BUSN20016‐ RESEARCH IN BUSINESS

ASSESSMENT 1:
Social Media and its effect on Employee’s
Productivity ‐Case Study of Banking Sector in
Australia
Student Name: Student ID:
BUSN20016‐ RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
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Table of Contents
SECTION I…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
INTROUDUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
PROBLEM STATEMENT…………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES/QUESTIONS…………………………………………………………………….. 4
JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROJECT…………………………………………………………………………… 5
EXPECTED RESEARCH OUTCOME………………………………………………………………………….. 5
SECTION II ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS …………………………………… 7
Addiction………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 7
Distraction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7
Decline in interpersonal skills………………………………………………………………………………… 7
Sharpening Concentration……………………………………………………………………………………… 8
Knowledge and Learning……………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Improved Communication……………………………………………………………………………………… 8
Sharing of Information…………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
Morale Booster ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9
Conceptual Framework …………………………………………………………………………………………. 9
Hypothesis ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10
METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
SECTION III ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..14
ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY …………………………………………………………………………… 14
GANTT CHART…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 14
PROJECT BUDGET AND BUDGET JUSTIFICATION …………………………………………………. 15
REFERENCE LIST: …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 17
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SECTION I
INTROUDUCTION
Social media or social network such as Facebook, Twitter, Viber, Skype, LinkedIn,
WhatsApp, Google+, YouTube, Instagram etc. is the web based service that enable users
to create a profile and connect, interact and share information with other users. It offers
a global platform for users on facilitating the building of social networks or social
relations.
With the rapid growth of mobile technology and devices such as smartphones and tablets,
the popularity of social media has also grown substantially. Not only the younger
generation, all the age groups and generations are attracted on using and connecting to
social media. Thus, it has now become the part and parcel of our life. Nowadays, Instead
of asking for e‐mail address or phone/mobile number, people request each other for their
social network IDs for establishing a long‐term connections (Avalos, S. 2011)
Because of the ability to create value, success of any company largely depends on the
productivity of their employees. The popularity of Social media is now energizing and
perhaps even changing organization’s culture and the manner they conduct their
business. Thus, employees have even greater responsibility for the success of their
organization in this ever changing business atmosphere. Moreover, with the rapid
development of Information technology and social media, there is a greater reliance on
the productivity of knowledge workers. According to Ramirez YW, Nembhard DA (2004),
two third of the workforce comprises of knowledge workers. Therefore, it is now
mandatory to have digital skills and web connectivity for employees as well as for
organizations. Consequently, employees have started to spend more time on social media
engaging in non‐work related activities such as creating personal networks, checking on
family and friends, streaming and downloading music and video, checking sports scores,
following social bookmarks. (Munene and Nyaribo, 2016). Thus, there is requirement for
studies on how to generate a balance between social media usage and its impact on
productivity of employee in terms of use of resources and time of organization.
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PROBLEM STATEMENT
The use of social media during work hours has become a debatable issue. Some studies
claim that the use of social media in the workplace leads to better employee productivity
as it effects intermediate variables, such as higher morale (AT&T, 2008). Others argue
that the use of social media sites in the workplace causes distractions and loss of
employee productivity (Shepherd, 2011)
Moqbel, M (2012), found that the interaction of employees with friends, family members
and co‐workers through social media offers them with social support which boosted their
job satisfaction, organizational commitment, innovative behaviour, and job performance.
Whereas, the study by Nucleus Research showed that the use of Facebook at work results
in a 1.5 percent decrease in productivity (Nucleus, 2009).
Despite several studies, it is still somewhat difficult to make direct correlation between
use of social media on workplace and its effect on employee’s productivity. Therefore,
this research attempts to fill this gap by examining whether the use of social media by
employees during work hours affects their productivity. This study is conducted in
Australian banks to investigate the reasons why bank employees are using of social media
during work hours and, more importantly, how it impacts their productivity.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES/QUESTIONS
The main purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of social media on
productivity of employees of banking sector in Australia. Specifically, this study aims to
answer following research questions:
 RQ1: What are the motives for which bank employee uses social media during work
hours?
 RQ2: What is the average time bank employees spend on using social networking
sites during work hours?
 RQ3: What are the effects (positive or negative) of use of social media by bank
employees during work hours on their Productivity?
 RQ4: How can the social media sites serve the interests of companies by increasing
employee’s productivity and unleashing their potential in the workplace?
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These questions will ultimately help to answer the main objective of the project: reveal
the underlying rationale for banks and other companies to either allow or disallow the
use of social media sites in the workplace.
JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROJECT
Studying the use of social media in banking sector and its impact on the productivity of
employees is vital for several reasons.
First, it will be beneficial for banks as well as other companies to understand the
relationships elicited by this research. Recognizing the associations between use of social
media in the workplace and its effect on productivity of employee can help disclose the
underlying rationale for companies to either allow or disallow the use of social media
sites in the workplace. Moreover, Companies are always looking for the various ways to
enhance the job performance and productivity of the employees. If the use of social media
during work hours turns out to be one of these means, companies will be able to add the
use of social media sites in the workplace to increase productivity. Second, this study
contributes to social media, work performance and employee productivity literature.
This proposal will also help broaden the understanding of the effects (either positive or
negative) of social media on productivity of the employees.
EXPECTED RESEARCH OUTCOME
This research proposal is expects to have below mentioned outcomes by the end of the
project study:

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formal policies so as to motivate their employees.

will ultimately help banks to develop and analyse the strategies in order to
positively enhance the employee’s productivity.
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The result of the research proposal will be useful to Individual employees, Banks,
Financial Institutions, other companies and researchers.
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SECTION II
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
Productivity is measured as how much and how well employee produces from given
resources (Bernolak, 1997). If extra or improved good/service is produced from the
same resource, it is referred to as increase in productivity. The factors that affects
productivity in relation to use of social media in workplace includes addiction,
distractions in work, decline in interpersonal skills, sharpening concentration,
knowledge and learning, improved Communication, sharing of information and morale
booster.
Addiction
Addiction refers to excessive usage of social media by employees which may results in
wastage of time. According to Chen et al (2008), employee that excessively uses social
media sites and are addicted to them exhibits disorders like depression, sexual disorders
and loneliness that negatively affects their productivity besides impeding the reputation
of the company.
Study conducted by Accountemps in 2010 reported that 59% of 1,400 interviewed CFOs
recognized the waste of time as the main concern of use of social media in workplace.
Statistics also indicate that per month an average internet user normally spends 6 hours
on Facebook, which increases manager’s worries that those 6 hours may be spent in the
workplace (Shepherd, 2011). Some employees spends around 2 hours per day on
Facebook in the workplace (Robert, 2009).
Distraction
Distraction refers to diversion of attention away from work that disrupts employee’s
concentration. For example, employee receive personal Facebook alerts, new feeds,
sports news alerts and a range of other personal information that may divert them.
Decline in interpersonal skills
Decline in interpersonal skills refers to the likelihood of employees preferring email,
Facebook chats, Viber etc. as communication means instead of direct conversations. As
per, Diercksen et al, 2007, a major concern of use of social media is a decline in
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interpersonal skills. The impact is already noticeable in the younger group of employees,
who prefer emailing or texting co‐workers instead of direct conversations.
Sharpening Concentration
Sharpening concentration refers to the assumption that brain will be relaxed and
refreshed by taking short pauses/ breaks for social media uses and that results in
sharpening employee’s concentration. Fahmy (2009) found that seventy percent of the
employees who used social media sites for personal reasons resulted in sharpening their
concentration.
Knowledge and Learning
Ashraf and Javed (2010) states that banks must develop right attitude in its staffs for
using social media. It must be viewed as progressive and proper medium of social
communication and must be used as a constructive means for learning new things, ideas
and creating social contacts.
Another study found that companies gains competitive advantage if their top
management uses social media sites. (Collins and Clark, 2003).
Improved Communication
Fahmy (2009), found that employees who uses social media sites are nine percent more
productive because employees connected to others via social media are more social by
nature and are skilled at working together with others along with solving the problems.
Bennett et al (2010) defines the use of social media sites in workplace as an essential
means for knowledge transfer and communication among internal and external
stakeholders of an organization. Email, blogs, messaging, chatting, file sharing, discussion
groups etc. are the means of communication social media sites can offer to the users. As
majority of businesses relies on team works, those means help workforces to access new
resources, data, information, contacts and develop professional networking. Various
industries including tourism, entertainment, advertising etc. have adopted the social
media sites in workplace and took its advantage (Isheriff, 2010).
Sharing of Information
Social media sites can also assist in forming a strong association among employees by
providing them with the ability to better understand those with whom they are working.
This social connection could then help develop the working relationship. The
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improvement could include gaining a better understanding of what motivates the people
around them, as well as allowing them to share what motivates them. (Diercksen et al,
2007).
Morale Booster
Study conducted by Moqbel, Nevo, & Kock (2013) identifies the use of social media in
workplace as a main source of social support for employees and states that they should
involve themselves in social media use to enhance work performance. It is because,
forming a social network with people from various backgrounds would ultimately help
employees to become happier at work, become more innovative and dedicated to the
company, and perform better.
Conceptual Framework
The primary objective of this study is to test a research model to explain the expected
association between use of social media site and impact on productivity. The diagram
(figure 1) below provides a conceptual framework to understand this relationship.
Independent Variable Dependent Variable
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework (Adapted from: (Munene and Nyaribo, 2016)
This conceptual framework summarizes the possible impact of use of social media
(independent variable) on productivity of employees (dependent variable) through
variable such as addition, distraction, decline in interpersonal skills, sharpening
Use of Social Media
in Workplace
Productivity of
Employee
(Positive)
 Sharpening Concentration
 Knowledge and Learning
 Improved Communication
 Sharing of Information
 Morale booster
(Negative)
 Addiction
 Distractions in work
 Decline in Interpersonal
Skills
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concentration, knowledge & learning, improved communication, information sharing and
morale booster.
Hypothesis
Based on the problem statement and the objective of the research, following research
hypothesis can be proposed that would be tested in this study:
Hypothesis 1:
H0: Null Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace doesn’t positively and
significantly affects Concentration of employees.
H1: Alternative Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace positively and
significantly affects concentration of employees.
Hypothesis 2:
H0: Null Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace doesn’t positively and
significantly affects Knowledge and Learning of employees.
H1: Alternative Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace positively and
significantly affects Knowledge and Learning of employees.
Hypothesis 3:
H0: Null Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace doesn’t positively and
significantly affects Communication of employees.
H1: Alternative Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace positively and
significantly affects Communication of employees.
Hypothesis 4:
H0: Null Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace doesn’t positively and
significantly affects Information Sharing of employees.
H1: Alternative Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace positively and
significantly affects Information Sharing of employees.
Hypothesis 5:
H0: Null Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace doesn’t positively and
significantly affects Morale of employees.
H1: Alternative Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace positively and
significantly affects Morale of employees.
Hypothesis 6:
H0: Null Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace doesn’t significantly result in
addiction and wastage of time of employees.
H1: Alternative Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace does result in addiction
and wastage of time of employees.
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Hypothesis 7:
H0: Null Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace doesn’t significantly distract
employees from work.
H1: Alternative Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace does significantly
distract employees from work.
Hypothesis 8:
H0: Null Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace doesn’t significantly affect the
interpersonal skills of employees.
H1: Alternative Hypothesis: Use of social media sites in workplace does significantly affect
the interpersonal skills of employees.
.
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METHODOLOGY
In order to effectively analyse the aim and objectives of the research proposal, below
mentioned methodologies will be undertaken in detail:
 Literature Review:
For the secondary data, various literatures will be reviewed in regard of this study.
Therefore, Information and data available from various sources including Google scholar,
CQU library online search, published journal articles, peer reviewed articles and various
books will be studied and analysed in detail.
 Population:
The target population of the study consists all the employees of top four banks in
Australia that uses social media sites for the period under studies. The top four Banks are,
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac),
National Australia Bank (NAB), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ). All the
target population have access to the social media sites in their banks/offices including
access from mobile devices.
As there is various level of employees in the bank, stratified probability sampling method
will be applied to include all levels. The prospective employees who will take part in this
study will be classified as “Executive Level”, “Managerial Level”, “Offer Level”, “Supervisor
Level” and “Assistant Level/ ordinary employees”. This classification is made to ensure
adequate representation of all the levels of employees in Banks.
 Participants/ Sample:
All the employees of above mentioned banks who has access to the social media sites in
their workplace including access from mobile devices are the participants for this study.
25 employees from each level (segment) as classified above from each banks will be
selected based on random sampling technique. As participants has been classified in to
five different segments, 125 employees from each four banks will be selected. Hence,
respondents of the study will consists of 500 participants.
 Data collection method:
For data collection, observations, questionnaires and interviews techniques will be used.
Majority of the questions will be close‐ended to enhance validity of the response. The
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selected respondents from “Executive” and “Managerial” levels will be interviewed
whereas questionnaires will be given to “Offer Level”, “Supervisor Level” and “Assistant
Level/ ordinary employees”. Casual observations of the behaviour of the participants will
also be carried out when they use social media sites on a computer or a smartphone. To identify
the position of the employees within bank, list of employees from each bank’s HR
department along with their position/level will be obtained.
 Data Analysis:
The data and information collected from Literature reviews, observations, questionnaire
and interviews will be scrutinized thoroughly using mixed methods i.e. qualitative and
quantitative data analysis techniques.
– Quantitative Data:
Quantitative or Numerical data will be obtained from questionnaire to quantify
attitudes, opinions, behaviours of the employees etc. Descriptive data analysis
technique will be used to analyse quantitative data. A series of examinations and
interpretations on the collected data will be carried out thoroughly to determine
the average time an employee spends in accessing social sites per day, the
motivations for the use and to explore impacts of these social sites on
productivities factors.
– Qualitative Data:
Qualitative or non‐numerical data will be obtained by observations, interviews
and literature reviews to gain the understanding of underlying reasons, opinions,
and motivations. Predictive data analysis techniques such as Analysis of variance
(ANOVA), frequency, chi‐square and Pearson’s correlation will be undertaken to
ascertain the degree of relationship between the variables.
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SECTION III
ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY
This report is organized in the following manner:
Chapter One will be the Research Proposal as outlined in this assignment.
Chapter Two will define the case studies of use of social media in workplace and its effect
on employee productivity in detail.
Chapter Three will contain conceptual framework and hypothesis.
Chapter Four consist of the details of methodology used in the research such as literature
review, Data collection and analysis methods, target population, Sample, Sample size etc.
Chapter Five consists findings of the research along with the analysis.
Chapter Six will be the summary of the main findings and discuss their implications in
the banking sector.
GANTT CHART

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PROJECT BUDGET AND BUDGET JUSTIFICATION
To complete the budget within given timeline i.e. 15‐Feb‐2017, the budget of the research
is estimated about $9,000. The justification for the budget is as follows:
 The Literature review to be undertaken requires the use of published journal
articles, peer reviewed articles and various books. It incurs costs to access and use
those articles and books. $500 has been estimated for this purpose.
 To distribute the questionnaires to respondents, it is possible to contact the HR
department of banks and ask them to distribute it to the employees. However, it
may take very long time. Therefore. It is better to approach the employees in
person and provide the questionnaire sheets. For that, it is required to employ
some individuals (at least one person for each banks) and need to pay them. Thus,
the cost for the payment to those individuals as well as travel and stationery
expenses is estimated at around $3,000.
 Similarly, to conduct the Interviews of the respondents and observations, the
expenses is estimated around $4,000.
1/07/2016 10/08/2016 19/09/2016 29/10/2016 8/12/2016 17/01/2017
Identification of research area
Formulate research questions
Formulate research strategy, design and…
Write research proposal
Literature review
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Final report and submission

Start Date 27/12/201626/11/201626/09/2016 1/09/2016 16/08/201620/07/201616/07/2016 1/07/2016
Duration in Days 14 30 60 24 14 26 9 14
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 For the purpose of collecting data, accessing figures/ charts etc. for data analysis
and using various software for data analysis (for eg. SPSS), we need to allocate
some budget. The estimated budget for this process is $1,500.
The summary of the expenses is:

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AT&T. (2008). Social networking in the workplace increases efficiency. London, UK:
Dynamic Markets Limited.
Bennett, J., Owers, M., Pitt, M., & Tucker, M. (2010). Workplace impact of social
networking. Property Management, 28(3), 138 ‐ 148.
Chen J, Chen C, and Yang HH (2008). An empirical evaluation of key factors contributing
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Collins, C. J., & Clark, K. D. (2003). Strategic Human Resource Practices, Top Management
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Isheriff. (2010). Strategies for managing social networking and personal web use in the
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Munene, A. G., & Nyaribo, Y. M. (2016). Effect of social media Pertication in the
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