eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

The Objective of the Study:

The objective of this thesis was to study the acceptance, usage behaviour and benefits of Web 2.0 use in organizational settings. The case company is a large Finnish financial institution, which dur-ing the time of the study was rolling out larger Web 2.0 system. Web 2.0 acceptance and usage was studied within the case organisation in order to answer the following research questions: 1) What is the level of technology acceptance in the case company? 2) What are the perceived benefits and challenges of utilizing Web 2.0 technology in the case company? 3) What is the level of technology acceptance in the case company? 4) What should be taken into consideration when introducing new Web 2.0 technology in organizational settings?

Research Methods:

This thesis represents a qualitative single-case study. The data was gathered by conducting semi structured interviews in the case company and they included employees from all organisational levels in Helsinki, Finland, in order to form a comprehensive understanding of Web 2.0 ac-ceptance and usage in the case organisation. Data collection and analysis were developed around the four reseach questions and the study's theoretical framework is based on a combination or Web 2.0 literature as well as Enterprice 2.0 literature, different Technology Acceptance Models and Coping Model of User Adaption.

Findings:

The main trigger for Web 2.0 usage is the direct added value to individuals' work. Main benefits to use Web 2.0 in the case company were efficiency in communication and information sharing as well as rapid access to information. Main factors hindering Web 2.0 usage were insufficient introduction, lack of training and inadequate incentives to encourage the use of certain Web 2.0 tools. The level of technology acceptance in terms of Web 2.0 varied greatly within the case organisation depending on the level of user exposure to the various Web 2.0 tools. Social "pressure" seemed to affect Web 2.0 usage behaviour more than expected due to the collaborative nature of Web 2.0 environment. Key factors for successful Web 2.0 introduction in a company are encouraging employees to collaborate and share knowledge by providing training, support, incentives and collect-ing active user feedback on the product and its use for further assessment. In addition, creating a collaborative culture is key for successful Web 2.0 acceptance in organisational settings.