Role of Social Media in Business Communication: A Case Study of Cotton On

This report analyzes the role of social media in business communication with a case study of Cotton On. It discusses the concept of social media, its use at Cotton On, and provides recommendations for effective use. The report highlights the importance of digital communication in the workplace and the potential benefits and limitations of social media.

Running Head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION 0
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
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Content
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Concept of Social Media.............................................................................................................................3
Use of social media at Cotton On................................................................................................................3
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Social media plays an important role in the workplace to communicate with different
people. Social media facilitates quick communication at any place with respect to every
organization. But it requires the person to be present at the time when the sender is sending
information or any news (Leonardi, Huysman & Steinfield, 2013). The report will examine the
concept of social media as a communication tool which will help in understanding and analyzing
the importance of social media. Further the discussion is carried out discussing the role of social
media in context of the company chosen. It will highlight the importance of digital
communication in the workplace as an effective tool to communicate. Recommendations are
given for using the social media in effective and efficient way. By using social media policy,
effective methods or strategies for proper use of social media sites by the employees is discussed.
The recommendations will help the company in using the social media in such a way that will
facilitate the organization in achieving goals in efficient manner in the long run. At the end of the
report, conclusion is given based on the analysis of whole report which helps in assessing the
significance of the social media in today’s business environment.

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Concept of Social Media
Social media is a computer based technology which facilitates the sharing of ideas,
information and the building of network among people. Social media grow as an effective
communication tool to communicate better with different members at the workplace. Now a
days, almost every organization using social media to share information regarding changes in
policies, change in rules and regulation, to inform employees regarding changing expectations as
well as changing consumer trends. It is a tool which is created for visitors to upload and
download information (Vaast & Kaganer, 2013). It brings continuity in the work by providing
easy access to the employees at any time. It facilitates in gathering information which are useful
to solve work problems. Social media has great potential to create a sense of belonging in the
workplace and provide affirmation for employees as well as business partners (Nielsen &
Schrøder, 2014).
Use of social media at Cotton On
 Cotton On uses Yammer to communicate internally with its employees. Yammer is an
application from which Cotton On share their information on local team board, company wide
board as well as for individual project groups. The use of Yammer updates the employees
regarding important matter which is necessary for them to know.
 The private hub is created through intranet which can be accessed by authorized users.
This private hub in Cotton On is mainly used for engaging people. It Improves employee
engagement and productivity at Cotton On. Social media as a communication tool is important
for team members who are working together from distances. In Cotton on, employees work at
different stores at different location, so intranet keeps them connected every time through
intranet facility.
 It has created separate Facebook page which helps the company in getting easy access to
all the employees at one time by creating Facebook group. If any message is needed to be
circulated to all the employees, they send the news in the Facebook page through which all the

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employees come to know about that. Using Facebook, company share various details and
pictures about new products. Changes in policies as well as rules and regulations also share by
the company on Facebook.
 If cotton on company is required to communicate among different store, it make use of
social media sites so that information can be passed quickly and appropriate decision can be
taken (cotton on Australia, 2017).
 If company has to meet employee instant but it is not possible sometimes to meet at one
place. In this case, company makes use of Skype. By using this Cotton on provides easy access
to employees. It delivers product training to employees in real time. At the same, employees can
ask their queries online and get solution (cotton on Australia, 2017).
 It has WhatsApp group which helps every member of the company in interact with each
other and get to know about each other. Through WhatsApp, company gives recognition to
employees regarding their good performance which motivate the employees in giving their good
performance.
 In Cotton On, Social media proves to be great way to send reminders because many
people in today’s environment have social media apps on their smartphones through which they
can see updates in real time (Miller, 2017).
 By creating their own websites, Employees rapidly communicate their problems without
waiting for the subsequent meeting to happen because they can immediately see who is online
(Meikle, 2016). This makes decision making faster, which can improve profit as well as
productivity. Employees can easily post their problem on social media and can get several
solutions regarding it (Bowen & Bowen, 2016).
 Cotton On uses twitter to share small burst of information with its employees or wide
audience. It helps employees in engaging and getting quick feedback. Two way communications
makes it more useful to use at workplace for communicating (Van Zoonen, Verhoeven &
Vliegenthart, 2016).

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Recommendations
Although social media is helping the company in many ways but sometimes cotton on faces
several problems while communicating with the employees at workplace. When new employee
joins the company, proper training sessions should be held to make them understand the
communication tools that are used in the workplace. The major issue which is faced by the
company is disturbance at the middle of the work by the employees, so to remove this
communication Barrier Company should declare a specific time for discussion problem at the
same time employees should be allowed to ask urgent queries at any time.
Cotton On should appoint a person for resolving queries so that problems can be solve instant
and decision can be taken quickly (Sharp, 2016). Sometimes, employees post such information
which company is not prepared to post, which leak the information of the company. To control
this, company should make strictly announcement not to make every announcement publicly
without the notice of company mangers or HR (Zeiger, 2018).
In order to remove the misuse of social media, company should prepare a social media policy
which set the guidelines and expectations for employees which helps the company on getting
benefits from this policy while removing damages that it can cause.

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Conclusion
Through the above analysis, it can be concluded that social media becomes an important
part of the business world in communicating better at workplace. In 21st century social media is
mandatory for every company to communicate digitally with their employees. There are various
types of social media sites namely WhatsApp, twitter, skype and Yammer which are used by
Cotton On. Social media provides easy access to the company in sharing any information or data
regarding the company policies, rules or regulations. In this way, it can manage the various
employees at one time and get quick feedback. In the next few years it will hold an important
position in the workplace.
Despite of providing benefits, it has certain limitation also in the company. When
employees are not aware of any of these sites, any information can be leak from the company
which requires to be held confidential. In this way, social media sometimes poses threat to the
organization. So, proper use of social media is necessary in organization to boost employee’s
morale as well as productivity.

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References
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Cotton On. (2017). Advancing Australian Cotton. Retrieved from:
http://cottonaustralia.com.au/uploads/publications/Cotton_Australia_Annual_Report_201
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Fuchs, C. (2017). Social media: A critical introduction. California: Sage.
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history, and prospects for the study of social technologies in organizations. Journal of
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Meikle, G. (2016). Social media: Communication, sharing and visibility. Oxen: Routledge.
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Vaast, E., & Kaganer, E. (2013). Social media affordances and governance in the workplace: An
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Van Zoonen, W., Verhoeven, J. W., & Vliegenthart, R. (2016). How employees use Twitter to
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329-339.
Zeiger, S. (2018). The Disadvantages of Social Networking in the Workplace. Retrieved from:
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