Title: Social media as a communication tool - A case study on social media influencecorporate cultureLevel: Final assignment for Bachelor degree in Business and EconomicsAuthor: Jessika Klintsbacka & Oskar BergeSupervisor: Pär Vilhelmsson, Ernst Hollander & Maria Fregidou-MalamaDate: 2014-06-13Purpose of Study: The aim of this study is to inquire into Swedish companies internalcommunication, their approach to social media as an internal communications tool, and if itaffects the corporate culture.Method: The study is a multiple case study with a qualitative research design. The study'sinterview questions were designed by a operationalization of based on theory in the areas ofinternal communication, corporate culture and social media. The interviews took place inApril 2014. The interviews were recorded and then analyzed to bring out the similarities anddifferences between the companies.Results & Conclusion: The study shows that Swedish companies corporate cultures haveconnections with internal communication, and implementation of social media as acommunications tool. The study found that connections to companies with a comprehensiveone-way positive consider social media as alternative communication tool to strengthen theunity and community within the company.Suggestion for further research: One of the study's three companies is owner-led and thiscompany showed a high level of corporate culture.

AbstractTitle: The constant change - A comparative study of profit companies and nonprofit organizations' brand management through social mediaAuthor: Agnes Nobel & Matilda VallgrenTutor: Daniel LövgrenPurpose: The purpose of this thesis was to study profit companies and nonprofit organizations? branding and strategic communication on social media. If social media has supported with new interaction with stakeholders and hence affected the branding work. Also if there are any differences between profit companies and nonprofit organizations.Method/Material: The method that is used in the article is a qualitative research. The research is based on conversations interviews conducted with eight organizations, four profit companies and four nonprofit organizations.Main results: The main result showed that all organizations are actively involved with social media in their strategic communication when in order to increase the interaction with stakeholders and thus strengthen their brand identity. It turned out that all organizations have not adapted the brand to social media, but worked with the organizations values ??and only applied the trademark on social media.

The value of a company's employees is considered to be higher and more important for a business success than ever. Losing employees is not only a loss of valuable knowledge, it also implies a significant cost related to the recruitment of new employees. To attract potential personnel, it is important for the companies to understand how to communicate with talents. Choosing a communication medium for a job advertisement is not easy when new options constantly arise. Despite the development of new communication mediums and channels, such as social mediums, the traditional communication medias still remain available.

The aim of this study is to examine which communication channels and communication strategies Umea? municipality could use for information concerning outdoor recreation. To achieve this aim the following theories and views have been applied: Social communication, communication strategies, two-way symmetrical communication, social media and uses and gratifications. The study was conducted through four focus group interviews and one informant interview. The focus groups consisted of four groups of outdoor enthusiasts in Umea? municipality: outdoor interested students, organized outdoor enthusiasts, active families and active seniors.

Social media, with its immense and continuous flow of information, has in recent years growntremendously in terms of users and content. This increase has led companies and organizations keen to be seen within these channels of communication, but do they always have a clear idea of how andwhy, and are they aware of the risks that are associated with it? Current research on social media is somewhat divided in two. The debate concerns, among other things, what value the information on social media has, and whether the media is really a good communication channel or not. This raises several questions, for example can a company really afford to remain outside of social media with allthe information it generates? This research aims at answering these questions in order to further understand how organizations discuss social media presence and strategies.

Customer service has traditionally consisted of telephone, mail, and later on chat.But the entry of social media has changed the way companies exercise customerservice. Companies should ask themselves whether the same type of traditionalcommunication may or may not function in a new channel and thus whether itcan be applied to social media.The purpose of this study is to describe the companies? use of customer servicein social media and how the communication differentiates from thecommunication in traditional customer service, and also to define the effect onthe customers? relationship to the company. To reach our conclusions we havecombined theoretical references with qualitative interviews.By our analysis, we found that the communication in social media expandsthe possibilities. By entering an unfamiliar channel, customer service has hadto adapt themselves and their language.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether social counselling via chat conversations could meet the criteria for a professional conversation, and how the six social workers who were interviewed felt that it had affected the profession and the clients who are seeking their help.Communication, professionality, power, roles and regions are the key topics of this study. A hermeneutic approach has not only influenced the interviews but also the content analysis that was used to encode the results.The interviews revealed that the chat conversations was a successful tool but not entirely without difficulties. The initial contact making between the client and the social worker favours the client, since she/he remains anonymous and that was the main advantage of the method. The biggest concern however was that in the anonymity it is not possible to report cases that the social worker are obligated to. The changing of forum does not necessarily affect the professionality but due to the faceless chat conversation an entire dimension of communication disappears because the loss of body language.

The current election is causing a debate in the Swedish media. The parties are trying to convince voters by spreading interesting and informative messages through different kind of media. Social media has emerged as a new way of reaching voters. All the current parliamentary parties have implemented this communication channel into their marketing strategy. People have both admired and judged the channel´s applicability in election campaigns.

Purpose:The purpose of this paper is to investigate and clarify some of the factors that influence organizations to adopt or reject the social media, and if the emergence of social media influenced the organization's communication.Metohodology:A qualitative methodology has been used to execute the study. The source has been semi structured interviews with chosen representatives from several organizations.Theoretical perspective:The theoretical basis for the execution of the methodology is based on the provisional theoretical demarcation uses and gratifications theory. For analysis diffusion of innovations theory is applied.Emperical findings:The empirical material includes interviews with representatives from twelve selected organizations, defined as companies in the industry and authorities, in seven different industries.Conclusion: The main factors affecting an adoption of social media is the organization?s open structure, the ability to see opportunities with social media and that they are seen as a natural part of development in the communications field. The main factors affecting a rejection of social media is ignorance, the organization's governance and that there must be a need that social media can fill.

Title The User Created Fire ? Risks and Opportunities with Crisis Communication in Social Network SitesAuthor Charbel SaderCourse Master Thesis in Media? and Communication Studies, Department of Journalism and Communication, University of GothenburgSemester Spring semester of 2013Tutor Nicklas HåkanssonNumberof pages 75Purpose To find a deeper understanding of the digital media?s role in Swedish society in relation to crisis communication.Method Qualitative approach using focus group interviewsMaterial Semi structured focus group interviews with a total of 18 participants in five groups. The focus group sessions were made during February, March and April 2012.Main results The main findings in this study are that users expect the communication flow in social network sites (SNS) during a crisis is to be a shortcut to information without a detour through organizations or traditional media. Although we find personal gratification, like interpersonal communication, quick information and sharing feelings and experience with others by using SNS during a crisis, users also tend to be hesitant about the credibility of the shared information. Alongside the user created content, we look to professional media experts and organizations as a guarantee for the veracity of the shared information.

Internet - and the website - has developed into an essential key for the relationship between enterprises and its customers. Today, a website might be the first or only impression a customer gets of a company. With this in mind we have focused our study on customer evaluations on websites. Social presence and its impact on people have so far mostly been given attention in the research of behavior in physical environments. However, in the electronic marketplace this has so far been overlooked, which is why our aim is to study how the presence of visitors impacts other visitors on the same website.

The purpose of this study has been to create a communication plan to use at the launch of an independent fashion store and give a current storeowner an overall picture concerning which communication aspects to use during his ongoing business. To fulfill our purpose we have targeted one important question, which is:   Which communication fields are the most important to use, when you are about to launch an independent fashion store.  For this study we have used a qualitative approach in which we have conducted eleven personal interviews with people who has a strong understanding in communication regarding to this type of business. Most of our respondents are currently working actively with communication because they are active in retailing.The remaining respondent has a strong experience in the field of communication. In the final chapter we present our conclusions of the study. We have found the main factors in a communication plan, which is most important for a storeowner. Which are the most important communication parts for the owner to focus on before he launches the store? The basic need of knowledge in social mediaDevelop a unique concept to differentiate yourselfUnderstand the nature of networks and relationshipsThe relevance of store layout and sensory marketing which is an important tool when you need renewal and develop your concept.

Swedish authorities have been dealt a mission by the Swedish state, where each agency works on the basis of their assignment. Communication has become more and more important for authorities, there are several reasons for the use of communication and they may differ from authority to authority. Some authorities claim that the purpose of the communication work is to create awareness and recognition among citizens. A communication form that has become increasingly important for government agencies is social media, according to the government authorities should implement social media in their communication work because it is very important that the authorities are available where the citizens are. Previous research has focused on the risks and opportunities that the social media generates for the public sector.

The social media arena is rapidly growing and more and moreorganisations take part in the daily ongoing conversations indifferent social media channels. Conversations are being heldacross borders on every available topic and ratings and reviews ofconsumer products and services is one of them. This focus onglobalisation is also the reality of the hospitality- and tourismindustry. Their customers travel across borders and are eager,given the opportunity, to share their experiences with each other.As organisations within the hospitality- and tourism industry meetthese demands in terms of providing technological infrastructurefor information sharing and involve themselves in theseconversations there are some issues that need to be addressed.What does the logic of social media look like? How iscommunicating in social media any different from traditionalmarket communication? And how can hospitality- and tourismorganisations adapt their communication to fit into the logic ofsocial media?To conclude how organisations within the hospitality- and tourismindustry can benefit from the use of social media, I haveinterviewed representatives from a number of organisations andstudied their communication.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the Swedish Public Relations and Communication profession from the Stockholm Accords point of view. The Stockholm Accords are an attempt to reflect Public Relations and Communication Management practice as it stands today and to provide a global common ground for the practitioners.The method used for this study is a quantitative research method conducted by a web survey answered by more than 400 Swedish communication managers. The questions posed were examining these managers view of their profession compared to the Stockholm Accords.The research shows that the Swedish way of implementing communication in the organization broadly corresponds to the Stockholm Accords when it comes to internal and external communication. However, there are some areas where Swedish communication practice diverges from Stockholm Accords. The issues which link governance, management and sustainability to communication have a much wider distribution of responses.