How Do Organisations use Social Media to Foster Co-operation, Knowledge Transfer and Innovation - Essay Example

How do organizations use social media to foster co-operation, knowledge transfer and innovation, and what is the effect of their efforts? Course Institution Date The following blog attempts to explain the use of social media by contemporary organizations in fostering knowledge transfer, cooperation, as well as invention and innovation. In addition, the blog explains the effect or impact of efforts placed by organizations in enhancing such technology. Various papers are focused on in a bid to explaining and finding the answer to the research question.

These articles, Ali-hassan et al. (2011), Steinfield, et al. (2009), Brzozowski (2009), Majchrzak et al. (2009), and DiMicco et al. (2008) display a good overview of application of social media by organizations in enhancing their performance. The articles explicitly provide that social media has been a boost to different organizations in the contemporary world especially in respect to transferring knowledge, innovation, and cooperation. According to Ali-Hassan, et al. (2011), employees who have the initiative of innovation will always want to have access to knowledge, which contribute significantly to increasing their effectiveness and efficiency within the job.

On the other hand, access of knowledge in the current business environment is highly dictated by incorporated technology, social media being one of the main aspects (Ali-Hassan, et al., 2011). Steinfield, et al. (2009) propose that organizations using social network site (SNS) are likely to enhance social capital since the users of SNS have the capability of maintaining larger networks corresponding to heterogeneous contacts. From their study, Steinfield, et al. (2009) found out that social network sites are able to enhance bonding relationships, global connections, corporate citizenship, as well as access to new people and expertise.

In this perspective, organizations will use social media to foster co-operation, knowledge transfer, as well as innovation. Brzozowski (2009) on the other hand confirm that with increased growth and expansion, organizations are faced with increase in collective knowledge as we as the urge to have serendipitous collaboration. However, these aspects become very difficult especially with reference to finding right persons with correct interests (Brzozowski (2009). Brzozowski (2009) identified that through semi-structured social media, which include blogs, forums, and bookmaking, organizations have found platforms that promote and enhance collaboration.

From the concept of WaterCooler, Brzozowski (2009) assert that there has been aggravated sharing of internal social media especially within an organization, which has remarkably enhanced co-operation, transfer of knowledge, and innovation. While defining corporate social networking as the application of technology to assist human resource in the identification interests and its concepts, Majchrzak et al. (2009) confirm that through profile-based web, informal online meeting places, and other virtual tools, organizations are able to help their employees transfer knowledge from one party to another through co-operation.

Such interactions and transfer of knowledge have the potential of enhancing innovations amongst the employees of the organization in question (Majchrzak et al. (2009). Consequently, organizations will be able to transfer knowledge in addition to interaction that creates co-operation as well as enhance innovation of the employees. DiMicco et al. (2008) are not left behind in the quest to explaining usefulness of social media to organizations. According to DiMicco et al. (2008), there is increased use of social network site to connecting, meet, and share.

Through connecting and meeting individuals are able to co-operate while sharing aspect of social network sites enhances the idea of transferring knowledge, which is very useful in promoting creativity and innovativeness of employees. Examples of some of the sites commonly used include the Internet, MySpace.com, Facebook.com, Bebo.com, and Orkut.com as described by DiMicco et al. (2008), which have proved very significant and useful in enhancing effectiveness of employees hence organizations. In order to prove the merits or social media to organizations, Ali-Hasssan, et al. (2011) conducted a survey that indicated the increased use of social networking as a way of transferring knowledge, enhancing co-operation, as well as innovation of employees.

Steinfield, et al. (2009) on the other hand supported their claim from IBM employees where a research had been carried out in a bid to finding application of social media within the organization. The results, which indicated that approximately 10,000 to 15,000 employees visit social media on a monthly basis, were a surety enough to confirm the increased use of social media Steinfield, et al. (2009). Unfortunately, it becomes difficult for individuals to continuously use technology that has serious demerits.

Therefore, this indicates that there are some advantages derived from social media. This was the same with other researchers. From the above analysis, the five articles are very categorical on the impact of social media within organizations. There is no doubt from these analyses that every contemporary organization that employs social media derives significant merits from the same. Social media indeed have assisted organizations to engage in transfer of knowledge, enhancement of co-operation, as well as increase innovations thereby positively impacting on efficiency, effectiveness, and operations of an organization.

Bibliography Ali-hassan, H., Nevo, D., Kim, H., & Perelgut, S., 2011, Organizational social computing and employee job performance: The knowledge access route, Proceedings of the 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Brzozowski (2009), WaterCooler: Exploring an organization through enterprise social media, Hewlette-Packard, Pato Alto, CA. DiMicco, J., Millen, D., Geyer, W., Dugan, C., Brownholtz, B., & Muller, M., 2008, Motivations for social networking at work, Cambridge, MA.

Majchrzak, A., Cherbakov, L., & Ives, B., 2009, Harnessing the power of the crowds with corporate social networking tools: How IBM does it, MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 8, No. 2, Pp. 103-108. Steinfield, C., DiMicco, J., Ellison, N., & Lampe, C., 2009, Bowling online: Social networking and social capital within the organization, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.