How affordances of chatbots cross the chasm between social and traditional enterprise systems

Emanuel Stoeckli (), Christian Dremel (), Falk Uebernickel () and Walter Brenner ()
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Emanuel Stoeckli: University of St. Gallen
Christian Dremel: University of St. Gallen
Falk Uebernickel: University of St. Gallen
Walter Brenner: University of St. Gallen

Electronic Markets, 2020, vol. 30, issue 2, No 14, 369-403

Abstract: Abstract Digital and agile companies widely use chatbots in the form of integrations into enterprise messengers such as Slack and Microsoft Teams. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence about their action possibilities (i.e., affordances), for example, to link social interactions with third-party systems and processes. Therefore, we adopt a three-stage process. Grounded in a preliminary study and a qualitative study with 29 interviews from 17 organizations, we inductively derive rich contextual insights of 14 affordances and constraints, which serve as input for a Q-Methodology study that highlights five perceptional differences. We find that actualizing these affordances leads to higher-level affordances of chatbots that augment social information systems with affordances of traditional enterprise systems. Crossing the chasm between these, so far, detached systems contributes a novel perspective on how to balance novel digital with traditional systems, flexibility and malleability with stability and control, exploration with exploitation, and agility with discipline.

Keywords: Social information systems; Enterprise systems; Chatbot; Slack; Enterprise messenger; Affordances (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M15 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1007/s12525-019-00359-6

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