Social Media

Plymouth Business School

MBM Business Management

Information Management (PGBS 0120)

Title: Social Media

Due Date: 6th December 2012, 3pm

Executive Summary Nowadays, in this rapid technology developed society, the social media is growing mature. Social media is a channel that provides direct access information throughout the world, it giving businesses and individual an opportunity to share their thought, products and services and news with other people. As there is a trend of switching demand from traditional media tools to social media, marketers realised that social media is an important marketing tools for their business. This report evaluates the extent of social media that has taken place in the market which would affect most of the organisations. Within this report, it will define the social media term and discuss the aspects of social media in relation to professional business information systems. On the other hand, the critical analysis include the benefit and importance of utilise social media to an organisation, which found that social media is an important marketing tools to most of the organisations, especially it improving the business information system. Moreover, reports discussed the ways of social media promoting an organisation also consider about knowledge management practices in the organisation. Lastly, this report also identifies the risks and opportunities of using social media with examples to support those points. After that, some recommendations are given to practicing social media in an organisation.

Table of Contents
Page
Introduction 2 1.0 Question 1 5 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Body 2.3.1 Definition of Social Media 2.3.2 Definition of Business Information System 2.3.3 Aspects of Social Media 2.3 Interim Conclusion

2.0 Question 2 7 3.4 Introduction 3.5 Body 3.6.4 Benefits of Social Media to organisations 3.6.5 Social Media is an Integral Part of Business Information System 3.6.6 Structured and Unstructured Information of Social Media 3.6.7 Future of Social Media 3.6 Interim Conclusion

3.0 Question 3 11 4.7 Introduction 4.8 Body 4.9.8 Social Media as Promotion Tools 4.9.9 Support Knowledge Management Practices in the Organisation 4.9 Interim Conclusion

4.0 Question 4 15 5.10 Introduction 5.11 Body 5.12.10 Opportunities of Social Media 5.12.11 Examples of Organisation Successful Using Social Media 5.12.12.1 Toyota 5.12.12.2 Best Buy 5.12.12 Risks of Social Media 5.12.13 Examples of Organisation Failure Using Social Media 5.12.14.3 General Motor 5.12.14.4 Wal-Mart 5.12 Interim Conclusion

Conclusion 19

Recommendations 20

Reference Lists 21

Appendices 24

Introduction

The aim of this report is to explain the importance of practising social media within an organisation operation by comparing the remaining utilising traditional information tools. Within the content of the report, it had indicated the roles of social media and discussed social media is an importance information source for the business information system. Furthermore, reports demonstrate benefits of social media and indicate the future of having social media. Report also cover some technique that organisation can utilise to promote the products and services of the organisation, and discuss how knowledge management will be practising within the organisation. Finally, there are some examples are given as a forecast the future of practising social media in an organisation operation.

Question 1
1.1 Introduction
In modern society, the social media have been one of the most important parts of people's life. For instance, the number of people use the Facebook are 845 million in 2012 and 57 percent are female users, other 43 percent are male. Also, there are 47% users of Facebook make costs between 50,000 to 99,000 dollars each year (Alexander, 2012). Moreover, more and more business industries start to use the social media as a channel to take some advertisement to proliferation of their information to let more people know their business and to develop their business.
1.2 Body
1.2.1 Definition of Social Media
According to Ward (2012) the definition of social media can be defined as “a type of online media that expedites conversation as opposed to traditional media, which delivers content but doesn't allow readers/viewers/listeners to participate in the creation or development of the content." Also, Jones (2009) points out that "the social media is a category of online media where people are talking, participating, sharing, networking, and bookmarking online." For example, the Facebook, Twitters , YouTube all of this are belong to the social media. So, according to the two definitions, the social media would be a social instrument of communication.
1.2.2 Definition of Business Information System
In addition, as the business industries they all have their own Business Information Systems. The definition of the Business Information Systems is "a group of interrelated components that work collectively to carry out input, processing, output, storage and control actions in order to convert data into information products that can be used to support forecasting, planning, control, coordination, decision making and operational activities in an organization"(Hardcastle, 2008).

1.2.3 Aspects of Social Media
Also, use the social media can bring some benefits to the business organization. Because of the social media have some features which are better than the traditional news media. First of all, social media can help the customers get the information of the product which they wanted and needed in time. Also, it very convenient to the business company gets the feedback from the customers. It is easily to make the customers and business industries have a good communication with each other. The companies can understand what the customers want are and need to satisfy the customers’ needs.
Secondly, compare with the traditional news media, the companies can use the social media across variety of channel to release the information of their product. For instance, they can put the information of their product on the facebook as advertising or put it as a video, audio, blogging and so on. That will make the area widely to easily make the business industries to attract customer by the social media.
Furthermore, use the social media can easily to update the information of the products immediately. Customers do not need to wait a day or longer time to know the information or news of the product they wants. Finally, the social media can make the business companies to listening the customers advise for the products more than leading the customers to follow their product's information. It will lead the customers to interesting the product indirectly.
1.3 Interim Conclusion
Therefore, social media is an important communication tools for business and individual. As result, business industries use social media as a channel to communicate with the customers and satisfy the customer's need from the feedback to develop better business information system (MSG, 2012).

2.0 Question 2
2.1 Introduction
These days, social media have become an important part of our life, as well as business operations. The rapid growing popularity of social media has been recognized by marketers to participate in social media that offering many benefits such as promoting their business, create awareness about product and services and market their product to develop a market position. According to 2012 social media marketing industry report show that 94% marketers employing social media for marketing purposes and 83% marketers indicated that social media is important to their business (Stelzner, M, 2012). (Refer to Appendix 1)
2.2 Body
2.2.1 Benefits of Social Media to organisations
In a nutshell, social media is an essential marketing tool to promoting organisational growth. According to Harvard Business Review Analytics Services, the survey highlighted that over 2,100 organisations, 79% are social media channels users (Bullas, J, 2012). (Refer to Appendix 2)Furthermore those organisations have been identified the benefits of social media for their organization, such as increased awareness of organization, products or services among target. Social media is a channel that allows business to share business news about products and services to target customers by direct access all over the world (Inside Webmarketing, 2011). Secondly, social media will increase traffic to website. By utilising social media, it will generate a powerful traffic to organisation website through linking a group of potential customers with attractive content, comments and images in the social site (My Magnetic Blog, 2012). Moreover, social media create more favourable perception of organisation, production or services. Social media is a platform to establish a closer relationship between existing and potential customers to building trustworthy. Therefore, customers will be more willing remains with the business other than choosing the competitors (Thomas, J, 2012).

2.2.2 Social Media is an Integral Part of Business Information System
Nowadays, most “organisations face challenges with adopting social media, advance technology and new information system” to manage their business activities with brilliant decision making (Kuikka, M, 2011). By using advance technology such as social media in an organisation will enhance productivity and control communication capabilities. Such as, new computer applications and networking help staff to modernize work processes and execute tasks in a faster way in order to achieve organisation goals. Secondly, social media networks smooth the progress of communication with business partners, vendors, government, customer and other stakeholders. On the other hand, businesses use information system “as there is a need to collect data and process by providing information to analyst, manager and business owner” (Davoren, J, 2012). To have a good business information system, organisation should practice excellently in managing information system. Good management systems are relevance, accurate, timely, exhaustive and cost-effective (Vitez, O, 2012). In fact, most of the organisations classify social media as a source of getting information from their stakeholders. To operate an efficiency business, organisations usually use various types of business information systems to “communicate with customers and supplier with limited cost and generate revenues” (Davoren, J, 2012).
The most common types of business information system utilise by organisations are transaction processing system, customer relationship management systems, business intelligence systems and knowledge management systems. However, social media plays an integral part of the business information systems. Customer relationship management system “is a type of system that organising customers contact and track customer activities such as purchasing trends, product defects and customer inquiries” (Davoren, J, 2012).As result, customers today are social networks, mostly their will ask question, give feedback, share and connect with their friends by giving their personal experiences. Therefore, organisation should go through social media like Facebook or Twitter to strengthen customer service and regularly respond to customer issues to expand the potential market. Nevertheless, a business intelligence system is an important function in the strategic planning process of the company. Business intelligence systems “allow company to gather, store, access and analyze corporate data to guiding decision-making in the areas of customer profiling, customer support, market research, market segmentation, product profitability, statistical analysis, and inventory and distribution analysis” (Webopedia, 2012). Social media data strongly support organisation operation it mostly collect from an external system often is unstructured data. Companies can get superior view of the customer purchasing in their products and services by collecting and analyzing social media data. As result, the social data can spot early trend that promote product development, product delivery, cost-effective marketing communications (Powell, J, 2011).
2.2.3 Structured and Unstructured Information of Social Media
Social networking sites are low-cost channel that allowing people to share and use of information. Information is the currency of the business, there are two type of information, which are structured and unstructured information. Structured information defines as “information is analysed by a computer program in a consistent way or organise in a particular order that is easy to find and refer later” (Commonwealth Legal, 2012). Meanwhile, unstructured information refers to “information that either does not have a pre-defined data model and does not fit well into relational tables” (Vohra, G, 2012). This information usually stored in different ways and created separately and manually.
There are lots of social media tools that marketers can apply to their business. For example, the most popular social media sites – Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Linkedln, Google + and others. However, social media exist in structured and unstructured information. Twitter is a free social networking microblogging service that allows registered members to broadcast short posts called tweets. Twitter is categorised as structured information, reason tweets are permanent and searchable. As well as Linkedln, due to Linkedln have expert network news feeds with limited number of customizable modules that highlight employment history and education. On the other hand, Google +, Facebook and Youtube are considering as unstructured information. These social media sites mostly involving in multimedia folder. Such as video, audio, images and user messages, which can be upload and remove any time and there is no predefined format, restriction.
2.2.4 Future of Social Media
Lately, social media undertake major changes in the businesses sector. It considers the usage of social media will increase greatly with the rising adoption of smart phones and mobile internet. Moreover, it expected that the future of social media driving toward more in images, video and other multimedia to interact its user, it is more exploring user’s senses further with sight, sound and touch to produce higher engagement (Rice, B, 2012). However, social media continue to be a hot topic across of a business marketing, sales and customer service workloads that create potential opportunities to increase business exchange.
2.3 Interim Conclusion
In summary, social media is important to most organisations, due to it helps organisation to spread message to their customers and create awareness about their products and services around of the world with low cost distribution. In addition, social media also create a new opportunities to organisation operations, which given load of useful information with time saving from the customers to enhance the business information system that lead the organisational growth. Moreover, those structured and unstructured information that collect from social media website is helpful for managers of the organisation during the process of decision making. Lastly, social media is an essential tool for all marketers in promoting their products and services to expanding their business. Also, as the growths of the smart phones usage, the social media will expansion more widely and there will be more innovative by it features in the future.

3.0 Question 3
3.1 Introduction
Social media is one of the most population networks to help organization to promoting and supporting in marketing. From one side of customer the networks are easier to understanding of product and business information. As well as organization is convenient to survey and collecting information from networks of customer, place position to build brand and enhance employees is will support knowledge management in the organization.
3.2 Body
3.2.1 Social Media as Promotion Tools
Social media can help business event to promoting before its time to starting promoting (Constant Contact 2010). Social media as an “EMarket predicts’ there will be 1.43million social network users in 2012, presenting a 19.2 percent increase over 2011(Arno 2012). That is the platform where connection, conversation and collaboration take place. As usually help organization to promotion event, upload and where appropriate to a free video site such as Twitter and Youtube. Social media is verifying useful on today, both having several different types to support and help organization management. The three main tools of social media are: * Blogs: allow you to post written text, audio and video and have it online within minutes. Easier to reading journaling, presentation of case studies, until to today have 73% of active online users have read a blog. * Twitter: is a free social networking and micro – blogging service that is easier to send and read messages. * Facebook: social networking website, communication with friends and send them messages, to update their personal profiles (Pring 2012, appendix 3 and 4).

In 21 century, most people would like to chosen the convenient way to research information, for example, a few girls would like to used facebook to select information of fashion clothing, shoes and accessories. Is it an easier way to select and research information, most shops/organization never missing the opportunities. The most welcoming promotion events types are: * Event promotion: As well as Facebook will be setting the key details of event on 10/11/2012; will be post specific value to alert people. The promotion event of ZARA new season in homepage and advertising of promotion pages, require the people to register and promote the event through of networking circle with more posts than by people personal email address. Facebook should be build some different networking circle and tactics will use the message from going promote, such as: * Build interest: “ZARA last five minutes for sale, getting for now.” * Fill last minute immediately: “conflicts”, Facebook homepage/title “never miss” posts to customers know there are just last five minutes to promotion, never miss this chance. * Promote what attendees can expect: setting in Facebook homepage of ZARA new fashion season on this winter, for example “OH! So beautiful, Image colourfully: fashion style of ZARA in 2012’s winter”. * Brand your event with a hash tag: Facebook of have tags “ZARA NEW SEASON in 2012’s winter, NEVER MISS IT’ (Constant Contact 2010). * Post – event: if it is a recurring event, help promoting. * Upload pictures of the event, Facebook of ZARA’s homepage to upload pictures of the catwalk of new fashion in 2012’s winter. To showing how population of this winter for new season clothing. * Upload videos, ZARA has cooperation with fashion star or movie star to talking the fashion style in the new season, show event of catwalk videos in Facebook homepage (Constant Contact 2010).

These types of promoting are particularly effective for recurring events, showing to people who does not missed out on. For example, every new season is the competition period; in this winter a brand of ZARA has new season show in 10/11/2012, is one of the huge shows of the catwalk; will be to upload pictures or videos in Facebook homepage and advertising of promotion pages. Why is ZARA chosen the Facebook, because Facebook is the “King” of the social media on today, a number of the movie star and fashion star used it online to communication with their fans (appendix 3 and 4), and a huge number of people were used the Facebook to social online. Sometimes, Facebook has built event to cooperate with eminent person, is like movie star celebrity and charity event. ZARA “catch” of this factor to choose it – effectiveness help to promotion online.
Every business is responsibility to their customers, the business responsibilities of social media are “something you do for your customers” (Korhan 2011). For the three main of social media responsibilities are: available to serve, willing to respond and capable to assist. When social media use online to business, for example, clothing selling in eBay, people have to answer the question from customers, and now is a business responsibility. Social media is not just lead to communication with customer and survey and collecting data, still created other values (Bullas 2009): * Enhance relationships with customers 81% * Build our company’s brand 81% * Be a viable recruitment tool 69% * Be a customer service tool 64% * Enhance employee morale 46%

Basically the relationship with customer is the most important factor to created value, if use the factor effectiveness will possibly to create “BRAND”. What a particularly thing of the organization to position in marketing, that is one of the competitive advantage to competition with competitors.

3.2.2 Support Knowledge Management Practices in the Organisation
As organizations increasingly depend on knowledge and information technology as assets to innovation and create value (Mason 2011). Knowledge management should be to organize an awareness strategy adopted to ensure that the people most in need of knowledge transfer at the most needed time to those most in need. This can help people share information, and to put into practice in different ways and ultimately achieve the purpose of improving organizational performance. As internal of organization, the employees can use the organization internal network or social media networks to upload to showing personal details and information sharing with colleagues; it is an exciting and incentive place to communities of practice. In additional, it is a free way to increasing relationship with colleagues and free benefit of organization. As external of organization, one of huge benefits social media brings to the organization is increase revenues. Easier and convenient communication with customers in social media, it helps in marinating customer relationships.
3.3 Interim Conclusion
In conclusion, since both of customer and organization are keep communication with social media. However, customer to chosen used networks is easier to research wide wise of information to themselves. While of organization as the social media is help them to survey and collecting data information from customer and marketing. That is the best way to promoting and supporting of organization to continue survive and developing in marketing. It is not just to communication, in other side is possible to build brand and enhance employees to create value in marketing and support knowledge management in the organization.

4.0 Question 4
4.1 Introduction
The social media provides a new way to connect and engage with potential and new customers for many organizations and allows an easy access for two-side conversation. Even social media provide organizations a brilliant and easy way to market and advertise themselves on a worldwide scale, however, some risks can be brought to brands by social media (Sterne, 2010).
According to the speaker of the Institute of Internal Auditors’ General Audit Management Conference which held in March, 2011, Las Vegas, Peter Scott, the companies begin to realize that they are not in control of social media conversation any more. As a result, there is a great opportunity created for organization as well as with real risks associated (Silver, 2009).

4.2 Body
4.2.1 Opportunities of Social Media
According to a recent study from University of Massachusetts, there has been over 25% of Fortune 500 companies use their own public blogs and 35% of them have active presence on Twitter. Also, this number has been grown with a rapid speed which indicates that the organizations continue to embrace social media. Thousands of social media tools and applications have provided companies collaboration with their business partners, recruitment and advertising as well as helped them to exploit opportunities for internal collaboration and decision support (Yorkshire Publishing Group, 2010).
According to the analysis from Bernoff, Roberts, and Weber, the opportunities provided by social media can be classified into six categories. The first is the dissemination and sharing of information which help organizations to efficiently target business partners, consumers and employees. For instance, instead of Email, many organizations use wikis, blogs and Twitter to disseminate ideas, information, briefs and best practices to employees as well as provide information of product specifications, usage and availability to their customers (Sterne, 2010). The second opportunity provided by social media is effective two-side communication between customers and companies. For instance, many companies begin to use blogs and discussion forums to post product functionality so that the product can contain valuable input and the customers can assess the viability of new products. The third opportunity is that social media can be efficient and effective collaboration both outside and within organizational boundaries (Newson, Houghton & Patten, 2009). Another opportunity is that the companies can use social media, especially virtual worlds for learning and training purpose. On the other hand, the social media can be used for knowledge discovery, idea creation, sensation, sharing, maintenance, dissemination and transfer. Also, the social media can support the process of managerial decision making through the analysis of collected information and data in the social network (Yorkshire Publishing Group, 2010).

4.2.2 Examples of Organisation Successful Using Social Media
4.2.2.1 Toyota
Toyota provides a good example of using social media to listen to customers’ voice. The company created a social-media response room which aimed to invite customers to speak about their opinions on products and services. In this room, there can be six to eight people to monitor constantly what was being said on the social media sites and they can quickly get according response from company (Fouts, 2009).

4.2.2.2 Best Buy
Best Buy can be another excellent example for using social media. On their Facebook page, they asked their customers about the favorite vampire movies and put these movies on sale. This is a positive and effective way to use and give responding accordingly to the feedback from customers. They were successful to open an opportunity for communication and dialogue between customers and companies so that the customers can see real live action take place (Hana S. Noor Al-Deen, 2011).
4.2.3 Risks of Social Media
The social media can provide company an easy way to get customers’ feedback and take control on their general public image. However, the customers can also be free to voice their negative opinions which bring negative effect on the brand image. Even worse, legal issues may be arisen by the use of social media. As social media is a public and free platform to voice people’s opinion, a false statement on it may injure some people’s reputation and expose them to public ridicule, contempt, hatred and condemnation (Silver, 2009).
Security and privacy can be another issue for using social media. For example, the unintentional or intentional disclosure of sensitive or confidential information on internally shared or publicly accessible workspaces or the introduction of malicious codes by hackers through the Internet make a rise of security and privacy issues on social media (Newson, Houghton & Patten, 2009).
On the other hand, because of unauthorized postings of copyright information and the failure of having permissions of publishing information from organizations and individuals may cause significant legal liability. Also, the employee reluctance and resistance of using enterprise social media can be a serious risks as well (Sterne, 2010).

4.2.4 Examples of Organisation Failure Using Social Media
4.2.4.1 General Motor
While the benefits can be immense, the social media can also lead to failure for companies. General Motor had announced they had pulled $10 million on their Facebook advertising campaign, however, the result was an ineffective one which came from their poor social media strategies. Firstly, the GM Facebook failed to provide realistic information on their social media campaign goal. Often, the goals of using social media of a company include increasing engagement, awareness, interaction and customer satisfaction of the brand. However, GM Facebook campaign failed to give any clear goals. Also, GM Facebook page failed to provide an effective and engaging content. The company hasn’t done enough to optimize engagement on their fan Facebook page (Sterne, 2010).
4.2.4.2 Wal-Mart
The Wal-Mart social media failure can be another example. Their Facebook page was lack of planning and abandoning the brand image lead their social media campaign to be unsuccessful. Wal-Mart believed that they might not have the greatest public image so that an open forum could give those negative comments and influences, as a result, they tried to limit the user content of their Facebook. Finally, the company failed to catch the whole point of using a social media tool (Fouts, 2009).

4.3 Interim Conclusion
If the companies fail to pay attention to and understand the risks of social media, they would put themselves under regulatory and reputational risk. Also, some other hidden risks and implications can bring negative effects on their customer services and human resources. (Silver, 2009).
When using social media, the companies should be positioned to capitalize and identify social media opportunities quickly as well as managing the associated risks appropriately. Here, the risk management of social media can be a balancing act. An effective social media risk management can help to assess the potential opportunities of social media and understand the risk appetite (Hana S. Noor Al-Deen, 2011).

Conclusion

To conclude this report, it shows that organisation should pursued more towards practising social media as there is a switch of trend to gain competitive advantages. As result, social media brings lots of potential benefits to organisation growth, such as increase awareness of an organisation. Also, these days’ social media become important sources of gathering customers’ information with structured and unstructured information to maintain the organisation information system. There are some ideas that organisation should carry out social media in promoting their business and good management practice in knowledge management within the organisation.

Recommendation

As result, it believes that utilising social media will be beneficial to organisations. To be successful, management skills is the essential skill in the progress of an organisation growth. There are some recommendations in practicing social media, which are:

1) Creating an account on some social media website, such as Facebook, Twitter or any other that may be relevant to organisation products and services and the target customers. When setting the account, within the profile page, can describe organisation history also business responsibility.

2) Within the social media website, can upload some video, image and other multimedia folder that provide organisation expertise information to inform target audience. So that, customers can get up to date information or business events regarding the organisation. That information should be bringing value, responsible and authentic.

3) A necessary to create a social networking policy. By setting a policy, it can protect the confidential and proprietary information from the users.

4) Hire an expertise to maintain those social media websites, so that information that provided is up to date and expertise will transfer his or her skills to other employees within the organisation to develop knowledge management.

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Reference List

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Appendices
Appendix 1

(Source: 2012 social media marketing industry report, “Is social media important to your business?”)
Appendix 2

(Source: Harvard Business Review Analytics Services, “Primary benefits of using social media to an organisation”)
Appendix 3

(Source: Christian Arno 2012. Worldwide Social Media Usage Trends in 2012 )
Appendix 4

(Source: Christian Arno 2012. Worldwide Social Media Usage Trends in 2012 )