Using Social Media in the Workplace to Communicate: A Case Study of Woolworths

This report analyses the usage of social media in the workplace to improve communication and productivity, with a case study of Woolworths. It includes different communication strategies, types of social media channels, and four research sources.

Running head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Business Communication
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Background of the issue.........................................................................................................2
Purpose of the Report.............................................................................................................2
Topic of the Report................................................................................................................2
Target Audience.....................................................................................................................2
Background of Organization..................................................................................................2
Types of Communication Strategy Implemented..................................................................2
Usage of Social Media Channels in Workplace.........................................................................3
Four Research Sources...........................................................................................................3

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BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Introduction
Background of the issue
The issue is relating to the demotivation and decrease in the morale of the employees
working in the organization as there is no such usage of the social media and this is
decreasing the overall productivity of the organization as well.
Purpose of the Report
The report helps in the analysis of the usage of the social media in the workplace as
this helps in making the communication more effective and appropriate in nature. The main
purpose of the report is to analyse the different kinds of marketing techniques which will help
in managing the different tasks in an appropriate manner.
Topic of the Report
The main topic of the report is to include the ‘Using Social Media in the workplace to
communicate’ among the employees who are working in the organization effectively.
Target Audience
The target audience who will be the ones reading the report are the employees who
are working in an organization.
Background of Organization
Woolworths is one of the largest retail supermarkets which is situated in Bella Vista,
Australia and this is one of the most popular Australian grocery store chain which is owned
by Woolworths Limited. The company was founded in the year 1924 and there are more than
111000 employees working in the organization.

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Types of Communication Strategy Implemented
There are different communication strategies which can be implemented by
Woolworths in their organization such as verbal communication, nonverbal communication
with proper implementation of social media channels as this will help in making the
communication more effective in nature. Furthermore, social media channels include the
strengthening of the relationship with the co-workers in the organization. The usage of the
social media and digital communication will help in employee recognition and engagement
among the employees effectively.
Usage of Social Media Channels in Workplace
Social Media is essential in nature which is required to be adopted by the organization
in order to improve and strengthen the employee and employer relationship effectively. There
are different social media channels such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ along with video
sharing apps which will help Woolworths in managing the different records of the stocks
from one branch to another branch (Carlson, Zivnuska, Harris, Harris, & Carlson, 2016). The
usage of the social media at the workplace will bring more modernity in the tasks performed
by them such as:
 It allows the different employees in the organization to take a mental break while at
work and this provides encouragement to the employees and this simplifies the tasks
as well
 The social media channels can help in strengthening the relationships of the different
employees and this enhances the personal connection with the different co-workers as
well. Social media is available in different places and this allows the employees to be
in contact with one another even when they are not at work (Fardouly, 2015).

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 This helps in boosting the organizational productivity which will help in encouraging
the performance of the employees and this will help in managing the activities in a
positive manner.
Four Research Sources
The four main research resources are identified as follows:
Name of the Resource
Carlson, J., Zivnuska, S., Harris, R., Harris, K. and Carlson, D. (2016). Social Media
Use in the Workplace. Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 28(1), pp.15-31.
Type of Resource
This is one of the articles wherein the usage of the social media is analysed which has
created positive impact on the entire productivity of workplace (Carlson, Zivnuska, Harris,
Harris, & Carlson, 2016).
Brief Summary of the Article
The article helps in the analysis of the usage of the social media in the workplace
along with productive behaviour in the workplace. With the help of channel expansion
theory, examination has been done on the usage of social media channels on the
organizational behaviours in an effective manner (Wamba, 2016). Furthermore, the authors
tried in examining that the social media creates moderating effect and impact on direct
relationships of employer and employees.
Reliability of Article
Internal- The test is reliable in nature as the data are authentic in nature

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Split-half method- All the parts in test are equally contributed towards the usage of the
social media
Inter-rater- The different authors provided with different views and this helped in analysis
of the same
External- The views of the different authors vary from one another
Test-re-test-The test is stable in nature and this helps in analysis of the same
Name of the Resource
Peoplematters.in. (2018). People Matters - Interstitial Site. [online] Available at:
https://www.peoplematters.in/article/culture/social-media-and-its-effects-on-workplace-
productivity15648?
utm_source=peoplematters&utm_medium=interstitial&utm_campaign=learnings-of-the-day
[Accessed 19 Jul. 2018].
Type of Resource
Article
Summary
The article helps in analysis of the usage of the social media in an effective manner
which will help in managing the different efficiencies in an effective manner
(Peoplematters.in., 2018).
Reliability of Article
Internal- The test is reliable in nature as the data are random in nature

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Split-half method- All the parts in test are equally contributed towards the usage of the
social media and this is same for different authors
Inter-rater- The different authors provided with different views and this helped in analysis
of the same
External- The views of the different authors vary from one another
Test-re-test-The test is stable in nature and this helps in analysis of the same
Name of the Resource
Responsible Social Media Use in the Workplace. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZPbJ1NDqX8 ("Responsible Social Media Use in the
Workplace", 2018)
Type of Resource
YouTube Video
Summary
The video discusses about the different responsible usage of the social media in the
workplace in an appropriate manner (YouTube, Responsible Social Media Use in the
Workplace, 2018).
Reliability of Article
Internal- The test is reliable in nature as the data are authentic in nature
Split-half method- All the parts in test are equally contributed towards the usage of the
social media

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Inter-rater- The different authors provided with different views and this helped in analysis
of the same
External- The views of the different authors vary from one another
Test-re-test-The test is stable in nature and this helps in analysis of the same
Name of the Resource
Social Media in the Workplace: Legal, Policy and Productivity Issues. (2018).
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLG9jwgAios ("Social Media in the
Workplace: Legal, Policy and Productivity Issues", 2018)
Type of Resource
YouTube Video
Summary
The video helps in analysis of the different kinds of issues related to productivity in
the workplace which will help in managing the productivity of the organization (YouTube,
Social Media in the Workplace: Legal, Policy and Productivity Issues, 2018).
Reliability of Article
Internal- The test is reliable in nature as the data are authentic in nature
Split-half method- All the parts in test are equally contributed towards the usage of the
social media
Inter-rater- The different authors provided with different views and this helped in analysis
of the same
External- The views of the different authors vary from one another

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Test-re-test-The test is stable in nature and this helps in analysis of the same
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that there are different usages of social media in the
workplace and this is required to answer whether the usage of social media helps in
increasing the productivity of the organization or decreases the entire productivity of the
organization.

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References
Carlson, J., Zivnuska, S., Harris, R., Harris, K., & and Carlson, D. (2016). Social Media Use
in the Workplace. Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, pp.15-31.
Fardouly, J. D. (2015). Social comparisons on social media. The impact of Facebook on
young women's body image concerns and mood. Body Image, 38-45.
Hollebeek, L. D., Glynn, M. S., & & Brodie, R. J. (2014). Consumer brand engagement in
social media: Conceptualization, scale development and validation. Journal of
interactive marketing, 149-165.
Ngai, E. W. (2015). Social media research: Theories, constructs, and conceptual frameworks.
International Journal of Information Management, 33-44.
Peoplematters.in. (2018). People Matters. Interstitial Site. [online] Available at:
https://www.peoplematters.in/article/culture/social-media-and-its-effects-on-
workplace-productivity15648?
utm_source=peoplematters&utm_medium=interstitial&utm_campaign=lea.
Wamba, S. F. (2016). Social media tools adoption and use by SMEs. An empirical study. In
Social media and Networking: Concepts, methodologies, tools, and application- IGI
Global., 791-806.
YouTube. (2018). Responsible Social Media Use in the Workplace. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZPbJ1NDqX8 .
YouTube. (2018). Social Media in the Workplace: Legal, Policy and Productivity Issues.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLG9jwgAios .