We identified five hundred and fifty-two records (N = 552) through online database searching. The number of records was reduced to ninety-two (n = 92) based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The excluded texts concerned duplicates (n = 223), papers excluded by title screen and abstract screen (n = 218), and publications with low-level reference to our research topic (n = 19) (See Fig. 1).
We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram for article selection based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria (O’Flaherty & Phillips, 2015; Tricco et al., 2018).
The results from the present review show that 34% of the publications are located in Europe (n = 31), and 23% in North America and Asia (n = 23) respectively. The number of publications from developing countries in the Middle East and Africa represents only 7% (n = 6) and 5% (n = 5) respectively, as demonstrated in Table 1.
Table 1
Number of publications per geographic region
Global region | N | % |
Europe | 31 | 34 |
North America | 21 | 23 |
Asia | 21 | 23 |
Australia | 7 | 8 |
Middle East | 6 | 7 |
Africa | 5 | 5 |
South America | 1 | 1 |
Total | 92 | 100 |
We retrieved only three publications by Moroccan scholars, two of which examined organizational learning culture in relation to work performance with no reference to the use of ESM (Momani & Amand, 2015; Rajaa & Lin, 2018). The publication outlets represent 74% of journal articles (n = 68) and 26% of conference proceedings (n = 24), with a growing number of publications between 2013 and 2015 (See Fig. 2).
These findings are corroborated by previous studies that demonstrate an increasing rate of publications on ESM between 2009 and 2015 with the highest rate recorded in 2015. This can be explained by the fact that scholars from the field of IS heavily invested in research on ESNs, as companies became largely interested in the implementation and use of ESNs during that period (Leonardi et al., 2013; Wehner et al., 2017).
The broad nature of scoping reviews allows the inclusion of papers involving various themes and methodologies (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005; Levac et al., 2010; Munn et al., 2018; O’Flaherty & Phillips, 2015). The reviewed articles involve different methodological approaches including 23% of conceptual research papers (n = 21), 22% of literature review papers (n = 20), 21% of surveys (n = 19), and 17% of case studies (n = 16) as reported in Table 2.
Table 2
Type of articles | Method | N | % |
Conceptual research | In-depth analysis, Structural Equation Modeling, quantitative analysis, confirmatory factor analysis | 21 | 23 |
Literature review | Systematic, scoping, narrative | 20 | 22 |
Survey | Quantitative and / or qualitative | 19 | 21 |
Case study | Comparative, empirical, qualitative | 16 | 17 |
Theoretical research | Qualitative | 4 | 4 |
Empirical study | Qualitative | 3 | 3 |
Exploratory research | Qualitative and/or quantitative | 3 | 3 |
Field research | Qualitative | 2 | 2 |
Grounded theory | Comparative analysis | 2 | 2 |
Action research | Observation and analysis of cocreation strategies | 1 | 1 |
Field experiment | Observation, qualitative, and quantitative | 1 | 1 |
Total | | 92 | 100 |
3.1 ESM and Organizational Learning
Scholars use concepts like information systems, information technology, knowledge management systems (KMSs), enterprise social networks (ESNs), enterprise social media, and organizational social media (OSM) to refer to IT tools used by organizations for communication and knowledge management (Alahmad et al., 2018; Högberg, 2018; Meske et al., 2019; Sun et al., 2020). Multiple social media tools are used for social interaction, communication, and knowledge management within organizations (Benabdeljlil, 2013; Harden, 2012; Leonardi et al., 2013). These tools are classified according to two types of usage. First, public social media that are used for external communication and ubiquitous social interaction with stakeholders like Twitter (n = 10), Facebook (n = 11), and Skype (n = 2). This type of usage is widely studied by IS researchers. Second, embedded systems that concern internal communication like in-house implemented blogs (n = 22), enterprise microblogging (n = 8), and the Intranet including Jive (n = 7) and Yammer (n = 6). Scholars argue that the use of ESNs enables information sharing, improved communication, and problem solving(Leonardi et al., 2013; Stieglitz et al., 2014).
The concept of organizational learning occurs in 52% of the reviewed articles (n = 48). However, measurements of learning outcomes that could probably result from the use of ESM are missing in most studies. Some studies examine the concepts of exploration (n = 10) and exploitation (n = 12) as organizational learning processes that are shaped by the use of ESM. Exploitation is an incremental (low-level) learning process that regards the use of current knowledge, skills, and capabilities. Exploration targets at high level learning through search, variation, experimentation, and discovery. Only two articles address the question of ambidexterity as a vital process to strike a balance between exploitation and exploration (Benitez et al., 2016; Kane, 2015). Participants in some studies are aware of the positive effects of the use of ESM on learning and knowledge creation and sharing (Abdelrahman, 2019; Chatterjee et al., 2021; Leonardi, 2018; Yee et al., 2021).
The automotive industry is an example of a complex work environment where knowledge is intensive, the workforce is dispersed, and the usage of IT is crucial. The findings from an empirical case study conducted in a family Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in Morocco demonstrate that IT-enabled social networking fosters informal learning and enables a collective creation of meaning. The study highlights the importance of organizational learning culture and IT-enabled social networking in employees’ skills development (Benabdeljlil, 2013).
Organizational learning is the outcome of an aligned process of exploitation and exploration. The use of ESM for exploitation enables employees to leverage the knowledge they have already acquired to be able to meet short-term objectives such as day-to-day routine task performance. On the other hand, the use of ESM for exploration enables employees to gain new knowledge that supports their creative task performance and helps the organization meet its long-term objectives and gain competitive advantage (Canessa-Terrazas et al., 2017; Claudia & Mihaela, 2019; Kane, 2015; Shang & Guo, 2017). Accordingly, we argue that organizations learn better only when they manage to strike a balance between exploitation and exploration and capture knowledge in their transactive memory systems.
3.2 ESM and Knowledge Creation and Sharing
Organizations, including Multinational Corporations (MNCs), implement ESNs to enhance the practice of knowledge management (Abdelrahman, 2019; Chatterjee et al., 2021; Leonardi, 2018). Knowledge creation and sharing, as fundamentals of knowledge management, are discussed in 88% of the reviewed articles (n = 81). Knowledge creation is embedded in conversion (from tacit to explicit) through social practices and interactions (Jarrahi & Sawyer, 2013). Many researchers argue that the evolving affordances of ESM enable knowledge creation, hasten knowledge sharing, and significantly enhance learning(Ahmad et al., 2013; Benabdeljlil, 2013; Sun et al., 2020). In the academic context, tacit knowledge sharing is enabled by the use of wikis, forums, and blogs (Ahmad et al., 2013).
Knowledge problems need four problem solving practices: Expertise locating, expert locating, reaching out, and instrumental socializing (Jarrahi & Sawyer, 2013). However, factors like confidentiality, lack of trust, lack of time (Ahmad et al., 2013; Razmerita et al., 2016), perceived risk (Harden, 2012), and increased communication flow (Ellison et al., 2014) can negatively impact the way users locate or share useful knowledge. On the other hand, organization climate and organizational culture can both facilitate and hinder the use of IT for knowledge creation and sharing (Ahmad et al., 2013). These restricting factors are mostly overlooked by IS researchers (El Ouirdi et al., 2015).
In developed countries, research on the way geographically dispersed workforces use ESM platforms to learn and share knowledge, as in the case of multinational corporations, has been increasing since 2015. According to Leonardi (2018), three major factors influence knowledge sharing among globally dispersed employees, mainly network expansion of colleagues, content integration, and triggered recalling of content. The use of social media sites enables the development of transactive memory systems that transcend time and space. In addition, social networking, vicarious participation, and direct engagement in shared experiences with coworkers engenders shared cognition. However, similarity in perceptions of what and whom coworkers know not only hinders diversity of visions and ideas but also adds pressure on a particular group of “knowledgeable” workers, while missing opportunities for others. Hence, managers have to be cognizant of the importance of variation in thought and action (Leonardi, 2018).
Another case study about the use of DingTalk by employees of two large companies in China demonstrated that ESM platforms are dynamic environments where knowledge contributors and knowledge seekers engage in interactions that create meaning and foster learning. According to Sun et al. (2020), there are four mechanisms that determine the use of ESM in the workplace: identity visibility, communication visibility, collaboration visibility, and process visibility. Identity visibility stimulates individual’s attention since it exhibits the identity of information and facilitates knowledge sharing between co-workers. Communication visibility and collaboration visibility enable employees to share experience with colleagues and make tacit knowledge more explicit through dialogue and observation. Then, process visibility supports communication and collaboration and provides employees with the appropriate knowledge they need for performance (Al-Mawali & Al-Busaidi, 2022; Dwivedi et al., 2022; Sun et al., 2020).
On the other hand, Qureshi et al. (2009) state that knowledge networking and inter-organizational learning facilitate knowledge transfer and help bridge the digital gap that exists between developed countries and developing countries in Africa. The authors acknowledge that developed countries use knowledge networking in order to source skilled labor from developing countries. They also argue that knowledge networking enables farmers, small business entrepreneurs, students, and NGOs to perform efficiently because it facilitates access to information, markets, and talent pools. However, knowledge networking can impede development by generating negative communication cycles (Qureshi et al., 2009).
3.3 ESM, Organizational Change, and Work Performance
Researchers consider organizational learning as a process of change in the organization driven by experience acquisition (Argote & Miron-Spektor, 2011). Drawing on the literature of organizational innovation and organizational change, we posit that change occurs when organizations adopt new ideas or behaviors that could improve products, services, or practices (Hage, 1999). The issue of organizational innovation is raised in 11% of the reviewed articles (n = 10). Scholars admit that innovation, as a contributing factor to change, is enhanced by IT-based learning and knowledge networking (Ahmad et al., 2013). In addition, the use of IT for exploration, exploitation, and team connection has strong effects on organizational change (Watkins, 2016) and employees’ innovation (Benitez et al., 2016; Durcikova et al., 2011; Kane, 2015; Meske et al., 2019).
Scholars also argue that the simple implementation of ESNs does not promote innovation and productivity unless it is underpinned by an individual and cultural inclination toward change (Patroni et al., 2016). At the individual level, the study identified four categories of ESM users who embrace change and innovation. Social open minds are employees whose mindset affects their intention to use ESM to communicate and perform tasks. Open-minded individuals are ready to take risks and willing to change the status quo when they receive managerial support. Social digital natives is the category of younger generation employees who consider the use of ESM as a good opportunity to seek new knowledge through connection and communication with colleagues. Social collaborators take advantage of the use of ESM to share thoughts, connect, and collaborate across departments and units and work creatively building on the work of co-workers. Then, social competitors is the category of employees who consider ESM communities as suitable environments for “friendly competition” that improves practices and increases motivation to perform effectively and efficiently.
At the organizational level, the study identified four cultural factors that influence change and innovation within the organization. The factor of social open communication refers to transparency as well as the social and collaborative nature of the conversations initiated by ESM communities. The factor of social digital leadership is associated with the day-to-day participation of top managers in the communicational process with their employees via ESM platforms. The third factor is social digital strategy and involves encouraging employees not only to exploit existing knowledge to execute tasks but also to explore new pathways that lead them into innovation and creativity. The fourth factor is social fast-paced learning and is related to the interactions that facilitate organizational learning through the use ESM (Patroni et al., 2016).
As far as performance is concerned, the findings from the present review show that 68% (n = 63) of the reviewed articles demonstrate a correlation between the use of ESM and work performance (Högberg, 2018). Performance is positively and significantly correlated with social open communication and collaboration (Al-Mawali & Al-Busaidi, 2022; Patroni et al., 2016), and organizational learning practices triggered by administrative and technical innovation (Chen et al., 2009). The constructs of the learning organization and shared cognition are also significantly linked to the extent to which organizations perform and innovate (Leonardi, 2018). Other studies prove that factors such as usefulness (utilitarian) and enjoyment (hedonic), generated by the use of ESNs, promote individual and organizational performance and productivity (Meske et al., 2019). Although the use of ESNs in the workplace affects organizational processes such as work performance (Cetinkaya & Rashid, 2018; Pavithra & Deepak, 2021; Yee et al., 2021), the issue has not yet been fully addressed and empirically scrutinized (Stei & Rossmann, 2018).
The findings from a meta-analysis of the impact of ESM use on work performance show that innovation performance and agility performance are improved by ESM visibility affordance such as knowledge conversations and relationship construction visibility (Wu et al., 2021). The scholars identify four factors that determine the use of ESM in relation to work performance. The first factor is related to gender. The use of ESM by women is highly correlated with job performance, which explains that gender difference and heterogeneous communication, with regard to the use of ESM, influence employee work performance. The second factor is hierarchical. The use of ESM by managers has a strong effect on performance because managers have specific information needs and a greater communication awareness as opposed to non-managers.
The third factor is developmental. The correlation between ESM use and work performance is higher in developed countries compared to developing countries. These developmental differences are due to high access costs and less developed IT infrastructure in developing countries compared to developed countries where the implementation and usage of ESM platforms are characterized by maturity. The fourth factor is associated with the type of industry. The researchers state that employees from the service industry perceive higher affordance of ESM since they seek more information and engage in more communication; therefore, their work performance is more affected by the use of ESM platforms compared to employees from the manufacturing industry for example (Wu et al., 2021). However, the use of ESM platforms can have a negative effect on employees’ work performance if employees only communicate with colleagues who are like them (Kane, 2015).