Social media for information sharing in an industrial setting: Evidence from the Chinese automotive industry

Abstract

The qualitative case study is addressing the question on how social media became a major tool for information sharing in industrial setting by looking at the case of WeChat, a major social media in China. The field study combines different research instruments including interviews, observation, and archives over a two-years investigation period. The findings highlight how the failures in several ERPs implementations allowed WeChat to play a growing role in the IS processes of the company. Our results provide empirical insights about the way social media can be integrated and combined to official systems in the workplace for sharing information. Future research may provide complementarily understanding by testing the proposed propositions.