Corporate Reputation Risk in Relation to the Social Media Landscape
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CORPORATE REPUTATION RISK IN RELATION TO THE SOCIAL MEDIA LANDSCAPE by ANNė LEONARD Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree PhD in Communication Management in the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA PROMOTER: PROF RS RENSBURG MARCH 2018 Dedicated to my parents i Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . All glory to Jesus Christ “I know Who goes before me I know Who stands behind The God of angel armies is always by my side The One who reigns forever He is a friend of mine” Chris Tomlin, “Whom shall I fear” . Professor Ronél Rensburg (promoter) Thank you for your wisdom, patience and encouragement. Your career personifies true scholarship - something most of us can only admire. Research participants All organisations and individuals who participated in the study. Transcriptions Samantha Wilson and Venetia Amato, thank you for your professional assistance with a number of transcriptions. Technical editing Samantha Rabie, thank you for patience in helping me put everything into one document and keeping calm when technology worked against us. ii Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape . Teachers, mentors, colleagues and students along the way “A great teacher has little external history to record. His life goes over into other lives. These men are pillars in the intimate structure of our schools. They are more essential than its stones or beams. And they will continue to be a kindling force and a revealing power in our lives.” From the film “The Emperor’s Club” A number of people who I had the privilege of meeting certainly fit the aforementioned description. Their contributions in terms of wisdom and subject expertise have shaped my thinking. Colleagues in the Communication Management Division also offered incredible support and scholarly leadership. I appreciate all your messages on both the “good” and “tough” days of this project. Many students have also been a great source of inspiration over many years. They have taught me so much and continue to set a wonderful example through their optimism and curiosity. My family My parents, who have been a source of incredible support. I am eternally grateful for the privilege to still have your guiding presence in my life. My brothers and sister-in-law: Your support and patience meant a lot. I hope this project may inspire my young nieces to love learning and pursuing all their dreams. The support of every other family member and friend also deserves appreciation. It seems so appropriate that most of you sent regular messages via social media. I really look forward to spending time with everybody. iii Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape DECLARATION I hereby declare that this doctoral thesis, which I hereby submit for the degree Ph.D. (Communication Management) at the University of Pretoria, is my own work and had not previously been submitted by me for a degree at another university. ___________ Anné Leonard March 2018 iv Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE Financial assistance provided by the University of Pretoria in the form of a postgraduate bursary and Vice-Chancellor’s grant is hereby acknowledged. Opinions or conclusions that have been expressed in this thesis are those of the researcher and do not represent the views, opinions or conclusions of the University of Pretoria. v Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape ABSTRACT CORPORATE REPUTATION RISK IN RELATION TO THE SOCIAL MEDIA LANDSCAPE By ANNé LEONARD PROMOTER: Prof RS Rensburg DEPARTMENT: Communication Management Division DEGREE: Ph.D. (Communication Management) Organisations are vulnerable in terms of the potential reputation damage social media can cause. Social media provide a voice to all, whether it be based on fact or fiction. A low tolerance for corporate wrongdoing (however minor), deep- rooted anti-corporate sentiments and the demand for compliance with the triple context philosophy fuel social media conversations about brands. Potentially damaging reputation incidents often grow to full-blown crises due to the intensity, reach and immediacy of social media. Thus the ultimate question organisations face is how they should manage this specific management dilemma. This study followed the interpretive qualitative approach in a comparative case study. Four South African organisations from the tertiary (services) sector participated in the study. Three executives in each organisation (communication/marketing, risk management and social media specialists) participated in interviews. A number of secondary sources (organisational and archival documents) were also included in each case study. The empirical results and literature suggest that organisations need a multi-pronged approach to navigate this management dilemma. vi Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape The first leg is Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), which should be grounded in corporate strategy and encompass the entire organisation. The interconnectedness of risks and organisational dynamics confirm that linear thinking would not address problems adequately. Establishing a risk culture in organisations is pivotal and would enable the implementation of ERM. All employees, not just the board or executive managers, ought to feel compelled to report and manage risks according to specific policies and procedures. They need to understand their potential contribution to shielding their organisation from damaging factors. The second leg is purposeful corporate reputation management. This approach is deliberate and ought to guide the corporate communication strategy. While a chief executive officer or board carry the ultimate symbolic responsibility for corporate reputation, all employees ought to understand their roles in a reputation culture, with the emphasis on avoiding reputation damage. Training employees regarding corporate reputation and appropriate social media behaviour are valued within most organisations. The final leg pertains to understanding crisis management in the broadest sense and social media crises in particular. Preventing issues from escalating into crises is the ideal. Managing an organisation’s reactions to such incidents One participating organisation illustrated the need for carefully weighed responses when it incurred a boycott campaign when a specific population segment. This thesis further considers the notion of a management framework to deal with reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape. Organisations agree that the fluidity of social media and society make such a notion futile. However, they agree on a number of key principles such as executive level knowledge of and involvement, well-established response procedures and adequately equipped teams of specialists. vii Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape The original contribution of this thesis lie in both the propositions in relation to each of the objectives and the suggested framework for the management of corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape. viii Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape Table of contents Chapter 1 Background and orientation 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 THE COMPLEXITY OF THE RESEARCH QUESTION 2 1.2.1 A visual summary of the research phenomenon 2 1.2.2 The complexity of Enterprise Risk Management 5 1.2.3 The complexity of corporate reputation management and corporate reputation risk 7 1.2.4 The complexity of social media crisis management 11 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 15 1.3 GOAL AND OBJECTIVES 16 1.4 SYNOPSIS OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN 16 1.5 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY 17 1.6 DELIMITATION OF STUDY 19 1.7 DEMARCATION OF CHAPTERS 19 viii Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape Table of contents Chapter 2 Meta-theoretical and conceptual position 2.1 INTRODUCTION 23 2.2 META-THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 23 2.2.1 Meta-theoretical assumptions 24 2.2.1.1 Ontological position 25 2.2.1.2 Epistemological position 26 2.2.1.3 Objectivity-subjectivity position 26 2.2.1.4 Axiological position 28 2.2.1.5 Typological classification 28 2.2.2 Worldview 29 2.2.3 Paradigms 30 2.2.3.1 Affirmative postmodernism 31 2.2.3.2 Reflective paradigm 35 2.2.4 Grand theory 37 2.2.5 Interdisciplinary focus 39 2.2.6 Specific theories 40 2.2.7 Specific models 41 2.2.8 Key concept 41 2.3 CONCLUSION 43 ix Corporate reputation risk in relation to the social media landscape Table of contents Chapter 3 Approaches to Enterprise Risk Management 3.1 INTRODUCTION 44 3.2 A SNAPSHOT OF THE CURRENT GLOBAL RISK ENVIRONMENT 45 3.2.1 Dynamics of the global risk arena 45 3.2.2 Economic risks as a focus area 49 3.2.3 Technological risks as a focus area 52 3.3 KEY COMPLEXITIES OF THE ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT LANDSCAPE 56 3.3.1 The concept of risk 56 3.3.2 A brief history of risk management 57 3.3.3 Defining Enterprise Risk Management 60 3.3.4 Benefits of Enterprise Risk Management 61 3.3.5 The future of Enterprise Risk Management 63 3.4 KEY DIMENSIONS OF IMPLEMENTING ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT 64 3.4.1 A template for Enterprise Risk Management 64 3.4.2 Levels of risk 67 3.4.3 Risk assessment 68 3.4.4 Communication 69 3.4.5 Organisational role players and responsibilities 70 3.5 PERTINENT FRAMEWORKS/MODELS FOR ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT 76 3.5.1 Burnaby and Hass (2009) 76 3.5.2 Committee of Sponsoring Organisations