Xiqing Sha

Knowledge popularity in a heterogeneous network: Exploiting the contextual effects of document popularity in knowledge management systems

In organizations, the amount of attention that user‐generated knowledge receives in knowledge management systems (KMSs) may not imply its potential for benefiting organizational activities in terms of accelerating innovation and product development. To optimize the utilization of knowledge in organizations, it is crucial to identify factors that influence knowledge popularity. From a network perspective, this study proposes a model to evaluate knowledge popularity by investigating 2 attributes of contextual information (i.e., authors and tags) that are embedded in a heterogeneous knowledge network, and how they interact to impact knowledge popularity. Objective data obtained through the interaction history of a KMS in a global telecommunication company was applied to test the hypotheses. This paper contributes to the extant literature on knowledge popularity by identifying contextual attributions of knowledge, and empirically tests the impact of their interactions on knowledge popularity.

Creative performance in the workplace

This study examines the impacts of three attributes of dyadic ties - Simmelian advice ties, Simmelian friendship ties, and communication media mix (i.e. the ratio of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to face-to-face (FTF) communication) - on the generation of creative ideas. A paper-based network survey was conducted in an R&D department that has a high demand for creative works. The findings showed that Simmelian advice ties and communication media mix have positive impacts on the generation of creative ideas. Moreover, the positive impact of Simmelian advice ties is amplified when two employees engage in more FTF communication than CMC. Additionally, Simmelian friendship ties have a significant and positive impact on the generation of creative ideas when two employees engage in more CMC than FTF communication. We discuss both the theoretical and practical contributions of this study based on these findings. Communication media mix has a positive impact on generation of creative ideas.Simmelian advice ties positively impact on generation of creative ideas.The impact of Simmelian advice ties is weakened by communication media mix.The impact of Simmelian friendship ties depends on communication media mix.

Do economic recession and gender influence the likelihood of entry job in IT for IT graduates

Attracting and retaining women is a major concern in the IT profession. Existing literature has noted that female students are less likely to choose IT as an undergraduate major, while female IT professionals are more likely to leave the IT workforce. There is little study of an intermediate step i.e., if gender affects whether IT graduates take up their first job in IT. At the same time, the recession in developed economies has prompted research interest on its effects on IT jobs. This paper examines the intersection of these two phenomena i.e., it seeks to understand the influence of both gender and the recent recession on the likelihood of IT graduates taking up their first jobs in IT. It hypothesizes direct and interaction effects of gender and recession on the dependent variable. The hypotheses are tested through analyzing data from annual surveys of undergraduate students majoring in IT at a large public university over a 5-year period from 2007-2011 that includes the recent recession. As hypothesized, female IT graduates were found to be 7.5% less likely to enter IT jobs over this period than their male counterparts. We also found that the economic recession of 2009 has significant interaction with gender i.e., female IT students were 20.9% less likely to enter an IT job in 2009 than male IT students. We contribute to the literature by demonstrating that economic downturn and gender could significantly affect likelihood of entry job in IT, while most of the previous research considers the effects of individual characteristics. Our findings provide implications for IT students, IT employers, and government policy makers.

Creativity in Dyads: the role of closeness and media multiplexity

Identifying the features of social ties that facilitate the generation of creative ideas deepens the understanding of relational factors in dyadic communication that trigger creative thinking. Tie strength, which is the key factor that shape creativity, has ambiguous effects on shaping creativity. Specifically, strong ties have both positive and negative effects on creativity when it is examined from a structural perspective and social perspective. It is also unclear that through what kind of mechanisms behind that trigger strong ties have an opposite association with creativity. Therefore this study distinguishes different tie types of tie strength and investigates how they have opposite effects on creativity. Furthermore, this study also examines whether the usage of multiple media in dyadic communication would influence the interaction. Our finding shows that dyads that are strongly connected by multiple ties (i.e., professional ties, personal ties) are less likely to share diverse expertise but more likely to obtain thoughtful responses from each other. Compared to dyads using a single communication media, dyads that use multiple communication media are less likely to share diverse expertise due to communication cost and redundant information exchanged. However the dyads are more likely to respond to each other with thoughtful answers when they use multiple communication media. These findings provide both theoretical contribution to extant literature and practical implications.