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Using Social Media Technology to Improve Collaboration: A Case Study of Micro-Blogging Adoption in a South African Financial Services Company1 Garron Stevenson University of Cape Town, South Africa Jean-Paul Van Belle University of Cape Town, South Africa ABSTRACT This chapter examines the use and adoption of micro-blogging within a large South African financial services company. This is done by means of a case study which draws on three sources of data: user demographics, messages posted and a survey focused on adoption and usage. The research objective was to evaluate enterprise micro-blogging's effectiveness as a collaboration tool which enables informal communication among staff working in project teams. The analysis used a technology acceptance model as the theoretical framework but a more descriptive approach was used to investigate the actual use patterns as well as the barriers and benefits experienced by the users. Even though distinct barriers to adoption were uncovered, by focusing on creating the right groups within the tool and increasing management contributions potential users of micro-blogging platforms, these barriers can be reduced. Keywords: Micro-blogging, Enterprise micro-blogging, social networking, Web 2.0, Yammer, South Africa, developing countries.
INTRODUCTION "In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed." - Charles Darwin As companies become globalised, they become more dependent on networking technology to allow staff, partners and clients to interact. The ability to work collaboratively is a core part of successful organisations and it is the trust between staff members which forms the basis for effective collaboration (Handy, 1995). The awareness of an individual team member of 1
Chapter 12 In Azab, N. (2013) Cases on Web 2.0 in Developing Countries: Studies on
Implementation, Application and Use, pp313-341. IGI Publishing, Hershey. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2515-0.ch012
his/her activities in the context of the activities of other team members can improve the collaboration between members of diverse teams (Dourish & Bellotti, 1992). This chapter will show that Web 2.0 technologies can increase the level of awareness between team members. The success of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in the public space has led to companies experimenting with similar technologies in the corporate space. This study examines the use of Yammer as a corporate social media platform. Launched by David Sacks (the founder of Geni, the genealogy site) in September 2008, Yammer is a corporate social network service. Unlike Twitter, which is used for broadcasting messages to the public, Yammer is used for private communication within organisations or between organisational members and pre-designated groups, making it an example of enterprise social software (Böhringer & Richter, 2009). Enabling staff to share interests and common values is vital for encouraging effective collaboration and knowledge sharing (Klein, 1998). And collaboration and knowledge sharing are essential in an organisation, whether between members of the general staff population, or between specific team members. Micro-blogs are a new arrival within the corporate software landscape (Riemer, Altenhofen & Richter, 2011). The increasing popularity of similar tools such as Twitter within the public space has not yet seen the same rapid uptake through the implementation of collaboration tools within the software portfolios of companies. Yammer is a web-based platform which offers micro-blogging functionality to enterprise users in the form of closed groups of users. The groups are managed by only allowing users with a specific company's email address to sign up. In addition to standard micro-blogging features like posting messages, addressing messages and following people, Yammer also allows for threaded conversations, groups and file attachments (Riemer & Richter, 2010). These features make Yammer more useful for organisational use when compared to a micro-blogging platform like Twitter. Evidence shows that informal communication helps encourage trust and collaboration (Zhao & Rosson, 2009). However, it isn't clear whether there is a corollary benefit to micro-blogging. This study attempts to evaluate the role micro-blogging can play in increasing collaboration and trust among staff in a corporate environment situated in a developing country. Through a user survey and message classification, it is shown that the nature of the use of social media, specifically micro-blogging, within organisations improves and/or facilitates informal communication. It also demonstrates that corporate micro-blogging differs from public platforms in that, whilst the latter are more focussed on the user, corporate micro-blogging focusses on shared work tasks and news; it is less about individual behaviour and activity (Riemer & Richter, 2011). Finally, this study uses the technology acceptance model (TAM) constructs to evaluate how adoption within the organisation occurred (Davies, 1989). However, it is important to note that this research does not aim to demonstrate that the use of micro-blogging in an organisational context will result in improved organisational or team performance. This chapter is organised as follows. The next section sketches the academic background for the case study by looking at how the enterprises have adopted Web 2.0, the importance of informal collaboration to the enterprise, the characteristics and benefits of micro-blogging, and research into enterprise micro-blogging. This is followed by a brief discussion on our research methodology. The subsequent sections discuss the findings of the message analysis and the user survey, respectively. The user survey looks not only at the usage, perceived usefulness and ease of use, but also at the personal and team-related benefits as
well as at the inhibitors. Two of these inhibitors, namely the relevance and management involvement, are explored in some more detail. The conclusion summarizes the findings but also highlights some of the limitations of the research.
BACKGROUND Web 2.0 and the Enterprise The rise in the use of Web 2.0 technologies within enterprises to facilitate communication has become known as Enterprise 2.0 (Böhringer & Richter, 2009). Web 1.0 was defined by its linked but static content. Web 2.0 is defined by the networked, participative and collaborative nature of its applications and platforms (OReilly, 2007). The value of applications and services within the Web 2.0 space increases as more users and nodes are added to the network. The popularity of such sites and technologies is leading to increasing pressure to adopt said technologies within a corporate environment. These technologies are inherently collaborative and designed to enable sharing of information between multiple users (McAfee, 2006). Micro-blogging is a specific form of Web 2.0 technology where short (typically under 200 characters) messages are shared between members within a community. This encourages a less formal knowledge sharing between team and community members where groups interact based on shared interests or projects (McFedries, 2007). The success of social media in general in the personal space has led businesses to consider the use of similar technologies within the business environment. Micro-blogging provides a light-weight and easy tool for staff to post brief updates about their daily activities and thoughts, and may help support knowledge sharing and communication in corporations. As micro-blogging is a new technology which hasn't yet received wide adoption within companies, the benefits and risks of adoption are not yet clear. The role which microblogging should play within organisations is not clear either (Zhang, Qu, Cody & Wu, 2010). This chapter evaluates micro-blogging within a corporate context in order to examine the current state of tools which support more informal collaboration between virtual teams. By evaluating the existing landscape of similar collaborative tools and the nascent literature on micro-blogging within organisations, the proposed technical report will look for opportunities where companies can leverage micro-blogging to improve collaboration between virtual teams and virtual team members. This section provides a broad conceptual overview of collaboration, the importance of informal and social communication amongst team members, virtual teams, and appropriate collaboration technologies with a view to establishing how to create greater cohesion and collaboration between team members. To this end, the rise of virtual communication in the modern networked economy and the impact this has on how people work together is evaluated along with the value of informal communication. From this broad overview, the focus shifts to a narrower inspection of the benefits of improved collaboration and how individuals can make use of social media technologies, specifically micro-blogging. The nature, characteristics, benefits and issues related to microblogging will be evaluated. Whilst there is some research on micro-blogging, there is relatively little peer-reviewed research on micro-blogging in the corporate setting. A key thread that connects the topics covered in this review is the nature of virtual relationships. Companies now operate globally either through their own international
divisions or with international partners. The nature of the work these organisations and the people working for them produce has also shifted from that of physical production to service and knowledge related work. Electronic channels need to be used effectively in order to compensate for the lack of richness provided by face-to-face communication. While email is by far the most common tool for communication and collaboration within virtual teams, the most successful teams and projects consist of people that make use of a combination of channels such as email and collaborative portals (K ayworth & Leidner, 2000). Care needs to be taken when selecting extra communications channels as they do not necessarily improve communication and may decrease the quality of collaboration between team members (Walvoord, Redden, Elliott & Coovert, 2008).
Collaboration and the Value of Informal Communication The need for collaboration within organisations has increased as the virtual nature of work has increased. The issues that face knowledge workers are less about the knowledge itself and more about the people who hold the skills and organisational knowledge. It is therefore more about who than about what (Nardi, Whittaker & Schwarz, 2000). In order to increase the level of interaction between workers in a virtual environment, it is important to increase the level of informal communication. So the value of a collaboration network is measured by the strength of the ties within the network (Levin & Cross, 2004). Weak ties are connections within social networks that are not reinforced by organisational structures and teams. The traditional structures of organisations and teams tend to create closed and “siloed” communities based on function which inhibit informal sharing within an organisation (Granovetter, 1983). Thus, the weak ties have an important role to play in introducing organically formed and valuable collaborative networks. Informal communication creates “water cooler” conversations between team members. This informal communication process improves the cultural connectedness between team members and employees. Informal communication is equally, if not more, important within virtual teams as it provides a method for sharing workplace culture and increasing the feeling of connection between team members (Levin & Cross, 2004). In order to compensate for the lack of face-to-face communication, many corporates are experimenting with collaborative Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs and social media sites (DiMicco et al, 2008). Informal communication is seen as having both relational and personal benefits. Relational benefits relate to the perception of other team members, the establishment of common ground and the feeling of connectedness between team members (Zhao & Rosson, 2009). The personal benefits relate to the amount of valuable information team members can gain by participating in a specific social network (Zhao & Rosson, 2009). The greater the uncertainty surrounding a task, the more virtual teams rely on informal communication to manage their interaction (Abel, 1990). Informal communication also serves to address the four areas of awareness of team information (Gutwin & Greenberg, 2002):
Informal Awareness, where knowledge is shared about the action or intentions of team members (e.g. “I'm having trouble with this Java code.”).
Social Awareness, where the emotional context of team members' actions are shared. (e.g. “I'm feeling positive about the new development manager.”).
Group-structural Awareness, where the nature and structure of teams are communicated (e.g. “I'm going to submit the weekly review document from now on.”).
Workspace Awareness, where shared tasks are discussed (e.g. “The latest version on the business case is on the file server.”).
In addressing the four factors above, it is highly likely that virtual teams could experience greater collaboration and awareness should their communication be channelled through an appropriate medium.
What is Micro-blogging? Micro-blogging is a term which describes the act of people sharing brief text updates about their work and social life (McFedries, 2007). This allows people to share their thoughts and activities in a quick and informal manner which increases their social presence within the social networks they use. The popularity of micro-blogging is related to the minimal investment in time and effort that is required to contribute (McFedries, 2007). A core concept of micro-blogging is that of “following” and “followers”. Users may choose to “follow” other users. This means that they will automatically see posts made by users they follow. Similarly any posts a user makes will be seen by their “followers”. Micro-blogging combines the following characteristics:
Brevity: Messages are short. In the case of Twitter, they are much like shortmessage-service (SMS) messages and under 150 characters. This requires less from users who contribute, making them more likely to post without needing to allocate the time and effort required for longer posts. Pervasive access: Most micro-blogging platforms allow for mobile and web access, making updates easy for users even if they are away from their corporate network. Broadcast nature: Posts made by users are broadcast to their followers which increases the interaction between team members (Zhao & Rosson, 2009). As Twitter is the most widely used example of micro-blogging in the public space, existing studies have focused on the use of Twitter. Typically, similar studies involve identifying different classes of Twitter users and their behaviours, geographic growth patterns, and the current size of the network. The classification of users show that they can be broadly categorised as information sources (also known as hubs), who are followed by many due to their valuable or important posts; information seekers, who post rarely but mainly follow others; and friends, who follow and post to peers, colleagues or family (Java, Song, Finin & Tseng, 2009). The main types of information shared can also be categorised into four categories: daily chatter, conversations, sharing information/URLs, and reporting news (Java et al, 2009).
Benefits of Micro-blogging Micro-blogging allows for a more personal presence in the digital sphere, one that is less formal than other digital channels (Zhao & Rosson, 2009). The quick and easy aspect of micro-blogging increases the likelihood of contributions from users as they can contribute without having to make large investments in time and energy. The improved ease of use makes people more likely to contribute to formal and informal discussions than traditional blogs and other channels such as forums and wikis. There is value in understanding the way
people interact with micro-blogging in the workplace in order to understand how to make use of the technologies to improve the collaboration and cohesion which exists within virtual teams.
Enterprise Micro-blogging The phenomenon known as enterprise micro-blogging (or EMB) deals with the application of micro-blogging tools in the corporate environment, ostensibly to build stronger informal bonds and information sharing between members of (often virtual) teams. To date, hardly any research has been conducted on enterprise micro-blogging (Riemer et al, 2011) and it is not yet clear if micro-blogging technologies can be used to improve collaboration between virtual teams; however, the rise of micro-blogging in the public social space as well as the adoption of earlier technologies such as forums suggests that they should not be ignored in the corporate arena. Little peer-reviewed, published research on enterprise micro-blogging is currently available. A relatively early study attempted to model the adoption of EMB using a number of variables from traditional technology adoption models by means of four focus groups in a German context (Günther, Riehle, Krasnova & Schöndienst, 2009). Two later studies focussed on an exploratory approach by looking mainly at the nature of the messages and collaborations using a case study approach. The first of these was the study in a large US-based multinational by (Zhang et al, 2010), which is used as a baseline since it involved the largest number of messages and users. Two subsequent case study-based research reports have been released, one in US-based IBM (Ehrlich & Shami, 2010) with 34 users, and the other in an unidentified German company (Riemer et al, 2011). As far as the authors could determine, no research has been conducted on enterprise micro-blogging in organisations located in developing or emerging countries.
Measuring and Analysing Enterprise Micro-blogging Zhang et al (2010) published a study of the corporate usage of Yammer, a micro-blogging tool which is aimed at corporates and, unlike the public nature of Twitter, is designed for closed networks and user groups. They classified micro-blogging messages using the general characteristics as well as the message genre. The general message attributes includes message length and the ability to tag and group messages. The message genre can be seen to fall into one of the following categories (Zhang et al, 2010):
“Me” messages constitute 16% of the use of Yammer. These messages are focused on the specific behaviour and interests of the person posting them.
“Conversation Seeking” messages constitute 25% of usage. These messages are aimed at creating conversations around issues which impact on the message poster.
“Share news or new found” messages constitute 37% of the messages posted and are aimed at sharing links to information which the poster finds relevant to her and the team within which she operates.
“About Yammer” messages constitute 21% of the posted messages and focus on the shared experience of using the micro-blogging tool.
Other messages which are not easily categorised make up 1% of the postings.
(Zhang et al, 2010) Zhang et al (2010) continue to characterise users based on how they view the micro blogging tool, using the following categories:
Demographics and organisational positioning. Where does the user work within the organisation? Is there greater adoption amongst IT staff or Marketing staff?
Usage statistics and post frequency. What is the rate of adoption? How many users have signed up? How frequently do users post? Do users continue to post over time?
Perceived usefulness, value and benefits. How do users get value from microblogging? How does it benefit their interaction with other team members?
The “Noise-to-Value Ratio” paradoxes. What is the ideal combination of relevant data and message frequency? Too few messages and nothing is relevant to the user. How to filter out valuable messages from the noise? Indeed, the feared high noise-tovalue ratio may well be a key reason why corporates have been hesitant to introduce enterprise micro-blogging (Riemer et al, 2011).
Current Issues and Investigation Areas for Micro-blogging Zhang et al (2010) found that the key benefits of micro-blogging were to be found in users being aware of the work patterns of others and in making connections with other team members. Accordingly, this supports increased social awareness (Gutwin et al, 2002) and weak-ties (Granovetter, 1983). Zhang et al (2010) found that Yammer failed to demonstrate significant increases in social awareness and ties due to its predominant usage as a communication medium for external news items and information. They go on to suggest that the implementation of micro-blogging within organisations should take this into account and attempt to encourage greater sharing of personal experiences and information (Zhang et al, 2010). One benefit that micro-blogging can support is the creation of groups that share specific interests or expertise. This sharing can cross national and cultural boundaries (Zhang et al, 2010). The key challenge for effective micro-blogging adoption involves the ability of users to filter valuable information from the large number of posts to the network. Yammer helps to minimise this concern by providing more extensive filtering capabilities such as groups which extend its feature set beyond consumer technologies such as Twitter. Another key concern with Yammer is the fact that it is hosted outside the corporate network, “in the cloud”. Zhang et al (2010) suggest that regardless of security and privacy implementation, many users remain cautious about sharing corporate information on sites that, though private, are hosted outside of company networks.
Key Findings from the Literature In summary, there is scant research on micro-blogging in a corporate context. There are, however, a number of comparable Web 2.0 studies which can shed light on the potential nature and value of micro-blogging and how it can contribute to more effective collaboration within teams. The short-messages and informal nature of Instant Messaging (IM) technologies can be compared to micro-blogging, as can the threaded discussions of forums. Similarly, blogs and forums provide a less formal method of interaction for staff and team members. Web 2.0 technologies allow for rich interaction and effective learning due to
their inherently networked nature. Learning from the contributions of peers is a key element of the value provided by Web 2.0 solutions (Ullrich et al, 2008). Virtual teams, like any project teams, need effective means to communicate. There are very specific nuances to these communication needs in virtual teams that require attention, hence the focus of this review. A number of Web 2.0 technologies are effective media for formal and informal communication between project team members, and appear to increase social awareness and cohesion between teams. The issues seem to lie in the adoption and ongoing contribution of these technologies. According to the literature, sharing more personal information would increase team cohesion and collaboration. But the study by Zhang et al (2010) seems to indicate that people within the corporate arena are not necessarily trusting of the platform or how the information stored inside the platform is managed or made accessible. To engender improved trust in and greater adoption of micro-blogging, further investigation needs to be done in order understand the reasons for user adoption through specific technical implementation rules, such as hosting the platform within the corporate network instead of in the cloud. Adoption may also be improved through the greater use of traditional channels such as email in order to encourage and promote user adoption through education and internal marketing of the service. There would also appear to be value in understanding the types of conversations that occur within specific categories of users. Understanding the nature of specific user-groups and their needs can assist with formulating models for adoption within groups that show lower rates of adoption and usage of micro-blogging. The next section deals with the methodology which was used to address the research question: whether micro-blogging is an effective and appropriate social media technology for corporates to improve and/or facilitate collaboration between team members.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The primary research took the form of a case study within a single organisation, evaluating the adoption of a single micro-blogging technology. In the light of the paucity of research in this area, the research was exploratory in nature. The research was based on the assumption that micro-blogging will increase the level of collaboration within an organisation. The research evaluated both the effectiveness of the micro-blogging platform, considered how the platform is adopted and explored ways in which adoption can be increased. In order to achieve this, analysis of the usage of the platform as well as activities that occur outside of, but are influenced by, the platform were measured. The focus of the research questions was to elicit and evaluate three key aspects: 1. The benefits experienced through the use of micro-blogging within an organisation. 2. The adoption patterns that occur. 3. The types of messages shared within a corporate micro-blogging environment and what these say about the nature of the communication within these networks. The research was done through the evaluation of data within the scope of a single microblogging platform, Yammer, which was adopted within a financial services IT department. The nature of the relationships between team members and the nature of the information being shared and discussed was evaluated against frameworks for team collaboration. The
platform in question was implemented on 31 July 2009 (the date of first sign-on), and the research into the adoption and usage was from the date of first adoption until1 August 2010. Data collection was done through the evaluation of information available within the microblogging platform (message analysis) and through a survey questionnaire. Although there were a total of 411 users signed up on the Yammer platform as of 29 June 2010, only 326 registered users had valid email addresses. In view of the relatively small number of users, a census approach was taken and the link to the questionnaire was sent to all users with a valid email address. From this sample population, 35 completed surveys plus 29 partially completed surveys were received resulting in a 19.6% response rate to the invitation email. The demographics of both the sample population and the respondents are described in more detail below under the heading of “User Demographics”. The instrument was based on the one used in the study by Zhang et al (2010). However, additional questions were added to empirically measure the level of informal communication within the user group, as well as to measure elements of the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989). The survey was structured to elicit responses related to demographics, usefulness, adoption and benefits. A copy of the survey is attached in the appendix. The survey responses were anonymous and no link was drawn between actual users and their responses. All message threads from the company feed within the Yammer platform were systematically sampled – totalling 641 messages, and manually coded into the following classifications: team awareness and message content. The focus of the message classification scheme is on establishing how effective Yammer is at creating team awareness and evaluating how it differs from public micro-blogging platforms such as Twitter. In both cases, the nature of the messages should indicate how well the platform supports informal communication within a corporate environment.
MESSAGE ANALYSIS The sample of 641 messages was gathered by “following” all users on the network and collecting all the messages visible within the Yammer website. Only primary messages and the initial responses were captured. The messages were analysed based on two perspectives: team awareness and message content. Team awareness was investigated using the four categories of awareness of team information (Gutwin et al, 1996). The aim is to evaluate the areas in which the use of Yammer improves informal awareness between staff. The four categories are:
Informal awareness: messages concerning actions and intentions
Social awareness: messages relating to emotional context
Group structural awareness: team-related messages
Workspace awareness: messages about shared tasks.
The message content evaluation was broadly based on the types from Zhang et al (Zhang et al, 2010), as well as from DiMicco (DiMicco et al, 2008) and Namaan (Naaman, Boase & Lai, 2010). The focus was on evaluating the types of messages within the micro-blogging network and looking for the contribution they might make to increasing collaboration amongst the users of Yammer. Message content was classified using the following
categories: information sharing; company sharing; about me; about others; opinions; and questions. Of a total of 641 messages analysed, 200 (31.2%) were related to team awareness. These can be further broken down into the following categories:
Type of Group Awareness Message Informal Awareness: Actions and Intentions Social Awareness: Emotional Context Group Structural Awareness: Team Related Workspace Awareness: Shared Tasks
# % Messages Messages 36 18% 52 26% 84 42% 28 14%
Table 1: Team Awareness Messages A large percentage of the messages were not specifically team related. They were focused on the sharing of information. This information was predominantly news and links e.g. “Dilbert for today is peculiarly familiar... http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-05-08/”. This is mirrored in the study of Yammer by Zhang et al where, for instance, a full 37% of messages were the links and information (Zhang et al, 2010). This is supported by the survey results where the most positive responses regarding the use of Yammer involve sharing with colleagues and getting a sense of what colleagues are thinking, feeling and doing. In previous studies the analysis of the types of messages posted was used to compare Yammer to public micro-blogging platforms like Twitter and to other corporate collaboration platforms such as intranets. The following categories were simplified from the questions used in Zhang et al (2010): Information Sharing, Company Sharing, About Me, About Others, Opinions, and Questions. In both studies, the majority of messages were related to sharing, 37% for the Zhang study and 46% in this case study. Overall there was a similarity between the results of the studies. The key difference is that the participants in this study did not appear to have any discussions relating to the Yammer platform itself. Apart from that, the relative importance of the classifications is similar. Message Classification
Zhang (2010)
This Study
Sharing
37%
46%
Me
16%
17%
Conversation
25%
32%
Yammer
21%
0%
Other Table 2: Study Comparison
1%
5%
A more recent study (Riemer & Richter, 2011) published after our analysis was concluded suggests different, more detailed categories, based on genre analysis. Their top six categories are: record information, ask questions, share information, coordination, discuss or clarify, provide update and future research. These are subdivided further into 18 microgenres. Future researchers may wish to use the latter taxonomy.
SURVEY RESULTS From the sample population of 326 users, 35 completed surveys plus 29 partially completed surveys were received, resulting in a 19.6% response rate to the invitation email. Because the survey responses were anonymous with no link between actual users and their responses it was not possible to draw any correlations between responses and behaviour e.g. “positive respondents post more messages”.
User Demographics The case study examined a financial service company head office with 4000 employees. Yammer was initially launched in the IT department. There was no formal adoption drive; it was left to grow organically. The vast majority (38) were based in the Cape Town head office although two responses were received from Johannesburg and one from the India office. In the end, 411 users signed up for Yammer. The Yammer user base was fairly equally split according to gender with 214 out of 411 users (52%) being female (Table 3). Population Characteristics (n = 411) Gender Male Female Activity Zero Posts Level Single Posts Double Posts High Posts Table 3: Yammer user base characteristics
Number 197 214 13 264 45 89
% 47.9% 52.1% 3.2% 64.2% 10.9% 21.7%
A full 78% of the users were “low posters” having made two or fewer posts to the platform and then either stopped using Yammer or simply observed: 13 users posted zero, 264 users a single and 45 only two posts. The top 10 users accounted for 64.52% of the 3619 total posts. This sort of contribution level is to be expected and was found by Zhang et al in their study where a similar percentage of users were “low posters”: a full 61% made no postings and a further 29% between 1 and 10 posts; 7% posted 10 to 50 and less than 3% made more than 50 posts (Zhang et al, 2010). This also mirrors social media adoption trends and other studies (Krishnamurthy, Gill & Arlitt, 2008). It is common for social media platforms to have a large percentage of users that simply consume information and don't contribute to the content or discussion at all (DiMicco et al, 2008). Most respondents (74.4%) were Generation X i.e. aged 30-45. This is representative of the demographics of the company: 20.5% identified themselves as Baby Boomers (45+) and only one respondent as a Gen-Y (
