Social Media, Leadership and Organizational Culture: The Case of Romanian Leaders

Abstract

Starting with the late 2010s, the importance of social media in leadership was acknowledged and researched. While a promising beginning was first made by Kotter (1990) who discovered that effective managers spend more than 80% of their time interacting with others, later on researchers argued that social media is important when people need to accomplish work, gain upward mobility and develop personally and professionally (Ibarra 2007). Therefore, leaders and managers must understand how to use social media in order to influence team performance, strengthen the existing relationships and establish new connections between individuals, groups and other entities.

Social media are also an important tool for building the organizational culture of companies: it facilitates different types of relationships between leaders, managers, employees and other stakeholders, expressed in various forms; are good at conveying information and tasks to people working in time zones, locations and communities all around the world (Birkinshaw 2011); and are particularly fit for the younger generation of leaders (Millennials) known as being “digitally native”.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of social media by Romanian leaders and managers and to identify possible connections between social media, leadership styles and the organizational culture of companies. We based our research on Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid (Blake and Mouton 1964) and Goffee and Jones’ work on organizational culture (1996). Data analysis and correlation analysis were used in order to establish hypothesis; identify leadership styles; assess the organizational culture correctly. The participants in this study are managers and leaders working in 45 small and medium sized companies (SMEs) in Romania.

The paper is organized in 3 sections; the first is dedicated to the literature review (social media, Blake and Mouton’s grid and the matrix of social architecture, namely the concepts of sociability and solidarity); in Sect. 2 we discuss data, methodology and results. In the final section, based on our findings (team leadership style and communal organizational culture prevailing in Romanian companies) we conclude on the challenges all organizations face when leaders and managers need to decide what type of organizational culture works best for their companies looking for success in times of crisis.