Managing Corporate Reputation through Social Media

Abstract

The primary objective of this chapter is to highlight how social media can be used to strengthen stakeholders' relationships and build social capital for the organization, thereby enabling the organization to build, manage and sustain CR. The chapter begins with a brief overview of existing thought, approaches and terminology related to CR and proceeds to identify the interactions of each stakeholder with the organization through social media. The tenability of various forms of social media as viral videos, blogs, forums and micro blogging websites in furthering CR and the extent of their effectiveness are examined using cases derived from secondary data. Further, the chapter discusses methods of measuring the success of an organization's social media initiatives using different techniques and strategies for restoring reputation post a crisis by using social media. Finally, the chapter demonstrates a systematic process of strategizing and planning CR using social media and creating organizational infrastructure to achieve this end.