Empowering the Enterprise

Can organisations use internal social technologies to increase productivity and foster innovation? Do management and employees fully appreciate the benefits of social technologies in the workplace? Are the tools available being fully utilised within organisations? This research looks at the use of social media for organisations, referred to as Enterprise Social Networks (ESN). An examination of four Irish organisations was undertaken to explore how these organisations are using social networking to support their business functions. All four organisations use the platform Yammer and this research highlights the challenges encountered when introducing this social media technology into the corporate environment and provides an analysis of the factors which influence its acceptance, perception, social influence and implementation. The research concludes with recommendations for organisations considering the introduction of an enterprise social network. The concept of using social media to increase engagement with customers and improve customer service is one we are all familiar with. Many organisations have developed strategies to capitalise on this however the transfer of customer-facing social strategies to internal operations is not clear-cut. Many organisations understand how social media can add value to their customer service but are only just beginning to explore how social media could benefit internal communications, knowledgesharing and collaboration. The key is to understand how social interaction can support business processes by facilitating company-wide communication across divisions and hierarchies. . Our study is framed by research on change management, technology acceptance, and social networking. A review of relevant literature across these broad areas of study is provided. In order to examine the use of Yammer and strategies employed in its implementation within the four organisations, a survey and interviews were conducted. The study was classified into five central themes in order to provide a thorough analysis of the research question. These themes were ‘experience’, ‘social influence’, ‘management’, ‘access flexibility’, and ‘communications’. Ten hypotheses were formulated for this study. Chapter 4 presents the findings. Hypothesis 1 supported, highlighting that Facebook experience positively influences the perceived ease of use of Yammer. Hypothesis 2 is supported also as individuals with higher levels of computing skills found Yammer’s functionality easy to use. Contrary to literature findings regarding the adoption of an ESN within an organisation, it was found that employees with more years’ experience within the organisation are more likely to be socially influenced. Therefore hypothesis 3 is not supported. The role of social influence is supported in both hypotheses 4 and 5 as the perceived critical mass of active Yammer users was a contributing factor of an individual’s intention to use Yammer, as was the use of Yammer by colleagues. Hypotheses 6 and 7 are supported as active encouragement from line managers and senior managers was seen to positively influence an individual’s intention to use Yammer. Results from hypothesis 8 proved inconclusive. Despite respondents agreeing that Yammer can provide quick access to information and facilitate better communications, more research is required to determine whether this positive sentiment is sufficient to support the hypothesis. Due to the low level of mobile users, hypothesis 9 could not be fully examined. Finally, when structured internal communications take place within an organisation, employees are more inclined to engage with the Yammer platform, therefore hypothesis 10 is supported. A final insight from the data analysis revealed that Yammer Notifier, a desktop application for Yammer, could increase an individual’s intention to contribute more regularly to the social network. Acknowledgements We would like to thank our supervisor, Dr Denise Leahy, for her guidance, support and encouragement throughout this process. We would like to acknowledge our interviewees and survey respondents for taking the time to engage with this study. Thanks to all our friends in the course for your good humour. Finally we would like to thank our families and friends for their support, comic relief, kind gestures and encouragement. In particular we would like to thank Patrick for his invaluable ‘tips’!