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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the networks that form around an organizational crisis and identify the most predominant frames communicated by the traditional media and other social media users.

Through the systematic analysis of 3,000 tweets, this study utilized the social analysis method to map and measure how crisis information spreads through social media as well as a content analysis to identify the type of frames being communicated online immediately following a crisis.

The results of this analysis show that the media were the most active and influential sharers of information following Chipotle’s E. coli crisis. This information shaped the frame of the story, which focused on the hazard components involved in the crisis and the outrage of the organization’s publics. Consequently, stakeholders framed the situation as an issue of policy due to poor food handling procedures.

This study also reaffirms the important presence of traditional media organizations as the originators of information in a crisis. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate how Twitter can serve as a framing tool for an organization’s stakeholders. Communication managers and professionals can use the methods in this study to gauge public sentiment and obtain information that can be used to shape their consequent crisis management efforts.

Findings from this study reveal that as awareness of an issue spreads, stakeholders will quickly turn to social media to obtain and share information, as well as communicate about the issue with other social media users. This study demonstrates how the SNA method can be used to develop theory, in the realm of social media and online communication and provide guidance for professionals crafting their communication.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between social capital, transaction costs, and organizational outcomes.

The study is based on a survey of 176 employees of a high‐tech manufacturer of electronics located in the Mid‐Atlantic region of the USA. The survey included three self‐report measures: social capital, transaction costs, and organizational outcomes. Self‐report items were used to measure three dimensions of social capital: structure, relationships, and communication. Transaction cost items measured information exchange, problem solving, conflict management, and behavior regulation. Questions measuring organizational outcomes included quality, change, equity, and fairness.

The central finding of this research is the significant association between social capital and both transaction costs and organizational outcomes. As expected, trust served as a predictor of both transaction costs and organizational outcomes. In addition, the social capital components of access, timing, and network ties were significantly associated with transaction costs and organizational outcomes.

The items used to measure the communication dimension of social capital did not demonstrate sufficient reliability to be entered into the analysis.

The results suggest an alternative approach to considering the connection between communication management and organizational achievement. This approach, also, theoretically centralizes communication and communication related concerns as foundational for social capital analysis.

This study offers a valuable alternative theoretic approach to understanding the impact of communication on organizational affairs.