Dynamic Process Analysis

Dynamic Process Analysis 

From the textbook, we have defined dynamic processes as “ flexible, informal, and adaptive processes that normally involve strategic and less structured managerial decisions and activities”. Typically for dynamic processes, it’s based on human judgment and is to solve the appropriate problems rapidly and readily. A few examples of dynamic processes are collaboration, social networking and ambiguous situations.  For our team, we decided to focus on the marketing for the dynamic business process of Home Depot. Marketing fits perfectly for Home Depot because they have developed multiple outlets for their customers' needs and questions. Home Depot's marketing has a solid social media presence which is paired with marketing; where they post on Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. On these platforms the company focuses on posting content such as: DIY tips, highlights of new products and Q&A with the customers. The leading marketing channel for Home Depot is Instagram. Here is the link to the Instagram page: The Home Depot (@homedepot) • Instagram photos and videos

The social media information system ( SMIS) that supports the process is Instagram which supports the marketing dynamic analysis. Although Home Depot has a solid presence on social media, Instagram is the best choice and stands out the most. Here are a few ways the company successfully executes social media information system: 

Customer Engagement & Interactions: Home Depot responds to customers inquiries and concerns, with this they provide excellent customer service because they reach a personal interaction with customers. 

 

This image illustrates how the company shares in the excitement and anticipation of the Christmas season, mirroring the enthusiasm shown by customers.

These images depict the company's efforts to actively engage with customers and maintain communication with them. This strategy aims to keep customers and the target audience interested in their products and services.

Consistent Message: Home Depot has built a strong identity across their Instagram page that has maintained consistency. The company doing this reinforces and demonstrates their core value as a company, which sets them apart from others in the competitive atmosphere of social media marketing.

 
Partnerships & Collaboration: Joe Porter, a music influencer helped Home Depot recreate their jingle using DIY items. This helps expand the brand's audience and introduce their products or services to new customers. 

This image illustrates the partnership between Home Depot and Dr. Shaquille O’Neal Ed.D. This collaboration is poised to expand the company's reach to a broader audience and enhance the appeal of their product.

Creative Content: Home Depot uses videos, images and catchy captions to entertain their audience and stand out from competitors. They’ve successfully done this by providing valuable content that is also visually appealing. 

Data-Driven Decision Making: Home Depot analyzes customer demographic, engagement metrics and sales figures to tailor social media content effectively for the appropriate audience. In return by leveraging data to inform decisions, they stay ahead of their competition. 

Home Depot recognizes the importance of social media as a tool for engaging with customers, building brand loyalty, and addressing concerns in a timely manner. According to the textbook, responding to social networking problems is defined as part of managing social networking risk, knowing the sources of potential issues, and monitoring sites for problematic content. Once such content is found, however, organizations need to respond appropriately. Three possibilities in such situations are: Leave it, Respond to it, Delete it. Below are some examples of screenshots showcasing how the company's Instagram account responds to negative and disappointing customer comments on its social media platforms. Conversely, we also see how they maintain connections with their customers and keep them informed about any inquiries they may have.

In this image, a negative comment appears from a dissatisfied customer, expressing their dissatisfaction with the experience they received. According to textbook suggestions, the company's social media team handled the situation appropriately. It appears that they neither replied or deleted the comment but chose to leave it as it was.

Scenario: Managing Negative Feedback on Instagram Promotion

Background: Emily is the social media manager for Home Depot. She oversees the company's Instagram account, where they frequently post promotions, DIY project ideas, and product showcases to engage with their audience.

Incident: One day, Home Depot launches a promotion on Instagram offering a discount on outdoor furniture sets. Shortly after the promotion goes live, Emily notices a negative comment on the promotional post. The comment criticizes the quality of the furniture sets and claims that a similar product purchased previously did not meet expectations.

Response:

Immediate Action: Emily promptly acknowledges the negative comment by responding publicly and expressing empathy for the customer's experience. She assures the customer that their feedback is valued and that Home Depot is committed to addressing their concerns.

Investigation: Emily privately reaches out to the customer who left the negative comment to gather more details about their experience and understand the specific issues they encountered with the product. She also investigates the product's quality and customer satisfaction data to identify any recurring issues.

Resolution: Based on the customer's feedback and internal analysis, Emily collaborates with the product management team to address the quality concerns raised. She ensures that the customer receives a personalized response outlining the steps taken to resolve the issue, such as offering a product replacement, refund, or store credit.

Reputation Management: Emily takes proactive steps to mitigate the impact of the negative feedback on Home Depot's reputation. She highlights positive reviews and testimonials from satisfied customers on Instagram and other social media platforms to showcase the company's commitment to customer satisfaction and product quality.

Follow-up: After addressing the customer's concerns, Emily follows up with them to ensure that they are satisfied with the resolution provided. She also monitors feedback on future promotions closely to identify any recurring issues and implement preventive measures proactively.

Outcome: Through Emily's prompt response and proactive approach to managing negative feedback on the Instagram promotion, Home Depot demonstrates its commitment to customer satisfaction and quality assurance. The company turns a potentially damaging situation into an opportunity to strengthen customer relationships and improve brand reputation.

In this scenario, Emily effectively manages negative feedback on an Instagram promotion, utilizing proactive communication and collaboration with internal teams to address customer concerns and uphold Home Depot's reputation for quality and customer service.

The structure of a social media plan

Emulating Figure 9-9, Home Depot has developed a social media plan on Instagram. The goal has consistently been to highlight new products and increase engagement with customers; especially if they have inquiries. On Instagram, Home Depot is able to identify success metrics by reviewing the likes, comments and shares provided by Instagram after every post or reel. The target audience for Home Depot is divided in two groups; DIY shoppers and professionals. DIY shoppers are those who are working to complete at-home projects and are looking for informative content, this group of audience benefits from the customer engagement of inquiries Home Depot provides. Professionals are the audience who are usually contractors or tradespersons, this audience gains knowledge from the highlight of new products Home Depot does. People would receive value from following Home Depot's Instagram page because their objective is to primarily provide their audience with valuable information and content. This is applied for those who are experienced and inexperienced in home improvement projects; the company is able to help those looking for answers and new potential tools. 

Personal connections occur when the audience makes comments, sends private messages and do reposts on their personal account. These are a few of the main ways social media shows you’ve made a connection with your audience. Home Depot benefits from this because they are able to do paid-endorsement or partnership with influencers. A few examples are: Chris Johnson, Shaquille O’neal and Ahsley Dixon. For Home Depot it is important for them to be able to gather and analyze data for their social media plan on Instagram. They are able to do this by looking at Instagram Analytics; this tool allows you to see who your audience is, when they’re most active and what kind of content they engage with. Instagram Analytics gives a much better overview because it gives specifics and isn’t focused on one singular post. This tool is very important for the nationwide company because it gives Home Depot an idea of what their content strategy should be because it forms results.

Textbook definition of Social Capital is “the investment in social relations with the expectation of returns in the marketplace”. You can build strong social capital in your personal life, such as helping someone get a job, and in professional settings when the objective in attending a business gathering is to network and strengthen connections. Social capital adds value in four ways which are information, influence, social credentials and personal reinforcement. To calculate social capital, we will need to use the formula: Number of relationships x Relationship Strength x Entity Resources. Using this formula, we can calculate Home Depot’s social capital on Instagram: 1,400,000 x 0.7 x 400= 392,000,000
Enterprise Social Network (ESN) is “ a software platform that uses social media to facilitate cooperative work of people within an organization”. It uses a social software that is specifically designed to be used inside an organization. It’s similar to a traditional social media platform with blogs, status updates, image and video sharing. However, the main objectives of an enterprise social network is to improve decision making, problem solving, communication, and cooperation within the organization. Rather an Enterprise 2.0 can be described as the “use of emergent social software platforms within the companies”, in other words, “the use of enterprise social networks”. It’s characterized into 6 components: Search, Links, Authoring, Tags, Extensions, and Signals (SLATES). Search refers to employees being able to search for information inside the organization just like they can do on the Web. Links, refer to workers being able to access organization content via links, and Authoring, means creating content via blogs, presentation, wikis, etc. The fourth characteristic is that they are able to be user tagged and organized into structures, such as www.homedepot.com. Extensions “enables them to rate tagged content and to use the tags to predict content that will be of interest to them”. Lastly, signaling is when you push something to them that might interest them without being asked. Some of Home Depot’s platform embodies components of Enterprise 2.0 such as “MyApronTHD”. It includes some elements such as direct messaging, and posting forums. Although it's an internal portal that facilitates collaboration and communication, it's more of a self service tool and can’t be fully considered as an enterprise 2.0. Whereas, Home Depot does utilize an enterprise social network, “The Warehouse”, that is specifically designed to encourage cooperation, knowledge sharing, and internal communication among Home Depot employees. With the use of tools like discussion boards, file sharing, news board, profiles, employees can communicate with one another, exchange information, and work collaboratively on projects.

 The Home Depot takes Social Media Information Systems (SMIS) security concerns seriously by implementing various measures to protect sensitive information and mitigate risks. Here are some ways in which The Home Depot addresses SMIS security concerns:

Access Control: The Home Depot employs strict access control measures to ensure that only authorized individuals have access to the company's social media accounts and related information. This includes implementing strong password policies, multi-factor authentication, and role-based access control to limit access to sensitive data.

Encryption: The company uses encryption techniques to secure data transmitted over social media platforms and internal networks. This helps prevent unauthorized access or interception of sensitive information, such as customer data or internal communications.

Monitoring and Detection: The Home Depot employs advanced monitoring and detection tools to identify and respond to potential security threats on social media platforms. This includes monitoring for suspicious activities, such as unauthorized access attempts, phishing attacks, or malware distribution, and taking appropriate action to mitigate risks.

Employee Training: The Home Depot provides comprehensive training to employees on social media security practices, including how to recognize and report security threats, avoid phishing scams, and protect sensitive information when using social media platforms for business purposes.

Incident Response: In the event of a security incident or data breach involving social media, The Home Depot has established incident response procedures to quickly contain the threat, investigate the incident, and mitigate any potential impact on customers, employees, or the company's reputation.

The Home Depot has a comprehensive social media policy that outlines guidelines and expectations for employee behavior on social media platforms. This policy includes guidelines on protecting confidential information, representing the company professionally, avoiding offensive or controversial content, and complying with applicable laws and regulations.

To manage inappropriate content and unfavorable reviews on social media, The Home Depot employs a combination of proactive and reactive strategies. Proactively, the company may monitor social media channels for mentions, reviews, or comments related to its products, services, or brand, and respond promptly and professionally to customer inquiries or complaints. Reactively, The Home Depot may have processes in place to address and escalate inappropriate content or unfavorable reviews. An example of this would be reporting offensive or abusive comments to the respective social media platform for removal, or engaging with customers to address their concerns and resolve issues.

An example of a social media IS that The Home Depot might use to manage social media interactions and monitor brand mentions is a social media management platform like Hootsuite or Sprout Social. These platforms provide tools for scheduling posts, monitoring social media channels for mentions and keywords, engaging with customers, and analyzing social media performance metrics. By using this platform, The Home Depot can effectively manage its social media presence, monitor customer feedback, and respond to inquiries or complaints in a timely manner while maintaining security and compliance with company policies.