Challenges and Outcomes of Enterprise Social Media Implementation: Insights from Cummins, Inc.

Enterprise social media (ESM) are web-based platforms that improve communication and collaboration in organizations. Although the practitioner literature and industry reports have suggested the potential value of ESM for organizations, there has been limited research that focuses on the implementation process and outcomes of ESM. We conducted a mixed methods case study of a large-scale ESM implementation in a Fortune 500 manufacturing company, Cummins, Inc., and found several major challenges that Cummins faced during the implementation, such as the lack of interest and use by employees, the lack of fit with existing organizational and individual processes, inconsistent performance of the ESM platform, and unfavorable business conditions that affected organization-wide programs and projects. While employees were initially enthusiastic about the ESM, they were not using the platform as much as anticipated after the implementation. We offer a set of lessons from our in-depth case study that organizations implementing ESM should find beneficial.