JetBlue Airlines was an early adopter of social media and stands out in its use of digital platforms. This case study examined how JetBlue's organizational structure and public relations practitioners' roles have changed with the rise of social media. Key findings include public relations practitioners taking on new social media responsibilities and collaborating across departments without formal training. Hierarchies did not change but social media facilitated greater cooperation between public relations and executives. JetBlue also developed social media policies and training to guide employee usage. Overall, JetBlue adapted to social media by distributing tasks flexibly while maintaining centralized control. Both practitioners and the organization evolved to integrate social media effectively while upholding cultural values like customer service.

1. Is the flight crew on board?: The effect of
digital media on organizational structure
A case study on JetBlue Airlines

2. Background
• Fortune 100 companies in
the US, Europe and Asia use
social media to reach publics
– 79% use at least one platform
– 20% use all four platforms
– 65% use Twitter
– 33% use corporate blogs
– 54% use Facebook Fan Pages
– 50% use YouTube
Burston-Marsteller 2010

4. • Announcements and news
• Events and promotions
• Customer service
• Conversations with other
users and companies
• Monitor what is said about
them and competitors
• Environmental scanning,
external research
• Make company executives
available in real time
Reasons companies use social media

5. • Social media research has focused on…
– Growing use in organizations
– Use of blogs
– Overall impact on public relations
– Adoption of social media tools by practitioners
– Practitioners’ individual perceptions of how digital
media have impacted their roles and the industry
– Implementation of social media in nontraditional
communications programs
Research problem

6. • Focus on organizational theory
organizational social structure
– Three components
• Division of labor
• Hierarchy of authority
• Formalized rules and
procedures
Solving the research problem

7. Typical organizational structure

8. 1. How have communicators’ job
descriptions changed?
2. How are social media assignments
carried out by communication
department employees?
3. Have organizational hierarchies
changed?
4. Have social media polices been set
in place about using digital media in
the workplace?
Research questions

9. Case in point…
• Founded in 1999
• Airline industry leader known for innovation
• Emphasizes customer service and satisfaction
• Early social media adapter
• Stands out in the digital space
– 1,596,873 million Twitter followers
– 417,900 Facebook Fans

10. • Public relations
department owns
social media
• Practitioners
perceive their
roles as more
important
Literature review

11. • Organizational theory
– Division of labor
• Practitioners adapting
their roles to perform
digital media tasks
• New breed of
professional with
technical and
managerial expertise
Literature review

12. • Organizational theory
– Hierarchy or authority
• Individual practitioners
perceive their power
and influence are
enhanced by the extent
to which they use the
Web / digital media
• No research on
whether this power is
institutionalized
Literature review

13. • Organizational theory
– Formalized rules
and procedures
• Some organizations are
completely banning the use of
digital media
• Some organizations have policies
in place to give employees a set
of guidelines to follow while
trying at the same time not to
stifle their creativity or initiative
to create value for the
organization
Literature review

14. • Case study
– Strengths
• Considers explanatory “how”
and “why” questions in a
context-rich environment
• Investigator has little control
• Various sources of evidence
– Weaknesses
• Interpretative, subjective
Method

15. • Documents:
– Blogs posts, news articles,
Web pages, video and audio
interviews / content, case
studies
• Interviews:
– Manager Corporate
Communications
• Observations:
– JetBlue team Twitter stream,
Facebook Fan Page posts,
Flickr Pool, YouTube videos
Data collection & analysis

16. Results

17. • New responsibilities
• Evolved practitioner  Practitioner 2.0
Q 1: How have the job descriptions of
communicators changed?

18. • No training on new responsibilities,
practitioners are taking it upon themselves or
collaborate to evolve together
It’s sort of expected that we’re all going to have a certain
amount of acumen in that area anyway. And so we’ve
kind of evolved in that. We also tend to be a pretty young
team who is already in that space.
- Morgan Johnston, Manager Corporate Communications
Discussion

19. • Cross-departmental work
• Flexible framework.
• Outsourcing
Q 2: How are digital media
assignments carried out by members
of the communication department?

20. • Cross-departmental cooperation is a must if social
media is to be part of the equation
• Department (s) must remain flexible, practice
letting go of control of the message with PR still
hanging on to the reigns
Discussion

22. • Horizontal
collaboration with
other departments
• Vertical collaboration
with executives
• Centralized structure,
collaborative
environment
Q 3: Have organizational
hierarchies changed?

23. • Organizational hierarchies have not changed but…
– Social media helps get PR and C-level executives,
dominant coalition closer together
– Public relations must still earn its stripes
Discussion

24. • Organizational hierarchies have not changed but…
– Social media has helped PR department earn the
right to influence decision-making in other
departments
Discussion
More and more departments have become aware of [social media]
and have approached us and said, “how can we use these sorts of
tools to make what we have to say a little bit more appealing and a
little more interesting?” [Social media] happened to be of utility for
us. We’re happy to work with other work groups to see if there is
some potential and utility for them.
- Morgan Johnston, Manager Corporate Communications

25. • Existing Web policies
• JetBlue University
Q 4: Have polices been set in place
about using digital media in the
workplace?

26. • JetBlue’s existing Web policies
• JetBlue University: Social Media has created
the need and the opportunity to be more
cohesive internally
We want to make sure [our employees] are responsive and
responsible about what they’re doing in these spaces. There are
also certain levels of legal requirement that we need to be aware
of so we’re really in the process of cementing down what that
looks like. Without too much detail of exactly what it runs down
to it’s, “don’t be stupid.”
- Morgan Johnston, Manager Corporate Communications
Discussion

27. • Social media has been a good fit with the
existing organizational culture
• Emphasis is not on the tools but on what can
be achieved by using them
• Practitioners and departments have had to
adapt
• Integration & more cohesion are necessary if
JetBlue is to keep up with the customers’
demands and the fast pace of social media
Conclusion

28. Revised organizational structure

29. • One interview
• Limited access to internal documents
• Live documents
Limitations

30. • Differences between men and women
carrying out digital media tasks in the
organization due to the notion that men are
more technologically adept
• Consider more organizations
• More interviews
• New social media and PR theories
Future research direction