How to Use the Social Media as a Platform for Employees to Raise Grievances and Share Knowledge - Assignment Example

 Introduction Social media is the societal interaction between people in which they create, share, and exchange ideas and information in networks and virtual communities. According to the definition given by Michael Haenlein and Andreas Kaplan social media is a set of internet-based applications based on the technologies and ideologies of Web 2.0. The ideologies allow the exchange and creation of user-generated content. It has been established that internet users spend a considerable amount of time on social media sites than they do on any other sites. For that reason, there is a need to use social media as a platform where employees can raise grievance and share knowledge in the organization as most of them use the sites each day. Although there have been various studies that have been conducted on the issue none have established whether to utilize social media as a platform to raise grievances. This study will identify ways that can be used by organization to tap the time the employees use on social media to share information and knowledge in the organization and share grievances. Research problems Many people interact with others in the virtue communities using social media. However, social media can be used by organization to enable employees to raise grievances and share information, which can benefit other employees in the organization. According to previous studies conducted on the benefits of social media this problem has never been addressed, and being, that many people spend their time in the social communities there is a need to tap energy and use it for the good of the organization. Many inconsistencies in the literature have been identified when it comes to the identification of how social media can be in the organization to achieve productivity. Therefore, the research is designed to answer a recommended future resea5rch question. Significance of the study The significance of the study is to identify how social media can be sued in organization to achieve information sharing and raising grievances. This is because several employees have difficulty raising grievances in the organization, as their employees may be discriminatory. Therefore, by using social media employees can raise their grievances to the upper management; hence, ensuring that their grievances will be raised. According to (Grippa, 2009), the use of scorecard on the social network that can used to help the organization in identifying new ways to improve knowledge flows. The information flow in the organization can be linked to communication media that is equal in all working environments. The application of social media in the organization is vital because employees spend most of their time in the social media, which can be translated in the working environments. When employees are knowledgeable, they increase the chances of productivity in the organization. In a research conducted by (Shaykhutdinov & Bragg, 2011), on whether grievances matter in ethnic conflict it was established that people from different ethnic background and social standing in life can never lack conflict. This is because each of them has their own attitudes and beliefs. Different students from the institution came from different cultural background, and for that reason, their beliefs may conflict with beliefs of other people. Therefore, through information sharing these conflicts can be avoided as most people have a better understanding and respect of other people’s culture. However, if the employees used the social media to inform their follow employees of what the cultural beliefs are they is likely be less grievances raised in the upper management. Therefore, with a clear understanding of conflict in the organization it is easy to identify heightened ethnic collectiveness; thus, controlling the amount of conflict that occurs in the organization. In a study conducted, on how to manage and monitor social media inside a company (Alberghini, Cricelli& Grimaldi, 2014), the authors established there is a need to monitor social media inside the company as the employees may not be use it for it intended purpose. Social media can be used to share information in the organization and help in monitoring issues within the organization. By so doing, the organization can achieve much if they monitor the activities of the organization through the social media. It is also a good platform that the organization can use to discuss issues that affect the organization and how they can be improved to yield productivity. Additionally, in a study conducted by (Chang, Huang & Hsu, & Chang, 2011), the study examined the influence of social media on knowledge sharing, as well as, the influence it had on patients safety. The research established that it is imperative for employees to share information and foster group trust in order to initiate vision and mission among the registered nurse. The research further indicated that the hospital administrator’s should encourage positive objectives towards knowledge sharing. Engaging employees in problem solving tasks encourages effective use of group memory as it helps in collaborative problem solving. In a study, conducted by (Oshtsubo, 2005) redundancy in task assignment and group performance was established to promote problem solving in the organization. Therefore, when employees are put into different groups and they are given the opportunity to share their problems it can be an effective method of problem solving in the organization. The purpose of the grounded theory study is to examine and understand how employees can use social media platform to raise grievances in the organization, and share knowledge with other employees. The overall purpose of this study is to draw field experience and key experts to help in defining social media, as well as, identify gaps and needs and make commendations for further development in the improvement of ways to use social media in the organization. Research question How to use the social media as a platform for employees to raise grievances and share knowledge? The research question relates to the research problem in the sense that the research question tends to answer the research problem by identifying ways in which the social media can be used by organizations to raise grievances and share information in the organization. Hypothesis Null hypothesis reflects on whether there will be no observed effects after the experiment has been done in that there is no relationship between two measured phenomena. In this case, the null hypothesis is that employees cannot manage to use social media to share grievances and share knowledge. Alternative hypothesis, on the other hand, is the hypothesis that is accepted if the null hypothesis is rejected; therefore, the alternative hypothesis in this case is that social media is a better platform in which employees can share knowledge and raise grievances. Study design The method that will be used in the research study is qualitative research where the researcher will employ questionnaires in order to gather information and better understanding of behavior of employees in an organization, as well as, what governs those behaviors. The data in the research will be analyzed using recursive abstraction where the data will be analyzed without coding. Here data will be summarized to identify accurately the views of the employees. The sample population to be used in the research will be randomly selected to ensure that some of the employees from various departments will be involved in the data collection of the research study. Additionally, with a random population the researcher will not manage to manipulate or control the sample population. The numbers of measures of the data collection will be a single-interview where employees will be given a questionnaire to fill in relation to the research question. The questionnaire will be both structured and unstructured. In the unstructured questionnaire, the employees will be allowed to give their views on the research question, as well as, their recommendation as to how they think that the research question will impact on their organization. The methodological approaches that will be used in the research include descriptive research or non-experimental research. In this approach, the research will discuss the data and the characteristics of the people being examined in the research. For example, in the research study the study will examine the behavior of employees on the social media and how they use the platform. Additionally, it will examine whether social media is beneficial to the organization and in what ways it can be used to improve the organization in relation to information sharing and raising grievances. References Alberghini, E., Cricelli, L., & Grimaldi, M. (2014). A methodology to manage and monitor social media inside a company Chang, C., Huang, H., Chiang, C., Hsu, C., & Chang, C. (2012). Social capital and knowledge sharing: effects on patient safety. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(8), 1793-1803. 11p.. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05871.x Grippa, F. (2009). A social network scorecard to monitor knowledge flows across communication media. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 7(4), pg. 317-328. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2009.24 Ohtsubo, Y. (2005). Should information be redundantly distributed among group members? Effective use of group memory in collaborative problem solving. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19(9), 1219-1233. doi:10.1002/acp.1162 Shaykhutdinov, R., & Bragg, B. (2011). Do Grievances Matter in Ethnic Conflict? An Experimental Approach. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 11(1), 143-152. doi:10.1111/j.1530-2415.2011.01240.x Read More