Barriers to Dialogue

Organisational challenges for CSR communication in social media

Michael Etter, Mette Morsing, Itziar CastelloCopenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark

me.ikl@cbs.dk

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Theoretical Background & State of the Art• Principles of relationship building online (Taylor & Kent,

1998; Kelleher & Miller, 2006; Searl & Weinberger, 2000)

• Low degree of interaction in social media (Stieglitz & Latteman, 2007; Bortree & Seltzer, 2009; Briones et al., 2011; Fieseler et al., 2010)

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Research Questions

• RQ1: What are the barriers preventing a dialogic exchange in social media?

• RQ2: Do the identified barriers have a negative effect on the implementation of the dialogical principles of online communication?

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Case & Methodology

• Internationally operating, european pharmaceutical company, leading in CSR

• Launch of a CSR-Twitter account

• 4 semi-structured interviews

• Communications/CSR managers involved in strategy formulation and implementation

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“That is a fact we don’t know yet exactly how to handle with twitter.”

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“Long time effects are hard to predict. To forecast the return on investment is nearly impossible and thereby poses an internal risk.”

“The company traditionally has very conservative communication.”

“Of course we are prepared for the first case - it will come.”

Barriers to Dialogue in Social Media

• Unfamiliarity with social media– Tone of voice, perceived high risks

• Managerial scepticism– Uncertainty of outcomes, no strategic weight of SM

• Internal guidelines – Established ways of ”doing it the old way”, policies

• External regulations– Laws and regulations

• Lack of resources– Time constraints, human resources

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Negative effects

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  Principles of relationship building

Barriersuseful information

frequent updates

easy use and navigation

keep publics

communicate commitment

conversational human voice

Unfamiliarity x x X x

Managerial scepticism x x x X x x

Lack of resources x x x X x

Internal guidelines X x

External regulations x     X    

x x

x

x

Conclusion

• ”Look inside the organisation!”

• Emphasise organisational aspects

• Development of organisational capabilities

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