Current challenges in social media management

Abstract

Social media management is an emerging field of academic research and organizational practice. It is concerned with the operational issues, managerial challenges, and comparative advantages that ensue from the adoption and use of social media platforms for organizational functions such as marketing and sales, customer support, product innovation etc. To investigate current social media managerial practices, we conducted a multiple case study, employing structured in-depth interviews with social media managers at some of the leading multi-national companies headquartered in Denmark (LEGO®, Maersk®, PANDORA®, Novo Nordisk®, and Carlsberg®). Empirical findings uncover the prevailing perceptions about social media amongst the managers, typical managerial challenges tied directly to coordinating social media productions, and uncertainty about the return of investment on social media activities.