CASE STUDIES: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ORGANISATIONS?
as the Commission - dealing with so many topics and which is hierarchical and
In addition to the above outlined benefits, the previously mentioned quote
sort of conservative - is very difficult.” Hence, Social Media is fundamentally
from my interviewee at EPO summarises the main conclusion of this chapter
influencing communication structures, but also operational business and
and that is that Social Media offers organisations a means of proactively
could be effectively used towards change management. Gathering user-
seeking the stakeholders with negative opinions out and addressing them and
generated information and communicating it to the decision-makers could
inviting them around. So, the general perception of the addressed
serve as an improvement driver. “Social Media is more about changing the
organisations is that more transparent communication practices through
organisation,” said Mr van Maele, “we try to use the Social Media in this way, to
Social Media help with managing stakeholders’ opinions of the company.
be able to use the information and adapt to the information.” Open-minded participation and ability to listen to constructive opinions, can guide firms through a learning curve. “Walking the talk” is the next step.
RESEARCH QUESTION 1-A What are the strategic benefits of Social Media for organisations in terms of managing stakeholders’ opinions of the company on Social Media? In this chapter I have detailed the results from the conducted interviews which have helped me identify the strategic benefits of using the Social Media for organisations and have answered my research sub-question 1a. The most salient benefits that have been identified are outlined in Table 4.1 below. Table 4.1: Overview of the benefits Benefit Building brand awareness and attractiveness
Case Study EC, OVV
Literature Stelzner, 2011;
Building transparency and trust
OVV and EPO
Talbot, 2007; McAllister, 1995; Chua et al. 2008; Tapscott and Williams, 2008;
Gathering Business and Law enforcement intelligence
OVV, EC
IACP, 2010;
30