Corporate Wikis: The Effects of Owners' Motivation and Behavior on Group Members' Engagement

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Arazy, Ofer; Gellatly, Ian R.
• 署名单位: University of Alberta
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0742-1222
• DOI: 10.2753/MIS0742-1222290303
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 87-116
• 关键词: REGULATORY FOCUS; information-technology; KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT; PARTICIPATION; leadership; systems; repositories; contributors; personality; Wikipedia

摘要

Originally designed as a tool to alleviate bottlenecks associated with knowledge management, the suitability of wikis for corporate settings has been questioned given the inherent tensions between wiki affordances and the realities of organizational life. Drawing on regulatory focus theory and social cognitive theory, we developed and tested a model of the motivational dynamics underlying corporate wikis. We examined leaders (owners) and users of 187 wiki-based projects within a large multinational firm. Our findings revealed two countervailing motivational forces, one oriented toward accomplishment and achievement (promotion focus) and one oriented toward safety and security (prevention focus), that not only predicted owners' participation but also the overall level of engagement within the wiki groups. Our primary contribution is in showing that, notwithstanding the potential benefits to users, wikis can trigger risk-avoidance motives that potentially impede engagement. Practically, our findings call for an alignment between organizational procedures surrounding wiki deployment and the technology's affordances.