Miia Kosonen

USER MOTIVATION AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN IDEA CROWDSOURCING

We investigate how the propensity to trust, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation drive the intentions of individuals to share knowledge in idea crowdsourcing. Building on motivation theories and Uses & Gratifications (U&G) approach, we conducted a web-based survey within IdeasProject, an open innovation and brainstorming community dedicated to harvesting ideas. Based on a sample of 244 users, our research shows that the key driver of knowledge-sharing intentions is made up of two intrinsic motivations — social benefits and learning benefits. We also found that recognition from the host company affects intention to share knowledge. From the management point of view, the relative importance of social integrative benefits calls for better facilities available for users to be able to help each other in formulating and developing their ideas. Learning and creativity could be inspired by feedback from professionals and experts, while providing insight into technological advances and features dealing with the current tasks.

The development of a sense of virtual community

The feelings of membership in a virtual community have recently been conceptualised as a Sense of Virtual Community (SOVC). This paper explores its presence and development in one case community, an active virtual community we call Baby and Pregnancy community (BAP). On the basis of our analysis of triangulated qualitative data (narratives, interviews and observation), we suggest a refined SOVC framework that captures its antecedents and processes. We argue that there are three main antecedents of SOVC, namely, needs, similarity with other members, and impersonal trust, and that SOVC develops through the three processes of exchanging support, creating and making identification, and producing interpersonal trust.

Weblogs and internal communication in a corporate environment: a case from the ICT industry

Innovations in web-based technology have generated new channels for communicative purposes. Blogs provide organisations a unique opportunity for informal knowledge sharing. However, much on the current research on blogs has a normative orientation and a focus on tools rather than the related social and communicative issues. Our theoretical approach is internal communication, which we link with the characteristics of this emerging form of social software. Based on our case, we analyse the factors affecting the use of blogs in the corporate environment, position blogs in the sphere of mediated communication and identify a two-dimensional framework on the types of internal blogs and the related modes of communication.

Knowledge sharing in virtual communities – a review of the empirical research

This study reviews the recent empirical studies on knowledge sharing in Virtual Communities (VCs). The paper begins with an analysis of the VC conceptualisation and the focal phenomenon of knowledge sharing. Secondly, the factors that seem to facilitate knowledge-sharing activities in VCs are identified and categorised as individual motivations, personal characteristics, technical attributes and community-level social capital. Overall, the results demonstrate a strong emphasis on why individuals engage in such activities, but less attention is given to what is being shared and how the processes of sharing are manifested in practice. The paper concludes with some suggestions for further research.

Key capabilities in knowledge-intensive service business

The purpose of this study is to identify key capabilities in knowledge-intensive service business. Current service research lacks evidence on this topic, since knowledge-intensive services constitute a very heterogeneous group, making the identification of key capabilities challenging. To bridge this gap, a conceptual framework is developed, integrating discussion on knowledge intensity with the classical service features. Empirical data are collected from two case firms with the help of focus groups, theme interviews and a survey. Based on the developed framework and analyzed data, we identify four specific capability categories of knowledge management, service productization, project management, and relationship orchestration.

Treat your customers as equals! Fostering customer collaboration through social media

The purpose of this paper is to explore, firstly, how companies and customers interact using social media, and secondly, how social-media-mediated interactions support customer collaboration. We identify two modes of interaction: the relationship-oriented mode and the instrumental mode. The former reflects relationship marketing in that it emphasises reciprocal and bilateral communication, while the latter reflects transaction marketing with its one-way and company-controlled communication. On the basis of the analysis of four cases, it is suggested that relationship-oriented social-media interactions support customer collaboration. In particular, it seems that ongoing customer-to-customer interactions supported by relationship-oriented company participation provide a fertile ground for diverse forms of virtual customer collaboration. We also found that the social-media applications used did not define the interaction mode. The responsibility for defining the objectives, choosing the applications and setting the mode lies within the hosting company.

The positive outcomes of a sense of virtual community

This study examines how an experienced sense of virtual community affects relationship-marketing-related outcomes. Based on social identity and relationship marketing theories, a research model is developed and structural equation modelling is used to test the relationships between a sense of virtual community, brand-loyalty intentions, brand-community intentions, and word-of-mouth intentions on a sample of 342 active members of a Finnish business-newspaper brand community. The findings suggest that a sense of virtual community strengthens brand-community, brand-loyalty and brand-related word-of-mouth intentions. Hence, the results imply that a sense of virtual community reflects positively on the brand hosting the online community and results in positive business-related outcomes.

Virtual Customer Communities: An Innovative Case from the Media Industry

Online communication technologies enhance the ability of firms to engage in on-going dialogue with their customers and leverage valuable knowledge. However, there is little formal research on virtual customer communities. The aim of this paper is to offer new insights of the different customer roles and business benefits of virtual customer community-based collaboration in product development. We present a case study from the media industry, and demonstrate how the roles and interactions have been integrated into a novel form of a virtual customer community, supporting continuous product development with a large base of paying customers.

Cheer the crowd? Facilitating user participation in idea crowdsourcing

External crowds provide organisations with valuable knowledge and new ideas in a cost–effective way. While existing research has focused on the users and the general characteristics of crowdsourcing, there is still a lack of understanding of how the hosting organisation should organise and govern crowdsourcing initiatives. Building on the literature from the fields of innovation management, knowledge management, marketing and electronic commerce, with real–world illustrations, we develop a framework to facilitate the participation of external crowds in idea crowdsourcing tasks. Our study identifies six management practices related to the different phases of idea crowdsourcing: selecting appropriate communication technologies; defining tasks; evaluating crowd size and its knowledge base; launching tasks and supporting interpretation; giving feedback and encouraging interaction, and allowing user–driven idea evaluations. The study contributes to the literature on innovation management and crowdsourcing, while also offering practical insight into how to better cultivate the wisdom of external crowds.

The Business Value of Consumer Participation through Social Media

Despite the growing enthusiasm about social medias revolutionary potential, there is a lack of research on the possible business-side benefits. The authors maintain that in order to realize social medias business potential, it is essential to identify the roles in which customers can participate in value co-creation. This study explores consumer participation enabled by social interaction technologies in the context of the newspaper and magazine industry. A qualitative analysis of 31 interviews with the publishers of the leading Finnish newspapers and magazines was conducted. A typology of six different roles of online consumer participation was developed: namely, agent, commentator, tester, debater, content producer, and messenger. The more company-driven types of participation agent, commentator, and tester can be integrated with product development support and learning from customers, the more consumer-driven types debater, content producer, and messenger are able to provide brand support and options for value co-creation.