Xi Zhang

Attracted to or Locked In? Predicting Continuance Intention in Social Virtual World Services

Internet-based social virtual world (SVW) services have aroused extensive interest among academicians and practitioners. The success of SVW services depends heavily on customers continuance usage, a topic not yet adequately investigated in information systems research. It is unclear to what extent, and how, the existing theories can be extended to explain the continuance usage of such services. In consideration of the distinctive features of these services, this study adapts the dedication-constraint framework of commitment and develops a model of SVW continuance, which is assessed empirically using data collected from 438 experienced users of Second Life, a typical SVW service. Results indicate that SVW customers continuance intention is jointly determined by two mechanisms: affective commitment (being attracted to) and calculative commitment (being locked in), with the former playing a more central role. Perceived utilitarian value, hedonic value, and relational capital promote affective commitment directly and indirectly through satisfaction, while service-specific investments in personalization and relational capital increase calculative commitment. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are subsequently discussed.

Effects of information technologies, department characteristics and individual roles on improving knowledge sharing visibility: a qualitative case study

Knowledge sharing visibility (KSV) is a critical environmental factor which can reduce social loafing in knowledge sharing (KS). This is especially true in ICT-based KS in learning organisations. As such, it is imperative that we better understand how to design technology enabled knowledge management systems (KMS) to support high KSV. This article examines the impact of knowledge management technology functions (e.g. tracking, knowledge storing) on KSV through qualitative analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews with participants in a Chinese company. Impact and implications of use for their existing KMS are examined. This article also examined the effects of department characteristics (i.e. group size and task characteristics) and individual roles (i.e. employee positions) on the IT–KSV relationship. Results encourage applied statistical, tracking, knowledge distribution and knowledge storing functions for monitoring explicit KS, and suggest integration of visualised knowledge maps with communication tools (e.g. Instant Messenger (IM)) to support visibility for implicit KS. Findings also suggest that KM technologies are more salient on improving KSV in large department with routine tasks, and that low-level employees may have more positive attitude on accepting communication tools on sharing knowledge. Extension to use of Web 2.0 technologies (e.g. weblogs) in KMS is also explored.

Antecedents of Coordination Effectiveness of Software Developer Dyads From Interacting Teams: An Empirical Investigation

Among the numerous reasons for software project failure, coordination problems are especially salient. Prior studies on coordination in software development are confined to team internal coordination and do not explicitly differentiate team internal and external coordination processes. This study presents a research model to explain the antecedents of coordination effectiveness of software developer dyads from interacting teams. Dyads in this study refer to software developer pairs where each member comes from a different team. We explore the antecedents by integrating interpersonal and technology-based coordination. We test this model using data collected from 59 software developer Dyads from interacting teams as well as from software developer leaders. The results reveal that the implicit knowledge sharing has a significant positive impact on coordination effectiveness. The use of explicit knowledge sharing and coordination technology have no statistically significant impact on coordination effectiveness although the teams studied were working predominantly in a collocated mode. Mutual trust and project commitment have a significant impact on knowledge sharing with mutual trust directly affecting both implicit and explicit knowledge sharing. Project commitment also has a direct impact on explicit knowledge sharing and mutual trust, but it does not directly affect implicit knowledge sharing. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed. Limitations of this study are identified. Future research directions are also presented.

Chaos Theory as a Lens for Interpreting Blogging

Abstract: Blogging is becoming increasingly popular as a global phenomenon. Individual blog traffic and blogosphere structure are of interest to academia and practice. Although it is difficult to get a snapshot of the blogosphere with enough blogs over a long enough period to capture the real situation, chaos theory finds underlying order in this apparent random and complex phenomenon. This study provides an overall view of blogging from micro (individual blog traffic dynamics) and macro (blogosphere structure) levels through a chaos theory lens. Key concepts of chaos theory are used to construct an interpretive framework to illustrate blog system behavior dynamics. Blog systems tend to be nonlinear, dynamic, and deterministic, as well as sensitive to initial conditions. The study also demonstrates the feasibility of applying chaos theory thinking to areas such as knowledge management and the recent global financial crisis. Implications for practice and research opportunities are presented.

Exploring the Interactive Effect of Time Control and Justice Perception on Job Attitudes

ABSTRACT We investigated the associations between supervisor-related time control and two-job attitudes, and the moderating effects of distributive justice on these associations. A total of 505 full-time employees in Hong Kong responded to a structured telephone survey. The results showed that time control and perceived distributive justice were positively related to both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. More importantly, the positive relationships between time control and the two job attitudes were stronger when perceived distributive justice was high rather than low. These findings contrast with the typical buffering effects of organizational justice, in which perceived justice attenuates the beneficial effects of positive stimuli. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

Encouraging Knowledge Sharing in Global Virtual Teams: The Interaction Effect of Individual Difference and Perceived Sharing Benefits

This study aims to examine how individual difference variable (i.e. exchange ideology) influences the relationship between perceived economic and social benefits and knowledge sharing behavior in the context of global virtual teams (GVTs). This study draws on social exchange theory and proposes that exchange ideology would positively moderate the relationship between three perceived benefits (i.e., extrinsic rewards, reciprocity, and image) and virtual team membersx92 knowledge sharing behavior. Data were collected from 113 members of 13 virtual student teams consisting of participants from Asia and Europe. Contrary to the team-member exchange theory, the findings suggest that, in GVTs, exchange ideology negatively moderates the relationships between extrinsic rewards, reciprocity and knowledge sharing, and had no moderating effect on the relationship between image and knowledge sharing. These results provoke theoretical implications that some contextual factors of GVTs may influence the moderating effects of individual difference. This study also provides some suggestions for the management of GVTs in knowledge sharing encouragement.

Exchange Ideology as a moderator of Knowledge Sharing in virtual teams: a social exchange theory perspective

The objective of this study is to examine how individual Exchange Ideology (EI) influences the relationship between perceived economic and social benefits and Knowledge Sharing (KS) behaviour in the context of virtual teams. It draws on social exchange theory to test whether EI would positively moderate the relationship between three perceived benefits (i.e., extrinsic rewards, reciprocity, and reputation) and virtual team members KS behaviour. Contrary to the theory of team-member social exchange, the findings suggest that in virtual KS contexts, EI negatively moderates the relationships between extrinsic rewards, reciprocity and KS, but has no effect on reputation and KS.

Exploring 3D Virtual World Strategies in the Chinese Environment: An Institutional-Based View

Although some strategies of virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life) have been proven to be successful for attracting user acceptance in the western world, the effects of these strategies are questionable in the Chinese environment. When western model based virtual worlds plan business operations in China, they may face challenges such as government policy, law and cultural barriers. From the institutional-based view, this study provides a theoretical framework to explain 3D virtual world strategies in Mainland China, and employs the case study method to explore how the four strategies of virtual worlds (i.e. technology solution, business model, game model and virtual world culture) impact on determinants of user acceptance behavior in the Chinese environment. Two 3D virtual worlds, Second Life (western model based virtual world) and HiPiHi (Chinese local virtual world), are chosen as the cases in this study.

Chaos Theory as a Model for Interpreting Weblog Traffic

Weblogs are becoming increasingly popular and bloggers desire traffic. This study seeks to give an overall view of Weblog systems including factors that affect Weblog traffic. Key concepts of chaos theory are used to construct an interpretive framework to illustrate Weblog traffic dynamics where interactions between a number of factors and Weblog traffic are such that clear causal relationships cannot be established. Weblog systems tend to be non-linear, dynamic and deterministic. The sensitivity of Weblog traffic to initial conditions is highlighted, which makes long term prediction impossible. Also, chaos theory suggests that Weblog traffic exhibits self-similar dynamics. Implications are given for practitioners. Research opportunities are presented.

How to encourage knowledge sharing in global virtual teams: Aspects of structuration theory

As global virtual teams (GVT) are more prevalent in organizations, it becomes increasing imperative to understand knowledge sharing dynamics within GVT. This paper uses adaptive structuration theory and proactive structuration theory as a foundation to explore how the IT structure and social structures impact on knowledge sharing within GVTs, and investigate how organizational interventions can be applied to support more effective knowledge sharing. The data was collected in a project involving 13 GVTs from 4 different regions. Discussion focuses on managing conflict and maximizing contribution. Conclusions will be presented in the end.