“How does social context influence older and
younger workers’ adaptation to Enterprise Social
Media?”
Master’s Thesis BA Change Management BM724A20 Supervisor: dr. M.L. Hage Co-assessor: dr. H.C. Bruns Bart Noordhuis S3259722 25-06-2018 Word count: 15.505
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ABSTRACT
To take full advantage of the possibilities of Enterprise Social Media (ESM), it is useful to understand how employees adapt to this form of information technology. This research adds to the literature by proposing extensions to current IT adaptation models, by showing the influence of social context and age-based individual characteristics on ESM adaptation. Using qualitative research methods in a large telecom company, the results show underlying mechanism for the influences of social context and age-based individual characteristics on ESM adaptation and contribute to existing knowledge by proposing theoretical implications. Finally, the practical implications provided might be interesting from managerial perspective.
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INTRODUCTION
An increasing amount of large organizations are introducing Enterprise Social Media (ESM). These introductions have meaningful implications for knowledge sharing within organization and among its members (Ellison et al., 2015). ESM is a form of information and communication technology that gives everyone within the organization the possibility to create, share, circulate and exchange information with multiple communities and in a variety of formats (Leonardi & Vaast, 2017). In addition to commonly used communication technologies, ESM provides workers visibility into all actions of communication of others. The visible traces of these communications persist over time (Leonardi et al., 2013). However, there are behavioural and work-based changes needed to take advantage of this new technology (Leonardi, 2014), and not every worker adapts to new technologies, like ESM, in the same manner.
Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) and Bala & Venkatesh (2016) found in their research on technology adaptation that adaptation behaviour arises from cognitive appraisals perceived by users. They express that perceived opportunity, perceived threat and perceived controllability determine the adaptation behaviour an employee displays. The cognitive appraisals are, according to Bala & Venkatesh (2016), influenced by the implementation characteristics: user participation, training effectiveness, user involvement and management support. Sun (2012) presented a model suggesting triggers of adaptive system use, and indicated that adaptive system use is also influenced by a social factor, namely the observation of other’s use of the system. Interestingly, Leonardi et al. (2013) support the contention that social media use is a result of interaction between the material features of a system, and the social context in which ESM is embedded. Additionally, Sergeeva et al. (2017) write that people draw on views, opinions and frames of others when engaging with technology. This indicates that social context is an important antecedent of ESM adaptation, while the technology adaptation models do not consider this element as influencing cognitive appraisals.
4 From the finding of Sun (2012) on the influence of other people’s use on technology adaptation behaviour, and the expression of Leonardi et al. (2013) of social media use as a result of interaction between the material of the system and the social context, it can be assumed that social context influences ESM adaptation behaviour. Besides, from the research on the influence of age on technology adaptation, it can be concluded that it is probable that age influences ESM adaptation behaviour. Therefore, it would be relevant to investigate the influence of social context, and the influence of age-based individual characteristics on ESM adaptation. The research question is stated as follows:
“How does social context influence younger and older workers’ adaptation to Enterprise Social Media?”
Leonardi (2007) writes that information sharing via networks is a constitutive property of social structures, and that information is a key aspect that distinguishes someone’s role in an organization. IT can disrupt established social structures, and can lead to new patterns of advice seeking, as it provides new informational capabilities. Leonardi (2007) explained that IT and knowledge sharing can have an important influence on social structures. Both IT and knowledge sharing are relevant elements of ESM. For this reason, this research will investigate how ESM adaptation behaviour in return influences the social context of an organization. The purpose of this research is to extend the literature on technology adaptation by providing insights in how the adaptation to ESM of older workers differs from younger workers. This is relevant, because research to date lacks information on technology adaptation differences between age groups. Besides, specific research on ESM adaptation is currently limited. The results of this study will be theoretically relevant, since the existing literature is lacking research on ESM adaptation between age groups. This research builds upon prior research regarding information technology adaptation and social context and the results of this research might also be relevant from a managerial perspective. The outcomes will provide insights in the influence of social context on adaptation, and the differences in adaptation between age groups, which might be extensively interesting when a manager is dealing with an age-diverse workforce.
5 This section will provide the reader with an overview of the applied terms and concepts, and will show what researchers previously have discovered regarding the research question. The section will conclude with a conceptual model, which gives an overview of the research.
ENTERPRISE SOCIAL MEDIA
Because of the increasingly networked and distributed organizations of today, it becomes more and more challenging to share knowledge through space and time. Working in a distributed arrangement creates tensions associated with working across structural boundaries, e.g. geographic boundaries. Team members are facing challenges when they want to identify experts in other parts of the organization, and they find it difficult to develop trusting relationships which encourage information sharing (Ellison et al., 2015). Enterprise Social Media (ESM) can help to address these challenges by providing affordances that make large-scale knowledge sharing possible (Ellison et al., 2015). The idea behind the implementation of ESM is gaining business benefits, such as improved collaboration and communication, increased productivity of employees, accelerated solving of problems, innovation and knowledge sharing (Chin et al. 2015). The existing evidence suggests that workers who use ESM tend to maintain connections with coworkers with whom they do not regularly interact offline, or whom they do not even know (Leonardi, 2014). ESM makes communication between workers visible. Visibility of communication may lead to enhanced awareness of who knows whom and who knows what. Besides, visibility of coworkers’ communication helps observers to make inferences about knowledge of others. When someone is exposed to the communication of a coworker, he or she can pull bits of information from this communication, that can reveal a broader set of topic that a coworker is knowledgeable on (Leonardi, 2015). Prior research on ESM furtherly suggests that awareness of who knows what and whom can lead to more innovative products and services. Users have the possibility to more effectively recombine existing ideas into new ideas, and avoid duplication of work (Leonardi, 2014). Furtherly, companies can use ESM to use communication internally to initiate conversations between all layers. If workers feel that they are involved, one might observe more productivity and loyalty (Huang et al. 2015).
6 actually contribute knowledge, depends on their adaptation.
TECHNOLOGY ADAPTATION
Organizations around the world are continuing to implement information technologies such as ESM, in order to gain strategic and operational benefits (Bala & Venkatesh, 2016). Employees perceive changes in their work environment and IT implementations follow both expected and unexpected user experiences (Morris & Venkatesh, 2010). Workers tend to perform different adaptation behaviours coping with the situation, when they are confronted with radical changes such as IT implementations (Bala & Venkatesh, 2016). The definition of adaptation used in this research is introduced by Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005), who explain adaptation as “the behavioural and cognitive efforts exerted by users to manage specific consequences associated with a significant IT event that occurs in their environment”. This definition is used because it clearly describes that adaptation includes both cognitive and behavioural aspects. Besides, this definition fits to this specific research, because it incorporates an IT component, which is also the case for ESM. This research is specifically interested in adaptation, because this concept incorporates the possibility of avoidance behaviour, while the starting point of appropriation is always acceptance and initial use (Lauterbach & Mueller, 2014). The concept of appropriation is therefore less appropriate for this research. In this section, existing user adaptation models, and their relevance for this specific research, will be explained. The models will be presented in a chronological sequence. First, the model of Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) will be elucidated. After that, the model of Sun (2012) will be discussed. The last model described in this section, is the model of Bala & Venkatesh (2016).
7 the IT offers, which are limited because of the limited individual adaptation behaviours. The third strategy is Disturbance Handling, where one appraises the IT event as a threat, but feels like he has some control. Adaptation behaviours are likely to be problem-focused and emotional-focused. Problem-focused to manage the situation, emotion-focused to minimize negative consequences expected and to restore emotional stability. Adaptation efforts are likely to be self-oriented, technology-oriented, and task-oriented (e.g. seeking training, reducing negative aspects of the system, adjusting work procedures). The final proposed strategy is Self-Preservation. This strategy is used when expected consequences are perceived as a threat, and users feel limited control over the situation. Adaptation efforts are mainly emotion-focused: emotional stability should be restored and tensions should be reduced. Users will minimize the perceived negative consequences of the IT, compare themselves to users who are worse off, show self-deception and avoidance behaviour, and will reduce their involvement in their work (Beaudry & Pinsonneault, 2005).
The study of Beadry & Pinsonneault (2005) provides some interesting implications. The results suggest that there are four different adaptation strategies of IT, resulting from one’s
Figure 1 - Model of User Adaptation (Beaudry & Pinsonneault, 2005)
8 perception of the opportunity the IT offers and the perceived control he or she has over the situation. Linking these outcomes to this research on ESM adaptation, Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) show that the adaptation strategy of employees depends on the opportunity or threat and the degree of controllability they perceive regarding the ESM. Where Beaudry & Pinssonneault (2005) are focussing on appraisals resulting in adaptation strategies, Sun (2012) takes another perspective. He developed a research model (figure 2) suggesting triggers of adaptive system use. The term adaptive system use is used to describe an individual’s behaviour to selectively use features that are offered by the technology, and extend these features (Lauterbach & Mueller, 2014). Sun (2012) writes that people often revise their use of an information system, in cycles of adaptation. In his article on the understanding of user revisions, he stated that novel situations and discrepancies trigger adaptive system use. Novel situations are situations when the user of the system is experiencing unfamiliar things, i.e. new tasks, the observation of others’ use of system features, and new technological environments. Discrepancies represent situations in which an unexpected failure, a significant difference, or a disruption exists between expectations and reality. The effect of novel situations and discrepancies on adaptive system use, is positively moderated by personal innovativeness in IT. This indicates that when someone is willing to try new technology and this person has disposition to engage in innovative behaviours, the effects of novel situations and discrepancies on adaptive system use are increasing (Sun, 2012).
9 Venkatesh (2016) developed and tested a model which incorporates four different technology adaptation behaviours. The four technology adaptation behaviours are resulting from research on postadoptive IT use and adaptation.
The model suggests that implementation characteristics of IT lead to cognitive appraisals which influence technology adaptation, representing behavioural and cognitive efforts exerted by individuals to manage changes in the environment or stressful events. With ‘technology adaptation’, Bala & Venkatesh (2016) refer to the same concept Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) call ‘Adaptation Strategies’. Exploration-to-Innovate refers to the degree to which someone tries to find, extend, and/or change features of an IT in order to accomplish his or her tasks in novel ways. Exploitation is defined as the degree to which someone uses a recommended set of features of the IT to perform his or her tasks. Exploration-to-Revert is occurring when someone tries to find, extend, and/or change features of the IT to fit with his or her habits or work processes before the implementation of IT. The last proposed technology adaptation behaviour is Avoidance, which represents the degree to which an employee tries not to use an IT for the accomplishment of her or his tasks (Bala & Venkatesh, 2016). The authors mention that it is possible that workers undertake multiple adaptation behaviours at the same time.
Although the model of Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) is a process model and the model of Bala & Venkatesh is a variance model, show both models similarities. However, the model of Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) does not provide triggers for the cognitive appraisals,
10 whereas Bala & Venkatesh (2016) explain that user participation, training effectiveness, user involvement and management support lead to perceived opportunity, threat and controllability. From this perspective, the model of Bala & Venkatesh (2016) can be considered as an addition to the model of Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005). The additions of Bala & Venkatesh (2016) are interesting: they suggest that managers have influence on technology adaptation, because they have the ability to change the implementation characteristics. Both these researchers and Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) suggest four IT adaptation behaviours. This means that, according to these researchers, employees will exert one of these adaptation behaviours or multiple behaviours concurrently, when they are adapting to ESM. The described social element is also missing in the model of Bala & Venkatesh (2005). They suggest that the perceived opportunity, threat and controllability an employee perceives when he or she is confronted with ESM are only determined by the implementation characteristics.
TECHNOLOGY ADAPTATION AND AGE
Existing literature in the field of ageing and cognition shows that component cognitive abilities associated with the fluid aspect of intelligence, such as reasoning, working memory, and processing speed, are declining with age. This holds especially when the task is complex, or when the task represents an unfamiliar cognitive domain (Nair et al. 2007). Nair et al (2017) mention that there are studies indicating that older adults learn new skills not as fast as younger adults, and do not reach the same level of performance. Evidence also suggests that age differences in information processing lead to a performance decrease of older workers’ computer-based tasks (Morris & Venkatesh, 2000).Furthermore, empirical evidence shows that older workers are less qualified and less likely to use IT in comparison with younger employees (Meyer, 2011). Younger adults develop their IT skills in school-settings and through personal use in private settings. People over 50 are less likely to have training experiences that build knowledge of IT (Rizzuto, 2011). As a result, the stereotypes pertaining to technology may decrease the confidence level older workers have regarding their ability to acquire IT skills (Rizzuto, 2011). This makes it likely to assume that older workers’ reactions to IT initiatives differ from younger adults’ reactions, which could lead to a difference in adaptation. This is endorsed by Morris & Venkatesh (2000), who mention that research has shown that with the decline of basic psychological processes with age, older workers have more problems
processing complex information processing tasks.
11 that older workers adapt to ESM in a different way in comparison with younger workers. However, age is not an element that is included in the adaptation models discussed in the previous section. Nevertheless, age can have an influence on some elements of the models of Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005), Sun (2012) and Bala & Venkatesh (2016). Based on the suggested decline in cognitive abilities of older workers, there is a probability that training of older workers might be less effective. Besides, older workers may perceive less opportunity from ESM, because they are in a later career stage and might therefore gain less benefits from the new IT. Sun (2012) proposes that personal innovativeness in IT moderates the effect of novel situations and discrepancies on adaptive system use. Based on the stereotype of older people’s IT skills, there can be assumed that innovativeness in IT probably differs between older and younger workers. Whether or not, and how age actually influences adaptation to ESM, should be investigated.
SOCIAL CONTEXT
The social subsystem of an organization is characterized by communication patterns, an abstract set of roles, status hierarchy, power relations, and so on (Leonardi, 2012). Sun (2012) explained that the observation of other people’s use may trigger adaptive system use. To this point, Sun (2012) claims that ESM adaptation is triggered by social context. Leonardi et al. (2013) agree on the thought that social context influences social media use. They express that outcomes from ESM use are the result of interaction between material features of the ESM, and the social context in which they are embedded. Sergeeva et al. (2017) include the so called onlookers’ agency in their analysis of the structuring of technology, which sees other actors as being part of the social context that is traditionally considered as the background for the focal actor. Their study shows that neither users nor onlookers make their inferences in a vacuum. They rather draw on their shared knowledge collectively to construct perceptions of the use (Sergeeva et al., 2017).
12 A key role in defining the contours of an organization’s social context is often played by information (Leonardi, 2007). Research has tried to explain how information influences patterns of interaction through which organizing is accomplished, and found that the informal structure of an organization is often altered when new information becomes available for members (Leonardi, 2007). Individuals within organizations often acquire information to signal to their colleagues that they have the knowledge about a certain process (Feldman & March, 1981). A result is that individuals have more power in decision-making, because of the perceptions of the information-acquiring practices they have (Leonardi, 2007). Additionally, research has shown that the practice to deal with new information can also lead to a change in interaction among people. People often reformulate or revise their roles to respond to new information that is available to them. Therefore, possession or absence of information can alter the social structure of an organization, which makes information a valuable commodity in organizations (Leonardi, 2007). Leonardi (2007) writes that individuals normally seek advice because they want to obtain necessary information from other organizational members, and people are sought for advice when other people believe they have the relevant information. Gould (2002) writes that power and status are also linked to information seeking, and he indicates that both phenomena can easily be changed when actors adjust their advice-seeking practices. This is an informal process: if someone receives more requests for advice, this creates a position of status within the organization, even in the presence of a formal structure (Gould, 2002). A new IT can disrupt existing social structures and may lead to new advice-seeking patterns. Leonardi (2007) writes that existing studies demonstrate that changes in advice networks could be tied directly to the knowledge of an individual about the new IT. Building further on his earlier research, Leonardi (2013) proposes that there is a focus required on the way features of a technology are actually used by social group members, to determine when information technologies will bring changes to advice networks. The capabilities of the technology, together with the choices people make about how to use them, explain the ultimate effects of technologies on the social structure of an organization (Markus & Silver, 2008).
13 information a person is looking for. The one who has the information, is not necessarily the person with more formal authority. Therefore it is likely to assume that ESM influences the informal structure of an organization because it may trigger new patterns of advice seeking. From Markus & Silver (2008) can be concluded that the ultimate effects of ESM on the social structure of an organization are explained by the capabilities of the technology, and the choices people make about how to use the ESM. Therefore, ESM adaptation behaviour might be an important influence on the social structure of an organization.
CONCLUSION LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL MODEL
An increasing amount of companies is introducing ESM, a form of information and communication technology that helps organizational members to create, share, circulate and exchange information (Leonardi & Vaast, 2017). Prior research showed that there are different ways to describe how people adapt to information technology like ESM. Both Bala & Venkatesh (2016) and Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) conceptualize adaptation behaviours as arising from the cognitive appraisals: perceived opportunity, perceived threat and perceived controllability of users. They propose comparable adaptation behaviours and strategies resulting from these cognitive appraisals. In addition, Bala & Venkatesh (2016) claim that the cognitive appraisals arise from implementation characteristics. The first contribution of this research is investigating whether and how age-based individual characteristics also influence cognitive appraisals. The section about technology adaptation and age explained why age could be a relevant individual characteristic in determining someone’s adaptation to ESM. The conceptual model shows the influence of individual age-based characteristics on cognitive appraisals, which has to be investigated.
14 social context influences ESM adaptation behaviour. Leonardi (2007, 2013) explained that technologies influence the social structure of a company, and it is likely to assume that ESM causes a shift in advice seeking patterns and the perception someone has about his or her role within the organization. If a person has certain perceptions of his own role and of other people’s roles resulting from ESM adaptation behaviour, it is likely to assume that this will influence the social context of an organization, e.g. changing advice seeking patterns. An investigation of this influence provides the third contribution of this research.
The green boxes in the conceptual model are contributions of earlier research. Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) and Bala & Venkatesh (2016) found that implementation characteristics lead to cognitive appraisals, resulting into adaptation behaviour. The contribution of this research is coloured in blue: the influence of social context and age-based individual characteristics on cognitive appraisals resulting into ESM adaptation behaviour should be investigated. Also the feedback-loop from ESM adaptation behaviour to social context should be investigated.
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METHODOLOGY
This section concerns the methodology used for this research. Firstly, there will be explained which approach will be used. After that, the case site will be introduced and finally, the data collection and analysis will be explained.
RESEARCH APPROACH
For this specific research, a qualitative approach is used. Especially when the focus of research is on managerial and organizational issues, qualitative research becomes increasingly useful (Myers, 1997). It is a commonly used approach and helps to understand phenomena from participants’ perspective (Myers, 1977) and helps to get beyond initial conceptions and to generate or revise conceptual frameworks (Miles & Huberman, 1994). For this case, a qualitative offers an opportunity to investigate social context in ESM adaptation, from the perspective of different age groups.
The question being investigated is one of explorative nature. From existing research is already known how age might influence adaptation to IT. Furthermore, research to date explained how specific elements of social context influence technology adaptation. However, the combination of social context and ESM, and ESM adaptation of different age group remained unexplored. This explains the explorative nature. ‘How’ questions require rich explanations and understanding of underlying relationships (Eisenhard, 1989). This makes qualitative research most suitable (Miles & Huberman (1994).
A case study approach can provide the researchers with an in-depth appreciation of a phenomenon or issue in its real-life context (Yin, 2013) and offered the advantage of allowing ‘how’, ‘what’ and ‘why’ questions to be answered (Crowe et al., 2011).Because of the explorative nature of this research, and the ‘how’-question, a case study approach is justified.
CASE SELECTION
16 this criteria, the case site was chosen because it makes use of ESM. The selected case is the mechanic department of one of the biggest telecom providers in the Netherlands. The company offers services and products to both businesses and consumers, and employs almost 15.000 people. When customers experience problems with their connections, there is always a mechanic available to help them. These mechanics have access to ESM and have the ability to consult the platform for the latest news, questions, and blogs. Besides, the ESM is used for time registrations and claims. Data were gathered in two different regions in the North of the Netherlands: Groningen and Zwolle.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
17 were conducted during breaks of the mechanics. In total, ten interviews had been conducted. The interviewees belong to different age groups, so differences between age could be identified. Three interviewees belong to the 51 to 67 years old age group, three belong to the group of participants from 36 to 50 years old, and four participants belong to the 18 to 35 age group. The length of the interviews varied from 15 to 40 minutes. The questions asked were based on an interview protocol, which can be found in the appendix.
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RESULTS
In this section, the collected data from both the interviews and the observations are presented. The presentation of the results will be based on the elements of the conceptual model. First, the ESM adaptation behaviours of the participants are presented. Second, the influence of social context on cognitive appraisals, resulting in these adaptation behaviours will come forward. Third, relevant age-based individual characteristics, influencing cognitive appraisals, will be presented. Finally, results regarding de feedback-loop will be presented.
ADAPTATION BEHAVIOUR
The results regarding ESM adaptation behaviour provide interesting results, which are described in this part. An overview of the respondents’ age group and adaptation behaviour can be found in figure 5.
The respondents are divided into three age groups: 18 to 35 years (group 1), 36 to 50 years (group 2), and 51 to 67 years (group 3). During the interviews, they were asked how they make use of ESM and why they use it for this purpose. Respondents 1, 2, 3, and 4, belonging to the age group of 18 to 35 years, all adapt quite similar to ESM. They all use it for reading news and knowing content, so they stay updated and do not face surprises. Respondent 2 uses it also for posting blogs, with the goal of provoking discussion. He said: “I am really curious about the opinions of my colleagues.”1 and “I hope that people who determine the processes,
and the management respond to it.”2 The results suggest that this group of youngest mechanics
perceives ESM as an opportunity to reap benefits for their daily work. They gain knowledge, stay updated and do not face surprises. In terms of Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005), their adaptation behaviour can be described as a Benefits Maximizing strategy.
The second age group, mechanics aged between 36 and 50 years old, consists of
respondent 5, 6, and 10. Respondent 5 and respondent 10 both rarely make use of ESM. They
both sometimes read the news on the platform, but they both argue that this does not happen often. The main reason they highlight is time related. As respondent 5 mentions: “We have to do it after we’re done working. We don’t get the time to do it during our work.”3 He also
mentions that he has the feeling it is not important enough, which is also a reason to not use
1 “Ik ben ook altijd erg benieuwd naar de mening van mijn eigen collega’s…”
19 ESM. Respondent 10 agrees on the time-related issues. However, he would like to use it more, but he is constrained by time. Both adaptation strategies cannot be directly linked to the adaptation models of Beaudry & Pinsonneault (2005) and Bala & Venkatesh (2016).
Respondent 6 his adaptation behaviour is similar to the adaptation behaviour of the youngest
group of mechanics. He posts reactions to messages and uses ESM to gain knowledge and to stay updated, because he wants to know as much as possible to better help the customers. Respondent 7, 8, and 9 belong to the group of oldest participating mechanics: 51 to 67
years old. Remarkably, the three of them all mention that they make little to no use of ESM.
Respondent 7 only follows relevant changes, respondent 9 rarely reads blogs, while respondent 8 rarely looks for mechanic-relevant articles. Respondent 7 indicates that he does
not like reading, especially not from a screen, and respondent 9 mentions that he is not ‘a news reader’ and he prefers WhatsApp for responding to messages. The main reason for respondent
8 to not use, or rarely use ESM, is time-related. He says: “During the day, we don’t have time
for it… I am always in my car.”4
Based on their adaptation behaviour, the respondents can be divided into two groups: a group of mechanics who display Benefit Maximizing adaptation behaviour, and a group of mechanics who rarely use ESM.
Figure 5 - Participants' adaptation behaviour and age group
INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL CONTEXT
Interaction about ESM as an influence on cognitive appraisals
On the question how conversations about the ESM influenced the use of it, two mechanics mentioned that this might be a reason to use it more. As Respondent 1 explained: “There was a period I used it less often. If you hear some colleagues talking about something they have read, then you remember how important the tool is. After that, you are using it more often. Like
4 “En overdag heb je weinig tijd om.. Ik zit altijd in de auto.”
BENEFIT MAXIMIZING RARELY USE AGE GROUP 1 1, 2, 3, 4 X
AGE GROUP 2 6 5, 10
20 a sort of wake-up-call.”5 This is endorsed by Respondent 8, who explains that if colleagues
mention that there is something important on ESM, it is a reason to take a look at it. He adds: “It happens that someone says something like: there is something on ESM. That motivates me to take a look at it.”6
However, among others, Respondent 2 has an opposing view on the influence of interaction about ESM on his use. He mentions: “Interaction about ESM does not really influence my use of it.” He adds to this that he always uses it the same way, no matter what there is said about ESM. Respondent 3 has the same view: “I continue to do it my way. I don’t care about what is said about it.”7 Respondent 4 shares this opinion, and adds: “I think I read
enough.” and “Because I think doing it two or three times a week is enough, it is not necessary to do it more often.”8
These results indicate that one age group is not more, or less sensitive for interaction about ESM, resulting in higher perceived opportunity. Also the degree to which the participants make use of the ESM, seems to be irrelevant for how they are influenced by interaction about ESM. However, respondent 2, 3, and 4 are all mechanics who exert a Benefit Maximizing strategy. The fact that they already use ESM often, might be a reason why their adaptation behaviour is not influenced by interaction about ESM. They simply already use ESM often.
Respondent 10 expresses that there is no interaction about ESM at all. He gets support
from respondent 9 and respondent 7. They both never hear their colleagues talk about ESM, even not during team meetings. This is striking, because another mechanic from the same team mentions that during team meetings there is a lot interaction about ESM. Respondent 1: “We talk a lot about ESM. The simple fact is: once a month we have a team meeting. Some information is so important that it’s shared on ESM immediately.”9 and “We talk a lot about
ESM, that’s simply because we want to get our knowledge from it.”10 The respondents who
argue that there is no interaction about ESM, are all mechanics belonging to the group who only rarely makes use of ESM. It might be the case that among non-users there is indeed less
5 “Ik heb gehad dat ik ESM een periode weinig gebruikte. Als je dan weer een paar collega’s hoort die iets
gelezen hebben, dan besef je weer hoe belangrijk dat middel is. Dan ga je het toch wel weer vaker gebruiken. Als een soort wake-up call.”
6 “Nou er wordt wel eens een opmerking gemaakt als: er staat iets op ESM. Dan motiveert dat mij ook wel eens
om er op te kijken.”
7 “Ik trek me er niet echt iets van aan wat er over gezegd wordt. Ik blijf mijn eigen ding doen.”
8 “Ik vind dat ik op deze manier voldoende lees” en “Omdat ik denk dat als je het twee of drie keer in week doet,
dan denk ik niet dat het heel nodig is om dat vaker te doen.”
9 “Heel veel. Het simpele feit is: wij hebben een keer in de maand een werkoverleg. En sommige informatie is
dusdanig belangrijk dat het direct op ESM gedeeld wordt.
21 interaction about ESM. Another explanation could be that people who rarely use ESM are less receptive to interaction about it, because they perceive ESM as something unimportant. Interestingly, two of these three people belong to the group of oldest participants. This indicates that there might be less interaction about ESM in older age groups, because of the perceived unimportance. To this issue will be returned later on.
Departmental boundaries as social context influencing cognitive appraisals
On the question who mechanics interact with on ESM, the answers were of wide variety.
Respondent 2 and respondent 3 both do not have interaction with their direct colleagues, but
predominantly with people they do not see in person. “It is with the people I don’t have in my region.”11 respondent 2 says. Respondent 3 adds: “On ESM I do not have contact with my
direct colleagues at all. It is more with people I don’t usually see in person”12
Respondent 4 and respondent 6 mention that it does not matter for them who posted
the message they are reacting on. Respondent 4 argues: “I have to say something about that subject to help, or to offer some support, for me it does not matter who posted it at that moment. If I want to give my opinion on it, I’ll do it.”13 Respondent 6 shares this opinion: “I react on
both people I know and people I do not know. It has to be an article from my field of work, then it doesn’t matter whether I know that person or not.”14
In comparison with respondent 2 and 3, respondent 9 has a completely opposing view. He says that he used to react on messages of colleagues in the past, mostly to people he already knew personally. He argues: “I think that typically me. I don’t react on people I don’t know, for some reason.”15 Respondent 9, belonging to the oldest group and the group of mechanics
who rarely less use ESM, is the only mechanic who clearly expresses that he only has contact with people he knows in person. This shows the contrast between this view, and the view of the younger, more intense ESM users, respondent 2 and 3, who only have contact with people outside their local social context.
Also the observations show some interesting results. All interaction streams of the mechanics were analysed to indicate to whose messages they give a reaction. The results are
11 “Dat is met mensen die ik niet direct in mijn omgeving heb.”
12 “Op ESM heb ik helemaal geen contact met collega’s uit mijn directe omgeving. Meer met mensen die ik niet
veel zie.”
13 “Ik moet dan iets kwijt over onderwerp kwijt om mee te helpen of extra ondersteuning te bieden, dan maakt het
mij niet uit wie het er neer zet. Als ik mijn mening wil geven daar op, dan zet ik dat er wel bij.”
14 “Zowel bekenden als onbekenden. Het moet wel een artikel zijn uit mijn werkveld. Dan maakt het mij niet uit
of ik die persoon ken.”
15 “Ja dat zal iets wezen wat bij mij hoort. Ja, omdat ik diegene niet ken. Op een of andere manier reageer ik
22 presented in appendix 2, and an overview of it is shown in figure 6. The lines visualize interaction streams. The thicker the line, the more reactions were posted to messages of this target group.
The results show that 5 out of 26 observed interactions were within departmental boundaries. This entails communication from mechanics to their direct, local colleagues. The other 21 observed interactions were across departmental boundaries, which means that most interactions of the observed mechanics were with colleagues from other regions. Most of these communication streams were directed at colleagues in other regions with other functions: 14 out of 21. The overview presents only the reactions on the messages of specific persons. The other reactions on the ESM were on messages of the ‘Mechanics Group’. An overview of these reactions can be found in appendix 2.
The respondents who expressed that they only have ESM interaction with colleagues outside of their departmental boundaries, had been asked why this is the case. Respondent 3 gave an interesting answer: “Most colleagues who respond are mostly from Amsterdam, or Utrecht, or Amersfoort. I think ESM is more used over there.”16 Respondent 1 said something
similar: “I dare to claim that if you look at the statistics, most reactions on ESM or from the West of the Netherlands and not from the North. I dare to guarantee that. We are more reserved.”17 This indicates that the social context in the North of the Netherlands differs from
16 “Meeste collega’s die reageren zitten vaak in Amsterdam, of Utrecht, of Amersfoort. Ik denk dat het daar meer
gebruikt wordt. Meer dan hier.”
17 “Ik durf zelfs wel te beweren dat als je naar statistieken kijkt, dat de meeste reacties op ESM vanuit het Westen
zijn, en niet vanuit het Noorden. Dat durf ik te garanderen. Wij zijn wat terughoudender en minder uitgesproken.”
23 the social context in the West of the Netherlands. Regarding these two respondents, this influences adaptation behaviour.
When people know their direct colleagues well, they prefer direct contact via WhatsApp or phone calls over ESM
During the interviews, it became clear that two of the mechanics who never post messages and reactions, prefer to stay in touch with their colleagues via more direct ways of communication. As respondent 7 explained: “Then I call my colleagues, …, or my colleagues call me and then they say: you had that problem before, right? How does that work? You have to handle it like this or like that. … We are not a big team, so we tell it each other via phone calls, so we all know how to handle that issue.”18 Respondent 5 has a quite similar opinion regarding contact
with colleagues: “I have contact with the guys from my region, if they have something to mention, they call me. And also the other way around. So we stay updated.” Respondent 10 agrees on this view. He argues: “If someone shares a lot of information I don’t know a lot about, I would call him directly. I would not react on a blog or something, I would prefer direct contact via phone. I would rather call, than post a reaction.”19 Respondent 7, 5 and 10 all belong to
the group of people who only rarely use ESM. This might be an explanation for their preference for more direct contact instead of contact via ESM.
INFLUENCE OF AGE-BASED INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS
Career stage as an antecedent of perceived opportunity
Career stage was an age-related issue that was raised during the interviews. Two younger respondents mentioned that older colleagues adapted differently to ESM, because they do not have a long time to go at the company because of their approaching retirement. Responded 1 defined it as follows: “These people did their work in a certain way for years. … If you did not need it for 40 years, it is really difficult to convince them they need it now. Certainly when they only have two years to go. Because they did not need it for such a long time.”20 Respondent 2
18 “Dan bel ik collega’s rond, … , dan bellen collega’s mij wel eens op en dan zeggen ze: jij hebt dat wel eens
gehad toch? Hoe werkt dat? Dat moet je even zo doen en dat moet je even zo doen. … We zijn niet zo’n grote groep als zakelijk zijnde, dan bellen we dat even door en dan weten we het ook weer.”
19 “Als iemand veel informatie deelt waar ik niks van weet, dan zou ik denk ik direct bellen. Niet via een blog of
zo. Maar meer direct contact. Ik zou ook eerder bellen dan een bericht eronder plaatsen.”
20 “Deze mensen hebben jaren hun werk gedaan op een bepaalde manier … Als je 40 jaar lang niet nodig hebt
24 had a similar view on this issue. He said: “I think colleagues that have only a few years to go at this company say: I don’t care. That is what I see. They feel like: I am almost done. They show it during team meetings.”21 These two respondents belong both to the youngest group of
respondents, so they argue based on a perception they have. The older respondents did not mention that they adapt differently to ESM because of their career stage. However, respondent
9, who belongs to the group of older mechanics, argued: “The older generation is a little bit
tired of all the things that come by and do not matter.” and “Younger people are more open for discovering new things.”22 This indicates that, as a result of their career stage, older worker
might be less motivated to learn new things and perceive therefore less opportunity from ESM. The argument of respondent 9 can be related to previous change experiences, which might be an underlying mechanism for the lower perceived opportunity of older workers.
ESM as an opportunity to grow in the company
Respondent 1 and respondent 2 argue that ESM is an important tool to grow in the company.
They think that you have to ‘show yourself’ in such a big company. Respondent 2: “It is influenced by: do you want to get further in this company? Do you want to develop yourself, do you want to know a lot? There are also vacancies on the ESM. It helps you to get to know people, you know what is going on, you can use it to contact people. It can really influence your career.”23 This view on the relevance of ESM for career opportunities is endorsed by
respondent 1, who says: “I think I have to respond to messages. I have to do it, to help myself
in the organization. Everyone in the organization has to show himself. If you want to get promotion , they have to know who you are. You have to show yourself in such a big company.”24 This indicates that, because of the relatively early stage in their career, respondent
1 and 2, younger employees, might adapt differently to ESM than older employees. That ESM might be a tool to signal to colleagues that you have knowledge about a certain process, is endorsed by respondent 5, belonging to the group aged 36-50. He argues: “Sometimes I read something on ESM and then someone posts a reaction, and then I think: you only say that
21 “Ik denk wel dat collega’s die nog een jaartje of wat te gaan hebben, dat die zeggen: het zal mij wat. Dat zie ik
wel. Dat ze zoiets hebben van: ik ben er bijna uit. Collega’s die dat tijdens werkoverleg ook wel laten merken, …”
22 “De oudere generatie is wel een beetje moe van al die dingen die voorbij komen en er niet toe doen.” en
“Jongeren staan heel erg open voor het ontdekken van nieuwe dingen, …”
23 “Ik denk dat het vooral beïnvloedt wordt door: wil je verder komen binnen het bedrijf. Wil je je verder
ontwikkelen, wil je overal wat van af weten? Er staan ook vacatures op. Je leert mensen kennen, je weet wat er speelt, je leert afdelingen en functies kennen. Dus het kan je carrière ook nog eens beïnvloeden.”
24 “Ik denk wel dat ik het moet doen, om jezelf in de organisatie te helpen. Want iedereen in de organisatie moet
25 because your manager reads it.” and “They want the manager to read it. … People post a lot to get attention.”25 This respondent indicates that this is a facet of ESM he does not like. It
seems that he would not use ESM for this purpose, in contrary to (the younger) respondent 1 and 2.
Age as antecedent of perceived importance of ESM
During the interviews, it became apparent that there were older employees who perceived ESM as something unimportant. This has already been referred to in the section about interaction about ESM. Respondent 8 and respondent 9, both employees in the oldest age group, highlighted that for them ESM is ‘nonsense’ or ‘does not really matter’, while there were no respondents in the youngest age group who gave an indication that ESM had no value for them.
Respondent 8: “I have the feeling I don’t have time for it. I am busy executing my job, and not
with that nonsense. That is how I see it.” and “I haven’t seen the added value for me yet.”26
Respondent 9 argued that the older generation is a bit tired of all the things that pass and do
not really matter. With this, he indicates that this applies to more people who belong to the older generation, and not only for him.
These quotes are especially striking, when they are compared with arguments of younger employees regarding the importance of ESM. Respondent 1: “You cannot ignore it. It’s too important and you miss things when you don’t follow the information.”27 This is the
opposite of what respondent 8 and respondent 9 say. These examples clearly illustrate the difference in perceived importance of ESM. It also underlines the difference between older employees, who perceive less opportunity from ESM because of their career stage, and younger employees, who see ESM as a tool to grow within the company.
One respondent in the age group of 35-50 years also had a clear opinion on the importance of ESM. Respondent 5: “What it yields for me.. I don’t execute my job in a different way because of ESM. It doesn’t add much for me. I just use it because of curiosity. What I really have to hear, I hear during team meetings. To be honest, if it wouldn’t exist, I wouldn’t have
25 “Ik lees dan wel eens iets over een plansysteem en iemand reageert er dan op. Dan denk ik: je zet dat er alleen
maar op zodat je manager het leest.” en “Ze willen dat de manager het leest … Mensen posten veel om aandacht te krijgen.”
26 “Ik heb het gevoel dat ik daar geen tijd voor heb. Ik ben met mijn werk bezig en niet met dat soort flauwekul.
Ik probeer het ook zo neer te zetten zoals ik er over denk.” en “Ik heb eigenlijk nog nooit gehad dat ik er echt iets aan had.”
26 missed it.”28 This view is quite similar to the view of the two older mechanics mentioned before,
which indicates that not only the oldest employees might perceive ESM as something unimportant.
Perceived ability as antecedent of cognitive appraisals
The last questions of the interview were related to age-based characteristics. During the interviews with the mechanics in the oldest group of respondents, it became clear that they had the feeling that younger mechanics make more use of online communication. The reasons they gave were quite similar. Respondent 8 argued: “I think younger people make more use of online communication. I prefer face-to-face contact. Younger people grew up with it, they can switch quicker than I can.”29 This indicates that this respondent perceives younger people better
able to handle online communication, because they grew up with it. Respondent 7 said something similar: “I don’t like reading, especially not from a screen. Younger generations are more used to it. When we came from school. We just had the first computer at our school. Only one for ten people!”30 This indicates that older people might be less used to working with online
communication, because they did not learn to work with it at school. Respondent 9, the last respondent in the oldest age group, argues that he thinks that younger people deal more easily with innovations, because: “I think that we are more conservative in the way of working and doing. That’s what I think.” 31 Respondent 10, who belongs to the middle age group, shares
the view of the mechanics in the oldest group: “I think younger mechanics use it a lot more in comparison with colleagues of my age.” and “They grew up with it. We handle it differently. We passed through a time we didn’t have a mobile phone at all. I think that’s why we use it differently.”32
28 “Wat levert dat mij op.. Ik doe mijn werk er niet anders om. Het voegt voor mij niet zoveel toe. Ik doe het puur
uit nieuwsgierigheid. Wat ik moet horen, hoor ik op het werkoverleg wel. Als ik heel eerlijk ben, als het er niet was, zou ik het niet missen.”
29 “Nou ik denk dat jongere mensen meer online communiceren. Ik heb het liefst face-to-face contact. De
jongeren zijn daar wel mee opgegroeid. Die kunnen ook veel sneller schakelen dan ik.”
30 “Als ik voor mezelf kijk: lezen is niet mijn hobby en al helemaal niet achter een beeldscherm … Jongere
generaties zijn daar veel handiger in. Ik was van school af, en toen hadden we net de eerste computer op school. Toen hadden we één computer met tien man!”
31 “Ik denk dat wij daar wat klassieker in zijn, dat denk ik. In de manier van werken en doen.”
32 “Ik denk dat jongeren het een stuk meer gebruiken, dan collega’s van mijn leeftijd.” en “Die zijn er meer mee
27 INFLUENCE OF ESM ADAPTATION BEHAVIOUR ON SOCIAL CONTEXT
ESM adaptation behaviour may influence the social context, through changing advice seeking patterns
Interviewees were asked about how ESM influences their opinion on and their interaction with colleagues. Respondent 4 responded as follows: “When I am confronted with something I don’t know how to handle, I would call that person. Then you think: if I remember correctly, he had something about it. Then you would call that person.”33 Respondent 1 agrees on this: “Well if
someone posts something and he can transfer his knowledge in a way that it becomes clear that he has knowledge about it, I would keep that in mind. If I have something about that specific topic, I would go to that person.”34 Respondent 2 also agrees that ESM influences his
interaction with other colleagues within the company: “Sometimes I see people react to messages and then I see: he is a project manager of that department. Then I call him and then we are going to investigate things. We have shorter lines because we know people from ESM.”35
These citations indicate that, if a person posts a message on ESM, it might lead to calls for advice. The last quote of respondent 2 also indicates that ESM helps to expand mechanics’ networks within the company.
These three respondents belong to the youngest group of mechanics. Also from the group of mechanics from 35 to 50 years, there was an interviewee who mentioned: ”I would approach that person, because he knows the ins and outs. He knows what it is about, otherwise you won’t post an article about it. Then I also react on it.”36 Another respondent in the age
group of 35 to 50 years old is not really influenced by interaction on ESM. Respondent 5 expresses that ESM does not influence his advice seeking pattern and his perception: “I know all my direct colleagues and the perception I have about them, is not influenced by what they post. It doesn’t really influence me.”37
In the group of oldest mechanics participating in this research, there was one respondent who mentioned something similar as the youngest group. Respondent 7: “Well, if you have a
33 “Als ik dan tegen iets aanloop waarvan ik niet weet hoe ik ermee om ga, dan bel ik diegene wel op. Dan
bedenk je wel: volgens mij heeft hij daar ooit iets over gehad, hoe en wat. Dan bel je diegene op.”
34 “Nou als iemand iets plaatst, en dat is moeilijk, en hij kan overbrengen dat hij ergens ook echt veel vanaf
weet, dan zou ik diegene wel in mijn achterhoofd houden. Als ik dan eens iets heb met dat onderwerp, dan ga ik wel naar hem toe.”
35 “Ik zie mensen wel eens reageren en dan zie ik: die is daar projectmanager van, dan bel ik die even. Dan gaan
we dingen uitzoeken. Je hebt wel wat kortere lijntjes doordat je die mensen kent via ESM.
36 “Dan zou ik diegene wel benaderen. Die weet de ins en outs ervan. Die weet waar het over gaat, anders zet je
er niet zo’n artikel op. Dan reageer ik er ook op.”
37 “Ik ken al mijn collega’s vrij goed en het beeld wat ik van ze vorm hangt niet af van wat ze daar neerzetten.
28 problem someday, then you know: I have to call him because I read something about it. … Then I think, who posted that? … Subsequently, I call him and ask: how was that, again?”38 ‘Him’
is here referred to a person who posted an interesting message.
ESM adaptation behaviour may influence the social context, through negative perceptions about posted messages
The previous part was about changing advice seeking patterns, as a result of a positive perception of the person who posted the message. However, it might also be possible that the social context is influenced as a result of negative perceptions of posted messages. How online behaviour of colleagues influences perceptions of these colleagues, and interaction with these colleagues, is asked during the interviews. Respondent 6: “Someone says something that is not true. That frustrates me. There are things presented, while they have no idea what they are talking about. That annoys me. It negatively influences my opinion of these people. … I would talk to them about it in person.”39 By saying this, he argues that a message on ESM, might lead
to a face-to-face discussion. Respondent 1 also mentions that a message on ESM can negatively influence his opinion about someone: “I had once that I read something on ESM, which made no sense in my opinion, a little bit popular and not based on truth. That influences my opinion about this person, definitely.”40 On the question how negative messages on ESM
influence his interaction with this person, respondent 3 answered: “I would ask him: do you need some help or some knowledge? I that sense it could influence my interaction with this person.”41 Respondent 6, 1 and 3 all indicated that their perception about a person is negatively
influenced by messages that make no sense. Respondent 6 and 3 both expressed that they ‘would’ talk to the person who posted the specific message. However, this has not happened yet.
Respondent 8 and respondent 10 both mentioned that they do not know how messages
could lead to a changed perception and a change in interaction with a person who posted the
38 “Nou ja, als je een keer een probleem hebt, dan weet je: hem moet ik even bellen want daar heb ik iets over
gelezen. Dan denk ik, wie heeft dat ook alweer gedaan. Dan bel ik dus achteraf en dan vraag ik: hoe zat dat?”
39 “Want dan gaat iemand iets zeggen wat niet klopt. Dat frustreert mij wel. Er worden dingen gepresenteerd,
dat men dan niet weet waar het over gaat … Negatief. Die ga je direct anders neerzetten … Die spreek ik er persoonlijk op aan.”
40 “Ik heb wel eens iets op ESM gelezen van iemand, het was in alle eerlijkheid naar mijn mening onzin wat hij
zei. Een stuk dat heel erg uit de context gehaald is, en een beetje populair. Niet gebaseerd op waarheid. Dat beïnvloedt mijn mening echt wel. Zeker.”
41 “Ik zou dan vragen van: heb je hulp of kennis nodig? Ik die zin zou het mijn interactie met deze persoon
29 message. They both argue that they use ESM too little to have a view on that.
UNANTICIPATED RESULTS
Not only the direction of the interaction streams was analysed during observing. Also the content and the context of the reactions was observed to discover what kind of reactions were posted. An overview of all reactions together can be found in figure 7. Most messages, 47 out of 75, were informational statements. An example can be an experience with a specific
situation, or a suggestion for improvements. After that, most reactions were questions, 19 out of 75. Most of these questions had a technical context, which means that these questions were related to the technical work of the mechanics.
Most of the messages were posted by the group of mechanics with a Benefit
Maximizing adaptation strategy. This means that it is not possible to identify differences in content and context of reactions between people with different adaptation behaviour and different age groups. From all these 75 reactions, 49 were posted on messages of the
‘Mechanics Group’ or the content manager. The other 26 reactions were on messages of other individual users.
Figure 7 - Content and context of reactions on ESM
Content and context of reactions:
Content ↓ Context → Social Technical
Question 6 13
Answer 1 2
Compliment 5 1
30
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
This section starts with a brief summary of the findings of this research. The research question will be answered and connected to existing theories. After that, theoretical and managerial implications, supported by the data, will be presented. This section concludes with limitations of this research and directions for future research will be addressed.
The present study was designed to investigate how social context influences older and younger workers’ adaptation to ESM. Prior research found that other people’s use influences adaptive system use (Sun, 2012) and Leonardi (2007, 2013) explained that technologies influence the social structure of an organization. Current literature (Nair et al. 2007; Rizzuto, 2011; Morris & Venkatesh, 2000) on ageing shows that age-based individual characteristics are likely to influence ESM adaptation. However, this research adds to existing literature by explaining underlying mechanisms of the influence of social context on ESM adaptation, the influence of age-based characteristics on ESM adaptation, and the influence of ESM adaptation behaviour on the social context.
Regarding the influence of social context on ESM adaptation, this study found that interaction about ESM may lead to increased perceived opportunity of ESM, resulting in a change in adaptation behaviour. Nevertheless, not all respondents confirmed the influence of social interaction about ESM on adaptation. The results showed that mechanics who already used ESM often, were less influenced by the interaction about it. However, the results show that technology adaptation does not happen in a vacuum, but that people are influenced by other actors. This confirms the conclusions of the research of Sergeeva et al. (2017), who argue that technology users are subject to social influences. People draw on views, opinions and frames of others when engaging with technology. This finding can also be related to the findings of Sun (2012), who claims that adaptive system use is influenced by novel situations, of which other people’s use is an example. This study adds by showing that people who already exert a Benefit Maximizing adaptation strategy, might be less influenced by social interaction, since they already make often use of ESM.
31 more direct contact via phone calls or WhatsApp, with colleagues they know in person. However, surprisingly, younger mechanics do not mention that they prefer direct contact over ESM contact. Therefore, based on this study, age might influence the preference for direct contact. The results regarding age-based individual characteristics show interesting underlying mechanisms on which this argument can be build.
This research supports the idea that older mechanics adapt in a different way to ESM in comparison with their younger colleagues, because of their career stage. Older workers are closer to their retirement, and might perceive therefore less opportunity from the ESM, simply because they do not have to work with the new technology for a long time. Besides, the research showed that older workers might be tired of changing, due to previous change experiences. These findings add to the limited insight into the role of age in phenomena involving IT (Tams et al. 2014) and reveals an underlying mechanism for age differences in ESM adaptation. Also career stage turned out to be a relevant issue for younger employees, because ESM is perceived as an important tool for growth within the company.Therefore, younger employees are likely to perceive more opportunity from ESM. Individuals within organizations often acquire information to signal that they have knowledge about a certain process (Feldman & March, 1981). Visibility of communication shows who knows what (Leonardi, 2015) and besides, ESM is a useful tool to interact with people of higher hierarchical levels. ESM presents a unique opportunity to sustain multiple virtual spaces, through which they can manage their goal of sharing knowledge across boundaries (Van Osch & Steinfield, 2018). This explains why younger workers might adapt to ESM in a different way in comparison with older workers. The results also show that older worker might perceive ESM as something unimportant. This underlines the difference between younger and older workers’ adaptation, illustrated by difference in career stage.
32 A possible decrease in literacy with age might be an underlying mechanism explaining the adaptation difference.
Regarding the influence of ESM adaptation behaviour on social context, this study has been able to demonstrate that ESM adaptation behaviour may lead to changing advice seeking patterns. Since people better know who has the information they are looking for, they know who they have to consult for advice. This outcome accords with the observation of the results of the research of Leonardi (2013). He also observed shifts in advice seeking patterns as a result of information becoming visible.The results suggest that ESM adaptation might also influence the social context other way around. People might get negative perceptions of people who post messages or reactions that are untrue. A plausible explanation for this result, is that visibility of who knows what might also lead to negative perceptions: If a person posts messages which are perceived untrue, it is likely that this influences the perception others have about this person. Existing literature did not suggest that increased transparency can also lead to negative perceptions. This is a contribution of this research to existing knowledge.
IMPLICATIONS
Our findings provide interesting theoretical and managerial implications. First, the results of this research show that social context influences how people adapt to ESM. Sun (2012) already found that other people’s use is a social element influencing adaptation behaviour. Based on the conclusions of this research, the types of possible relevant social dynamics should be extended. This research found interaction about ESM, relationship with direct colleagues, and perceived departmental boundaries as social dynamics determining cognitive appraisals. Therefore, social context might be an important element in future ESM adaptation models. Besides, the results show that potential gain from ESM may be lower for older workers. They might perceive less opportunity from new technologies, because they are in a later career stage and will soon retire. Younger employees may perceive ESM as an important tool to grow in the company. This finding adds to current literature.
33 might also lead to negative perceptions of colleagues. This is an important implication of this research.
Also for managers of companies, this research provides interesting implications. First, the results made the influence of social context on ESM adaptation behaviour clear. However, participants who make only limited use of ESM, mentioned that there is no interaction about ESM. In this respect, it might be useful to facilitate interaction about ESM during team meetings, in order to encourage also these employees to make more use of ESM. With regard to the perception of older employees of ESM being unimportant, it is being advised to highlight the relevance of ESM during team meetings. The findings suggest that potential gain from ESM is lower for older workers, so managers might consider incentives, which might lead to increased opportunity from ESM, also for older workers.
Another managerial implication stems from the finding that workers currently communicate regularly via direct communication. Valuable information might be invisible for other colleagues and might therefore get lost. If managers want communication to be visible for others, so that for example duplication of work will be prevented (Leonardi, 2014), workers should be encouraged to share information which is also relevant for others within the organization via ESM.
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
