[AISWorld] ISR special issue on Online Communities

[Samer Faraj]

Special Issue Announcement

Collaboration and Value-Creation in Online Communities

Special Issue Editors:


Samer Faraj, Georg von Krogh, Karim Lakhani, and Eric Monteiro

 

 In the past two decades, a range of new information technologies, broadly characterized as Web 2.0, have fundamentally altered the nature of community building, collaboration and organizing in economic and social life.  Technology-enabled collectives in the form of online Communities (OC) bring together large numbers of geographically dispersed individuals in support of an activity, interest, or identity.  Starting with Armstrong and Hagel’s early work conceptualizing the value of online communities for firms, and concomitant with the explosion of OCs in number and membership, academic interest in these collectives has accelerated.  Researchers have investigated a range of issues in the context of OCs, from organization and governance, to what motivates people to participate and contribute volitionally to relative strangers, to the economic and social value created by these collectives. 

 The goal of this special issue is to both take stock and chart new directions for OC research in the information systems (IS) discipline.  In particular, it seeks to encourage novel theorizing and research that enriches our understanding of the practices and dynamics at play in OCs.  Many important questions related to OCs remain under-studied.  For instance, while research has focused on why people participate in online communities at the individual level of analysis, less is known about the activities of members, the inner workings of communities, or the processes and technologies that support them.  To illustrate, many OCs are sustained by the work of a small group of dedicated, core contributors that create content and protect the boundary of the community, with a much larger group of individuals lurking or sporadically contributing information. Recent lines of inquiry have emphasized the social capital and social practice aspect of community engagement.  Further, although research on OCs has become increasingly reliant on large data sets and analysis of information and other resource flows, often such research subscribes to a structural perspective where actors and actions are represented by network position, frequencies of ties, or inference from linked others. A macro structural perspective may inhibit a deeper understanding of the full dynamics of OC with its multiple layers of actors and activities.  


 To the extent that OCs represent new forms of organizing and have emerged as complex settings where serious work gets done and collaboration of hitherto unseen scale can emerge, there is a need to broaden and deepen understanding of this evolving phenomenon. Online communities provide forums for wide-ranging efforts in product development, and knowledge creation. They are increasingly seen as sites for unconventional knowledge collaboration and innovation with far-reaching implications for economy and society. Yet, surprisingly little is known about online communities focused on a variety of significant domains such as health support, rare diseases, human genomics research, knowledge remixing, eScience, and citizen science.


 Research that goes beyond the application of a few select social psychological theories and the routine application of network analysis tools to explain complex online actions and organizing is needed.  Consistent with recent advances in the science of networks, new ways of representing action, actors, artifacts, and outcomes are called for. Above all, new theorizing that crosses levels of analysis, does not blackbox technology, nor conflates OC activities with aspects such as the use of social media tools warrants attention. Central to new modes of theorizing is a stronger, perhaps, constitutive, role of technology in the very phenomenon under study.  By taking stock of drivers for action, the emergent practices, the evolving form of OC organizing, the IS field has the potential to advance new views on change and adaptation of organizations, thereby claiming a central position in the discourse on the new realities.


 This special issue seeks papers that help the field understand community dynamics, collaborative practices, and value-creation processes in OCs, in order to both improve and move beyond traditional views of the online phenomena.  All theoretical and methodological perspectives are welcomed and novel and original perspectives are especially sought.  Topics of interest include but are not limited to:


 

·      - Varieties of multi-level theorizing cutting across individual and aggregate levels

·      - Sociomaterial accounts of OCs

·      - The technology infrastructures undergirding OCs

·      - Roles, governance structure, authority relations and community boundaries

·      - Lessons for organizational collaboration from OCs

·      - Psychological tensions between the demands by formal organization and the role expectations expressed by the community

·      - Implications for our understanding about how groups share knowledge

·      - Characteristics of value-creation processes in OCs.

·      - Managing the process of innovation with OC boundary fluidity

·      - Firm and OCs interaction in innovation and collaboration

·      - Social identity building from interactions between organizations and OCs

·      - Community based modes of governance and organizing

 

 TIMELINE

November 1 2014

Submission

February 2015

First round of editorial decisions (reviews, desk rejects)

May 2015

Special issue workshop

August 30, 2015

Resubmissions

November 2015

Second round of editorial decisions (rejects, second review)

January 4 2016

Final Resubmission

January 30 2016

Final decision editorial decision

2016

Publication

 

 

ASSOCIATE EDITORS/EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD

 

Alessandro Acquisti (CMU)

Chrisanthi Avgerou (LSE)


Michael Barrett (Cambridge)

Anita Blanchard (UNC-Charlotte)

Brian Butler (Maryland)

Jonathon Cummings (Duke)

Chris Dellaroccas (BU)

Alberto Espinosa (AU)

Lars Frederiksen (Aarhus)

Janet Fulk (USC)

Bob Galliers (Bentley)

Stefan Haefliger (Cass)

Ola Henfridsson (Warwick)

Marleen Huysman (VU)

Sirkka Jarvenpaa (UT-Austin)

Lars Bo Jeppesen (Bocconi)

Steven Johnson (Temple)

Atreyi Kankanhalli (NUS)

Sara Kiesler (CMU)

Sri Kudaravalli (HEC-Paris)

Robert Kraut (CMU)

George Kuk (Nottingham)

Natalia Levina (NYU)

Paul Leonardi (Northwestern)

Alessandro Lomi (Lugano)

Peter Monge (USC)

Sue Newell (Bentley)

Siobhan O’Mahoney (BU)

Wanda Orlikowski (MIT)

Brian Pentland (MSU)

Corey Phelps (HEC-Paris)

Neil Pollock (Edinburgh)

Yuqing Ren (Minnesota)

David Ribes (Georgetown)

Ron Rice (UCSB)

Ulrike Schultz (SMU)

Susan Scott (LSE)

Param V. Singh (CMU)

Juliana Sutanto (ETH Zurich)

Robin Teigland (Stockholm)

JoAnne Yates (MIT)

Youngjin Yoo (Temple) 



BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barad, K. M. Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning Duke University Press Books, 2007.

Butler, B. S., Sproull, L., Kiesler, S., and Kraut, R. "Community Effort in Online Groups: Who Does the Work and Why?," in: Leadership at a distance: Interdisciplinary perspectives, S. Weisband (ed.), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahway, NJ, 2007.

Contractor, N., Monge, P. R., and Leonardi, P. "Multidimensional networks and the dynamics of sociomateriality: Bringing technology inside the network," International Journal of Communication (5) 2011, pp 682-720.

Faraj, S., Jarvenpaa, S. L., and Majchrzak, A. "Knowledge collaboration in online communities," Organization Science (22:5) 2011, pp 1224-1239.

Fulk, J., and DeSanctis, G. "Electronic communication and changing organizational forms," Organization Science (6:4) 1995, pp 337-350.

Holmstrom, H., and Henfridsson, O. "Improving packaged software through online community knowledge," Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems (18:1) 2006, p 2.

Kankanhalli, A., Tan, B. C. Y., and Kwok-Kee, W. "Contributing Knowledge To Electronic Knowledge Repositories: An Empirical Investigation," MIS Quarterly (29:1) 2005, pp 113-143.

Lakhani, K., Spaeth, S., and von Krogh, G. "Community, joining, and specialization in open source software innovation: a case study," Research Policy (32) 2003, pp 1217–1241.

Ma, M., and Agarwal, R. "Through a glass darkly: Information technology design, identity verification, and knowledge contribution in online communities," Information Systems Research (18:1) 2007, pp 42-67.

Majchrzak, A., Wagner, C., and Yates, D. "The Impact of Shaping on Knowledge Reuse  for Organizational Improvement with Wikis," MIS Quarterly, Forthcoming.

Oldenberg, R. Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, And Other Hangouts At The Heart Of A Community Marlow and Company, New York, 1989.

Ren, Y., Harper, F. M., Drenner, S., Terveen, L., Kiesler, S., Riedl, J., and Kraut, R. E. "Building member attachment in online communities: Applying theories of group identity and interpersonal bonds," MIS Quarterly (36:3) 2012, pp 841-864.

Sundarajan, A., Provost, F., Oesteicher-Singer, G., and Aral, S. "Information in digital, economic and social networks," Information Systems Research, forthcoming.

von Krogh, G. "How does social software change knowledge management? Toward a strategic research agenda," Journal of Strategic Information Systems (21) 2012, pp 154-164.

von Krogh, G., Haefliger, S., Spaeth, S., and Wallin, M. W. "Carrots and rainbows: Motivation and social practice in open source software development," MIS Quarterly (36:2) 2012, p 649.

Wasko, M., and Faraj, S. "Why Should I Share?  Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice," MIS Quarterly (29:1) 2005, pp 35-58.

Zammuto, R. F., Griffith, T. L., Majchrzak, A., Dougherty, D. J., and Faraj, S. "Information technology and the changing fabric of organization," Organization Science (18:5) 2007, pp 749-762.

PROCESS

·       Researchers interested in submitting papers are invited to submit their paper ideas to the Guest Editors by May 30, 2014 for early reactions.
·       All research paper submissions must be made through ISR’s online submission system which can be accessed at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/isr.

·       All submitted papers will receive an initial screening by the editorial team. Only papers that are deemed a priori to have a reasonable chance of acceptance in an accelerated review process will remain under consideration. Papers that do not pass this initial screening will not be considered further.

·       Papers that pass the initial screening will undergo no more than two rounds of review (i.e., one revision). Papers not accepted by the end of the second round will be rejected.

·       Following the first round of review, authors of papers for which revisions are invited will be asked to present their work at a conference organized around the special issue theme in May 2015. The conference will be held at the home institutions of one of the Guest Editors.  These authors will be required to present their work at the conference in order to have their papers remain under consideration. Attendees will be expected to cover their own travel and lodging expenses. The conference will be valuable in providing feedback to authors, enhancing insights into the nature of their research efforts/results, and stimulating interest in the special issue theme.

·       Authors must adhere to a strict schedule for submission and revision of papers:

o   The first round of reviews will be returned to authors three months after the initial submission date

o   The first revision of the paper will be due three months after the return of the first round of reviews

o   The second round of reviews will be returned to authors two months after the conference

o   Papers that miss revision deadlines will be rejected

·       Rejected papers can be submitted as regular submissions to Information Systems Research only if such an action is recommended in the Special Issue rejection letter. A recommendation to revise and resubmit as a regular Information Systems Research article will only be undertaken in special circumstances, such as when a formally reviewed manuscript was found to possess a strong likelihood of acceptance but was deemed to either be a poor fit with the theme of the Special Issue or required revisions which, while perceived to be feasible, are unlikely to be accomplished within the Special Issue’s accelerated review schedule.

 
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