Brand Communities Embedded in Social Networks †MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Brand Communities Embedded in Social Networks. Answer: Introduction: The use of social media is exploding, with customers adopting social media platforms rapidly[1]; however, the adoption of social media as a significant component of CRM is still lagging[2] or not fully implemented yet it has numerous benefits[3]. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, as well as blogs form complex and extensive networks of users who self-organize themselves into communities and groups. Users also join some of these communities and groups organized around lifestyles, restaurants, products, geographic locations, or politics[4]. Whether or not High Service Inc. participates, customers will always interact on social media; High Service Inc. can therefore, leverage social media use and growth to increase and enhance their customer engagement, directly respond to customer issues, measure social media activity, and gauge how customers perceive their brand [5] Description of the Project and its Objectives With a competitive business environment and the emergence of social media as a significant factor in online opportunities for marketing, sales, and better customer service, High Service Inc. is in the process of implementing a Social CRM program, within the larger company-wide CRM program that will incorporate social media and be available for use by the companys staff (that total 100000) distributed across the globe. The CRM is aimed at improving the customer experience and leverage its inherent benefits in the following areas; The project will, working with the Marketing Manager, propose the business case as well as determine requirements for the system. Working with a consultant, a list of vendors will be developed and a new system with between 3 and 5 solutions will be trialed and the most suitable one procured and integrated into the existing High Service Inc. architecture. The necessary social media (blogs, Instagram, Facebook, Linked In, and twitter) APIs will be procured. The new system processes will be trialed in conjunction with the department of marketing and after being satisfied, be implemented across the enterprise. The implementation will entail user training and support and analytics and metrics established to measure its impact and effectiveness. The project will be implemented following the agile development approach so as to minimize errors and have the project operational within the stipulated time period, with a greater focus placed on people rather than just the process[6]. Roles and Responsibilities Person/ Group Title Role Steering committee Consisting of ten senior executives, including Natalie Their main role is to oversee the entire program. They also ensure accountability with respect to sponsorship and participation. They demonstrate executive commitment to the program/ project in the long term, handle strategy and evolution, and adoption of proposed solutions[7] Natalie, the VP Operations Program sponsor Has the highest level responsibility for ensuring the project succeeds and will make the major decisions and calls on how the entire CRM project will be run. The executive sponsor has the final role in making key decisions in how a business or major program is run[8] Ito Program Manager Will manage different/ multiple projects within the entire CRMM project, of which the social media CRM is just but one of them. In a major program, the program manager runs multiple projects within the program[9] Ben, the Company CIO Project Sponsor Will handle the highest responsibility for decision making within the social media CRM project. Also responsible for coordinating withy other departments such as sales, finance, marketing, and procurement as well as hiring the members of the project team and the project manager [Author] Project manager The management of the project team, ensuring project is undertaken as required and deliverables for the social CRM project are achieved. A project manager is responsible for managing the entire team responsible for undertaking and fulfilling the project and the achievement of the project deliverables[10]. George Marketing manager Responsible for helping the project manager and project team in proposing the social media CRM business case and determining the requirements of the system External Consultant Consultant Helping the project team choose the vendors Marketing department Marketing department Help with testing of the new system and giving feedback during trial tests Other departments Sales, Marketing, Finance Help in determining user requirements and giving feedback during testing HR Department HR Help with hiring members of the project team, both internally and externally; the HR will place adverts for specific job roles, in conjunction with Ben and the project manager Stakeholder register This is the document used for managing the project that contains information concerning all the stakeholders within the project. The stakeholders refer to persons, entities, or groups or even organizations that can be affected, have an interest, or be impacted by the project, its outcome, whether this is directly or indirectly[11]. The stakeholder register is as follows; Stakeholder Register Project Name High Service Inc. Customer Relationship Management Project Charter Project Manager [Author] Objective of the Project To source, select, test, and implement a social media CRM Project Sponsor Ben Prepared By [Author] Date Prepared Submitted To Natalie, Stakeholder Steering Committee ID Name Organization Role Title Type of Communication vehicle for Communication Stake Influence Project Perspective Comments 1 Natalie VP Operations, High Service Inc. Program Sponsor Overall program coordinator Reporting to Steering Committee E-mail Has very high interest since the success of the entire CRM program depends to a significant level on how successful the social media CRM is High High Program sponsor Internal status meeting Verbal/ meetings 2 Ito High Service Executive Program Manager Overall project management Reporting to Steering Committee E-mail Has a high stake since is responsible for managing the entire program High High Manager Internal status meeting 3 Ben CIO Project Sponsor Decision making on hiring, staffing Internal status meeting E-mail Very high Very high Very high Hiring entire social media CRM team Direct Communication Verbal/ meetings 4 [Author] Social Media CRM project Project manager Managing project team Reporting to project Sponsor Very high Very high Very high Critical for project success Fulfilling project objectives Reporting to Steering Committee Reporting Internal status meeting E-mail Ensuring deliverables met Verbal/ meetings Testing and training 5 George Marketing Manager Decision making on needs in business case development Assisting in business case development Internal status meeting Verbal/ meetings High High High Critical in ensuring project approval E-mail 6 External Consultant External Selecting vendors Consultant External Official Communication E-mail High Medium Medium Consulting to choose vendors Status meetings E-mail/ verbal Reporting to team E-mail 7 Project team Social Media CRM team Delivery team Team Internal status meeting Verbal/ meetings Very High High Very High Project delivery E-mail 8 Steering Committee High Service Executive team Steering Steering Committee verbal Very High High very High Ensuring commitment and adoption Verbal meetings E-mail 9 HR Department High Service HR Hiring HR Department Internal status meeting E-mail High Very High Very high Hiring requisite staff for project team memos Verbal 10 Other Departments High Service Finance Supporting project team Departments Internal status meeting High Medium High Supporting decision making High service Marketing Memos E-mail High Service procurement 11 Customers The public Customers (existing and potential) Social media Social media High Low Medium 12 High Service Staff High Service Employees Using the system Staff of High Service Inc. Official Communication E-mail High Medium-Low High Future Users 13 Software/ system vendors Sellers of social media CRM software Providing solution Vendors External E-mail Very High High High Solution providers Verbal Stakeholder management Strategy This project has a variety of people, and the success of the social media CRM project and the entire CRM program of High Service Inc. depends significantly or wholly on the people involved in this project, namely the stakeholders listed above. The project manager must determine the stakeholders and the areas of the project they influence, and their level of influence. The commitment of the stakeholders to the project must be obtained and assured for the project to be successful; the stakeholders must buy in to the project[12]. Effective stakeholder management for a project requires certain soft skills as well as leadership sills to harness all the resources the stakeholders hold and keep them happy and involved. The basic framework for managing stakeholders is based on the balance of People-Process-technology. First of all, as the stakeholder registers shows, the stakeholders must be identified, along with their roles and titles[13]. After identifying the people, their level of impac t in the project is determined with regard to the stake they hold in the project as well as their influence and perspectives on the project. After this, a defined method must be determined on how they will be communicated with. The processes within the project, such as reporting and communication must be well defined, especially where technology is involved, such as using video conferencing, given that some team members will be remotely based and can only participate in the project through the web. The processes of how they communicate, make contributions, and attend meetings will be clearly defined, along with the applicable process technologies. Further, the project manager will ensure that the relevant stakeholders are trained in the processes and their attendant technologies. The stakeholders expectations will be determined and used as the basis for undertaking the projects; the expectations contribute significantly to determining the requirements for the project. This is premis ed on the principle that everything that is done (or not done) creates some form of expectation. The strategy will entail; Identifying stakeholders I the project, and having their expectations reviewed as well as analyzing their levels of interest and influence Devloping an effective communication strategy with the preferred communication methods and a defined schedule Reforming change/ risk impact analysis where a method for resolving conflicts is developed while also identifying adversaries and advocates for the social media CRM project Executing the project plans and evaluating success by engaging the stakeholders proactively and gaining feedback; the approach can be refined as feedback is obtained[14] Statement of the Project Scope The social media CRM project has the following scope; Selecting vendors and evaluating several solutions (between 3 and 5) and trying them out Establishing a robust social media presence in Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram Developing standard processes for the maintenance and updating of social media sites Developing a use policy that is acceptable and in line with organizational regulations for employees involved in the social media CRM Integration of accounts so that content can be leveraged across channels Developing and implementing a strategy to acquire customers/ fans and having a means for metrics and measurement Executing a plan that can be maintained and scaled, focusing on attaining specific benefits of better customer satisfaction and retention, customer service, and increased sales and revenues as well as a better brand presence and perception by the customers The project will be done in phases, starting with establishing the teams and stakeholders, followed by identifying and trying solutions than making changes based on feedback, and finally, a system wide implementation and training of the users[15]. Bibliography Baker, Ernest. "Planning Effective Stakeholder Management Strategies". Pmi.Org, 2012. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/planning-effective-stakeholder-management-strategies-development-6058. Bridges, Jennifer. "Difference Between Program And Project Managers".Projectmanager.Com, https://www.projectmanager.com/training/the-difference-between-a-program-manager-and-a-project-manager. Chinyio, Ezekiel. Construction Stakeholder Management. 2nd ed. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Conboy, Kieran, Sharon Coyle, Xiaofeng Wang, and Minna Pikkarainen. "People Over Process: Key Challenges In Agile Development". IEEE Software 28, no. 4 (2011): 48-57. doi:10.1109/ms.2010.132. 'Crestwood Associates'. "The Importance Of Executive Sponsorship For ERP/CRM Deployments - CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365". CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365, 2010. https://www.crmsoftwareblog.com/2010/03/the-importance-of-executive-sponsorship-for-erpcrm-deployments/. DeMers, Jason. "7 Reasons You Need To Be Using Social Media As Your Customer Service Portal". Forbes.Com, 2014. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/12/7-reasons-you-need-to-be-using-social-media-as-your-customer-service-portal/. Malthouse, Edward C., Michael Haenlein, Bernd Skiera, Egbert Wege, and Michael Zhang. "Managing Customer Relationships In The Social Media Era: Introducing The Social CRM House". Journal Of Interactive Marketing 27, no. 4 (2013): 270-280. doi:10.1016/j.intmar.2013.09.008. Moustafaev, Jamal. Project Scope Management: A Practical Guide To Requirements For Engineering, Product, Engineering, IT And Enterprise Projects. 1st ed. Boca Raton: Taylor Francis, 2014. O'Loughlin, Eileen. "How To Manage And Engage Project Stakeholders". Software Advice, https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/project-stakeholder-management/. Quinton, Sarah. "The Digital Era Requires New Knowledge To Develop Relevant CRM Strategy: A Cry For Adopting Social Media Research Methods To Elicit This New Knowledge". Journal Of Strategic Marketing 21, no. 5 (2013): 402-412. doi:10.1080/0965254x.2013.801611. Rymes, Andrew. "ERP CRM: Why You Still Need A Steering Committee After Go-Live". Catapult ERP, 2014. https://www.catapulterp.com/why-you-need-post-go-live-steering-committee/. Usmani, Fahad. "Stakeholder Register In Project Management". PM Study Circle - A PMP Exam Preparation Blog, 2015. https://pmstudycircle.com/2012/06/stakeholder-register-project-management/. Wang, Xin, Riley Dugan, and Jane Sojka. "CRM Systems With Social Networking Capabilities: The Value Of Incorporating A CRM 2.0 System In Sales/Marketing Education". Marketing Education Review 23, no. 3 (2013): 241-250. doi:10.2753/mer1052-8008230303. Zaglia, Melanie E. "Brand Communities Embedded In Social Networks". Journal Of Business Research 66, no. 2 (2013): 216-223. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.07.015.