Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to document that employees’ use of social networks (SNs) does not necessarily bring negative consequences and can indirectly benefit organizations and second, to compare the roles of public SNs and enterprise social networks (ESNs) in bringing benefits to organizations. Consequently, this study, on the basis of stimulus‒organism‒response theory, directly investigated and compared the roles of public SNs and ESNs in promoting employees’ organizational commitment from affective, normative, and continuance dimensions with regard to the mediating role of job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, 240 employees of Asia-Tech Company, one of the high-speed internet service providers in Iran, who had joined Skype for Business ESN, were included in this study. Partial least squares (PLS) method was used to examine the validity of the measurement and structural models. To this end, Warp-PLS software (version 5.0) was employed. Findings The results of the study suggested that public SNs have a positive impact on affective and normative commitment; however, no significant impact was observed for continuance commitment. ESNs directly affect none of the dimensions of organizational commitment. Although both types of SNs have impacts on job satisfaction, the greater impact was found for the public SNs. Job satisfaction also has a positive effect on all three dimensions of organizational commitment. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, no study has directly investigated and compared the roles of ESNs and public SNs in promoting organizational commitment from affective, continuance and normative dimensions with regard to the mediating role of job satisfaction. The most important theoretical contribution of the present research was to document that the employees’ use of SNs does not necessarily entail the waste of resources and has various advantages, such as strengthening organizational commitment (in affective, normative and continuance dimensions) and job satisfaction. In fact, this study disclosed the bright side of SNs in the workplace.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the influence of organizational members’ social use of social networking sites (SNSs) on employees’ destructive voice directly and considering the mediating role of job satisfaction and affective commitment to the organization. Design/methodology/approach In total, 240 employees of Asia-tech Company have participated in this study. To test the hypotheses, the researchers have used the partial least squares (PLS) method with the help of smart PLS software (version 2.0). Findings The results showed that organizational members’ social use of SNSs has a positive effect on destructive voice directly and considering job satisfaction as a mediator. However, social use of SNSs in the workplace considering the mediating role of affective commitment has a negative effect on destructive voice. Practical/implications The results of the study edify managers on how social use of SNSs in the workplace has paradoxical effects on destructive voice directly and regarding affective commitment as a mediating variable. Thus, the main contribution of this study is the fact that although social use of SNSs has many advantages such as promotion of job satisfaction and affective commitment in the workplace, it might have some detrimental effect such as reinforcement of destructive voice. Originality/value The model presented in this study is totally unique. Moreover, the investigations showed that there is no documented study regarding the examination of the effect of social use of SNSs on destructive voice directly and considering the mediating role of job satisfaction and affective commitment.

Purpose Although online social networks (SNs) (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram) have been used by employees for various work- or non-work-related motives, there has been lack of research on the use of such networks in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to draw on commitment theory and the tricomponent attitude model to explain the role organisational commitment plays in predicting the work-related use of online SNs and the mediating role a constructive employee voice may have in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach The research was conducted among the employees of seven different companies within seven different industries. The validity of the measures and structural models was evaluated using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Findings The results indicated that organisational commitment promotes employees’ work-related use of online SNs directly and also indirectly via the mediating role of a constructive voice. Originality/value This study is among the few studies which have used the tricomponent attitude model to investigate employees’ behaviour in the workplace, in particular work-related use of online SNs. In terms of theory, this study contributes to expanding the boundaries of knowledge as SNs are considered a challenge in contemporary organisations. Organisations can convert this challenge from a potential threat to an actual opportunity by reinforcing “organisational commitment”.

PurposeThis study, based on the cognitive dissonance and commitment theories, aims to show that employees with high organizational commitment take more advantage of enterprise social networks (ESNs) due to work-related motivations. Furthermore, this study used the tricomponent attitude model to show that the employees' organizational concern and prosocial values mediate the impact of the organizational commitment on the work-related use of an ESN.Design/methodology/approachIn all, 361 employees from seven Iranian companies using different ESN software packages were surveyed. The validity of the hypotheses was evaluated using partial least square–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe results of this study confirm that the employees' organizational commitment has a positive impact on their work-related use of the relevant ESN directly and through the mediating roles of their organizational concern and prosocial values.Originality/valuePrevious studies have carefully addressed the role of organizational commitment in the implementation of conventional information systems. However, this is among the few studies addressing the role of commitment in the work-related implementation of ESNs. The results of this study shed light on how employees with a high level of commitment toward the organizations for which they work take advantage of ESNs due to a work-related motivation for the accomplishment of their duties, for bringing benefits into the organization and for helping their coworkers.

PurposeThis study utilized “social cognitive theory” to compare the impacts of organizational members' hedonic and work-related use of public social networks (SNs) and enterprise social networks (ESNs) on job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe participants comprised 240 employees who were able to simultaneously use SNs and ESNs in the workplace with regard to both hedonic and work-related motives. The measurement and structural models were evaluated using partial least squares structural equations modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe results show that organizational members' hedonic and work-related use of public SNs enhances job satisfaction. However, the hedonic and work-related use of ESNs has negative and positive impacts on job satisfaction respectively.Originality/valueThe main theoretical contribution of this study lies in showing that employees' use of social networks does not necessarily entail detrimental or beneficial consequences and depending on different factors the outcomes are different. Following a comprehensive review of the literature, users' incentives and platforms emerged as two different factors contributing to the outcomes arising from the use of social networks in the workplace. Although a few studies have explored the impacts of organizational members' use of social networks on job satisfaction, none have done so in relation to different user incentives and platforms.