Online Social Networks Beneficial to Firm Innovation

The impact of online social networks on firm innovation was examined by researchers at the United Arab Emirates University.

According to Dr Ananth Chiravuri, Associate Professor in Management Information Systems (MIS) at the College of Business and Economics, innovation has become a critical element for firms as it enhances the creativity of employees whether working alone or in teams, and significantly impacts their market share and profitability.

“Companies realize this but they have struggled to go for create effective collaborative innovation using multidisciplinary teams,” he explained. “Companies are trying to facilitate this through online networks but very few studies have looked at the impact of these networks on firm innovation.”

Theory dictates that collaboration and networks should impact innovation. As such, Dr Chiravuri is conducting an empirical study to collect data in order to find out the impact of online networks on innovation, and whether there are moderating variables which come in between the relationship of online networks and innovation.

The Dh33,000-project started in May, with the objective to get students interested in research, inform them of the process of research and closely look at data. “In the last two months, I met with students and they did literature reviews, where they collected journal articles and other sources of information, which will become the first part of the study,” Dr Chiravuri explained. “Students are understanding that research is driven by theory and, at the same time, they are finding firms which we can visit to collect data. We already have some validated scales and so I have asked them to shortlist firms we can contact for data collection.”

Once a sample of firms is selected, the next step will involve sending them the survey to acquire the data needed. “Once we get the data, I will sit with students and perform the data analysis in the next few months,” he added.

Dr Chiravuri spoke of data collection as the largest challenge facing the project, as many companies in the UAE do not immediately respond to surveys, requiring much follow-up. However, he expects data collection to complete by the end of December 2019, before producing the final report by April 2020.

He also mentioned the importance of the project as companies around the world, including in the UAE, all use social networks. “It has become the norm but very few companies realize the value of using them,” he noted. “If you have the right tools and the right support, social networks should help firms become more creative.”
He said the UAE could look at creating some sort of tool to foster online networks and, in turn, benefit from a number of results relating to innovation. “If firms do not do this, they will get left behind,” Dr Chiravuri concluded. “And we are talking about the UAE being one of the most innovative countries in the world. So the research talks about the impact of online social networks on innovation at all levels – public and private – which can help the UAE government understand the value of creating the proper structure or the environment for social networks – this will, in turn, give them long-term benefits”.