Transition from Traditional Static Internet to Social Media and Social Networks - Essay Example

? Report: Transition from Traditional Static Internet/Intranet to Social Media and Social Networks Executive Summary The report below aims at explaining the use of traditional internet/intranet and social media and social networks. The report has also explained about the shift which has taken place from the traditional networks to the social networks. The report has highlighted the benefits and opportunities along with obstacles which are to be faced in this transformation. The final result of the complete discussion indicates that social networks and social media are not helpful and contribute in gaining larger market share in comparison to traditional network. The only action required is to effectively manage the obstacles to maximize opportunities and benefits. Introduction Use of networking is very important for the companies to stay connected with its customers along with this also promote for its products and goods in the market. For a business to function in an effective manner, they have been using making use of varied networks. The businesses have been making use of the traditional networks for the purpose of performing its business operations (Bidgoli 2003). Over the years, with a change in working patterns and structure of the market enterprises have tried newer methods for building networks in the market. The traditional network aims at ensuring that the company is able to market its products and goods to the customers. The changed market scenario has made it very important for the companies that they are able to provide good link between all the members of the supply chain in order to compete with the competitors (Lan and Unhelkar 2005). With the increasing competition in the market it has become very important for the companies to make use of modern technologies in order to sustain the competition in the industry. The social networks and mediums have enabled the companies to stay connected with all the members in the supply chain which helps in ensuring better relations among the parties. The traditional networking system has lagged behind the social networking system, which has become the major reason for the companies to decide to make a transformation (Kenneth 2010). The report will be helpful for the company in analyzing that benefits and opportunities which the enterprise gets by transforming from traditional measures to social networks. The basic focus of the report is to help the company in taking the right decision about its networks strategy. As a counselor the main intention is to develop such a framework which effectively connects the theoretical and practical functioning of the frameworks. The discussion will be helpful in deriving meaningful conclusions which can be used by the company for taking its decision regarding the network strategy (Kenneth 2010). Along with this, the recommendations offered in the report will clarify the steps which can be taken by the enterprise for ensuring effective transformation from the traditional networks to the social networks and social media. In the following repot, the focus has been on explaining the transformation from the traditional networks towards the social media and social networks. For this purpose, the report inculcates the introduction and use of traditional mediums in the organization. Further the report also gives a brief overview of the social media and social networks and its increasing role in sustaining in the competitive industry. Also the report has highlighted the complete process of transformation which has taken place from the traditional networks to the social networks and social media. The benefit and opportunities which a company is able to get by switching towards the social media and social networks are also discussed in detail. Along with benefits the obstacles which are faced also need to highlight in order to increase awareness amongst companies. The companies planning to undertake transformation need to create such a balance between the between the benefit and obstacles that the former overweighs the latter. Main Body The main body if the repot will highlight the major theoretical information which will be used for deriving the final conclusion and recommendations for the enterprise. The report is subdivided into groups in order to maintain a clear flow of information and direct the report in deriving the final conclusions in an effective manner. Traditional static internet/intranet Traditional static intranets and internets are used in the organization from a very long time. The traditional scenario does not lay much focus on the use of internet as human potential is more favored. The traditional static internet refers to a website which has web pages stored on the servers in a format which is communicated to the client which is using the web. Such websites make use of hypertext markup language, i.e. HTML. The simple types of marketing websites which includes the classic website, a five page website, etc. are generally included in the category of static websites (Tatnall 2007). Such sites aim at providing consistent and standard information over a period of time. A static website’s functioning is not dynamic in nature. The websites are updated in a period manner but the process undertaken is manual. For the purpose of updating information text, photos and other context the basic website design skills and software is very important and required (Tatnall 2007). The visitors have no control over the information that is supplied to them on a static website and need to get settled and contented with the information that is decided by the owner of the website to offer to its users. The traditional group had the main focus of supplying the information in confined area such as one office or its branches. The focus of this approach was on limited range of communication and data exchange functions were also very slow in nature. The companies which make use of these services lag far behind their competitors who are willing to use the latest social media and networks for the purpose of managing their supply chain and related actions. In order to sustain in the highly competitive and changing world it is recommend to the companies to switch from the use of traditional methods towards modern methods which will also contribute in increasing their market share and tapping the potential customer group (Field, Harrison, Bradley, and Harder 2002). The use of traditional technologies does not provide the provision of staying in touch with the members. This result in lag of communication and sometimes the level of miscommunication might also make an impact in the functioning of the organization (Field, Harrison, Bradley, and Harder 2002). Thus, the discussion helps in pointing out that the traditional methods have lost their charm and fail to appeal the customer. It has also become important that the companies try to make a switch towards more sophisticated and better methods to improve the functioning of the business. Social network and Social Media Social media relates to the means and tools that provide a link for facilitating i8nteractinss among people. These interactions relate to the process of creating, sharing and exchange of information that takes place among the people through virtual communities and networks. Social media involves the use of mobile and web-based technologies that provide an intensively interactive platform. This platform provides a base through which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss and modify the information and contents (Brogan 2010). Social media is used in organizations, communities and individuals. It involves a group of internet based applications that are developed on the basis of ideological and technological foundations and help in the creation and exchange of user generated content. One of the most known and developing social media is mobile social media that has provided new opportunities in the business environment. These tools are used in organizations for the purpose of marketing research, sales promotions, and for the development of long term relationships with customers (Hansen, Shneiderman and Smith 2010). There are various organizations that have been used social media tools and developed social media campaigns and have become Twitterphiles in the period of time by using social media with the marketing strategy in an integrated manner. Social media has been used as a shop window for employers as they are using these tools in their hiring processes. Social media tools have been used by employers for hiring new employees and have a greater emphasis on the presence of candidates (Stenzel and Nesdahl 2012). In a manner, social media acts as a social network that is developed through the use of technology and social media websites and facilitates the development of social ties and personal links between people. Another important of social media tools is its use in the interpersonal relationships between people around the world who interact with each other on matters of common interest. Another major field of application of social media tools is in education. In the contemporary scenario, schools are using social networking for the purpose of interacting with the parents of students (Purvis and Savarimuthu 2009). This has been facilitated with the advent of digital media and technology that deals with variety of methods for school leaders in order to connect with parents irrespective of their physical presence. Schools have been using twitter feeds, and text messages for providing a medium of interaction between school staff members. This facilitates provision of instant updates, news and information with the parents about the performance f their children in schools. Along with this parents are provided with the facility of web portals through which they can see everything about the performance of their children (Stenzel and Nesdahl 2012). This can be their academic grades in school assignments and projects and other facilities provided by the schools. Thus, it is clear that social media ia highly useful for business in order to prosper effectively. Transformation/Shift from Traditional Static Internet/Intranet to Social Media and Social Networks There has been a transformation and shifty form the traditional patterns of media to social media and this media is known as the new media. This new media provides an on-demand access to the any content at any given point of time. This new media provides the facility of interactive user feedback, creative participation and involvement through media content. This shift and transformation has provided democratization of the development, distribution of the media content. It has also provided the facility of real time generation of new and unregulated content for the users (O'Connor 2012). This has provided the redefinition of traditional media tools in the organizations to the use of social media. Marketers are shifting their focus to the digital tools of social media. This has provided the replacement of traditional media from social media. The contemporary business leaders are focusing on providing a more integrated and social workplace where people of the organization can interact and share information in an appropriate manner. An example in this case is of IBM that showed increased revenue and growth by adopting various means of going social with the community. The new media called social media has provided the facility of increased communication between people around the world. The new media has provided people an open medium of expression where people can express themselves through blogs, websites, picture and other sources of user generated media (Zandt 2010). This change has facilitated demystifying of social media. Organizations have been using social media in modifying the decision making aspects of consumers in a predictable manner. Social media tools play an important role in identifying the marketing effects. This can be explained in terms of the word of mouth that defines the experiences of consumers regarding the products and services of the company. In today’s scenario organizations have provided their web portals through their websites where individual consumers can login and provide their feedback about their experience with the products and services of the company (Zandt 2010). In this manner, organizations provide an interactive platform to their consumers so that they can get to know about their current situation of performance and their performance in the potential future situations. Benefit and Opportunities of using Social Media and Social Network The increasing usage trends of the social media and social networks is one of the biggest opportunity as the people and members of supply chain are able to connect themselves with the networks in an easier manner (Qualman 2012). Along with this, the major benefits and opportunities for the enterprise if it switches to social media and social networks are: With the use of social media and social networks, the business will be able to increase its level of awareness amongst customers and in the market. This proves to be very helpful for the company since it ensures high level of success as it becomes the most common and well known brand in the market. As a result of this the company is able to gain better perception in the minds of the customers which is reflected on its high profit levels and increased sales along with market share (Qualman 2012). The company is clearly able to focus on the feedback element and keep track of the information that is flowing about the company in the market. This is very helpful as it is able to improvise the products as per the requirements of the customers. This generates a sense of belongingness since the customers are able to feel themselves as an integral part of the company (Chaney 2009). Since the company is able to track its customer and their requirements it will be very helpful for it to design effective marketing strategies. These marketing strategies will be directly targeted towards the potential customers of the company. These marketing tactics will be able to lure the customers and contribute in increasing the markets share of the company in the markets as against those of the competitors (Taprial and Kanwar 2012). The company is able to get improved access to the target markets which will be helpful in ensuring success of the company since it is making use of well planned strategies to reach to the customers. This will also be helpful in identification of the potential issues related to new products and services in the market and will provide an opportunity to the company to prepare itself accordingly (Bradley 2011). The above discussed are few of major benefits and opportunities a company will be able to gain with the use of social media and social networks in its business. Obstacles in using Social Networks Social media is overwhelming in nature, which is a major constraint and obstacle in using these mediums for business and related purposes. The needs of the social networks are growing on a constant basis. The massive monster of social media is intimidating. The basic key, which can be used by the business to overcome these obstacles, is to go slow. It is very important to tap the initials to get the control of social media and their working patterns (Wankel 2011). After getting a brush up of information, next step is to get try the other latest social networks. Along with this, the functioning of the social media is fickle in nature. The social media, which is gaining hype and imperative today, might not be able to retain that position in the future. It is very vital that the business is able to overcome fickleness of social media, and focus on increasing the life of social media by getting the tap of the customers and their requirements (Easley and Kleinberg 2010). Another major obstacle in use of social media is that, the results of the social media cannot be measured, which raises question on its efficiency and its contribution for the business. The business might not be able to calculate the return on investment and might not find the option of interesting and lucrative because of these reasons. Further, the world of social media and networks has high level of competition which makes it difficult for the firms with low level of innovation to sustain in such a market and compete with the big payers (Easley and Kleinberg 2010). Lastly the social media and its maintenance is a time consuming and lengthy procedure because of which it loses its charm. The above discussed are the major obstacles, which are to be faced and managed by the companies, which are trying to shift their working pattern from traditional internet and intranet to social media and social networks. Conclusion and Recommendations Recommendations From the above discussion, it is clear that the enterprise should undergo transformation in its networking methods. The enterprise will be able to build more effective relations with its supply chain members by using the social networks and social media (Edeklman 2012). Along with this, the following recommendations will be helpful for the enterprise in order to ensure effective transformation. The major recommendations offered to the enterprise are: The resources that are required for effective implementing social media and social networks in the company must be ensured by the company. If the company lags on the required resources it might not be able to effectively adopt social media and social networks in its working. The routine functioning and dependence on social networks needs the assurance of the required resources in an adequate manner (Edeklman 2012). At the initial phase, it is very important that the enterprise is able to provide training and teachings to its entire staff so that they are ale to learn about the use of social networks. The company might have to face major drawback if the company’s personnel are not trained about the use of newer networking techniques. The results obtained might be as effective as expected if the company dos not provide its staff a useful training. Once the staff is able to comfortably use these mediums for developing networks the company can be assured of positive results (Dietrich 2012). The company will be required to create a balance and keep a check on its effectiveness and functioning in relation to the benefits and obstacles in the use of social media. The social media and social networks have both advantages and disadvantages and the effective usage for the company will be such if it is able to maximize its benefits and minimize its challenges and obstacles (Dietrich 2012). The above highlighted are the few recommendations which if used by the enterprise will be helpful in ensuring effective transformation from traditional networking methods to social media and social networks. Conclusion The complete discussion in the above section of the report have been helpful in concluding that the traditional measures have lost their charm in the market and are no longer capable of holding the attention of the customers and other members of the supply chain. The changing needs in the market have made it very important and significant for the company to shift and opt for social media and social networks. This will be helpful in ensuring the success of the company in the market. In the report there has been detailed discussion about the use of social media and social networks and how contributive it will be for the company in achieving its success targets. Thus, in the context of the enterprise it is clear that the use of social media will be more helpful in achieving its ultimate goals and it is advised to the company to tap on the benefit and opportunities and carefully manage the obstacles which will ultimately explain the contribution of effective social media for the business. The information that has been elucidated in the report has been helpful in clarifying that the company will be in a more profitable situation with the use of social media and social networks. References Bidgoli, H. 2003. The Internet Encyclopedia. CA: John Wiley & Sons. Bradley, A. 2011. The Social Organization: How to Use Social Media to Tap the Collective Genius of Your Customers and Employees. UK: Harvard Business Press. Brogan, C. 2010. 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