Abstract

ISONI FILHO, Miguel; BELLINI, Carlo  and  ISONI, Miguel. Managing Internet-mediated communities in stages: preliminary empirical findings. Rev. Portuguesa e Brasileira de Gestão [online]. 2011, vol.10, n.4, pp.38-49. ISSN 1645-4464.

This is among the very few studies that deal with the intervention of management within the life cycle of Internet-mediated communities (IMCs), with a particular interest in managerial actions that help communities to experience a complete life cycle . The conceptual model includes the actions of owners, facilitators, leaders and net weavers, as well as the stages of conceptualization, opening, growth, maturity and closing . By means of a survey with 63 managers of three IMCs available in Ning - an online platform for building virtual social networks -, we were able to validate the model and assess the relative importance of each managerial action. The theoretical framework and the empirical evidences contribute to the debate about the presence of management in communities, given that part of the sociological literature espouses strict volunteerism and mutual adjustment as major attributes of actual communities.

Keywords : Internet-Mediated Communities; Management Teams; Managerial Routines; Life Cycle; Staged Representation.

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