Enhancing Current Feedback Processes Through Social Media
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Enhancing Current Feedback Processes through Social Media Monitoring An exploratory study of Social Media and Social Media monitoring practices within an MNC looking to combine new practices with traditional customer-centric processes. Author(s): Fredrik Bergstrand, Tutor: Professor Hans Jansson Growth Through Innovation and International Marketing Subject: Business Administration Emily A. Finlaw, Level and semester: Master's level, Spring 2011 Growth Through Innovation and International Marketing Growth Through Innovation and International Marketing Master Thesis, 2011 ENHANCING CURRENT FEEDBACK PROCESSES THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING An exploratory study of Social Media and Social Media monitoring practices within an MNC looking to combine new practices with traditional customer- centric processes. Fredrik Bergstrand & Emily A. Finlaw “Today, everything is about Social Media” – Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein “Just as the eyes are the windows to the soul, business intelligence is a window to the dynamics of a business” – Cindi Howson “[Social Media monitoring] is not a car - but it is a vehicle for acquiring and sharing knowledge” – definition from Lexalytics, sited from Mike Marshall “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates “Knowledge is not good if you don´t apply it” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Acknowledgements It is our pleasure to thank all those who made contributions to this thesis over the past few months and throughout this learning journey. We would first like to thank Volvo Construction Equipment Region International for making this thesis possible. Thank you to Lars-Gunnar Larsson and Hanna Bragberg for creating a cutting-edge topic which has manifested into the inspiration for this thesis. Additionally, we would like to give a special thanks to Hanna Bragberg for acting as our company representative throughout this thesis. Without her extensive correspondence and inside intelligence, this thesis would not have been possible. We would also like to thank all those who made our empirical studies credible. This thesis would not have been complete without the cooperation from Social Media monitoring services, Volvo Construction Equipment Region International employees and industry experts. We would like to extend our deepest and sincere thanks to our supervisor, Professor Hans Jansson. It has been an honor to work with him and learn from his insight throughout this challenging assignment. His encouragement and constructive criticism have made this thesis what it currently is today. Finally, we would like to show our gratitude to our friends and families for their endless support during this experience. _______________ ________________ Fredrik Bergstrand Emily A. Finlaw Abstract This thesis provides an understanding of Social Media monitoring as a business intelligence system and how a multinational corporation can use these processes to complement existing traditional feedback processes. The purpose of this thesis is to provide the reader with a literature review of Social Media and Social Media monitoring, and an exploratory study of Social Media monitoring practices within a multinational corporation looking to integrate these systems. The chosen research strategy is a case study with single-case embedded analysis. The case company used for this practice is Volvo Construction Equipment Region International with headquarters in Eskilstuna, Sweden. In order to receive a more in-depth understanding from our respondents, the qualitative method was selected. The theoretical framework chapter discusses five major research areas including Customer Relationship Management, Social Media and Social Media monitoring, Intelligence, knowledge management and organizational learning. The empirical evidence chapter has been divided into two sections: internal findings and external findings. The internal findings focus on Volvo Construction Equipment Region International and the company‟s current feedback process. The external findings focus on the comparison between Social Media monitoring companies. The analysis links together the internal and external findings from the empirical section and also draws references to the theoretical framework. The conclusion of this thesis states how a multinational corporation can add value to current feedback processes through the use of Social Media monitoring. This is reached through addressing the purpose of this thesis and answering the main research question and the sub research questions. Social Media monitoring can add value to current feedback processes through reducing time, fostering customer relationships, increasing flexibility, and receiving feedback from non-customers. Social Media monitoring when used effectively, can act as a complement to traditional customer feedback collection methods. Recommendations are made specifically for Volvo Construction Equipment Region International and are based upon an entry strategy with Social Media monitoring. Since this thesis was written within a limited time period, further research areas are presented at the end of the work. Keywords: Social Media, Social Media monitoring, Customer Relationship Management, Intelligence, Knowledge Management, Data, Information, Knowledge, Organizational Learning Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. v List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................ vi 1.0 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem Discussion .......................................................................................................... 1 1.3 The Case Company .......................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Research Background ....................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Research Problem ............................................................................................................. 5 1.6 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 6 1.7 Purpose ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.8 Delimitations .................................................................................................................... 7 1.9 Outline .............................................................................................................................. 8 2.0 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Research Strategy ........................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Scientific Approach ........................................................................................................ 12 2.3 Research Method ............................................................................................................ 13 2.4 Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 14 2.5 Sample Selection ............................................................................................................ 15 2.5.1 Interviews ................................................................................................................ 16 2.6 Quality of Research Designs .......................................................................................... 17 2.6.1 Internal Validity ....................................................................................................... 18 2.6.2 External Validity...................................................................................................... 18 2.6.3 Reliability ................................................................................................................ 19 2.7 Selection of Social Media .............................................................................................. 20 2.8 Selection of Social Media Monitoring Companies ........................................................ 20 2.9 Knowledge Process ........................................................................................................ 21 2.10 Method Criticism.......................................................................................................... 22 3.0 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................................... 25 3.1 Customer Relationship Management ............................................................................. 25 3.1.1 Advantages of CRM ................................................................................................ 27 3.1.2 Disadvantages of CRM ............................................................................................ 28 3.2 Social Media and Social