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Ricerche di Psicologia/Psychological Research Journal - Open Access

Articoli

No. 3 (2021)

When blogging is a challenge: An organizational and psychological analysis of a failed empowerment project

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/rip2021oa11896
Submitted
maggio 14, 2021
Published
2021-05-31

Abstract

Literature supports the effectiveness of blogs to improve communication, strategic thinking, and collaboration. These competencies are particularly relevant for organizations, and for this reason, social media are frequently used as opportunities to better manage employees’ behaviors, enhance the transfer of knowledge, and foster creativity. Despite these considerations, few research-based findings guide these new tools’ practical application in the organizational environment’s training processes. This study aims to understand the organizational, individual, and socio-relational processes and issues that occur during a blog-based training program and how they interact and influence its effectiveness. We present a case
study based on the use of discourse analysis, focused on the failure of a blogbased training project. Our findings suggest the employees’ metacognitive awareness is a significant issue in the design and implementation of a blog-based training program. Insights derived from conversation analysis suggest that to manage a blog-based training program effectively, it is crucial to deal with face-to-face interaction and the group sense-making process ‘outside’ the blog.

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