Governing social media: the emergence of hybridised boundary objects

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the processes whereby organisational actors can seize the opportunities opened up through social media, and the way in which the relative information is managed. This allows these actors to move their occupational boundaries, exploiting the information for performance measurement purposes. The investigation was carried out within an organisational setting, where most occupational dynamics take place. The focus was on the role of artefacts within these occupational dynamics and the analysis drew upon the notion of boundary objects. Design/methodology/approach The research was based on case studies involving two organisations that make use of social media within and across several departments. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with social media managers, department managers, analysts and financial controllers and senior executives. The results of the qualitative analysis of the interviews were completed with secondary sources of information, company reports, communications, public policies, codes of conduct and social media platform analyses. Findings This paper has implications for accounting studies, showing how marketing and communications managers entering the field of performance management can take the lead in social media management by collecting information from social media, constructing indicators and gaining ground in several decision-making centres. The findings highlight the role of new artefacts and organisational roles, whose purpose is to build a digital community. This process involves crossing the boundaries between internal functions and the inside and outside environment, with a driving phenomenon becoming visible: hybridisation. Faced with this change, reluctant accountants with a traditional mindset are more likely to observe the process at a distance, focusing more on their routine operations based on conventional data. Originality/value This paper shows that information derived from social media is already a reality that has gained significance through the construction of boundary objects. The paper highlights a driving phenomenon that is emerging in the surge to occupy the organisational terrain for controlling social media: that of hybridisation. The concept of hybridisation is not new in management accounting studies, but in this study can be applied to carrying out a joint analysis on both the boundary objects and their organisational trajectory. In the context of social media accounting, hybridisation is of central importance if both actors and objects are to be effectively positioned at its boundary.

Measuring the unknown

“…Our findings complement extant studies which identify the need for capturing and constructing new performance measures and metrics on online platforms (e.g. Arnaboldi et al, 2017b;Van Alstyne et al, 2016).…”

“…Contrary to such studies, research on performance measurement practices and online platforms is still scarce (e.g. Bonsón & Ratkai, 2013;Agostino & Sidorova, 2017;Arnaboldi et al, 2017b) since the performance evaluation of online platforms' outputs is often criticized as highly subjective, with user preferences and engagement being difficult to measure or even being fabricated. For example, performance measurement becomes convoluted upon suspicions of false reviews and star ratings on online platforms such as Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Amazon and eBay (e.g.…”

Accounting, accountability, social media and big data: revolution or hype?

“…Recent papers have addressed the 'systematisation' of metrics from an accounting perspective (e.g., Agostino and Sidorova, 2016;Arnaboldi et al, 2017). These articles propose classifications distinguishing the source of information (paid, owned and erased) and the nature of the indicator, distinguishing between punctuated and text-derived.…”

“…Through a multiple case study analysis, the authors investigate the governance of social media as an opportunity for organisational actors to change their occupational boundaries. The authors find that accountants appear to be in the background while other actors, such as digital officers and marketing and communication managers enter the territory of performance measurement, constructing through social media information boundary objects, which are capable of connecting and engaging with such technology enabled networks.Reflecting the inter-relationships across the three areas of our framework, this paper also contributes to our understandings of how social media and big data alter information and decision-making processes within organisations Arnaboldi et al (2017). illustrate how governance imperatives are intertwined with the development of various social media as hybridised boundary objects that condense and translate knowledge from different organisational areas.…”

“…Although accounting is central to the notion of control, accountants frame the control problem in 'reterritorialisation' terms through big accounting firms as consultants or through claims made by professional association. However, accountants are almost absent within the organisation where, instead, the field is taken by marketing and communication managers and ICT officers.Similarly,Arnaboldi et al (2017) also focus on governance of social media and big data as objects and how this might reshape relationships between organisational actors, with the focus in this paper on functional specialists within organisations. Through a multiple case study analysis, the authors investigate the governance of social media as an opportunity for organisational actors to change their occupational boundaries.…”