Network ties and their effect on employee collaboration in enterprise social networks

There has been a rapid growth and widespread adoption of social media technologies across all industries. Despite the growing importance of enterprise social networks (ESN), there has been limited research in examining the role of employee relationships (ties) in these networks. To gain an in-depth understanding of ties and collaboration outcomes, a mixed method research was conducted. StackExchange data was collected and processed, social network analysis and qualitative analysis of data has been done and the findings are presented in the form of an empirically derived theoretical model. Study provides novel insights into importance of negative ties and reciprocal ties