi, Huysman, and Agterberg, and
Steinfield (2013) Huysman (2016)
10. Osch and Coursaris
(2013)
11. Kane (2015)
12. Osch, Coursaris, and
Balogh (2015)
13. Mantymaki andRiemer
(2016)
14. Wehner, Ritter, and
Leist (2017)
(Continued )
147
148
Table 3. (Continued).
Corporate strategy Teams Knowledge sharing/ Time required TAM Identification of Manufacturing Sector
1. Antonius et al. 1. Cardon and Marshall management 1.Haas, Criscuolo, and George 1.Antonius et al. (2015) subject matter 1.Bala et al. (2015)
(2015) (2015) 1. Grace (2009) (2015) experts
2.Kane (2015) 2.Durr et al. (2016) 2. Levy (2009) 2. Chin et al. (2015a) 1. Brzozowski (2009)
3. Vuori and Okkonen
(2012)
4. Stocker et al. (2012)
5. Fulk and Yuan (2013)
6.Gibbs, Rozaidi, and
Eisenberg (2013)
7. Jarrahi and Sawyer (2013)
S. VEERAVALLI AND V. VIJAYALAKSHMI
7. Majchrzak et al. (2013)

8. Beck, Pahlke, and
Seebach (2014)
9. Liu and Rau (2014)
10. Ellison, Gibbs, and
Weber (2015)
11. Rode (2015)
12. Kwahk and Park (2016)
13. Oostervink, Agterberg,
and Huysman (2016)
Platform design Individual Collaboration/distributed Perceived Benefits of ESM UTAUT Model Employee SME
and 1. Wasko and Faraj (2005) collaboration – at work adoption: 1. Gunther et al. (2009) Engagement 1. Durkin, Mcgowan,
implementation 2 Paroutis and Saleh 1.DiMicco et al. (2008) 1. DiMicco et al. (2008) 1. Koch, Gonzalez, and and Mckeown (2011)
1. Alimam, Bertin, (2009) 2. Cummings (2013) 2. Brzozowski, Sandholm, and Leidner (2012) 2. Zeiller and Schauer
and Crespi (2015) 3. Steinfield et al. (2009) 3. Alimam, Bertin, and Hogg (2009) 2. Sharma and (2011)
2. Kane (2015) 4. Wu, DiMicco, and Millen Crespi (2015) 3. Paroutis and Saleh (2009) Bhatnagar (2016) 3. Meske and Stieglitz
(2010) (2013)
5. Kugler and Smolnik 4. Ettore and Scarso
(2013) (2016)
6. Leftheriotis and
Giannakos (2014)
7. Chin et al. (2015a)
(Continued )
Table 3. (Continued).
Organizational Innovation Social enablers Affordances Benefits of sharing Consulting firms
climate 1. Dahl, Lawrence, and 1. Brzozowski, Sandholm, and 1.Treem and Leonardi meta- knowledge 1. Riemer and Scifleet
1. Vaezi (2011) Pierce (2011) Hogg (2009) (2012) 1. Leonardi (2014) (2012)
2. Kugler, 2. Lam, Yeung, and Cheng 2. Wattal, Racherla, and 2. Fulk and Yuan (2013) 2.Chin, Evans, and Choo
Smolnik, and (2016) Mandviwalla (2010) 3. Gibbs, Rozaidi, and (2015b )
Raeth (2013) 3. Gospel (2016) 3. Kugler, Smolnik, and Raeth Eisenberg (2013)
(2013) 4. Majchrzak et al.
4. Chin, Evans, and Choo (2015b) (2013)
5. Huang, Singh, and Ghose 4. Leonardi (2014)
(2015) 6. Wagner, Vollmar, and
Wagner (2014)
7. Ellison, Gibbs, and
Weber (2015)
8.Oostervink,
Agterberg, and
Huysman (2016)
Internal crowdsourcing Social capital theory Technology start-up
1. Majchrzak, Cherbakov, 1.. Fulk and Yuan 1. Gibbs, Rozaidi, and
and Ives (2009) (2013) Eisenberg (2013)
2. Byren (2013) 2. Kugler, Smolnik, and
3. Zuchowski et al. (2016) Raeth (2013)
4. Roorda and Waldmann 3. Sun and Shang
(2016) (2014)
4. Kwahk and Park
(2016)
Financial services
1. Leonardi (2014)
Telecommunications
company
1. Denyer, Parry, and
Flowers (2011)
149
The final option considered is organizational climate. Studies indicate that the degree of belief and
trust in the group and organization-wide norms of collaboration has a positive impact on Enterprise
Social Software Platform (ESSP) usage (Kugler, Smolnik, and Raeth 2013). In summary, under-
standing organizational culture, development of an effective strategy, holistic identification of an
ESM platform considering existing knowledge sharing practices and an apriori understanding of
organizational climate can collectively be viewed under organization readiness for ESM adoption.
Unit of analysis
This dimension as the name suggests, classifies pertinent literature according to the unit of study.
Studies on ESM have been undertaken at various levels by researchers because social media needs
and motivations for each unit of analysis differ. The options for this dimension are: organizational
level, team level, and individual level studies. At the organizational level, ESM has been scrutinized to
ascertain benefits of adoption.
Hewlett Packard (HP) Labs, among the early adopters, explored ESM capabilities through their
home-grown web service called Water-Cooler (Brzozowski 2009). Some of the key findings of this
initiative were: (a) the platform was used by participants to find people with the right expertise, (b)
unmodified opinions and experiences of others provided interesting information, and (c) the plat-
form provided opportunities to appreciate what was happening in other groups. While this study
indicates that the platform provides an opportunity for large-scale participation, employee attention
is a scarce resource and valuable information may still get overlooked. Turban, Bolloju, and Liang
(2011) studied the opportunities and possible risks associated with enterprise social networking.
Opportunities identified include: (a) information dissemination and sharing, (b) communication, (c)
collaboration and innovation, (d) training and learning, and (e) knowledge management.
Conversely to opportunities, there are three major possible risks that have been identified. One,
legal risks arising out of using inappropriate language and not seeking permission to post sensitive
material. Two, breach of privacy and confidentiality through the intentional or unintentional
distribution of client data. The third risk is that copyrighted content may be posted in public
forums. These are also studied as information security challenges by Vayrynen, Hekkala & Liias
(2013). Additionally, the authors identify reputation and management challenges in knowledge
protection as some of the problems that the organization is exposed to. Ford and Mason (2013),
summarize that while the potential benefits of social media include increased innovation and faster
knowledge transfer, the same capability also presents risks like possible loss of control, ownership
and reputation concerns. In essence, ESM adoption and the attendant benefits may be outweighed by
risks if proper governance frameworks are not in place. At the team level, benefits that virtual teams
derive from ESM use have been studied. Virtual team members are often faced with issues such as
the inability to read non-verbal cues, insufficient time to build relationships, difficulty in establishing
trust and rapport with other members and difficulty in expressing opinions. ESM platforms have
been studied to see if they could mitigate some of the issues faced by virtual teams. Cardon and
Marshall (2015) indicate that though ESM technologies are designed to enhance collaboration
among teams, lackluster enthusiasm may be attributed to reluctance to moving away from tradi-
tional channels and cultural restraints such as lack of support from managers.
Durr et al. (2016) have studied how virtual collaboration on ESM can be understood in a theoretical
framework. Findings indicate that despite technology, the responsibility of forming a virtual team,
delegating tasks, engaging the team and maintaining knowledge flow all becomes the responsibility of
the team lead. According to Weber and Shi (2017), ESM reinforce existing team relationships and
facilitate effective cross-team collaboration by opening communication channels sans hierarchies. ESM
not only empower team members to gather support for innovative ideas but also support virtual
communities of practice within organizations. Further, in geographically distributed teams, ESM aids
bringing people with common interests to collaborate on projects. Thus, helping transcend geographic
and temporal barriers and instilling a sense of connectedness.
At the individual level, Wasko and Faraj (2005) relate theories of collective action to observe how
motivations of individuals together with social capital impact contributions to electronic networks of
practice. The reasons behind why individuals help strangers on an electronic platform are scrutinized.
The perception that one’s professional reputation increases is an important factor that drives the
individual’s participation in the ESM platforms. Network centrality also plays an important role in
contributions to the shared platform. Further to an evaluation of reasons for poor adoption of the
platform and barriers to active participation by the employees, outcome expectations, perceived organi-
zational/management support and trust are identified as critical determinants of ESM adoption (Paroutis
and Saleh 2009). According to Steinfield et al. (2009), social networking sites can help employees develop
useful connections within the company, particularly those who find it difficult to associate otherwise.
Empirical studies by Leftheriotis and Giannakos (2014) indicate that both utilitarian and hedonic values
influence employees to adopt social media for their work. Socio-technical factors, including platform and
content quality, organizational factors such as top management support, communication climate,
perceived benefits, knowledge self-efficacy, time commitment, and task factors are identified as factors
that influence employee’s usage of ESM platforms (Chin et al. 2015a).
Business objectives of ESM adoption

This dimension focuses on drawing out the intent of ESM implementation and adoption. The
benefits the organization seeks to achieve by adoption of such systems are probed. Options can be
broadly classified under the following headings: 1. employee performance/productivity, 2. knowledge
sharing, 3. collaboration at work, 4. innovation and 5. internal crowdsourcing. Under the first
option, studies that closely examine the impact of ESM on employee performance/productivity are
classified. Kugler, Smolnik, and Kane (2015a) explore the concept of social connectedness in the
context of ESSP, and a positive association between social connectedness and employee’s work
performance has been empirically validated. The study undertaken by Leftheriotis and Giannakos
(2014) to discover the motivations behind adopting social media at work in the insurance industry
indicates that there is a significant positive relationship between usage of social media at work to
individual performance.
The second option looks at studies that evaluate the impact of ESM on knowledge sharing. Vuori
and Okkonen (2012) look at the differences between conventional knowledge sharing practices and
knowledge sharing over the ESM platform. Factors that enabled knowledge sharing were found to be
the same irrespective of the medium. The perceived value of usage of ESM, time and effort involved,
reciprocity in knowledge sharing are key factors that affect participation (Vuori and Okkonen 2012).
Time needed to be engaged in knowledge sharing dialogue while at work was found to be an
important limitation. In the context of collaborative knowledge sharing on social media, affordances
such as metavoicing, triggered attending, network-informed associating and generative are said to
have a conflicting effect on knowledge conversations. They seem to simultaneously assist and inhibit
the productivity of knowledge conversations (Majchrzak et al. 2013).
The third option that is studied is the relationship between ESM participation and collaboration at
work. In large and distributed organizations, professionals use social network sites to collaborate with
coworkers, strengthen their relationship with acquaintances and to establish a relationship with people
they do not know. Interests in career advancement, getting across ideas and effective completion of
projects are also some factors that motivate employees to team up at work (DiMicco et al. 2008). Further
to an evaluation of enterprise social software (ESS) tools available, Alimam, Bertin, and Crespi (2015),
conclude that the interactive capabilities that these platforms provide are not viewed as particularly
significant for collaboration by many.
Studying the impact of impression formation on collaboration over ESM, Cummings (2013),
notes that since impressions formed over ESM are not formed over time, they have both positive and
negative implications. On a positive note, ESM portals help members identify partners to collaborate
with. However, since the profiles posted are self-generated they need not be a true representation of
the employee, thereby affecting collaboration.
The fourth option discusses the impact of ESM adoption on innovation. Studying the role of
enterprise collaboration platforms on building an innovative community, Dahl, Lawrence, and
Pierce (2011) reveal that technology is indeed very critical to tapping the intellectual capital of
dispersed employees. Nonetheless, to build sustainable communities, participation from stakeholders
at all levels in the organization is required. Deliberate steps to engage the community are required
for success. Further to the analysis of secondary data from multiple sources, Lam, Yeung, and Chen
(2016), posit that through knowledge sharing and information flow over the firm’s social media
platforms, operational efficiency and innovativeness can be improved.
The fifth option studies the use of ESM for internal crowdsourcing. Internal crowdsourcing is
a concept that considers all employees of a firm as potential idea generators. Roorda and Waldmann
(2016), compared the innovation practices of 100 large European firms and found that 45% of the
companies they surveyed used ESM for their internal crowdsourcing activities. With greater global
competition and shorter innovation cycles, the need for a platform that can be accessed across
geographical boundaries is the hallmark of a new age innovation eco-system. Byren (2013) found
that several companies are turning to their own employees to utilize the wisdom of the crowd. For
example, employees are asked for their opinions on if a new product will succeed.
It is to be noted that, while research on the impact of ESM on augmenting performance, knowledge
sharing routines, and enhancing collaboration has been undertaken widely; limited studies are available
on a firm’s social media initiatives on innovation and as a platform for internal crowdsourcing.
Individual-level factors influencing ESM

Studies on ESM that investigate both internal and external factors influencing an individual’s
participation in ESM are listed here. The options listed include 1. behavioral aspects like reputation,
impression formation, monitoring and identity management, 2. time required, 3. perceived benefits
of ESM adoption and 4. Social enablers
The first option investigates behavioral aspects that impact ESM adoption. Empirical data indicate
that employees contribute to electronic networks of practice when they perceive that it enhances
their professional reputation (Wasko and Faraj 2005). Cummings (2013) observe that ESM platforms
are leveraged by individuals who want to promote themselves and create good impressions on their
colleagues. Further to conducting a survey of 168 corporate wiki users, Majchrzak, Wagner, and
Yates (2006) observed that enhanced reputation was one of the benefits of wiki use, when tasks
required novel solutions. According to Kane (2015), fear of being monitored may restrict employee
participation and induce reluctance to share controversial ideas. DiMicco et al. (2009) study ESM as
a tool for understanding others and managing one’s identity. Their analysis indicates that people
sensemaking and identity management are very closely knit and together they impact ESM adoption.
The second option considers time required to engage in ESM. Time constraints, interest, and
expertise influence the choice of problems to which a knowledge provider/seeker chooses to allocate
his attention (Haas, Criscuolo, and George 2015). At the individual level, employee participation on
ESM is also impacted by time. A significant challenge that employees face is the time it takes to share
knowledge over enterprise social networks (Chin et al. 2015a).
The third option lists perceived benefits of ESM adoption. Visibility that a platform affords is a factor
considered by Kugler and Smolnik (2013) to be an influencer. Opportunities to enhance one’s career and
the ability to build strong bonds with employees one does not know are some of the perceived benefits
and motivations to partake in ESM (DiMicco et al. 2008). Further to an exploration of how social media
was being used at HP, Brzozowski (2009), found that one of the perceived uses of participation was to
understand and learn about areas, others in the organization were working on. Following a qualitative
study on using Web 2.0 technologies for knowledge sharing, Paroutis and Saleh (2009), enlist the
following as perceived benefits of participation: 1. constructive communication, 2. updated personal
knowledge, 3. discussion on new concepts and ideas, 4. problem solving, 5. staying informed about the
latest news and activities of fellow colleagues and 6. receiving timely feedback.
The final option under consideration is social enablers. Social enablers, in our representation,
encompass all social factors that influence employee ESM use. These include 1. appreciation and
feedback, 2. pressure from peers/superiors and 3. critical mass. Appreciation and feedback from
others were found to result in higher blog use by individuals. (Wattal, Racherla, and Mandviwalla
2010). Acknowledgment of some kind often gave the required impetus for continued use (Chin,
Evans, and Choo 2015b). Number of responses a post received were found to have a significant
impact on participation (Huang, Singh, and Ghose 2015).
Further to a yearlong empirical study of on participation behavior on internal social media, at a large
technology company, Brzozowski, Sandholm, and Hogg (2009), observed that feedback in the form of
comments were highly positively correlated to subsequent use of the platform. In their study, they also found
peer influence and managers’ participation in ESM a key motivating factor behind employee participation.
Early studies on social influences on technology adoption also recognize that peers and superiors can sway
the individual’s perception of participation in technology platforms (Venkatesh et al. 2003).
Perceived critical mass was found to be another enabler. In a study on the effects of groupware
adoption, perceived critical mass was also found to affect the perception of users regarding the ease
of use and usefulness of the platforms (Lou, Luo, and Strong 2000). Perception of the number of
people participating on ESM platforms was found to instill “herd behavior” and positively influence
adoption. Employees contribute when they believe there is a network of people who are interested in
what they are saying (Chin, Evans, and Choo 2015b).
In summary, myriad complex factors are implicated in an individual’s decision to partake in ESM.
A feature that interests one individual may be viewed differently by another. For example, digital
traceability may interest some, the individual may be satisfied that his/her expertise would be well
recognized, and first credit would go to them for an idea. On the other hand, the same feature may
alienate individuals and make them want to stay away from the platform as posts remain in cyberspace
for a very long time and can be traced back to the creator. A platform that allows a user to customize their
settings in a moderated environment may boost adoption.
Theoretical frameworks used

This dimension enlists various theoretical lenses that have been used to analyze ESM adoption. The
options include 1. innovation diffusion theory, 2. TAM, 3. UTAUT model, 4. affordances, and 5.
social capital theory.
Cardon and Marshall (2015) have used the diffusion of innovations model to predict the expected
path enterprise social network platform adoption will follow the next couple of years. With an increase in
the number of younger professionals entering the workforce, the authors predict that the preferences of
Gen Y and Gen X members will garner critical mass and influence many colleagues to also adopt ESM.
They anticipate social networking platforms to become the primary team communication tool in the
future. Kugler, Smolnik, and Raeth (2013) have used the innovations diffusion model as the theoretical
background for their study. They have built on the model to trace factors that affect ESS usage.
The second theory that is listed is the technology adoption model (TAM). TAM is based on
information systems theory and was proposed by Davis (1989) to model the acceptance of new
technology by users. TAM examines the mediating role of perceived ease of use and perceived
usefulness before the adoption of new technology. Antonius et al. (2015) have adapted TAM in their
research to determine factors that significantly affect ESS adoption. Their model analyses the
influence of individual factors, organizational factors, task complexity, organizational culture, and
knowledge sharing on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Further, they study the impact
of these perceptions on one’s decision to adopt ESS. Results indicate that while TAM helped identify
factors that affect adoption, one of the limitations of the derived model is that it does not consider
the impact on other facilitating conditions.
The third theory that has been considered is the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of
Technology (UTAUT) model. UTAUT studies the impact of performance expectancy, effort expec-
tancy, social influence and facilitating conditions on behavioral intention and their cumulative
impact on user behavior (Venkatesh et al. 2003). Gunther et al. (2009) used UTAUT as the base
model to predict adoption of a microblogging system at the workplace. The authors investigated the
challenges in microblogging adoption at the enterprise, by conducting four focus groups. Several
new antecedents to performance expectancy such as reputation, expected relationships, communica-
tion benefits, signal-to-noise ratio, and privacy concerns were traced. The final formulated model
integrated these findings.
Affordance is another popular framework used to study ESM adoption. Noted American percep-
tual Psychologist, Gibson (1977), coined the word “affordance”. One of the major questions his
research addresses is, “how do we see the world as we do?” He contended that animals observed not
what an object like a rock is but what kind of uses the object affords. The concept helps social
scientists understand the reasons behind the disparate usage of technology by members of an
organization at the workplace. The idea accounts for how diverse users identify and use the same
object in a different manner (Vaast and Kagner 2013). Affordance is an important viewpoint that has
the potential for uncovering antecedents to ESM adoption.
Literature provides us an exhaustive list of affordances of ESM, many are analogous, and the
distinction between some is blurry. Visibility, persistence, editability, and association (Treem and
Leonardi 2012), rehearsability (Dennis, Fuller, and Valacich 2008), triggered attending, metavoicing,
network-informed associating, generative role-taking (Gibbs, Rozaidi, and Eisenberg 2013;
Majchrzak et al. 2013), selective self – presentation (Walther 2007), reviewability (Faraj, Jarvenpaa,
and Majchrzak 2011) are some of the critical affordances discussed. Visibility is the ability of the
platform to make one’s activities available to viewers. An analysis of internal blog data revealed that
social recognition motivated people to contribute to blogs and lack of social recognition deterred
participation, on the platform (Brzozowski 2009). Editability implies that the content can be edited
and crafted before it is viewed by others (Wagner, Vollmar, and Wagner 2014). Rehearsability and
reviewability allow the participant to review or edit a message before posting. This is particularly
important when complex information is being shared. Associations bring together people who have
the knowledge and those who seek it (Oostervink, Agterberg, and Huysman. 2016) and network-
informed associating allow contributors to view the structure of the network, help them decide
where their expertise is needed and where it can be developed (Fulk and Yuan 2013). Benefits of
feedback from the group are invoked through metavoicing, which is the activity of engaging in
online conversations and adding to knowledge available online. If we view ESM itself as an object,
one could hypothesize that the poor ESM adoption might be a result of a conflict between
organizational affordance of ESM and individual affordance of ESM.
The final theory discussed is the social capital theory. The impact of social capital on ESM
adoption has been studied to identify a person’s position within the group and the benefits thereof,
such as a shared sense of identity, shared norms, shared values, trust, cooperation, and reciprocity.
Along with innovations diffusion theory, Kugler, Smolnik, and Raeth (2013) integrate perspectives
from social capital theory to determine organizational climate factors that impact enterprise social
media adoption. Sun and Shang (2014) use social capital theory as the basis to present their
hypotheses. They observe that social-related use of intraorganizationla social media increases work-
related use via its effect on social interaction ties. It increases shared vision and trust among users
and, subsequently, work-related use. The authors suggest that managers should leverage social
capital and develop strategies to strengthen social interaction ties.
Outcomes of adoption
This dimension enumerates studies that discuss outcomes of ESM adoption. The options listed are:
1. communication 2. identification of subject matter experts 3. employee engagement and 4. benefits
of sharing meta-knowledge. Denyer, Parry, and Flowers (2011) explore Enterprise 2.0 to find out if
the available tools can be considered “social”, “open” and “participative” by users. Ironically, their
study indicates that the new and technologically advanced platforms are no more social, open or
participative than more customary methods of communication. Monitoring, moderation, and
participation by leaders are deterrents for some. Findings also indicate, Enterprise 2.0 platforms
help employees keep abreast of happenings around them and the views of senior leaders.
The second outcome discussed is identification of subject matter experts. Brzozowski (2009) point
out that one of the outcomes of ESM implementation has been the identification of domain experts.
However, some users would not want to advertise their expertise and their settings will have to be
managed with care.
The third option includes all work on ESM and employee engagement. Koch, Gonzalez, and
Leidner (2012) in their study on the use of social networking sites (both internal and external) and
its impact on both the employees found that frequent use led to improved morale and better
employee engagement. In their paper, Sharma and Bhatnagar (2016) cite the example of Tech
Mahindra’s social media initiative – “MyBeatPlus”. This initiative allowed employees to collaborate
at work with both internal members as well as clients. Studies indicate that this has led to increased
employee engagement levels and improved communication within the enterprise.
The fourth option studied is the benefits of sharing meta-knowledge. ESM makes “meta-knowledge –
knowledge of who knows what and whom” accessible. Enhanced awareness of the go-to person/post
helps effective reuse of ideas, helps avoid reinventing the wheel and saves time (Leonardi 2014).
Irrespective of whether the outcome anticipated is improved communication, identification of
subject matter experts, employee engagement or gaining meta-knowledge, adoption of ESM platform
becomes meaningful only when it is perceived as useful.
Context of ESM adoption

ESM research has been undertaken by many and has been studied under various business contexts.
These include studies on IT Sector, manufacturing Sector, SMEs, consulting firms, technology start-ups,
financial Services, and telecommunications companies. This dimension is important because it helps
identify sectors where there is considerable scope to expand research such as R&D, hospitality, etc.
Findings and implications

This paper looks at a morphological approach to classify ESM literature with the aim of under-
standing the reasons behind its sluggish adoption. This is a novel way of looking at precursors to
ESM adoption. The framework also acts as a ready reckoner on ESM literature. While a quick scan of
the morphological table indicates the areas where empirical studies are required, and areas where
sufficient studies exist, the table also highlights combinations of studies that can be undertaken. For
instance, one line of investigation could be to study ESM adoption as a corporate strategy at the team
level with the aim of enhancing innovative work behavior.
Further to the development of the framework, we revisit the research questions enumerated earlier to
gain insights and to propose recommendations for practitioners to apply. The first question posed was
What are the organizational level factors that affect ESM adoption? From the framework, we find that
critical factors that impact ESM adoption include organizational culture, corporate strategy, platform
design, and organizational climate. Findings by Ardichvili, Page, and Wentling (2003) suggest that
employees’ willingness to participate was often attributed to the organization’s culture. A corporate
culture sans hierarchy that allows room for mistakes and permits knowledge flow is the need of the hour.
While there is a consensus in literature in this regard, there are limited interventions that are available for
customization. Authors unanimously agree that technology alone cannot provide solutions and that
support from upper management is necessary for successful adoption.
In the context of knowledge management systems (KMS), Bock, Zmud, and Kim (2005) found
that organizational climate had an indirect influence on one’s intention to share knowledge. Based
on their findings, they propose that the organization should foster organizational citizenship
behavior and a strong work culture. The same findings may be extrapolated to the adoption of
ESM. Further to examining the adoption of KMS in organizations, Wang and Lai (2014), indicate the
need for developing KMS that are convenient, interactive and useful. According to them, perceptions
about the effectiveness of KMS could lead to greater intention to use the system.
In summary, a concerted corporate strategy should focus on organization culture change that
encourages ESM adoption. Possible strategies are: (i) Senior management should explicitly encou-
rage participation and develop positive perceptions of ESM use, (ii) Referent groups could engage
and influence employees to participate on ESM, (iii) Companies should evaluate their ESM systems
to see if interventions are necessary to enhance adoption.
The second question proposed was What are the underlying business objectives of ESM adoption?
How might they impact adoption of ESM? It can be noted that some of the key business objectives of
ESM implementation are improving employee performance, aiding knowledge sharing and facilitat-
ing collaboration at work. The morphological framework provides an overview of the business
objectives that have been studied in detail and highlights the need for further studies on capability
of ESM to aid innovation and internal crowdsourcing. Several studies in the field of marketing have
been conducted on usage of social media as a platform for crowdsourcing, but very little information
is available on the use of ESM platform for internal crowdsourcing. Surprisingly, there are not
enough studies that articulate the business objectives of ESM adoption. Lack of clear exposition of
benefits might also be a reason for corporate inaction, adversely affecting ESM adoption as identified
above. Studies that explicitly correlate the impact of business objectives on employee ESM adoption
can help fill this lacuna.
The third question presented was What are the factors that affect ESM adoption at the individual
and team level? We observe that, while organizations strive to improve employee performance and
collaboration by implementing ESM, several individual behavioral aspects impact actual usage. It is
interesting to note that unlike social media platforms where members reach out to those they know,
employees reach out to new people on ESM (DiMicco et al. 2008). Investigating the effect of social
connectedness on ESS platforms, Kugler et al. (2015b), find that social connectedness has a positive
influence on participation and performance at work. As a result, strategies to increase social
connectedness in organizations need to be studied.
Surprisingly, generalized reciprocity and not direct reciprocity was found to be key to motivating
and sustaining knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice (Wasko and Faraj 2005).
According to Wasko and Faraj (2005), managers should motivate experienced and senior employees
to form a core group – the “critical mass”. This critical mass should be advertised to garner more
participants. Further, it is found that individuals participate in electronic networks of practice when
they believe it enhances their professional reputation. Managers should work towards boosting this
perception.
Brozozwski et al. (2009) suggest that manager participation is key to getting people started on
ESM. The authors found a positive correlation between user participation, feedback and group
participation. Simple analytic solutions like hit counters or readers’ details would boost participation.
DiMicco et al. (2008) were surprised to note that ESM was being adopted to meet explicit goals
such as career advancement and campaigning for special projects. Chin, Evans, and Choo (2015b)
found that content quality impacted employees’ decision to participate on the platform. An inter-
esting finding they present is that employees would be keen on participating if there were guidelines
regarding what should or should not be posted on enterprise networks.
Studies on the impact of internal social media on organizational socialization and commitment
indicate that new hires who use ESM feel socially accepted and gain knowledge about the organiza-
tion’s culture. Hence, it is important for HR managers to encourage ESM participation during
onboarding programs. While several researchers have studied the relationship between human
resources management (HRM) policies as possible motivators of ESM adoption, only a few empirical
studies have been undertaken to study this relationship. Longitudinal studies could help us under-
stand this relationship better.
At the team level, ESM is found to positively encourage team collaboration across geographic and
temporal boundaries. Further to studying ESM implementation in an Australian telecommunication
company, it was observed that ESM not only helped connect teams but also provided an avenue for
crowdsourcing of ideas and promoted relevant knowledge conversations virtually (Chin, Evans, and
Choo 2015b). Visibility of organizational knowledge increases as ESM helps break functional silos
and promotes healthy ties within all levels of the organization.
The fourth question raised was What is the impact of ESM adoption for individuals, teams and
organizations? and the final question read What effects regular usage of ESM? At the individual level,
some of the factors that emerge include information hoarding, fear to lose face, digital traceability,
ability to receive and provide feedback, peer pressure, etc. Contrary to widespread belief,
“Information hoarding” was not found to be a major barrier to participation (Ardichvili, Page,
and Wentling 2003). “Fear of losing face” and “fear of misleading the team” were often bigger
barriers to participation. As contribution(s) remain in cyberspace for a long time coupled with the
fact that input(s) may not be well received, could lead one to believe that their reputation could be
jeopardized if they engage in ESM. This fear that one’s reputation as a knowledge authority in the
field is at stake may be one of the reasons for poor participation.
Denyer, Parry, and Flowers (2011), suggest that both managers and employees believe that
internal social media adoption can enhance communication. Further to ESM adoption, the indivi-
dual could benefit from collaboration with weak ties, interaction with domain experts and accessing
the lessons learnt database.
Considerable time is usually spent on searching for information, and there are costs associated
with this. Costs include both the cost of time taken to find relevant information and the cost of time
spent searching for information that is not available on the platform. Reworking intellectual
information involves time and money; an aspect often overlooked by management.
At the team level, ESM impact social interaction ties and helps build trust and cooperation. However,
human intervention is required to facilitate this. The responsibility of managing the platform, gathering
participants, maintaining knowledge flow was found to be the responsibility of the team lead (Durr et al.
2016). Need for exploring strategies to encourage introverted employees was also noted.
Studies indicate that at the organizational level while technology, systems, and platforms have
improved access to information they have also created information inundation, making it difficult
for one to find relevant information. Studies on psychological effects of information overload need to
be conducted in the context of ESM, at both individual and organizational levels. Regular usage of
ESM must be driven from the top. For continued usage to happen, C level executives and managers
must drive the initiative.
Limitations and future directions

The primary objective of this study was to unravel the drivers, strategy, outcomes, success factors/
failures of ESM adoption in enterprises by analyzing ESM literature through the morphological
framework. The dimensions and options of the morphology provide insights into the ESM
adoption ecosystem in enterprises. However, one of the key limitations of this paper is that it
does not go further in terms of quantitative/qualitative validation of the insights obtained with
practitioners through survey/interviews. Moreover, the dimensions and options revealed in the
study could be further expanded by exploring additional literature. Further work can be carried
out by researching different combinations of dimensions and options by constructing a cross
consistency matrix (CCM). In a CCM, pairwise comparisons are made, and judgment can be
made as to whether relationships are feasible, reliable and useful. The number of combinations
increases exponentially with the addition of each parameter, while the numbers of pairwise
relationships grow in a quadratic fashion (Ritchey 2010, 2013). The integrated solution space that
is developed after several iterations allows for hypothesis development. CCM, though not pursued
it in this study, is the next logical step.
In summary, this study lays the foundation for the development of further academic research on
ESM adoption. Findings from this study consolidate work done in diverse fields such as IT, social
science, management, communication studies, and computer science. The proposed review frame-
work can be enhanced by both academicians and practitioners through the addition of more factors,
thus paving way for identification of newer research directions.
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Notes on contributors
Suchitra Veeravalli is pursuing a PhD. at IIT Madras in the area of knowledge management. Her interests lie in
understanding knowledge-seeking behaviors of individuals. She holds a master’s degree in Information Technology
from Clarkson University, USA, and is currently VP, Administration at Gyan Data Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India. She also
leads the data science training company, GITAA Pvt. Ltd. Her previous positions include Co-founder, Syseng LLC,
Lubbock, TX, USA and Senior Analyst at the office of research services, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA.
V. Vijayalakshmi is Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, in the Department of Management
Studies, concerned with the broad area of Organizational Behavior and Human Development. Her current teaching and
research themes of interest include creativity and innovation capability of firms, knowledge management, the learning
organization, unlearning; positive organizational behavior (spirituality in work, finding meaning, strength-based approach,
holistic development of leaders); workplace emotions (emotional contagion, emotional social competence); cross-cultural
management; teaching, learning, and education (holistic education, contemporary teaching and learning beliefs and
practices); women empowerment and entrepreneurship, among others.

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ISSN: 1091-9392 (Print) 1532-7744 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/hoce20

A morphological review of enterprise social media

Suchitra Veeravalli & V. Vijayalakshmi

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A morphological review of enterprise social media literature

CONTACT Suchitra Veeravalli suchitraveeravalli72@gmail.com Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of

Figure 1. Results of the text search query.

Traditional, systematic and morphological review

Table 1. Sources of literature.

Morphological framework development

Figure 2. No. of relevant ESM related publications each year.

Figure 3. Process flow for morphological framework development.

Table 2. Morphological framework of ESM literature.

Dimensions and options unveiled

Organizational level factors influencing ESM

7. Majchrzak et al. (2013)

Business objectives of ESM adoption

Individual-level factors influencing ESM

Theoretical frameworks used

Context of ESM adoption

Findings and implications

Limitations and future directions

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