Technological and Non-Technological Aspects of Web 2.0 Institutionalisation

Organizational responsiveness is a critical factor for success of any business. It requires business organizations to understand and respond to changes in its external and internal environment. As a consequence, organizations are required to create a dynamic internal environment. This dynamism is built around exchanging information and ideas relating to business sustainability, progress, and growth. Social technologies like web 2.0 are, therefore, becoming more popular among contemporary businesses. These technologies are evolving at an increasing pace, which brings about many technological and non-technological considerations for organizations interested adopting them. These are social technologies and their implementation and usage need to be socially composed. This composition requires challenging the status quo and inviting workforce to embrace change by legitimizing and institutionalizing these technologies. Institutionalisation of information technologies is a nonlinear process. It is dependent upon various technical, social, and organizational sub-institutions of the organization, which themselves evolve in response to isomorphic pressures. The aim of this paper is to facilitate the diffusion and usage of web 2.0 technologies in organizations by suggesting a research framework. It examines how web 2.0 applications are characterized, shaped, and institutionalised by mutual interaction of various technical, organizational, social, cultural, and other institutional dimensions.