Research

   Digital Development (Stream 1)

This stream focuses on how developers and their organisations can yield innovative products and services that enhance user experience and satisfaction. This work began with the notion of coopetitive knowledge sharing in cross-functional software project teams.  It required original measurement instruments and models (Ghobadi, 2015; Ghobadi & D'Ambra, 2011, 2013). This research was extended to agile development and pair programming (Ghobadi et al. 2015) and the role theory illuminating how project managers, developers, testers, and user representatives interpret knowledge-sharing differently (Ghobadi & Mathiassen, 2015). A theory-driven risk management framework for agile environments enabled assessment and mitigation of knowledge-sharing risks (Ghobadi & Mathiassen, 2016). We contributed a generational diversity model for development teams, explaining how early adopters of social networking bring novel product expectations and enhanced social impact (Ghobadi & Mathiassen, 2020). Crowdfunding application by software developers was studied through longitudinal, multi-case studies to examine resource adversity and its strategic role in fostering innovative development outcomes (Ghobadi & Mathiassen, 2023). This work continued with a novel understanding of underexplored post-release challenges, including unrealistic user expectations and ethical dilemmas stemming from developers' signalling during crowdfunding (Ghobadi, 2023). 

This stream is currently being extended to novel software company mechanisms for leveraging user participation utilizing a sensemaking lens (Ghobadi & Lyytinen, 2025). This work theorizes a co-evolutionary model of user participation and innovation to reshape product strategy, firm capability, and the nature of participation itself. 

Digital Advocacy and Social Change (Stream 2)

This stream focuses on the dynamics of digital activism via social networking—how it emerges, progresses, and can be strategically applied to enable field-level social change in areas such as political action, climate change, and environmental protection. This work began by examining women using online communities to express identities, build relationships, and surface collective needs, leading to how digital divides are shaped by state censorship and information control (Ghobadi & Ghobadi, 2015). A critical mass approach to collective action is covered in Ghobadi and Clegg (2015) through a longitudinal case study of YouTube-based campaigns. This work yields a process model of online activism for societal change that can also decline under pressures (e.g., self-censorship and surveillance). Corporate responses to digital activism was studied with strategic framing theory to examine how social movement organisations can foster collaborations (Ghobadi and Sonenshein (2024).  A longitudinal study contributed the concept of ambivalent content positioning and a theoretical model explaining how consumer values and brand loyalty shape digital activism strategies.

Ethics and Innovation in Digital Development (Merged Stream)

Dr Ghobadi's research has converged on the question of how socially responsible digital development can be profitable, taking accountability for societal risks like privacy, data exploitation, and emotional manipulation in products, processes, and platforms. 

A forthcoming article addresses the question of why digital exclusion persists amidst well-intentioned inclusion efforts (Ghobadi, 2025). The research develops a synthesized model that maps digital exclusion dimensions, antecedents, and reinforcing mechanisms. It guides future research and evaluation of progress toward equity. Further research examines how developers’ internal critiques and insider activism intersect with platform companies’ profit and innovation priorities (Ghobadi & Sonenshein, 2025a, 2025b). This work demonstrates how firms navigate ethical tensions and contributes a perspective on how advocacy supports internal critiques within companies and fosters positive change.

Research Community Contributions 

Research, supervision, and community engagement have revealed field-level and methodological challenges. This stream clarifies research concepts and offers perspectives. Ghobadi and Mathiassen (2024) introduces a new cognitive method that systematically compares and elaborates technology frames, allowing for deeper analysis of interpretive differences in socio-technical settings.  Ghobadi and Robey (2017) examines academic recognition structures to understand what kinds of research are rewarded, with findings showing patterns in theory-building, author demographics, and citation trends that prompt questions about how academic fields evolve and how knowledge is socially shaped.