Research questions
Innovation is primarily associated with knowledge and degree of openness. Independent and dependent variables will be used in the research to focus on providing a degree of importance of social media and open innovation in the business. There is a causal relationship between the variables to which the research methodology is conducted while providing the effects of social media tools towards openness and innovation. Organizations are using social media tools to provide information to customers and users while it helps to facilitate the innovation process in an organization. The external knowledge flows from the organization with the help of social media that influence business performance and innovation. The research question is associated with the research topic of social media tools are used as innovative tools in the business. The research questions for different types of methodologies used in the report are
What is the connection between social media and innovation?
How have the current trends influenced social media as an innovative tool?
How are social media tools attractive to exchange ideas for innovative projects?
Types of methodologies
Three methodologies that help to answer the research question of the influence of social media and open innovation in an organization are described in detail by providing relevant information on the type of data, description of sample, advantages, limitations, and ethical considerations of using these methodologies.
Quantitative research methodology
The quantitative research methodology is used in a study to test the hypothesis with the help of comprehensive patent data. The dependent variable is an innovative performance, and the independent variable of the study is group size that provides information on each firm (Hitchen, Nylund, Ferras & Mussons 2017). A secondary data collection method is used while considering regression analysis and examining the results that the impact of the independent variable affects the dependent variable. 3668 observations are conducted, and a panel data set of 784 comments are considered in the study. Poisson regression analysis estimates the innovation performance of each independent variable. The Poisson model determines the effects of each variable in the study. Another study that uses the quantitative research method is an analysis of the Tasmanian Innovation Census by the Australian Innovation Research Centre. The study examines the information of firms that use innovation tools and activities in Tasmania. The population base of 500,000 people was used in the study to which the majority of the business were primary industries, service industry, and low tech manufacturing companies that belong to small and medium enterprises (Zubeilgqui, Fryges & Jones 2017). The target population encompassed the firm’s employees working in industrial sectors. Non-profit organizations were excluded from the study.
The study has empirical support and showed a U-shaped relationship between the innovator group and the innovation performance of the organization. There is a positive relationship with the degree of openness and internationalization, as addressed in the research. The group size of three inventors was most innovative. The conceptual and empirical investigation impacts group size and firm creative performance. The study provided a detail consideration of the impact of open innovation and the performance of the firm. Econometrics analysis is presented in the survey while gaining business innovation activities. A descriptive analysis method is used with structural equation modeling that helped to analyze the measurement of architectural models in the study. 96% of the firms in the study are SMEs that comprise 200 employees, and 35% of firms are a medium-sized business. Firms operate in service sectors are used in the study with multiple simultaneous dependencies. There is a set of the dependent link that effects directly and indirectly.
The research methodology is the backbone of research. Quantitative research has several limitations, such as the improper representation of the sample population, lack of resources, inability to control the environment, and limited outcomes of the research methodology. The study presents a lack of target population that hinders the research activity to which aims and objectives are not achieved. Lack of resources is used for data collection, which limits the research study. The quantitative technique addresses the data set and respects history in the research study, as applied in both the research papers. The research reduces the inflated forecast to which positive numbers are shown in performance areas. There are ethical considerations in the studies that have been presented most attractively. The professional standards are maintained, and the study offers a useful analysis of data while following the rules and regulations. The research provides information that can be used by the community. Professional, ethical, and safety measures are taken while presenting the information and considering quantitative research methodology. The quantitative research methodology is applied in the studies while giving the sample required, type of data, and advantages of quantitative research methodology.
The qualitative research methodology is used in the management research that represents the interpretive framework employed with the grounded theory that generates perceptions of informants that describe the celebrity building process with the help of social media tools. Inductive research is used in the research that helps to identify processes and ensures how social media affects business processes (Bakshy, Rosenn, Marlow & Adamic 2012). Direct observations are researched in the study with the set of interviews that described representatives of Greenpeace. The case analysis is about involving two private companies in media and product technology. The investigation considered an extreme case and interest of intense and transparent investigation between the parties that understand the social, technological, and strategic context. Another study was undertaken in the context of qualitative research design by focusing on a case study. By using this research methodology, service innovation was addressed and analyzed to capture the market with innovative techniques. The case study focuses on the world’s largest retailers that have more than 3000 stores in Australia (Patroni, Briel & Rescker 2020). There was a lack of dedicated R&D teams for innovation. Facebook is the social media channel that helped to provide product awareness and enabled the success of the business. The firm managed consumer conversations that led to the influence of sales volume. Hence, Facebook was the most important social media channel that was the touchpoint for the retail sector.
The process by which innovation techniques of the organization are measures ensures interaction with consumers to which actual data is explored with the interpretative approach. The case analysis of real-life context is observed while providing an essential aspect of the appropriate method and identifying processes of how organizations use innovation and social media channels that affect the sales volume. The selected case study reflects that there is a direct relationship between the actual practices of a firm that ensure the innovative process of the business. The partnership between VICE and Intel was analyzed in the case study to which it investigated that celebrity building is effective through social media. This case study was an extreme case of analysis that provided transparent and intense results. Then a longitude narrative analysis was considered that ensured and exposed chronological sequences of Intel Social media-based project. Then the researcher engaged in lead users while providing emphasizing social media and its outcomes about a firm’s effectiveness and innovation.
The limitations of qualitative research methodology are that the study related a firm conclusion and approach that defined the importance of innovation in the case analysis. The Facebook approach was the only social media channel that was used by the organization to focus on researching the basics of social media analysis. Researchers focused on the psychological effects of using social media as the way social media users with common disindividualism effect. The individual and technological system are the significant aspects that are discussed in the studies to which it constitutes and identifies the formation of engineering processes and creates artificial social interactions. There is limited attention to service innovation from a researcher’s point of view. The advantages of qualitative research methodology consider coordinating the action of research that provides new innovative ways of attracting customers. The case study analysis offers a strategic advantage for the organization as it helps to implement social media tools for business results. The primary emphasis of qualitative data research consists of providing knowledge that creates openness and depth to new topics and expansion of response from several findings. The research study has one organization in retail and other as subsidiaries to which it limits the generalization of results and opportunities to examine social media-driven innovation cases. The research is based only on primary data collection to which managers take actions in considering innovation as a technique in the organization was observed. The report consists of ethical considerations to which useful analysis was conducted based on professional ethics and safety measures.
3 systematic review method
A systematic literature review is a research methodology that consists of secondary data collection research. The research identifies a precise and reproducible way that presents synthesizes and rigorous analysis of applied protocol and guidelines. The research question addressed consists of What are the factors that lead to open innovation and social media towards informatics reporting? A primary research process was considered in the study to which six electronic databases were focused on data sources (Yusof, Ismail, Rahim & Abidin 2016). The selected databases are found with inclusion criteria that describe the research articles presenting information on peer-reviewed articles that describe the importance of social media and innovation in the business. The literature review was submitted with a systematic literature review phase, such as planning, selection, extraction, and execution. The study emphasized the combined use of keywords and exploration of data that presented and ensured data collection practices from each article. In another study, a systematic literature review was summarized that submitted existing evidence and directions for future research. The current boundaries of research were analyzed while showing a methodical approach that consists of analysis and literature (Bhimani, Mention & Barlatier 2018). The study aims to reduce the bias in the research and allows knowledge in the field to which challenges are accepted. Valuable current propositions on social media and innovation are reflected in the study.
As per the findings of the literature, the study has several articles that are related to the six online databases that are 1068. After evaluating abstracts and introductions from 142 items, nine articles can strongly be connected to the research area and reviewed. The factors of open innovation and social media use are transparency, stakeholder engagement, flexibility, search for new ventures, optimum utilization of resources, and free flows of knowledge. These are the antecedents that are observed in the study to which articles are selected and reviewed. Another study that reflected the use of a literature review provides the findings of emerging trends on social media in innovation. The results and discussion are related to the apparent emergence of research that ensures the role of social media in change. The surge in social media increased in 2013 that corresponds to the decline of articles. There is a shift of platform that provides the considerable role of social media accepting Web 2.0 technologies and managing innovation activities. There is a strong positive trend that confirms the interest of organizations using social media as a medium of innovation.
The research methodology of systematic review literature is limited to the use of primary data, interviews, and focus groups. The secondary data analysis represents the vital information of data sources such as the library and study of articles. These provide vague details to which the factors that influence innovation cannot be described in detail. There are advantages of a systematic review to which ideas and thoughts of researchers are analyzed. Examining the views of researchers, the research is complete with concepts that engage the connection between social media and innovation. The examination consists of ethical considerations providing the importance of the research topic and analysis of research questions.