TWITTER: PROCESSES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

BY JACOB A. MCGINNIS

SUMMARY• For the 10 years it has existed, Twitter has undergone significant

changes, both in its platform and layout, and within the organization itself, in order to stay relevant in an ever-changing social environment.

• Twitter’s growth has stalled, leading to the company rehiring one of its co-founders as permanent CEO in the hopes that he will be able to revitalize the stagnating company.

• The envisioned future of Twitter includes predicting the outcomes of current events. A lot of stock has also been placed in Twitter’s new mobile app, Periscope.

ABOUT TWITTER

• Twitter was founded on March 21, 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams.• The first tweet ever sent was by

Dorsey and it read “just setting up my twttr.”• Twitter’s bird logo is named after

the famous basketball player Larry Bird.

ABOUT TWITTER• Twitter is responsible for the video-based

social network, Vine.• The most followed brand on Twitter is

YouTube, not Twitter.• As popular as it is, with over 500 million

Tweets sent every day, Twitter still is not a profitable organization, with nearly $2.1 billion in accumulated revenue losses.

ABOUT PROCESSES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

• There are three stages in the natural life cycle of an organization:• Startup Phase• Growth Phase• Decay Stage

• There are two types of organizational change:• Planned Change• Unplanned Change (Crisis)

• Crises evolve in three stages:• Pre-Crisis• Crisis• Post-Crisis

ABOUT PROCESSES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

• Some factors that negatively impact organizational change are:• Lack of management support• Top managers forcing change• Inconsistent actions by key managers• Unrealistic expectations• Lack of meaningful participation• Poor communication• Unclear purpose of program• Unclearly identified responsibility for change

ABOUT PROCESSES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

• Some strategies used by managers to communicate about change are:• Spray and Pray• Tell and Sell• Underscore and Explore• Identify and Reply• Withhold and Uphold

EVOLUTION OF TWITTER

• The photo on the left is an early sketch by co-founder Jack Dorsey of what Twitter might look like. (2006)

• In 2007, Twitter made itself known at the South by Southwest technology conference, winning the web award.

• In 2009, the first photo on the scene of the Hudson River plane crash was released onto Twitter before any official news coverage.

EVOLUTION OF TWITTER

• In 2010, Twitter added “Promoted Tweets” to the native platform.

• In 2011, Twitter reached a milestone of 1 Billion Tweets per week.

• In 2012, Twitter released its first Transparency Report.

• In 2014, Twitter acquired 5 organizations including Gnip, Nano Media, Snappy TV, and TapCommerce.

• In 2015, Twitter partnered with Google to add related Tweets to search results.

TWITTER AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE• Co-founder and initial CEO Jack Dorsey was fired from Twitter in

2008 for mismanaging the company, focusing too much on his hobbies, failing to keep the Twitter database safe with backups, and frequently arguing with co-founder Evan Williams, who fronted the cost to start Twitter. Williams was given his position soon after.

• After being fired, Dorsey started rumors about Williams in order to discredit him and eventually have him removed from his position as CEO. His campaign was successful.

TWITTER AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

• Richard Costolo replaced Williams as CEO, and Dorsey was promoted from a company nobody to Executive Chairman.

• In 2015, Twitter reappointed Jack Dorsey as CEO. The reason for this change is the company’s belief that Dorsey would have “the moral authority as a founder to push teams to make big, bold changes at Twitter.”- Adam Bain, COO

TWITTER AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE• Applying theories of organization

change to Twitter’s CEO track record, we can see that Jack Dorsey failed to communicate properly about change, made inconsistent actions, did not participate enough, and did not provide support.

• It is clear that Twitter believes that rehiring Dorsey will solve the company’s growth issues. However, according to business metrics, Twitter is still currently in an organizational decay stage.

TWITTER AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

• To the left is a screenshot taken of a website for investors showing the change in attitude of 42 polled market analysts on what stockholders should do with their shares.

• Although the majority of analysts still suggest a hold on investments, the number of analysts predicting Twitter to underperform has more than doubled.

JACK DORSEY IS TWITTER’S CURRENT AND PERMANENT CEO. THIS IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF PLANNED CHANGE. THE IDEA FOR THIS CHANGE CAME FROM THE COMPANY BEING IN THE DECAY STAGE OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE CYCLE AND WANTING A VISIONARY TO LEAD THEM TOWARDS LONG-LASTING FUTURE SUCCESS IN AN EVER-CHANGING ENVIRONMENT.

TWITTER AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

NEXT: THE FUTURE OF TWITTER

• According to a Q & A session with Jack Dorsey by Bloomberg, Twitter will continue to augment reality, acting as a filter through which current events are relayed by the masses like a global telephone game.• Jack Dorsey plans to make Twitter function like a weather forecasting app,

so that users of the platform will be able to get predictions about the future of current events alongside live feeds.

NEXT: THE FUTURE OF TWITTER

• The instant connection to the world, its current events, and trends are what make Twitter so popular. Jack Dorsey mentions how he uses Twitter daily in this short interview with CNBC.• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bj9Sb8244Q• There has also been a lot of buzz about Twitter’s new live-stream video

app, Periscope. Although Dorsey believes that text-based social media will never be replaced by video, he has definitely acted opportunistically in the visual social media market.

PERISCOPE

• According to smallbiz.com “…Periscope enables you to “go live” via your mobile device anytime and anywhere. The app enables you to become your own “on the go” broadcasting station, streaming video and audio to any viewers who join your broadcast.”• Essentially, Periscope is a video version of Twitter, in which events unfold

in real time, but visually. For example, a Periscope feed of a puddle in England went viral, with 650,000 viewers present.

WRAPPING UP

• Twitter has gone through many growth pains and changes in management since its inception and release in 2006.• The company has changed hands many times, with CEOs being

fired and hired in the hopes that someone will be able to ensure Twitter’s long-term success.• Jack Dorsey has plans for Twitter’s future that include predicting

future events, as well as investments into the social media network’s new mobile app, Periscope.

WORKS CITED

• Frier, Sarah, Gillette, Felix, Stone, Brad (03/21/2016) retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-jack-dorsey-twitter-interview/• Mansfield, Matt (08/5/2015) retrieved from

https://smallbiztrends.com/2015/08/what-is-periscope-how-do-i-use-it.html• Price, Rob (05/17/2016) retrieved from

http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-changes-too-little-too-late-jack-dorsey-moral-authority-2016-5?r=UK&IR=T• MacArthur, Amanda (10/03/2016) retrieved from

https://www.lifewire.com/history-of-twitter-3288854

WORKS CITED

• Anon, (n.d.) retrieved from https://about.twitter.com/company/press/milestones• Shandra, Kim (03/21/2016) retrieved from

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/272803• Anon, (11/11/2016) retrieved from

https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/forecasts?s=TWTR:NYQ