Abstract
Achieving continuous innovation in organizations requires a balance between exploiting yet acquired knowledge and exploring new knowledge. In addition to having the adequate resources, change and innovation capabilities require specific management support and organizational structures. Recent research has pointed out the importance of social network structure and of the activity of agents that work across domains or disciplines in the innovation-oriented behaviour of organizations. As a consequence, information systems should ideally be able to support the analysis, development and management of such social structure for the benefit of organizational objectives. Current social network interfaces provide an established mental model to workers that can be hypothesized to be adequate for supporting activities that foster innovative behaviour. That behaviour is facilitated through exposing the activities of other workers across organizational structures. This paper reports on the design of a user interface specifically targeted to manage the social aspects of innovation based on some aspects of Hargadon’s model of innovation and knowledge brokering. The emergent nature of interactions in social network sites is used as the metaphor to foster situated cognition. The interface design assessment is described and some metrics for innovative behaviour that could be derived for such an interface are sketched.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Falkenberg E D, Hesse W, Lindgreen P et al. FRISCO — A framework of information system concepts — the FRISCO report. IFIP WG 8.1 Task Group FRISCO, 1998.
Hesse W, Verrijn-Stuart A A. Towards a theory of information systems: The FRISCO approach. In Proc. the 10th European-Japanese Conference on Information Modeling and Knowledge Bases, May 2000, pp.81–91.
Cronk MC, Fitzgerald EP (1999) Understanding “IS business value”: Derivation of dimensions. Logistics Information Management 12(1/2):40–49
Örtenblad A (2001) On differences between organizational learning and learning organization. The Learning Organization 8(3):125–133
Jiménez-Jiménez D, Sanz-Valle R (2011) Innovation, organizational learning, and performance. Journal of Business Research 64(4):408–417
Argote L, Miron-Spektor E (2011) Organizational learning: From experience to knowledge. Organization Science 22(5):1123–1137
Nielsen JS, Boer H, Gertsen F (2008) The influence of learning in collaborative improvement. International Journal of Technology Management 42(1/2):107–126
Hsu Y (2011) Multi-criteria optimization with multiple responses for technological innovation. African Journal of Business Management 5(4):1493–1508
Burt R. The social capital of structural holes. In The New Economic Sociology: Developments in an Emerging Field, Guillén M F et al. (eds.), New York, USA: Russell Sage Foundation, 2002, pp.148–190.
Lytras M, Ordóñez de Pablos P (2008) The role of a “make” or internal human resource management system in Spanish manufacturing companies: Empirical evidence. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries 18(4):464–479
Hargadon AB (2002) Brokering knowledge: Linking learning and innovation. Research in Organizational Behaviour 24:41–85
Korfiatis N, Poulos M, Bokos G (2007) Social metadata for the impact factor. The Electronic Library 25(2):166–175
Soosay C, Hyland P (2008) Exploration and exploitation: The interplay between knowledge and continuous innovation. International Journal of Technology Management 42(1/2):20–35
Frost J, Vogel R (2008) Linking exploration and exploitation: How a think tank triggers a managerial innovation. International Journal of Learning and Change 3(1):75–91
Chesbrough H, Prencipe A (2008) Networks of innovation and modularity: A dynamic perspective. International Journal of Technology Management 42(4):414–425
Holman D, Axtell C, Clegg C et al (2000) Change and innovation in modern manufacturing practices: An expert panel survey of U.K. companies. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries 10(2):121–137
Kalafut PC, Low J (2001) The value creation index: Quantifying intangible value. Strategy & Leadership 29(5):9–15
Muller A, Välikangas L, Merlyn P (2005) Metrics for innovation: Guidelines for developing a customized suite of innovation metrics. Strategy & Leadership 33(1):37–45
Wasserman S, Faust K. Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Scott J P. Social Network Analysis: A Handbook (2nd edition). Sage, 2000.
Gallant L, Boone G, Heap, A. Five heuristics for designing and evaluating Web-based communities. First Monday, 2007, 12(3).
Ellison N, Steinfield C, Lampe C (2007) The benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12(4):1143–1168
Steinfield C, Ellison N, Lampe C (2008) Social capital self-esteem, and use of online social network sites: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 29(6):434–445
Kester L, van Rosmalen P, Sloep P et al (2007) Matchmaking in learning networks: Bringing learners together for knowledge sharing. Interactive Learning Environments 15(2):117–126
Staggers N, Norcio AF (1993) Mental models: Concepts for human-computer interaction research. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 38(4):587–605
Holsapple CW, Joshi KD (2004) A formal knowledge management ontology: Conduct, activities, resources, and influences. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 55(7):593–612
Sicilia MA, Lytras M (2005) The semantic learning organization. The Learning Organization 12(5):402–410
Kalibatiene D, Vasilecas O (2010) Ontology axioms for the implementation of business rules. Technological and Economic Development of Economy 16(3):471–486
He Y, He K, Wang C et al. MFI-3: An enabler for semantic interoperation between enterprise information resources. In Proc. the 2009 International Conference on Interoperability for Enterprise Software and Applications China, April 2009, pp.47–52.
Chang X, Terpenny J (2009) Ontology-based data integration and decision support for product e-Design. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 25(6):863–870
Colomo-Palacios R, García-Crespo Á, Soto-Acosta P et al (2010) A case analysis of semantic technologies for R&D intermediation information management. International Journal of Information Management 30(5):465–469
Valiente MC (2010) A systematic review of research on integration of ontologies with the model-driven approach. International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies 5(2):134–150
Riedl C, May N, Finzen J et al (2009) An idea ontology for innovation management. International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems 5(4):1–18
Zanni-Merk C, Cavallucci D, Rousselot F (2009) An ontological basis for computer aided innovation. Computers in Industry 60(8):563–574
Adams WA (2008) A transdisciplinary ontology of innovation governance. Artificial Intelligence and Law 16(2):147–174
O’Raghallaigh P, Sammon D, Murphy C. Towards an ontology of innovation models—A conceptual framework. In Proc. the 19th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2011), June 2011.
Sicilia MA, Lytras M, Rodríguez E et al (2006) Integrating descriptions of knowledge management learning activities into large ontological structures: A case study. Data and Knowledge Engineering 57(2):111–121
Rothwell W, Kazanas H. Mastering the Instructional Design Process. San Francisco, USA: Jossey-Bass, 1992.
Sicilia M. Ontology-based competency management: Infrastructures for the knowledge-intensive learning organization. In Intelligent Learning Infrastructures in Knowledge Intensive Organizations: A Semantic Web Perspective, Lytras M, Naeve A (eds.), Group Hershey, 2005, pp.302–324.
Hargadon A. Brokers of innovation: Lessons from the past. Focus, 2004, 8(1).
Carrington P, Scott J,Wasserman S (eds.). Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Sicilia M A, García E. Fuzzy group models for adaptation in cooperative information retrieval contexts. In Proc. the 30th Conf. Current Trends in Theory and Practice of Computer Science, Jan. 2004, pp.324–334.
Shardanand U, Maes P. Social information filtering: Algorithms for automating “word of mouth” In Proc. the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, May 1995, pp.210–217.
Somerville M M, Howard Z. ‘Information in context’: Codesigning workplace structures and systems for organizational learning. Information Research, 2010, 15(4), Article No. 446.
Mital M, Israel D, Agarwal S (2010) Information exchange and information disclosure in social networking web sites: Mediating role of trust. The Learning Organization 17(6):479–490
McDonnell M, Shiri A (2011) Social search: A taxonomy of, and a user-centred approach to, social web search. Program: Electronic Library and Information Systems 45(1):6–28
Selker T (2005) Fostering motivation and creativity for computer users. Int J Human-Computer Studies 63(4/5):410–421
Sánchez-Alonso S, Frosch-Wilke D (2005) An ontological representation of learning objects and learning designs as codified knowledge. The Learning Organization 12(5):471–479
Fairchild A M. Knowledge management metrics via a balanced scorecard methodology. In Proc. the 35th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Jan. 2002, Vol.8: 243.
Garmus D, Herron D. Function Point Analysis: Measurement Practices for Successful Software Projects. Addison-Wesley Professional, 2000.
Freeman L (1979) Centrality in social networks: Conceptual clarification. Social Networks 1(3):215–239
Lytras M, Sicilia M A, Tsotra D. On the sizing of knowledge management activities and its relationship to supporting technology. In Proc. the 2005 International Conference on Software Engineering Research and Practice, June 2005, pp.483–490.
Elsbach K, Barr P, Hargadon A (2005) Identifying situated cognition in organizations. Organization Science 16(4):422–433
Nielsen J (1993) Usability Engineering. Morgan Kaufmann, San Fransisco, USA
Cormican K, O’Sullivan D (2007) A groupware system for virtual product innovation management. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing 17(6):499–510
Petty R, Guthrie J (2000) Intellectual capital literature review: Management, reporting and management. Journal of Intellectual Capital 1(2):155–176
Gruber T (2007) Ontology of folksonomy: A mash-up of apples and oranges. International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems 3(1):1–11
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
García-Barriocanal, E., Sicilia, MA. & Sánchez-Alonso, S. Social Network-Aware Interfaces as Facilitators of Innovation. J. Comput. Sci. Technol. 27, 1211–1221 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11390-012-1297-x
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11390-012-1297-x