In Blogs We Trust: Their Nature and Nurture in Organizations Daniel C. (Dan) Smith Summary Revised, Dissertation Proposal (Non-longitudinal but lays groundwork for future) May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

There is enough substance in the proposed study Assertion There is enough substance in the proposed study Combining blogging policies; Disposition to trust and perception of trust; Organizational climate; Blogging; and Their addition into existing models May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Arguably a new, participatory medium New Medium, New Message Arguably a new, participatory medium The essential elements are social -- sociability, linking, authenticity Technical features -- Ease of use and linking promote collaboration Hypothesis: Organizational climate and trust significantly affect adoption and use of blogs. There is a virtuous circle. Need to manage risks Ref: Blood (2004) Note RSS May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Research Question 1 What are organizations’ blogging policies and how they relate to stated goals and objectives? What are the processes and configurations in firms that produce or are perceived to produce positive results? May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Research Question 2 Do firms attach special importance to blogs because of the need for virtual teams, collaboration with remote partners, network organizations, and other modes of operation driven by the Internet and globalization? What is the mix of sociability, affective trust compared to cognitive and knowledge management goals? May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Research Question 3 Do blogs, k-logs, and wikis contribute to an organizational climate encouraging trusting behaviors, knowledge sharing, and knowledge creation? May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Research Question 4 What are the multi-dimensional trust levels of the firms surveyed? That is assessing trust as a personality variable, trust in fellow employees, and perceptions of structural trust in the immediate department, and the organization as a whole. May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Research Question 5 What are the perceptions of, and changes in, the character of debate and discourse within the organization coincident with blogging activity? For example, can changes in communication patterns and sociality be documented? May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Summary of Key Variables Blogging policies and practices Trust (multi-dimensional) Organizational Climate (multi-dimensional) Approach: See how the above fit into existing models May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Trust Multi-dimensional and can cross levels of analysis. Involves risk Fukuyama (1995): “. . . the expectation that arises within a community of regular, honest and cooperative behavior based on commonly shared norms on the part of members of the community” May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Trust Fukuyama considers trust more important than financial or physical capital. Allows delegation and interdependence Trust has recently grown in research importance due to the Web, e-commerce, and virtual teams. Not a free resource – requires resources to maintain in firms (Houtari & Iivonen, 2004) Key concept is spontaneous sociability. May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Factors of Perceived Trustworthiness Mayer, Davis & Schoorman Model (1995) Perceived Risk Ability Risk Taking in Relationship Outcomes Trust Benevolence Integrity Point to the factors of perceived trustworthiness. Point to feedback loop. Both the trustor and the trustee have some risk elements in a relationship. Mutual obligations are created. For example a learning community requires trust for individuals and organizations to recognize the need for help and/or knowledge. Or to acknowledge problems. This is claimed as a dyadic model and has been extended to sociological trust – structural assurances. Trustor’s Propensity May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Limitations of Mayer, Davis & Schoorman, (1995) Model Dyadic model Serva, Fuller & Mayer (2005) conducted a field experiment and demonstrated an effect for reciprocal trust among interacting teams. In doing so the extended the theoretical model of Mayer, Davis & Schoorman (1995) May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

The Many Faces of Trust Dispositional trust from Psychology & Economics (General trust in others) Institutional Trust from Sociology (Trust in the structures/organizational climate) Interpersonal Trust from Social Psychology (Trust in specific others / situations, e.g. bloggers?) (Following McKnight & Chervany (2002) Following McKnight & Chervany (2002) who revised the concepts to particularly deal with e-commerce. Now let’s get specific about how blogging fits into previous research on organizational climate and trust. In the best scientific tradition, I build on the work of others. May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Organizational Climate The concrete expression of organizational culture Multi-dimensional Some examples: Fairness, Affiliation. Innovativeness, Attitude toward knowledge sharing, Anticipated reciprocal relationships, Subjective norm – on sharing Blogging may change the nature of discourse. May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Organizational Culture and Climate as Resources of the Firm Organizational Outcomes Organizational Climate Organizational climate dimensions have been linked to productivity gains. (Patterson, Warr & West, 2004) Knowledge Management (KM) is a Common Goal . . . To which Blogging can contribute . . . Note Southwest on culture. Key goal would be the learning organization. Learning from experience. Being agile. Sharing tacit knowledge. Patterson et al: Supervisory support Concern for employee welfare Skill development Effort Innovation & flexibility Quality Formalization May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Extension and Replication We extend the model(s) to include organizational climate We replicate and extend by adding blogging behaviors Patterson, et al. (2005) have a multi-dimensional validated climate measure linked to productivity, etc. but it lacks a trust dimension May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Next Step: Combining Trust and Organizational Climate with Blogging Several climate models include trust elements Trust dimensions can be added Validated measures exist Provides a comprehensive framework in which to view blogging Need to settle on one, maybe two climate models May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Climate as Enabler of KM Knowledge Creation Process Organizational Creativity KM Enablers Collaboration Trust Learning Centralization Add Blogging First of three recently published model. KM is knowledge management – how a company preserves and expands its stock of knowledge. K is crucial as business activity relies more on intellectual property rather than physical goods. Organizational Performance (Climate) Adapted from Lee & Choi (2003) May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Climate as Antecedents of Effective KM Work Satisfaction Autonomy Cooperative Learning Add Blogging This study was particularly well done. Performance (Work performance) evaluated by ‘customers’ (supervisors, users) No halo effect. KM is about learning organizations which merge tacit (experience) and explicit knowledge. Autonomy is an expression of trust! Org climate in this case: risk acceptance/management, reward, warmth, support. Work Performance Organizational Climate Adapted from Janz & Prasarnphanich (2003) May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Climate and Intention to Share Knowledge Attitude toward Knowledge Sharing & Subjective Norm Anticipated Reciprocal Relationships Intention to share Knowledge Add Blogging Sharing knowledge is a challenge in many circumstances. Takes effort. May be seen as giving up valuable ‘property.’ Blogging is sharing! Org climate here: Fairness, affiliation, innovativeness Year should be 2005 Now on to my research program . . . Organizational Climate Adapted from Bock, et al. (2005) May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Research Model Organizational Climate Organizational Climate Outcomes Organizational Outcomes Trust Environment Trust Environment Blogging Behavior Individual Outcomes Blogging Behavior Individual Outcomes Individual Trust Individual Trust Blogging Policy Can be viewed as either extending the trust model or extending the organizational climate models. Measures can include number of postings. Phase 1 (current for dissertation) – show (or not) how blogging builds trust and improves organizational climate. Phase 2: Future. Get better claim to causality by longitudinal study. Organizational outcomes measures should be by other than those surveyed. Hyp: High-blogging firms have better outcomes Publicly traded firms – sample of Blogging Policy Phase 2 (Future Longitudinal Study) Phase 1 May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Organization(s) to be Researched Despite the hype, blogs not widely used in intranets (Cayzer, 2004) Businesses of varying sizes and industries of great interest School systems would be a revealing area May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Hypotheses about Outcomes Trusting organizational climates correlate with numbers of employees blogging at, and about, work There is a “virtuous circle” of a trusting organizational climate and blogging Social networks will be broader with blogging and the social & professional contacts of blogging will be as important as KM issues. Strength of weak ties – Granovetter (1973) Granovetter’s “power of weak ties” is one of the most influential papers in social science. In follow up phases – longitudinal -- it will be possible to make more definitive claims of causality. May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Data Collection & Analysis Most blog research has been rich but based on interviews Need more systematic survey of organizational (1) policies, (2) expectations of management, (3) employee attitudes and behaviors Make a contribution on the first phase – addition to the organization climate models -- while laying the ground work for a longitudinal study Content analysis of blogging policies Structural equation modeling of survey data Will use overwhelmingly previously-validated measures to support SEM. Policy study and behavioral study. Two phase research program. May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Anticipated Contributions There is a lot of information on personal blogging but less practices, goals, and policies inside firms. Plan to add valid statistics Gain theoretical insights on the impact of blogs on desirable social behaviors, particularly trust and organizational climate Contribute to practice May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

Anticipated Contributions There is a lot of information on personal blogging but less on inside firms. Plan to add valid statistics Gain theoretical insights on the impact of blogs on desirable social behaviors, particularly trust and organizational climate Contribute to practice May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa

References and Draft Surveys at: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~smithdan/blogs&trust/blogpage1.html http://inblogswetrust.blogspot.com/ smithdan@hawaii.edu Thank the judges panel as well! May 1, 2006 CIS @ UH Manoa