Social Media Case Study Analysis

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Social Media Case Study Analysis Effective communication in an organization is one of the components of its success. Managers are charged with navigating communication obstacles while making every effort to harness its benefits. This onus placed on managers is compounded by organizational advancements and the application of new technologies. One relatively new organizational technology being applied is the use of social media. Social media creates communication issues yet conversely alleviates specific communication barriers by playing several roles within organizations today. Communication Issues Social media creates a host of communications issues that are not easy to counteract. In the case study, Social Benefits of Social Disaster?-Best Buy; there are two glaring examples of how social media creates issues from its communications. The first of which is the risk to security. In this case, an easy to guess password was used by a hacker to misuse a twitter account. Implications were felt not only by the individual that was hacked, but the company suffered financial losses. Further issues could have occurred if the hacker was interested trying out the password on internal Best Buy systems. As a manager, it is critical to stress to employees the importance of communications that contain sensitive information and how to choose a password that provides the highest level of security. (Robbins, Decenzo, & Coulter, 2013) Secondly, the grapevine aspect of social media is prevalent in this case. An inaccurate message was rapidly passed throughout Best Buy’s customer base and employees. In addition to the embarrassment that was felt by CEO, Brian Dunn, the company’s image was negatively impacted. Social media gives the oppo... ... middle of paper ... ... After gaining the needed education on the matter, they were able to concentrate on the benefits that effective communication holds. All companies should strive to understand the art of communication and continually improve their skills while adapting to an ever changing world. Works Cited Mishna, F., Bogo, M., Root, J., Sawyer, J., & Khoury-kassabri, M. (2012). "It just crept in": The digital age and implications for social work practice. Clinical Social Work Journal, 40(3), 277-286. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10615-012-0383-4 Mishra, J. (1990). Managing the grapevine. Public Personnel Management. 19(2), 47-52. Reitz, A. (2012). Social media's function in organizations: A functional analysis approach. Global Media Journal, 5(2), 41. Robbins, S., Decenzo, D., & Coulter, M. (2013). Fundamentals of management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

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