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Creating Value in Online Communities: The Sociomaterial Configuring of Strategy, Platform, and Stakeholder Engagement

Author

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  • Michael Barrett

    (Judge Business School, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 1AG, United Kingdom)

  • Eivor Oborn

    (Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom)

  • Wanda Orlikowski

    (Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142)

Abstract

How is value created in an online community (OC) over time? We explored this question through a longitudinal field study of an OC in the healthcare arena. We found that multiple kinds of value were produced and changed over time as different participants engaged with the OC and its evolving technology in various ways. To explain our findings, we theorize OC value as performed through the ongoing sociomaterial configuring of strategies, digital platforms, and stakeholder engagement. We develop a process perspective to explain these dynamics and identify multiple different kinds of value being created by an OC over time: financial, epistemic, ethical, service, reputational, and platform. Our research points to the importance of expanding the notion of OC users to encompass a broader understanding of stakeholders. It further suggests that creating OC value increasingly requires going beyond a dyadic relationship between the OC and the firm to encompassing a more complex relationship involving a wider ecosystem of stakeholders.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Barrett & Eivor Oborn & Wanda Orlikowski, 2016. "Creating Value in Online Communities: The Sociomaterial Configuring of Strategy, Platform, and Stakeholder Engagement," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 704-723, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:27:y:2016:i:4:p:704-723
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.2016.0648
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Petrakaki, Dimitra & Hilberg, Eva & Waring, Justin, 2021. "The Cultivation of Digital Health Citizenship," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    3. Hangzhou Yang & Huiying Gao, 2018. "Toward Sustainable Virtualized Healthcare: Extracting Medical Entities from Chinese Online Health Consultations Using Deep Neural Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Alekh Gour & Shikha Aggarwal & Subodha Kumar, 2022. "Lending ears to unheard voices: An empirical analysis of user‐generated content on social media," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(6), pages 2457-2476, June.
    5. Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya, 2020. "Humanistic Orientation in Firm–Stakeholder Technology-based Interaction and Its Impact on Stakeholder Satisfaction," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 6(1), pages 86-105, May.
    6. Samer Faraj & Georg von Krogh & Eric Monteiro & Karim R. Lakhani, 2016. "Special Section Introduction—Online Community as Space for Knowledge Flows," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 668-684, December.
    7. Wilkin, Carla L. & Campbell, John & Moore, Stephen & Simpson, Jason, 2018. "Creating value in online communities through governance and stakeholder engagement," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 56-68.
    8. Lisha Ye & Huiqin Yang, 2020. "From Digital Divide to Social Inclusion: A Tale of Mobile Platform Empowerment in Rural Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, March.
    9. Morgan-Thomas, Anna & Dessart, Laurence & Veloutsou, Cleopatra, 2020. "Digital ecosystem and consumer engagement: A socio-technical perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 713-723.
    10. Daniel Fürstenau & Carolin Auschra & Stefan Klein & Martin Gersch, 2019. "A process perspective on platform design and management: evidence from a digital platform in health care," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 29(4), pages 581-596, December.
    11. Loureiro, Sandra Maria Correia & Romero, Jaime & Bilro, Ricardo Godinho, 2020. "Stakeholder engagement in co-creation processes for innovation: A systematic literature review and case study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 388-409.
    12. Johnson, Michael P. & Midgley, Gerald & Chichirau, George, 2018. "Emerging trends and new frontiers in community operational research," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 268(3), pages 1178-1191.
    13. Petrakaki, Dimitra & Chamakiotis, Petros & Curto-Millet, Daniel, 2023. "From ‘making up’ professionals to epistemic colonialism: Digital health platforms in the Global South," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    14. Iheanachor, Nkemdilim & Umukoro, Immanuel & Yela Aránega, Alba, 2023. "Ecosystem emergence in emerging markets: Evidence from the Nigerian digital financial services ecosystem," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    15. Petrakaki, Dimitra & Hilberg, Eva & Waring, Justin, 2018. "Between empowerment and self-discipline: Governing patients' conduct through technological self-care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 146-153.
    16. Xiaoyan Ding & Xiang You & Xin Zhang & Yue Yu, 2022. "Can Patients Co-Create Value in an Online Healthcare Platform? An Examination of Value Co-Creation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-14, October.
    17. Antonopoulou, Katerina & Begkos, Christos, 2020. "Strategizing for digital innovations: Value propositions for transcending market boundaries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    18. Letizia Lo Presti & Mario Testa & Vittoria Marino & Pierpaolo Singer, 2019. "Engagement in Healthcare Systems: Adopting Digital Tools for a Sustainable Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, January.
    19. Mauro Baioni & Federico Ceschel & Paola Demartini & Lucia Marchegiani & Michela Marchiori & Flavia Marucci, 2021. "Spread the Voice! Digital Social Platforms as Conveyors of Innovation of Cultural Heritage in Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    20. Kawaljeet Kaur Kapoor & Kuttimani Tamilmani & Nripendra P. Rana & Pushp Patil & Yogesh K. Dwivedi & Sridhar Nerur, 2018. "Advances in Social Media Research: Past, Present and Future," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 531-558, June.
    21. Daniel Fürstenau & Martin Gersch & Stefanie Schreiter, 2023. "Digital Therapeutics (DTx)," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 65(3), pages 349-360, June.
    22. Vestina Vainauskienė & Rimgailė Vaitkienė, 2022. "Foresight study on online health community: The perspective of knowledge empowerment for patients with chronic diseases," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 2354-2375, July.
    23. Christoph Riedl & Victor P. Seidel, 2018. "Learning from Mixed Signals in Online Innovation Communities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 1010-1032, December.

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