Firm-Sponsored Online Communities: Building Alignment Capabilities for Participatory Governance

Firm-sponsored online communities face governance challenges because of differences in the goals and values between the community and the sponsor. This study focuses on better understanding how these communities combine firm-based and community-based governance to achieve participatory governance, balancing firm goals with the autonomy and participation of volunteer members. Through a case study of Mayo Clinic Connect, an online patient community sponsored by Mayo Clinic, we uncover how firm and community stakeholders jointly align firm- and community-based governance. We introduce the concept of a governance alignment capability, which helps avoid and resolve governance tensions, contributing to the success of participatory governance. We specifically uncover two governance alignment mechanisms: informalizing the formal and formalizing the informal. These mechanisms adapt firm-based governance to align more closely with community norms and standardize community-based governance within the firm’s governance structure. The study contributes to both the nascent literature on firm-sponsored online communities and the broader literature on governance by highlighting the importance of participatory governance capabilities in balancing effectiveness and legitimacy in firm-sponsored online communities and emphasizing governance as a dynamic, rather than a static, system.