Leading by Tweeting

Abstract

This study examines the extent to which the leaders of business schools engage with Twitter to reach diverse audiences, the possible links between Twitter usage and the ranking of the Dean’s respective business college, and the linguistic/stylistic approaches adopted. We employed sentiment analysis to examine the linguistic approaches among the various tweets from the Dean’s account. The findings of the study suggest speaking at stakeholders from a public microblog may not be the most effective way to connect with them. Notwithstanding, biological and cognitive constraints limit the economy of attention and relationships in an online world.

Notes From the Editors: 60 Years Young and a Work in Progress

“…IJBC publishes a variety of communication scholarship which leads meaningful conversations about nonverbal behaviors such as silence and listening (Bisel et al, 2012; Cardon & Marshall, 2014; Lloyd et al, 2017). And IJBC has responded to technological developments by introducing numerous studies which explore emergent channels such as virtual networks, social media, instant messaging, eye tracking, and artificial intelligence (Cardon et al, 2019; Casado-Aranda et al, 2023; Darics, 2020; Naidoo & Dulek, 2017, 2018; Smith et al, 2018). Going further—and with advent of remote work— IJBC similarly publishes research on proxemics or the influence of physical space (Andrews, 2017; Kupritz & Hillsman, 2011).…”

The Language of Crowdfunding: An Exploratory Study of Entrepreneurial and Other Campaigns

“…There are four factors: clout, power, authenticity, and emotion. Naidoo and Dulek (2017) referred to these summary variables as "Perceived Leader Communication Traits (PLCT)" (pp. 38-39).…”

“…Analytic, clout, authentic, and tone represent summary variables generated by LIWC and are scaled to a 1 to 100 range using a proprietary algorithm, as previously mentioned (Tausczik & Pennebaker, 2010). Naidoo and Dulek (2017) referred to these summary variables as "Perceived Leader Communication Traits (PLCT)" (pp. 38-39).…”

“…A number around 50 suggests either a lack of emotionality or different levels of ambivalence" (Pennebaker et al, 2015, p. 22). LIWC's summary variables have been used extensively in psychology and management research, from examining the Twitter communications of business school deans (Naidoo & Dulek, 2017) to analyzing crowdfunding campaigns (Mahan et al, 2021).…”

“…In addition, our study examines how successful crowdfunding campaigns use language differently than those that fail. An exploratory design was chosen for this study because they are open-ended and flexible and designed to investigate new insights into phenomena (Blanche et al, 2006; Hair et al, 2019; Naidoo & Dulek, 2017). An exploratory approach would allow us to build on the current literature and explore new avenues.…”