Why and how to use enterprise social media platforms : the employee’s perspective

Abstract

Literature supports the relevance of knowledge sharing in a company. Considering that social media plays an important role in this process, this paper analyzes the antecedents and consequences of the use of enterprise social media platforms according to the employee's perception. Based on the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability framework and using two different methodologies (Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis), we find that three different combinations of motivation, opportunity and ability factors, combined in pairs, promote the use of enterprise social media platforms, leading to knowledge creation and task performance. These findings shed light on how a company can influence the use of enterprise social media platforms for achieving its objectives.