Impact of Social Media on Contemporary Business Communication

This essay discusses the impact of social media on contemporary business communication. It highlights the importance of communication in business operations and how social media has transformed the way business organizations conduct their business. The essay also discusses the role of social media in effective communication with customers, employees, and shareholders. It concludes by discussing how social media helps in overcoming the problem of cross-cultural miscommunication.

Running head: COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Communication and Social media
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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“But developing relationships with coworkers—your peers, superiors, and subordinates—is
incredibly important, perhaps even the most important thing you’ll do at work, and this is
completely dependent on your communication skills.”
The above lines from the famous book “Effective Business Communication” of
Scribendi discusses about the importance of the concept of communication in the genre of
business operations. It is significant to note that the communication forms an important part
of the various business organizations. The “advent of globalization and the recent
developments in the field of technology has significantly transformed the way the various
business organizations as well as companies conduct their business with the other business
organizations or the customers and the end users” (Kernbach, Eppler and Bresciani 2015). It
is significantly here that the concept of communication comes into play. However, it is
significant to note that in the present times the various business organizations are increasingly
turning towards the various platforms of the social to attain the process of effective
communication (Kernbach, Eppler and Bresciani 2015). The various platforms related to the
social media not only provide a cheap platform where information can be easily passed on
but also a very reliable and at the same a fast one (Kernbach, Eppler and Bresciani 2015).
This essay will discuss about “the impact of social media on the contemporary business
communication”.
The concept of communication “can be defined as the process by means of which
one person or a business organization conveys on or passes on the required information to the
other person or business organizations” (Aral, Dellarocas and Godes 2013). In the opinion of
many people the process of communication requires the presence of three entities, namely,
the “sender, medium and the receiver of the information” (Aral, Dellarocas and Godes 2013).
Therefore, “business communication is information sharing between people within and
outside an organization that is performed for the commercial benefit of the

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organization”(Goh, Heng and Lin 2013). It is significant to note that there are three primary
kinds of communication within a particular business organization-the first kind of
communication is the one which occurs between the shareholders of the organization and the
organization itself, the second of communication is the communication which occurs between
the organization and the various employees of the organization and the third kind of
communication occurs between the organization and its customers or the end user of the
products or the services provided by the concerned business organization (Goh, Heng and Lin
2013). In the present times it is seen that the various business organizations often take the
help of the various platforms offered by social media to effectively conduct the process of
communication with these diverse entities of the business organization and thus the use of
social media has gained prominence within the various business organizations (Aral,
Dellarocas and Godes 2013).
“Woolworths Limited” founded by “Percy Christmas, Stanley Chatterton, Cecil
Scott Waine, George Creed and Ernest Williams” in the year 1924 is “one of the largest retail
business organizations not only of the nation of Australia but also of the world”
(Woolworths.com.au. 2018). The business organization offers retail services to the customers
and is known for the wide range of products as well as services which it offers to the diverse
customers (Woolworths.com.au. 2018). It is significant to note that it is “the second largest
company in Australia by revenue, after Perth-based retail-focused conglomerate Wesfarmers
and the second largest in New Zealand” (Woolworths.com.au. 2018). In addition to this, the
concerned company is also “the largest takeaway liquor retailer in Australia, the largest hotel
and gaming poker machine operator in Australia, and was the 19th largest retailer in the
world in 2008” (Woolworths.com.au. 2018). The net revenue earned by the concerned
company for the year2017 was “$25.7 Billion” (Forbes.com. 2018). Therefore, it can be said

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that concerned business organization forms the backbone of the economic framework of the
country of Australia.
The most important kind of communication which the majority of the business
organizations including “Woolworths Limited” require for their business purposes is the
communication with their customers or the end users of the products or the services offered
by them (Guffey and Loewy 2012). It is significant to note that the customers or the end users
of the “products or the services offered by a particular business organization form the most
important part of the various business organizations and it is on them that the prospects of a
particular business organization” (Guffey and Loewy 2012). It is here that the role of the
social media becomes very important as this particular platform is utilized by the various
business organizations to convey their messages most effectively to the customers or the end
users of the products offered by them (Chaney and Martin 2013). The various platforms of
social media is utilized by the company “Woolworth Limited” not only to provide relevant
information about their existing products as well as services to the customers or the end users
but also relevant information about the new products or the services which they are about to
launch or have already launched in the market (Chaney and Martin 2013). Furthermore, it is
also seen that the various business organizations take the help of the various platforms related
to the social media to address the various questions as well as the grievances of the customers
(Chaney and Martin 2013). It is seen that in the present times the customers like the take the
help of the products or the services offered by a particular company which have a positive
image over the social media and they often “get influenced by the reviews of the other
customers who have already utilized the products or the services offered by the particular
business organization” (Guffey and Loewy 2012). Therefore, the various platforms related to
the social media become very important for the business organizations like “Woolworths
Limited” not only to communicate effectively with the various customers or the end users of

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the products or the services offered by them but also to create a positive brand image for
themselves (Chaney and Martin 2013).
The employees are another part of the business organization which plays a significant
role in the business process and therefore an effective communication with them is very
important for the better performance of the employees (Wang, Yu and Wei 2012). The
process of communication gains special significance as the business organizations need to
convey “their goals as well as objectives in the most effective manner to the employees so
that the personal goals and the objectives of the individual employees are in synchronization
with that that of the business organization” (Wang, Yu and Wei 2012). Furthermore, the
concept of communication is utilized by the various business organizations to effective
convey information to the employees about the diverse job roles which they need to perform
(Erdoğmuş and Cicek 2012). It is significant “to note that in the opinion of many people this
particular process helps the various business organizations” like “Woolworths Limited” to
maintain coordination not only between the concerned organization and the employees but
also among the diverse employees as well (Erdoğmuş and Cicek 2012). It is here that the role
of the various platforms related to the social media becomes very significant. The various
platforms related to the social media not only provide a very inexpensive medium to the
concerned business organizations but also a very medium. It is generally seen that if the
business organizations use traditional forms of communication medium it is not only time
consuming but also requires a considerable amount of resources of the business organizations
(Erdoğmuş and Cicek 2012). Therefore, “the various business organizations take the help of
the various platforms related to the social media not only for the purposes of delivering the
desired message to the employees” but also to maintain coordination among the various
employees. It is significant to note that the various researches suggest that the use of social
media also helps the various people to reduce the level of stress felt by them (Wang, Yu and

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Wei 2012). Therefore, the various business organizations take the help of the various
platforms related to the social media not only for the purposes of effective communication
but also for the purposes of reducing the level of stress faced by them (Wang, Yu and Wei
2012). Thus, it would be apt to say that the use of social media for the purposes of
communication provides several benefits to the business organizations like “Woolworths
Limited”.
The various shareholders also form an important part of the various business
organization and they are “the people have invested in the business of the concerned business
organization and therefore take an active interest in the business process of the concerned
organization” (Thill and Bovée 2013). Therefore, an effective communication with these
shareholders related to a particular business is very important and in a bid to achieve the
process of effective the various business organizations take the help of the diverse platforms
offered by the social media (Thill and Bovée 2013). The business organizations like
“Woolworths Limited” need to convey the relevant information about the various strategies
as well as the decisions related to their business operations to the various shareholders of the
business organization (Kim and Ko 2012). It is here that “the importance of the various
platforms offered by the social media” comes into prominence. The introduction of the social
media has drastically changed the way the various business organizations communicate with
their shareholders. It is “significant to note that the business organizations in the traditional
times used to communicate with their shareholders with the help of the various traditional
means like meetings, conferences, seminars and others” (Kim and Ko 2012). However, the
introduction of the social media has drastically modified this and now the various business
organizations take the help of the social media to communicate with their shareholders.
Therefore, instead of using the traditional means of meetings, seminars and others the various
business organizations in the present times take the help of emails, social media, video calls

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and others for the process of communication with their shareholders (Kim and Ko 2012). The
company “Woolworths Limited” takes the help of this innovation for the purpose of their
communication with their shareholders.
The major problem which most of the business organizations like “Woolworths
Limited” in the present times face is the problem of “cross cultural miscommunication”
which has become one of the most significant problems for the organizations operational in
various diverse locations (Kwok and Yu 2013). The problem of “cross cultural
miscommunication” arises when the people involved in the process of communication are
from the various diverse cultural backgrounds (Argenti 2015). Therefore, the various
business organizations like “Woolworths Limited” take “the help of various platforms related
to the social media” in a bid to overcome this particular problem. The use of social media for
the purposes of communication not only obliterates the various barriers in the process of
effective cross cultural communication but also helps in a better conveyance of the message
to the diverse entities of the workplace (Grunig 2013). The process also helps in reducing the
amount of conflicts and misunderstandings. Therefore, it is “seen that most of the business
organizations take the help of social for the process of communication”.
To conclude, communication “forms an important part of the various business
organizations and the concept is used by the various business organizations” to effectively
deliver their desired messages to the various people who are related to the business.
Furthermore, the ‘recent advancements “in the field of technology and also the recent
innovations has drastically modified the way the various business organizations communicate
not only with their employees and the shareholders of the business organizations” but also
with the various customers who are related to the organization and form the main source of
their income”. Therefore, the platform of social media is used by the various business
organizations for the purpose of effective communication. The various platforms related to

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social media not only provides a very fast medium for communication but is also very
inexpensive and helps to reduce the amount of misunderstanding among the employees.

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References
Aral, S., Dellarocas, C. and Godes, D., 2013. Introduction to the special issue—social media
and business transformation: a framework for research. Information Systems Research, 24(1),
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Argenti, P.A., 2015. Corporate communication. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Chaney, L. and Martin, J., 2013. Intercultural business communication. Pearson Higher Ed.
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