Julian Sims

Credibility of information in online communities

Social media and Web 2.0 empower individuals to generate content online. It is important to better understand the potential added value of social media for e-health service provision. Social support and credibility of health related information generated via social media is a big challenge for online health communities. In this qualitative research, content of discussions from an online health community is analysed. Two themes are examined: online social support and credibility of online forums. Findings show accuracy and credibility of online communities – user profiles, ratings of posts and improved monitoring of content by advisors improve perceived credibility and trust in online forums and communities. Accuracy and perceived credibility of online health communities is pivotal in facilitating social relationships. While consumers are concerned about the credibility of online information, they benefit from social support and are increasingly turning to social media as a source of information and support. Organizations can benefit from better understanding consumers use of social media, their concerns about information credibility and need for social support.

Understanding e‐mail overload

Purpose – This paper seeks to investigate the impact of e‐mail on individuals and organizations and to provide a framework that frames e‐mail management as a complex and multi‐stranded issue.Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a multi‐dimensional appraisal of e‐mail use in organisations and introduces a management framework as a practical tool to enact change and organisational learning. The approach uses Lees five central concepts for understanding hermeneutics: distanciation; autonomization; appropriation; social construction; and enactment, applying these to the problem of e‐mail overload.Findings – This paper contributes to the theoretical understanding of e‐mail use in organisations, and develops a practitioner toolkit for enacting change in e‐mail use. This work uses hermeneutics and an interpretive framework to investigate the impact of e‐mail on organisations, employing concepts from Ricoeur, Gadamer, Habermas, and Klein.Research limitations/implications – Future research could evalua...

Do CEO bloggers build community

Purpose – Chief executives (CEOs) have turned to blogging. This research asks: do CEO blogs attract commenters leading to genuine discussion and community building? Design/methodology/approach – The 30 most popular CEO blogs are analysed, community structure is graphically represented using social network analysis, measuring cohesion using connectedness. A review of content assesses whether richness and type of media affect community building. Findings – By modelling a CEO blog as an affiliation network the structure is exposed. Community cohesiveness is assessed using a measure of connectedness. The connectedness ranking differs from the original Technorati Rank (TR) although the top blog in both is the same. Community building relates more to external reputation, writing style or topicality than to the type of media used. Practical implications – CEO bloggers must engage commenters to build community. TR and connectedness scores measure different things but both affect community building. CEO blogs with...

A practical model for e-commerce adoption in Iran

Purpose – Developing countries are still challenged by infrastructural and cultural issues related to the adoption of e-commerce although with the emergence of social commerce, a new stream has been introduced. Iran is a developing country, in which the adoption of e-commerce by small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is challenged by such barriers; it is now applying models for the adoption of new technologies by SMEs. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This research attempts to develop a model, based on existing models of e-commerce, which can be applied in Iranian conditions. The study uses data gathered by a survey, together with existing models in this area, in order to propose a new model, which has been empirically tested. Findings – The results of this research demonstrate that e-commerce barriers in Iran are related to a lack of awareness of the benefits of e-commerce adoption, as well as organisational issues related to its application. The paper also discusse...

Information technology (IT) productivity paradox in the 21st century

Purpose - – Since the 1970s productivity growth in most economies slowed, while information and communication technology expenditures increased: the “information technology (IT) productivity paradox.” Some researchers reported an end to the paradox, but this is most likely due to IT industry growth approaching the Year 2000 phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to update IT productivity paradox research. Design/methodology/approach - – For comparability this research replicates methods employed by previous studies but employs a two-level approach: first macroeconomic indicators; second labor and multi-factor productivity. Findings - – Findings suggest IT investment has high positive correlation with gross domestic product growth, but not labor or multi-factor productivity. This ambiguity suggests the paradox is still poorly understood. Research limitations/implications - – The findings are not conclusive; the authors cannot confirm or reject the existence of the productivity paradox. The global recession and banking crisis makes it prudent to wait until recovery before analyzing data from that period. Practical implications - – Lack of convincing evidence supporting positive effects from IT investment suggests some firms benefit from IT investment, but not others, and that IT investment has questionable returns. Social implications - – Firm level studies might find IT investment benefits some firms, but lack of convincing macroeconomic level evidence of positive effects of IT investment suggests the paradox still exists. Originality/value - – This research updates the IT productivity paradox demonstrating the phenomenon is still poorly understood and thus worthy of further study, questioning the benefits of IT investment for industry and national economies.

Look who's co-creating: employer branding on social media

Web2.0 changes the way information, services and products are created. Companies engage with consumers in a process of co-creation to invent, shape and generate added value. This trend has been labelled Enterprise 2.0. This interdisciplinary study joins the fields of Infor-mation Systems, Marketing and Human Resource Management and provides an insight into how the models of value-, product- and service co-creation can be applied to the domain of employer branding. Based on the DART-model of value co-creation a qualitative multi-case study investi-gates how social media usage contributes to co-creation of employer brand. The study reveals unexpected trends, paradoxes and potential conflicts, and provides suggestions for further re-search. The paper highlights the lack of Dialogue between employer and employee; new ways of Accessing information by employees outside the control of the employer; the uncertainty of ben-efits and Risks of employee involvement in brand creation; and increased Transparency through inclusion of new participants in the employer brand creation process: alumni and customers. The study identifies an emergent shift of power to control and create information from the or-ganization towards employees and consumers and links this power shift to social media use by organisations and their employees.

Investment appraisal and evaluation: preserving tacit knowledge and competitive advantage

This research asks if intuitive investment appraisal and evaluation are appropriate under conditions of rapid change, uncertain outcomes, limited information, and when competitive advantage derives from tacit knowledge. Measures and rational approaches to appraisal and evaluation require distal knowledge made explicit in documents and techniques. Converting valuable tacit knowledge, residing in individuals and organisational context, into coded distal knowledge, which is more easily replicated, risks jeopardising the uniqueness of competencies and capabilities that underpin competitive advantage. The research investigates e-learning projects in higher education and finds little evidence of formal rational investment appraisal and evaluation in IS projects characterised by uncertainty and a lack of clear information.