Monday, January 27, 2020

Importance of Innovation and Change Within an Organization

Importance of Innovation and Change Within an Organization In todays constantly changing world, change and innovation play an extremely important role within any organization. New technologies like faster software and hardware and improved manufacturing systems are increasing production and changing the way we do business across the globe. Newly advancing markets such as China and India are becoming more and more capitalistic, opening the door for corporations to come and do business. There are multiple elements when dealing with innovation and change within an organization. The first element is how an organization can change successfully which consists of the steps that are needed and the process that makes change happen. The next element is technological change, which is how organizations adapt and implement new technology. From new technology, organizations come up with our next element, new products and services. As these organizations become larger and larger there is the need for strategy and structure change as well as cultural change s. These two elements often go hand in hand and can be some of the most difficult to change. There are five key factors when looking at what is necessary for successful change. The first is ideas. In order to bring about change you need to have a new idea or thought. Creativity, innovation and outside-the-box thinking play a huge role here. Often times some of the best ideas can come from the least likely places. A study conducted by Daniel Tzabbar and his team, found that high levels of collaboration promotes innovation, as it encourages a free flow of ideas among people who must work together to discover new solutions to problems. (Tzabbar 17) With this being said, many new ideas come from the collaborations of groups and individuals within an organization. The second factor is need. There must be a perceived need for change. Constantly changing structures, strategies, or culture can actually be a bad thing if overused. If a specific change is going to take place, there needs to be an identifiable reason in order to make that specific change necessary. On the other hand, an organization that fails to realize the need for change is doomed for failure. It is the responsibility of upper management to be responsive and aware of when change is needed but not so sensitive that change becomes excessive. An article entitled Change for Changes Sake offers and interesting view on the topic of knowing when to change. According to the article, an organization periodically needs to shake itself up regardless of the external environment. The authors argue that a few things happen when an organization does not change enough. First, companies that are organized around a single criterion such as function, product, or market, tend to only communicate with themselves and not with the other units thus making them slow to adapt to changes in the environment. Next organizations are likely to get entrenched in a routine way of thinking, failing to realize new opportunities and the possibility of threats. Finally, organizations become extremely inefficient at allocating resources. In order to combat these factors, organizations should change structures every so often to keep itself ready to react quickly to its environment. (Vermeulen et. al. 70-76) The third factor is adoption. After the new ideas have been thought of on how to change and there is a perceived need for that change, a new idea is chosen. Now that an idea has been chosen it is time to put that idea into practice. This brings us to our next factor, implementation. According to Scott Sonenshein of Rice University Implementing strategic change is one of the most important undertakings of an organization. Successful implementation of strategic change can reinvigorate a business, but failure can lead to catastrophic consequences. (Sonenshein 477). Management must have a rock solid plan on how they want to implement change. A project management approach is the most successful approach when implementing such change, with the definition of clear success measures being important. (Oakland, Tanner 2) The final factor is resources. Through human energy and activity the idea is implemented and kept alive. People are the most important resource and the essential contributors to successful change, without them, change cannot happen. It is important that your employees are thoroughly trained and understand what is being changed and why. Empowering them with this knowledge will only enhance and increase the possibility of successful implementation of the changes set forth. Within an organization there is always the need for developing, acquiring, and adopting new technology. New technologies are always coming about and have a tremendous impact on organizations. The main approach to technological change is the ambidextrous approach. This combines both the organic and mechanistic structures. Under the ambidextrous approach there are numerous options of how to bring about new technology. Switching structures brings people from different areas of an organization together to share ideas and technology with each other. Creative departments consist of a research and development department. The sole duty of this department is to come up with new technology and test new technologies to ensure they will be useful for the organization. Another popular option is the use of venture teams. Venture teams are essentially their own organization within an organization. They often have their own separate location and structure in order to develop new technologies. In addition to RD and venture teams, another way to increase technological knowledge and bring about technology change is to acquire technology from external sources. Procter Gamble provides an excellent example of interorganizational technology transfer. Roughly half of new product development projects involve key ideas from external sources. Procter Gamble also uses an active licensing strategy of their own technological advances to generate millions in annual licensing revenue. Pharmaceuticals are notorious for using this type of strategy to bring about technological change within their organizations. (Lichtenthaler 2) Despite the great amount of success achieved by these firms, most organizations are still timid about sharing their own technological advances. They fear that by doing so, it will allow their competitors access to their own competitive advantage. While this may be true in some instances, it appears that interorganizational technology transfer can actually benefit organizations and ultimately consumers. While there are certain exceptions, new products and services are usually the direct result of new technology and coming up with new products and services is vital for success in todays markets. As markets evolve so should your products or services. The question of how to create and present new products now arises. Michelle Karas offers 11 steps that help organizations answer this complex and challenging question. Step one is to analyze the situation. Evaluate your environment and current product position and then identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The next step is to explore and research product needs. Brainstorm ideas, have an open mind and write down all ideas. Figure out what your customers needs are and your competitors limitations. Step three is to determine usage and identify what market you want to target with your product. Step four calls for developing a prototype. This entails converting an idea into an actual product and determining the produc ts specifications, features and benefits. Step five is to determine the price based on your objectives. Testing the product or service is the next step and is absolutely crucial to its success. It is also important to ensure that all operations within your business can fully support the product. (Karas 32-34) After the product has been thoroughly tested, it is time to establish sales goals. Identify target sales goals, and whether or not these goals are realistic and obtainable. The next step involves developing a marketing plan for both internal and external markets that achieves the goals set forth earlier. Step nine is training and educatin employees. Ensure employees/salespeople understand all aspects of the product. Characteristics like price, description, how the product works, and sales goals should all be thoroughly understood. The final two steps involve actually introducing the product to the market and evaluating the results. Record how the product performs and how the customers respond. (Karas 32-34) While these steps are quite simplified, these are the basics concepts that organizations utilize, regardless of size. A great example of products that have just recently been introduced is Sonys Move and Microsofts Kinect gaming systems. Both of these systems allow users to make use of their own bodies to become more active and involved in the gaming experience, very similar to the Wii. When the Nintendo Wii debuted, it was the first gamming system of its kind to offer an interactive gaming experience. It was a tremendous success and both Sony and Microsoft realized the opportunity to have their piece of the pie too. Rather than come up with a completely new gamming system, through the use of new technology, Sony and Microsoft designed a device that would simply be used in conjunction with users Playstation 3 and X-Box consoles. As time goes by it will be interesting to see what effects theses systems have on Wii sales and whether or not they are profitable for both Sony and Microsoft. Going along with the video game theme, Sega, which offered very popular gaming consoles in the 90s failed to innovate and offer a product strong enough to compete with Sonys Playstation and Nintendos N64. The result was Sega removing itself entirely from the hardware side of gaming and focusing solely on video game software. While Sega failed in one area, they were able to make a successful change and become profitable selling software. These two examples offer evidence to the power that new products and services hold within an organization. Once again failing to change and innovate successfully will most likely spell disaster for an organization. As an organization becomes larger the need for strategy and structure change becomes apparent. Strategic change involves altering employees construction of meanings by using a discourse that sets a new direction for a firm. (Sonenshein 505). All organizations need to make changes in their strategies, structures, management processes and administrative procedures. Many organizations go about this change using a dual core approach, which is a balance between the technical side and the management side of an organization. The technical side refers to the employees who actually produce the product or service that the company offers while the management side ensures that the day to day operations of the company are being fulfilled and the performance objectives are being met. While the two sides may have very different ideas of what changes need to take place, it is imperative that both sides be on the same page and working toward the same goal. In addition to becoming larger, there are also some other reasons why organizations must change their strategies. The first reason is the persistent pressure from shareholders for greater profitability. This requires business leaders to continually update their strategy. Theses updates are necessary to remain aligned with customers changing needs and priorities, while generating the necessary profits. This demands that strategies must be executed successfully within increasingly shorter time-periods. (Franken 49-73) The second reason relates to the increased complexity of organizations. In many organizations the activities performed to create products and services cross multiple functional, organizational, and geographical boundaries. Consequently, any strategic change program is likely to affect the people, processes, structures, technologies, suppliers, and business partners that work both within and across these boundaries. Hence, strategic change programs are becoming highly complex, resulting in increased risk of failure due to oversight. (Franken 49-73) The third reason is the difficult challenge faced by managers to balance the demands of successfully executing complex change programs with the demands of managing todays business performance. In situations where management is strongly tied to reward schemes based on todays performance, it is challenging to achieve active participation for the creation of tomorrows organization. However, as a result of the relentless pressure from stakeholders for repeated performance, managers cannot afford to dedicate their time, effort and resources to one set of demands exclusively. This balance is particularly challenging during the high-risk period when a business transitions to a new strategy. (Franken 49-73) The fourth reason is the low levels of involvement of a large number of managers across all functions at an early stage of strategy execution. The mechanics of involving large numbers of people in complex discussions leads organizations to restrict involvement in the quest for urgency. Often managers see these early stages as bureaucratic, unnecessary, and delaying real action. However, such involvement is required to obtain commitment to change and for the development of effective implementation plans. The fifth reason is the difficulty of securing the required resources to execute the strategy. Often, as a result of the large number of concurrent change programs, many of the organizations resources will already be allocated. Furthermore, as such resources are limited, managers will compete for them, and, once within their control, will endeavor to own them to secure their own goals.14 (Franken 49-73) According to Paul Sabbah, president of Stamford International, new strategies should focus on innovation, productivity and risk management. Productivity can be as easy as having employees working longer hours, implementing new technologies in order to speed up product development, or simply reducing inventory and using effective communication. Firms also need to look to international expansion as another potential strategy. By doing so, they open themselves up to new markets and new customers while being exposed to new ways of doing business and new retail concepts. Business is also all about managing risk. In difficult times, effectively managing risks like political instability, currency fluctuations, transportation costs, and rising energy costs has a direct effect on an organizations ability to survive in a struggling economy. (Sabbah) The final element and the most difficult to change is a change in organizational culture. This is often the most difficult to change because you are affecting people core values and daily routines. Eric Van Der Steen has shown that organizations have a tendency, over time, to develop the same set of beliefs and values. This happens through two mechanisms. People who share the same beliefs would rather work with those who share their beliefs than someone that does not. People also share experiences, which in turn leads to a set of shared beliefs. These shared beliefs and values directly impact the core culture of an organization. (Van Der Steen 26) To help explain the difficulties of culture change, think of a factory worker who has been assembling ball bearings a specific way over the past 20 years. This worker comes in every day, goes to their station and performs their duty over and over again for the duration of their shift. They have their routine down and never deviate from the steps they take. Now imagine someone coming up to them and telling them that the routine they have done over the years is inefficient and they have a better, more efficient way of performing their duty. In addition to this, there will be new policies and procedures to follow to ensure that the changes take place. That worker is obviously going to be skeptical and very resistant to changing. They may even feel that this person has no right to come and tell them how to do their job which they have been doing for so long. This is what must be overcome when dealing with cultural change. There are a few different ways to implement cultural change and each process has its own unique advantages and disadvantages. One way is by large group intervention. This entails having everyone in the organization go through a seminar, explaining to them what changes are going to be made. While this allows everyone to hear and hopefully understand the message, there may be some specific questions about the change that go unanswered. For instance a specialized department may wonder how certain changes will be affecting their culture. It is imperative that cultural change is led from upper management. Managers need to set the standard and lead by example especially when it comes to cultural change. In support of this, Lance Ewing states that companies without cultural leadership are always going the wrong way. (Ewing 88) Changing culture within an organization is never an easy task yet it is necessary and critical to change a culture when leadership transforms. Starting cultural change is like cooking in a Crock-Pot. Adding the right ingredients and turning the heat up with the right measure of enthusiasm for positive consumer change makes everyone want what is in the cultural pot. (Ewing 88) When dealing with change in any area, there will always be barriers to overcome. Resistance to change is now seen as a natural, acceptable incident. When it occurs, resistance may cause problems within the organization. However, depending on the nature of the change, the surrounding atmosphere and how the change takes place, resistance is not always a bad thing (Dent and Galloway Goldberg 27). According to Bauer, resistance to change, like pain, can be an alarm signal and serve as a warning that something is failing in the change process. (Bauer) Klein argues that resistance is a needed factor of flourishing change and if properly managed, can provide a beneficial response to the changes taking place. (Klein) Resistance is also a resource. It can provide valuable feedback to managers if they are willing to listen. Considering resistance as failure will overlook opportunities to strengthen operational outcomes. By paying attention to this feedback, managers can see a different perspective to the change they plan on initiating. Sometimes employees resist change for no reason, but often times, the employees most resistant to change are the ones who care enough to make sure the plan succeeds. People are also very aware of the past, and thoughts of changes that have utterly failed will constantly be running through their heads. In order to convince these people it is necessary to explain to them why and how you plan to implement change. Giving them the chance to voice their own questions and concerns will only enhance your plan to change. (Ford 100-103) In conclusion, the world is constantly changing and change and innovation play an extremely important role within any organization. As an organization if you fail to change and adapt to the rest of the world and your environment the world will pass you by. There are many elements for successful change, but your people will always be the most important in order for that change to take place. New technologies are always being introduced and it is important to stay up to date and take advantage of technology that will greatly benefit your organization. As an organization it is imperative that new technology is used to constantly come up with new and innovative products and services. While this is a major undertaking for any organization it is necessary for sustainability. As new products and services are being offered and an organization grows the strategy and structure used must also change. This gives way to cultural change where there is almost always some kind of resistance. Using t hat resistance as a tool to overcoming problems is a key step in successfully implementing change. Ultimately, the whole purpose of change is to increase profitability by making changes to the strategy, structure, technology and culture of an organization. While there will always be problems and other bumps along the road it is imperative that these obstacles are overcome in order to increase the odds for success.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Social Media and Business

Business Horizons (2010) 53, 59—68 www. elsevier. com/locate/bushor Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media Andreas M. Kaplan *, Michael Haenlein ? ESCP Europe, 79 Avenue de la Republique, F-75011 Paris, France KEYWORDS Social Media; User Generated Content; Web 2. 0; Social networking sites; Virtual worlds Abstract The concept of Social Media is top of the agenda for many business executives today. Decision makers, as well as consultants, try to identify ways in which ? rms can make pro? able use of applications such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Second Life, and Twitter. Yet despite this interest, there seems to be very limited understanding of what the term ‘‘Social Media’’ exactly means; this article intends to provide some clari? cation. We begin by describing the concept of Social Media, and discuss how it differs from related concepts such as Web 2. 0 and User Generated Content. Based on this de? nition, we then provide a classi? cation of Social Media which groups applications currently subsumed under the generalized term into more speci? categories by characteristic: collaborative projects, blogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds. Finally, we present 10 pieces of advice for companies which decide to utilize Social Media. # 2009 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. All rights reserved. 1. The specter of Social Media As of January 2009, the online social networking application Facebook registered more than 175 million active users. To put that number in perspective, this is only slightly less than the population of Brazil (190 million) and over twice the population of Germany (80 million)!At the same time, every minute, 10 hours of content were uploaded to the video sharing platform YouTube. And, the image hosting site Flickr provided access to over 3 billion photographs, making the world-famous Louvre * Correspondi ng author. E-mail addresses: [email  protected] eu (A. M. Kaplan), [email  protected] eu (M. Haenlein). Museum’s collection of 300,000 objects seem tiny in comparison. According to Forrester Research, 75% of Internet surfers used ‘‘Social Media’’ in the second quarter of 2008 by joining social networks, reading blogs, or contributing reviews to shopping sites; this represents a signi? ant rise from 56% in 2007. The growth is not limited to teenagers, either; members of Generation X, now 35—44 years old, increasingly populate the ranks of joiners, spectators, and critics. It is therefore reasonable to say that Social Media represent a revolutionary new trend that should be of interest to companies operating in online space–—or any space, for that matter. Yet, not overly many ? rms seem to act comfortably in a world where consumers can speak so freely 0007-6813/$ — see front matter # 2009 Kelley School of Business, India na University.All rights reserved. doi:10. 1016/j. bushor. 2009. 09. 003 60 with each other and businesses have increasingly less control over the information available about them in cyberspace. Today, if an Internet user types the name of any leading brand into the Google search, what comes up among the top ? ve results typically includes not only the corporate webpage, but also the corresponding entry in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Here, for example, customers can read that the 2007 model of Hasbro’s Easy-Bake Oven may lead to serious burns on children’s hands and ? gers due to a poorly-designed oven door, and that the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company has been accused of using child labor in its Liberian rubber factory. Historically, companies were able to control the information available about them through strategically placed press announcements and good public relations managers. Today, however, ? rms have been increasingly relegated to the sidelines as m ere observers, having neither the knowledge nor the chance–—or, sometimes, even the right–—to alter publicly posted comments provided by their customers. Wikipedia, for example, expressly forbids the participation of ? ms in its online community. Such an evolution may not be surprising. After all, the Internet started out as nothing more than a giant Bulletin Board System (BBS) that allowed users to exchange software, data, messages, and news with each other. The late 1990s saw a popularity surge in homepages, whereby the Average Joe could share information about his private life; today’s equivalent would be the weblog, or blog. The era of corporate web pages and e-commerce started relatively recently with the launch of Amazon and eBay in 1995, and got a right ticking-off only 6 years later when the dot-com bubble burst in 2001.The current trend toward Social Media can therefore be seen as an evolution back to the Internet’s roots, since it retransforms the World Wide Web to what it was initially created for: a platform to facilitate information exchange between users. But does that mean that Social Media is just old wine in new bottles? Probably not! As we will delve into further, the technical advances that have been made over the past 20 years now enable a form of virtual content sharing that is fundamentally different from, and more powerful than, the BBS of the late 1970s.This article discusses the challenges and opportunities that emerge from this evolution for ? rms, and provides structure to better understand the rapidly evolving ? eld of Social Media. We begin by providing a de? nition and classi? cation of Social Media by looking at their historical roots, technical speci? cities, and differences from other entities such as Web 2. 0 and User Generated Content. We then focus on six types of Social Media–—collaborative projects, blogs, A. M. Kaplan, M. Haenlein content communities, social networki ng sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds–—and present ways in which companies can ef? iently make use of these applications. Based on this analysis, we then derive a set of 10 recommendations companies should follow when thinking about developing their own Social Media strategy, be it with respect to these aforementioned types or other applications which might emerge in the future. 2. What is Social Media–—And what is it not? As highlighted, the idea behind Social Media is far from groundbreaking. Nevertheless, there seems to be confusion among managers and academic researchers alike as to what exactly should be included under this term, and how Social Media differ from the seemingly-interchangeable related concepts of Web 2. and User Generated Content. It therefore makes sense to take a step back and provide insight regarding where Social Media come from and what they include. By 1979, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis from Duke University had c reated the Usenet, a worldwide discussion system that allowed Internet users to post public messages. Yet, the era of Social Media as we understand it today probably started about 20 years earlier, when Bruce and Susan Abelson founded ‘‘Open Diary,’’ an early social networking site that brought together online diary writers into one community. The term ‘‘weblog’’ was ? st used at the same time, and truncated as ‘‘blog’’ a year later when one blogger jokingly transformed the noun ‘‘weblog’’ into the sentence ‘‘we blog. ’’ The growing availability of high-speed Internet access further added to the popularity of the concept, leading to the creation of social networking sites such as MySpace (in 2003) and Facebook (in 2004). This, in turn, coined the term ‘‘Social Media,’’ and contributed to the prominence it has today. The most rece nt addition to this glamorous grouping has been so-called ‘‘virtual worlds’’: computerbased simulated environments inhabited by threedimensional avatars.Perhaps the best known virtual world is that of Linden Lab’s Second Life (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009c). Although the list of the aforementioned applications may give some idea about what is meant by Social Media, a formal de? nition of the term ? rst requires drawing a line to two related concepts that are frequently named in conjunction with it: Web 2. 0 and User Generated Content. Web 2. 0 is a term that was ? rst used in 2004 to describe a new way in which software developers and end-users started to Users of the world, unite!The challenges and opportunities of Social Media utilize the World Wide Web; that is, as a platform whereby content and applications are no longer created and published by individuals, but instead are continuously modi? ed by all users in a participatory and collaborative fashio n. While applications such as personal web pages, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, and the idea of content publishing belong to the era of Web 1. 0, they are replaced by blogs, wikis, and collaborative projects in Web 2. 0. Although Web 2. 0 does not refer to any speci? technical update of the World Wide Web, there is a set of basic functionalities that are necessary for its functioning. Among them are Adobe Flash (a popular method for adding animation, interactivity, and audio/video streams to web pages), RSS (Really Simple Syndication, a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content, such as blog entries or news headlines, in a standardized format), and AJAX (Asynchronous Java Script, a technique to retrieve data from web servers asynchronously, allowing the update of web content without interfering with the display and behavior of the whole page).For the purpose of our article, we consider Web 2. 0 as the platform for the evolution of Social Media. When Web 2. 0 represents the ideological and technological foundation, User Generated Content (UGC) can be seen as the sum of all ways in which people make use of Social Media. The term, which achieved broad popularity in 2005, is usually applied to describe the various forms of media content that are publicly available and created by end-users. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2007), UGC needs to ful? l three basic requirements in order to be considered as such: ? rst, it needs to be published either on a publicly accessible website or on a social networking site accessible to a selected group of people; second, it needs to show a certain amount of creative effort; and ? nally, it needs to have been created outside of professional routines and practices. The ? rst condition excludes content exchanged in e-mails or instant messages; the second, mere replications of already existing content (e. g. , posting a copy of an existing newspaper article on a personal blog without any modi? ations or commenting); and the third, all content that has been created with a commercial market context in mind. While UGC has already been available prior to Web 2. 0, as discussed above, the combination of technological drivers (e. g. , increased broadband availability and hardware capacity), economic drivers (e. g. , increased availability of tools for the creation of UGC), and social drivers (e. g. , rise of a generation of ‘‘digital natives’’ and ‘‘screenagers’’: younger age groups with substantial technical knowledge and 1 willingness to engage online) make UGC nowadays fundamentally different from what was observed in the early 1980s. Based on these clari? cations of Web 2. 0 and UGC, it is now straightforward to give a more detailed de? nition of what we mean by Social Media. In our view–—and as used herein–—Social Media is a group of Internet-based applicati ons that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2. 0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content. Within this general de? ition, there are various types of Social Media that need to be distinguished further. However, although most people would probably agree that Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, and Second Life are all part of this large group, there is no systematic way in which different Social Media applications can be categorized. Also, new sites appear in cyberspace every day, so it is important that any classi? cation scheme takes into account applications which may be forthcoming. To create such a classi? cation scheme, and to do so in a systematic manner, we rely on a set of theories in the ? ld of media research (social presence, media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure), the two key elements of Social Media. Regarding the media-related component of Social Media, social presence theory (Short, Willi ams, & Christie, 1976) states that media differ in the degree of ‘‘social presence’’–—de? ned as the acoustic, visual, and physical contact that can be achieved–—they allow to emerge between two communication partners. Social presence is in? uenced by the intimacy (interpersonal vs. mediated) and immediacy (asynchronous vs. ynchronous) of the medium, and can be expected to be lower for mediated (e. g. , telephone conversation) than interpersonal (e. g. , face-to-face discussion) and for asynchronous (e. g. , e-mail) than synchronous (e. g. , live chat) communications. The higher the social presence, the larger the social in? uence that the communication partners have on each other’s behavior. Closely related to the idea of social presence is the concept of media richness. Media richness theory (Daft & Lengel, 1986) is based on the assumption that the goal of any communication is the resolution of ambiguity and the reductio n of uncertainty.It states that media differ in the degree of richness they possess–—that is, the amount of information they allow to be transmitted in a given time interval–—and that therefore some media are more effective than others in resolving ambiguity and uncertainty. Applied to the context of Social Media, we assume that a ? rst classi? cation can be made based on the richness of the medium and the degree of social presence it allows. With respect to the social dimension of Social Media, the concept of self-presentation states that 2 in any type of social interaction people have the desire to control the impressions other people form of them (Goffman, 1959). On the one hand, this is done with the objective of in? uencing others to gain rewards (e. g. , make a positive impression on your future in-laws); on the other hand, it is driven by a wish to create an image that is consistent with one’s personal identity (e. g. , wearing a fashionable out? t in order to be perceived as young and trendy). The key reason why people decide to create a personal webpage is, for example, the wish to present themselves in cyberspace (Schau & Gilly, 2003).Usually, such a presentation is done through self-disclosure; that is, the conscious or unconscious revelation of personal information (e. g. , thoughts, feelings, likes, dislikes) that is consistent with the image one would like to give. Self-disclosure is a critical step in the development of close relationships (e. g. , during dating) but can also occur between complete strangers; for example, when speaking about personal problems with the person seated next to you on an airplane. Applied to the context of Social Media, we assume that a second classi? ation can be made based on the degree of self-disclosure it requires and the type of self-presentation it allows. Combining both dimensions leads to a classi? cation of Social Media which we have visualized in Table 1. With respect to social presence and media richness, applications such as collaborative projects (e. g. , Wikipedia) and blogs score lowest, as they are often text-based and hence only allow for a relatively simple exchange. On the next level are content communities (e. g. , YouTube) and social networking sites (e. g. Facebook) which, in addition to text-based communication, enable the sharing of pictures, videos, and other forms of media. On the highest level are virtual game and social worlds (e. g. , World of Warcraft, Second Life), which try to replicate all dimensions of face-to-face interactions in a virtual environment. Regarding self-presentation and self-disclosure, blogs usually score higher than collaborative projects, as the latter tend to be focused on speci? c content domains. Table 1. A. M. Kaplan, M. Haenlein In a similar spirit, social networking sites allow for more self-disclosure than content communities.Finally, virtual social worlds require a higher level of self-disclosure tha n virtual game worlds, as the latter are ruled by strict guidelines that force users to behave in a certain way (e. g. , as warriors in an imaginary fantasy land). We will now provide more detail on each of these six different types of Social Media, and discuss the challenges and opportunities they offer companies. 3. The challenges and opportunities of Social Media 3. 1. Collaborative projects Collaborative projects enable the joint and simultaneous creation of content by many end-users and are, in this sense, probably the most democratic manifestation of UGC.Within collaborative projects, one differentiates between wikis–—that is, websites which allow users to add, remove, and change text-based content–—and social bookmarking applications–—which enable the group-based collection and rating of Internet links or media content. Exemplary applications within this category include the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, a wiki currently available in more than 230 different languages, and the social bookmarking web service Delicious, which allows the storage and sharing of web bookmarks.The main idea underlying collaborative projects is that the joint effort of many actors leads to a better outcome than any actor could achieve individually; this is similar to the ef? cient-market hypothesis in behavioral ? nance (Fama, 1970). From a corporate perspective, ? rms must be aware that collaborative projects are trending toward becoming the main source of information for many consumers. As such, although not everything written on Wikipedia may actually be true, it is believed to be true by more and more Internet users. This may be particularly crucial as regards corporate crises. For example, Classi? ation of Social Media by social presence/media richness and self-presentation/self-disclosure Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media when online book retailer Amazon started to test the idea of dynami c pricing, comments declaring such a practice as unfair showed up instantaneously under the Wikipedia entry on ‘‘time-based pricing. ’’ Yet, collaborative projects also provide some unique opportunities for ? rms. Finnish handset manufacturer Nokia, for instance, uses internal wikis to update employees on project status and to trade ideas, which are used by about 20% of its 68,000 staff members.Likewise, American computer software company Adobe Systems maintains a list of bookmarks to company-related websites and conversations on Delicious. 63 3. 3. Content communities The main objective of content communities is the sharing of media content between users. Content communities exist for a wide range of different media types, including text (e. g. , BookCrossing, via which 750,000+ people from over 130 countries share books), photos (e. g. , Flickr), videos (e. g. , YouTube), and PowerPoint presentations (e. g. , Slideshare). Users on content communities are not required to create a personal pro? e page; if they do, these pages usually only contain basic information, such as the date they joined the community and the number of videos shared. From a corporate viewpoint, content communities carry the risk of being used as platforms for the sharing of copyright-protected materials. While major content communities have rules in place to ban and remove such illegal content, it is dif? cult to avoid popular videos–—such as recent episodes of comedy dramas–—being uploaded to YouTube only hours after they have been aired on television.On the positive side, the high popularity of content communities makes them a very attractive contact channel for many ? rms; this is easy to believe when one considers that YouTube serves over 100 million videos per day. In 2007, Procter & Gamble organized a contest for its over-the-counter drug Pepto-Bismol, whereby users were encouraged to upload to YouTube 1-minute videos of themsel ves singing about the ailments Pepto-Bismol counteracts, including heartburn and nausea. In a similar spirit, kitchen appliances manufacturer Blendtec became popular for its bevy of inexpensive ‘‘Will it blend? ’ videos, which have been watched by millions of people. Other ? rms, such as Cisco and Google, rely on content communities to share recruiting videos, as well as keynote speeches and press announcements, with their employees and investors. 3. 2. Blogs Blogs, which represent the earliest form of Social Media, are special types of websites that usually display date-stamped entries in reverse chronological order (OECD, 2007). They are the Social Media equivalent of personal web pages and can come in a multitude of different variations, from personal diaries describing the author’s life to summaries of all relevant information in one speci? content area. Blogs are usually managed by one person only, but provide the possibility of interaction with others through the addition of comments. Due to their historical roots, text-based blogs are still by far the most common. Nevertheless, blogs have also begun to take different media formats. For example, San Francisco-based Justin. tv allows users to create personalized television channels via which they can broadcast images from their webcam in real time to other users. Many companies are already using blogs to update employees, customers, and shareholders on developments they consider to be important.Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems, maintains a personal blog to improve the transparency of his company; so does automotive giant General Motors. Yet, as is the case with collaborative projects, blogs do not come without risks. These generally present in two fashions. First, customers who–—for one reason or another–—turn out to be dissatis? ed with or disappointed by the company’s offerings may decide to engage in virtual complaints in the form o f protest websites or blogs (Ward & Ostrom, 2006), which results in the availability of potentially damaging information in online space.Second, once ? rms encourage employees to be active on blogs, they may need to live with the consequences of staff members writing negatively about the ? rm. Microsoft’s former ‘‘technical evangelist’’ Robert Scoble, for example, had a tendency to ? ercely criticize the products of his employer–— before he decided to leave the Redmond-based software company in 2006. 3. 4. Social networking sites Social networking sites are applications that enable users to connect by creating personal information pro? les, inviting friends and colleagues to have access to those pro? es, and sending e-mails and instant messages between each other. These personal pro? les can include any type of information, including photos, video, audio ? les, and blogs. According to Wikipedia, the largest social networking sites are U . S. -based Facebook (initially founded by Mark Zuckerberg to stay in touch with his fellow students from Harvard University) and MySpace (with 1,500 employees and more than 250 million registered users). Social networking sites are of such high popularity, speci? cally among younger Internet 4 users, that the term ‘‘Facebook addict’’ has been included in the Urban Dictionary, a collaborative project focused on developing a slang dictionary for the English language. Several companies are already using social networking sites to support the creation of brand communities (Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001) or for marketing research in the context of netnography (Kozinets, 2002). To promote the movie ‘‘Fred Claus,’’ a 2007 Christmas comedy ? lm, Warner Brothers created a Facebook pro? le via which visitors could watch trailers, download graphics, and play games.Likewise, the Adidas custom soccer community on MySpace allows visitors to asso ciate themselves with one of two brands of elite soccer cleats produced by the German sports apparel manufacturer, and to access product reviews and information on professional soccer players who play using ‘‘their’’ shoes. Some ? rms even go one step further and use Facebook as a distribution channel. Consider U. S. -based ? orist 1-800-Flowers. com, which offers a widget on Facebook called ‘‘Gimme Love’’ whereby users can send ‘‘virtual bouquets’’ to friends or, with a click of the mouse, be directly transferred to the company’s website to send real ? wers. A. M. Kaplan, M. Haenlein hunter–—starts to more and more closely resemble their real life personality. Besides their use for ingame advertising (similar in idea to product placement in blockbuster movies), the high popularity of virtual game worlds can also be leveraged in more traditional communication campaigns. Japanese automo tive giant Toyota, for example, used pictures and mechanics from the World of Warcraft application in its latest Tundra commercial to reach the 2. 5 million players in the U. S. lone. 3. 6. Virtual social worlds The second group of virtual worlds, often referred to as virtual social worlds, allows inhabitants to choose their behavior more freely and essentially live a virtual life similar to their real life. As in virtual game worlds, virtual social world users appear in the form of avatars and interact in a three-dimensional virtual environment; however, in this realm, there are no rules restricting the range of possible interactions, except for basic physical laws such as gravity.This allows for an unlimited range of self presentation strategies, and it has been shown that with increasing usage intensity and consumption experience, users of virtual social worlds–—or ‘‘residents,’’ as they prefer to be called–—show behavior that more and more closely mirrors the one observed in real life settings (Haenlein & Kaplan, 2009; Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009a, 2009b). Arguably, the most prominent example of virtual social worlds is the Second Life application, founded and managed by the San Francisco-based company Linden Research Inc.Besides doing everything that is possible in real life (e. g. , speaking to other avatars, taking a walk, enjoying the virtual sunshine), Second Life also allows users to create content (e. g. , to design virtual clothing or furniture items) and to sell this content to others in exchange for Linden Dollars, a virtual currency traded against the U. S. Dollar on the Second Life Exchange. Some residents are so successful in this task that the virtual money earned that way complements their real life income.Virtual social worlds offer a multitude of opportunities for companies in marketing (advertising/communication, virtual product sales/v-Commerce, marketing research), and human resource and internal process management; for a more detailed discussion, see Kaplan and Haenlein (2009c). 3. 5. Virtual game worlds Virtual worlds are platforms that replicate a threedimensional environment in which users can appear in the form of personalized avatars and interact with each other as they would in real life.In this sense, virtual worlds are probably the ultimate manifestation of Social Media, as they provide the highest level of social presence and media richness of all applications discussed thus far. Virtual worlds come in two forms. The ? rst, virtual game worlds, require their users to behave according to strict rules in the context of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). These applications have gained popularity in recent years, as standard game consoles–—such as Microsoft’s X-Box and Sony’s PlayStation–—now allow simultaneous play among a multitude of users around the globe.Examples of virtual game worlds inc lude the cod-medieval ‘‘World of Warcraft,’’ which counts around 8. 5 million subscribers who explore the virtual planet of Azeroth in the form of humans, dwarves, orcs, or night elves, to ? ght monsters or to search for treasure; and Sony’s EverQuest, in which 16 different races of players (e. g. , wizards, clerics) travel the fantasy world of Norrath. The rules of such games usually limit the degree of self-presentation and self-disclosure possible, although some users spend so much time with these applications that their character–—be it a warrior, a wizard, or a dragon . Ten pieces of advice for companies deciding to use Social Media Social Media is a very active and fast-moving domain. What may be up-to-date today could have Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media disappeared from the virtual landscape tomorrow. It is therefore crucial for ? rms to have a set of guidelines that can be applied to any form of Social Media, whether they are part of the aforementioned list or not. Next, we provide such a set of recommendations. Given that Social Media have both a social- and a media-component, we split our advice into two sections: ? e points about using media and ? ve points about being social. 65 4. 1. Five points about using media 4. 1. 1. Choose carefully There are dozens–—if not hundreds–—of Social Media applications, and new ones are appearing on the horizon every day. If you still need time to run your core business, you simply cannot participate in them all, especially since ‘‘being active’’ is one key requirement of success (see below). Choosing the right medium for any given purpose depends on the target group to be reached and the message to be communicated.On the one hand, each Social Media application usually attracts a certain group of people and ? rms should be active wherever their customers are present. For example, if your main target audience is book lovers, a content community via which users share self-written novels or poems is likely better suited to your purpose than a virtual world which centers on ? ghting dragons and ? nding treasures. On the other hand, there may be situations whereby certain features are necessary to ensure effective communication, and these features are only offered by one speci? c application. For example, when the U. S.Army undertook an initiative in 2007 to reach the Hispanic community, it decided to utilize the social networking site Univision rather than the more popular Facebook. This choice was driven in part by the fact that Univision–—a Spanish-language television network in the U. S. and Puerto Rico–—is the social networking application with the largest Latin American audience, due to an extensive range of telenovelas and Mexican programs produced by Grupo Televisa. However, another reason Univision was chosen is becau se it offers a moderating service which checks comments from users for appropriateness before posting them on the site.In contrast, other applications, including Facebook, allow users to post messages without supervision. 4. 1. 2. Pick the application, or make your own Once you know which game you’re playing, the next decision involves whether to make or buy. In some cases, it might just be best to join an existing Social Media application and bene? t from its popularity and user base. After all, there is no need to reinvent the wheel if somebody has already done it, especially given that Social Media show positive network externalities in the sense that they get more attractive to join the more participants they already have.But in some cases, the right application might just not be available yet. Japan’s Fuji? lm, for example, recently launched its own social network to build a community of photo enthusiasts. In a similar spirit, U. S. -based department store ? rm Se ars collaborated with MTV music television to create a social network around back-to-school shopping. Yet, whatever the ultimate decision–—to buy, make, or both–— it is vital that there is an understanding of the basic idea behind Social Media. It’s all about participation, sharing, and collaboration, rather than straightforward advertising and selling. 4. 1. 3.Ensure activity alignment Sometimes you may decide to rely on various Social Media, or a set of different applications within the same group, in order to have the largest possible reach. In this case, it is crucial to ensure that your Social Media activities are all aligned with each other. A prime example in this context is computer manufacturer Dell and its ‘‘Digital Nomads’’ campaign. Dell uses a combination of social networking sites (Facebook, LinkedIn), blogs, and content communities (YouTube videos) to show how its range of laptop computers enable individuals to become a nomadic mobile workforce.In a similar spirit, Chrysler’s Jeep brand connects with its customers by combining photos shared on the content community Flickr, with groups on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Using different contact channels can be a worthwhile and pro? table strategy. But remember: one goal of communication is the resolution of ambiguity and reduction of uncertainty, and nothing is more confusing than contradicting messages across different channels. 4. 1. 4. Media plan integration What is true for different types of Social Media also holds for the relationship between Social Media and traditional media: Integration is key!While you may consider these two arenas to be completely different, in customers’ eyes they are both part of the same: your corporate image. Consider the actions of soft drink giant Coca-Cola. In June 2006, a pair of performance artists shot a video featuring a series of geysers they created by dropping Mentos brand mints into 2-liter bottles of Coke; the clip became a major hit on YouTube. Realizing customers’ enthusiasm for this performance, Coca-Cola fostered the sensation by airing the video on late-night television and ensuring broad digital distribution across different content communities.Besides the advantage of 66 high impact/low cost media coverage, the campaign also resulted in a measurable sales uplift. 4. 1. 5. Access for all Although this might sound elementary, once the ? rm has decided to utilize Social Media applications, it is worth checking that all employees may actually access them. Commonly, ? rms block Facebook, YouTube, and Second Life on corporate PCs for fear that staff might spend too much time networking instead of working. While this is certainly a consideration, it cannot imply that employees must have special permission to be able to access the company blog.At the same time, there is a need to curtail the possibility of the entire organization spending all its time producing funny videos and uploading them to YouTube. One possible approach involves de? ning groups of employees whose primary objective is the management of corporate Social Media; all other staff members are treated as occasional participants. Under this scenario, the ? rst group is given administrator rights–—which allows the opening of new discussion threads and deletion of inappropriate posts–—while the second group is not.Also, at some point, it will be necessary to develop certain guidelines for Social Media usage; as done, for instance, by ‘‘Big Blue’’ IBM, which has a corporate charta for appropriate behavior within Second Life. For example, it is important to highlight that every employee needs to identify himself or herself as such when posting a comment on the corporate blog. Otherwise, end-consumers could get the impression that anonymous accounts are used to enable employees to post fake messa ges and overly-positive feedback, which could severely damage the credibility of your whole Social Media campaign. A. M. Kaplan, M.Haenlein else’s than it is about engaging others in open and active conversation. Participants on Social Media applications have the desire to actively engage and to become both producers and consumers of information, so-called ‘‘prosumers’’ (Tof? er, 1980). Be considerate of this need and act accordingly. 4. 2. 2. Be interesting Let’s face it: nobody is interested in speaking to a boring person. As such, if you would like your customers to engage with you, you need to give them a reason for doing so–—one which extends beyond saying you are the best airline in town, or manufacture the most robust kitchen blender. The ? st step is to listen to your customers. Find out what they would like to hear; what they would like to talk about; what they might ? nd interesting, enjoyable, and valuable. Then, devel op and post content that ? ts those expectations. Coffee powerhouse Starbucks, for example, created the ‘‘My Starbucks Idea’’ platform, via which customers can submit new ideas for the company. These ideas are subsequently voted on by other users, with the winners being considered for implementation by Starbucks top management. As stated by Oscar Wilde in his novel, The Picture of Dorian Grey: The one sin for which there is no forgiveness is ennui. . 2. 3. Be humble Never forget that Social Media existed before you decided to engage in them; indeed, in many cases, even before you knew about their existence. In this light, do not expect that you know better how to use them than others who have spent countless hours on Facebook or Second Life, for example. Before you enter any application, ? rst take some time to discover it and to learn about its history and basic rules. Only once you have gained the necessary understanding, start to participate. When aerosp ace and defense ? rm Boeing decided to launch its ? st corporate blog, the site was designed such that users were not allowed to comment on what they saw. Yet, interaction and feedback are critical elements of all Social Media, blogs included. Hence, many readers perceived the Boeing blog as a fake, and simply corporate advertising in disguise. If there is one certain path to failure, it involves thinking that Social Media is just about posting existing TV spots on YouTube or putting prefabricated press announcements on corporate blogs. 4. 2. 4. Be unprofessional Have you ever noticed that in Hollywood blockbuster ? ms, it’s not usually the handsome guy who ends up with the girl, but rather the clumsy, charming one? The same goes for Social Media, and ? rms 4. 2. Five points about being social 4. 2. 1. Be active If you want to develop a relationship with someone, it is always advisable to take the lead and to be active. Social Media are all about sharing and interaction, so e nsure that your content is always fresh and that you engage in discussions with your customers. Consider the aforementioned blog kept by Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Via this outlet, the ? urehead discusses–—on an ongoing basis–—his corporate strategy, new product development projects, and company values, and replies directly to correspondence received. In considering your Social Media efforts, be aware that ? rm involvement must extend beyond responding to negative comments and defending product offerings. Social Media is less about explaining why your baking mix, detergent, or shampoo is better than anyone Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media would be wise to avoid overly-professional content offerings.There’s no need to spend $100,000 to design the perfect MySpace presence, or hire a professional writer to manage your corporate blog. Instead, try to blend in with other users and don’t be a fraid to make mistakes! Bill Marriott, Chairman and CEO of the Marriott International Hotel chain, uses his blog, for example, to post regular updates and stories from his travels to Marriott properties around the world–—very much in the same way as would a work colleague when describing her last vacation. Social Media users are people like you, who understand that things do not always go smoothly.And, if you’re nice to them, they may even give you free advice on how to do it better the next time. 4. 2. 5. Be honest Last but not least, be honest and respect the rules of the game. Some Social Media–—such as Wikipedia–— may not allow companies to be involved, so do not try to force your way in. Consider Anheuser-Busch, owner of SeaWorld marine mammal parks. Anheuser-Busch tried to ‘‘rectify’’ misleading information on Wikipedia through the use of PR ? rms, and failed miserably at it. Never expect that other par ticipants may not ? d out who stands behind some anonymous user account; after all, you’re dealing with some of the most technologically sophisticated people on the planet. 67 5. Nothing to lose but their chains Today, everything is about Social Media. Some industry gurus claim that if you do not participate in Facebook, YouTube, and Second Life, you are not part of cyberspace anymore. Social Media allow ? rms to engage in timely and direct end-consumer contact at relatively low cost and higher levels of ef? ciency than can be achieved with more traditional communication tools.This makes Social Media not only relevant for large multinational ? rms, but also for small and medium sized companies, and even nonpro? t and governmental agencies. Using Social Media is not an easy task and may require new ways of thinking, but the potential gains are far from being negligible. Dell, for example, states that its use of Twitter–—a micro blogging application that allows se nding out short, text-based posts of 140 characters or less–—has generated $1 million in incremental revenue due to sales alerts. Some ? ms may even be too successful for their own good, as illustrated by Burger King’s ‘‘Whopper Sacri? ce’’ campaign: In December 2008, the fast food giant developed a Facebook application which gave users a free Whopper sandwich for every 10 friends they deleted from their Facebook network. The campaign was adopted by over 20,000 users, resulting in the sacri? cing of 233,906 friends in exchange for free burgers. Only one month later, in January 2009, Facebook shut down Whopper Sacri? ce, citing privacy concerns. Who would have thought that the price of a friendship is less than $2 a dozen?A new trend is on the horizon, though; Watch out for Mobile Social Media! Mobile Web 2. 0 is very similar to Web 2. 0, as discussed earlier. In contrast to its predecessor Mobile Web 1. 0, which relied on proprietary pr otocols (e. g. , WAP) and use-based pricing, Mobile Web 2. 0 is characterized by open standards (e. g. , a transition to the TCP/IP protocol, the technical foundation of the World Wide Web) and ? at-rate systems. Even the manual entry of web addresses using small and dif? cult-to-handle keyboards is becoming history.Soon, all items around you will be equipped with Radio Frequency Identi? cation (RFID) tags that will be able to automatically connect to your mobile phone and send URLs to them, similar to today’s text messages. This technical evolution is laying the groundwork for moving Social Media applications away from desktop PCs and laptops, toward mobile devices. Why log into Facebook if you can easily update all your friends using Twitter? Why wait until you return home to watch the new YouTube video if you can do so conveniently on your iPhone? According to Jupiter Research, the market for Mobile Web 2. evolutions will grow from a mere $5. 5 billion today to an impressi ve $22. 4 billion by 2013. Mobile Social Media applications are expected to be the main driver of this evolution, soon accounting for over 50% of the market. In one way, this surge toward Mobile Social Media can even be seen as another step toward Internet democratization and closing the digital divide between developed and emerging countries. In India, for example, mobile phones outnumber PCs by 10 to 1. In Thailand, only 13% of the population owns a computer, versus 82% who have access to a mobile phone.It is therefore not surprising that the Pew Research Center–—a Washington-based think tank–—estimates that by 2020, a mobile device will be the primary Internet connection tool for most people in the world. Making Social Media applications mobile is likely to tap a currently unexploited base of new users. Even if percapita spending in these countries may still be low, vast population numbers make them relevant for virtually any ? rm. Obviously, Mobile So cial Media does not come without a price. Some would argue that while it enables the detailed following of friends half-way across the world, it can foster a society where we don’t now the names of our own next-door neighbors. Be that as it may, and independent of 68 whether or not one approves of such an evolution, it seems undisputable that (Mobile) Social Media will be the locomotive via which the World Wide Web evolves. Businesses, take note–—and don’t miss this train! A. M. Kaplan, M. Haenlein Kaplan, A. M. , & Haenlein, M. (2009b). Consumers, companies, and virtual social worlds: A qualitative analysis of Second Life. Advances in Consumer Research, 36(1), 873—874. Kaplan, A. M. , & Haenlein, M. (2009c). The fairyland of Second Life: About virtual social worlds and how to use them.Business Horizons, 52(6), 563—572. Kozinets, R. V. (2002). The ? eld behind the screen: Using netnography for marketing research in online communities. Journa l of Marketing Research, 39(1), 61—72. Muniz, A. M. , & O’Guinn, T. C. (2001). Brand community. Journal of Consumer Research, 27(4), 412—432. OECD. (2007). Participative web and user-created content: Web 2. 0, wikis, and social networking. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Schau, H. J. , & Gilly, M. C. (2003). We are what we post? Selfpresentation in personal web space. Journal of Consumer Research, 30(3), 385—404.Short, J. , Williams, E. , & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Tof? er, A. (1980). The third wave: The classic study of tomorrow. New York: Bantam Books. Ward, J. C. , & Ostrom, A. L. (2006). Complaining to the masses: The role of protest framing in customer-created complaint web sites. Journal of Consumer Research, 33(2), 220—230. References Daft, R. L. , & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness, and st ructural design. Management Science, 32(5), 554—571. Fama, E. F. (1970).Ef? cient capital markets: A review of theory and empirical work. Journal of Finance, 25(2), 383—417. Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books. Haenlein, M. , & Kaplan, A. M. (2009). Flagship brand stores within virtual worlds: The impact of virtual store exposure on real life brand attitudes and purchase intent. Recherche et Applications en Marketing 24(3). Kaplan, A. M. , & Haenlein, M. (2009a). Consumer use and business potential of virtual worlds: The case of Second Life. The International Journal on Media Management 11(3).

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Who is most to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet?

Essay topic: Who is most to blame for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet? The tragic death of Romeo and Juliet can be amounted to the many factors and influences, however, it can be condensed to the feuding households of Capulets and Montagues, the good-hearted Friar Lawrence and the actions of the ‘star-cross’d lovers’. The ill-fated death of the young lovers is a consequence of the unfortunate events and circumstances created by these characters mentioned. The ‘ancient grudge’ between the Capulets and Montagues sets the foundation for unfortunate events that catapults their offspring to their ultimate demise.The ‘pernicious rage’ between both households ‘alike in dignity’ has significant impact on the course of Romeo and Juliet’s lamentable love story. Most importantly, the existence of the quarrel presents a considerable impediment for Romeo and Juliet to ultimately ‘be together’ and enjoy their courtship. The ‘canker’d hate’ between old Capulet and Montague has being so saturated in Romeo and Juliet that from the get go, both conceal their relationship and take the‘faithful vow’ in surreptitiously. The quarrel has resulted in violence as an accepted part of life for the two and an acceptable way to resolve problems.Romeo is forced to defend his family’s honour and his own by avenging the death of Mercutio resulting in the death of Tybalt although Romeo had indeed attempted to avoid any violence with the cousin of this dear wife leading to the banishment of Romeo to Mantua. The authoritative parenting causes Romeo and Juliet to irrational decisions as a means to solving their problems as they see no other way. Old Capulet and Lady Capulet in particular are much more forceful of their opinions on Juliet and expect her to uphold their wishes.After the death of Tybalt, OId Capulet hastens his preparations for the marriage between the count and Juli et pushing Juliet over the edge leading her to disastrous and dangerous decisions to be with her ‘true love’. The actions of the Capulets and Montagues are accountable for the many events that lead to the tragic death of Romeo and Juliet. The benevolent Friar Lawrence creates many complications in the tale of Romeo and Juliet although his intentions are good-hearted. Although the Friar is ary of Romeo and Juliet’s relationship, he immediately agrees to be Romeos ‘assistant’ in hopes of turning their ‘household’s rancour to pure love’ and unites the lovers with a ‘faithful vow’. The friar not only disregards his ‘misgivings’ but also plays privy to the relationship and marriage of the ‘star-cross’d lovers’. The priest inadvertently feeds Romeo and Juliet irresponsible and extreme ideas and devises to ensure that their love will live on. When Juliet came to him with ‘wild looksâ₠¬â„¢, Friar Lawrence suggests that Juliet take a sleeping potion before her ‘marriage’ to Count Paris and feign death until the arrival of her lord, Romeo.This again necessitates the use of dishonesty for Juliet to her parents. When Romeo receives news the ‘death’ of his ‘true love’ he jumps to conclusions and purchases a vial of poison to take his own life with. Friar Lawrence was not prepared for this turn of events though he devised a plan that Romeo should ‘know our drift’ things did not occur so and Romeo takes his life. When Juliet awakens to find poison be Romeo’s ‘timeless end’ she too takes her life after the friar had unintentionally promoted and encouraged the hasty decisions of the two lovers.Although the friar had kind-hearted intentions he was ‘miscarried’ and consequently was responsible for the bereavement of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet’s own hasty and naive decisions c ontribute largely to their ‘untimely death’. Both Romeo and Juliet recognise the danger in their courtship when the come to the realisation that their love is ‘sprung from†¦only hate’ but continue to court each other in clandestine and still believe that they can associate with each other.The resolution of marriage for Romeo and Juliet was one of hastiness and impulsiveness; the couple had known each other for but a few hours! Although Juliet feels that that their love was ‘too rash†¦too like lightening’ she still mentions marriage.. Romeo heeds no avail of the friar’s wise words to be ‘wisely and slow’ and agrees to exchange the ‘faithful vow’. The pair are an ‘hour but married’ and Romeo is ‘banish’d’ for slewing Tybalt, once again the young lovers rush to consummate their marriage before Romeo escapes to Mantua.When Balthasar brings tidings of Juliet’s ‘ death’, he also advises Romeo to ‘have patience’ but Romeo inflicted with desperation and self-pity, yet again pays no attention and hastens to the Capulets monument where he proceeds in taking his life swiftly although he had noticed that Juliet’s lips were ‘crimson’ still. The couple in their passionate throws and young naivety held no respect to the wise advice they were given by the friar nor did they take notice of their own suspicions of warning and ultimately their ‘untimely’ death can be attributed by their own actions and behaviours.In conclusion, the grievous death of Romeo and Juliet is consequently the responsibility of not one lone character but various characters and events that took place. The ‘fury’ of the Capulets and Montagues, the naive Friar Lawrence and Romeo and Juliet themselves play key roles in the misfortunes that led to the fatality of not only Romeo and Juliet but Tybalt and Mercutio as wel l, ‘all are punish’d’.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Remembering Houstons National Womens Conference Forty Years Later - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 302 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2018/12/14 Category History Essay Type Review Level High school Topics: Abortion Essay America Essay Role of Women Essay Did you like this example? Today in Texas and the entire American population are reflecting on the National Women Conference that took place some forty years ago in Huston. The meeting took four days, and it was attended by over 2000 women who had been elected as delegates. This was intended to deliver the president of the time on the subject relating to women and their social, Economic and political rights in the country. It is during this time that the controversial motions relating to the rights of minority, abortion, gay rights and equality rights. It is in this remembrance that Texans reflect on what has been achieved as result of the Houston Conference. It is clear that out of this political Conference much has taken place in relations to women participation in social, economic and political issues of the country. Women have been able to effectively compete with men in the two major political parties. The positive achievement has been the introduction of new laws favoring women and the amendment to the existing ones to support their welfare. Women representation in all the houses has increased. It is also critically noted that discrimination against women in Texas had gone down. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Remembering Houstons National Womens Conference Forty Years Later" essay for you Create order The controversial issues discussed during Huston Conference such as abortion and equal rights continue to face not Texas but also the entire nation. The matter of abortion is still contentious a significant number of Americans continue to suffer as result of discrimination in this era it was not something envisaged by the delegates during the meeting. This celebration has been a good indicator of what we have been able to achieve a result of courageous women who determinedly fought for the rights women are enjoying today. This is a good lesson for the young people that the struggle is not yet over they must keep on fighting.