Interpersonal & E communications

Question: Write about theInterpersonal E communications. Answer: Introduction Business communication includes all types of communication that exists within an organisation and between the organisation and all its stakeholders(Newman, 2014). In the recent years there have been many changes in information and telecommunication technology (ICT) which have affected and changed business communication(Golbeck, 2015). Social media is a tool of ICT which provides a platform for people to interact and generate content (Aral, et al., 2013). Social media has allowed a new method of marketing communication for organisations where they can interact more frequently and freely with the customer (Funk, 2014). Therefore, it is important to assess the impact of social media on business communication. Samsung Electronics has been chosen as a case to understand importance of social media for business. The Impact of Social Media on Contemporary Business Communication In the last 20 years modern business has become highly competitive. Customers have become more educated, brand conscious and quality conscious(Butler, 2012). In the late 21st century globalization has become very rampant due to liberalization of many economies(Butler, 2012). This has led to a mixed customer base for the organisations. This poses a challenge for the marketing communication channels used for convincing the customer(Dahlen, 2014). Telecommunication revolution has added to this challenge as now the customers have become more aware of products due to exposure to internet. Consumer can find out about the success and failures of a product sitting thousands of miles away with the click of a finger. Additionally, competition is rising due to a rising demand from growing needs, wants and aspiration of the global customer(Lambin, 2013). Therefore, to remain ahead of the competition, organisations need a connective medium with the customer to create brand loyalty and brand recognition for their products(Rasmussen, 2012). Hence, it is beneficial for organisations to use telecommunication technology to convert these challenges into business opportunities. Samsung electronics is one of the largest electronics and mobile handset manufacturing company globally(Michell, 2011), Customers of the firm are very aware of product quality and technology. Additionally, to stay ahead of its main rival Apple, the firm has to use various communication techniques(Michell, 2011). Social media offers a mass reach, low cost method to Samsung to market new products and create buzz about them. ICT has brought many changes in business communication(Morabito, 2012). Inter organizational communication and intra organizational communication has become faster. Due to electronic tools like e-mails, digital messaging services and video calling it has become easier to communicate with employees and customers(Uhl Gollenia, 2014). For example, a manager at Samsung can now communicate with his team vie email and video conferencing even if he is sitting a long distance away. Modern business has become faster due to changes communication technology. Changes in business communication allow business to maintain relationship with stakeholders like customers, suppliers and financers, without face to face meetings. This has become possible through social media, emails and video conferencing.(Pham Pham, 2014) Digital technology has reduced delays in conduct of business and enhanced greeter opportunities for business transactions(Uhl Gollenia, 2014). Therefore, changes in technology have led to faster business and reduction of delay time. Social media is a platform created via ICT and interactive features of web 2.0 which enables users to exchange views, ideas and content over the internet (Harris, 2014). This has greatly helped business organisations to generate content about their products on social media and create buzz about them. For example, Samsung launched its latest mobile phone S8 recently(Samsung, 2017). However, the product had created considerable buzz among customers before its launch because of aggressive social media marketing by Samsung(Samsung, 2017). The firm actively promoted the product on its social handle and encouraged customers to post queries and expectations from the new product. Social media is becoming very popular as a business communication tool. Chief social media platforms are blogs, forms and social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Golbeck, 2015). On these platforms, businesses can post content about their products and encourage reviews and feedback. The platforms allow business organisations to create buzz about the product, generate feedback and interact with customers. For example, Samsung has a social media handle on Twitter where customers can write their view and discuss the product quality and performance. Social media is becoming very important for business communication (Funk, 2014). Business can conduct many activities like promoting, branding and relationship management through communication via social media(Funk, 2014). Social media has increased the pace of business communication. If a business uses traditional communication methods for announcing new features in a product, change in pricing or a new product launch; it would need expensive communication methods like advertising, publicity, press release etc. Additionally, the traditional medium would take time to spread the messages around(Yeshin, 2012). On the other hand, though social media, communication of this type of business activities can be spread very fast(Morabito, 2012). Additionally, social media platforms are inexpensive methods. These platforms have very less cost due to free platforms like Facebook and Twitted(Lambin, 2013). Additionally, as the younger generation is very internet savvy, social media also has a very big reach which goes beyond geographical boundaries(Golbeck, 2015). Therefore, changes in modern technology have allowed businesses to use faster and cost effective modes of business communication. Samsung has to spend millions of Dollars on advertising and promotion of newly launched mobile phones each year(Michell, 2011). It also has to do massive publicity and public relations activities to generate peoples interest in the new products. However, through social media this can be done very cost effectively(Rasmussen, 2012). Especially prelaunch buzz and interest generation is very effective via social media. Social media directly involves customers in the prelaunch activities and allows firms to generate interest by talking about the product specifications(Funk, 2014). Customer queries and doubts are also solved via the social media network and various other aspects of the product can also be talked about(Golbeck, 2015). Publicity and public relations can never give this type of mass interest generation(Harris, 2014). Additionally, through social media the firm can judge interest level, attention level and retention level of the product through customer interaction. More and more people are today using social media and other web technologies due to their easy access and mass reach(Newman, 2014). Firms can use sites like YouTube and Instagram to post videos and photos of their products in order to communicate the product to the customers. Customers can also see demonstration videos of the product via these social media sites. Samsung uses these sites to demonstrate its products(Samsung, 2017). For example, one can find reviews of newly launched S8 mobile phone on YouTube. Customers can also find comparison of S8 with pervious products like S7 and comparison with competitor products like Apple IPhone 7. Therefore, social media provides a very potent tool to organisations to market their products and communicate them to the customers. Social media also helps in improved visibility of the firm. This helps in improvement of brand equity (Funk, 2014). As consumers can have a direct connect with the firm via social media, the brand loyalty also increases. For example, Samsung Electronics has been able to make its new S8 product visible globally via social media marketing(Samsung, 2017). This otherwise would have taken many weeks of active publicity and advertising. Therefore, business communication has become faster, easier and more interactive due to social media. However, every story has a hind side. Social media has revolutionised business communication. However, there are certain disadvantages which come along with the usage of social media as a tool of business communication(Harris, 2014). Social media gives speed to business. Therefore, any negative viewpoint can lead to negative publicity which can travel very fast. Social media can cause downfall of a brand or a product in a few hours due to negative reviews and remarks. A product failure used to go unnoticed in older day but now people post about it on social media which leads to mass awareness of the failure. This can have a cumulative effect and lead to immense losses in sales and profit (Singh, 2016). Therefore, firms need to be aware about their brand image and take corrective actions immediately if any negative publicity is taking place. Samsung recently faced such negative publicity with the failure of its Note 7 mobile handset. The product had certain battery issues which might have gone unnoticed in the olden days. But with social media the news about the faulty product spread like wild fire and the firm had to withdraw the product from the market. Samsung also had to tender a public apology(Shaw, 2017). Therefore, social media is a very potent business communication tool and can help in building a positive brand image and customer relationship. However, a firm needs to be careful about negative publicity and has to take care of customer reviews and publicity on social media platforms. Conclusion The face of business communication has changed with the advent of new age technologies like social media. Firms can indulge in faster and cheaper communication with the customer. Additionally, social media allows for a platform to create mass brand appeal for the product. 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