Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences

Faculty of Social Sciences

Masters program Management of Business Environment
SOCIAL NETWORKS IN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
Course Author/Tutor
Type of the Course
Credits
Type of Study
Course level
Study-Year/ Semester
Language
Prerequisites for the
Course
Course Summary

Course Methods
Learning Outcomes

Requirements for
Credits

Requirements for
course attendance
Examination

Assessment

Class Hours
Meeting the instructor

Dr. sc. pol. Visvaldis Valtenbergs

B (restricted choice)
2 credits (3 ECTS)
Full time
Masters
Second
English
Familiarity with most popular Social networking sites. Basic knowledge of sociology and public
administration.
The aim of this course is to increase students' knowledge about using social networks for
improving competitiveness of different business. Course will also raise awareness about using
social networks for increasing business sustainability. In this course students will familiarize
themselves with different types of networks and their impact on business environment. Course
emphasizes the actual learning and using social networking and most popular new media tools.
Students will also learn about innovating networking examples of business organizations,
government and non profit organizations.
Lectures, individual work, literature studies, group work
After finishing this course students:
Will be able to understand and explain course themes and concepts.
Will be able to analyze cases and problems related to main course themes.
Will practically be able to apply different social capital and networking approaches to
improve the work of business organizations.
Timely preparation and submission of all course assignments.
All the assignments should have a positive assessment (at least 4).
Adherence to the ViA Statement of Academic Ethics.
Course attendance
There is zero tolerance for plagiarism. The value of your own articulated thought is highly
appreciated. Students risk plagiarism for pasting of substantial volumes of text from other internet
sources, even if sources are properly referenced.
Students should participate in at least 75% of classes in person or via Skype.
Students arrange Skype sessions themselves.
As part of their examination, students should submit Final Paper. Students are given choice
between:
a) submitting Social Media Marketing Plan for existing, new or hypothetical business,
b) submitting Academic Essay about Social Network Theory Application based on
academic literature.
Presentation in the expert panel
20%. Participation in expert panel about social
networking theory application or social networking tools.
Summary about Social network related story or specific tools 30% (5 A4)
Final Paper - Social Media Marketing Plan or Academic Essay about Social Network
Theory Application 50% of total grade.
Classes are scheduled for Saturdays
Please check lekcijas.va.lv for times and room numbers.
Office hours for Instructor in Spring, 2016 are held in the class room in Valmiera, Csu st. 4. In
order to benefit from group and instructors expertise, students are kindly invited to ask questions
during the class and group work and avoid lengthy e-mails.
To improve the effectiveness of consultations with the instructor students should sign-up before.
The link to sign-up document is: http://bit.ly/bootXz
To sign up, please simply write your name down in Google doc. Keep 15-20 minutes per meeting.
If you are not going to attend, please delete your name from the list asap, so others can fill in your
spot. If you wish to come as a group, please specify this. If you are doing Skype consultations,
please specify this also.

Course Plan
Date
12 Feb

Topic
Introduction
Introducing
Explaining course objectives and
assignments.
Social Network Marketing Plan
Essay about Social Network Theory
Application.
Expert Panels

Assignment
Studies of course syllabus

Literature

13 Feb

Theory of Social Networks

Studies of literature

Social Network Paradigm. Networks in

Private and Public Sector.
Key concepts and properties of Social
Networks.
The strength of weak ties.
Homophilly, groups, brokers, transitivity

NodeXL self tutorial

Download and try out Social
Network Visualisation Freeware
NodeXL
http://nodexl.codeplex.com/

Castells (2000), Introduction pp. 127,

chs 1, 3, 8.

20 Feb

Visualizing and analyzing social networks

using basic metrics

NodeXL self tutorial

Download and try out Social
Network Visualisation Freeware
NodeXL
http://nodexl.codeplex.com/

NodeXL Tutorial

26 Feb

Knowledge of social networks.

Using social network theory to learn about
cooperation, equilibrium and matching
markets, learning, and diffusion

Expert panel 1
How social networks can help
us to understand fundamental
social and economic processes?

Jackson, M.O (2008) Social and

Economic Networks Princeton
University Press, chs. 7, 8, 10

Kadushin, C. (2012) 3, 13, ch. 12

Granovetter (1973) 1360-1380.

Easlly, D., Kleinberg, J. (2010)

Networks, Crowds, and Markets.
Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, chs. 10, 11,12.
4 Mar

Social Media Tools

Key Strategies in Using Social Networks in
Business
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter

Expert panel 2
What have we learned about
using the full potential of
Facebook, YouTube and
Twitter?

Sethi, M. (2009) Twitter up Your

Business. How to Market Your
Business on Twitter. Rockable MiniBook Series.
Veer, V. E.A. (2010) Facebook. The
missing manual. OReilly, pt. 2, 3,4.
Schepp, B., Schepp, D. (2009) How
to Make Money with YouTube.
McGrawHill.

11 Mar

Mobile marketing
Geolocation applications
Social location marketing
Community planning
Crowdsourcing
Social media strategy
Measuring Results
Most relevant metrics

Expert panel 3
Provide insight into Social
location marketing, mobile
marketing and crowdsourcing.

Michael, A., Salter, B. (2006)

Mobile Marketing. Elsevier.
Salt, S. (2011) Social Location
Marketing. QUE.
Strout, A, Schneider, M. (2011)
Location-Based Marketing for
Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Safko, L. (2010). Social Media
Bible, ch. 42.
Googles Search Engine
Optimization Starter Guide, v.1.1.

12 Mar

Business strategies in using social networks.

Consultations with instructor
about final assignments

Qualman, E (2010) Socialnomics:

How Social Media Transforms the
Way We Live and Do Business.
Wiley.
Silver, D. (2010) The Social
Network Business Plan: 18
Strategies That Will Create Great
Wealth Wiley.

19 Mar

Final papers (essay or strategy)

Compulsory Reading

Theories of networks
Jackson, M.O (2008) Social and Economic Networks Princeton University Press, chs. 7, 8, 10
Kadushin, C. (2012) Understanding Social Networks. Theories, Concepts, and Findings. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Easlly, D., Kleinberg, J. (2010) Networks, Crowds, and Markets. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, chs. 10, 11,12.
Social network strategies
Safko, L. (2010) The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success. Wiley
Qualman, E (2010) Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business.
Wiley.
Silver, D. (2010) The Social Network Business Plan: 18 Strategies That Will Create Great Wealth .
Wiley.
Baker, W. (2000) Achieving Success Through Social Capital: Tapping Hidden Resources in Your
Personal and Business Networks. Jossey-Bas.
Tools
Sethi, M. (2009) Twitter up Your Business. How to Market Your Business on Twitter. Rockable
Mini-Book Series.
Alba, A. (2007) Im on LinkedIn. Now What??? A guide to getting the most OUT of LinkedIn.
Happy About. Info.
Veer, V. E.A. (2010) Facebook. The missing manual. OReilly, pt. 2, 3,4.
Schepp, B., Schepp, D. (2009) How to Make Money with YouTube. McGrawHill.
Michael, A., Salter, B. (2006) Mobile Marketing. Elsevier.
Strout, A, Schneider, M. (2011) Location-Based Marketing for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Googles Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, v.1.1.
Salt, S. (2011) Social Location Marketing. QUE.

Additional Reading

Kadushin, C. (2012) chs 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9,

There are many web resources dedicated to Online Social Media, such as:
http://www.bigmarketingsmallbusiness.com/ www.addthis.com, blog.hubspot.com,
www.marketingland.com , www.marketingprofs.com, http://www.toprankblog.com/
www.mashable.com , www.techcrunch.com, www.techmeme.com