Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Sensemaking in the Digital Workplace, A Case Study of Organizational Identity Construction via ISM at Tencent

Wang, Yimeng (2025) SKOM12 20251
Department of Strategic Communication
Abstract
Internal social media (ISM) platforms have transformed internal communication by enabling dialogue, participation, and shared meaning-making across organizational hierarchies and locations. While previous research has highlighted ISM’s role in knowledge sharing and employee engagement, less attention has been paid to its function in shaping organizational identity from a managerial perspective. This thesis investigates how communication practitioners strategically use ISM to construct, reinforce, and maintain organizational identity. Drawing on sensemaking theory and the Communication Value Circle, this qualitative case study examines Tencent, a Chinese technology company with a mature ISM ecosystem. Through 15 semi-structured interviews... (More)
Internal social media (ISM) platforms have transformed internal communication by enabling dialogue, participation, and shared meaning-making across organizational hierarchies and locations. While previous research has highlighted ISM’s role in knowledge sharing and employee engagement, less attention has been paid to its function in shaping organizational identity from a managerial perspective. This thesis investigates how communication practitioners strategically use ISM to construct, reinforce, and maintain organizational identity. Drawing on sensemaking theory and the Communication Value Circle, this qualitative case study examines Tencent, a Chinese technology company with a mature ISM ecosystem. Through 15 semi-structured interviews across departments, the study reveals how managerial communication practices—such as leadership storytelling, algorithmic moderation, and participatory architecture—mediate identity construction on ISM. The findings demonstrate that ISM enables both top-down value reinforcement and bottom-up identity co-creation, while also producing tensions around authenticity, anonymity, and algorithmic control. The study contributes theoretically by extending sensemaking theory into digital platforms and reinterpreting managerial communication through the lens of identity governance. Practically, it provides a governance framework for managers to enhance organizational identity coherence through structured yet adaptive ISM practices. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Wang, Yimeng
supervisor
organization
course
SKOM12 20251
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Organizational identity, internal social media, sensemaking, CVC (Communication Value Circle), internal communication, strategic communication
language
English
id
9207646
date added to LUP
2025-07-01 13:04:37
date last changed
2025-07-01 13:04:37
@misc{9207646,
  abstract     = {{Internal social media (ISM) platforms have transformed internal communication by enabling dialogue, participation, and shared meaning-making across organizational hierarchies and locations. While previous research has highlighted ISM’s role in knowledge sharing and employee engagement, less attention has been paid to its function in shaping organizational identity from a managerial perspective. This thesis investigates how communication practitioners strategically use ISM to construct, reinforce, and maintain organizational identity. Drawing on sensemaking theory and the Communication Value Circle, this qualitative case study examines Tencent, a Chinese technology company with a mature ISM ecosystem. Through 15 semi-structured interviews across departments, the study reveals how managerial communication practices—such as leadership storytelling, algorithmic moderation, and participatory architecture—mediate identity construction on ISM. The findings demonstrate that ISM enables both top-down value reinforcement and bottom-up identity co-creation, while also producing tensions around authenticity, anonymity, and algorithmic control. The study contributes theoretically by extending sensemaking theory into digital platforms and reinterpreting managerial communication through the lens of identity governance. Practically, it provides a governance framework for managers to enhance organizational identity coherence through structured yet adaptive ISM practices.}},
  author       = {{Wang, Yimeng}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Sensemaking in the Digital Workplace, A Case Study of Organizational Identity Construction via ISM at Tencent}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}