**3. An ecological systems perspective in building OCR on CoSNPs**

The ecological systems perspective is adopted from Bronfenbrenner [26]'s bio-ecological theory of human development. The theory is applied to study human behaviour – e.g., C.-H. Lee [51]; but we find this theory useful to understanding the environmental constituents in the development and functioning of organisations. The approach bridges the technological, organisational, and environmental aspects surrounding organisation-public interaction and relationships. The general premise of Bronfenbrenner's theory is that there are different layers of human environmental that influence a person's wellness and development. In a nutshell,

*The ecological perspective builds our "understanding of social processes like, social learning and social memory, mental models and knowledge–system integration, visioning and scenario building, leadership, agents and actor groups, social networks, institutional and organizational inertia and change, adaptive capacity, transformability and systems of adaptive governance that allow for management of essential ecosystem services" ([52], p. 263).*

The ecological system contains five systems, including the individual, microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem in that order. The individual is at the centre of these systems, and their behaviour is influenced by their traits and the ecological environment in which they interact (C.-H. [51]). The ecological systems perspective or ecological embeddedness is a social construct that can explain how individuals and organisations build and maintain relationships across their environment [53]. In OCR, for instance, there are three interacting actors – i.e., the organisation, the individuals, and the community. On social media, the NPO community is built by fans, followers, supporters, promoters, fundraisers, well-wishers, and other publics. Entities (i.e., individuals or organisations) are ecologically embedded within an ecosystem when they understand the interactive effects of the environment around them; and, are ecologically disembedded when they bear no knowledge of the interactive effects of their ecosystem [53]. An NPO's ecological system stops not at its SNPs community but extends to its governing bodies, volunteers, society and industry of operation, governments, and the world. In the organisational context, this perspective offers a unique opportunity for multi-level analysis of SNPs and organising with more emphasis on OCR and how organisations as entities are influenced by several institutional, social, and environmental forces.

*Microsystem* refers to "a pattern of activities, roles, and interpersonal relationships experienced by the children" (C.-H. [51], p. 1667). The microsystem represents influences from the organisation's structural elements such as employees,

#### *Building Organisation-Community Relationships in Co-Creative Social Networking Platforms… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99732*

business processes, and technologies. At this level, organisational characteristics such as size and the nature of services offered play a significant role in attracting social media engagement and relational outcomes [54]. Then the organisational leadership, such as executive directors, board members, and employees, determines the strategic focus, financial commitments, budget limitations, and those attached to SNPs use [55]. Besides organisational characteristics and leadership, microsystem influences will relate to organisational resources and capabilities. IT capabilities, networking competencies, adaptiveness, and absorptive capacity have been identified in enabling OCR [5, 13, 56]. Recent studies [30, 40] have emphasised that organisations should consider capabilities with generative properties when interacting with SNPs. Nonetheless, organisational culture and strategy are considered shapers of social media use [41].

*Mesosystem* refers to "interconnections among two or more microsystems, and the [organization] actively participate in this setting", such as relationships between individuals, community, and other organisations (C.-H. [51], p. 1667). Influences at this level emerge from the interaction between organisations and online communities and will range from cognitive, affective to conative aspects such as perceptions, emotions, and behaviour. During such interaction, NPOs face pressures for assurance of social legitimacy from supporting bodies such as boards, committees, or society [57]. Other mesosystem influences will be defined by the needs and expectations of such stakeholders [58]. On the platform side, the social media conversation, i.e., content, topics, comments, discussions, criticism, and demands from stakeholders, influence network structures [59]. And on the relational side, relationship quality, including relational commitment, trust, satisfaction, and control mutuality [21, 50, 60] and perceptions of mutual benefit are fundamental [21]. Also, organisations engage in different types of OCR such as communal, exchange, covenantal, exploitive, and symbiotic relationships [22], which could be associated with different determinants and outcomes. SNPs, in particular, enable strong, cohesive and symmetrical interaction, which drive communal, symbiotic, and exchange relationships [45].

*Exosystem* refers to "the social setting in which [organisations] can be influenced, but they do not necessarily actively participate" (C.-H. [51], p. 1667). The exosystem represents the layer of a broader system in which CoSNPs based OCR do not exist directly, such as the industry or sector of operation and the regulatory authorities or institutions involved. The type of industry, size of partnering organisations, duration and type of industry alliances indirectly influence relational outcomes through the operating structure and functioning of the organisation [60]. Also, the degree of market orientation, such as attainment of competitiveness on social needs or services, may play a central role [61]. Market orientation also shapes NPO outcomes and fulfils the mission and social value [61]. Vázquez et al. [61] found that NPOs must specify their target community, develop activities deep-rooted in societal needs, and nurture relationships with donors and service consumers. Social structures inherently influence behaviour and resource flow in a relationship [62]. From a technological perspective, social media diffusion within a sector can build institutional pressures which influence how organisations use social media and the overall impact [63].

*Macrosystem* refers to "consistencies found at the level of the culture, which includes belief system, norms, or ideology" (C.-H. [51], p. 1667). The macrosystem represents the largest and wider layer of the organisation's environment, which comprises socio-cultural systems, trends in technology adoption, legal and political systems, and socio-economic forces. The underlying mechanisms for cultivating OCR in CoSNPs will exceed organisational factors or resource commitments to several policy issues in the greater SNP landscape [64]. For instance, competition

#### *Digital Service Platforms*

intensity shapes technology use and adoption decisions among NPOs [57]. Sometimes, it's the political and socio-economic factors such as loci and population demographics [65]. From the perspective of the organisation-environment relationship, environmental capacity, environmental dynamism, and environmental complexity tend to influence organisational structures [66], such as the organisation's technology use capabilities and functional performance [67]. Environmental capacity, dynamism, and complexity are defined and explained further in Section 4.2.
