MBA and Social Work

Assignment #3: Annotated Outline

MBA 6004 – Section 07

Steffen McGhee

November 1, 2015

· Introduction

· According to China Wholesale Marketplace (2004), Dhgate operates completely via the Internet. The company has social media profiles on all of the major social media sites, but they do not have a large presence or notariety. Dhgate encourages customers to post their purchases and comments in regard to the company on social media, but not much of this takes place.

· DHgate has some social media presence, but there are many areas for improvement where social media can create opportunities for more profit.

· Implications for the use of Social Media and the Internet

· Amazon is an Internet-based company just like Dhgate and they have a tremendous presence on social media and the Internet in general. Amazon uses the Internet and social media for marketing and advertising. According to Jefferson III and Traughber (2012), many companies and organizations are using social media as cheap and/or free advertising and marketing.

· When a company or organization has a international and/or diverse customer base, it is imperative to incorporate cultural diversity in every aspect of the company. According to Moore (2013), mulitcultural communities are proving to be affluent markets and if effectively engaged, prove to be beneficial for businesses. The reason for this is because minority groups and cultures are often times not reflected in marketing and advertisements so when companies relate to these groups they feel included and businesses are rewareded by gaining a new market of customers.

· Ethical Concerns and Implications

· Ethical issues are always something that businesses need to consider in every aspect of business operations.

· Many organizations and companies use social media to recruit new employees and interact with current employees. An example that Schultz, Koehler, Philippe, and Coronel (2015) used to demonstrate an ethical concern in regard to companies using social media in employee recruitment was that an employer hires a nurse for a position despite viewing the employee's facebook page and viewing her drinking alcohol to excess. This places the company at risk in the case that if the employee comes to work intoxicated and makes a mistake then the company could be held liable because they knew of a possible issue before hiring the employee.

· Evidence-based Strategy

· According to Ciprian (2015), social media use is extremely beneficial for businesses because it provides them with the ability to reach a large number of potential customers with little to no effort.

· “According to Forbes, 94% of corporates are using social media and 85% said that it has given their business more exposure” (Ciprian, 2015).

· Recommendations

· Statistics reveal that in 2013, 36% of marketers acquired customers via Twitter, 52% via Facebook and 43% via LinkedIn (Ciprian, 2015).

· Social media enables companies to have direct interaction with customers through polls, Q&A, two-way conversations.

· The use of giveaways and direct interaction between the company and customers has proven to be effective and is a way that DHgate can grow their customer base and marketability through the use of social media.

· Conclusion

· The incorporation of social media into a business’s infrastructure has proven to be extremely effective and profitable.

· The use of social media and the Internet can cause ethical dilemmas and concerns in terms of hiring, advertising, and marketing.

· Strategies such as polls and Q&As have been effective strategies that companies have used in regard to social media and the Internet.

· Using the recommended strategies, DHgate can begin to effectively use the Internet and social media to grow their business.

References

China Wholesale Marketplace. (2004). Dhgate. Retrieved from http://www.dhgate.com/