Role of Social Networking in the Development of Small Business - Literature review Example

Social Networking Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Role of social networking in the development of small business xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Institution xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecturer xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date PART ONE Role of social networking in the development of small business It is quite evident that social networking grounds within businesses are building rapidly. In order to understand more on social networking and their role in the development of a small business in the current economic climate, it is very essential to define what social networking is. According Romm-Livermore & Setzekorn (2008) a social networking service is an online service or site that widely focuses on reflecting and building of social relations and networks among individuals. It mainly consists of a user representation often used as a profile connecting to one individual links. Romm-Livermore & Setzekorn (2008) maintains that, social networks are mainly web based and provide the user with mean to interact via the internet. Popular social networking sites include; Face book and Twitter commonly used worldwide, Tagged, Badoo, Hi5, Linkedin and Myspace to mentioned but a few. For development of small businesses in today economic current, it is important that they engage in marketing effort through social networks so as to save on time and money in reaching to their potential customers. Charnigo & Barnett-Ellis (2007) asserts that, social networks which were initially popular among the teens where they were sharing information with their peers online are booming in the business society. It is evident that social network are enabling small and upcoming businesses advertise thus creating a broader image globally (Charnigo & Barnett-Ellis, 2007). Millions of business looking for professional to manage their businesses turns to broad based networking sites for example Linkedln as a way of swapping contacts and detailed information thus creating an effective recruiting process. It is through such a social network that small business engages in online forums as a way of selling information that are related to their products and services. According that Choi (2006), it is further evident that social networking is widely considered to be consumer technology which entails wikis, blogs and virtual world thus exchange of information across the business world. Research indicates that leading social networks across the world are and will continue to attract millions of visitors which are advantageous to the small business world. When millions of customers are able to visit social sites on daily basis, business create a good direct relationship thus creating corporate image that will automatically sell globally (Choi 2006). It clearly makes sense for small business to encourage its employees into knowing one another through social sites, so as to establish good employees’ relation which is considered as a building block in many global businesses. Donath & Boyd (2004) maintains that, creating a forum such as a business only face book or a designed You Tube style social network will widely encourages employees to work together thus focusing on attaining desired goals and objectives. It is through building on strong relation that small businesses are able to find appropriate people to work more effectively towards a positive outcome. Donath & Boyd (2004) maintains that, Relationship ensures that employees within small businesses are able to exchange information that is vital in developing businesses in current economic current. Kumar, Novak & Tomkins (2006) asserts that, due to today complexity in the global business environment, small business should realize that vendors, coworkers and customers work businesses that are widely located anywhere across the globe. Processes within business are becoming more complex forcing them to be automated since humans cannot perform all duties intended within the time available (Gajjala 2007). Mobility is also another factor creating complexity since an individual may be working from a car, home, in a coffee shop and in another country. This therefore calls for working with one another regardless of the distance and location which can only be achieved by effectively using social network. Gajjala (2007).asserts that, social network plays a major role here toward development since it enables small business work in achieving their goals regardless of their locality. Kumar, Novak & Tomkins (2006) asserts that, it is argued that one of the best uses of social networking is availability of free market research. Small business should focus in strengthening relationships with their customers by way of asking feedbacks about new products and services on social networks as opposed to paying for a public survey or creation of test group. While this serves as an insight to the business owner on getting what customers needs, small business managers need to be cautious in using this approach. This is because social network such as twitter and business Facebook page are public forums which a business chief competitor can access and use such information stealthy. According to Haythornthwaite (2005), for a positive development in this current economic climate, small business should create a private facebook group when it fills that its competitors are introducing similar products and goods. Further, the business should refrain from introducing any new service and product until they are fully launched. According to Haythornthwaite (2005), while social media is being considered to be an important marketing tool by small businesses, using it improperly can harm one business reputation. Further, despite the positive role that social site has in the development of small business in the current economic climate there are certain short comings here and there. It is evident that for a number of reasons, there is an indication that social networking has been slow in taking off within the small business world (Haythornthwaite 2005). Customers and business are becoming conscience in disclosing too much information which could be used by competitors to their advantage. Haythornthwaite (2005) asserts that, small business may find it hard to wipe out counterfeits or imposter companies since the current social site networks are still in their initial stages of restructuring the network into designated sustainable businesses. In addition to this, business users are considered devote minimum or no time to social sites and they are more than willing to do so if and only if they are able to obtain a unique benefit from a social site. Kumar, Novak & Tomkins (2006) asserts that, most small and upcoming businesses widely consider social networks sites as frivolous and from this they have resulted into banning the use of such site in workplaces. Many of the businesses widely blacklist social networks sites as outsets. This has a negative role in the development of small business in the current economic climate since the world of business is constantly growing technology and internet wise. It is therefore essential for small businesses to embrace social networking through the creation of policies, securities measures and standards as ways of ensuring that these sites are utilized in a definable manner that is consistent with designated business wishes (Kumar, Novak & Tomkins 2006) According to Hodge (2006), there is a higher possibility of small business to loss sensitive data through engaging in social networking. Sensitive data has higher chances of being leaked or buzzed around by social media. For instance, a small business may have a disgruntled employee who may likely engage in leaking of data that may result the business collapsed. This can be very more risky if the leaked information reaches to competitors easily (Hodge 2006). Further, employees may lose productivity since he/she is likely to spend more time in social network as opposed to office work. This can be backed with a recent survey which indicate that US losses millions of money due to lower production level which result from time wasting activities manly non work related and from social sites. Finally, it is important for small business to accept the practice of using YouTube, blogs, Twitter and Facebook in marketing their products both internally and externally. By so doing it is evident that this will result to development in terms of outcome and performance especially in the current economic climate. From a recent survey, there was an indication individuals familiar with social networking performed better in e-commerce. Further, managers who are usually accustomed to social networking reported that there was greater satisfaction job wise thus displaying better performance. It is therefore essential that while using location based application such as Foursquare or placing setting on Facebook you check and think about where you are supposed to check in on behalf of the small business. Part B The engagement in debates and discussions on the importance of social networking to the development of small scale businesses were of great help to me. Through these discussions, it was revealed to me that many businesses do not consider the use of the technology as beneficial to the growth of the business firm. The social networks are considered by many as frivolous tools and have since been blacklisted as the firms frown on this idea as they see the employees spending most of their time on the networks. It was also brought to my attention that the banning of the use of the social networks bears no fruits as the employees still accessed the tools anyway. The employees have since created new and innovative ways through which the sites can be accessed without the detection of the security placed to deter this habit. On the other hand, through the discussions I was able to realize that most of the companies that embraced social networking tools had created standards, security measures, procedures and policies that are aimed at ensuring that the tools are utilized in a manner that is consistent and that addresses the wishes of the company. The social networking tools are to offer significant benefits to the firms if they are effectively and efficiently utilized. In a way in the discussions, it was realized that the tools not only increase the productivity of the firm but also increase the capacity levels of the employees as well. The discussions also brought to my attention that the levels of partnerships and collaborations between the firms operating in the same field is also enhanced as they are able to form strategies and mechanisms that provide a smooth business operation. Engaging in debates on importance of social working also increased my awareness on the upside the tools have on the personal productivity in the development of the small business units. Human beings are social animals and the links between communities and persons are built through communication. Increased network is built only by people that we have close contact or frequently communicate with. These are the contacts that people often use to search or seek for advice that will in turn be useful in the development of their careers and in turn the firms and businesses they work in. It is through the discussions that I realized that this links form a great foundations on to which the employees are able to form innovative decisions of expansion or the improvement of products so as to maintain or penetrate through a competitive business environment. This is evident that associations make it easier for the employees to achieve business outcomes. This is vital as through the networking through the associations built, the firms and business entities are able to gain and identify the ideal persons with whom they are able to work with i.e. the persons who will be able to add value to their business entities. In addition to this, I was made aware that with the increasing complexities of the modern life due to globalization the coworkers and other persons of relevance to the business franchise may be located in different parts of the globe. This requires the need to automate the businesses processes to enable the franchises and its employees to perform the required activities in the specified time. I was able to realize that it is impossible for the employees or any business entity to be able to work in a vacuum in this globalized world. In the discussion, it was realized that communication through the social networks is one of the strategies that is used by various business entities to beat the challenges of mobility as the employees are able to c0ommunicate with their identified partners at a short interval compared to the other alternative modes of communication. This implies that the firms are able to identify the strengths, weaknesses and other opportunities that have not been tapped that the firms could employ to maintain a competitive advantage. It is through the social networking that the firms through the employees can be able to set up mechanisms through which the firms are able to get up to date feedback from the consumers of the produced products and thus be able to gauge the performance of the business entity with speed. The social networks are also a great avenue through which the small business can be able to have their business strategies evaluated and thus be able to adopt innovative techniques that are able to boost the productivity and performance of the business plans and objectives. Through the discussions, I realized that the social networking tool is a suitable way through which small business enterprises can employ e-training. This is able to increase the efficiency of use of products as well as well as increase job satisfaction thus display better performances at the work place. In addition to this better communication among the staff members can be achieved through social networking. Lastly, my level of knowledge of the importance of the tools in the development of small level businesses was enhanced as I was able to identify the key elements of the tools that are necessary in the effective usage of the tools. This included the presence which is efficient in the locating of the coworkers and the consumers and identifying the best and efficient mode of communication to use to locate them. Secondly, the tools are able to form effective collaborations among people thus, being able to meet and be able to share information and give presentations. Thirdly, the tools are an effective avenue through which the small business firms are able to access information as cites like the wikis provide workgroups with the ability to access relevant information and documents. Lastly, the debate proved that the social networks are tools through which firms are able access expertise as they provide avenues through which the employees are able to upload information about them. These include their experiences and skills that will be accessed to identify their relevance. References Charnigo, L. & Barnett-Ellis, P. 2007. Checking out Facebook.com: The impact of a digital trend on academic libraries. Information Technology and Libraries, 26 (1), 23 Choi, J. 2006. Living in Cyworld: Contextualising Cy-Ties in South Korea. Use of Blogs Digital Formations. New York: Peter Lang. Donath, J, & Boyd, d. (2004). Public displays of connection. BT Technology Journal, 22 (4), 71-82. Gajjala, R. 2007. Shifting frames: Race, ethnicity, and intercultural communication in online social networking and virtual work. In M. B. Hinner (Ed.), The Role of Communication in Business Transactions and Relationships (pp. 257-276). New York: Peter Lang. Haythornthwaite, C. 2005. Social networks and Internet connectivity effects. Information, Communication, & Society, 8 (2), 125-147. Hodge, M. 2006. The Fourth Amendment and privacy issues on the "new" Internet: Facebook.com and MySpace.com. Southern Illinois University Law Journal, 31, 95-122. Kumar, R., Novak, J, & Tomkins, A. 2006. Structure and evolution of online social networks. Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Knowledge Discovery in Data Mining (pp. 611-617). New York: ACM Press. Romm-Livermore, C. & Setzekorn, K. 2008. Social Networking Communities and E-Dating Services: Concepts and Implications‎. IGI Global. p.271 Read More