BUSN20016: Telstra Case Study - Social Media and Customer Engagement

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BUSN20016 RESEARCH IN BUSINESS ASSESSMENT 3
Project Topic: “Impact of social media on Customers: A case study of
Telstra”
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Contents
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................3
2. Problem Statement..............................................................................................................4
3. Aims and Research Questions............................................................................................5
4. Justification and Potential Output of the Research.............................................................5
5. Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis Development......................................................5
5.1. Overview of Social Media and Importance.................................................................5
5.2. Impact on Business Performance and Profitability.....................................................6
5.3. Downsides of Social Media.........................................................................................7
6. Methodology.......................................................................................................................7
6.1. Research Approach and Sources of Data....................................................................7
6.2. Proposed Data Collection and Analysis Techniques...................................................8
6.3. The organisation of Study...........................................................................................9
6.4. Budget, Project Activities, and Gantt chart.................................................................9
7. Conclusion........................................................................................................................12
8. References.........................................................................................................................12
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1. Introduction
In today’s day and age, social media has influenced each and every business even the
traditional ones. Telecommunication companies are greatly impacted by this unique
approach. Companies can carry out their promotional campaigns, educate their users, and a
lot more things. This has increased communication between communities and corporate
entities. However, this has many downsides too. This project report discusses the impact of
social media on a business entity in the context of Telstra. It is one of the leading
telecommunication industries in Australia with over 4.9 million users. The company is
making use of social media in numerous ways. The following report is a business research
proposal that comprises the problem statement, research aim, and objectives. In addition to
this, the research hypothesis and methodology is elaborated thoroughly in the report.
Moreover, the research timeline in a Gantt chart and research budget is also provided before
ending the research.
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2. Problem Statement
Social media is an effective tool for the business world. Organisations are formulating their
competitive strategies by making use of social media and other related platforms. The
technology has been great for the business entities in gaining a competitive edge over their
competitors. However, technology has positive as well as negative sides. On one hand, it has
reduced the gulf between the company and local communities. Various policies have been
formulated by the company to keep control over the use of social media. It has provided a
great power to the customers to criticise and appreciate the service of the telecommunication
companies. This could be positive and negative as well from the perspective of the company.
Telstra is widely using social media for motivating its employees, team, and addressing the
problems faced by customers in all parts of Australia. In addition to this, the company runs a
marketing campaign regularly on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for community
awareness and evaluating consumer satisfaction.
The social media has additionally expanded the issues of the organization as it has enhanced
the load on the sales and marketing team of the organization. The social media has intensified
the powers within the hands of the customers (Erdoğmuş and Cicek, 2013). The negative
effects likewise include deluding and negative reviews via social media platform, which
influences the organization's altruism. Telstra is one of the main organizations which gives
the telecom services, such as media transmission, markets voice, and web access, portable
and pays TV and numerous different services (Bird, et. al., 2012). The social media
marketing campaigns of the organization have been started to enhance the web-based social
networking promoting and network cooperation (Ngai, 2015). Telstra has likewise used them
for workers' inspiration and development. Telstra has assessed the web-based social media
normally to expand consumer loyalty and collaboration. The customers with the assistance of
the social media presently impart their inputs and proposal straightforwardly to the
organization. The intensity of the client request and surveys influence the organization
notoriety in the market.
There is very limited research that critically evaluates the consequences of using social media
in business, especially in the field of telecommunication. Hence, the following research will
try to determine the positive and negative aspects of using social media platforms in the
business thoroughly.
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3. Aims and Research Questions
The aim of carrying out this research is to determine the impact of using social media
platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and others in the business by
Telstra.
The Research Questions:-
RQ1: Does implementing social media impact the profitability of Telstra?
RQ2: Will the impacts vary from one company to other that use social media?
RQ3: Does the company making efforts to lower down the negative impacts of social media?
4. Justification and Potential Output of the Research
Based on the research analysis, it can be seen that various researchers have only focused on
the broader impacts of social media, such as community awareness and customer satisfaction.
Only two or three researchers have talked about employee motivation, business profitability,
and reducing the negative impacts of social media. This creates a gap in the literature
available on the topic. There is a myth among the general public that using social media is
always profitable for the company. However, some research works have proved that impacts
vary from company to company and area of doing business. A few literary works have
considered the telecommunication industry but none of them talked about profitability.
Hence, the research will be useful in evaluating that aspect of social media in business. All
the research questions mentioned above will be answered by making use of data and
information gathered and the same will be analysed for the purpose of this research. The
research will be beneficial for the telecommunication companies and other related business
organisation.
5. Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis Development
5.1. Overview of Social Media and Importance
The popularity of social media is increasing day by day and it is enabling thousands of
customers, internet-users, and other associated parties to share their views, information, and
media. These apps and platforms are serving the purpose of building social bonds on the
internet (Bird, et.al, 2012). Social media is becoming a new mode of communication and
coordination tools. Various social media websites, namely Facebook, YouTube, Instagram,
and Twitter are offering a wide range of services to businesses and their customers by
connecting them through their channel of communication. This has benefited both the parties
in many ways. There are many forms of social media, namely blogs, wikis, micro-blog,
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widgets, podcasts, video-sharing sites, and much more (Ngai, 2015). Social media is being
used by the users to share their experience with a product and give reviews for the same. The
company can showcase their products, create a positive brand image by approaching the
wider consumer market, and address the queries of customer online. By regularly keeping the
details updated about the product and the company. This can help in changing the perspective
of the company in the mind of the customers.
According to Ellison & Boyd (2013), social media gives the company a wider exposure in the
global market. Any company which is planning to tap in the international market should
consider social media as one of the marketing tools in order to gain a competitive edge in the
market. Huang, et.al. (2015) highlight that social media could be used for the company to
interact with the customers. In addition to this, sales can be doubled or tripled by marketing
on social media. Talking about the use of social media in the telecom industry, Ellison &
Boyd (2013) determined that social media has helped the telecom companies gaining market
share. The research concluded that social media has a huge potential to improve the position
of the company. However, the research also stated the challenges related to the social media
in business. The first and foremost is the qualities of the reviews and messages posted by the
community affects the brand image of the company. This might result in the failure of the
overall campaign of the company (Capriotti, 2012).
5.2. Impact on Business Performance and Profitability
Various researchers have According to Erdoğmuş & Cicek (2012), there are numerous
advantages of using social media in the business. The first and foremost is enhanced
customer insights. The business entity can get a better understanding of their customers as
their demands and queries are answered and addressed by the company. Social media
facilitates a better understanding of customers’ opinion. In addition to this, by making use of
social media, a company can address and issues faced by the customers. According to Forbes,
nearly 70% of the customers who receive a quick response from the company are likely to
remain with the company and recommend it to others. Cost efficiency is another aspect that
social media brings to the company (Bird, et.al, 2012). When the company has a budget
constraint for its marketing, nothing can be better than social media. It has a large target
market and better reach than any other marketing media. It is cheaper than the other
traditional marketing methods. Hence, it makes marketing cost-effective for companies.
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The most important feature of using social media is that it connects the company to the
customer and their changing preference and lifestyle. Telstra can adapt to their changing
demands and can be able to attend the dynamic interests. In addition to this, they can innovate
on their marketing concept in accordance with the campaign accordingly (Ellison & Boyd,
2013). Establishing brand awareness and increasing sales are the two crucial aspects of
business companies are expecting from social media. It is very easy to create brand
awareness in the local and international market by using Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
The social media companies have designed these platforms to be used for branding by
corporate businesses.
According to Macarthy (2018), social media has revolutionised the people connect with the
business. Traditional ways of marketing comprise TV, radio, print ads, and other. All these
approaches are expensive and obsolete. Using social media, companies can increase their
sales tremendously. Organisations can achieve specific objectives by using social media as a
marketing tool.
5.3. Downsides of Social Media
There are many researchers who criticise social media and implementing it in the business.
According to Erdoğmuş & Cicek (2012), it is very difficult for the company to measure the
return on investment. However, the company needs to put its large amount of resources in
calculating it. This makes social media an expensive method. Huang, et.al. (2015) highlighted
that the company is represented by the employees handling the social media account of the
company. Any mistake committed by the employee can cause severe damage to the
company’s image. This might cost a fortune to the company. Social media usually has control
issues. Organisations need to formulate policies and take necessary measures for the same.
This is a very concerning issue as again the image of the company is at stake. Hence, a
stringent framework is a must in the following case. Ngai (2015) discussed that social media
affects the sales of the company in a negative way. It has been seen that negative reviews of a
product and service shared by the existing users might affect the perception of potential or
target users. It is required from the companies to address those negative reviews as soon as
possible. Otherwise, the company will have to suffer a lot. Social media pages require regular
updates in order to have a better impact on the target. If this does not happen, then the
company will have to bear high loss (Macarthy, 2018).
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6. Methodology
6.1. Research Approach and Sources of Data
This business research makes use of both numerical and conceptual data. Hence, there is a
strong need for carrying out the data collection by making use of mixed methodology. This
way the investigator can conduct data collection by making use of qualitative and quantitative
research method. The data would be collected from primary and secondary sources as the
scope of the research demands their use. The literature review and other business report
analysis provide the secondary data. The research is more dependent on the research from
kinds of literature and the gap identified in them. Apart from this, the primary data will be
collected by making use of surveys and questionnaires. The data collected will be of both
types i.e., qualitative and quantitative. Therefore, the separate sample size and sampling
population will be composed in accordance with the need of the research work (Johnson &
Turner, 2013). The data collected consists of people’s preference among various social media
platform, consumers of the Telstra, employees, and senior management. This would help in a
better understanding of the use of social media and the influence it has on the organisation
and its consumers (Johnson & Turnerm, 2013). For this report, the proposed method for
collecting data and analysis will be done properly.
6.2. Proposed Data Collection and Analysis Techniques
Population
For the following business research, the target population comprises the employees working
in the Telstra, investors, consumers and distributors, government agents, senior management,
etc. Each of them might be influenced differently by the use of social media platform by the
company. Therefore, it is important to consider them for the study.
Sampling
The qualitative and quantitative methods are being used for the research. Hence, the sampling
for each method might be different. For the former approach, the sample size will be small in
comparison to the latter. The sample size of qualitative approach comprises only 8-10
individuals for the accuracy in the data collected. In addition to this, face-to-face interview
technique will be used to gather useful information and the systematic sampling technique
will be implemented in this case. On the other hand, for quantitative research method requires
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a large sample size. Hence, the minimum sample size for this research approach is 50 and
individuals will be selected by a random or probability sampling method.
Variable and Analysis
The goals of this research works are to elucidate the influence of social media on the business
profitability and performance. From the following research, a positive impact on the business
is expected. Hence, the autonomous variable is the social media in the research and the reliant
variable is net profit or Return on Investment. As already discussed, social media helps in
improving employee’s satisfaction and motivation and profitability of the company. Hence,
qualitative research will try to determine the motivation and satisfaction among the
employees and quantitative research will try to determine the quantitative aspects like ROI,
profits, and some more (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2014). The quantitative data will be
analysed by making use of MS Excel and R-Commander that would help in understanding
and making an inference from the data collected. Various analysis techniques, such as
regression analysis, statistical analysis, etc., can also be used if needed for making the
analysis process easier.
6.3. Organisation of Study
It is important to note here that the whole research will be documented as a report that will
comprise quite a few chapters. The whole organisation of the report has been provided below
in a well-structured and systematic form:-
 In chapter one, the research proposal will be provided.
 In chapter two, the overview of Telstra and its modus operandi will be elaborated.
 Chapter three comprises the detailed research methodology along with a literature review,
data collection method, sampling method, indicators, variables, and data analysis
techniques.
 Chapter four contains whole research outcomes and analysis
 Chapter five will provide the inferences and summary of the proposed research and make
the final outcome of the research i.e., using social media platform has a positive or
negative influence on the performance and profitability of Telstra.
6.4. Budget, Project Activities, and Gantt chart
Looking into the project scope and resources it requires, the budget for the following research
is $4500 so to complete the research in the stipulated time frame as provided in the timeline.
The reason for this specified amount is that the literature review requires the use of the
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Internet to access the online resources, online journal, use of e-books, journal articles, and
some printed books. Some of them are not free and hence, they need to be purchased. For this
purpose, $1200 have been allocated from the budget. The collection of secondary data also
requires data purchase from government and private agencies. Therefore, $2000 has been
allocated for this part of the data collection. The data analysis requires the use of some
software that is not freely available. So $1000 has been allotted to software licence purchase.
In addition to this, $300 is for miscellaneous expenses that could take place during the
research.
Particulars Amount
Literature Review $1200
Primary and Secondary Data Collection $2000
Data Analysis $1000
Miscellaneous $300
Total $4500
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Timeline
Duration
(days)
Start Finish Predecessor
1 Topic selection,
aim, objective
7 days 7 Dec 2018 13 Dec 2018 -
2 Literature Review 7 Days 14 Dec 2018 20 Dec 2018 1
3 Research
Methodology
3 Days 21 Dec 2018 23 Dec 2018 2
4 Gathering
Secondary Data
14 Days 24 Dec 2018 6 Jan 2019 3
5 Data Analytics 7 Days 7 Jan 2019 13 Jan 2019 4
6 Inferences 7 days 14 Jan 2019 20 Jan 2019 5
7 Recommendation
& Conclusion
7 Days 21 Jan 2019 27 Jan 2019 6
8 Report writing
(Draft)
4 Days 28 Jan 2019 31 Jan 2019 7
9 Final Report 5 Days 1 Feb 2019 5 Feb 2019 8
10 Final Submission 1 Day 5 Feb 2019 6 Feb 2019 9
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Gantt chart
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