When blogging is a challenge: An organizational and psychological analysis of a failed empowerment project

AbstractLiterature supports the effectiveness of blogs to improve communication,strategic thinking, and collaboration. These competencies are particularly relev-ant for organizations, and for this reason, social media are frequently used as op-portunities to better manage employees’ behaviors, enhance the transfer ofknowledge, and foster creativity. Despite these considerations, few research-based findings guide these new tools’ practical application in the organizationalenvironment’s training processes. This study aims to understand the organiza-tional, individual, and socio-relational processes and issues that occur during ablog-based training program and how they interact and influence its effective-ness. We present a case study based on the use of discourse analysis, focused onthe failure of a blog-based training project. Our findings suggest the employees’metacognitive awareness is a significant issue in the design and implementationof a blog-based training program. Insights derived from conversation analysissuggest that to manage a blog-based training program effectively, it is crucial todeal with face-to-face interaction and the group sense-making process ‘outside’the blog.