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Paper info: Social media as a B2B activity integrator and creator for the entrepreneurial firm

Title


Social media as a B2B activity integrator and creator for the entrepreneurial firm

Authors


Conor Drummond,
Helen McGrath
University College Cork
Ireland
Helen McGrath , Thomas O’Toole and Mary McCarthy

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 34th IMP-conference in Marseille, France in 2018.

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Abstract


Social media’s (SM) importance as a communication tool has been well documented (Leek et al., 2016, Mehmet and Clarke, 2016, Swani et al., 2014), yet we know surprisingly little about SM from an interaction perspective (Singaraju et al., 2016) or within an entrepreneurial business-to-business (B2B) context (Wang et al., 2016). Given that industrial marketing practice is profiting from SM used by marketers (Salo, 2017), this research gap is salient and raises a pivotal question: In what ways can social media act as an activity integrator or creator in entrepreneurial business-to-business networks? Adopting a business network and interaction approach (Snehota and Hakansson, 1995), the authors employ a case study research design (Yin, 2003) empirically grounded in the artisan food and craft brewery industry in Ireland. Findings suggest that case participants use SM platforms to interact with current and future potential business partners on a deeper level, moving past basic communication on Facebook and Twitter, demonstrating the ability of SM to synchronise key business activities, such as the coordination of information, the sharing of knowledge, and the mobilisation of resources among B2B partners. SM also provided a platform for the entrepreneurial firms to collaborate to create and co-create new business opportunities between current and future partners. Our contribution rests in highlighting the means through which SM can act as a valuable activity creator and integrator for entrepreneurial firms, in interaction, in B2B networks. Conceptualising SM as an activity integrator and creator holds significance for both research and practice. In this way, SM becomes part of the product/service offered by the entrepreneurs and acts as an activity integrator/creator in developing collaborations, catalysing innovations (Shaltoni, 2017) and promoting value co-creation (Andzulis et al., 2012).