South African Journal of Information Management (Feb 2012)
Knowledge sharing through social media: Investigating trends and technologies in a global marketing and advertising research company
Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate social media technology trends in Nielsen – a global information and measurement company – and to establish how these technologies can help the company to create a knowledge-sharing culture.Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate trends in knowledge-sharing technologies in Nielsen.Method: The researchers distributed semi-structured questionnaires to a sample of employees in Nielsen’s Television Audience Measurement Department. They also conducted interviews with specific employees in this department to gain a better understanding of employees’ attitudes toward, and perceptions of, the use of social media tools for creating a knowledgesharing culture at Nielsen. The researchers validated the data to see whether it could support the research and used triangulation to create a holistic view of the data they received from the questionnaires.Results: The findings of the study revealed that respondents had a positive attitude to sharing knowledge with one another through using social media tools. However, some respondents thought that technology, in general, was ‘the tree of good and evil’. The survey findings showed that Nielsen did have social media tools. However, not all employees were aware of these tools or were willing to use the tools to share knowledge. This study highlighted the possible advantages of the social media for sharing knowledge and how Nielsen could use the tools more widely.Conclusion: In order for a knowledge sharing culture to thrive at Nielsen, its employees need to engage more with social media tools in their business practices.
