Digital Member Network Implementation and Coproduction: An Investigation of an Alumni Association Network

by

Derrick Vance Warren

August 2019

Chair: Dr. Lars Mathiassen

Major Academic Unit: Executive Doctorate in Business

Given the rapid rate of technological change, IT professionals need continuous guidance to implement digital member networks (DMNs) successfully. Moreover, because key stakeholders can drive initial participation and ongoing engagement in these networks, ensuring that stakeholders have positive implementation experiences is particularly important. Against that backdrop, this study focuses on understanding the enablers and barriers to implementing DMNs and identifies ways to accelerate continuous engagement by involving key members in coproduction of the network. A literature review synthesizes key challenges in digitally enabled social network implementation and coproduction in general and provides background for the study, while Implementation Theory and Coproduction Theory offer the analytical framing. From this foundation, the researcher empirically investigates the enablers and barriers to implementing and coproducing a DMN for a university’s alumni association. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on DMNs, insights on the implementation of digitally enabled social networks, and interventions that may drive coproduction and positive member engagement.

INDEX WORDS: Digital Member Networks, Implementation, Coproduction, Enablers and Barriers, Alumni Association