Managing Organizational Culture in Online Group Mergers

This six-month, digital ethnographic study explored the question: 

Why do some online group mergers succeed while others fail?

Through hundreds of pages of field notes, data logging, as well as hours of recorded video of group interactions and interviews, I compared two cases of merged "guilds" in the MMORPG World of Warcraft where one succeeded while the other eventually failed. 

Conducted as part of my work with the University of Washington's Department of Communication and the Community Data Science Collective, the research offers actionable insights for leaders, designers, and researchers managing cultural integration in online group settings. 

• Understand why some online community mergers succeed while others fail.

• Develop strategies for leaders and designers to foster cultural integration in digital communities.

• Contribute to social computing research through the lens of organizational studies.

• I served as the Principal Researcher for this project. My responsibilities included:

• Research Design: Planned a six-month ethnographic study of two raid guild mergers.

• Participant Observation: Embedded within the communities, attending weekly activities (~20 hours/week).

• Data Analysis: Synthesized insights from 120+ pages of field notes, interviews, and progression data logs.

• Leadership: Developed theoretical frameworks and contributed to advancing social computing literature.

• Collaboration: Coordinated with co-authors and presented findings at academic conferences.

• Study Design and Planning: Crafted research questions, identified study participants, and secured IRB approval.

• Data Collection: Conducted in-depth participant observation, recorded field notes, and led semi-structured interviews.

• Qualitative Analysis: Employed inductive coding and thematic analysis to uncover patterns in organizational culture.

• Quantitative Analysis: Evaluated guild performance and membership trends using external data tools (e.g., WarcraftLogs).

• Knowledge Sharing: Published findings in a leading CSCW journal, emphasizing implications for design and leadership.

• Identified strategies for cultural integration: strategic partner selection, intentional socialization, and cultivating solidarity.

• Highlighted the role of third-place activities in improving online group cohesion and retention.

• Provided actionable recommendations for designers managing social platforms to account for cultural dynamics.