scholarly journals Coordinating online health communities for cognitive and affective value creation

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Van Oerle ◽  
Dominik Mahr ◽  
Annouk Lievens

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework investigating patterns of online health communities. In particular, the study draws on coordination theory to identify four community configurations. Their distinct features determine communities’ capacity to internalize and externalize knowledge, which ultimately determines their value creation in a service context. Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply qualitative and quantitative techniques to detect similarities and differences in a sample of 50 online health communities. A categorical principal component analysis combined with cluster analysis reveals four distinct community configurations. Findings – The analysis reveals differences in the degrees of cognitive and affective value creation, the types of community activities, the involved patients, professionals, and other stakeholders; and the levels of data disclosure by community members. Four community configurations emerge: basic information provider, advanced patient knowledge aggregator, systematic networked innovator, and uncomplicated idea sharer. Research limitations/implications – The findings show that communities can be categorized along two knowledge creation dimensions: knowledge externalization and knowledge internalization. While, previous research remained inconclusive regarding the synergistic or conflicting nature of cognitive and affective value creation, the findings demonstrate that cognitive value creation is an enabler for affective value creation. The emerging configurations offer a classification scheme for online communities and a basis for interpreting findings of future services research in the context of online health communities. Originality/value – This research combines coordination theory with healthcare, service, and knowledge creation literature to provide a fine-grained picture of the components of online health communities. Thereby, inherent trade-offs and conflicts that characterize the components of coordination theory are investigated.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Wang ◽  
Jia Wang ◽  
Qiao Li

PurposeActive interaction and knowledge contribution are vital yet challenging elements of the sustainable development of online health communities (OHCs). To investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying these behaviours in doctors' and patients' use of OHCs, this study develops a theoretical model to examine the relationships among cognitive modes, patterns of interaction, perceived usefulness, and contribution behaviour and the impact of user identity on these relationships.Design/methodology/approachTo test the research hypotheses, structural equation modelling and multiple-group analysis were used to analyse survey data from 207 doctors and 213 patients.FindingsThe results indicate that dual processes and perceived usefulness are the key cognitive antecedents of interaction and knowledge contribution, respectively. However, the correlation of the rational mode and instrumental interaction is significantly stronger in the doctors' group than in the patients' group, while a stronger correlation between the experiential mode and instrumental interaction is observed in the patients' group.Practical implicationsThese findings support the development of information and system strategies to support the operation of dual processes underlying doctors' and patients' instrumental and affective interactions, facilitate evaluation and sense-making of interaction activities, and motivate knowledge contribution.Originality/valueThis study uncovers the invariance and variability in the relationships between salient cognitive activities and behavioural responses in doctors' and patients' use of OHCs and the impact of user identity on variability.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenglong Li ◽  
Hongxiu Li ◽  
Reima Suomi ◽  
Yong Liu

PurposeAlthough knowledge sharing in online communities has been studied for many years, little is known about the determinants for individuals' knowledge sharing in online health communities (OHCs) surrounding smoking cessation. Examining the determinants of knowledge sharing in such OHCs from the social capital perspective may prove particularly enlightening.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire-based online user survey of two smoking cessation OHCs, one based in Finland and one based in China, was performed. Performing data analysis with partial least squares (SmartPLS 3.0), the authors developed a model conceptualizing the structural, cognitive and relational dimensions of social capital as drivers for knowledge sharing in smoking cessation OHCs, with users' stage in giving up smoking as a moderator.FindingsThe results show that structural capital (social ties) and relational capital (reciprocity) are important motivators behind knowledge sharing in smoking cessation OHCs, and the authors found a moderating effect of the stage in quitting on the antecedents' relationship with knowledge sharing in these OHCs.Originality/valueThe study enriches understanding of knowledge sharing in smoking cessation OHCs, contributing to theory and identifying practical implications for such groups' administration.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenglong Li ◽  
Hongxiu Li ◽  
Reima Suomi

PurposeAn empirical study investigated the antecedents to perceived usefulness (PU) and its consequences in the context of smoking cessation online health communities (OHCs).Design/methodology/approachTo validate a research model for perceived informational support, perceived emotional support and perceived esteem support, the authors conducted a partial-least-squares analysis of empirical data from an online survey (N = 173) of users of two smoking cessation OHCs. The proposed model articulates these as antecedents to PU from a social support perspective, and knowledge sharing and continuance intention are expressed as consequences of PU.FindingsThe empirical study identified that the PU of smoking cessation OHCs is influenced by perceived emotional support and perceived esteem support, and perceived informational support indirectly affects PU via these factors. In turn, PU exerts a positive influence on both knowledge sharing and continuance intention. Also, knowledge sharing positively affects continuance intention.Originality/valueThe study contributes to scholarship on users' postadoption behavior in the context of smoking cessation OHCs by disentangling the antecedents to PU from a social support perspective and pinpointing some important consequences of PU. The research also has practical implications for managing smoking cessation OHCs.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hicham Meghouar

PurposeThis study proposes a qualitative analysis to identify takeover target criteria according to French Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) practitioners.Design/methodology/approachA principal component factor analysis, applied to responses from 42 French M&A practitioners, highlighted four factors that summarize information about predictive variables and which explain the occurrence of takeover.FindingsAccording to the surveyed practitioners, four main axes explain 83% of the occurrence of takeover. These axes reflect motivations related to the undervalued target theory, synergy theory and agency theory. The first factor defined by the size of the company, its rate of return and turbulence in the sector. A second factor opposed market value and dividend payout ratio to the liquidity variable. The last two factors are called the debt factor, structured by the debt variable and the value creation factor, which opposed the value creation variable and transaction volume to the growth opportunities variable. The results therefore confirmed the importance of some predictor variables tested in previous studies and showed different results.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was limited in terms of sample size. The low number of responses obtained reflects the sensitivity of the subject, insofar as it highlights the predictive model used by M&A practitioners (professional secrecy). Future investigations will involve in extending the questionnaire approach to a larger sample of continental European M&A practitioners.Originality/valuePredicting takeover targets has been the subject of abundant literature. The results do not converge and are sometimes contradictory. This paper undertakes a field study conducted using a questionnaire survey to detect predictive variables used by M&A practitioners in their identification of a target firm. The authors aim to identify a relevant indicators favorable to the occurrence of a takeover bid and which are/or not handled by the literature.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhao ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Xiucheng Fan

Purpose – Patient value co-creation represents a key research priority and an essential determinant of health care service outcomes. Yet few studies empirically examine the factors that motivate patients to participate actively in value co-creation. The purpose of this paper is to seek to identify the motivators of such activities in online health communities (OHC) and examine their specific and unique effects. Design/methodology/approach – A netnographic study helps identify the motivators that drive patients’ value co-creation activities in OHCs. The combination of these results with social identity theories suggest the hypotheses; mediation analyses test the hypothesized model with data collected from eight OHCs that address both life-threatening and non-life-threatening illnesses. Findings – The netnographic results show that social identity drives patients’ value co-creation activities. Interactions among OHC members and the cognitive resources of the OHC both contribute to the development of its social identity. Furthermore, benevolence trust, shared vision, and shared language determine how likely an OHC member is to identify with a particular OHC, which further influences his or her value co-creation activities in that OHC. Originality/value – Although value co-creation is critical to the health care sector, few studies examine antecedents of patient value co-creation empirically. This study represents an initial attempt to do so by combining innovative netnographic analyses with mediation analyses.


2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Zhou

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to draw on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework to examine users’ knowledge sharing in online health communities (OHC). Design/methodology/approach Based on the 326 valid responses collected from a survey, structural equation modelling was employed to examine the research model. Findings The results indicated that both information quality and service quality affect trust in community, whereas both informational support and emotional support affect trust in other members. Both types of trust and privacy risk determine users’ sharing intention, which in turn affects sharing behaviour. Research limitations/implications The results imply that service providers need to improve their community platforms and create a supportive climate in order to facilitate users’ trust and their knowledge sharing behaviour. Originality/value Previous studies have examined a few determinants of OHC user behaviour such as privacy concern, trust and motivations. However, they have seldom disclosed the internal decision process underlying users’ knowledge sharing. This research tries to fill the gap.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hangzhou Yang ◽  
Huiying Gao

PurposeOnline health communities (OHCs) are platforms that help health consumers to communicate with each other and obtain social support for better healthcare outcomes. However, it is usually difficult for community members to efficiently find appropriate peers for social support exchange due to the tremendous volume of users and their generated content. Most of the existing user recommendation systems fail to effectively utilize the rich social information in social media, which can lead to unsatisfactory recommendation performance. The purpose of this study is to propose a novel user recommendation method for OHCs to fill this research gap.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposed a user recommendation method that utilized the adapted matrix factorization (MF) model. The implicit user behavior networks and the user influence relationship (UIR) network were constructed using the various social information found in OHCs, including user-generated content (UGC), user profiles and user interaction records. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach based on a dataset collected from a famous online health community.FindingsThe experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method outperformed all baseline models in user recommendation using the collected dataset. The incorporation of social information from OHCs can significantly improve the performance of the proposed recommender system.Practical implicationsThis study can help users build valuable social connections efficiently, enhance communication among community members, and potentially contribute to the sustainable prosperity of OHCs.Originality/valueThis study introduces the construction of the UIR network in OHCs by integrating various social information. The conventional MF model is adapted by integrating the constructed UIR network for user recommendation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Campanella ◽  
Armand Derhy ◽  
Francesco Gangi

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate the existence of a relationship between the knowledge creation process and competitive advantage in the banking system. The framework of knowledge creation processes adopted in this research is the spiral of knowledge proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). The concept of competitive advantage is limited to the measurement of economic value by adopting methods that compare the financial performance of the banks with related markets. The objective of this research is to answer the following research question: Which factors of the spiral of knowledge are relevant for increasing a bank’s economic value? Design/methodology/approach The sample used for this empirical research is composed of 960 banks operating in 24 countries. The sample was analyzed from 2012 to 2015 and includes 3,840 observations. Regarding the methodology, hypothesis demonstration was carried out using a panel analysis (generalized least squares regression) on a set of variables. Findings The results show that Nonaka and Takeushi’s spiral of knowledge has a positive influence on value creation in the banking system. However, not all factors of the four modalities of converting tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge and vice versa have a positive influence on the economic value of banks. Therefore, by excluding factors that have a negative influence or are not significant, it is possible to formulate an empirical model that illustrates the relationship between the spiral of knowledge and the economic value of banks. Originality/value There is a lack of studies on the knowledge creation process in the banking system because most of the research is geographically limited, and empirical tests are performed on small samples. Second, generally, these studies are limited to the relationship between intellectual capital and bank performance measured by accounting ratios. However, intellectual capital is only one component of the broader concept of knowledge. This research uses a large and geographically diverse sample and studies the relationship between the spiral of knowledge and economic value, which is measured by various financial techniques.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdallah Khalaf Alsaad ◽  
Kawther Jameel Yousif ◽  
Mohamad Noor AlJedaiah

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of electronic collaboration (e-collaboration) including information sharing, resource sharing and joint knowledge creation in value creation within pharmaceutical supply chain (SC) and achieving competitive priorities for pharmaceutical companies in Jordan. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive analytical methodology was used through a comprehensive review of published and unpublished work from secondary sources of information in the areas of specific interest: e-collaboration and competitive priorities. The study was conducted at Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) (of which many pharmaceutical companies are linked electronically through JFDA workflow system). Data were collected (using paper questionnaire) from 90 electronically collaborating pharmaceutical companies and 81 complete responses were received, forming a 90 percent response rate. The analysis of collected data was performed using partial least square structure equation modeling. Findings The results of the analysis indicated that e-collaboration dimensions, information sharing and resource sharing, have a positive impact on competitive priorities, while joint knowledge creation was not significantly related to them. The results suggest that value creation in SC electronic systems is contingent on mutual resource synergy and joint collaboration among trading partners. Research limitations/implications The sample size for this study does not include all pharmaceutical companies in Jordan, as this electronic linkage within the pharmaceutical companies is at its early stage. Moreover, competitive priorities examined in this research are limited to a single industry context. Practical implications This study offers a new insight into information technologies (IT)/business values that can be beneficial to IT and SC managers. By proposing the association between e-collaboration activities and competitive priorities, IT and SC managers are provided with a useful tool to link IT with collaborative activities that lead to value creation. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the early studies about e-collaboration in pharmaceutical SC and competitive priorities in Jordan. As such, managers of manufacturing companies can use the outcome of this study to establish more collaborative partnerships within their SCs. This research contributes to encouraging pharmaceutical firms to focus on their export and marketing capabilities regionally and abroad which would establish a globally competitive pharmaceutical technology industry in Jordan. Social implications It reveals that the adoption of IT alone to manage SC relationships is not sufficient to generate value. Both information- and resource-sharing activities are the core to do so .The results suggest that value creation in SC electronic systems is contingent on mutual resource synergy and joint collaboration among trading partners. The results of the analysis indicated that the dimension of e-collaboration, joint knowledge creation, was not significantly related to competitive priorities. Originality/value This study offers a contextual contribution. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the early studies about e-collaboration in pharmaceutical SC and competitive priorities in Jordan.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document