Application of the linear ordering methods in the voivodships research in the field of social media usage in enterprises in the period 2014-2017

Aim/purpose – The aim of this paper is to analyze and compare the development of voivodships in terms of social media usag e in enterprises in the period from 2014 to 2017. The aim has been formulated because of the increasingly greater significance of social media in post-industrial enterprises. Design/methodology/approach – The two types of linear ordering methods were ap- plied, i.e., the method based on the pattern of development (Hellwig’s method) and the methods that were non-based on the pattern of development were used. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient ρ and Kendall’s rank correlation coefficient τ were used to verify correlations between various rankings. Analysis of the dynamics, spatial visualizations, box plots and polar plots were used in relation to the aggregated measures. In conducted analyses, data from the period 2014-2017 (pr ovided by the Central Statistical Office of Poland) was used. The each year for the period from 2014 to 2017 was analyzed. Findings – In all rankings (with the use of all ty pes of applied measures and also in all analyzed years) the 1st place was taken by Masovian Voivodship. The distance between Masovian Voivodship and other voivodships was still significant during the analyzed period. The created rankings were similar in terms of statistical significance of computed correlation coefficients in all analyses. The research study results do not indicate a clear dispersion of the level of the analyzed phenomenon between eastern and western voivodships. It was also found that the highe r is ICT usage by enterprises in a voivod- ship, the more common is social media usage by them. There is a clear overall tendency of increase in the phenomenon dur ing the period from 2014 to 2017. Research implications/limitations – The main implications is that the identified differ- ences between areas can be a basis to assess the social media usage as a specific factor of business development. The research result s indicate voivodships that should employ social media more and the highest placed voivo dships as well. The results can be regard as support for the policy of digitization and building a knowledge-based economy. Originality/value/contribution – The originality of this pa per is based on: the created rankings of voivodships in terms of social media usage in enterprises in the period 2014- 2017, the comparison and assessment of voivodsh ips in this context, and the identifica- tion of change of the social media usage in individual voivodships and in Poland as a whole.