Industribranschen har idag vissa problem med att attrahera kompetent arbetskraft. Arbetet med att bygga ett starkt Employer Brand har därför blivit allt viktigare. Användandet av sociala medier har ökat och detta skapar nya möjligheter för företag att marknadsföra sig. Frågan är dock om företagen använder denna möjlighet i sitt arbete med Employer Branding. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur industriföretag arbetar med Employer Branding genom sociala medier. Metoden som används för att besvara syftet var kvalitativa intervjuer, med HR-verksamma inom industribranschenen, och en fenomenografisk ansats. Det som eftersöktes var därmed informanternas uppfattning av dessa två fenomen, Employer Branding och sociala medier. Det huvudsakliga resultatet var att de intervjuade företagen visserligen arbetade med Employer Branding, men att endast ett fåtal använde sig av sociala medier. Resursfrågan var den största anledningen till att sociala medier inte användes i den utsträckning informanterna önskade. Nästan samtliga informanter ville och såg ett behov i att användandet av sociala medier skulle öka då det var ett enkelt sätt att nå ut till många på kort tid. Informanterna resonerade även kring risker med sociala medier och vilken information de ville publicera på dessa sidor, något som presenteras närmre i rapporten.

Research: In recent years the concept of crowdfunding, fundraising through social communities, has risen as an alternative for launching new creations and projects. The aim of this study was to explore the non-financial aspects of how interactive value is created through the social networks on a reward-based crowdfunding platform. This was done through investigating how creators on Kickstarter perceive value, approaching the social network from three different levels: the context, structure and practices. This study had a qualitative approach and 13 interviews were performed with key actors on the crowdfunding platform. A secondary study was performed gathering information about Kickstarter through their website. Findings: The result of this study suggests that there are non-financial benefits of being connected with an innovation network. The findings further indicate that the creators are utilizing the digital platforms to gain attention from the crowd and to connect with other networks. The study concludes that collective value is created through interactions on the crowdfunding platform. Further, the general attitude of authenticity within the crowdfunding context implies that the creators’ personal values and motives might play role for the rate success rates of new ventures.

Recent advances in social media have profound technical and economic implications for innovative design. This research is motivated to investigate social network effects on product design with a focus on the interface of engineering design, viral marketing, and social computing. This dissertation envisions a new paradigm of design, called viral product design for social network effects. The research problem is formulated as identification of both an optimal set of product configurations and an optimal set of seed customers so as to maximize product adoption via online social networks through equilibrium solutions to marketing-engineering coordination. Fundamental issues are investigated and a technical framework is proposed with integrated decision-based design methods. Results of case studies demonstrate that the proposed research is able to bridge the gaps between the domains of engineering design and viral marketing by incorporating social network effects. The proposed work is geared towards new design theory and decision models by integrating peer influence of social networks, which shed light on understanding the social aspect of design. The dissertation reveals the fundamental issues underlying viral product design, including the identification of viral attributes, customer preference modeling incorporating subjective experiences, the dynamics of the diffusion mechanism of online social networks, formulation of adoption maximization, and coordination between the marketing and engineering domains. In order to tackle the fundamental issues, a technical framework of viral product design for social network effects is proposed. Accordingly, mathematical and computational models are developed within the framework to support 1) latent customer needs elicitation for viral product attributes extraction, 2) customer preference modeling and quantification for product choice decision making, 3) social network modeling for product adoption prediction, and 4) viral product design evaluation by adoption maximization. These coherent models along the technical framework lay the theoretical foundation of this research, as described below. First, in order to extract potential viral product attributes, latent customer needs elicitation is emphasized. This is because latent customer needs can delight customers unexpectedly, and thus lead to potential product adoption to a large extent. We propose to elicit latent customer needs by use case analogical reasoning from sentiment analysis of online product reviews. A case study of Kindle Fire HD tablets shows the potential and feasibility of the proposed method. The extracted product attributes and attribute levels provide the choice set of viral product attributes. Second, based on the extracted product attributes, a customer preference model based on cumulative prospect theory is presented, accommodating subjective experiences in the product choice decision making process. Moreover, a hierarchical Bayesian model with Markov chain Monte Carlo is used to estimate parameters involved in the model. Based on the case study of aircraft cabin interior design, the model parameters under different experimental conditions show systematic influence of subjective experiences in choice decision making. Furthermore, a copula structure is used to construct a holistic product utility, showing customers' overall preferences to a product. This measure is crucial to product choice decision making in the context of social networks. Third, in order to predict product adoption incorporating peer influence of social networks, a linear threshold-hurdle model is proposed. It overcomes multiple drawbacks of traditional diffusion models by modeling activation thresholds, influence probability, adoption spread, holistic utility of the product, and hurdle utility of a customer in a holistic fashion. A case study of Kindle Fire HD tablets demonstrates both the predictive power of the proposed model and interesting results about customers' adoption behavior. This model paves the way for product adoption maximization in large social networks. Fourth, in order to coordinate between marketing-engineering concerns, I formulate a bi-level game theoretic optimization model for viral product design evaluation, in which the leader maximizes product adoption, while the follower optimizes product line performance. Through social network effects in terms of viral product attributes and viral influence attributes, the expected number of product adopters and the expected shared surplus, resulting from the identified product configurations and seed customers, are proved to be larger than those obtained from existing practice of viral marketing and product line design respectively, based on the case study of Kindle Fire HD tablets. Thus, the proposed paradigm of design extends the traditional boundaries among domains of engineering design, viral marketing, and social computing.

Šiuolaikinėje sparčiais tempais besivystančioje verslo aplinkoje, kiekvieną įmonė turi ieškoti naujų būdų, kaip išsilaikyti konkurencingoje rinkoje ir sėkmingai joje gyvuoti. Viena iš pagrindinių bei sėkmingiausių veiklos vykdymo ir palaikymo rinkoje priemonių yra teigiamas įmonės įvaizdžio formavimas. Įmonės įvaizdžiui skiriamas didelis dėmesys ne tik visame pasaulyje, bet ir Lietuvoje. Įmonei įvaizdis svarbus ne tik dėl vartotojų lojalumo ar pritraukimo galimybės, bet ir dėl kuriamos ilgalaikės vertės. Vis svarbesnę reikšmę įgyja kuo tinkamesnių vartotojų informavimo būdų ir priemonių paieška, todėl socialinei medijai tenka specialus vartotojų informavimo vaidmuo. „Web 2.0“ suteiktos galimybės eiliniam vartotojui internetinėje erdvėje dalintis, bei publikuoti turinį, pakoregavo pirminę komunikacijos proceso koncepciją. Komunikacija tapo daugialypė, įmonėms atsirado galimybė stebėti vartotojus, darbuotojus bei visus suinteresuotus asmenis diskutuojančius apie jų veiklą, produktus, teikiamas paslaugas ar komunikaciją, o vartotojai tapo pasiekiami tinkamu laiku ir tinkamoje vietoje. Spartus skaitmeninio turinio priemonių gausėjimas nulėmė integracijos procesus ne tik marketingo bei komunikacijos koncepcijose ir jų sąveikoje, bet ir visuose verslo procesuose. Technologijų inovacijos padeda pasiekti dar didesnį integralumą, bei komunikacijos efektyvumą. Kita vertus, socialinės medijos leidžia vartotojams inicijuoti bei valdyti komunikacijos procesą, todėl įmonės netenka... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Nowadays in the vastly growing business environment every company has to search for new ways how to survive in highly competitive market and be successful. One of the most important and successful ways to do so is forming the positive image of the company. Creating positive image is not only useful in order to attract new customers or to increase their loyalty, but also to create long-term value. Providing information to the customers/users in the right way and using right tools is becoming more and more important, therefore the role of social media here is constantly increasing. Objective of MBA Graduation paper - social media. Aim of MBA Graduation paper - to analyse theoretical aspects of social media and organisational image; to conduct a research of the impact of social media on the image of the company in Internet networks. Methodology and process of MBA Graduation paper: to analyse theoretically and summarize the understanding of social media and organisational image; based on the conducted research to analyse the use social media when forming the image of the company; to create a model which reflect the formation of social media and organisational image and the connection between the two; In the theoretical part based on available literature analysis, the reasons of social media appearance will be analysed as well as influence of social media in creating organisational image and connection between social media and organisational image will be established. Using the... [to full text]

New social networking and social web tools are becoming available and are easing the process of customizing online social environments. With these developments in technology, core design efforts are being extended beyond usability for individual users and beginning to include notions of sociability for the engagement of communities of users. This thesis is an investigation of these developments. It is guided by the principal research question: how do you design for social engagement in an online social environment intended to facilitate interaction in a community of users? To address this question, this thesis presents a domain-community model developed from the communities of practice concept and the Work Domain Analysis model used in Cognitive Work Analysis. The domain-community model provides a basis for the design a composition of web components for an online social environment that will addresses issues of social engagement and domain effectiveness. In a case study, the domain-community model was used as a basis for the redesign of a social networking portal used by an international development leadership community called UCP-SARnet. A social network analysis of core members of UCP-SARnet was conducted before and after the portal was redesigned. From the social network analysis, it was concluded that the structure of UCP-SARnet was positively affected by the redesign: core group members reported they knew one another significantly more after the redesign of the website than before the redesign. User experience measures of the UCP-SARnet portal, website usage data, and a tally of website communication activity also changed significantly with the redesign of the website. This provided more evidence that a design informed by Cognitive Work Analysis and communities of practice produced a measurable effect on the structure of the UCP-SARnet online community. As such, this model can provide a basis for designers of online communities to more systematically account for social phenomena in relation to collective efforts in a given work domain. Furthermore, it is expected the effectiveness of the model can be taken forward with future work by refining the domain-community model, developing techniques to translate the model into interface concepts, and building practices for community-based research and design.

Despite the well-recognized importance of interpersonal relationships within the work environment, there is no comprehensive approach or set of studies that provide a complete picture. As a step towards providing a complete picture, this research presents a qualitative exploratory study of how people experience the work environment through task and work-social interactions and through policies and norms present in the work environment. The purpose of this study is to understand the overall work experience from purely work-social and purely task network perspective. A semi-structured question-based set of interviews were performed among professionals from a Canadian university alumni society. The transcripts of the interviews were then manually coded and analyzed using statistical methods. The study found an overall higher level of positive responses for co-workers in the work-social network, as well as a preference for work-social co-workers in building a team for a hypothetical company. The study also found a general willingness to select only the best ranked co-workers from task network, whereas a leniency towards the selection of co-workers from work-social network was observed despite their lower ranking. At the same time, the study identified some of the most desirable attributes of fellow co-workers both in the task and work-social networks from an employee’s perspective. The significance of the people and team was found more important to the employees than factors such as specific task performed or compensation. This exploratory study provided insights into how employees view their co-workers and their work environment.

The sharing of needles among injection drug users (IDUs) is a common route of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis C Virus transmission. Through the increased utilization of social network analysis, researchers have been able to examine how the interpersonal relationships of IDUs affect injection risk behaviour. This study involves a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional study of 156 IDUs from Winnipeg, Manitoba titled “Social Network Analysis of Injection Drug Users”. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess the individual and the social network characteristics associated with needle sharing among the IDUs. Generalized Estimating Equations analysis was used to determine the injecting dyad characteristics which influence needle sharing behaviour between the IDUs and their injection drug using network members. The results revealed five key thematic findings that were significantly associated with needle sharing: (1) types of drug use, (2) socio-demographic status, (3) injecting in semi-public locations, (4) intimacy, and (5) social influence. The findings from this study suggest that comprehensive prevention approaches that target individuals and their network relationships may be necessary for sustainable reductions in needle sharing among IDUs.

This study focuses on a component of computer-mediated communicated which is labeled computer mediated technologies (CMTs) and is composed of the latest group of internet technology and digital media including social networking, Web2.0, Smartphone and Videoconferencing. The computer mediated technologies (CMTs) have the potential to facilitate scientific collaboration between scientists from north and south. This dissertation is a quantitative study that investigates the relationship between CMT use and collaboration, CMT use and research productivity, scientific collaboration and research productivity in Kuwait and the digital divide between developing and developed countries. This study answers the following questions: (1) To what degree has the scientific community in Kuwait adopted CMTs? (2) Are there any differences in the use of CMTs between faculty members (at KU) and researchers (in KISR) for scientific collaboration? (3) To what extent is CMT use associated with scientific collaboration in Kuwait? (4) To what extent is CMT use associated with research productivity in Kuwait? (5) What is the relationship between scientific collaboration and research productivity in Kuwait? The results show that the scientific community in Kuwait is very connected to the internet and has adopted using CMT channels in their daily work. However, there is a difference between academia and research scientists in their educational and collaboration activities. The difference is more notable when Kuwaiti scientists collaborated with scientists in the U.S. and Canada and there is a relationship with the use of CMTs for collaboration. The findings further suggest that scientists who graduated from developed countries collaborate more than scientists who graduated from developing areas. Also there is a correlation between gaining a PhD from developed countries and increased publication in foreign journals. The results support the assumption that collaboration leads to research productivity. But there is a real problem facing the Kuwaiti scientists because they spend little time on their research activities.

Uganda has a predominantly young population, and there is a need for targeted HIV/AIDS prevention programming. Peer education is a health intervention style that has been used with appreciable success in adolescent groups, but some issues exist. We hypothesize that more can be done in the program planning stages to increase the chances of sustained success, and have completed two different types of cross-sectional analyses to investigate this aspect. We used Social Network Analysis to examine the social structure of two secondary schools in Fort Portal, Uganda. We identified existing modes of influence and natural channels of communication, and used these to create a feasible model of peer educator selection. We also studied present levels of communication about sexual and reproductive health within youth relationships, and found that youth are willing to talk to their friends, but high levels of communication do not generally occur. This provides an important point of entry for health promotion programs. / Population Health

Australian Government policy has sought to decrease university reliance on federal support through the re-allocation of funding. Access to this pool of funding is based on teaching and learning performance and the subsequent comparison with similar education institutions. The concept of community has been promoted as a strategy for responding to these government demands whilst facilitating the student learning experience. Despite an intensive investment in strategic initiatives to enhance sense of community among the student cohort, there is a lack of scaleable evaluative measures to assess the overall effectiveness and accomplishment of intended outcomes. Contemporary methods for the assessment of community primarily rely on the establishment of pre-defined characteristics and the subsequent content analyses of communication artefacts to identify presence or absence. These studies are often small in sample size and limited in scalability and therefore the generalisation of research findings is impeded. This study aimed to examine the relationship between student sense of community (SOC) and communication interactions. To achieve this aim the study first developed a scaleable quantitative methodology that can be used to benchmark current pedagogical performance and guide future implemented practices relating to the establishment of a student community. The study juxtaposes an established scale of SOC with student online communication behaviours to identify potential relationships. In developing this methodology the study confirmed that the Classroom Community Scale (CCS) was a valid and robust instrument. The study incorporated a mixed methods paradigm to investigate the research questions. Quantitative data were derived from an online survey (N= 464), student online communication interactions and social network analyses. These data were further explored using more qualitative approaches such as content analyses of the discussion forum transcripts (n = 899) and student interviews (N = 4). The findings demonstrate that students and teaching units with greater frequencies of communication interactions possess stronger levels of SOC as determined by the CCS (R2 = .24, F = 14.98, p < .001; R2 = .83, F = 16.53, p < .01, respectively). A significant correlation was observed between discussion forum interaction types (learner-learner; learner-content; system) and SOC. Although learner-to-learner interactions demonstrated a positive correlation (r = .48, p < .05), system posts (isolated contributions) illustrated a negative correlation (r = - .50, p < .05). Quantity of discussion forum postings alone was not observed to be a significant indicator of SOC. Social network analyses demonstrated that the centrality measures closeness and degrees are positive predictors of an individual's reported SOC (t = 3.02 and t = 3.24, p < .001 respectively). In contrast, the centrality measure betweenness revealed a negative correlation (t = -3.86, p < .001). Discussion forum content analyses illustrated the fluid transition of discourse between social and learning oriented communities. Student interviews suggested that pre-existing external networks influence the type of support and information exchanges required and therefore, the degree of SOC experienced. The study also recognised that a key challenge in the implementation of data mining practices to monitor lead indicators of community lies in the notion of surveillance. This study examined the impact of technologically mediated modes of surveillance on student online behaviour. The findings demonstrate that students' unaware of the surveillance technologies operating within the institution modify their online behaviour more than their cognisant peers. The results of this study have implications for educational theory, practice, monitoring and evaluation. This research supports the development of a new model of community that illustrates the inter-relationships between student SOC and the education environment. Furthermore, the developed methodology demonstrates the capacity for cost effective data mining techniques to guide and evaluate implemented teaching and learning practices. Consequently, alignment with other theoretical constructs such as student satisfaction and engagement provides the institution with a lead indicator of teaching and learning performance. As the findings from this study illustrate the relationship between communication interactions and SOC, educators have the capacity to monitor communication trends and alter the teaching and learning practices to promote community among the student cohort in a just-in-time environment.