Conceptualizing a very rich usage construct to measure the impact of organizational social web site usage on individual performance

This paper describes a conceptual model investigating the impact of organizational social web site (SWS) usage on individual performance. Previous research on SWS usage offers rather lean measures, which do not account for the context (i.e. the task the system is used for). We address this research gap by constructing a very rich usage measure and introducing it in the context of organizational SWS usage. We propose that the elements of SWS usage, namely user, system, and task, impact individual performance through two forms of organizational learning – exploration and exploitation – as well as through user cognitions during usage. We further present a conceptual model as the foundation for future empirical research on the impact of SWS usage on individual performance. The theoretical contribution lies in constructing a very rich system usage construct and the resulting conceptual model. Our contribution to practice is providing an instrument to measure organizational SWS usage and its performance impacts.