Ericssons Corporate Social Responsibility and its Ethical Behaviour - Example

Report on Ericsson’s Corporate Social Responsibility and its Ethical behaviour Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is increasingly becoming an important aspect of business organizations around the world. CSR is about how a firm’s decisions and activities affect the society. Going against the traditional belief that a business should only concentrate on profit maximization, today companies are investing in CSR activities in order to get favorable responses from the society. CSR also helps companies to build their brand image since consumers today prefer goods with CSR attributes. However like everything else, CSR has controversies like spending more on CSR activities can put pressure on profit margin. On the other hand, advocators of CSR say that companies exhibiting social responsibilities can gain the trust of customers thereby increasing sales. This report talks about the CSR activities and ethical behavior of Ericsson. For over ten years Ericsson employees have provided essential mobile communications to support disaster relief and humanitarian aid through “Ericsson Response”. This non-profit activity engages Ericsson employees in volunteer work with no commercial objective and is a key component of Ericsson’s corporate responsibility activities. Not only is it inspiring to those who participate but is a source of motivation, empowerment and value creation for all Ericsson employees. Ericsson Response endeavours to provide communication tools and other resources in those areas which are struck by natural disasters. As of March 2013, there are 140 Ericsson volunteers who are involved in humanitarian activities across the globe. With the help of communication tools the relief workers can accelerate their relief activities since communications become easier to maintain with relief aid organizations (What is Ericsson Response? 2013, p.1). Ericsson Response is a worldwide initiative taken to provide rapid and convenient aid to regions struck by disasters with special focus on developing countries. It is based on previous experiences of the employees in disaster relief contexts. Ericsson Response is a great example of how a company can spread its activities for helping common people to provide aid the extreme needy and at the same time building customer confidence which is an added benefit. Ericsson’s partners in this project are United Nations and Red Cross/ Red Crescent (Johnsson & Kihlstedt, 2005, p.132). Some important missions of Ericsson Response from 2000 to 2012 are listed below :- 2000 – Founded by employees who wanted to make a difference 2000 – Extreme floods in Algeria and severe drought in Tajikistan. 2001 – Flooding in Hungary and earthquakes in Pakistan, Peru, El Salvador. 2002 – Rail disaster in Tanzania and food crisis in Lesotho. Humanitarian Aid to Afghanistan. 2003 – Earthquakes strike Algeria and Iran. Hurricane in Caribbean. Aid to Liberia. 2004 – Tsunami devastates Indonesia and Sri Lanka. 2005 – Hurricane Katrina hits the US. Earthquakes in Pakistan. 2006 – ICT support for aid workers in South Sudan. Earthquake victims in Pakistan. 2007 – Establish connectivity for aid worker in Central African Republic and in Peruvian Earthquake. 2008 – Establish connectivity for Save the Children in South Sudan. 2009 – Assessment of ICT needs in Philippines. ICT support in de-mining mission in DRC. 2010 – Earthquake strikes Haiti. 2011 – ”One UN” initiative. 2012 – ICT support in South Sudan, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda (What is Ericsson Response? 2013, p.2) In recent years, social responsibility acts are becoming more necessity for companies than legal obligations. CSR can essentially be defined as “the ways in which a business seeks to align its values and behavior with those of its various stakeholders” (Mallin, 1). Investors today take special interest in companies that are socially responsible as this means such companies have a positive image in the public perspective thus ensuring greater sales and higher revenues which means investors getting higher returns. Ericsson is one such company that has been successful in maintaining a positive image. References Johnsson, H.A. & Kihlstedt, P.E. (2005) Performance-based Reporting: New Management Tools for unpredictable times, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Mallin, Chris A. Corporate social responsibility: A Case Study approach, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009 What is Ericsson Response? (March, 2013) retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/res/thecompany/docs/press/backgrounders/background_ericsson_response.pdf Ericsson’s Policy of Dealing with Cultural and Social Environments When entering a new market, every company faces many challenges to deal with. One of the most important and toughest problems is the issue of a different cultural and economic society. The employees in the new local market grow up with the different languages, regulations and norms of judging. Meanwhile, the customers’ expectations and demand of the products are quite different from the former markets because of different culture and society. The related policies of the companies should be modified or restructured to help deal with the problems that have appeared due to the different cultures and different market. The essay will discuss the policy of Ericsson when it enters a new market by identifying the problems and indicating the new market and old market situations. Moreover, the essay will point out how Ericsson meets the expectation in the new market. In the last five years, through acquisition and purchasing, the company successfully entered 7 countries. In 2007 Ericsson acquired Tandberg Television, the television technology division of Norwegian company Tandberg to enter the UK and Norway markets (Briel, 2010). In 2010, Ericsson successfully gets the cooperation of Samsung and LG to enter the Korean market (Oryl, 2009). In these different countries, the culture are totally different, Ericsson faced the usual cultural problems like the misunderstanding of the employees and the conflicts within the cultural barriers. Ericsson is accustomed to dealing with the problems and issues. Ericsson takes advantage of the diverse cultures to meet the different demands of the employees and respect the customs of the people. To serve the customers, Ericsson assigns those employees who are from the same cultural backgrounds of the concerned customers. Ericsson tries to treat the employees with equal attitude and establishes the incentive programs to encourage the employees. Ericsson persists on the philosophy that “It is better for a thousand people to know ten figures than for ten people to know a thousand” (Karlsson & Lugn, n.d.). The company introduces solutions to all cultural challenges which can make the employees feel that they are an integral part of the company. It past strategies cannot give effective results in new cultural frameworks, Ericsson will choose to adapt to the culture and give up the strategy. Dealing with cultural issues is important agenda for Ericsson. Ericsson attempts to obey the laws and regulations of the local market. Ericsson studies the customer demand carefully and tries to meet the demand of the customers. For example, in 2012, Ericsson expands the business in China. However, Apple products are popular in China. Ericsson is not only influenced by the competition but also benefits from the competition. Because as there is increasing number of consumers of Apple, the back- up mobile internet technology is required. The Ericsson takes the chance to benefit from the competition. In fact, Ericsson had entered the UK market earlier in 2005. For integrating the new business of Tandberg Televisions, Ericsson had to focus on the new expectations of the customers. Tandberg Television provides high definition quality of viewing TV channels with MPEG-4 AVC compression (DIRECTV uses TANDBERG MPEG-4 AVC technology, 2005). This is a new kind of technology to meet the new demand of the customers all over the world including UK market. Ericsson has introduced End-To-Endless Television, Ericsson E2E TV “which represents a milestone in our commitment to the global television and multimedia market, and brings us a step closer to realizing our vision of high-quality, multi-platform, connected television” (Briel, 2010). Certainly, Ericsson also has cases regarding leaving the cooperation because the local market is not suitable to the product development. The Ericsson branded mobile phones were popular in China. Ericsson is the earliest mobile phone producers in the world. Therefore, Ericsson cooperated with Sony to produce mobile phones to get huge amount of profit. However, with the technological development, a lot of brands including the Nokia and Motorola and even some local brands mobile phones have entered the market which occupy large market shares. In recent years, Apple which is an excellent supplier of mobile phones is quite popular among the customers in the mobile phones market. The mobile phones cannot still bring huge profit to Ericsson. Therefore, Ericsson decides to take back the investment in Sony and stop producing the mobile phones. However, this change is not related to a single market and it covers the worldwide market of the Ericsson mobile phones. The market situation and the customer expectations have been changed. With the declining profit from mobiles phones, Ericsson has begun to find new directions to survive. People are expecting the new way to watch TV. Tandberg Television is famous for its video, encoding and compression technology. Ericsson has the higher position of internet protocol television in the industry. On one hand, Ericsson can capture bigger market shares with Tandberg Television and on the other hand, the combination of both technologies can reach a high speed internet access and voice telephony to get the end-to-end IPTV solution. Together Ericsson and Tandberg Television are delivering The Individual Television Experience (Ericsson and Tandberg Television....., 2009). Ericsson and Tandberg Television’s technologies and expertise are key enablers to create and deliver truly converged and personalized television experiences. The companies are uniquely placed to deliver solutions and services for operators worldwide across any platform to any device. In 2009, Ericsson has acquired Turkish leading systems integration company Bizitek. It can help Ericsson to add strategic competence to Ericsson’s services portfolio. The competence acquired will further strengthen Ericsson’s ability to help operators deal with the challenge of transforming their networks to all-IP and optimizing their operation support systems and business support systems (Ericsson acquires Turkish....., 2009).  From what we have discussed above, Ericsson faces the problems caused by the different cultures like the other multi-national companies. However, Ericsson adopts many strategies such as letting the employees serve the customers from the same country, providing equal treatment to all employees and sharing the challenges and opportunities to the employees to handle the issues. Meanwhile, when there is conflict between the strategy and the culture, Ericsson eliminates the strategy. In addition, Ericsson improves and even modifies the products and services according to the market conditions. References Briel, R. (January 25, 2010). Ericsson completes Tandberg integration, Broadband TV News, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2010/01/25/ericsson-completes-tandberg-integration/ DIRECTV uses TANDBERG MPEG-4 AVC technology (February 21, 2005). TvTechnology, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0086/directv-uses-tandberg-mpeg--avc-technology/259697 Ericsson acquires Turkish leading systems integration company Bizitek (May 28, 2009). Ericsson, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/news/1318123 Ericsson and Tandberg Television to deliver the Individual TV Experience at NAB 2009 (April 3, 2009). Inter BEE, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.inter-bee.com/en/newsroom/broadcast/detail.php?id=10349 Karlsson, S. & Lugn, A. (n.d.) Strategy is for everyone, ericssonhistory, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericssonhistory.com/changing-the-world/Everyone-on-board/Strategy-is-for-everyone/ Oryl, M. (March 10, 2009). Sony Ericsson enters Korean market with Xperia X1 smartphone, Mobileburn, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=6555 Global Spread of L.M. Ericsson Among the six Swedish companies that are listed as the most successful business ventures among the top 500 companies in the Fortunes magazine for the year 2012 was Ericsson which held 309th position (The Fortune Global 500 Companies List 2012, 2013). However, in the list published on July 9, 2013 the company failed to hold any position in the list (Economy Watch, 2013). Ericsson service system including: communication network system, professional telecommunications service, technical authorization, enterprise system and mobile terminal business. And the main product is electric machine and phone. Ericsson’s global headquarters is in Stockholm, Sweden and Hans Vestberg is Ericsson’s Chief Executive Officer for Ericsson. Towards the end of fiscal year 2013-2014, the number of normal employees was 111,383 and as of December 31, 2013 the number of research and development employees was 25,300 (Ericsson: the company, 2014). Ericsson firm are established in 1876 in Stockholm, Sweden. The company’s President and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is Hans Vestberg. Since its establishment, the company has witnessed highs and lows like declining of stock prices, world wars, heavy market fluctuations and change of technologies. All these elements contributed greatly towards innovation, and today the company immense success can be attributed to all the experiences in the past decades (Ericsson: History, 2014). From the early production of telephone, telephone exchange development until today, Ericsson business has spread all over the world. Therefore, Ericsson developed very quickly in their own way and has become part of globalization very fast. The company’s vision is to hold a prime positive in the global communication (Ericsson: Our Vision, 2014). Ericsson is an important name in the context of cellular phones and other telecom services all over the world. The company has 64,000 service employees across the world for the purpose of deploying, operating and evolving networks and associated support systems. In telecom services the company holds 13 percent share in the global market which makes the company No.1 in the world market of telecom services. The company’s networks have 1 billion subscribers from all over the world, and with 35,000 granted patents the company has one of the strongest patent portfolios (Annual Report 2013, pp.2-3). Along with three other telecommunication firms like Motorola, AT&T and Northern Telecom, the company contributed towards 90 percent of cellular network equipment sales over the world. Although Motorola and AT&T together contribute towards more than 50 percent of global cellular services, the reason behind this is their strong foothold in the American market which is the world’s largest cellular communications market. However, outside the US market it is Ericsson that alone has a strong competitive market. There are three elements for which Ericsson has made a strong impact in the global cellular market. First, Ericsson has always strived towards innovation in various aspects of communication field. The equipments produced by the company are compatible with different systems that has enables the company to produce for varied communication markets across the world. On the contrary, US firms like Motorola and AT&T have not focused on responding to the system variance outside of US which is the reason why these two companies failed to make substantial impact on Asian, African, Eastern European and Middle Eastern markets. Second, Ericsson has “developed and maintained core competencies in both switch manufacturing and cell site equipment manufacturing, establishing a reputation as a supplier of complete, high-quality cellular systems” (U.S. International Trade Communication, p.6-2). Third, in the filed of wireline telecommunications equipments Ericsson is a long term suppliers to foreign telecommunications service providers. National TAs have been granted to almost 80 percent of cellular systems contracts of Ericsson among with wireline telecommunications equipments have been granted most national TAs (U.S. International Trade Communication, p.6-3). China has one of the most important markets for Ericsson. China has been a developing market for the company since 1890s when the first set of Ericsson handsets were consigned to Shanghai. The Chinese market has given enough scope for increasing the volume and size of Ericsson. The first office of Ericsson was set up in Bejing in 1985 and Ericsson (China) Co. was established in 1994 (Ericsson in China, n.d.). References Annual Report 2013, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/investors/financial_reports/2013/annual13/en/home Economy Watch (July 9, 2013). Fortune 500: the largest companies in the US in 2013, Economy Watch, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.economywatch.com/fortune-500-companies/ Ericsson: History (2014). Retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/company_facts/history Ericsson in China (n.d.). ICMR, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Strategy2/BSTR127.htm Ericsson: Our Vision (2014). Retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/company_facts/vision Ericsson: the company (2014). Retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany The Fortune Global 500 Companies List 2012 (March 13, 2013). Topforeignstocks, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://topforeignstocks.com/2013/03/13/the-fortune-global-500-companies-list-2012/ U.S. International Trade Communication (1993) Global Competitiveness of U.S. Advanced-Technology Industries: Cellular Communications, Information Gatekeepers Inc. Report on Ericsson’s Green Credentials Ericsson has exhibited high level performance in energy conservation and environmental protection. The company also focuses on reducing carbon emissions from its productions (Ericsson: Reducing our Environmental Impact, 2014). The company had initiated a target program in 2008 for reducing carbon footprint intensity by 40 percent in 5 years. Ericsson has managed to achieve its target by 2013. The company still continues to emphasize on reducing any negative impacts of its activities on the environment. It has a complete life-cycle approach which means it monitors energy consumption in every stage from raw material acquisition, production, transport to final disassembling. In the five year period, Ericsson has achieved 56 percent reduction in direct emissions from its different stages of activities, and also 47 percent reduction in indirect emissions from different products in operation. Ericsson’s Design for Environment (DfE) covers all stages of production for efficient use of energy and material management. The major focus is on operational stage since this stage has the most major impact. DfE for energy efficiency helps to achieve the overall goals of “reducing customer operating expenditure (OPEX), increasing resource efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint for products in operation” (Ericsson: Managing our environmental impacts, 2014). With innovation in products and services, Ericsson strives towards achieving targets of helping operators to reduce energy consumption and also to increase energy efficiency in networks. Technologies like Ericsson Radio Dot System and Ericsson Antenna Integrated Radio help to reduce power and energy requirements (Ericsson: Power and Solutions for energy-intelligent networks, 2014). Ericsson is committed to the continuous improvement of the environmental impact of the company. It follows and works with all three, such as environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. Ericsson’s work covers its contribution to society through improving people’s lives, making good business, conserving resources and protecting the environment. In 2009, Ericsson launched two new handsets as “green heart” initiative. According to Fortuné Alexander, Sony Ericsson’s global marketing director, “It’s not about making normal phones green, it’s about making green phones normal. It’s also not about the competition, but its making the biggest impact. We welcome competitors to step up and follow our way” (Scott, 2009). However, Alexander has maintained that the green heart technology may not be possible for all handsets. In the same year, Ericsson also focused on reducing packaging materials which resulted in 60 percent less use of paper. This has reduced the size of packages and also the paper manual has been dispelled as manuals are now in digital form installed on the phone (Scott, 2009). Ericsson has the set the goal to reduce carbon footprint per employee while at the same time enhancing production levels and maintaining a balance between costs and profits. The company has adopted four ways to achieve its goal – 1) by reducing the consumption of energy in offices, production sites, date center and laboratories, and also by purchasing energy with green certificates, 2) by availing transport facilities that involve low use of carbon like surface shipping as opposed to air freight, 3) by reducing air travels of employees by promoting video-conferencing, and 4) by reducing fuel consumption in fleet vehicles. The objective is to reduce energy use by 30 percent per employee in five years. In 2013, there has been 10 percent reduction of energy use per employees which is 5 percent more than the intended target. However, air travel by employees has increased by 9 percent in 2013 although there has been decline in air emissions per employee by 16 percent compared to 2011. In the 2011, there has been increased use of water because of increase in the weight of production. However, the company in the last few years has increased energy recovery from wastes (Reducing Ericsson’s own impacts, 2014). References Ericsson: Managing our environmental impacts (2014). Retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/sustainability-corporateresponsibility/reducing-our-environmental-impact/environmental-management Ericsson: Power and Solutions for energy-intelligent networks (2014). Retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/sustainability-corporateresponsibility/reducing-our-environmental-impact/energy-efficient-portfolio Ericsson: Reducing our Environmental Impact (2014). Retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/sustainability-corporateresponsibility/reducing-our-environmental-impact Reducing Ericsson’s own impact (2014). Ericsson, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/thecompany/sustainability-corporateresponsibility/reducing-our-environmental-impact/impact-of-ericssons-own-activities Scott, J. (June 4, 2009) Sony Ericsson goes green with new handsets, ITPRO, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.itpro.co.uk/611311/sony-ericsson-goes-green-with-new-handsets Report on Ericsson’s Use of the Internet and Its Website The website has become one of the most important parts of the company’s communication system in this technology age. It is just like the face or the business card of the company. However, it plays more function than the look. Customers can know the company and products well through the websites. A good website can help the company increase the offers from the customers. A good website should be a great convenience and also informational, which can bring the basic utility and user-friendliness to the customers. This report mainly discusses the quality of the website of Ericsson and the recommendations of improving the website. The website of Ericsson www.ericsson.com is extremely user friendly and provides all kinds of information about the company. The website can provide the basic information about the company including its history, recent news, its achievements, and its product presentation. It is in detail and is very convenient for different people from different countries. For example, the button of “Your Local Web Sites” can direct the viewers to the local website of the company and provide news and information about the company in specific countries. In the company section, there are 10 sections including the company facts, company governance, sustainability and corporate responsibility, press, investors, industry analysts, channel partners, events, suppliers and publications. Moreover, the future development trends are indicated on the website. In the “Career” section the website provides the job opportunities for the young and talented people. There are five main parts including above information which can make the customers know the company better from different aspects. Although the information is a lot enough to make the customers know the company, there are some disadvantages on the website that need improvement. It can be a good idea for the company to have a video to show a clear introduction about the website. The video can teach the viewers how to navigate the website for important information. In addition, the button of social media can direct the user to the popular website to communicate about the products of the company, and can inform about any new program or campaign launched by the company. However, the company website contains too detailed information, which makes the viewers difficult to find the key information. For example, the company introduction and product information are the main issues the viewers want to know. However, it is difficult to be found under the sub position since there are no direct links for these informations. Meanwhile, a web page which is too information heavy can be slow to open by users especially if the internet connection is not a fast one. Even in some places, the website can not be opened. In addition, there is no feedback or advice on the website about the goods or service. It lacks the interaction between the customers and the company. Last, there is no online facility of placing order on the website. For now, a lot of customers like buying the products from internet instead of walking into the shop to save time. If there is an order placing system in the website, it can help the customers to buy products online. This can help increase the sales of the products. Moreover if people can buy the products from the website of the company, there will be increased trust level which can make the people less worried about cheating, loss or damage of products. Ericsson has recently launched a new Ericsson Academy which is a basically an online tool for teaching the users about new and developing technologies like and HD voice and 4G. This new Internet portal acts as a door towards Ericsson’s endeavours to stay competitive in the fast changing technological era (Muller, 2010). Ericsson Academy’s “online resources are an essential complement to formal classroom training and informal everyday learning” (Ericsson Academy, 2014) References Ericsson Academy (2014), retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/ourportfolio/ericsson-academy Muller, R. (August 12, 2010) Free online learning from Ericsson, mybroadband, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/14390-free-online-learning-from-ericsson.html Report on Ericsson’s use of Social Media The core element in the efforts of a company to build customer base is the Customer Relationship Management, or the CRM. The traditional concepts of CRM like email, phone contacts of customers, customer preferences are no longer fruitful with the growing trend of social networking sites. Today, customers prefer to remain in touch with companies all the time regarding any kind of information or to place orders. Customers now access to company websites through mobile networks and social media (Heggestuen, 2013). In August 2012, Ericsson conducted a survey to learn about the customers’ behavior and approach towards social networking sites. It was seen that 62 percent people use social media and watch the television simultaneously, and this figure is up by 18 percent from previous year. Further, it was observed that 67 percent people use tablets, smartphones or laptops for the purpose of watching television. Moreover, 60 percent people use on-demand services every week. Thus, it was concluded that the use of social media has become a global phenomenon on the mass level. To acquire more understanding of global consumer behavior, Ericsson ConsumerLab conducts interviews with 100,000 individuals every year (Ericsson study: TV viewing increasingly accompanied by use of social media, 2012). Facebook is the most popular social networking site and is used by more than 500 million people worldwide. The purpose of this site is to “give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” By creating profiles users can share their personal information, photographs and videos with others (Darvell et al, 2011, p.717). A lot of people like using Twitter and Facebook to know people chat and share the new things. They are the social utility tools which can help connect people with friends, colleagues, classmates and other related people. Meanwhile, at the moment Facebook has been the biggest social networking site. They have become two popular internet networks between people. Ericsson also registers the two networks to release the news about Ericsson and what is happening in the company. Besides the well-known networks, Ericsson labs also have the other social media sites to interact with people. YouTube is a site for uploading videos. Ericsson mainly takes use of it to release the showcase demos and the videos of APls. SlideShare is a kind of website to share the presentation of PowerPoint. Ericsson takes use of it to release collection of PowerPoint slides related to the presentation or overview of APls and their products. LinkedIn community is another social networking site to share the information, ideas and opportunities. Ericsson also uses this network to promote their products. Ericsson uses more social media sites than the other companies. Ericsson is a company which provides the mobile network and operators. All these are closely related to the internet. More and more customers prefer to choose those mobile phones or communications tools with their favourite social media sites. The social media use actually contributes to the success of Ericsson. For example, in 2010 Sony Ericsson launched the Facebook giveaway contest to engage the customers on the Facebook page. The winners of the contest received free stuff (Skepys, 2010). This kind of strategy though traditional is still successful in drawing the attention of customers. Such strategies also build demands in customers. Companies can use such competitions as platform for highlighting the positive features of their old and new products. According to BBC, the increased sale of smartphones which has features for using social networking sites has boosted the quarterly profits of Sony Ericsson for consecutive periods in 2010 (BBC, 2010). In conclusion, the social media sites help Ericsson a lot about promoting their products. The products of Ericsson are closely related to the social media. Social media can be a smart way to for Ericsson to get more customers’ attention to the products. In conclusion, the social media sites help Ericsson a lot about promoting their products. The products of Ericsson are closely related to the social media. Social media can be a smart way for Ericsson to garner more customers’ attention towards its products References Darvell, M.J., Walsh, S.P. & White, K.M. (2011) Facebook Tells Me So: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Understand Partner-Monitoring Behavior on Facebook, CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, Vol.14, No.12, pp.717-22 Ericsson study: TV viewing increasingly accompanied by use of social media (August 28, 2012). Ericsson news, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.ericsson.com/news/1636526 Heggestuen, J. (August 29, 2013) How companies are using social media to become more customer-centric, Business Insider, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.businessinsider.in/How-Companies-Are-Using-Social-Media-To-Become-More-Customer-Centric/articleshow/22145991.cms Skepys, B. (December 7, 2010) Sony Ericsson builds massive Facebook following behind contest give-aways, Agency News Network, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.agencynewsnetwork.com/go/index/47809 BBC (July 16, 2010) Sony Ericsson profits get boost from smartphones. BBC News, retrieved on July 5, 2014 from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10662947 Read More