Changing Nature of Interrelation between Social Media and Modern Business - Coursework Example

Changing nature of interrelation between social media and modern business By Institution: Course: Date: Abstract There is increased interrelation between social media and modern business. Most businesses today have digitalized their management and have incorporated technology into their systems. Social media is a lifestyle to many. It has existed for a while. In the past people used paintings as their form of social media. Companies that use social media today make the markets very competitive. Social media has affected most business decisions mainly influencing their information strategy. There are various ethical and professional issues brought about by the social media. Some employees have developed poor work ethics since the introduction of social media. It has also improved other people’s professional conduct. There are risks exposed to the businesses brought by social media. These risks affect the market in general and the digitalization of other sectors in the economy. Introduction This paper is going to highlight the changing nature of the relationship that exist between social media and modern business. It is going to show the findings made on the benefits of social media in business. There is an evaluation of technology, which will define the driving force behind the use of social media in business. Literature review The overall aims of this paper include showing why the business community is using the social media in its business activities. There are many important aspects of social media in businesses. The business will reach its target audience because it is a form of advertisement (Dave 2010, p 12-68). There is an assumption that many people have access to the social media. Thus, it is easy to market a business online. The challenge of any business is to find customers for goods and services. Different research papers have shown there are various customer segments in the social media. The current trend in business is using the segments to categorize the market. Social media offers a variety of businesses to the customers. They have designed search engines that make it easy for consumers to look for what they want. For example, Facebook has fan pages. Businesses can create their own page in such sites to reach customers. With this, they will attract new customers and expand their markets (Hendricks, 2012, p 56). There is increased relationship between the social media and the businesses. This is because there is reduced cost of production while using the social media (Qualman, 2012, p. 45). Media advertisement is expensive to use and very competitive. Managers prefer to spend less and gain much in business. This has caused a shift from media such as television to social media such as Twitter and Facebook. Customer relation is another important factor. Firms have the need to improve on their customer experience. Social media is a tool for this approach. It offers business with an opportunity to talk directly to the customers. Moreover, customers have queries that need immediate attention of the businesses. They channel their questions directly using the social media. This creates a friendly environment between the customer and the businesses. In the end, businesses will realize increased profits. This has made businesses embrace social media (Hendricks, 2012, p 78- 86). Purpose of research Social media is a lifestyle. People have embraced it because it helps to reduce the burden. The report will recommend the modern business to use social media. It will help reduce their production cost and increase their market base. The document will state the driving forces behind the social media. It debates whether the major role is the customer’s or the firm’s. The report finds out who takes advantage of embracing the technology. What is the secret behind most organizations’ success? It is will find out which company uses latest information strategy in its main departments. This research will outline the changing relationship between the social media and modern businesses. There have been both negative and positive factors, which have changed these relationships. This report will find out the risks that social media has brought to the business. Some companies with information system in their departments experience low production levels. The above are a couple of the negative factors that social media has brought into the businesses. The report will find a legal and ethical issues affected by the social media. It is going to find out professional issues, which come with social media. Methods This paper evaluated the relationship between the social media and modern business by doing research on the internet. Library books came in handy too, as they had information on the extent at which the social media has affected businesses. This paper used the example of Ford Motors embracing the use of social media. Answers from their employees were important in determining the nature of relationship between the social media and modern business. Main discussion There is a positive increase in interrelationship between social media and businesses. This is because, firms find social media as the most convenient and quick method of advertising. It can market their products and services immediately. They also consider that many people have embraced the use of social media. Thus, they can get a large audience in the social media. The programmers of such channels have categorized various pages that can reach a target audience. People looking for a certain product will use a specific search engine to find the product (McHale, 2012 p 89- 98). Social media has improved customer relation. Companies have ensured that the human resource departments have modern media. Human relations are the most important things in any business. This has helped strengthen the relationship between social media and businesses (Hendricks, 2012, p. 50). There are companies that have distant themselves from social media. It is the cause of their downfall. This comes when the firms do not promote their products effectively. They get unexpected returns in the end, and this affects their morale. This is because social media is unpredictable. It requires businesses that are ready to take risks. A management that assumes the role social media in business would lose a huge part of the market. Ford Motor Company is a US company that has gained many benefits from using the social media. They have a good social experience. Their managers embraced the use of this technology in the human resource department. The management hired the right people to do their marketing. Their advertisements in the social media are eye catching and brief. This earns a lot of attention from people using the social media. Their pages involve participation of customers. Furthermore, their page in Facebook has not only photos, but also videos. These videos have a system that enables users to leave a feedback after view. It encourages the customers to like their page. Through this, the company increases its target audience in social media (Qualman, 2012, p34- 45). Ford has a good information strategy. All their cars are fitted with GPS tracking to help them in times of security breaches. It also helps them track the works of its employees. This strategy has helped them improve their public image and attract many customers. A secure system increases customer confidence in the service (Hoffman, 2013, p 25- 38). Ford’s management is the driving force behind its success. They are innovative in nature and are risk takers. The business environment of this company is competitive. It requires management that is effective and has a plan. Their plan was to embrace the latest information strategy. There are many important decisions made because of this. They have an online market where customers can purchase vehicles. There has been an increased demand of Ford’s products, and to continue with their constant supply, the management developed an online shop. With this, they have matched the changing economic trends, which require businesses to be online. This has been an advantage to them. Most of their competitors have not embraced this move. Their information strategy has brought them much success. Their customer bases have increased and have opened up new markets all over the world. In the end, their production level has increased producing high profits (Hoffman, 2013, p. 70). The company is trying to avoid any legal and ethical problems brought by social media. Lawyers argue that social media can have an influence on the cases in courts. It can affect the ethical code of the attorneys. There was a time Henry Ford was in court, in a case in which Dodge had sued him for owning the Ford Motors Company’s shareholders some duty. The first mistake, which could cost the company, was lawyers discussing the case in the social media. This can hurt the image of the company. People often use the social media to discuss personal issues and their thoughts. Legal ethics is important because it keeps the strategy of lawyers intact and may not interfere with the rules of legal professionals (McHale, 2012, pp. 09-30). Ford Motors’ lawyers have never asked legal advice from the social media. This will expose the weakness of the company exposing them to competitors. It will cause the loyal customers to have a bad attitude towards the company. The demand for their goods would decline hurting their profits. Some lawyers share a lot of personal information in the social media. Because of this, firms should search and find the most competent lawyers to advise their institution. Ford has employed lawyers who employ legal ethics in their undertakings. There are ethical issues brought by social media (Drucker, 2013, p. 78). There are integrity risks. A company with strong integrity attracts many customers. It takes ages to build this integrity, and a single click in the social media to destroy it. This arises when an employee uses the social media, like Facebook, irresponsibly. An employee is an advocate of the institution and with this; he would have ruined the reputation of the firm. The employee can use the social media platform to recruit additional employees on behalf of the company. This may be an infringement of the company’s privacy and terms of services, which is an unethical behavior. Various programmers specialize in hacking accounts. A person can hack a company’s social network site and post unethical messages. They may threaten the customers and competitors of the business. This will affect the sales of a given firm, thus, affecting its levels of production. Some companies have sensitive information in their online messages. Social media does not guarantee privacy, and any competitor can gain access to these messages and use it to their advantage. Social media can ruin a virtue perspective of a company. The firm may promise to do something good, in their online pages. This raises the expectations of the customers, and they go for the product. If the company fails to fulfill their pledges, for example, discounts, the interpersonal virtues will face damage. This is like honesty and openness. In the end, the company will lose customers, ruining their profit production (Dave, 2010, p 23- 36). There are risks social media can bring to the company. Organizations have to have policies and guidelines on the use of social media (Hendricks, 2012, p. 101). This will help the management tackle the risks posed while using this tool. The companies should have a general security policy to guide the company from a possible downfall. Malware is the biggest threat in using social media. This is common while using Facebook and twitter. Malware can interfere with the company’s crucial files and documents. Thus, it can disrupt the company’s operation because they may lose important files (Drucker, 2013, p 79). The cause for Malware is weak authentication controls. Administrative accounts should have a skilled operator to protect sensitive information. These accounts should have strong passwords to protect them. Phishing is also a risk that businesses face. This is because of the many web pages associated with the company. There can be many Facebook pages and twitter handles. Customers would not know the correct page to rely on when in need of help. These other pages can post wrong information about the company. It could result in legal procedures against a business if the web page has infringed someone’s rights. Phishing messages can hurt the reputation of the company eventually reducing its production level (McHale, 2012,p 102). Firms are prone to information leakage in the social media. It is hard to separate social and work life when it comes to social media. People can create fake illusion about a company in the pages of these companies. Employees often familiarize themselves with the company’s website and social media pages and post anything they wish. This is because of the impression that social media is a social tool for everyone. This can influence them to post private information on the internet. They can share trade secrets that will give the competitor intelligence on what to do. In the end, the business plan will fail, causing a decline in its profits (Hendricks, 2012, pp. 125-150). Social media is prone to injection flaws. These attacks are dangerous to the reputation of the companies. Example of this is XML injections, which become effective after the administrator of company’s online accounts, inputs passwords. There is a risk of interfering with information integrity. Firms rely on data integrity, to maximize on production. Exposing of information online can put it at risk of attack from malware. This requires firms to be up to date with the latest antivirus applications. Social media expose data to many users. A data accessed by many users reduces its integrity level. A mistaken user can post incomplete information that affects the data integrity of the institution (McHale, 2012, 97). Social media lacks the tool of Anti-automation. This helps reduce the chance of automated attacks, like running queries, opening of accounts without the owner’s idea. These risks hurt the economy. Most government departments have banned the use of social media in its system, such as the military. These risks are into two, the one caused by the user, and the one because of weak security systems on the internet (Qualman, 2012, p 124- 126). This paper recommends businesses to have a desktop security. One could create a password-protected screen and shut down the computers when users are away. A screen saver password is important when the users walk away and forget to switch off the computer. With this, the screensaver timeout will appear after sometime. This is to keep attackers away, both from inside the office, or external ones. The firm should rely on password security. The management should choose a strong password that hackers will have a rough time trying to crack. Administrators of both social sites’ page and webpage should not share these passwords. The businesses could support security awareness programs, to train its employees on the internet security issues. The management should embrace the use of social media. Firms should avoid sharing crucial information on the internet, as it may not be secure enough. Employees should keep the trade secrets within the organization. Every employee should be aware internet does not guarantee security. Reference List Dave, E., John Wiley & Sons. Social Media Marketing: The Next Generation of Business Engagement. New York: 2010. Drucker, S., 2013. Regulating Social Media: Legal and Ethical Considerations. New York: Peter Lang Pub Incorporated,. Hendricks, J. A., 2012. Social Media: Usage and Impact. New York: Lexington Books. Hoffman, B. G., 2013. American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company. New York: Crown Publishing Group,. McHale, R., 2012. Navigating Social Media Legal Risks: Safeguarding Your Business. Chicago: Que Publishing, . Qualman, E., 2012. Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business. Chicago: John Wiley & Sons,. Read More