Business Communication (BIZ101) Report: Social Media in Workplace

This report examines the use of social media in the workplace to improve business communication. It begins with an introduction highlighting the increasing role of technology and the reliance on social media for effective communication. The report analyzes a case study of Woolworths, an Australian retail company, and its integrated communication strategy. It evaluates four sources, including journal articles and websites, to understand the benefits and challenges of social media in the workplace, focusing on employee collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation. The analysis includes reliability tests of each source, considering authority, transparency, objectivity, and currency. The report concludes with recommendations for Woolworths on how to effectively use social media platforms, such as banning personal use and encouraging participation in discussions. The report aims to provide businesses and executives with insights to improve their communication strategies and gain a competitive advantage.

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Business Communication

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Introduction
In the modern era of digitalisation, the role of technology has increased substantially and
organisations are relying social media as an effective tool to improve their business
communications. The purpose of this report is to analyse the topic of “using social media in
the workplace to communicate” in order to understand how companies are using social media
sites to conduct their business operations and effectively manage their communication
channels. The intended audience for this report is businesses and their executives that can
rely on this information to improve their business operations. This report will evaluate the
example of Woolworths, which is an Australia based organisation that operates in the retail
sector. The company uses integrated communication strategy in order to interact with its
employees and top level executives. It uses different offline and online techniques for internal
communication such as online platforms, discussion forums, meetings and others. This
report will analyse four sources on this topic that can assist Woolworths in improving its
communication strategy while relying on social media in the workplace.
Source 1
Name: Cardon, P. W., & Marshall, B. (2015). The hype and reality of social media use for
work collaboration and team communication. International Journal of Business
Communication, 52(3), 273-293.
Type: Journal article
Summary
In this source, the researchers conducted a study to understand frequent use of social media in
the workplace and how it effective social networking among employees. The study collected
data from workplace in which Gen X, Gen Y and Baby Boomers which evaluated that the use
of social media in workplace increases social networking among employees and they
positively affect their productivity as well by allowing them to work on products (Cardon &
Marshall, 2015). However, baby boomers mostly rely on traditional methods rather than
social media platforms while networking in the workplace as compared to other generations.
Reliability test

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The authority is present because both the authors are published and they have experience in
this field. The audience of this report was companies that allow their employees to use social
media in workplace. Transparency was evident because researchers clearly highly sources
and methods that were used for data collection. Objective was available since ethical
concerns and gaps were highlighted. Currency is available since the study was conducted in
2014.
Source 2
Name: Leonardi, P. M. (2014). Social media, knowledge sharing, and innovation: Toward a
theory of communication visibility. Information systems research, 25(4), 796-816.
Type: Journal article
Summary
In this source, the researchers conducted a study to determine how communication visibility
can be achieved through social media which facilitates knowledge sharing and innovation.
This study collected data through interviews from employees and companies that use social
media sites in the workplace (Leonardi, 2014). It concluded that if social media sites are used
correctly, they can ensure knowledge sharing and promote innovation in the workplace.
Reliability test
The authority is present because the researcher is a professor in the University of California.
The audience was companies that foster innovation and promote knowledge sharing through
social media. Transparency was evident all data collection methods and interviews were
clearly highlighted by the researcher. Objective was available because confidentiality was
ensured and gaps in the research are identified. Currency is available since the study was
conducted in 2014.
Source 3
Name: Miller-Merrell, J. (2013). The Power of Social Media for Workplace Communication
& Distribution. Retrieved from https://workology.com/social-media-enterprise-
communciation/
Type: Website

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Summary
In this article, Miller-Merrell (2013) provided that social media is an effective tool for
communication in the workplace which contributes in research, personal development,
employee recognition, engagement, social learning and collaboration. It was also highlighted
in this study that it can used for recruitment and selection by facilitating communication
between job candidates and the human resource managers. These sites can be used for
employment brand and monitoring of employees.
Reliability test
The authority is not evidence because the author did not have experience and a proper
research was not conducted. The audience include people who are looking for online websites
to understand the benefits of social media in businesses. Transparency was not evident since
data collection methods are not identified. Objective was not available because the author
works on behalf of the website to write articles. Currency is limited since the article was
written in 2013.
Source 4
Name: Taurasi, L. (2015). 7 Ways to Use Social Media for Employee Communications.
Retrieved from https://workplace.care.com/7-ways-to-use-social-media-for-employee-
communications
Type: Website/Blog
Summary
In this article, seven methods are identified by the author to use social media sites for
business communication. These methods include the use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
YouTube, Blogs and others (Taurasi, 2015). They can be used for communicate with
employees or customers to achieve desired goals.
Reliability Test
Authority is not present since the author is online blogger. Audience is people and small
businesses looking for ways to use social media in workplace. Transparency was present
since different methods were identified. Objectivity was evidence since expert cited examples

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to highlight benefits of different methods. Lastly, currency is present because it was written
in 2015.
Conclusion
Based on the above observations, it can be concluded that there are both scholarly and non-
academic sources which supports the claim that social media can be used by companies in
order to improve their business communication operations. These tools can also be used by
Woolworths in order to make sure that the organisation is able to improve internal
communication among its employees and senior level executives to generate a competitive
advantage in the market.
Recommendations
Following recommendations can assist Woolworths in effective use social media platforms in
the workplace for communication purposes.
 It should strictly ban the use of social media sites by employees for personal purposes.
 It should monitor the actions of their employees on these platforms and they should be
encouraged to take participations in group discussions.

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References
Cardon, P. W., & Marshall, B. (2015). The hype and reality of social media use for work
collaboration and team communication. International Journal of Business
Communication, 52(3), 273-293.
Leonardi, P. M. (2014). Social media, knowledge sharing, and innovation: Toward a theory
of communication visibility. Information systems research, 25(4), 796-816.
Miller-Merrell, J. (2013). The Power of Social Media for Workplace Communication &
Distribution. Retrieved from https://workology.com/social-media-enterprise-
communciation/
Taurasi, L. (2015). 7 Ways to Use Social Media for Employee Communications. Retrieved
from https://workplace.care.com/7-ways-to-use-social-media-for-employee-
communications