Abstract

The concept of Web 2.0 has gained widespread prominence in recent years. The use of Web 2.0 applications on an individual level is currently extensive, and such applications have begun to be implemented by organizations in hopes of boosting collaboration and driving innovation. Despite this growing trend, only a small number of theoretical perspectives are available in the literature that discuss how such applications could be utilized to assist in innovation. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model explicating this phenomenon. We argue that organizational Web 2.0 use fosters the emergence and enhancement of informal networks, weak ties, boundary spanners, organizational absorptive capacity, which are reflected in three dimensions of social capital, structural, relational, and cognitive. The generation of social capital enables organizational knowledge transfer, which in turn leads to organizational innovation. Based on this model, suggestions for organizations to facilitate this process are also provided, and theoretical implications are discussed.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2014

Notes/Citation Information

Published in The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, v. 12, issue 3, p. 174‑184.

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