Reflection: Social Media and Corporate Transparency Annotated Bibliography

This paper was my first ever attempt at an annotated bibliography, and while this paper is essentially

very similar to another paper used in this portfolio, this is a reflection more on the actual process of

creating an annotated bibliography rather than a reflection on content.

Over the course of the graduate school process, I have since written at least seven different annotated

bibliographies. In writing all of those annotated bibliographies, I found that creating a process or

formula for completing each source is crucial to the success or failure of the paper. My formula for this

annotated bibliography went as follows:

4 to 5 sentences of summary

1 to 2 sentence of a description of the complexity of the article

1 to 2 sentences on the article’s use in the particular topic.

The summary of the article is fairly straightforward, but the challenging part is summarizing ten page

articles in a few sentences. With so many fantastic talking points, how does one pick exactly what to

include and not include? The answer is critical reading, and that is exactly what the process of building

an annotated bibliography has done for me: expanded my critical reading ability. I see now how

important reading critically is to the success of the graduate student, and equally I see how writing all of

those annotated bibliographies has directly contributed to my success.

Describing the complexity of the article was another entirely new concept to me. As someone who was

just learning about the topic area, how was I in any position to describe an article’s complexity? Of

course it was complex; I was still learning it myself. And here was another skill that I discovered was

essential to being successful in the graduate program: having the knowhow to become an expert

quickly. To become the expert one must possess the ability to think critically, creating connections

between the material being learned and what is already known. Without this skill, my versatility in the

working world would be hindered greatly.

The last portion of the annotation is crucial in connecting the ideas together. For the reader it’s a

combination of summary and complexity, but for the writer it is a marriage of critical thinking and

critical reading; a fine summary of two essential traits of a graduate student. the right combination of

critical thinking and reading not only elevates the level of discourse, but prepares the student for real

world application of various ideas, and provides for a prioritization of ideas and thought processes.

Satisfaction with this assignment: 5.5

1

Social Media Networks and Corporate Transparency

Social networking sites have become a significant source of public interaction, and the

proliferation of these sites has provided corporations with another media to reach their target

consumers. Corporations can learn more from the public about what consumers are expecting in

terms of product, corporate identity, social responsibility and overall corporate transparency. The

downside of increased consumer connectivity is that problems with a corporation or a company

have a wider scope and reach more people faster. Relatively simple issues like a mistake with a

customer’s order or a single negative consumer experience can create a more significant impact

on the company’s audience. Corporate problems have a larger impact on consumer confidence

and crisis management, corporate identity and transparency become key concerns. To learn more

about their target audience’s needs and expectations and increase consumer confidence

corporations must embrace social networking sites.

Communication Problem

A company has seen a drop in consumer confidence and is looking for a way to increase

their transparency for its consumers, employees and shareholders. I propose that social

networking sites will not only increase transparency and corporate identity, but lead to happier

employees and higher productivity.

Christensen, L. T. (2002). Corporate Transparency: The Challenge of Transparency.

Corporate Communications, 7(3), 162-168.

Christensen scrutinizes possible misconceptions of transparency in terms of internal and

external corporate communication. He examines the legal and public pressure on a company to

be transparent and whether or not corporations are meeting the needs of the shareholders and the

public. He continues with a discussion of the assumed definition of transparency through

corporate communication, misunderstandings and public expectations. Christensen claims that in

order for a company to be entirely transparent each branch of the company and employee must

be aligned with the company’s identity. This is a good introductory text for people unfamiliar

with corporate transparency and corporate communications. In terms of the topic, this article

2

expresses the necessity to be transparent and challenges the assumptions that companies may

have about their external identity.

Simoes, C., Dibb, S., & Fisk, R. (2005). Managing corporate identity: An internal

perspective. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 33(2), 153-168.

Simoes, Dibb and Fisk argue that corporate identity, brand management and image

should be controlled and maintained consistently with special attention to be paid on ways to

internally manage corporate identity. The authors claim that consistency is essential; confirming

Christensen’s findings. The study develops a “measure of the CIM [corporate image

management] construct drawing on the literature and primary data.” This study helps quantify

corporate identity in order to ensure consistency across the entire scope of the company. This is

article offers information for the intermediate reader with some background knowledge on

branding and corporate identity. The article relates to the topic in that it confirms Christensen’s

claim that external identity in only achieved through internal management. The article provides a

way to quantify corporate identity to ensure that even with increased corporate exposure and

transparency, the company’s image and identity remain intact and in line with corporate goals.

Elia, J. (2009). Transparency Rights, Technology and Trust. Ethics and Information

Technology, 11(2), 145-153.

Elia discusses the moral implications of corporate transparency in terms of increasing

trust within shareholders. He argues that trust and transparency are not necessarily intrinsically

linked to trust which is a common assumption of some corporations. Elia proposes that in order

to increase trust, a corporation must keep in mind the shareholders’ rights and safety when

making decisions about disclosing information. Simply disclosing information, while increasing

transparency, is not a morally conscious decision in terms of public and shareholder trust. The

information in this article would be easily understood by someone with a limited understanding

of transparency. Elia describes transparency and trust and explains, in detail, why these elements

are important considerations in corporate communication. The article explains how trust, and in

essence shareholder and consumer confidence, are influenced positively and negatively by

transparency. The article goes on to explain how to make decisions about transparency that will

instill long term trust within the shareholders and consumers.

3

Madsen, P. (2009). Dynamic Transparency, Prudential Justice, and Corporate

Transformation: Becoming Socially Responsible in the Internet Age. Journal of Business

Ethics, 90(4), 639-648.

In this article Madsen describes how corporate transparency, in the past a traditionally

slow process, has been made an easier, faster practice with the advent of various internet

technology. He describes this increase expediency of corporate disclosure as “Dynamic

Transparency.” He argues that, because of the almost instant interaction between a corporation

and its shareholders and consumers, dynamic transparency can lead to easier crisis management

and makes information sharing more effective. Madsen continues by claiming that dynamic

transparency will allow corporations to go above and beyond their legal responsibilities and

share more information that will impact the public. He also claims that dynamic transparency

allows for more control of the company’s image and will provide better opportunities for crisis

management. The article clearly defines dynamic transparency and describes its implementation

within a corporation, making the article easy to understand by someone with a beginner’s

understanding of transparency. In terms of this topic, the article describes how internet

technology, with its speed and ease of use, has provided a more effective opportunity for

companies to remain transparent to its shareholders and consumer market.

Vaccaro, A. & Madsen, P. (2009). Corporate dynamic transparency: the new ICT-driven

ethics?. Ethics and Information Technology, 11(2), 113-122.

Vaccaro and Madsen continue the discussion of Dynamic Transparency by claiming that

new internet technologies provide for a two-way exchange between a corporation and their

stakeholders. This two way exchange will give a corporation an important outsider’s point-of-

view into their business and identity that might otherwise be unknown; information that directly

impacts the corporation’s consumers. Because of this two way exchange and the benefits it

provides for the consumer, Vaccaro and Madsen argue that dynamic transparency allows for a

corporation to become more socially responsible. To completely understand the vocabulary and

concepts in the article, it should be supplemented with Madsen’s article, “Dynamic

Transparency, Prudential Justice and Corporate Transformation.” This article fills in the gap

between transparency and becoming a more socially conscious corporation, a link that directly

4

benefits the consumer and, thus, increases consumer confidence. The link between transparency

and social responsibility is paramount in solving the communication problem of improving

consumer confidence. This article also confirms the notion that increased discussion with

shareholders and the public will increase productivity and innovation.

McIvor, R., McHugh, M., & Cadden, C. (2002). Internet technologies: supporting

transparency in the public sector. International Journal of Public Sector Management,

15(3), 170-187.

McIvor, McHugh and Cadden discuss more elaborately how internet technologies affect

consumers directly, rather than just the two way discussion between a company and its

shareholders. They discuss in detail the different ways internet technology can improve corporate

social responsibility (CSR) and specifically how to implement and use such technologies. The

authors detail uses of intranet to open lines of communication between employees and

management alike as well as the use of extranet to communicate securely with other companies.

The use of intranet and extranet to connect more freely with employees and other corporations

provide for more innovation and lead to better social responsibility. The security of these

connections ensures the safety of the shareholders’ investment. A reader with intermediate

understanding of corporate transparency and internet technology could easily digest the

information. In terms of the communication problem, the article articulates specific methods of

use for various internet technologies and how they relate to increased transparency and social

responsibility.

Vaccaro, A. & Patino Echeverri, D. (2010). Corporate Transparency and Green

Management. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(3), 487-506.

Vaccaro and Patino Echeverri discuss a shift in consumer expectations of social

responsibility, specifically towards environmentally friendly, or green, corporate decisions. The

authors propose that consumer confidence is influenced directly by corporate disclosure of their

environmental practices. Through analysis of over a thousand interviews with consumers, they

claim that consumers are more likely to accept a corporation’s image if that corporation displays

social responsibility in terms of green management. This article is easily comprehendible by

readers with a beginner’s knowledge of corporate transparency and little to no understanding of

5

consumer habits. To make the information easy to understand, the article includes tables that

clearly demonstrate consumer expectations. The article displays the importance of appearing

corporate social responsible in the eyes of the consumer. It shows that if a company aligns its

image and identity, particularly environmental awareness, with that of consumer expectations,

then consumer confidence will increase. More importantly, it demonstrates how transparency can

alter corporate image in the mind of the consumer, which is confirmed and discussed in detail in

later articles.

Zukin, S. & Maguire, J. S. (2004). Consumers and Consumption. Annual Review of

Sociology, 30, 173-197.

Zukin and Smith Maguire discuss that what products consumer buy establish an

individual and social identity. They claim that, socially, consumption helps categorize individuals

into larger global groups. However, as individuals, consumers create a specific and intricate

personal identity. Individuals establish this identity not through what they own, but their decision

to buy specific products. The authors go one to claim that increased technology has had two

effects of society. Globally, technology has broadened the social implications of consumption,

arguing that companies can cast a wider net to reach a large group of people. Conversely, they

also claim that locally, on a much smaller scale than the global community, companies must

focus their message, image, and advertising to a very particular audience whose needs are more

specific and refined. This article is more of a challenge to understand and interpret without

strong background knowledge of consumer analysis or having read similar articles. The article is

relevant to the topic because two ideas. First, it demonstrates the information companies can gain

by monitoring consumer activity. Secondly, it proves the important role that technology plays in

both learning from and reaching consumers.

Korthals, M. (2001). Taking consumers seriously: Two concepts of consumer sovereignty.

Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 14(2), 201-215.

Korthals claims that the measuring of Consumer Sovereignty, that is the growth of the

consumer as a socially, and ethically conscious individual, offers incomplete data on consumer

expectations. While the information is vital in creating a partial understanding of a consumer’s

attitudes, beliefs and needs, Korthals argues that an open line of communication between

6

consumers and corporations completes the analysis of public expectations. The author goes on to

state that consumer trust can only be achieved by this open dialogue between corporation and

consumer. He asserts that communication serves a two-fold purpose in terms of consumer trust:

First, the dialogue allows corporations to hear concerns and needs directly from its target

audience. Secondly, the line of communication itself shows consumers a willingness, on behalf

of the corporation, to be transparent and open to criticism and new ideas. The author uses

examples of the food industry to illustrate and justify his claims. This article demonstrates, once

again, that consumers are socially conscious entities. It also begins to establish the idea that

corporations need to communicate directly with their consumers in order to adjust to public

expectations and become completely transparent.

Lee, K. (2008). Opportunities for green marketing: young consumers. Marketing

Intelligence & Planning, 26(6), 573-586.

Lee surveyed over six thousand adolescents to determine the reasons young consumers

buy what they choose to buy. The author discovered four major factors: social influence,

environmental concern, self-image in environmental protection and perceived environmental

responsibility. Lee concludes by offering practical guidelines for marking adolescent consumers,

particularly global corporations trying to market Asian adolescents. This article is self-described

as an introduction of the idea of green marketing towards young consumers. The author offers

suggestions on how to supplement the research, and directly delivers the research, making the

article easy to interpret. This article relates to the communication problem for several reasons.

First, it corroborates the claim that consumers are social creatures, influenced by decisions of

other consumers. Secondly, the article demonstrates that consumers are environmentally and

socially conscious, and have come to expect the companies from which they make purchases to

share their social and environmental concerns. Earlier articles link this idea with the suggestion

that to communicate social responsibility, corporations must appear transparent to its target

audience. Lastly, the article shows through clear data the link between consumer confidence and

purchasing power.

7

Kelly, S. (2010). Herding Social Media: The use of technologies like blogs, Facebook and

Twitter is spreading faster than companies can cast policies to control the risks. Tresury

and Risk.

Kelly discusses the risks companies face with the proliferation of social media. She

claims that companies are ill prepared for and, more often than not, completely unaware of the

dangers of negative online communication. A company’s crisis management is often too slow in

reacting to negative press because they have not included themselves more actively in social

media networks. Kelly illustrates how companies can monitor and manage negative messages

directed at corporations through examples of corporations who have instituted a combined

marketing, IT, legal and human resources strategy. The author communicates that social media

networks have shortened the theoretical distance and time between people. She provides

examples of how comments consumers have made about a company from previous years are still

visible to this day. This article is not the typical scholarly article, but it does contain information

from authorities in the field of management, risk management, IT and marketing and supports

her claims with substantial data. This article is crucial in discussing why it is so important for

companies to embrace social media as a tool to reduce the impact of crisis, protect its

shareholders and to communicate openly with its public.

Juris, J. (2005). The New Digital Media and Activist Networking within Anti-Corporate

Globalization Movements. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social

Science, 597(1), 189-208.

Juris discusses how activists are using social media to communicate locally and globally

with other Anti-Globalization groups. Locally, they use the media to organize smaller groups for

rallies and to find like-minded people in a small area. Globally, activists use social media

networks for communicating their message to the masses and organize enormous campaigns

against global corporations and organizations. The message transfer and communication allow

for more concentrated and concrete arguments against more towards a global marketplace. This

article focuses on the methods used by anti-globalization groups in their utilization of social

media. This article is important to the topic because it further proves the need of companies to

use social media to meet opposing viewpoints on a common, familiar platform. And even though

8

the article focuses on ANIT-globalization groups, the methods used by these groups are

transitional for the purposes of a corporation.

Cardon, D. & Granjon, F. (2004). Social networks and cultural practices. Social Networks,

27(4), 301-315.

This article focuses on methods of determining the social practices of individual. Since it

has been confirmed that social interaction is important factor in consumers’ purchasing choices,

this information is invaluable in determining into which social and cultural groups fall. The

information and methodology provided in this article also provides companies with a way to

shape their message and identity to match altering social and cultural concerns. The article

employs sociological strategies for determining social and cultural practices. These sociological

methods are sometimes difficult to understand without a strong sociology background. However,

the descriptions of the cultural and social practices are easy enough for companies to interpret

and use when determining their corporate social agenda.

Liu, H. (2007). Social network profiles as taste performances. Journal of Computer-

Mediated Communication, 13(1), 25-50.

Liu claims that taste preferences can be determined by closely examining social

networking profiles, such as movie, book, interest and group choices. Liu uses several factors

(“socio-econimic” and “aesthetic influences”) to complete the taste preference analysis.

However, the information derived from social networking sites allow for a new insight into the

social and cultural practices of consumers that were difficult to obtain before the proliferation of

social networking sites. Liu continues by grouping the taste preferences into four separate

personas. Thos personas can be differentiated by what they convey: prestige, differentiation,

authenticity and theatrical. This article is easy to understand with a basic understanding of how

social networks gather personal information and what fields are available for individuals to fill

with their interests. The taste preferences derived from studying social network profiles can

provide companies with a better understanding of their target consumers. They can use this

information to influence their decisions about adjusting their corporate image and increasing

their transparency in terms of social responsibility.

9

Stroud, D. (2008). Social networking: An age-neutral commodity - Social networking

becomes a mature web application. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice,

9(3), 278-292.

Stroud uses is article to demonstrate the growing usage of social networking sites by an

older audience. He provides reasons how older generations have moved to the use of social

networking, describing how older generations began with use of business related networking

sites like LinkedIn and Monster and progressed to social networking sites to connect with lost

friends and further corporate contacts. The article outlines social networking sites, making them

easy to understand by non-users and describes clearly the increased use by older generations.

Most of the information gathered from the articles thus far has related directly to a younger

generation of consumers. This article proposes that social networking, while used predominantly

by young people, is being explored and utilized by older, more experienced generations. This

growing use from consumers of every generations means that corporations must consider

multiple factors when making information available to consumers through social networking

sites and phrasing said information. The upside of this increased use by all generations means

further exposure to a company’s attempts to be transparent.

van Zyl, A. S. (2009). The impact of Social Networking 2.0 on organisations. The Electronic

Library, 27(6), 906-918.

Zyl discusses the organizational use of social networking sites, describing benefits, risks,

and the actual application of using such sites. The author continues by illustrating specific

reasons why social networking is beneficial and specifically how to implement organizational

social networking while trying to limit the risks involved with such an undertaking. This article

shares specifics on organizational use of social networking sites but does not go into too much

detail. Still it provides a good framework that’s easily accessible to readers with a good

understanding of social networking sites. After the past articles that describe transparency,

consumer confidence and social networking sites, this article links all of those elements together

and is the nexus of solving the communication problem. Other articles that follow confirm these

assertions and delve into the particular and minute detail of using social networking sites to

convey corporate transparency and increase consumer confidence. This article is essential to the

10

topic because it creates the foundation and framework for the solution of the communication

problem.

Bennett, J., Owers, M., Pitt, M., & Tucker, M. (2010). Workplace impact of social

networking. Property Management, 28(3), 138-148.

Bennett, Owers, Pitt and Tucker claim that workplace use of social networking is under-

used and undervalued. They assert that social networking is a tool that companies can use to

increase productivity among other things. Another important reason for the use of social

networking sites is the increased input from employees on brand management, corporate identity

and social responsibility. Management can also ensure that its employees completely understand

the company’s image, a problem discussed in an earlier article on transparency. This article

focuses primarily on the internal benefits and creation of social networking sites for companies

both large and small. This article puts in plain terms how companies can creates an effective

social networking practice that is easy to interpret and synthesize by any reader. In terms of the

topic, the article adds another dimension to corporate use of social networking: internal use by

employees on an intranet networking interface. This use expands the role of social networking on

the corporate structure and increases the importance of corporations to use such networking sites.

Barnes, N. D. & Barnes, F. R. (2009). Equipping your organization for the social

networking game. Information Management Journal, 43(6), 28.

Barnes and Barnes discuss how social networking sites can be used and “leveraged

leveraged while maintaining a healthy respect for inherent risks.” They illustrate how social

networking sites are accessible enough now that they span multiple generations. While this

increased use social networking sites means increased connectivity and conversation between

management, employees, shareholders and the public, companies must learn the risks of using

such sites and learn how to manage those risks. The authors continue by claiming that

corporations may not understand how much social networking can positively impact their day to

day activities. The authors discuss ways for corporations to gain understanding of social

networking sites, and describe strategies for implementation and risk management. This article is

intended for use by companies who do not have experience using social networking sites, so the

language used in this article is easy to understand by all readers. Any concepts that may be over

11

the head of a novice user are explained clearly. This article is essential to the topic in that it

describes, in detail, the implementation and implications of corporate use of social networking.

Flores, F. & Bonson, E. (2010). Social Media Metrics and Corporate Transparency. Social

Media Metrics, 34(4), 23.

Flores and Bonson examine financial institutions and their utilization of social media

networks to communicate priority information to their shareholders and public alike. While this

article is not considered a standard scholarly article, the authors support their assertions with

substantial evidence from leading financial institutions. Flores and Bonson hypothesize that with

further proliferation of social media, corporations will begin to shift their use of social media

networks as primary information delivery interfaces. The article is easy to understand and

synthesize, and the authors clearly and succinctly describe concepts that may be outside of the

realm of understanding of the typical reader. This article explains the measurement of social

media’s effectiveness in terms of corporate transparency claims to their target audience. The

article also describes the importance of measuring the effectiveness so that companies can

continuously evaluate how they are doing in joining the “social media game.” This article offers

a summation of the solution for the communication problem.

Yen-Chun, J. W., Wen-Hsiung, W., Chun-Yu, C., & Ya, F. T. (2010). Exploring Corporate

Social Responsibility Education. Management Decisions, 48(10), 1514-1528.

The authors of this article claim that smaller and medium sized entrepreneurships do not

take the same amount of care and time as larger corporations do in educating their employees,

shareholders and general public about their socially responsible practices. The authors illustrate

this claim through the results of a survey given to 50 different industrial companies in and

around Taiwan. The authors also discovered that there were positive results of companies that

instituted some sort of regular and structured corporate social responsibility education. This

article contains ideas and foundational concepts that may not be easy to understand without prior

background knowledge with Factor and ANOVA analyses. As addressed in past articles,

corporate social responsibility education is directly related to consumer confidence. Through

various facts and figures, this article demonstrates that companies, large and small, should

understand and respect the value of corporate social responsibility education.

12