Strengthening social ties via ICT in the organization

Abstract

Knowledge work increasingly relies on the utilization of information and communication technology (ICT). However, communication and knowledge sharing via ICT may be challenging due the lack of physical face-to-face interaction. The strength of social ties is critical to the success of an organization, since it determines how deeply individuals interact with each other. Prior research has paid only limited attention to the role of ICT in the strengthening of social ties within an organization. To address this research gap, we have conducted a qualitative study outlining different tie strengthening characteristics of ICT. The results of this study suggest that especially asynchronous and synchronous text based interaction and communication history forms an effective mechanism for an organization to facilitate social ties. As a theoretical contribution, we develop a new theoretical model representing the intra-organizational characteristics of ICT in relation to media synchronicity and tie strength. This theoretical model also includes new tie-strength components for ICT-mediated interaction.