The Social Media as a Management Tool in the Business Environment - Assignment Example

? Managerial Communication Report The Social Media as a Management Tool in the Business Environment The social media has recently proven to be an effective tool in the business environment. The social media has not only been utilised by the marketing department, but also the administrative sector of the company has found this to be one of the effective areas to communicate with their employees, as well as customers. Although the social media does has its effect of diverting the attention of employees from their work with the proper managerial skill it is possible to control this negative side and maintain a healthy working environment. In the report, we will look into various benefits that the social media has managed to promote in terms of management and maintenance of communication in the business environment. The Social Media as a Management Tool in the Business Environment Managerial Communication Report To: From: Subject: Date: The social media are one of the technological advancements in a business environment. Although during its advent, many companies could not hide their criticism over the negative effect that the social media had on the business environment. The report will consider the evil and the ethical of the social media on any business environment. Social Medias such as Facebook, Twitter and various company intranets have been a valuable link among employees of a company. These Medias have also been the best marketing media that reach the various groups of consumers. Various companies agree that they help in the maintenance of communication among employees. The description of the nature of communication is an honest one; this allows employees to know more about one other. The aim for a good communication in any company is to create an interconnected, work place. A good working environment for employees motivates them to be productive. Derks and Baker state that computer mediated communication, which may be through email; the social media has become an essential part of work life. The social media is the easiest means of communication that a company can utilise. Apart, from being easy, it is also the fastest means, to put a message across for the employees (Derks & Baker, 2010). A company for instance may want to post an urgent announcement to its employees, the most appropriate means will be to post the notice in the company’s intranet, and the other way would be to post the notification in the company’s space, in any social network. The scope of doing this is that employees who visit the space will get the message, and because of the good relation that exists, among the employees, the notice gets to be passed to the other employees. This means of communication would be better than writing a memo to each department in the sense that the time used to deliver the memos is saved; the company also saves the misuse of its papers on printed notices. This means of communication can be facilitated using a computer or the advance mobile handset. This is easy for any management because the heads of departments could also get the chance to have a control of the company from any place. A clear example would be for a manager who wishes to know what his employees are up to at any given time can just log into the social network site, and keep track of the thoughts and action of his/her employees. D’ Angelo examines that the social media is one way that companies have employed to interact with their customer and stakeholders. Companies have also employed social media managers to manage the media existence. Various studies show it is not the leading companies alone that use the social media as a means of communication but rather in the year 2008 to 2009 there was an increase in the use of social media by the small businesses (D’ Angelo, 2010). D’ Angelo exerts that the use of the social media is crucial in the promotion of Brand identity, management, a company can employ a social site manager with its main activity being to create the company’s brand identity and market it online. D’ Angelo also exerts that the social media does prove to be effective in maintaining interaction with customers. It is through the social media that a company can have close contact with its customers. The management gets to know the desires of its customers, and how they feel about the company product. This also means that a company could do a quick survey online on the response that the customer gives to their products or services. The importance of such a research is that the company gets a direct response, more of a primary response, unlike the survey that they send people into the field to do the survey. The response they receive in such a case is secondary and could be altered and not give a clear response from the study. The companies also use the social media to post for job vacancies available in the company. This has proved to be an effective means for the application for vacant positions and posting of job adverts. A Critical aspect to look into is the relation between social media and reputation management. Sarniola gives her opinion on this matter by suggesting that companies need to come up with ways that they can integrate the formal, and informal means of communication in the business environment. This integration is necessary for the management of the company’s reputation. The social media is a global tool and the messages passed by any company through a social media are received globally. Therefore, the social media presents a means by which a company gets to interact with the world, and this makes it a sensitive form of communication that requires to be critically examined before being employed by a company. The message that an organisation passes through the social media gives its customers a way on how to perceive the company. A good message from a company attracts customers and builds an excellent reputation for the organisation. Sarniola attests that the social media is a channel through which a company’s reputation can be managed (Sarniola, 2011). It is evident from the discussion above that the advantages that a company gains from employment of social medias, as a crucial part of their communication system is .more compared to the disadvantages. We give a summary of the advantages below: • The social media being a form of computer-mediated communication is easy to access. The employees of an organisation can access the social media sites of their companies through their mobile handsets at any time. • The social media promotes interaction among the employees of an organisation this helps in the promotion of a conducive working environment and, therefore, a productive organisation. • The social media are a source of employment. Organisations do employ managers to create a blog for the company and mange the information presented in the social sites. • The social media is a marketing tool for many organisations. Through the social media, a company creates its brand identity and familiarises it to its consumers. • The social media provides a channel through which a company interacts with is consumers and; therefore, the organisation gets to be familiar with the needs of their consumers. • An organisation carries out surveys on their company through the social medias. This does guarantee a primary source of information from the social medias it is also fast, and the sample is a variety because the social media covers a worldwide audience. • The social media provides a platform in which the company can build its reputation. Many organisations share the view that it is through the social media that the organisation can channel information that is crucial in building its reputation worldwide. The social media even with its many benefits does have its evil side which affects an organisation some of these negative sides of social medias are summarised below: The use of social networks is unmanageable. People can spend most of their time on the networks forgetting to concentrate on their duties. The company can find a hard task maintaining what is posted into their space; this could be risky because enemies of the organisation could post negative information that could ruin the company’s reputation. The social media when not under proper management could cause a company to lose its consumers and, therefore, could result to the fall of an organisation. From the report, it is evident that the social media is among the technological advancement that empowers businesses to have an effective communication not only within the organisation but also worldwide. The social media as we have noted does channel a means of communication from the managerial point. It is also evident that the social media in as much as it promotes a company’s reputation could also be responsible for the fall of an organisation. It is necessary for a company to ensure they have a manager who controls their media sites. References D' Angelo B., J., (2010). Social Media Community Management: Implication For Business Communication Curriculum. Arizona: Arizona State University. Derks., D., & Bakker, A., (2010). Computer Mediated Communication on. Rotterdam: Erasmus University. Mangold, W., G., & Faulds D.,J.,. (2009). Social Media: The New Element Hybrid Of the Promotion Mix. Business Horizons , 357-365. Noveda Technologies. (2011, September 08). The validity and Importance of Using Social Media To Communicate with Employees. Retrieved April 02, 2012, from Noveda: http://www.noveda.com/blog/show/the-validity-and-importance-of-using-social-media-to-communicate-with-employees Sarniola, A. (2011). Proffessional Perception of The Link Between Social Media and Reputation Management. AALTO University. Read More