When Nancy Pekarek assumed her new position as the VP of communications for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in July 2008, it was the next step in a storied 15-year career with the second-largest pharmaceutical company in the world.

Over the past year, Pekarek has visibly enhanced GSK's reputation as a social media leader with the launch of an external blog in May, an internal blog, a Twitter feed, and the creation of a social media position within the company's corporate communications team.

Considering how heavily ...