Effects of enterprise social media use on employee improvisation ability through psychological conditions: The moderating role of enterprise social media policy

Abstract

The emergence of enterprise social media (ESM) allows enterprises to develop employee improvisation ability for effective decision-making in various emergencies. However, it remains unclear how the use of ESM by employees affects their ability to improvise. Based on the job demands-resources model and Kahn's psychological conditions framework, this study constructs a theoretical model capturing two types of ESM usage—work-related and social-related—and examines their impact on employee improvisation ability. Through the analysis of 307 paired data collected from multi-wave and multi-source questionnaires using Smart-PLS software, the results show that both work-related and social-related ESM use can promote employees' psychological meaningfulness, availability, and safety, thus further stimulating employees' improvisation ability. ESM policies only significantly moderated the effects of work-related ESM use on the three psychological conditions of employees. Moreover, there are significant differences in the intensity of the influence of the two types of ESM uses on the psychological conditions of employees. This study not only enriches and promotes the existing research on ESM usage, psychological conditions, and employee improvisation ability but also helps enterprise management effectively guide employees to use ESM to promote their improvisation ability.