Running head: TECHNOLOGY AND LEADERSHIP FRAMES
Optimizing the Use of Technology and Social Media within Each Leadership Frame
Andrea N. Anthes
Virginia Commonwealth University
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TECHNOLOGY AND LEADERSHIP FRAMES
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Optimizing the Use of Technology and Social Media within Each Leadership Frame
“How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our
generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be
remarkable?” - Seth Godin
Introduction
Social media, which allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content in weband mobile-based platforms, became one of the most powerful sources for news updates in 2012
according to Wikipedia. In February 2012, Facebook had over 850 million users, and by May
2012 the social networking giant grew to over 901 million users (Dubow, 2012). Thirty-one
percent of Facebook participants reportedly check-in more than once a day (Dubow, 2012). If
Twitter users formed a country, it would be the twelfth largest country in the world (Brown,
2012). LinkedIn gains two new members every second (Brown, 2012). YouTube visitors spend
roughly fifteen minutes a day viewing videos (Brown, 2012). These statistics indicate not only
how popular social media is to the world, but also that this way of interacting with others is here
to stay. Leaders, therefore, must embrace this technology and acknowledge its advantages, while
also being aware of its challenges in order to avoid calamity in the workplace.
No matter which leadership frame (Bolman & Deal, 2008) a manager primarily operates
from, he/she can utilize technology and social media to optimize the organization’s performance.
Bolman and Deal (2008) describe four different frames, or sets of ideas and assumptions, which
help leaders understand and navigate organizations. The structural frame refers to organizations
as factories or machines where problems can be remedied through analysis and restructuring.
The purpose of organizations according to the structural frame is to achieve established goals and
objectives (Bolman & Deal, 2008). The human resource frame thinks of an organization as a
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family whose needs, skills, and relationships are a priority (Bolman & Deal, 2008).
Organizations exist to meet human needs rather than the other way around according to this
relationship-oriented approach (Bolman & Deal, 2008). The political frame revolves around the
idea that an organization is similar to a jungle, where power, survival, and competition are keys
to success (Bolman & Deal, 2008). While relationships are important to this framework, as well,
they primarily focus on networking or forming coalitions to eventually be awarded scarce
resources, rather than the human resource frame which puts other people’s needs first. The last
frame Bolman and Deal (2008) refer to is the symbolic frame, which can be compared to a
carnival or theater in that every member has a role and spectators form impressions based on
what is seen on stage. The symbolic approach emphasizes the importance of a group’s culture
and the meaning behind the organization’s actions (Bolman & Deal, 2008). Regardless of the
approach primarily used by a leader, certain technology and social media can be used to his/her
advantage.
Structural Frame
The structural frame places a great deal of emphasis on people’s formal roles and
responsibilities in order to maximize each member’s performance on the job (Bolman & Deal,
2008). Technological advancements have helped increase organizational outcomes by leaps and
bounds. Prior to networked office calendars, employees would have had to gather to arrange a
meeting, which could take an immense amount of time and planning to find an optimal
arrangement for everyone. Now that calendar access can be shared through web-based sources,
employees can more easily schedule meetings without causing distractions or interference to
one’s day. There are also online scheduling tools, like Doodle, that allow group members to
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block off the times of day that work best for them, and then, effortlessly, the organizer knows
what is the best time to meet for the largest group of people.
Perhaps one of the most advantageous benefits of technology today, is the ability for
many employees to telecommute, or work from home. While teleworking is still not approved
by some managers, there is a growing amount of employers that allow this flexible option.
Teleworking is a concept that would most likely align well with a structural leader. With
employees working from home, it would “minimize distracting personal static and maximize
people’s performance on the job” (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 47). An employee would spend less
time gossiping with co-workers at the water cooler and participating in office politics, because
he/she would be working from the privacy of his/her own home. Skype, a service that allows
users to talk in real-time over the internet with a microphone or webcam, makes it just as
seamless to hold a meeting with employees or clients face-to-face as it does from anywhere else
in the world.
In addition to increased productivity, telecommuting would also allow for a more diverse,
and potentially more qualified, pool of applicants for a job vacancy. Candidates could apply
from all over the world for a position if the job did not require the selected finalist to relocate to a
specific geographical area. An organization could find the perfect person for its vacancy due to
the utilization of growing technology. The idea of finding a person that is a good fit for the
organization is also a key assumption within the human resource frame (Bolman & Deal, 2008).
Human Resource Frame
Many employers are utilizing Google or other search engines to find out more about a
potential hire prior to extending a job offer to the candidate. Conducting an internet search on a
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person can unveil his/her work history or achievements, professional reputation, personal life,
and even his/her values and beliefs. This information can be crucial to deciding whether the
individual could be a good fit with the organization.
Once hired, social networks like Facebook and Twitter can be used by employers to get
to know team members better and to help ensure that the organization is meeting the employees’
social needs. By spending time and energy on getting to know each employee, an employer
invests in that important relationship, which can help to gain commitment from his/her team
member. When an employee feels committed, he/she is more likely to give his/her best effort at
work.
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, individuals are also motivated by social and
ego needs like inclusion, respect, and recognition (Bolman & Deal, 2008). By creating Facebook
or Twitter social groups, employers can help meet the needs of the employees by providing the
team with a platform to feel more involved. A group on Facebook could also be a great place for
public recognition of an employee’s achievements or a department’s successes. Additionally,
social networks can help leaders get a sense of whether a team member is meeting his/her fullest
potential. Employers may be able to judge how satisfied an employee is with his/her position by
reading his/her posts and comments. Leaders can help employees meet self-actualization needs
by providing each member with learning opportunities to develop to his/her ultimate capability.
Empowering employees, a key concept within the human resource frame, includes
keeping workers well-informed, as well as, “encouraging autonomy and participation,
redesigning work, fostering teams, promoting egalitarianism, and infusing work with meaning”
(Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 149). By getting to know employees through social network groups, a
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leader can foster relationships, create commitment, meet team member’s social, ego, and selfactualization needs, as well as, empower his/her employees by providing the group with up-todate information and encouraging members to be autonomous and innovative. Social network
groups can also lead to the formation of coalitions of various individuals and interest groups,
which is a key assumption of the political frame (Bolman & Deal, 2008).
Political Frame
Whenever there is a diverse group of people with differing interests, it can be safely
assumed that politics will come into play. Social networking can be strategically used for
building alliances and gaining power. The whole premise of social networking is to network or
develop relationships with people, and on platforms like LinkedIn, it is specifically created to
cultivate connections with individuals who can be helpful to one professionally. LinkedIn also
involves a major source of political power— reputation. “Opportunities and influence flow to
people with strong reputations,” (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 203), and LinkedIn gives users not
only the opportunity to network with past and current co-workers, but also the ability to “vouch”
for a co-worker’s professional qualities and abilities. This ability to contribute to a former coworker’s professional reputation is a simple way to network.
Technology makes it so easy to virtually find and connect with shared interest groups.
An organization focused on environmental sustainability, for example, could easily reach out to a
specific group with similar values by conducting a simple internet search or by searching through
other groups on Facebook. By building the organization’s alliance, and increasing the group’s
followers, they can also increase the likelihood of obtaining scarce resources, like government
funding for green initiatives.
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“Scarce resources and enduring differences put conflict at the center of day-to-day
dynamics and make power the most important asset [to groups]” (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 195).
While these differences can cause tension within an organization, certain technology, like private
blogs, can be used to help effectively negotiate the differing viewpoints. Blogs can be secured so
that only members of an organization can view certain posts and pages. These private sites could
be an appropriate way for employees to voice their opinions, even anonymously, on issues
involving decisions, goals, and the allocation of scarce resources. Once the leadership is more
informed on how the organization feels on particular issues, the administration can determine the
best way to divide the resources. The leaders could also use technology to have the employees
vote on how the resources should be divided. There are several online tools that would make
creating a survey, and analyzing the results, practically effortless. Survey Monkey is a popular
online tool that makes it incredibly easy to create surveys to send to stakeholders and analyze the
data at the touch of a button. Clearly, technology can make it easy for a leader to get a sense of
how an organization feels regarding a particular issue, but it can also be used by a leader
operating under the symbolic frame to reinforce the culture of the group.
Symbolic Frame
“Culture forms the superglue that bonds an organization, unites people, and helps an
enterprise accomplish desired ends” (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 253). Technology and social
media can be extremely helpful in spreading an organization’s culture to help reinforce that
bond. A company’s website can be designed to tell its story and showcase its brand.
McDonald’s website not only proudly displays its recognizable golden arches on every page,
they also have a tab entitled “Our Story,” which tells viewers how the worldwide franchise
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started as a small hamburger joint in California and now serves more than 68 million people in
119 countries every day. Visitors to the company’s website immediately recognize the brand
and then learn about McDonald’s story from its humble beginning to its booming success.
Websites are powerful tools to spread symbolic messages, but pictures can be even more
powerful than words. Flickr and Instagram are popular social media sites that allow users to post
and share pictures. Companies and organizations could easily create a Flickr album to spread the
image and message they want to share with the public. A college could create an album and post
pictures of its students engaging in meaningful, distinctive school traditions, having fun on the
well-manicured lawn, interactively participating in a classroom setting, and celebrating
graduation with large groups of close friends. These pictures are symbols that carry messages to
every person that views them. The spectator is not just observing a ceremony. The person is
witnessing an opportunity to feel included; to be a part of a long-standing tradition and all it
stands for.
Posting ceremonies online through pictures and videos can be a compelling way to spread
the culture of an organization and to achieve buy-in and understanding from outsiders. While the
benefits of utilizing technology and social media can definitely outweigh neglecting these tools,
a leader must also understand the challenges organizations face due to the constant accessibility
of information and online human communication.
Challenges of Technology and Social Media in Leadership
Facebook and Twitter can help a leader build relationships with his/her team. However,
it can also become more difficult to differentiate the line between supervisor and friend when
you become closer to your team members. People often use these platforms to share personal
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pictures and comments, however, what happens when a leader sees something that violates a
company policy or breaks a law? Many top headlines revolve around an employee losing his/her
job due to something the worker posted on Facebook. Some employees may decide not to
befriend a supervisor on Facebook for this very reason. Likewise, some supervisors choose not
to reach out to employees in this way in order to keep personal and professional relationships
separated. When professional relationships crossover into personal networks on Facebook or
Twitter, special attention must be paid to how people will interpret posts and comments, or even
the lack of comments. Even though the intention behind following someone on Twitter or
befriending someone on Facebook was pure, feelings could be hurt and relationships can be
damaged based on the misinterpretation of a written message. Like email, without hearing a
person’s tone or inflection, the meaning of what is written is up to the analysis of the reader.
Another challenge related to the use of technology or social media is that the media
depends on humans to produce and employ it, which means that a certain amount of human error
and surprise can be expected. Users frequently send text messages or forward inappropriate
emails to the wrong recipients, causing rifts in relationships. Sometimes a private post is
accidentally made public or an email reply meant for one is sent to all. Technology is so fast and
large-scale that a company cannot possibly have control over its message 100% of the time. In
fact, companies are more and more reliant on the message that customers create based on
individual experiences. When a customer has a bad experience, he/she may talk to the company
about what happened, but more than likely, he/she will post about the experience on Facebook or
Tweet about it to the public. A company can have a difficult time creating a tailored message in
this fast-paced, public environment. “The beauty of social media is that it will point out your
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company’s flaws; the key question is how quickly you address these flaws,” said Erik Qualmann
(2012) of Socialnomics, a blog developed with the intent of providing social and mobile statistics
and studies. In other words, a company can create positive opportunities for exposure in how it
responds to customers and criticisms. Excellent customer service can reinforce an organization’s
culture. Even negative social media can create positive outcomes if used wisely by an
organization.
Conclusion
Social media is growing at an exponential rate, and its place is firmly planted in the
world. Therefore, leaders need to adjust and learn to utilize it wisely within organizations.
Regardless of the leadership frame a manager primarily operates from, there are ways to utilize
technology and social media to one’s advantage. From a structural perspective, leaders can use
shared calendar functions and scheduling tools to easily gather the team together. Skype and
online conferencing allow more and more employees to work from the comfort of home. Being
away from the office prevents people from engaging in workplace gossip and increases overall
productivity. Teleworking can also increase the talent and diversity of an organization.
A leader can build relationships with team members by engaging with co-workers on
Facebook and Twitter. Growing relationships can help increase commitment from the group and
can also assist the manager in assessing whether the employee is satisfied and whether the
organization is effectively meeting his/her needs.
Relationships are also crucial to the political frame as coalitions fight for scarce
resources. Technology can make it easy to find other groups with similar values and interests,
which can be important when trying to gain power and influence. Leaders can use online tools to
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determine the differing opinions contained within the organization and how stakeholders believe
resources should be dispersed.
Stories, cultures, and brands— ideas central to the symbolic frame— can be shared
instantly and effectively using social media sites like Flickr, Instagram, websites, and blogs.
These platforms make it easy for an organization to tell its story and share its message to
followers.
While there are many advantages to the spread of social media, a wise leader should be
acutely aware of the challenges that this growing technology can bring. Hurtful comments or
posts can damage relationships, which can be extremely harmful in a work situation that requires
the involved parties to continue to interact. Human error can also put certain messages into the
wrong hands. The intended meaning of a message can be misinterpreted by the recipient when
one is unable to hear the sender’s tone and inflection in his/her blog post, email, or Facebook
comment. The other challenge leaders face with the growing use of social media is that
organizations do not have total control over the message they want to send to followers.
Everyone can post something on the internet now, and it may not be the carefully tailored
message that a company’s marketing department wants the world to see, but that does not make
social media an enemy. It is up to the leader to use these platforms to the best of his/her ability
from each framework. The leader must take advantage of “the greatest shifts of our generation,”
despite the challenges social media can bring, to show the world that they can be remarkable.
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References
Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice and leadership. (4th
ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Brown, D. (2012, June 8). 52 cool facts and stats about social media. Retrieved from
http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/52_cool_facts_and_stats_about_social_media_20
12_ed_11846.aspx
Dubow, K. (2012, June 3). The best social media stats, ever. Retrieved from
http://grow.gardenmediagroup.com/blog/bid/161124/The-Best-Social-Media-Stats-Ever
Newel, K. (2012, November 27). McDonald’s: Our story.
http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/our_story.html
Qualman, E. (2012, June 1). 14 thought provoking social media quotes and resources. Retrieved
from https://socialmediachimps.com/2012/06/14-thought-provoking-social-media-quotesresources/