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Research on community management conducted in the past has used primarily examples and case studies within large corporations. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) also need to be included in community management, exploring the ways in which they deal with community management and if the large company theories on the subject can be applied to them. In an attempt to respond to this gap in community management we respond to the question of how do small and medium-sized companies utilize communities to communicate successfully to their consumers? During our work, we noted that SMEs were facing two phases when dealing with community management. A strategic step, where the company has to define its goals, its targets, the means it will invest and the tools it will use to deal with community management. The second phase being an operational step includes the creation of communities and the management of them. In the strategic step, we pointed out questions which companies have to address before starting community management including the benefits that the company expects from the community, the amount it will invest in it and the tools the company will use. In the operational step, five main principles were highlighted as commonly used by SMEs to communicate through communities: (1) promotion of an Ideal, (2) uniting around shared interests, (3) the use of the myth as a gathering factor, (4) the importance of the community involvement in the company, and (5) the physical interaction between community members and the brand. Additionally, we found that SMEs have two main advantages when it comes to collaborating with customers/fans that large businesses did not have: proximity and flexibility. However, we found that it was difficult for small companies to find competent people working in the community management field. This lack of knowledge within SMEs appeared to be the primary reason why most brand communities failed. Therefore, in this thesis we aimed to point out good habits in terms of community management in order for SMEs to possess a basic knowledge, thus enabling them to benefit from their advantages of proximity and flexibility, which are a result of by their size and is essential for community management.

Due to the development of, and the opportunities that social media provides for different groups in society, companies and organizations are encouraged to be present on, and be a part of the new social media landscape. This research examines how five companies and five organizations use social media as a tool to create relationships with individuals, and what role social media plays in the daily communication work. The social media platforms discussed in this research companies and organizations can utilize not only to create an identity and work with branding, but also to apply two-way communication with individuals. The research applies qualitative interviews with representatives from each company and organization. The main findings revealed surprisingly that there are not any significant differences between companies’ and organizations’ way of using social media, but that it differs more between different kinds of companies and organizations. Most companies and organizations use different social media platforms for different purposes or to reach different target groups. Facebook and Instagram are the two platforms that most companies and organizations from the research use. Facebook is generally used to share information and Instagram to inspire. Furthermore, social media provides different possibilities to reach out to people than more traditional ways of communication such as print advertising and newsletters. Hence, social media plays an important role in the work with communication in order to reach out to people and can have a decisive effect for companies and organizations. The advantages of social media that the participating companies and organizations emphasized are that they get to have their own voice, they can themselves create interest and commitment, rather than using a PR-firm for example, and it enables two-way communication which in turn foster relationships with individuals. Finally, one of the biggest advantages highlighted is the fast communication that is enabled on social media platforms which keep the companies and organizations closer to the public

Master of Science / Department of Communications and Agricultural Education / Lauri M. Baker / The purpose of this study was to identify the needs of Kansas' agricultural producers in relation to financial and legal matters at a local level. The following research questions guided this study: 1) what services, identified by local producers, are needed in communities across Kansas to assist producers in times of financial and legal distress; 2) what are the perceptions among producers of the Kansas Agricultural Mediation Services (KAMS); 3) what brand attributes, names, and taglines would appeal to producers for an organization addressing their financial and legal distress; 4) how can organizations effectively market financial and legal services to producers? A qualitative study design was used in order to assess the research questions. Six focus groups were performed throughout the state in three different geographic locations. Participants were selected using purposive sampling in order to have one group of people familiar with the organization (KAMS) currently helping producers with their legal and financial issues and one unfamiliar group in each location. Grunig’s excellence in public relations model served as the conceptual framework for this study. Results of this study concluded that rural Kansas’ communities see a need for service organizations similar to KAMS. Participants value assistance with family farm transition planning as well as financial assistance. Participants saw marketing and promotion of the current services offered just as critical as having the services themselves. Participants felt these services should be marketed through two-way communication channels, such as social media, an organizational representative for face-to-face interaction, and collaboration with extension. Additionally, participants voiced strong opinions about various brand attributes.

This study analyzes the official Vkontakte group of United Russia during the period of January 10 – April 10, 2013. Parliamentary majorities of United Russia have been a pillar of the Russian political regime which, despite being undemocratic, is still characterized by considerable competition. Therefore, the study draws upon the two-way symmetrical model of public relations which is compatible with the catch-all character of the party and the horizontal, open-ended nature of social networks. According to the model, an organization wishing to build an attractive image should communicate with its publics in a two-way fashion and be ready to change in accordance with people’s preferences.   The method of content analysis is employed in the study in order to establish instances of two-way communication between the members of the group and its moderators. Special attention is paid to discussions regarding legislation since such conversations can clearly evidence that the party is ready to react to ordinary people’s interests and preferences. However, according to the findings of the study, the users’ messages seldom received feedback and almost all of their suggestions and questions regarding legislation were ignored.

The purpose of this study is to gain increased understanding of managers´ attitudes and knowledge about its role in the internal organizational communication. We want to understand how managers define dialogue and further understand the role that dialogue plays for managers. We want to see whether the different managers highlight some common foundations or differences in the dialogue. With the help of the following two questions we wish to understand managers´ relationship to the dialogue within the internal organizational communication:   -What meaning does the dialogue have for managers in the private sector? -What role does the dialogue play in the internal organizational communication according to these managers?   We use qualitative interviews as the data collection method of our material. Using material from the interviews and mainly in accordance with William Isaacs’ theory of dialogue, we can answer our questions.   The result shows that managers' views on the dialogue in many cases are similar to Isaacs’ vision but differs in part. The managers believe that employees are there to contribute to the company. The dialogue is used so that the employees in the business understand and reach the financial goals and visions. Isaacs says that all people are part of a whole and the dialogue is needed to achieve agreement and change. Isaacs also takes up the four pillars of an effective dialogue: listen, respect, await and talk undisguised.  Several of the managers agree with Isaacs that there has to exist a certain platform for an effective dialogue. We discovered three categories of the dialogues’ meaning and role for the managers and that the categories depend on the type of organization. All managers believe that the dialogue’s role is an important part of a well functioning organization. / Syftet med denna undersökning är att få ökad förståelse kring chefers syn och kunskap om dialogens betydelse inom den interna organisationskommunikationen.  Vi vill förstå hur chefer definierar dialog och vidare försöka förstå vilken roll dialogen spelar för chefer. Vi vill se om de olika cheferna belyser några gemensamma grundpelare eller skillnader vad gäller dialog. Med hjälp av följande två frågeställningar önskar vi förstå chefers relation till dialogen inom intern organisationskommunikation:    - Vad betyder dialog för chefer inom den privata sektorn? - Vilken roll spelar dialogen i den interna organisationskommunikationen enligt dessa chefer?   Vi använder oss av kvalitativa intervjuer som insamlingsmetod av vårt material. Med hjälp av materialet från intervjuerna och huvudsakligen William Isaacs teori om dialogen kan vi besvara våra frågeställningar.    Resultatet visar att chefers syn på dialogen i många fall är lik Isaacs syn men skiljer sig delvis.  Cheferna anser att människan är till för verksamheten och dialogen är till för att människorna i verksamheten ska kunna förstå och nå de ekonomiska mål och visioner vilka är uppsatta. Isaacs menar att alla är delar av en helhet och dialogen krävs för att kunna uppnå samförstånd och förändring. Isaacs tar även upp fyra grundpelare för en fungerande dialog; lyssna, respektera, avvakta och tala oförställt. Flera av cheferna håller med Isaacs om grunderna för en dialog. Vi kommer fram till tre kategorier för dialogens betydelse och roll för cheferna och att kategorierna är beroende av verksamhetstypen.  Samtliga chefer anser att dialogens roll är en viktig del för en fungerande verksamhet.

<p>This thesis is a philosophical contribution to the theories on risk communication. The topic of risk communication is approached from several different angles, but with a normative focus on equality and vulnerability.</p><p>Essay I is a comment on risk perception theory and the psychometric model in particular. In risk perception research individual risk taking is described as either a result of valuing the benefits from risk taking or a failure of comprehending the severity or probability of risks. The essay argues that sometimes individuals take risks simply because they are in a vulnerable position and have no other choice. Four factors are identified as crucial in risks from vulnerability: poor outset conditions, lack of reasonable options, hope and liability to disinformation.</p><p>Essay II addresses the democratic approach to risk communication and the ideal of risk communication as a dialogue between more or less equal stakeholders. The Essay argues that even the more innovative and dialogue oriented approaches to risk communication are unequal. This is often blurred by the confusion between the described ideal and the description of these newer approaches. This inequality is analysed in a three-fold way: influence over the communication process; influence over and access to information; and influence over risk decisions. The Essay develops a typology of different risk communication practices and influence distributions and concludes that the form of risk communication most commonly referred in the literature is the most imbalanced kind where all three types of influence falls to the same party.</p><p>Essay III explores the concept of trust, an often-mentioned objective for risk communication. The concept of trust is analyzed from previous philosophical approaches, and the idea of trust as comfortable defocusing is introduced. It is argued that not only the gains for the trustee but also the gains and risks for the truster, generally and in the case from risk communication, can be explained by this notion. It is concluded that public trust for institutions or organizations need not be framed on an individual level. Instead, the vulnerability of trusting can be counter-acted by a delegation of different stances, including both control and trust, among different individuals and institutions in society.</p>

Cholera remains a threat to public health in many developing countries, including Mozambique. Although the disease is easily preventable by practices of hygiene and sanitation, cases are reported in the country every year, as for example in the Lago district in 2015. This qualitative research project set out to explore in what ways the promotion of hygiene and sanitation practices on district level in Mozambique is carried out. Therefore, actors, messages and channels involved in these communication processes were explored via a field study in Lago and a review of relevant literature. Subsequently, the results of the field study and literature review were analysed by applying the concepts of one-way and two-way communication which are part of public relations theory. This analytical framework allowed the researchers to fill a gap identified in the existing literature about hygiene and sanitation promotion, which did not seem to include communication theories linked to public relation practices when it came to hygiene and sanitation promotion in developing countries as a method to prevent cholera. It has been found that the one-way communication approach towards the public was successful in handling the recent cholera outbreak of 2015, however, the approach is not substantial and should be improved into a two-way communication approach, which would allow the local population to express their needs in hygiene and sanitation, as well as their capabilities to implement change in these matters. Simultaneously, a lack of resources within the district authorities involved in hygiene and sanitation promotion seems to encourage one-way communication towards the public from their side, as two-way communication would demand further resources for research into the above mentioned needs and capabilities of communities.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly gaining ground in our daily life. There is a trend that the number of devices and data increases rapidly in the future. Meanwhile, IoT platforms are emerging to enable people conveniently deal with the IoT and these huge amount of data and devices. Therefore, the goal in this paper is to perform a quantitative evaluation on Microsoft Azure, one of the IoT platform, about its advantages and disadvantages under press to determine if Azure IoT is fit for future IoT. In order to reach this goal, Azure IoT Hub is used as a bridge to connect and manage lots of IoT devices which send and receive huge amount of data. .NET is used to simulate devices and connect them to the IoT Hub. The two-way communication from sensor to cloud and from cloud to actuator is implemented through MQTT protocol. This paper makes measurements on three metrics including response time from sensor sending messages to actuator receiving messages, scalability and cost and analyzes them in detail. Besides, the analysis is also made in a specific scenario which has high demand on sensor update to see how Azure IoT performs. Finally, conclusion is made on Microsoft Azure IoT's advantages and disadvantages under stress.

Social media is widely expanded worldwide with increasing number of users in social networks. Social media allows the consumers to connect directly with companies, which has led to a shift from traditional one-way communication to a two-way communication between both consumer to company and consumer to consumer. A successful two-way communication on social media engages both the consumers and the company. The rise of social media has quickly changed the marketing approach, as it creates new opportunities for the consumer to connect and communicate in a greater rich. In a two-way communication, the communication needs to create engagement from the consumers even though the consumer may not want to engage, contributing to a challenge for companies to communicate to customers in order for them to engage. It could be argued that companies should in some way get their customers to be more engaged even though the engagement can generate several outcomes in this complex communication approach. Furthermore, customer engagement could have an impact on the purchase intention for the consumer. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to investigate motives that create customer engagement with fashion brands on social media and the relation between customer engagement motives and purchase intention with a fashion brand. According to previous research, personal interest, entertainment, rewards and information acquisition and sharing are the most encouraging motives for customer engagement. Due to that fact, these motives were in focus in the study and the motives were also put in relation to their effect on purchase intention. The research was conducted by a quantitative study through a survey, in order to gather an overviewing perspective in customer engagement on social media towards fashion brands. The sample size reached a valid number of 109 respondents. The findings of this thesis give the impression that overall customer engagement is still low even for the investigated motives. This indicates that the respondents do not usually take part of the two-way dialog. The reliability seems to lie with other consumers rather than fashion brands on social media when searching for information. In addition, information acquisition was ranked as the most encouraging motive while personal interest is the motive that most encourage to purchase intention.