Ester Gonzalez

Bridging the Work/Social Divide: The Emotional Response to Organizational Social Networking Sites

Organizations seem to be split on their policies governing social networking sites (SNSs) in the workplace. Recent surveys indicate that while many organizations severely restrict or ban SNSs (i.e., Facebook and Twitter) at work, a large majority are actively using, or evaluating the use of SNSs. The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation of an internal SNS designed to help a large financial institutions IT new hire program. On the basis of a case study informed by boundary theory and the theory of positive emotions, the research describes the SNS, its uses and how it impacted both the employees and the organization. We found that SNSs blur the boundary between work life and social life and that this boundary blurring creates positive emotions for the employees that use the system. These emotions create personal resources, which then have organizational impacts. While some of the non-users of the system, the IT middle managers, experienced isolation, frustration and resentment, the executives overseeing this SNS attribute improved morale, better employee engagement and even reduced employee turnover to the internal SNS.

The Influence of Social Media on Organizational Socialization

The purpose of this study is to investigate how an internal social media tool impacts new hire socialization. Using an interpretive case study of a financial services company, this study finds that social media use helped the new hires experience social acceptance, role clarity, self-efficacy, and knowledge of organizational culture. The social media system provided both socialization affordances and constraints. Both social bonding and social struggle were observed to result from the social media use.

The Role of Fitbits in Corporate Wellness Programs: Does Step Count Matter?

Striving to promote the health and well-being of their workforce and decrease insurance expenditures, many organizations are incorporating wearable fitness trackers into their corporate wellness programs. Research suggests that these devices encourage individuals to make healthier choices; however, little is known about the drivers and impact of fitness trackers on employee health and wellbeing. We seek to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the following research questions: (1) what is the impact of wearable fitness device use on employee health and well-being? (2) what is the impact of wearable fitness device use on step count? Our results indicate that extended use has a positive impact on employee well-being and step count, which fully mediates the relationship between feature use and health. These findings have implications for research into wearable fitness trackers and, more specifically, for research on the uses of wearable fitness devices in corporate wellness programs.

An affordance perspective of enterprise social media and organizational socialization

Abstract In response to the challenge of socializing new IT employees, some IT departments are exploring the incorporation of enterprise social media (hereinafter ESM) as an informal organizational socialization tool. Because this is a relatively new phenomenon, little is known about how ESM facilitate employee socialization. In order to contribute to our understanding of how ESM affects employee socialization, this paper invokes a case study to explore how one organization’s implementation of an ESM for its IT new hire program influenced the socialization process and outcomes. To delve deeply into how the ESM influences socialization, we draw upon technology affordance theory to uncover the various first and second-order affordances actualized by different actor groups and the various outcomes resulting from the affordances. We then identify five generative mechanisms – bureaucracy circumvention, executive perspective, personal development, name recognition, and morale booster – that explain how the actualization of different strands of affordances by various groups of users produces eight different outcomes. Our results provide insights into the different affordances made possible by ESM in the context of a new hire socialization program and how these affordances have repercussions beyond those experienced by the individuals using the ESM. The results have important implications for new hire socialization and technology affordance research.

Motivational Impacts on Intent to Use Health-Related Social Media

ABSTRACT Today, the healthcare industry is challenged with promoting health and disease prevention through various customer outreach initiatives. Social media tools enable customers to aquire health information without the need to visit their doctor. Yet, healthcare providers do not understand what motivates customers to use such technology for health-related purposes. In this study, an online survey was conducted with 4,058 participants. Using SEM techniques, the results indicate that previous experience with online health-related searches serves as a direct and indirect motivational driver. While the direct relationship between prior experience with online health-related searches can be mostly positive, it can be weakened and impacted by inhibitors that create online use concerns (e.g., privacy and confidentiality). Furthermore, health condition may determine the level of interest people may have for health-related social media sites as well. This research provides a deeper understanding about motivational factors that impact the intent to use health-related social media.