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The purpose of this paper is to define optimal behavioral characteristics for members in digital social networks (DSNs). To this end, an assumption was tested that DSN members behave similarly to autonomous agents in a complex adaptive system (CAS) by maintaining a process of self‐branding.

Online questionnaires were presented to 94 DSN users. Their answers were used to assess: different parameters of their behavior on the DSN; and their perception of the DSN's effectiveness. Statistical analyses were conducted to examine possible correlations between these parameters and the optimal behavioral characteristics of individual agents in the CAS model.

Subjects who reported a higher degree of functional autonomy and self‐branding on the DSN also reported a higher degree of DSN effectiveness. A significant positive linear correlation was found between the degree of self‐branding and optimal behavioral characteristics described previously for individual agents in a CAS.

The study provides first empirical evidence that the CAS model parameters can be used to explain DSN‐related phenomena in general, and the perception of DSN effectiveness in particular. This suggests that individual DSN members should generate and maintain a powerful self‐brand through autonomous activities to increase DSN effectiveness. Such activities can be manifested through behavioral processes characterizing individuals in CAS, and especially through maximizing situational sensitivity and integration of information.

This is the first study to empirically test the CAS theoretical model on DSNs. It specifies behavioral characteristics, which individual DSN members should incorporate to increase the perceived DSN effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether working environments possessing characteristics of a complex adaptive systems (CAS), such as organizational social networks (SNs), will be perceived by the individual worker as contributing to working efficiency. The author tested whether SNs increase the workers' sharing of knowledge, sensitivity to environmental changes and synchronization of resource, which contribute to the autonomic ability to create solutions according to changing demands in turbulent environments.

A research questionnaire distributed online assessed the views and behaviors of 94 subjects regarding SNs. An index was formed for each of the four CAS variables (Goal compliance; Situational sensitivity; Integration of information; and Resource synchronization) to evaluate how the subjects perceive SN effectiveness.

A significant positive correlation was found between the degree of contribution to organizational working processes and the variables “Situational sensitivity” and “Integration of information”. This suggests that SNs allow workers to increase the degree of sensitivity to environmental changes; and that SNs allow a high degree of integration of information between the worker and other workers.

The utilization of SNs in organizations may allow quick and direct transfer of information between workers and answer immediate demands and requirements. Thus, organizations that are required to adapt to turbulent environments with high uncertainty factors and strong competition may benefit if their workers utilize SNs effectively. It can be concluded that SNs can be used as a friendly platform for the knowledge workers to update, be updated, sense environmental changes and integrate information in cooperation with other workers.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the use of digital applications (DAs) in the daily life of organizational workers, and the workers’ professional self-efficacy.

A hypothesis was tested that the digital literacy of organizational workers is positively correlated with their professional self-efficacy. To test the hypothesis, 300 Israeli organizational workers filled online questionnaires that assessed their daily pattern of DA usage (both during and after working hours) and their self-perceived professional efficacy. A linear regression analysis was performed to identify correlations between the frequency (one dimension) and effectiveness (three dimensions) of DA usage and the workers’ self-perceived professional efficacy (three dimensions).

The three dimensions of the DA usage effectiveness (diversity of the DA used, diversity of the means and ease of access to the DA) were significantly and positively correlated with all three dimensions of professional self-efficacy (functional autonomy, work effectiveness and personal knowledge sharing). In contrast, the frequency of DA usage was not correlated with any of the three dimensions of professional self-efficacy.

High digital literacy allows rapid and effective retrieval of specific networked content and an accessible means of multimedia communication. According to the ecological model of organizational knowledge management, knowledge develops through diverse interactions between workers and through their ability to retrieve and share knowledge. The findings of this study support this model and indicate that high digital literacy, manifested through easy access and diverse use of DA, increases professional self-efficacy and knowledge sharing and, thereby, the stability of the organization. Managers should thus encourage workers’ digital literacy by allowing convenient access to a wide range of DA, both during and after working hours, to increase the organizational ability to adapt to complex and rapidly changing environments.

DA are innovative tools that were only recently developed. This is the first study to characterize the relationship between the use of DA in daily life and the vocational behavior of organizational workers.

In a competitive business environment, organizations must leverage their resources efficiently in order to provide system‐wide solutions and maintain the standards all customers expect. To do so, the resources must be integrated; however, the integration of information and resources within organizations has thus far not produced satisfactory results. In contrast, it has been found that efficient, ongoing and timely transfer of information is conducted over the internet. This research seeks to examine whether the use of internet technology within organizations can indeed enhance and streamline the ability of employees to function as fractals in complex organizations.

The research is a qualitative study, allowing for the examination of behavior in the organizational reality as is, by analyzing interviews and observations of over 60 employees in different organizations.

It is found that the ability of a digital social network to create immediate system‐wide solutions, together with a management approach that transforms the organization into a complex adaptive system, allows employees to behave as fractals – i.e. to share applied‐knowledge, to take responsibility for performance and management of the processes, to update their superiors, and to develop self‐management abilities at the local level.

Social networks in organizations should be viewed as a shared “knowledge” system. Use of the network is “natural” and less rational and synchronized up front. However, it must be backed by a relevant management culture that enables all employees to serve as fractals in a complex adaptive system. In this manner, employees can contribute personally to work processes, determine their needs, and receive credit.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the necessity of access to the personal knowledge of each employee in order to cope with requirements in an organization's dynamic environment. The research question posed is which type of organizational structure, working environment and management style is most conducive to this access.

The research was a qualitative study, allowing for examination of behavior in the organizational reality as is, by analyzing interviews and observations of about 60 employees in six private, government and public organizations. The research analysis was based on five criteria regarding performance of a complex adaptive system (CAS).

There are indications that in organizations where a higher number of CAS characteristics existed, employees were better able to provide immediate solutions to the dynamic requirements. To allow this, managers should focus more on the synchronization of organizational processes and less on the control and the direct command of their subordinates.

Organizations in a dynamic environment require a change in their structure and management method to resemble in line with CAS characteristics. In a CAS organization employees are autonomous, applying personal knowledge in developing immediate and systematic responses to change.

The research shows that the effective use of personal knowledge does not readily occur in hierarchical organizations. Knowledge management in organizations in the knowledge era requires a greater focus on process management than on people management.

Examines the degree to which the findings of earlier studies of school teacher role conflict can be generalized to instructors in educational organizations manifesting many of the characteristics of total institutions. Uses a random sample of 233 instructors serving in the Israeli Defence Forces and attempts to identify additional antecedents of instructor role conflict which may have especially powerful effects in such educational organizations. Suggests that work design characteristics having the potential to exacerbate approach‐distance incongruencies may be more powerful in explaining the level of role conflict experienced by instructors in these educational organizations than those work design variables rooted in the professional‐bureaucratic conflict perspective of role stress.

This study investigates the relationship between national culture and the country level of firms' digitalisation, by applying Hofstede's cultural framework to the European Union member states. Although many studies have observed the impact of national culture on firms' innovation and information and communication technology (ICT) adoption, there have been no analyses of how cultural dimensions impact firms' digitalisation at the country level. This study intends to fill that gap.

Using a pooled ordinary least square (OLS) model, this study analyses data from 27 European countries over the period from 2014 to 2018.

The results suggest the existence of a negative, significant, relationship between both masculinity and uncertainty avoidance, and the country level of firms' digitalisation. Indulgence is found to positively and significantly influence a country's level of digitalisation. Contrary to expectations, this study indicates a negative, significant, relationship between individualism and the degree of digitalisation. Power distance is found to have no significant impact.

This study contributes to the literature by showing how a country's various cultural dimensions help or hinder the level of firms' digitalisation in that country. Theoretical and managerial implications are presented, including suggestions for future research.