- Title
- Organisational reputation management in South African Higher Education by means of social media policies
- Creator
- Van den Berg, Amanda Elise
- Subject
- Online social networks -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Corporate image -- Management
- Subject
- Education, Higher -- South Africa
- Date Issued
- 2016
- Date
- 2016
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Doctoral
- Type
- PHD
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45525
- Identifier
- vital:38640
- Description
- This study investigates reputation management in South African higher education institutions by means of the development and implementation of social-media policies. While other policies, such as marketing, computing, intellectual property, ethics and staff, and student disciplinary policies may exist, higher education institutions need to respond to both the new challenges and the new risks posed by the social-media practices and to develop explicit social-media policies for staff and students that are unique to that industry. Existing social-media policies of SA HEIs, as well as those developed within the finance sector and by international institutions of higher education, are analysed by means of in-depth interviews and documentary analysis, by using the same coding structure. Telephonic interviews with key personnel provide insight into the social-media policy development process of SA HEIs. In order to ensure research trustworthiness and rigour, the analytical process employed Consensual Qualitative Research. The research reveals that it has become necessary for organisations to understand the important role played by the social media in corporate strategies, in order to obtain optimal results for sustained growth and development. Organisational reputation, including the social media, need to be managed, not only as an isolated function or activity of the organisation, but as an integral element of all parts or subsystems of the organisation. Social-media policy development is only the starting point of ensuring a positive return for the organisation. The organisation needs to be seen to actively engage in the benefits and risks – by understanding the role of the social media within the various sectors of the organisation. A more strategic corporate strategy is proposed to meet the full potential and to manage organisational risk. universities need to develop an attractive and well-maintained reputation – with the aim of attracting the most accomplished researchers, staff, students and funders. In addition, the research reveals that HEIs can be seen as high-risk operations by their external stakeholders, including clients (students), funders and communities. It is argued that their outputs (research and students) fundamentally impact on their communities and on the interconnected environment. Organisational stakeholders are seen as important role players within an organisation’s and policy on how to manage these relationships; and the potential and real-time risks associated with such relationships become central themes, when managing the organisational reputation.
- Format
- 347 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Amanda van den Berg.pdf | 5 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |