BUS 378 LEE JING AN 31824413

ELECTRONIC ASSIGNMENT COVERSHEET Student Number

31824413 Surname Lee Given name Jing An Email [email protected]

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378 Knowledge and organisational learning External 11 November 2013 1 Risks and benefits of social media on a Multinational Corporation Dr. Alvin Oh

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BUS 378 KNOWLEDGE AND ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING LEE JING AN STUDENT ID: 31824413

1.0 Introduction In recent years, technology and social interaction has been constantly evolving, so has the way people communicate with each other to innovate businesses. This essay will be focusing on how social media can help to improve Steria a multinational information technology services provider in its communication in order to better the knowledge creation process of the company. 2.0 Social Media Gould (2013, 3) stated that , “Social media are web-based tools for interaction that, in addition to conversation, allow users to share content such as photos, videos, and links to resources”. Different type of messages may be conveyed more efficiently using a particular medium than another, this saying is built upon the theory of media richness (Knapp et al. 2002). Therefore sometimes messages conveyed through different types of social media are more efficient than face to face conversations. 3.0 Types of Social Media tools Firstly, LinkedIn is a social media that allows you to create a network of contacts for exchanging knowledge, opinions and opportunities. It is also a tool for managing online reputations as well as being a useful tool for recruiting talents. Secondly, Facebook is a social media that allows people to create a profile and publish information. Visibility of the information is managed by the account holder. Also the use of Facebook extends from sharing of information to the creation of pages and groups to promote, businesses, individuals, etc. Lastly, Twitter is a social media that focuses on short messages sometimes with links to other content. Basically, Twitter messages are more accessible by the public than on Facebook.

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4.0 Social Media for Steria Steria is a large multinational company that uses social media tools as a medium for communication. Currently, Steria had been utilizing social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for communication, to promote their brand and spread messages of the company ("Social Media at Steria" 2013). To further improve the company’s communication blogs may be introduced for internal usage for each and every branch, as blogs can be an effective communication medium for employees. The focus of the blog may be on company updates such as daily announcements, internal newsletters and company related articles that are critical for employee knowledge. Comments need to be enabled and moderated in order for social interaction between employees to occur. As an example, when an employee is leaving the company, a post may be made to inform people that a certain employee is leaving and comments can be made to give the leaving employee their best wishes. 5.0 Knowledge Sharing Different kinds of information are needed in order for a company to function well, and knowledge sharing occurs when information and expertise are shared between people. A lot of information is usually shared top-down or vertically, as the management needs to know how well the company is fairing, feedbacks from bottom-up are also important. From here on social information is obtained, and when matched with existing information, it provides the management with new knowledge (Wiig 1999). Therefore, with the input of internal blogs communication becomes two ways, thus giving a clearer picture of daily operations, and the management can then improve on their planning.

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6.0 Building Social Capital Social capital is defined as the construct in terms of social network, civic engagement, and life satisfaction and trust (Valenzuela et al. 2009). The three dimensions to social capital are structural, relational and cognitive (Jashaparan 2011). Firstly there is the bonding part of social capital, where ties are strengthened among people who are already connected through social media. This may be further build up with personal blog, and as a medium it will keep the relationship, connections and conversations thrive. Secondly there is the bridging part of social capital, where people who don’t know each other create connections. Therefore links will be formed, interactions will occur and in turn forming trust. With trust and connections formed interaction among people within the same network will lead to common values and vision of workplace. 7.0 Support innovation Innovation consists of two integrated process, which are new appropriate ideas or inventions explored in a creative perspective (Lars 2008). Roldan (2008, 231-235) stated that “social media technologies present an opportunity to engage them in innovation conversations and leverage their facility with social media and other technologies to encourage the development of innovations via these conversations”. To support innovation a good bridge communication is needed and blogs will be that bridge that brings people together to incite dialogue and innovative conversations between different departments. This will in turn lead to creative and innovative solutions.

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8.0 Aid problem solving In order for a problem to be solve, first the problem need to be identified, from then on the root of the cause can be found and be rectified accordingly (Aken et al. 2012). Social media provides a platform for employees to post issues with work, as during office hours people with relevant knowledge might not be free to walk around, but they would most likely be available on the network. Thus social media would be useful in such scenarios in aiding problem solving as solutions may be found through interactions on the network. For example when a program with bugs that the employee can’t find occurs and an employee had no idea how to solve it as he cannot locate the fault, he may post the problem on the blog to ask for help and gather feedbacks from others, so as to come out with a solution through analysis from the feedbacks. 9.0 Applying the SECI Model on Steria 9.1 Socialization and Originating Ba The first phase of knowledge creation is socialization, or “Originating Ba”. Here tacit knowledge is shared between individuals. The “Originating Ba” is defined as a world where people share feelings, emotions, experiences, and mental models (Nonaka and Konno 1998). When applied to Steria, using social media such as blogs to communicate within the company breaks barrier such as language or culture. Technology is making it easier to communicate through the network and the traditional way of communicating face to face is often view as an avoidable expense. This in fact goes against the model’s idea of meeting together to share tacit knowledge.

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9.2 Externalization and Dialoguing Ba When tacit knowledge is being converted into documented explicit knowledge through interaction “Dialoguing Ba” occurs. As the sharing of ideas to create explicit knowledge helps to externalize knowledge (Nonaka and Konno 1998). When applied to Steria the knowledge created through use of blogs allow people to generate mutual understandings, as explicit knowledge made in blogs has shared ownership and is made easily understood. For example the blog moderator discusses articles with people from different department, and after reaching an agreement the moderator would then publish what was discussed in the blog to share with other employees. 9.3 Combination and Systematising Ba The third phase which is combination is where interaction takes place in a virtual world instead reality (Nonaka and Konno 1998). This is where new explicit knowledge is combined with existing information to generate infomation and systematizes explicit knowledge to the whole company (Nonaka and Konno 1998). Steria would then need to stresses on collaborative efforts to create and share the newly attained knowledge across the company. For example, after reading the articles posted by the moderator employees may comment on the article and share knowledge by input their thoughts and perspectives. 9.4 Internalization and Exercising Ba In the last phase which is internalization, it turns explicit knowledge back into tacit knowledge. Internationalization occurs when all the knowledge gained is integrated into the company or individual (Nonaka and Konno 1998). As an example, after reading and commenting on the article the moderator posted, employees may then start to reflect and digest the knowledge gain and think about how they can applied this newly gained knowledge.

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10.0 Risk and Benefits By incorporating social media like blogs into Steria, it helps the management to have a better picture of the company status, for example the morale of the workforce. Also it help the management to better communicate with employees as through social media communication is no longer the traditional top down one way approach, but it became a two way communication as employees could reach management levels easier and provide feedbacks to the management. Through social media Steria can not only reach out to employees easier but also relate to customers easier as Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. can be made available for public views. Social media can be utilized to promote the brand name of Steria, create awareness to public and also to recruit talents. However, usage of social media is not without risk and disadvantages. There may be widespread misuse of social media if not controlled properly. Steria’s confidential information might be leaked through social media either intentionally or by mistake both which could cause harm to the company. Furthermore, social media might be too distracting for certain employees, for example Facebook has lots of games and online that chat is available during office hours. Also cyber bullying and cyber politics might occur after a prolonged use of social media within the company. Cyber bullying may appear in the form of offensive email, threats written in a form that includes inoffensive message but meanings implied behind the message may constitute a form of bullying. Cyber politics is the evolved form of office politics, as people might find it more convenient and less awkward by communicating on the network, also people could sabotage their rivals or disliked person through social media. For example, employee X is on good terms with employee Y, but deep within employees X hates employee Y, however employee Y though that employee X is a good friend therefore giving him confidential information like his company blog password, from here employees X may then impersonate employee Y and post things that might reflect badly on employee Y on his behalf in order to sabotage him and make his own standing within the company better. 6


11.0 Recommendations Strict guidelines, code of ethics and standard operating procedures (SOP) need to be enforced in order to minimise the risk of incorporating social media into Steria. The guidelines should include thinking when commenting or sharing opinions. During debate, be professional, polite and not insulting anybody involved in the debate. Confidential information should never be posted on social media. Also social media cannot be used for personal or entertainment uses during office hours. The SOP should include guidelines on how to write a post, the frequency of posts, and procedures that needs to be followed when sharing an article. Messages that goes out of the company needs to be screened and filtered to make sure that confidential information is not leaked. To ensure that guidelines are met, a task force or executive committee needs to be set up in order to enforce the guidelines and SOP. Furthermore, due to improvement of social media and new emerging social media, surveys on the appropriateness of the guidelines and SOP need to be conducted regularly as loopholes are most likely to be found in rules and guidelines as time passes on. 12.0 Conclusion As long as the usage of social media is well managed by Steria, the benefits of incorporating social media will over shadow the minor disadvantages. Communication is the most vital part of any organization, and without communication there can be no organization (Sengupta 2011). Furthermore, Steria needs to remember that the traditional way of socializing face to face is also important in the process of knowledge creation and they need to be careful as of not to rely on social media too much to communicate with each other. Thus by utilizing both the traditional way of communicating face to face and social media it could bring Steria to new highs.

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Biblography Aken, V.J., H. Berends, and V.H. Bij. Problem Solving in Organizations: A Methodological Handbook for Business and Management Students. New York, USA: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2012. Gould, M. The Social Media Gospel: Sharing the Good News in New Ways. United States of America, Liturgical Press, 2013. Jashaparan, A. Knowledge Management An Integrated Approach. 2nd Edition. Harlow: Person Education Limited, 2011. Knapp, M., and J. Daly. Handbook of Interpersonal Communication. California: Sage Publications, 2002. Lars, F. Innovation and the Creative Process: Towards Innovation with Care. Bodmin, Cornwall: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008. Nonaka, I., N. Konno. The Concept of “Ba”: Building a Foundation for Knowledge Creation. California Management Review, (1998): 40-54. Roldan, H.M.M. "Innovation Conversations via Social Media." Proceedings of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance 12th Annual Meeting. (2008): 231-235. Sengupta, S. BUSINESS AND MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2011. Steria, "Social Media at Steria." Last modified Aug 01, 2013. Accessed November 9, 2013. http://www.steria.com/fileadmin/com/sharingOurViews/publications/files/social_med ia_guidelines_Aug_2013.pdf. Valenzuela, S., N. Park, and K.F. Kee. "Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. no. 4 (2009). 10.1111/j.10836101.2009.01474.x (accessed November 10, 2013). Wiig, K.M. Knowledge Research Institute, "Knowledge Management: An Emerging Discipline Rooted in a Long History." Last modified 1999. Accessed November 10, 2013. www.krii.com/downloads/km_emerg_discipl.pdf. 8

BUS 378 LEE JING AN 31824413

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