Sunday, May 10, 2009

In a Nutshell

So here's what I've been up to over the past half year...

I’m presently researching Enterprise 2.0 – social web applications which support the interests and goals of businesses and other purposive enterprises such as governments, NGOs, research networks, and so on. A great deal of activity, development, and discourse, primarily commercial in nature, has attended this field since its quite recent inception. Yet relatively little empirical research has been undertaken to explore its multiple claims of benefits to the enterprise and even less explores the social aspects of Enterprise 2.0 adoption. With Enterprise 2.0 technologies being rapidly implemented within many types of organizations, both commercial and noncommercial on a global scale, clear understanding of social causes and (not necessarily connected) social effects is essential to achieve socially beneficial outcomes.

So I’m looking into two related research questions:
• What social factors contribute to success or failure in Enterprise 2.0 adoption?
• Following Enterprise 2.0 implementation, what social influences come into play in the organization?

I expect my research to demonstrate key elements of organizational predeliction to positive engagement with Enterprise 2.0 tools and methods. I also expect to demonstrate and explain social effects of such adoption within organizations – a key insight for enterprises currently engaging in or planning Enterprise 2.0 investments.

First, I’ll be exploring these questions here at the university, by surveying several academic communities – ECS, Digital Economy, and Sociology – on their uses of social software. I’ll then work with ISS and ECS systems groups to enhance the currently available web-based social tools. Subsequent surveys are expected to provide insight into usages, motivations, and effects. I plan to work with several external enterprises in similar fashion and have made contacts with appropriate parties at Boeing, Accenture, and Sun UK. I also plan to contact several NGOs in this regard.

The resulting insights should help to advance understanding of Enterprise 2.0’s social causes and effects, and lead to improved practice in the domain.

My supervisors are Professor Dame Wendy Hall from ECS and Professor Susan Halford from the School of Sociology.