Report on the UNI Global survey on onlin
Di@logos.Net
Achieving more Inclusive European Social Dialogue through
Networking Technologies
Task 3: Review study and international survey on
online communications
Panos Panagiotopoulos
September 2012
Document and task history
Literature review and feedback from kick-off
meeting
September 2011
Consolidation of survey design
January 2012
Survey analysis and first version of the report
May 2012
Feedback from Communicators Forum and
interim project meeting
July 2012
Final report
September 2012
About the author
Dr Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos (Panos) is a part-time lecturer and research fellow in
Information Systems at Brunel University in London. His interests are in the use of
information and communication technologies in political and administrative processes
(eGovernment and eParticipation). His work has covered a wide range of case studies with
public, private and non-profit organisations, as well as surveys and online research studies.
Panos has been an advisor with the Greek Federation of Bank Employee Unions (OTOE)
since 2009 on issues of online communications and the use of social media. He was also
involved as a research associate in DialogoS+, the project that preceded Di@logos.Net.
He can be contacted at:
Panagiotis.Panagiotopoulos@gmail.com
or Panagiotis.Panagiotopoulos@brunel.ac.uk
He tweets from @DrPanPan.
Forefro t a d a k o ledge e ts
Online communications are becoming a momentous part of the trade union agenda,
therefore creating the need to systematically assess progress. The potential of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve union communications has been
associated with benefits such as reaching new audiences, connecting with younger workers
and p o oti g u io s’ positio s i so iet .
For the scope of Di@logos.Net, the objective of our work was twofold:
To review and compare current practices in Europe and at an international level.
To set the agenda in the field by identifying main challenges and recommendations
for future practice.
The current report for task 3 is centred on presenting the findings of an international survey
completed by 151 UNI Global affiliates that represent workers in all six continents. The
survey findings confirm the high global interest in online communications across different
countries and systems of representation in the workplace. Many of those unions have been
using a great variety of tools to realise online communications strategies. They anticipate
strong benefits from online communications, but also perceive noteworthy risks.
Leadership, resource availability and expertise are important factors that drive such
decisions. Social media are particularly associated with demands from members and
societies to promote union modernisation and transparency.
Overall, online means are recognised as key enablers of improved union communications,
but the critical factor remains the recognition of tools, activities a d people’s apa ities to
engage. This conclusion was further reinforced by the open comments received through the
survey and the fruitful discussions of the study outcome during the UNI Communicators
Forum at Nyon, Switzerland, June 2012.
The author thankfully acknowledges the UNI Global Union affiliates that participated in the
study, as well as the Di@logos.Net project partners for their feedback on the survey design
and findings. The author is also thankful to all participants and organisers of the
Communicators Forum for their support and interest in the study. In particular, I gratefully
acknowledge Rachel Cohen, the former Director of UNI Global Communications for her
continuous efforts to improve and distribute the questionnaire.
Page 3 of 27
Furthermore, I thankfully recognise the essential support of the European Trade Union
Confederation, Alex White and all those who helped to disseminate the questionnaire and
study findings.
Finally, my gratitude goes to Aristoteles Lakkas, the project manager of Di@logos.Net, and
to Ntinos Bakoulas and Manos Sofianopoulos for their general support throughout the
course of the project.
Contents
Forefront and acknowledgements
3
1.
Scope and motivation of this report
5
2.
Survey design and administration
6
3.
Survey findings
8
3.1.
Demographics
8
3.2.
Adoption of tools
10
3.3.
Websites and online audience
12
3.4.
Resources, skills and leadership
14
3.5.
Union environment and strategic orientation
15
3.6.
Additional comments
17
4.
Reflection and practical recommendations
18
4.1.
Summary of important findings
18
4.2.
Unions as networks of professionals
19
4.3.
Selecting and monitoring tools
20
4.4.
The online audience
21
4.5.
Rethinking Unions 2.0
22
5.
Lessons for European Social Dialogue
23
References
25
Supporting bibliography
25
Page 4 of 27
1.
S ope a d
oti atio of this report
Trade unions have been advised to to embrace a Unions 2.0 way of operating by
responding to the cultural and social transformation represented by Web 2.0 ha ges
(Bibby 2008). This recommendation followed the historical virtual trade union
demonstration on Second Life against IBM Italy in September 2007, which was organised
with the involvement of UNI Global Union (Blodgett, Tapia 2010).
Since 2007, the impact of social media has become even more apparent in every aspect of
people’s p ofessio al a d pe so al li es, hence changing our perspective of networking,
political representation and information sharing. Some trade unions have been making
considerable progress with online communications that help them reach new audiences and
spread their message further and faster. Others are focusing their efforts on understanding
what the social media concept actually involves and how this can be realised within union
communications. Many others are having difficulty to operationalise such plans due to
limitations by existing communication channel, lack of resources or expertise.
Given the international interest to examine how trade unions are experiencing the Union
2.0 transformation, this report presents and discusses the findings of a global survey
conducted with organisations representing workers in all six continents. The survey results
are based on 151 usable responses that originated mainly from communication
departments and international officers. The motivation for the survey was not only to
outline which tools are being used and how, but also to understand the factors that affect
decisions about online communications. Those factors are related to broader beliefs about
the benefits and risks of social media, support from leadership, resource availability and
influences from members and fellow unions. Also, there was an interest to position the
social media in a global perspective and examine whether their effects across different
geographical regions and contexts of representation.
The findings of study were extensively discussed during the UNI Communicators Forum in
June 2011 and further enhanced by comments from the Di@logos.Net project partners. By
reflecting on the findings, forum participants and project partners were able to offer
important insights and further develop the conclusions described in this report. Valuable
comments were also gathered from the Twitter conversation at #unicommunicators and
through further contacts with the author.
While the orientation of this study is equally academic and practical, the current report
focuses mostly on the practical aspects. Following the description of the survey
Page 5 of 27
methodology and findings, the report discusses the evolving nature of online union
communications and provides recommendations. The main message is that trade unions
have to actively seek knowledge of their online engagement audience so as to develop
informed communication st ategies. If u io s do ’t atte pt to
oade the spe t u
of
their activities on the web, it is likely that discussions of their immediate interest will occur
in spaces outside their attention. In other words, the traditional role of trade unions as
networks of professionals and official bodies of representation in the workplace cannot be
taken for granted on the web.
This study specifically seeks to promote a spirit of pro-activeness in union communications
and highlight the urgency for developing online channels that will effectively complement
existing ones. The implications of this message for European Social Dialogue are very timely
since trade unions in Europe are at the crossroads of new socio-economic conditions which
challenge their traditional role. Finally, beyond its findings for labour organisations, this
study seeks to contribute to our broader understanding of the use of information
technology by non-profit organisations (e.g. Zhang et al. 2010, Lovejoy, Saxton 2012).
Sur ey desig a d ad i istratio
2.
The academic part of this study was motivated by literature in information technology
adoption and an adaptation of the Technology – Organisation – Environment model in
particular. This model originates from the seminar work of Tornatzky and Fleisher (1990)
and relates the adoption of technologies with technological, organisational and
environmental variables. A wide variety of studies have built upon this model to examine
the adoption of information systems by public and private organisations (e.g. Furneaux,
Wade 2011) Along the three
odel’s dimensions, the following key variables were selected:
Technology: the perceived benefits and risks of online communication tools.
Organisation: availability of resources and support from leadership.
Environment: influences from members, fellow unions and from participation in
networks that promote the use of online tools.
The online questionnaire was hosted in the Survey Monkey system. Its first version was
de eloped i De e
e
, follo i g the p oje t’s ki k-off meeting in September 2011. In
January 2011, the questionnaire was pilot tested by the partners of the Di@logos.Net
consortium and members of UNI Global. This led to changes in several questions and
rewordings to ensure that potential respondents would be familiar with all questions.
Page 6 of 27
In February 2012, an email invitation was sent to all UNI Global affiliates, followed by a
reminder a few weeks later. Further to this invitation, the survey was circulated in
international lists relevant to union communications (ETUC working group and
AlexWhite.org). The survey remained open for completion for a period of 7 weeks. The link
to the questionnaire is available at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/social-media-and-unions (accessed 01/10/2012)
At the introductory page of the survey, visitors were informed about the scope of the study
and were asked to indicate how they were invited to participate. Then, they were asked to
complete a series of background questions (see section 3.1). Next, they were asked to
complete a group of descriptive questions about the use of tools in their union and their
website experience (sections 3.2 and 3.3). The rest of the questions followed the structure
of the model described above (sections 3.4-3.6).
In March 2012, the questionnaire was closed for completion and responses were
downloaded and analysed. The analysis reported here was carried out with the help of
Microsoft Excel and SPSS statistics. Apart from the descriptive statistics and frequencies,
relationships between variables were examined using either Pearson two-tailed correlations
or linear regressions. The relationships that are mentioned in the findings were found to be
statistically significant for at least p
Achieving more Inclusive European Social Dialogue through
Networking Technologies
Task 3: Review study and international survey on
online communications
Panos Panagiotopoulos
September 2012
Document and task history
Literature review and feedback from kick-off
meeting
September 2011
Consolidation of survey design
January 2012
Survey analysis and first version of the report
May 2012
Feedback from Communicators Forum and
interim project meeting
July 2012
Final report
September 2012
About the author
Dr Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos (Panos) is a part-time lecturer and research fellow in
Information Systems at Brunel University in London. His interests are in the use of
information and communication technologies in political and administrative processes
(eGovernment and eParticipation). His work has covered a wide range of case studies with
public, private and non-profit organisations, as well as surveys and online research studies.
Panos has been an advisor with the Greek Federation of Bank Employee Unions (OTOE)
since 2009 on issues of online communications and the use of social media. He was also
involved as a research associate in DialogoS+, the project that preceded Di@logos.Net.
He can be contacted at:
Panagiotis.Panagiotopoulos@gmail.com
or Panagiotis.Panagiotopoulos@brunel.ac.uk
He tweets from @DrPanPan.
Forefro t a d a k o ledge e ts
Online communications are becoming a momentous part of the trade union agenda,
therefore creating the need to systematically assess progress. The potential of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve union communications has been
associated with benefits such as reaching new audiences, connecting with younger workers
and p o oti g u io s’ positio s i so iet .
For the scope of Di@logos.Net, the objective of our work was twofold:
To review and compare current practices in Europe and at an international level.
To set the agenda in the field by identifying main challenges and recommendations
for future practice.
The current report for task 3 is centred on presenting the findings of an international survey
completed by 151 UNI Global affiliates that represent workers in all six continents. The
survey findings confirm the high global interest in online communications across different
countries and systems of representation in the workplace. Many of those unions have been
using a great variety of tools to realise online communications strategies. They anticipate
strong benefits from online communications, but also perceive noteworthy risks.
Leadership, resource availability and expertise are important factors that drive such
decisions. Social media are particularly associated with demands from members and
societies to promote union modernisation and transparency.
Overall, online means are recognised as key enablers of improved union communications,
but the critical factor remains the recognition of tools, activities a d people’s apa ities to
engage. This conclusion was further reinforced by the open comments received through the
survey and the fruitful discussions of the study outcome during the UNI Communicators
Forum at Nyon, Switzerland, June 2012.
The author thankfully acknowledges the UNI Global Union affiliates that participated in the
study, as well as the Di@logos.Net project partners for their feedback on the survey design
and findings. The author is also thankful to all participants and organisers of the
Communicators Forum for their support and interest in the study. In particular, I gratefully
acknowledge Rachel Cohen, the former Director of UNI Global Communications for her
continuous efforts to improve and distribute the questionnaire.
Page 3 of 27
Furthermore, I thankfully recognise the essential support of the European Trade Union
Confederation, Alex White and all those who helped to disseminate the questionnaire and
study findings.
Finally, my gratitude goes to Aristoteles Lakkas, the project manager of Di@logos.Net, and
to Ntinos Bakoulas and Manos Sofianopoulos for their general support throughout the
course of the project.
Contents
Forefront and acknowledgements
3
1.
Scope and motivation of this report
5
2.
Survey design and administration
6
3.
Survey findings
8
3.1.
Demographics
8
3.2.
Adoption of tools
10
3.3.
Websites and online audience
12
3.4.
Resources, skills and leadership
14
3.5.
Union environment and strategic orientation
15
3.6.
Additional comments
17
4.
Reflection and practical recommendations
18
4.1.
Summary of important findings
18
4.2.
Unions as networks of professionals
19
4.3.
Selecting and monitoring tools
20
4.4.
The online audience
21
4.5.
Rethinking Unions 2.0
22
5.
Lessons for European Social Dialogue
23
References
25
Supporting bibliography
25
Page 4 of 27
1.
S ope a d
oti atio of this report
Trade unions have been advised to to embrace a Unions 2.0 way of operating by
responding to the cultural and social transformation represented by Web 2.0 ha ges
(Bibby 2008). This recommendation followed the historical virtual trade union
demonstration on Second Life against IBM Italy in September 2007, which was organised
with the involvement of UNI Global Union (Blodgett, Tapia 2010).
Since 2007, the impact of social media has become even more apparent in every aspect of
people’s p ofessio al a d pe so al li es, hence changing our perspective of networking,
political representation and information sharing. Some trade unions have been making
considerable progress with online communications that help them reach new audiences and
spread their message further and faster. Others are focusing their efforts on understanding
what the social media concept actually involves and how this can be realised within union
communications. Many others are having difficulty to operationalise such plans due to
limitations by existing communication channel, lack of resources or expertise.
Given the international interest to examine how trade unions are experiencing the Union
2.0 transformation, this report presents and discusses the findings of a global survey
conducted with organisations representing workers in all six continents. The survey results
are based on 151 usable responses that originated mainly from communication
departments and international officers. The motivation for the survey was not only to
outline which tools are being used and how, but also to understand the factors that affect
decisions about online communications. Those factors are related to broader beliefs about
the benefits and risks of social media, support from leadership, resource availability and
influences from members and fellow unions. Also, there was an interest to position the
social media in a global perspective and examine whether their effects across different
geographical regions and contexts of representation.
The findings of study were extensively discussed during the UNI Communicators Forum in
June 2011 and further enhanced by comments from the Di@logos.Net project partners. By
reflecting on the findings, forum participants and project partners were able to offer
important insights and further develop the conclusions described in this report. Valuable
comments were also gathered from the Twitter conversation at #unicommunicators and
through further contacts with the author.
While the orientation of this study is equally academic and practical, the current report
focuses mostly on the practical aspects. Following the description of the survey
Page 5 of 27
methodology and findings, the report discusses the evolving nature of online union
communications and provides recommendations. The main message is that trade unions
have to actively seek knowledge of their online engagement audience so as to develop
informed communication st ategies. If u io s do ’t atte pt to
oade the spe t u
of
their activities on the web, it is likely that discussions of their immediate interest will occur
in spaces outside their attention. In other words, the traditional role of trade unions as
networks of professionals and official bodies of representation in the workplace cannot be
taken for granted on the web.
This study specifically seeks to promote a spirit of pro-activeness in union communications
and highlight the urgency for developing online channels that will effectively complement
existing ones. The implications of this message for European Social Dialogue are very timely
since trade unions in Europe are at the crossroads of new socio-economic conditions which
challenge their traditional role. Finally, beyond its findings for labour organisations, this
study seeks to contribute to our broader understanding of the use of information
technology by non-profit organisations (e.g. Zhang et al. 2010, Lovejoy, Saxton 2012).
Sur ey desig a d ad i istratio
2.
The academic part of this study was motivated by literature in information technology
adoption and an adaptation of the Technology – Organisation – Environment model in
particular. This model originates from the seminar work of Tornatzky and Fleisher (1990)
and relates the adoption of technologies with technological, organisational and
environmental variables. A wide variety of studies have built upon this model to examine
the adoption of information systems by public and private organisations (e.g. Furneaux,
Wade 2011) Along the three
odel’s dimensions, the following key variables were selected:
Technology: the perceived benefits and risks of online communication tools.
Organisation: availability of resources and support from leadership.
Environment: influences from members, fellow unions and from participation in
networks that promote the use of online tools.
The online questionnaire was hosted in the Survey Monkey system. Its first version was
de eloped i De e
e
, follo i g the p oje t’s ki k-off meeting in September 2011. In
January 2011, the questionnaire was pilot tested by the partners of the Di@logos.Net
consortium and members of UNI Global. This led to changes in several questions and
rewordings to ensure that potential respondents would be familiar with all questions.
Page 6 of 27
In February 2012, an email invitation was sent to all UNI Global affiliates, followed by a
reminder a few weeks later. Further to this invitation, the survey was circulated in
international lists relevant to union communications (ETUC working group and
AlexWhite.org). The survey remained open for completion for a period of 7 weeks. The link
to the questionnaire is available at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/social-media-and-unions (accessed 01/10/2012)
At the introductory page of the survey, visitors were informed about the scope of the study
and were asked to indicate how they were invited to participate. Then, they were asked to
complete a series of background questions (see section 3.1). Next, they were asked to
complete a group of descriptive questions about the use of tools in their union and their
website experience (sections 3.2 and 3.3). The rest of the questions followed the structure
of the model described above (sections 3.4-3.6).
In March 2012, the questionnaire was closed for completion and responses were
downloaded and analysed. The analysis reported here was carried out with the help of
Microsoft Excel and SPSS statistics. Apart from the descriptive statistics and frequencies,
relationships between variables were examined using either Pearson two-tailed correlations
or linear regressions. The relationships that are mentioned in the findings were found to be
statistically significant for at least p