Case has been adapted from http://www.businesscommunication.org/page/2017-student-writing-contest Case: "Linking In" by Kelly Grant, Tulane University Linkedin has become an important online social media networking resource for not only those seeking employment, but also for businesses seeking new customer contacts. In a recent article on Forbes.com, author Michael Arruda noted, Companies that have a greater proportion of their employees on Linkedin have more followers on their company pages. In fact, 9 out of the top 10 brands with the most followers on Linkedin have at least 60% of their employees on Linkedin. (Forbes.com, 2014) Here are some additional facts from the site, Factbrowser.com about Linkedin rise in users: Linkedin reports 135 million registered users worldwide with 7,610 Linkedin searches conducted per minute . The average age of Linkedin users is 44.2 years old 51% of online business to customer marketers use Linkedin with 83% of business to business marketers using LinkedIn 43% of US marketers have found a new customer through Linkedin (Factbrowser.com,2014) Case Scenario: You are the director of operations at a large online sales company called, Officegadgetsexpress.com. The company markets products mainly to businesses (business to business accounts) but also to individual customers who maintain home offices. Your products range from large copiers to coffee makers and everything in between. The company is specifically known for its customized storage systems and high end office chairs. You employ 200+ sales and customer support representatives. These representatives are the only personal contact customers have with your company, and they are responsible for taking special orders, resolving product issues, and selling additional specialty items not listed on the website. They are the front line of your business and are largely responsible for maintaining the reputation of your brand. In a recent meeting with the CFO, Megan Duffy, she gave you some disturbing news, "because of an influx of customer-returned inventory, we did not make our expected numbers in the fourth quarter - despite robust sales - and the first quarter doesn't look good. We might have to tighten our belts if we don't find a way to increase revenue." She added, "we need an increase in sales, which means expanding our customer base - ASAP." You know that means developing some creative strategies to reach new customers. At a recent sales meeting, before Megan Duffy shared the bad news with you, you talked to the employees about adopting social media in their day-to-day job responsibilities - and they resisted. In fact, they just said a flat out "no" stating that they believed social media was just a passing fad and that it would take too much time to learn and take them away from their customers. One long-timer, Jeff, said, "I don't even have a smart phone - if I could go back to not having a cell phone at all, I would." Many of the employees started with the company when it was just a catalog company that filled phone orders. Leaping to the 'com' side was a struggle for many of the service representatives who needed extensive training on the internet-based ordering/inventory system. You know that your competitors are already actively using social media like Twitter and Instagram to introduce new products to the market. You decide that to get your employees started in the social media world, you would require that each of them develop a Linkedin profile. Linkedin will be a new way for them to network with existing contacts as well as branch out to new customers. It seems like the perfect way to get everyone comfortable with social media