CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS

Maximizing Commerce and Marketing Strategies through Micro-Blogging
A book edited by Janée N. Burkhalter & Natalie T. Wood


To be published by IGI Global:

Introduction
Micro-blogging platforms such as Twitter are fast becoming part of the fabric of how businesses interact with their internal and external customers. For many businesses the adoption and use of Twitter is trial and error. So-called “best practices” are scant and those that do exist are based on minimal and often questionable research.

Many functional areas within an organization can, and do use micro-blogs such as Twitter. For instance, marketers from brands such as ESPN and Disney have found success with micro-blogging as a platform to engender word-of-mouth and facilitate customer-brand engagement. Companies such as Netflix and Best Buy have found success providing customer service via Twitter as they field questions and concerns from customers all over the USA. Human resource departments have begun to post job openings on the platform while recruiters often provide tips about searching for jobs via social media (e.g., Bank of America, Starbucks). From a finance perspective, IPOs and stock prices may be announced or discussed via the platform. For instance, Deutsche Bank AG authorized some of their investment bankers to operate a work related Twitter account. There are many other examples of various functional areas incorporating micro-blogs such as Twitter into their strategies, including sales, public relations and research and development.

Objective of the Book
This comprehensive and timely publication aims to be an essential reference source, building on the available literature in the field of commerce and micro-blogging while providing for further research opportunities in this dynamic field. It is hoped that this text will provide businesses with strategies, grounded in empirical research, on ways in which they can incorporate micro-blogs into their organization. We aim to achieve this by drawing on the collective wisdom of those academics currently conducting research on Twitter. Researchers from a variety of disciplines including, but not limited to marketing, management, finance, communications and law will be sought to provide their insight on specific issues, such as best practices, or over arching topics such as the legal, ethical and moral implications of adopting micro-blogs such as Twitter.

Target Audience
The audience for this reference book will include academics, students, social media strategists and business professionals. While this book may serve as a primary book for courses in e-Commerce or digital and social media strategy, it may serve as a supplemental text in courses such as Integrated Marketing Communications, Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior, or in capstone courses such as Marketing Strategy or Business Strategy. It is also hoped that this text will provide the resources necessary for functional level managers (e.g. finance, human resources, marketing), social media strategists and small business owners to successfully adopt Twitter into the organization.

This book will touch a variety of disciplines as it will be a presentation of the collective wisdom of many in an effort to present a cross-functional knowledge base about Twitter best practices across the firm.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to the following:
Contributors are welcome to submit chapters on topics relating to micro-blogging use, implementation, and adoption in business. Sample topics are provided below; however, this list is not exhaustive and other relevant topics are welcomed:

· The role of micro-blogs in business
· Developing a micro-blogging strategy
· Company policies surrounding micro-blogging
· Marketing communications via micro-blogs
· Micro-blogs for generating customer insights/business intelligence
· Sales and service via micro-blogs
· Micro-blogs as a recruiting tool
· Employees and micro-blogs
· Ethical considerations for micro-blog users in business
· Legal considerations and micro-blogs
· Case studies of how different companies employ micro-blogs
· Privacy and micro-blogs
· Barriers to micro-blogging
· Micro-blogging and non-profits
· Micro-blogs as sources of competitive information
· Value of micro-blogs to financial/investment decisions


Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before March 15, 2014. Whereas full manuscripts are preferred, authors may instead submit a 2-3 page chapter proposal. The proposal should clearly explain the mission and concerns of the proposed chapter, the current status of this work and an expected completion date. A current CV for each author should accompany each submission. Authors of accepted manuscripts or proposals will be notified by April 30, 2014 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are to be submitted by July 15, 2014. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This book is anticipated to be released in Spring 2015.


Important Dates
March 15, 2014: Proposal Submission Deadline
April 30, 2014: Notification of Acceptance
July 15, 2014: Full Chapter Submission
September 15, 2014: Review Results Returned
November 30, 2014: Final Chapter Submission