Reframing organizations in the digital age: A qualitative study exploring institutional social media adoption involving emergency physicians and other researchers

Background: Social media is changing the modern academic landscape; this study sought to explore how organizational structures support or inhibit the harnessing of social media use in academic contexts and knowledge translation. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using framework analysis based on the Bolman and Deal’s Four-Frame Model—structural, human resources, political and symbolic. The research team used the snowball sampling technique to recruit participants following the completion of each participant’s semi-structured interview. A member check was completed to ensure rigour. Results: 16 social media educators and experts from several countries participated in the study. Study findings showed that within the Structural Frame, participants’ organizations were reported to have with diverse hierarchical structures, ranging hospital-based (strict), education institutional-based and online only groups (malleable). The Human Resources Frame revealed that most participants’ social media organizations operated on unpaid volunteer staff. The training of these staff was primarily via role-modeling and mentorship. Regarding the Political Frame, social media helped participants accumulate scholarly currency and influence within their field of practice. The Symbolic Frame showed a wide range of traditional to non-traditional organizational supports, which interacted with both intrinsic to extrinsic motivation. Conclusions: Bolman and Deal’s Four-Frame Model framework may serve as an effective guideline for academic leaders who wish to strategically implement or enhance social media use into their organizations. The key insights that we have gained from our participants are how new emerging forms of scholarly pursuits can be more effectively enabled or hindered by the attributes of the organization within which these are occurring.

Reframing organizations in the digital age: A qualitative study exploring institutional social media adoption

Background: Social media is changing the modern academic landscape; this study sought to explore how organizational structures support or inhibit the harnessing of social media use in academic contexts and knowledge translation. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using framework analysis based on the Bolman and Deal’s Four-Frame Model—structural, human resources, political and symbolic. The research team used the snowball sampling technique to recruit participants following the completion of each participant’s semi-structured interview. A member check was completed to ensure rigour. Results: 16 social media educators and experts from several countries participated in the study. Study findings showed that within the Structural Frame, institution types were reported to have with diverse hierarchical structures, ranging from strict to malleable: hospital-based (strict), education institutional-based and online only groups (malleable). The Human Resources Frame revealed that most participants’ social media organizations operated on unpaid volunteer staff. The training of these staff was primarily via role-modeling and mentorship. Regarding the Political Frame, social media helped participants accumulate scholarly currency and influence within their field of practice. Symbolic Frame showed a wide range of traditional to non-traditional organizational supports, which interacted with both intrinsic to extrinsic motivation. Conclusions: Bolman and Deal’s Four-Frame Model framework may serve as an effective guideline for academic leaders who wish to strategically implement or enhance social media use into their organizations. The key insights that we have gained from our participants are how new emerging forms of scholarly pursuits can be more effectively enabled or hindered by the attributes of the organization within which these are occurring.

Reframing Recognition in Organizations

Business leaders today are faced with the challenges associated with employee engagement, recruitment, and retaining top talent. One answer that has emerged to address these challenges has been employee recognition programs. Although research has pointed to the numerous benifits associated with recognition programs, many organizations still struggle to create and deliver effective recognition programs. Many of these programs fail due to the lack of structure enabling employees to recognize each other, difficulty selecting individuals to recognize, lack of clarity concerning program objectives, and company cultures that do not support recognition. This article looks at utilizing Bolman and Deal’s four frame model (including structural, human resources, political, and symbolic) to provide leaders with a better understanding of recognition programs and guidance regarding changes a program can undergo to more accurately match the organizational landscape.