Exploring Multiplexity: Social Network Structures in a Computer-Supported Distance Learning Class

A computer-mediated group is a complex entity whose members exchange many types of information via multiple means of communication in pursuit of goals specific to their environment. Over time, they coordinate technical features of media with locally enacted use to achieve a viable working arrangement. To explore this complex interaction, a case study is presented of the social networks of interactions and media use among members of a class of computer-supported distance learners. Results show how group structures associated with project teams dominated who communicated with whom, about what, and via which media over the term, and how media came to occupy their own communication niches: Webboard for diffuse class-wide communication; Internet Relay Chat more to named others but still for general communication across the class; and e-mail primarily for intrateam communication. Face-to-face interaction, occurring only during a short on-campus session, appears to have had a catalytic effect on social and emotional exchanges. Results suggest the need to structure exchanges to balance class-wide sharing of ideas with subgroup interactions that facilitate project completion, and to provide media that support these two modes of interaction.     

Measuring the impact of spammers on e-mail and Twitter networks

This paper investigates the research question if senders of large amounts of irrelevant or unsolicited information – commonly called “spammers” – distort the network structure of social networks. Two large social networks are analyzed, the first extracted from the Twitter discourse about a big telecommunication company, and the second obtained from three years of email communication of 200 managers working for a large multinational company. This work compares network robustness and the stability of centrality and interaction metrics, as well as the use of language, after removing spammers and the most and least connected nodes. The results show that spammers do not significantly alter the structure of the information-carrying network, for most of the social indicators. The authors additionally investigate the correlation between e-mail subject line and content by tracking language sentiment, emotionality, and complexity, addressing the cases where collecting email bodies is not permitted for privacy reasons. The findings extend the research about robustness and stability of social networks metrics, after the application of graph simplification strategies. The results have practical implication for network analysts and for those company managers who rely on network analytics (applied to company emails and social media data) to support their decision-making processes.     

从“专家导向”到“集体磋商”——论维基百科时代科学知识的社会建构

人们一直秉承这样一个传统：科学知识由专家创造,并且经由专家的把关之后传递给大众。维基百科的出现,使得公众得以规模化地进入科学知识的生产领域,由此开始刷新以往专家驱动的知识生产史。本文从社会建构主义的视角对传统科学知识传播的认知进行反思,指出在颠覆专家授予知识的传统上,媒介变革所推动的知识民主意识和世俗化的科学形象均起到了重要作用,且维基百科的社交媒体属性对知识社会建构提供了保障,使异质共同体参与科学知识生产得以可能。同时,也有助于科学反思自身,调和科学与公众在知识传播中的矛盾。     

The influence of informal social media practices on knowledge sharing and work processes within organizations

Contemporary information technologies such as social media have invigorated the way knowledge is shared within organizations to the extent that we have to rethink and reassess our understanding of the role and influence of technology in organizational processes and knowledge sharing. This paper uses the strategy as practice lens guided by the interpretivist philosophy to understand the influence of informal social media practices on knowledge sharing and work processes within an organization. The paper uses empirical evidence from the case study of a telecom organization in Tanzania to gain theoretical insight into informal social media practices and knowledge sharing. This research contributes to the Information Systems (IS) literature by asserting that organizational processes are achieved by mundane knowledge sharing mediated by informal social media use within the organization. Also, the study contributes to IS literature by highlighting how emerging informal practices are essential to daily processes within organizations.     

社会网络结构空洞嵌入对创新能力的影响研究

本文从创新企业知识共享穿透切入,基于社会网络理论(SNA)分析视角,重点剖析社会网络"结构洞"对创意知识共享的"倒U型"影响。通过构建数量Logistic(阻滞增长)模型,旨在建立黏度适宜的"社会网络桥",撬动"结构洞"与创新能力的倒U型曲线,强化创新企业社会网络内各个行为利基体间的沟通与信任,增强彼此间的联系强度与网络中心强度,提高创意企业的创新知识共享水平,促进企业创新水平的提升。     

社交网络舆情事件主题图谱构建及可视化研究——以校园突发事件话题为例

[目的/意义]利用知识图谱构建大数据驱动的社交网络舆情事件主题图谱,是网络舆情学术界和产业界关注的新问题,结合校园突发事件网络舆情进行可视化分析对推动社交网络舆情监控平台的构建具有一定的理论和现实指导意义。[方法/过程]文章在对知识图谱、社交网络舆情事件主题图谱相关理论进行分析梳理的基础上,构建校园突发网络舆情事件主题图谱中的实体、关系和过程模型,并结合"北京交通大学实验室爆炸"舆情事件进行可视化分析。[结果/结论]数据结果表明,政府官微在舆情引导中起到重要作用;可以从"故事线"和"时间线"两个方面对舆情事件进行可视化分析;高校舆情事件在爆发初期、事件调查进展期、事件调查结果期呈现不同的情感倾向;高校舆情事件的传播媒介在移动端和非移动端传播差异不大;舆情夜间传播活跃度高于日间。     

Is social networking a waste of time? The impact of social network and knowledge characteristics on job performance

People use social media to help them solve problems and enhance performance. Users may engage in diverse social interactions online, increasing their knowledge base through both weak and strong ties. In this study we investigate the impact of social networks on job performance, focusing on knowledge quality and diversity based on social network theory and the knowledge-based view. The empirical analysis reveals that the strength of social network ties is strongly associated with knowledge quality in offline interactions, while social network diversity is associated with knowledge quality in online interactions. Knowledge quality acquired from social network has a significant impact on both creativity and productivity of job performance in the workplace. However, knowledge diversity acquired from diverse social network interactions is strongly associated with creativity, but not with productivity. The results of this study increase our understanding of the knowledge sourcing behaviors of workers.     

团队知识转移:多样性与网络传递性的作用

本文基于社会资本理论,运用多元回归模型探索团队内部知识转移过程中的影响因素,检验了社会网络传递性在团队多样性和企业内部知识转移之间的中介作用。调研过程基于研究者对调研对象的相关培训后开展,对来自中国某银行92个团队的1159人进行了调研。结果显示,传递性在教育程度多样性与知识转移之间扮演完全中介的角色以及在年龄多样性与知识转移之间扮演部分中介的角色。此外,团队多样性对传递性和知识转移都具有显著影响。     

知识传播的社会网络结构研究——以MOOC为例

【目的/意义】随着网络和多媒体技术的迅速发展,知识虚拟社区作为一种以实现教育和学习为目的的网络 学习共同体,亦成为学习者进行知识共享和经验交流的重要平台。对教育虚拟社区中知识传播的网络结构研究能 够帮助认识知识扩散模式,有利于虚拟社区中的知识组织和知识管理。【方法/过程】本文基于知识图谱理论以 MOOC（慕课）为例构建知识传播社区图谱并分析其网络结构,使用社会网络分析方法分别从宏观和微观剖析知识 传播社区中以学生学习课程构成的网络的互动结构特征和互动关系特征,挖掘知识传播模式。【结果/结论】研究结 果揭示虚拟教育学习社区各节点的关联关系以及路径距离。学生学习课程网络中的节点连接紧密,形成的社区较 明显;具有较高中心度和PageRank值的课程更受学生欢迎;具有较高中心度和PageRank值的学生更积极参与课程 互动。研究结果为在线教育知识传播社区用户管理和知识管理提供依据和方法支撑。【创新/局限】论文从理论层 面论述了知识图谱理论构建教育虚拟社区知识转移及知识传播网络,通过可视化图谱呈现知识社区网络结构; MOOC作为数据源分析教育虚拟社区网络结构,且采集的样本数据量还有待增加,具有一定局限性。     

A social status perspective of network utility over electronic channels in academic communities

Early research on the social implications of e-mail has promoted the role of electronic communication channels in fostering social equality and reducing gaps between the social classes. Follow-up studies, however, suggest that people continue to rely on social cues in electronic communication as a way of dealing with uncertainties and reducing feelings of discomfort associated with unfamiliar contexts. Based on a review of the Social Cognitive Theory, social status and electronic communication literatures, along with the results of a previous qualitative study, we propose a formal model that indicates how self-perceptions of social status are related to the use of e-mail and the acquisition of social resources over electronic channels. The model is tested using data collected from 206 faculty members in a major U.S. university. The empirical results support the proposed model implying that self-perceptions of social status influence social assertiveness, which in turn reinforces the use of e-mail to seek help and acquire social resources from others. The use of e-mail for the acquisition of social resources is associated with a socially diverse network whose contacts are perceived to acquire valuable information and to extend instrumental support for career development. Implications are drawn for both theory and practice.     

Business process improvement and the knowledge flows that cross a private online social network: An insurance supply chain case

This paper analyses how the knowledge shared between employees and suppliers within a private enterprise social network affects process improvement. Data was collected from internal documents, and the internal and external enterprise social networks used by an international insurance company; the average cycle time for handling 8494 claims and 3240 messages posted on the internal and external social networks was analysed. Social network analysis techniques were combined with principal component analysis and structural equation modeling, and the results demonstrate that the knowledge shared within the internal and external social network can explain 35.10% of process improvement variability, while the knowledge shared within the internal social network explains 89.90% of external social network variability. The analysis also demonstrates that: (i) the knowledge shared among employees positively affects process improvement; (ii) the knowledge shared among suppliers negatively affects process improvement; and (iii) the knowledge shared among employees positively affects the knowledge shared among supply chain members. These findings have theoretical and practical implications. They extend the literature in the knowledge management and information management field by offering empirical evidence of how the knowledge shared through an enterprise social network affects business process improvement, using the objective data provided by Yammer. They also provide a strategic tool for managers that will allow them to better understand how they can use the enterprise social network for business processes improvement.     

国外社交媒体及其信息沟通模式研究

国内外社交媒体大量兴起,成为近年来研究热点。本文系统比较分析国外社交媒体及其信息沟通模式,对我国社交媒体发展具有重要意义。从多维度归纳对比国外几种流行的社交媒体特征,提出交叉圈状型、去中心直线型、交互网状型及弱互动型4种典型信息沟通模式,并综合国外社交媒体发展优缺点,提出8条推动我国社交媒体健康可持续发展的对策建议。     

Capturing information on global knowledge flows from patent transfers: An empirical study using USPTO patents

In the global open innovation environment, one of the main characteristics of the knowledge-based economy is to pay more attention to the importance of global knowledge flows. This paper investigates global knowledge flows from the perspective of patent transfers, which can not only reflect the patents' economic value but also explore explicit and tacit knowledge flows comprehensively. This paper begins with the premise that global knowledge flows include the internal absorption of knowledge (IAK), knowledge outflows (KOFs) and knowledge inflows (KIFs) based on a dataset derived from United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during 2002 and 2016. Then, a global knowledge flow network is constructed by integrating patent transfer analysis and social network analysis. Our results show that more and more inventors and assignees are involved in the global knowledge flow network, China and India's ranking in the list of knowledge creators and users rises rapidly, cross-border knowledge flows will become a new trend; the rapid development of G06F (electric digital data processing), H04L (transmission of digital information) and other technological fields has accelerated the global knowledge flows; at present, the United States is the largest net knowledge inflow participant, the United Kingdom is the largest net knowledge outflow participant; the characteristics of a small-world effect in the cross-border knowledge flow network composed of 35 major participants become increasingly obvious. Our findings have clear policy implications. Establishing a global knowledge flow network is needed in order to promote global knowledge transfers, absorption and sharing.     

浅析POP3客户机程序设计

Internet在应用层提供多种网络服务,电子邮件是其中常用的服务类型之一。本文涉及的相关知识主要包括:电子邮件的工作原理、邮件地址与邮件格式、POP命令与POP响应信息,以及设计时的关键问题。     

Innovation in regions: What does really matter?

The literature on systems of innovation conceptualises innovation as an evolutionary and social process of collective learning. But three main questions remain open: is this learning process rather internal or external? What are the boundaries of this process? Is this social process voluntary or rather unintended? This paper strives to tackle those questions by analysing the determinants of regional innovative levels in French manufacturing industries. By estimating a knowledge production function we find that building external interactions is of greater importance than developing internal innovative competences. Second, unintended knowledge flows have less influence on regional innovative performance than deliberate ones. Lastly, the French innovation system looks regional rather than sectoral.     

立足科研项目管理 提升科学传播质量

开展科学传播工作是提升全民科学素质、推动社会进步的重要手段。作为科研活动的重要载体,科研项目对于科学传播具有显著的推动作用。文章以中国科学院战略性先导科技专项(B类)"大气灰霾追因与控制"的科研管理工作为例,阐述科研项目和科学传播协同管理的推进机制与举措,探讨在传统媒体和新兴媒体深度融合、知识需求更加多元的时代背景下,多渠道多角度拓展科学研究成果传播的表达策略和方式。     

International research networks: Determinants of country embeddedness

Research activities are increasingly global so that embeddedness in international knowledge networks is decisive for inventive and innovative performance. We analyze determinants of countries’ embeddedness in the global photovoltaics knowledge network for the period 1980–2015 and argue that positions in this network are determined by the structure and functionality of national research systems and by instruments within the policy-mix for renewable energies. We show that cohesion and connectedness of the national research system positively affect international embeddedness, whereas centralized systems are detrimental to embeddedness. This indicates that a diffusion oriented research system allows better access to international knowledge flows. Policy instruments, especially demand side instruments, show a positive effect on embeddedness.     

研发团队知识交流网络结构的实证研究

在对中航集团某企业3个产品研发团队的知识交流活动进行调研的基础上,本研究从社会关系的视角,分析了研发团队知识交流活动具有的非正式性和交流对象选择的偏好性,并结合相关研究将选择偏好归纳为四类。本文对调研网络和英国帝国化工集团研发交流网络的结构分析表明,研发团队知识交流网络具有明显的小世界特性,同时发现了国内外研发人员在知识交流行为上的差异。本文的研究能够为学者们运用小世界理论研究知识交流提供理论和实践依据,希望为知识交流微观过程的研究以及团队知识交流管理实践提供参考。     

Managing supply chain knowledge-based linkages for improving operational performance

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the role of internal and external knowledge-based linkages across the supply chain in achieving better operational performance. It investigates how knowledge is accumulated, shared, and applied to create organization-specific knowledge resources that increase and sustain the organization’s competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a single case study with multiple, embedded units of analysis, and the social network analysis (SNA) to demonstrate the impact of internal and external knowledge-based linkages across multiple tiers in the supply chain on the organizational operational performance. The focal company of the case study is an Italian manufacturer supplying rubber components to European automotive enterprises. Findings – With the aid of the SNA, the internal knowledge-based linkages can be mapped and visualized. We found that the most central nodes having the most connections with other nodes in the linkages are the most crucial members in terms of knowledge exploration and exploitation within the organization. We also revealed that the effective management of external knowledge-based linkages, such as buyer company, competitors, university, suppliers, and subcontractors, can help improve the operational performance. Research limitations/implications – First, our hypothesis was tested on a single case. The analysis of multiple case studies using SNA would provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between the knowledge-based linkages at all levels of the supply chain and the integration of knowledge. Second, the static nature of knowledge flows was studied in this research. Future research could also consider ongoing monitoring of dynamic linkages and the dynamic characteristic of knowledge flows. Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, the phrase ‘knowledge-based linkages’ has not been used in the literature and there is lack of investigation on the relationship between the management of internal and external knowledge-based linkages and the operational performance. To bridge the knowledge gap, this paper will show the importance of understanding the composition and characteristics of knowledge-based linkages and their knowledge nodes. In addition, this paper will show that effective management of knowledge-based linkages leads to the creation of new knowledge and improves organizations’ operational performance.     

企业社会网络影响创新绩效的内在机理研究——打开知识管理能力的黑箱

基于社会网络和知识基础理论,以知识管理能力为中介变量,并打开其“黑箱”,探究企业社会网络影响创新绩效的内在机理,运用结构方程模型分析和Bootstrap等方法,对相关假设进行检验。结果表明,企业内部社会网络能够通过内部知识管理能力的中介作用提升企业创新绩效,内部社会网络会依次通过知识创造、知识转化和知识创新能力的链式传导作用,对企业创新绩效产生积极影响;企业外部社会网络能够通过外部知识管理能力的中介作用提升企业创新绩效,外部社会网络会依次通过知识吸收、知识连接和知识解吸能力的链式传导作用,对企业创新绩效产生积极影响;企业内、外部社会网络的交互项也能够通过内部和外部知识管理能力的中介作用提升企业创新绩效。