Adoption of Social Software for Collaboration A Thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Faculty of Humanities 2010 Lei Zhang Manchester Business School Contents List of Tables .............................................................................................. 5 List of Figures ............................................................................................. 8 Abstract ...................................................................................................... 8 Declaration ............................................................................................... 10 Copyright Statement ................................................................................. 11 Acknowledgement .................................................................................... 12 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................. 13 Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................... 14 1.1 Research Background .......................................................... 14 1.2 Rationale for the research .................................................... 19 1.2.1 Research questions and objectives ................................ 19 1.2.2 Research scope ............................................................. 20 1.2.3 Research methodology .................................................. 21 1.3 Relevance of the Web and collaboration in multiple disciplines 25 1.3.1 Sociology perspective .................................................... 25 1.3.2 Technological perspective ............................................. 26 1.3.3 E-commerce perspective ............................................... 29 1.4 Social software ..................................................................... 31 1.4.1 Defining Social software ................................................ 31 1.4.2 Brief history of social software ....................................... 33 1.4.3 Social software at work .................................................. 37 1.4.4 Key concepts of social software ..................................... 40 1.4.5 Social software categories and applications ................... 43 1.5 Outline of the thesis .............................................................. 48 Chapter 2 Literature Review ........................................................... 50 2.1 Technology Adoption Theories ............................................. 50 2.1.1 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) ........................... 51 2.1.2 Task-Technology Fit (TTF)............................................. 55 2.1.3 External Factors ............................................................. 58 2.1.4 A Contingent Perspective for Technology Adoption ....... 61 2.2 Knowledge Management ...................................................... 66 2.2.1 The Concept of Knowledge ............................................ 67 2.2.2 Knowledge Creation ...................................................... 69 2 2.2.3 Collaboration as an approach for knowledge creation .... 75 2.2.4 IT and Knowledge Creation............................................ 84 2.2.5 Social Software and Knowledge Creation ...................... 85 2.3 Adopting Social Software for collaboration............................ 89 2.3.1 Conceptual framework ................................................... 89 2.3.2 Elaborate conceptual framework with GSS literature ..... 95 2.4 Summary ............................................................................ 107 Chapter 3 Research Methodology ................................................ 109 3.1 Shape of the study .............................................................. 109 3.2 Overview of research process ............................................ 111 3.3 Philosophical foundations ................................................... 114 3.4 Mixed methodology ............................................................ 115 3.4.1 Suitable for IS research ............................................... 116 3.4.2 Suitable for e-collaboration studies .............................. 117 3.4.3 Relevancy to this particular research ........................... 118 3.4.4 Challenges of implementation ...................................... 119 3.5 Research design................................................................. 120 3.5.1 Case study Strategy ........................................................... 122 3.5.2 Choice of methods .............................................................. 123 3.6 Data collection and analysis ............................................... 124 3.6.1 First case study: students’ group blogs ........................ 124 3.6.2 Mini-exploratory work in UK local council ..................... 126 3.6.3 Second case study: TALKnet ....................................... 127 3.7 Justification for case study approach .................................. 133 3.8 Validation of case study design .......................................... 135 3.9 Summary ............................................................................ 136 Chapter 4 Exploratory Study: Student Group Weblogs ................. 137 4.1 Case background ............................................................... 137 4.2 Weblog features ................................................................. 139 4.3 Overall analysis .................................................................. 141 4.4 Cross-group analysis .......................................................... 144 4.4.1 Comparison of Input .................................................... 145 4.4.2 Comparison of adaptation processes and outcomes .... 146 4.5 Critical analysis .................................................................. 152 4.5.1 Task ............................................................................. 152 4.5.2 Technology .................................................................. 153 4.5.3 Group .......................................................................... 155 4.5.4 Individual ..................................................................... 156 3 4.5.5 Context ........................................................................ 157 4.5.6 Social interaction ......................................................... 158 4.6 Revisiting conceptual framework ........................................ 161 4.7 Summary ............................................................................ 162 Chapter 5 Case Background ........................................................ 163 5.1 E-Government .................................................................... 163 5.1.1 Definition of e-Government .......................................... 163 5.1.2 Development of e-Government .................................... 165 5.1.3 Social software and e-Government .............................. 170 5.2 UK Local e-Government ..................................................... 173 5.2.1 Development of UK local e-Government ...................... 173 5.2.2 Local innovation ........................................................... 175 5.2.3 Knowledge management ............................................. 178 5.3 TALK project ....................................................................... 187 5.3.1 Project purposes .......................................................... 187 5.3.2 Stakeholders ................................................................ 189 5.3.3 Process........................................................................ 189 5.3.4 TALKnet....................................................................... 192 5.4 Summary ............................................................................ 196 Chapter 6 Case Study: TALKnet .................................................. 198 6.1 General analysis ................................................................. 198 6.1.1 Group wiki spaces ....................................................... 199 6.1.2 Personal Weblogs ........................................................ 209 6.2 Critical analysis .................................................................. 216 6.2.1 Task ............................................................................. 216 6.2.2 Technology .................................................................. 217 6.2.3 Social capital ............................................................... 219 6.2.4 Individuals .................................................................... 223 6.2.5 Context ........................................................................ 225 6.2.6 Outcomes .................................................................... 229 6.3 Summary ............................................................................ 232 Chapter 7 Discussions ................................................................. 233 7.1 Discussion of results ........................................................... 233 7.2 How to ensure social software to be social: the technological perspective ..................................................................................... 234 7.2.1 Functionality ................................................................ 234 7.2.2 User-generated content ............................................... 237 7.2.3 Learning curve ............................................................. 238 4 7.3 How to ensure social software to