Effect of social media on business growth Abstract

Effect of social media on business growth


Abstract

Social media is among the communication channels that companies have adopted and started using in order to improve their performance. Some studies claim that the use of social network sites makes employees happier and therefore, more productive but different studies consider it as a reason for reduced productivity since it can waste time and be addictive. (Accountemps, 2010) these studies argue that using social networking sites reduces productivity in the workplace looking only at the time wasted as a result of social networking and ignoring the possible indirect benefits such as enhanced job satisfaction, higher organizational commitment, lower absenteeism, higher retention rates, higher innovative behaviour and increased productivity.

Introduction

The Internet provides a new paradigm for communication and has empowered millions of people to network socially beyond the confines of geographical proximity. Online social networking has moved from a niche phenomenon to mass adoption (Wang, 2009). Social media includes various methods such as social networking, user-sponsored blogs, multimedia sites, company-sponsored websites, collaborative websites, podcasts, etc. From a business perspective for any business, effective networking is an essential component to success (Krush, 2010). Today’s social media tools are bringing rapid change to organizational communication and public relations. Social media networks are enabling businesses to become more socially engaged, exploiting new business model innovation based on firms‟ ability to monetize and extract value from crowd generated data and content. Social media has enabled organizations to establish a stronger relationship with the community of reference, in order to exploit the network effect and harness collective intelligence.

Research aims and objectives

The present study is divided into two categories of objectives: General and Specific objectives.

The general objective of this study is to assess the effect of social media on business development in the company. The scope of this research is divided into domain, geographical and time frame. In regard to the domain, this study assesses the effect of social media to the business development in the company. As for the time, the focus of this research is relative to 3 years (2016–2018). This study has benefits not only to the researcher but also to the management of CIMERWA, and all academics. This study helps in gaining an insight into effect of social media on the business development. It is within the expectation of the researcher that information gathered and compiled in this study and served as an eye opener to social media. Now this research is important to me in order to be awarded with a Bachelor degree in marketing. The study serves as a source of reference for future researchers in advanced studies and to the community by taking into account the findings, results and recommendations. The copy of this research will be available in the library of UNILAK and it will be used by other researchers who are interested in this area of research.