通过激活社会资本在虚拟社区中实现知识共享来自中国在

中国科学技术大学博士学位论文通过激活社会资本在虚拟社区中实现知识共享：来自中国在线社交网络的发现姓名：田雯申请学位级别：博士专业：管理科学与工程指导教师：陈华平2011-05-08摘要I摘要在当今社会，管理者面临的一个关键挑战，是如何能在不断变化的组织形式中实现高效的知识共享，例如，在线社交网络社区(OSN：OnlineSocialNetwork)这种新兴的组织形式。随着社交网络服务(SNS：SocialNetworkServices)科技的普及，个人之间交流隐性和显性知识、并共同创造新知识的方式在过去几十年中发生了显著的变化。有越来越多的证据表明，这一过程本身就是一种社会化和基于情境的过程，受到社会资本特征的强烈影响。然而，传统上，对社会资本与知识共享关系的研究采取的是相对静态、单维的办法，从而未能捕捉到社会资本的建立、维护和激活等动态，特别是在OSN的环境下由信息和沟通技术(ICT：InformationandCommunicationTechnologies)带来的变化。因此，个体的知识分享行为也随之发生了改变。然而，尽管中国有着独特的社会文化，关于中国在线社交网络社区中的知识共享活动的研究还是相对较少。关系在中华文化中有着较强的影响，一直被视为成功进行商业活动的一个必要条件。此论文将关系作为社会资本的来源，分析了SNS支持的三个维度的关系资本建立活动：1)结构维度的关系资本，2)联系维度的关系资本，以及3)认知维度的关系资本对个人关系资本积累和关系资本激活的影响。两种类型的知识共享被包括在研究模型中：1)外向型知识共享，也即，知识贡献的质量，数量和多样性(这是知识供方的成果)，2)引入型知识共享，也即知识搜寻(这是知识需求方成果)。通过采用整合的视角，本论文同时考察了个人特征、网络特征和知识共享特征的互相影响机制对知识共享结果的影响。本论文的研究情境针对中国OSN社区中的个人用户。本论文一共研究包括了三项研究：研究1采用焦点小组访谈和讨论的方法来产生关键变量的操作化定义和测量，研究2采用问卷调查法对研究假设进行实证检验，研究3使用案例研究法对研究2的结果进行证实和解释，也对研究2中出现的新问题进行阐释。本论文的结果表明在中国的OSN社区中，个人用户的感知关系资本激活程度对个人知识共享的结果有很强的预测力。这一发现确立了关系资本和西方的社会资本理论之间的理论联系，并证明了用综合视角研究知识共享行为的意义。最后，本论文分析了研究的理论和实践意义，同时针对研究中的局限性和不足之处对未来研究方向进行了探讨，并得出结论。关键词：社会资本关系激活虚拟社区在线社交网络中国AbstractIIIABSTRACTAkeychallengethatmanagersandadministratorsfacetodayishowknowledgesharingcanbeachievedefficientlyandeffectivelyinthechangingformoforganizations,e.g.,OnlineSocialNetwork(OSN)communities.WiththeprevalenceofSocialNetworkServices(SNS),thewayindividualsmutuallyexchangetheirtacitandexplicitknowledgeandjointlycreatenewknowledgevariessignificantlyfromthatofpastdecades.Thereisincreasingevidencethatsuchaprocessisinherentlyasocialandsituatedprocessthatisstronglyimpactedbycharacteristicsofsocialcapital.However,traditionally,researchonthelinkbetweensocialcapitalandknowledgesharinghastakenarelativelystaticandsingledimensionalapproach,thusfailingtocapturetherapidlychangingdynamicsofsocialcapitalinitiation,maintenanceandactivation,especiallybroughtaboutbyInformationandCommunicationTechnologies(ICT)inanOSNenvironment.Thisconsequentlychangeshowindividuals’knowledgesharingbehaviorschange.However,relativelylittleisknownaboutexplicitknowledgesharinginChineseOSNcommunities,giventheuniquesocialandculturalcharacteristicsofthisenvironment.GuanxiisastrongorientationembeddedinsocialrelationshipsinChineseculture,whichhasbeenconsideredanecessaryconditiontodobusinesssuccessfullyinChina,andisviewedinthisthesisasasourceofsocialcapital.ThisthesisanalyzeswhethertheSNS-supported:1)structural,2)relational,and3)cognitivedimensionsofguanxicapitaldevelopmentaffectindividuals’perceivedguanxicapitalaccumulationandactivation.TwotypesofknowledgesharingoutcomesarethenmeasuredinOSNcommunities:1)outwardknowledgesharing,i.e.,knowledgecontributionquality,quantityanddiversity(supply-sideoutcomes)and2)inwardknowledgesharing,i.e.,knowledgesourcingadoption(demand-sideoutcomes).Byadoptinganintegrativeperspective,theindividualproperties,networkproperties,andknowledgesharingpropertiesareconsideredsimultaneouslytoexplorethemechanismsbywhichknowledgesharingoutcomesoccur.TheresearchsettingincludedindividualsfromseveralChineseOSNcommunities.Threestudiesareincludedinthisthesis:Study1usesfocusgroupinterviewsanddiscussionsmainlyforthepurposeofgeneratingvariablesanddevelopingmeasures,Study2employssurveymethodtoempiricallytesttheAbstractIVhypotheses,andStudy3usesthecasestudymethodtotriangulatethefindingsinStudy2andelaborateontheissuesthatemergedbeyondStudy2.Theresultsdemonstrateastrongpredictingpowerofperceivedguanxicapitalactivationonindividuals’knowledgesharingoutcomesinChineseOSNcommunities.Thisestablishesthetheoreticallinkbetweensocialcapitaltheoryandguanxicapital,andjustifiesinvestigatingknowledgesharingbehaviorfromanintegrativeview.Boththeoreticalandpracticalimplicationsareachieved.Limitationsanddirectionsforfuturestudiesarediscussed,andconclusionsaredrawn.KeyWords:socialcapital,guanxi,activation,virtualcommunity,onlinesocialnetwork,China目录IX表目录表2.1.1ExamplesofSNSartifactssupportingOSNelements.................................8表2.2.2Socialcapitalfactorsfacilitatingknowledgesharing(KS)invirtualcommunities.................................................................................................................22表2.5.3Guanxiandmulti-dimensionsofsocialcapital.............................................30表3.6.3Listofmainhypothesesandsub-hypotheses................................................42表4.2.3Focusgroupdiscussionparticipant’sdemography.......................................47表4.3.1Listofconstructs...........................................................................................49表4.4.1KeyCharacteristicsofCaseStudies(Benbasat,etal.,1987).......................53表4.4.3Casestudytechniquesforfourtests(Riege,2003).......................................59表5.2.2aPurposeofSNSusage.................................................................................62表5.2.2bSummaryofattitudestowardsguanxicapitaldevelopmentinSNSwebsites........................................................................................................................63表5.2.