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Social media groups help foster discussions, but it can be challenging for brands to maintain user engagement and collaborate in value co-creation. Despite a pressing need to comprehend the dynamics of virtual communities, there is a lack of a concerted view of how users engage with brands in virtual communities. To explore this, we use a sportbased virtual community as context since fan engagement levels are substantially higher in sports communities than in other virtual communities. Leveraging the sense of community theory and netnography as a method, we study community formation in a Facebook group comprising fans of a European football club. Preliminary findings reveal a strong presence of membership, influence, and shared emotional connection, while integration and fulfillment of needs are relatively less dominant. As next steps, we plan to examine how a sense of community evolves in virtual communities through a longitudinal approach. Potential implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Healthcare organizations currently face tough decisions regarding allocating resources to reduce costs and improve patient care. While IT investments have consistently been a priority, it is widely accepted as a given, resulting in research primarily examining IT investment outcomes. Recent studies highlight tensions between the role of CIOs and governing boards in determining IT resource allocations. Recognizing this, the current study investigates the dynamics between healthcare CIO presence and the board in driving targeted HIT investments. Drawing on the upper echelons theory, we theorize and propose several hypotheses to clarify the tensions between the CIO and the influence of boards in the healthcare industry, specifically in the context of HIT investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]