Impacting the B2B-Business Development Process: Social Media Usage within a Global Software Environment

Abstract

The thesis aims to explore and explain how Social Media impacts the B2B-Business Development process in a global software environment. Mixed-methods uncover the leading media platforms applied in the Business Development process cycle. The thesis produced a model, illustrating two dimensions of Social Media Business Usage, four critical Business Development process phases, and their impact on Performance mediated by Social Capital. To extend generalizability, future research may focus on testing the model for New Business Development exclusively. Significant contributions are classifying relevant Social Media platforms, distilling the process phases with the greatest impact on performance. The creation of new indices advances the performance discussion, and the typology of Business Developers capitalises on optimising the process sequence.