| dc.description.abstract | The current level of competition in the international business front has and still is experiencing a
lot of advancements than in the past few years. This is largely driven by dynamics in the global
business environment that continuously push firms to keep changing and adopt new ways
enhancing much better flow of business activities such as communication. Since a firm is an
open system, it interacts with both the internal environment comprising of employees and
management while at the same time interacting with the external environment which consists of
customers, suppliers and competitors continuously; the interaction that is mainly aided by
communication. Emergence of social media over the past few years has become a game changer
on how firms communicate with both the external and internal environment. It has emerged as a
very powerful frontier for businesses to meet their business objectives ranging from marketing,
sales, public relations, branding, reputation management, customer care, customer relationship
management, product development, to communications. It has made information flow borderless,
seamless, real time and less expensive while at the same time within reach of millions in the
shortest time. The project explored the understanding of the potential impact of social media to
international businesses when well executed, because the future of business requires a holistic
approach to adopting and integrating emerging trends on social media. The study adopted a
descriptive research design in conducting a survey of firms that participate in international
business that are based in Kenya. Data was collected from 10 firms based in Nairobi out of the
targeted 10 through questionnaires, which is 100% expected response. The data was analyzed
using measures of central tendencies, excel and statistical packages for social sciences and was
presented in tables, graphs and charts. The findings indicate that most of firms that participate in
international business actually have adopted the use of social media as one of their main
communication channels to the customers, suppliers and competitors. Most of them have also
reorganized the organizational structure and created a separate department that entirely deals
with social media; in so doing, they have managed to greatly improve customer service,
increased sales and marketing, reduces costs, increased their competitiveness and even aided
realization of several organizational objectives. The study recommends that the influence of
social media towards growth of international business is so significant to any organization
participating in the international business and as such it is imperative for a firm to pay special
attention and adopt active use of social media in order promote its growth of international
business front. | en |
