A Flexible Approach Towards Effective

Teaching: Use of Social Media by Teachers

Irameet Kaur, Charu Shri & K. M. Mital

Global Journal of Flexible Systems

Management

ISSN 0972-2696

Glob J Flex Syst Manag

DOI 10.1007/s40171-015-0113-1

1 23
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 Author's personal copy
Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management
DOI 10.1007/s40171-015-0113-1
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A Flexible Approach Towards Effective Teaching: Use of Social
Media by Teachers
Irameet Kaur1 • Charu Shri1 • K. M. Mital1,2
Received: 2 June 2015 / Accepted: 1 November 2015
Ó Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management 2015
Abstract The flexibility, charm and ease that social media
provides, has made it one of the most inevitable aspects of
virtually every industry. The teaching profession is also
fast reaping on the benefits that social media can harvest.
However, in the Indian scenario, the teachers still have to
go a long way to overcome their apprehensions regarding
the usage of social media in teaching. For achieving the
same, there is a critical need to understand the enablers of
social media usage and the interplay among them to
identify the strongest drivers. The methodology of inter-
pretive structural modelling and fuzzy matriced’ impacts
croises multiplication appliquee aun classement have been
applied in this paper to understand and establish the dif-
ferent variables impacting social media usage and their
inter-relationships. The strongest and the weakest vari-
ables for social media usage were identified along with
their quantitative possibility of influence. The findings of
the paper can provide important guidelines for the prac-
titioners as well as the academicians alike. The manage-
ment need to emphasize more on variables with high
driving power in order to achieve the flexibility in teaching
through social media. For the academicians, the study
provides a platform to analyse the detailed relationship of
these variables with social media usage.
& Irameet Kaur
irameetkr@gmail.com
1
School of Management, The Northcap University (Formerly
ITM University), Gurgaon, Haryana, India
2
Knowledge Podium Systems Pvt. Ltd., Dehradun, India
Keywords Effective teaching

Flexible teaching methods
Fuzzy-ISM

Fuzzy MICMAC
Interpretive structural modelling (ISM)

Social media
Introduction
The advent of social media and its impact on virtually
every materialistic and humanistic dimension is today a
much debatable and relevant topic of interest. The way it
has entered and flourished in our world has made it an
inevitable phenomenon which has altered our lives both in
progressive and regressive manner. Numerous debates on
how social media has affected our lives have resulted in
mixed ideologies, interpretations and logic. While some
view it as a medium for fulfilling our desires, others are of
the belief that social media is only making us more tech-
nology dependent and reducing the charm of personal
bonding. The usage of social media hence varies greatly
from individual to individual and profession to profession.
The teaching profession is also fast reaping on the benefits
that social media can harvest. Adopting flexibility in
teaching methods by efficient usage of social media cannot
only make the lectures interesting, it also helps in the
overall development of the students as well as of the
teachers. However, in the Indian scenario, the teachers still
have to go a long way to overcome their apprehensions
regarding the usage of social media in teaching. For
achieving the same, there is a need to understand the
enablers of social media usage. Even more critical is to
understand the interplay among these enablers to identify
the strongest drivers for social media usage. The current
paper tries to analyse the various enablers that drive the
teacher to use innovative and flexible methods of effective
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teaching like social media. The techniques of interpretive
structural modelling (ISM) and fuzzy matriced’ impacts
croises multiplication appliquee aun classement (MIC-
MAC) have been applied to study the variables, their
relationships and the extent to which they influence social
media usage. ISM is a very well established methodology
that can help to identify relationships among specific items
which define a problem or an issue (Warfield 1974; Sage
1977). Sixteen variables have been identified on the basis
of literature support and survey conducted on teachers.
Further expert opinion from senior academicians has been
solicited to establish the relationship between these vari-
ables. ISM and Fuzzy MICMAC has then been applied to
understand the definite relationships between these vari-
ables and how they impact social media usage.
Social Media in Teaching
An array of terms such as social networking sites (SNS),
social media, social network, web 2.0 applications etc.
have been used for the online personal communities and
interactions. However, the current paper uses the term
social media in a broad sense to describe the web appli-
cations that facilitate social interchange of content and
allows the creation and exchange of user generated content
(Scheepers et al. 2014). The potential of using social media
has now been realised by the academicians and those
associated with this field. The use and misuse of social
media in academics has been discussed by Griffith and
Liyanage (2008). The vast reachability of social media is
now being captured by academicians worldwide. Like
minded groups or individuals can interact and exchange
information which is of their interest. Social media is also
being used by students as a tool that assists them in their
academic studies and team based work. Moreover, it is also
serving as an easy and readily available platform for
interaction between the educators and students. It can be
used to form study groups, research groups, projects, dis-
tance education and online information about events in the
academic sector. The use of social media has also been
highlighted as virtual bookshelves (Seckor 2005) as certain
websites also serve as an online library of books and
journals that can be archived and accessed. He also pointed
that the use of Facebook—one of the most popular social
networking sites, has its origin in academician where it was
mostly used by students as a tool to promote library ser-
vices. There has also been emphasis on the psychosocial
benefits of such sites (Tynes 2007). Social media facilitates
in exploring one’s identity, enhances social cognitive skills
by making individuals more considerate towards each
other, fulfil the need of social belongingness and intimacy
and a more personalized learning experience. It was also
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Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management
noticed that more the personalized is the social media
presence more is the motivation for students to participate
and learn from the website (Mazer et al. 2007).
Authors have also shared the reverse side of social
media by analysing the limitations of social media in
teaching (Griffith and Liyanage 2008). The data shared
can be modified, manipulated or misused. Even though
the privacy settings allow the users to choose the per-
missions, users often end up giving more personal details
about themselves that can prove harmful. Mazer et al.
(2007) also warn users of the potential hazards of using
facebook in teaching. Since the website allows cross
communication through its discussion forum ‘‘wall’’, it
becomes important to filter your contact list and then
content which one wishes to display on their forum. The
teachers have to be extra cautious regarding the content
and information presented to students in order to prevent
their credibility and dignity as an educator. The pros and
cons of using social media are the major deciding factors
for the educators to use it as a flexible innovative teaching
tool. There are various factors related to its advantages
and disadvantages which influence the usage of social
media in teaching. The next section attempts to identify
such variables that impact the usage of social media by
teaching professionals.
Identifying Enablers of Social Media Usage
Curran and Lennon (2011) developed a framework for
examining factors that influence the usage of social net-
working sites. The model mainly discusses the various
beliefs that influence an individual’s attitude which, in-
turn, influences his decision for social networking usage
behaviour. The various beliefs, i.e. ease of use, usefulness,
enjoyment; social influence and drama influence the atti-
tude of the user and lead him to decide about the usage of
social networking. These beliefs are discussed in detail in
the subsequent sections. Capua (2012) has given us various
factors on the usage of Facebook.
Variables that have been identified through literature are
shown in Table 1.
Methodology
Views of 100 teachers who are teaching in higher educa-
tion institutes were sought to shortlist the variables that
they felt influence their social media usage. A total of 21
variables were identified which were then cropped down to
fifteen on the basis of literature support. Further, opinion of
the experts was collected to form the relationships among
these variables. The experts panel comprised an
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Table 1 Variables of social media usage

S. No. Variable Description Authors

1 Relationship maintainence Sustaining strong ties’’ and ‘‘extending weak
ties’’
2 Relationship formation Make new acquaintances
3 Sense of belonging Their need of belongingness and self-identity
through recognition
4 Personality Related to extraversion and introversion
5 Social influence Peer effect, group norms, social identity
6 Online experience Develop interest in the applications based on
their experience
7 Self-development Online courses, discussion forums and news
from all over the world, are all easily
accessible through digital sources
8 Flexibility and ease of use Ease and flexibility to navigate and browse
through the site
9 Age Digital natives of Gen Y have difference in
attitudes, values, beliefs, needs and wants
lead them to literally ‘‘breath’’ social
media
10 Emotional intelligence Emotions or drama positively or negatively
influence the social media usage
11 Privacy Sites have to ensure the confidentiality and
security of this information in order to win
the trust of the users
12 Usefulness in work Used for marketing, HR, finance, training etc
13 Enjoyment An aspect of hedonic behavior which leads to
a feeling of self-fulfillment
14 Information seeking Information is sought from the social media
for entertainment, professional or personal
use
15 Self-expression A platform to voice the opinion, express it
freely and act as opinion leader to friends
and family
Stern and Taylor (2007), Joinson (2008), Sheldon
(2008), Urista et al. (2009), Bryant and Marmo
(2012), Scheepers et al. (2014) and Yang and Brown
(2015)
Lampe et al. (2006), Lenhart and Madden (2008), Lo
(2010), Chen and Sharma (2013) and Lenhart and
Madden (2008)
Wellman and Gulia (1999), Hogg and Terry (2000),
Ridings and Gefen (2004), Gangadharbatla (2008),
Capua (2012) and Scheepers et al. (2014)
Zywica and Danowski (2008), Amichai-Hamburger and
Vinitzky (2010)
Teo et al. (2001), Cheung et al. (2011)
Vasalou et al. (2010), Banerjee and Dey (2013)
Tynes (2007)
Daugherty et al. (2005), Banerjee and Dey (2013)
Prensky (2001), Brosdahl and Carpenter (2011) and
Bolton et al. (2013)
Thelwall et al. (2010), Curran and Lennon (2011) and
Newness et al. (2012)
Belanger et al. (2002), Srinivasan (2004)
Sinclaire and Vogus (2011), Martin (2013)
Curran and Lennon (2011), Scheepers et al. (2014)
Scheepers et al. (2014)
Mellins (2008), Banerjee and Dey (2013)

appropriate mix of professionals who use social media
extensively and the ones who use very less of social media.
The average of the results was then taken into account for
further analysis (Table 1).
ISM and Model Development
The technique of ISM was initially proposed by Warfield
(1974) for analysing complex socioeconomic systems.
Thereafter, it has been used in varied contexts and subjects
worldwide (Mandal and Deshmukh 1994; Ravi et al. 2005;
Kant and Singh 2008; Tripathy et al. 2013). ISM facilitates
in developing a simple directed map of the complex rela-
tionships between the elements involved. It basically cap-
tures the experience, knowledge and opinion of the experts
in the subject. ISM is generally used to translate vague and
inadequately articulated rational models of system into
visible, well defined models (Sushil 2012). The various
steps involved in this technique are as follows:
Step 1 Identifying and defining elements/ variables
The variables of the system are identified with the help of
experts, survey or opinions from academicians or industry
support. In this paper, the variables have been identified
and discussed in the earlier section.
Step 2 Establishing the contextual relationship
The contextual relationship is identified in terms of pair-
wise influence ‘‘enabler A will influence enabler B’’. A
structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM) is then prepared

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Table 2 Structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM)

15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

1 V A A A A A A O V O O A A V
2 V A A A A A A A V A A A A
3 V X X O X A O O O O O A
4 V V V O V A A O V A O
5 V O O X O O A X V V
6 V O O A O O O A V
7 A O O O A A A A
8 O O O X V O A
9 V O O V O O
10 V O O O O
11 O X X O
12 V V O
13 O X
14 V

Table 3 Initial reachability matrix

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
4 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
5 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
6 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
9 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
10 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
11 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
12 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1
13 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
14 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

based on the relationships (Table 2). The following four If the (i,j) entry in SSIM is V, the (i,j) entry in the matrix
symbols have been used to indicate the relationship becomes 1 and (j,i) entry becomes 0.
direction between the two variables i and j: If the (i,j) entry in SSIM is A, the (i,j) entry in the matrix
becomes 0 and (j,i) entry becomes 1.
V i will influence j
If the (i,j) entry in SSIM is X, the (i,j) entry in the matrix
A j will influence i
becomes 1 and (j,i) entry also becomes 1.
X i and j influence each other
If the (i,j) entry in SSIM is O, the (i,j) entry in the matrix
O i and j are unrelated
becomes 0 and (j,i) entry also becomes 0.
Step 3 Initial reachability matrix
The SSIM matrix is converted to a binary matrix
Step 4 Final reachability matrix
by substituting V, A, X, and O by 0 and 1
The initial reachability matrix developed above is
according to the following rules to develop the
then checked for transitivity. The transitivity is
initial reachability matrix (Table 3):

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Table 4 Final reachability matrix

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
3 1 1 1 0 0 0 1* 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
4 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1
5 1* 1 0 1* 1 1 1 1 0 0 1* 1 0 1* 1
6 1* 1 1* 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 1* 1 1* 1* 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1*
9 1 1 1* 1 1 1* 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1* 1*
10 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
11 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1*
12 1 1 1* 0 1 1 1* 1 0 0 1* 1 1* 1 0
13 1 1 1 0 0 0 1* 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
14 1 1 1 0 0 0 1* 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

* Transitive relationship

based on the basic assumption that if enabler A is
related to B and B is related to C, then A is
necessarily related to C. The final reachability
matrix after incorporating transitivity is then
established in Table 4.
Step 5 Level partitions
The reachability set and antecedent sets are then
formed from the final reachability matrix. The
intersection of these sets is then derived. Enablers
for whom reachability and intersection sets are
same form the top level of the ISM hierarchy.
Top-level variables do not influence any other
variables above them. They are then separated
from other enablers and subsequent iterations are
worked out to till the levels for all variables are
reached (Table 5). This becomes the basis for
forming the digraph and model.
Step 6 The structural model is generated through the
final reachability matrix and the level partitions.
The relationships between the variables are
depicted by arrows pointing from i to j. After
removing the transitivity, the digraph is converted
to an ISM model by replacing the nodes with
variable names as presented in Fig. 1.
ISM Fuzzy MICMAC Analysis
In the reachability matrix (Table 2), the relationship is
denoted by binary numbers 0 and 1. However, the
relationship intensity among the variables is always
different. Some relations might be very strong, strong
or weak. Fuzzy ISM MICMAC is therefore used to
overcome this limitation of ISM and relationships are
hence defined in a more precise manner. Fuzzy ISM
MICMAC has earlier been applied for studies in
manufacturing (Dubey and Ali 2014) and supply chain
(Gorane and Kant 2013; Mani et al. 2015). The steps
of carrying out the fuzzy ISM MICMAC are as
follows:
Step 1 Binary direct relationship matrix (BDRM) BDRM
(Table 6) is obtained by converting the diagonal
entries to zero in the direct relationship matrix
(initial reachability matrix—Table 3)
Step 2 Fuzzy direct relationship matrix (FDRM)
Fuzzy set theory (FST) has been used in this
paper to increase the sensitivity of MICMAC
analysis. The possibility of interaction has been
derived by taking an additional input into
consideration. The opinion of experienced
academicians has been solicited to define the
possibility of interaction through qualitative
consideration on a scale of 0–1 as given in
Table 7. Table 8 represents the FDRM.
Step 3 Fuzzy MICMAC stabilised matrix
The FDRM is taken as a base and the matrix is
multiplied by itself repeatedly till the hierarchies
of the driving power and dependence are
stabilized. The fuzzy matrix multiplication by
Kandasamy (2007) is followed and the max–min
approach is applied. According to FST, when two
fuzzy matrices are multiplied, the product matrix
is also a fuzzy matrix and follows the given rule:
C = A,B = max k [(min (aik, bkj)] where
A = [aik] and B = [bkj]

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Table 5 Level partitions

Code Reachability set Antecedent set Intersection set Level

Iteration 1
1 1,2,7,15 1,2,3,4,5,9,10,11,12,13,14 1,2
2 1,2,7,15 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 1,2
3 1,2,3,7,11,13,14,15 3,4,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
4 1,2,3,4,7,10,11,13,14,15 4,6,9,10 4,10
5 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,14,15 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
6 1,2,3,4,6,7,10,15 5,6,8,9,12 6
7 7 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 7 I
8 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,15 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
9 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,14,15 9 9
10 1,2,3,4,7,10,15 4,5,6,8,9,10 4,10
11 1,2,3,7,11,13,14,15 3,4,5,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
12 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,11,12,13,14 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
13 1,2,3,7,11,13,14,15 3,4,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
14 1,2,3,7,11,13,14 3,4,5,9,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
15 7,15 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,13,15 15
Iteration 2
2 1,2,15 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 1,2
3 1,2,3,11,13,14,15 3,4,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
4 1,2,3,4,10,11,13,14,15 4,6,9,10 4,10
5 1,2,4,5,6,8,10,11,12,14,15 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
6 1,2,3,4,6,10,15 5,6,8,9,12 6
8 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,10,11,12,15 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
9 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,12,14,15 9 9
10 1,2,3,4,10,15 4,5,6,8,9,10 4,10
11 1,2,3,11,13,14,15 3,4,5,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
12 1,2,3,5,6,8,11,12,13,14 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
13 1,2,3,11,13,14,15 3,4,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
14 1,2,3,11,13,14 3,4,5,9,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
15 15 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,13,15 15 II
Iteration 3
1 1,2 1,2,3,4,5,9,10,11,12,13,14 1,2 III
2 1,2 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 1,2 III
3 1,2,3,11,13,14 3,4,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
4 1,2,3,4,10,11,13,14 4,6,9,10 4,10
5 1,2,4,5,6,8,10,11,12,14 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
6 1,2,3,4,6,10 5,6,8,9,12 6
8 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,10,11,12 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
9 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,10,12,14 9 9
10 1,2,3,4,10 4,5,6,8,9,10 4,10
11 1,2,3,11,13,14 3,4,5,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
12 1,2,3,5,6,8,9,11,12,13,14 5,8,12 5,8,12
13 1,2,3,11,13,14 3,4,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
14 1,2,3,11,13,14 3,4,5,9,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14
Iteration 4
3 3,11,13,14 3,4,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14 IV
4 3,4,10,11,13,14 4,6,9,10 4,10
5 4,5,6,8,10,11,12,14 5,8,9,12 5,8,12

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Table 5 continued
Code Reachability set Antecedent set Intersection set Level

6 3,4,6,10 5,6,8,9,12 6
8 3,4,5,6,8,10,11,12,15 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
9 3,4,5,6,8,9,10,12,14 9 9
10 3,4,10 4,5,6,8,9,10 4,10
11 3,11,13,14 3,4,5,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14 IV
12 3,5,6,8,11,12,13,14 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
13 3,11,13,14 3,4,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14 IV
14 3,11,13,14 3,4,5,9,11,12,13,14 3,11,13,14 IV
Iteration 5
4 4,10 4,6,9,10 4,10 V
5 4,5,6,8,10,12 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
6 4,6,10 5,6,8,9,12 6
8 4,5,6,8,10,12 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
9 4,5,6,8,9,10,12 9 9
10 4,10 4,5,6,8,9,10 4,10 V
12 5,6,8,12 5,8,12 5,8,12
Iteration 6
5 5,6,8,12 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
6 6 5,6,8,9,12 6 VI
8 5,6,8,12 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
9 5,6,8,9 9 9
12 5,6,8,12 5,8,9,12 5,8,12
Iteration 7
5 5,8,12 5,8,9,12 5,8,12 VII
8 5,8,12 5,8,9,12 5,8,12 VII
9 5,8,9,12 9 9
12 5,8,12 5,8,9,12 5,8,12 VII
Iteration 8
9 9 9 9 VIII

The stabilized matrix is presented in Table 9. The
driving power is calculated by summing the
entries of possibilities of interaction in rows and
dependence is derived by summing the column
entries.
Findings and Discussion
15 variables were identified on the basis of survey among
teachers and extensive literature review. Further, the
interrelationships between them were obtained by con-
sulting experts from the academics. The ISM model was
developed as shown in Fig. 1 and it was observed that age
represents the base level of the model. The lowest level
includes the variables that are independent and have a high
driving power by influencing the variables in the upper
levels. Age has an impact on the extent to which an
individual can be affected by social influence, approach
towards his usefulness in work and flexibility of use. Social
media is perceived to be more popular among the younger
age group and is less preferred by high age groups.
The flexibility of use, usefulness in work and social
influence are inter-related and together shape up the overall
online experience of a teacher. Online experience that a
teacher gains from use of social media has an effect on the
personality as well as the emotional intelligence of teach-
ers. As they interact with more people and learn more, their
attitude towards various things in life changes and as a
result can help in shaping up their personality and
enhancing their emotional intelligence (EI). EI is one of the
factors that can influence the sense of belongingness
whereas personality determines the extent of sense of pri-
vacy, enjoyment and information seeking behaviour. These
four factors form the same level in the digraph and are
inter-related to each other. Individuals with less sense of
privacy and more for enjoyment tend to be extroverts while

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Self-development

Self-expression

Relationship Relationship
maintainence formation

Sense of belonging Sense of privacy Enjoyment Information

seeking

Emotional Personality
Intelligence

Online experience

Flexibility of use Usefulness in work Social Influence

Age

Fig. 1 TISM model depicting relationship among variables of social media usage

people who are introverts are more concerned about their
privacy. Different individuals have different levels of need
of belongingness and hence have different attitudes and
behaviour. In collaboration, these variables result in rela-
tionship building and relationship formation which form
the next level in the digraph.
The sense of belongingness an individual derives from a
relationship determines how much he would want to
maintain it. Similarly, it would also determine if the indi-
vidual intends to form new relationship in order to satisfy
his need for belongingness. Sense of privacy also
influences an individual’s decision to form new relation-
ships and maintain the existing ones. Information seeking
is also a deciding factor in relationship management and
relationship formation. Individuals tend to form new con-
tacts or maintain old contacts to gain more and more
information relevant to them. Individuals tend to maintain
or form those relationships that might be useful for them in
their professional or personal work. The enjoyment that a
person wishes to indulge will enable him to choose his
acquaintances for the same and hence will influence his
relationship management criteria. The variables

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Table 6 Binary direct relationship matrix (BDRM)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
4 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
5 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
6 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
9 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
10 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
12 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
13 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
14 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
15 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

Table 7 Possibility of numerical value of reachability

Possibility of reachability No Very low Low Medium High Very high Complete

Value 0 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1

Each relationship was rated and values for the relationship were superimposed on the BDRM to obtain fuzzy direct relationship matrix (FDRM)

Table 8 Fuzzy direct relationship matrix

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

1 0 0.9 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1

2 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1
3 0.9 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0.1 0.1 0.3
4 0.7 0.7 0.5 0 0 0 0.9 0 0 0.9 0.7 0 0.7 0.7 0.5
5 0 0.5 0 0 0 0.1 0.7 0.5 0 0.5 0 0.5 0 0 0.5
6 0 0.1 0 0.3 0 0 0.7 0 0 0.3 0 0 0 0 0.7
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0.3 0 0 0.3 0.9 0.3 0 0 0.3 0.3 0.7 0 0 0
9 0.5 0.5 0 0.5 0.3 0 0.5 0.3 0 0.7 0 0 0 0 0.3
10 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0 0 0.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.9
11 0.5 0.5 0.1 0 0 0 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 0.1 0
12 0.1 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0.7 0 0 0 0.1 0 1 0.5
13 0.7 0.7 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0.1 0
14 0.1 0.5 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.7
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

relationship formation and relationship maintenance
impact self-development which is placed at level 2. People
learn from people around them and so the kind of people an
individual wishes to maintain contact with will lead to his
self-expression. Self-expression further leads to self-de-
velopment which represents the first level of the digraph.
The second part of the paper attempts to analyse the
driving power and dependence of these variables through
fuzzy MICMAC analysis. In this analysis, all the variables
are classified under four clusters (Fig. 2). The first cluster
comprises of variables that have weak dependence and
weak driving power and are categorized as autonomous
variables. The second cluster comprises of dependent
variables with high dependence and less driving power.
The third cluster represents the linkage variables that have
strong dependence as well as strong driving power and

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Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management

Table 9 Stabilized FDRM

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

1 0 0.9 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1

2 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1
3 0.9 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0.1 0.1 0.3
4 0.7 0.7 0.5 0 0 0 0.9 0 0 0.9 0.7 0 0.7 0.7 0.5
5 0 0.5 0 0 0 0.1 0.7 0.5 0 0.5 0 0.5 0 0 0.5
6 0 0.1 0 0.3 0 0 0.7 0 0 0.3 0 0 0 0 0.7
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0.3 0 0 0.3 0.9 0.3 0 0 0.3 0.3 0.7 0 0 0
9 0.5 0.5 0 0.5 0.3 0 0.5 0.3 0 0.7 0 0 0 0 0.3
10 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0 0 0.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.9
11 0.5 0.5 0.1 0 0 0 0.9 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 0.1 0
12 0.1 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0.7 0 0 0 0.1 0 1 0.5
13 0.7 0.7 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0.1 0
14 0.1 0.5 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.7
15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

5
other variables but are weak drivers of social media usage.
7.2 8 Since they emerge at higher levels in the digraph, they are
Cluster IV - Drivers 10 Cluster III - Linkage considered important factors for social media usage. These
9 12 are relationship formation, relationship maintenance, sense
4 of belonging, self-expression, privacy and enjoyment, self-
development and self-expression. The management should
3 6 understand the dependence of these variables on the other
variables and tackle these variables accordingly. Any
3 change in other variables will bring a change in these
13
variables which will ultimately impact the social media
Cluster I - Autonomous Cluster II - Dependent usage.
Driving Power

11, 14 Linkage variables These variables have strong driving

15
0 3
Dependence
Fig. 2 Fuzzy MICMAC analysis
lastly the independent variables that have the highest
driving power and least dependence.
The analysis generated the following results and
interpretations:
Autonomous variables These variables have low
dependence and low driving power. These variables are
relatively disconnected from the system and hence they do
not have much influence on social media usage. No vari-
able was observed under this category.
Dependent variables Eight variables were identified as
dependent variables. They show strong dependence on
power and strong dependence as well. Since these variables
link the dependent and independent variables, any change
7 2, 1 that would occur on these variables would bring the change
in other variables. These variables are unstable in nature
7.2 and can hence effect the social media usage in a positive or
a negative way. These variables are online experience,
personality and emotional intelligence.
Independent variables These variables possess the
highest driving power and are not much dependent on other
variables for their functioning. Hence these variables need
to be attended to more cautiously and should be treated as
most important. These are the variables that should be
given maximum attention during devising strategies for
organizational decisions. The independent drivers in case
of social media usage are social influence, flexibility of use,
age and usefulness in work. These are the base level
variables in the ISM hierarchy and facilitate in achieving
the variables at higher levels. For successful implementa-
tion of social media usage in an organization, maximum
focus should be devoted towards strengthening of these
variables.

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Conclusion and Scope for Future Research
In education sector, simply being knowledgeable does not
give a teacher enough weight to ascertain himself as an
effective teacher. It is now more if not equally important to
apply flexible methods in disseminating the knowledge in a
more innovative and interesting manner. Social media
provides one such popular platform to make teaching and
learning more flexible, effective, and enjoyable. It hence
becomes necessary to understand the variables that can
help an organization to foster the use of social media in
teaching. This paper attempts to identify such variables that
can enable an institution to develop and nurture a social
media rich culture. Fifteen such variables were identified
and the relationship among them was analysed. ISM
methodology enabled us in understanding the relative
importance and functioning of each variable for social
media usage. Age, social influence, flexibility of use and
usefulness in work can represent strategic variables that
need maximum attention of management. Emotional
intelligence, personality and online experience were the
variables which were influenced by them and in turn
influence more variables and are hence can be termed as
operational variables. Sense of belonging, privacy, infor-
mation seeking, enjoyment, relationship formation, rela-
tionship maintenance, self-expression and self-
development were the variables that were dependent on
other variables to be effective and hence are the outcome
variables. A complete ISM model in form of digraph with
arrows has been presented in Fig. 1. The results of fuzzy
MICMAC (Fig. 2) further helped in identifying the stron-
gest and weakest drivers of social media usage. It was
further strengthened that independent variables like age,
social influence, usefulness in work and flexibility of use
are the most important variables from the management
point of view. The findings of the paper from both ISM and
fuzzy MICMAC can provide important guidelines for the
practitioners as well as the academicians alike. The man-
agement need to emphasize more on such variables in order
to achieve the flexibility in teaching through social media.
For the academicians, the study provides a platform to
analyse the detailed relationship of these variables with
social media usage.
The ISM and fuzzy MICMAC relationships are based on
the judgements of the expert opinion which might be
biased. A more detailed approach like survey method can
be applied to obtain more accurate data. Further, the
technique of structural equation modelling can be applied
to develop and validate the model to study the effect of
social media usage on effective teaching.
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Key Questions
Q1. What is the relevance of social media in teaching?
Q2. How do the social media competencies impact teaching
performance?
Q3. What are the social media competencies required to
become an effective teacher?
Irameet Kaur has 10 years of industry experience
in various Human Resource functions in pharma-
ceutical and recruitment industry. She is presently
working as a University Fellow with The Northcap
University (Formerly ITM University), Gurgaon,
India.
 Author's personal copy
Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management
Charu Shri is Head—School of Management,
The Northcap University (Formerly ITM Univer-
sity), Gurgaon. She has more than 12 years of
experience as a management educator and trainer.
She has more than 30 research papers and articles
to her credit. She also has one edited book and
chapters in different books to her credit.
K. M. Mital is the Director—Strategic HR,
Knowledge Podium Systems Pvt. Ltd., Dehradun,
India. Distinguished Research Professor, The
Northcap University, Gurgaon, Haryana, India. He
has over 37 years of experience with different
public sector enterprises. He has 300 publications
to his credit which include 200 papers and 6
books.
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