Social media as Enablers to achieve your business objectives Faster, Better and Cheaper
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Transcript of Social media as Enablers to achieve your business objectives Faster, Better and Cheaper
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Meritocracy Enabled by the Collaborative Leader
10:19:51 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
A hyperconnected business world, spurred on by social media and
globalization, demands a leadership style that can harness the power of connections. Leaders
need to shed the commandand-control and consensus styles in favor of collaborative
leadership. Harvard Business Review research shows that collaborative leaders who get
results do four things well:
Where meritocracy and collaborative leadership style meet
C ll v l h p h c p c y p pl up u ’ f m l
control and inspire them to work toward common goals—despite differences in convictions,
cultural values, and operating norms. Most people understand intuitively that collaborative
leadership is the opposite of the old command-and-control model, but the differences with a
consensus-based approach are more nuanced. Below are some helpful distinctions between
the three leadership styles.
In terms of accountability and control, the collaborative leader looks at performance on
achieving shared goals. This is meritocracy, being performance driven, also looking and
people who lead collaborations. This takes out the hierarchy (more), increases employee
engagement and trust. There are a lot of cost-effective solutions that enable meritocracy once
h z h c “ p up” m c ll v c.
Do you allow for meritocracy to blossom?
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
collaboration
meritocracy
leadership
social media
How Twitter Helps Banking With Better Customer
Experience and Retention
8:55:27 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Accenture outlined Top 10 Challenges for investment Banks for 2012 from
three respective aspects: Responding to regulation, focusing on clientsand restructuring for
growth. The deployment of a microblogging strategy is a cost-effective solution to these
relationship (experience) challenges.
A research by Ernst & Young, the Gobal Consumer Banking Survey 2012, shows that
increased competition and greater choice have forced many banks to adapt their business
models to serve these changing needs.
Worldwide, the proportion of customers planning to change banks has increased from 7% to
12% since 2011.
How can banks provide a better customer experience?
Make low-cost digital channels customers’ preferred choice. Banks should
encourage customers to use digital channels whenever possible by using price
incentives.
Prioritize investment on critical customer interactions. Banks should focus
p l mp v m cu m ’ m v lu c p m z h
resulting impact on attrition, dormancy and loyalty.
Use innovative technology to deliver the retail bank of the future. The use of
technology is crucial to delivering a lower cost, more reliable, more flexible but still
personal customer experience.
In the European Union consumers switch mostly due to high fees or charges, poor rates on
accounts and poor branch experience (Go here to analyze data with the interactive module).
Based on the abovementioned challenges how can microblogging help for banks in their
acquisition, retention and overall customer experience? Here are 5 practical strategies
provided y LET’ E p . :
Content is still the KING: customers can easily distinguish marketing
purpose posts and informative ones. Pushing though provoking byte-sized
content is the only way to encourage active feedbacks. Properly using
questions to invite discussion about new product idea, improvement or
suggestions. Check my previous post about how CitiBank successfully built up
active social media community with quality contents.
Follow your competitors: Microblogging provides a platform for businesses
to monitor and interact even with your competitors. It is encouraged to observe
the interaction between successful corporation and their followers on
microblogging platform since it works as a good channel for market search.
Sharing is caring: If you see your competitors or other microbloggers post
something which is really worth a read, share it. Using the feature like re-tweet
on Twitter can easily pass on the valuable contents without hassle. Once the
audience get to know that you provide not only beneficial posts for your
company, but also including related informative contents from other
competitors, it might give followership a boost. When it comes to retention,
customers care more about what you tweet than who you are.
Link back to your products, but not too often: When microblogging about
something which can relate to your products or service, insert a tinyURL into
the content to direct customers to them. Try to make the contents inviting and
informative instead of pushing or exaggerated.
Integrate with other social media tools: Each social media platform provides
different character and advantages for business owners to utilize, but make
sure that you do the assessment of market research before jumping on it.
Publishing appropriate contents on each platform in regard of different user
expectation will never get you wrong.
Content is still king, but a the diarchy with Context is important to be relevant and understand
the business landscape, which feeds back to content. Be a thoughtleader, there is much to talk
about in relation to banking, the crises for instance and what more. Become the trusted source
for people.
Th “Sh C ” f w h h . O z tions can be/should be a connector, a platform,
f c l . D ’ f f h cl f w m f m c mp . Cu m
’ w l w y pu ly h . Th f c h y u h h f m
is much more importa h c c m h u u c . I ’ c m f cu
and creation.
Categories:
Customer Experience Management
Tags:
sector
banking
retention
experience
EU: Ensuring Citizens' Trust Through Proximity and Co-
Creation
m 22:12:49 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
E u c z ’ u a major challenge for politicians and public
communicators. The majority of citizens – 54% – believe that their voice does not count in the
EU. Mercedes Bresso is first vice-president of the EU Committee of the Regions, and she says
that what is needed, is a new corporate story, not only for communication purposes, but also
f h EU’ wh l y. ‘Eu p ’ h Eu p y f w h h h
strong focus on the added value of an inclusive society is a first step in the creation of this
sustainable common story.
How can the EU communication strategy be adapted to reconnect with the citizens?
Mercedes Bresso elaborates:
I l v w m c c p : ‘ proximity’ ‘ co-creation ’.
Proximity is about shortening the gap. It starts with a clear focus on the themes and topics that
are the closest to the daily life of our citizens. Technical and legislative issues, how important
they are for our institutions, should not dominate the communication.
Proximity is also about engaging the right communicators. The information and the dialogue
must be led by our stakeholders on the field: communicators who understand the specific
context of our diverse target audience, who are known and trusted by our citizens. Here the
Committee of the Regions plays an active role in activating its members; the elected people at
local and regional level.
Thirdly, proximity is about choosing the right media mix.
With all due respect, we should not just be content with the publication of our press releases
in specialised EU publications or high-profile quality papers.
If we want to be seen and heard by our citizens, and if we want to involve them in a dialogue,
we should be on the platforms they use: regional television, local newspapers, social media,
town hall events, etc.
The second key concept is co-creation. EU communication should be more than just a sum of
ch u ’ p c . C mm c mmu c p xch f xp
better coordination and cooperation – full p c f ch h ’ p c f c p n in the
European policy process – should have a strong influence on our communication efforts. The
process of co-creation should also include other governance levels: national, regional and
local authorities, as well as stakeholders from civil society, who are involved in implementing
the EU project in the daily lives of our citizens. A common strategy with many collaborative
options.
Finally, co-creation also means an active role for the citizens themselves. Public
communication has evolved drastically in the last decade, thanks to evolutions in society and
in the technical world, allowing citizens to contribute to the public dialogue. We must make
use of these opportunities: civil participation improves the quality of our policy making and is
the best guarantee for getting our strategies accepted.
Today, more than ever, Europe is front page news for all media. Next year will celebrate the
European Year of Citizens. And in 2014, all citizens will be able to make their voice heard
during the European Parliam l c . L ’ u h m m um j f c c
new common story for Europe.
Categories:
Open Industry and Open Economy
Tags:
trust
sector
non-profit
co-creation
Acquisition And Customer Satisfaction Are Priorities in
the European Engineering Industry
m 14:45:36 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Deltek conducted a research in May 2012 on the trends and priorities in the
engineering industry. You can find the full research on their website. The top priorities are
acquisition and customer satisfaction which will improve retention. Have a look at the
infographic and how CRM, collaboration and social technologies support these.
The research shows that there is an intrinsic link between winning new projects and
improving satisfaction. The quick wins are:
Ensure harmony
Sync your systems
Internal collaboration
These three quick wins are supported by CRM (as stated in the infographic) and enhanced –
collaborative- processes. Another aspect that supports the three quick wins is culture, the
ability for the organization to collaborate internally, to synch people and systems and work in
harmony.
Social media supports you in winning projects and improving customer satisfaction as cost-
effective enablers. Think about monitoring to let you quickly and continuously understand
opinions and challenges. But also think about social technologies that helps you to improve
the quality of the service, such as a platform or customer care channel.
Source: deltek.co.uk via Damarque on Pinterest
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
sector
engineering
marketing
101 Examples and How to Build Your Own Social Media
Policy
m 14:09:02 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
If y u’ h p c f c c l m policy for your
organization, the following 101 published examples of social media policies can help you
mould and create your own.
KokaSexton created a list of 100 examples of social media policies, which you can find here.
It has a good mix of different kind of organizations which gives a good mix of results and
insights.
Example 101 I came across on M lc um’ w and it concerns the social media policy and
guidelines at TNT.
The guidelines then address some basic principles that need to be taken into consideration in
any online social interaction:
1. Know your business principles: As mentioned, the guidelines provide a framework to
advise employees in their dealings with colleagues, customers, suppliers and other
stakeholders online, using the TNT Business Principles as a template.
2. Point out that you are not an official spokesperson: Be sure to make clear in some way
that your profile is not an official TNT communication channel. Also, you should state
clearly that you are expressing your own views and opinions, especially when
cu p c h l TNT’ u ( p l c c.) If
c y cl m ( . . “Th p p xp my w
’ c ly fl c h f TNT.”) c h y u p
behalf of the company.
3. Respect the TNT brand guidelines: Use the latest artwork. Do not squeeze or
otherwise distort the logo. Do not use the logo in combination with a product name.
Use the correct shade of orange and the other corporate colors.
4. Recognize that you are entering a social system: Social media is like any social event
– a meeting, a party or the coffee corner. Behave as you would in such an
environment. The same good manners apply: uc y u lf ’ p
m l ’ u up up h c v f h .
Take care to ensure that your actions and behavior are consistent with the image you
want to portray in the office and with your clients. Keep in mind that you are sharing
social space – online or offline – with your boss, colleagues and clients.
5. Remember that Google never forgets: Everything you post stays online for a long
time. Think before posting something you might regret later.
The following five tips are given to create your own social media guidelines.
Building your own social media guidelines
Connect your guidelines to your existing code of conduct. Most of the time it covers
this kind of scenario already.
M h m y. I ’ h v l l x h c u .
Get connected to your employees where they are. Listen to what they are saying,
u why ’ y p h m u c l p c .
D ’ c . S c l m ood thing.
U h “p w f m y”. Th h y u h h lp f
everyone in order to make a difference.
Which policies do stand out?
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
guidelines
policy
Lithium Acquires Social Dynamx' Call Center Social CRM
Application
z 18:40:35 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Social CRM company Lithium Technologies has acquired fellow customer
care application Social Dynamx. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Lithium
turned it into Lithium Social Web, a social customer care service capable of responding to the
deluge of social commentary now found in the mobile, connected world.
What is Social Dynamx?
TechCrunch elaborates:
S c l Dy mx’ pl f m f l p cu m call centers to
identify, prioritize and manage millions of one-to-one social conversations on blogs, social
networks and more in real-time. Lithium Technologies was founded in 2001 and focuses on a
broad range of social CRM solutions. Lithium previously acquired brand tracking application
Scout Labs.
Social Dynamx customers include Time Warner Cable, DISH Network and Convio.
Social Web is available now and is integrated with Lithium Communities. It improves agent
productivity by more than 25 percent, Lithium says.
Rob Tarkoff, Lithium president and CEO said in a statement:
Seventy percent of complaints directed to brands via Twitter are ignored.
With the Social Dynamx technology at its core, Social Web can manage social conversations,
respond to posts and measure performance on Twitter, Facebook and across social media.
Categories:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Tags:
social crm
social media monitoring
lithium
social dynamx
Leaders Are Platforms
z 16:40:28 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Ch ph l ph L Tzu “F l h p pl h y f l h
you. But of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will
ll y ‘W h u lv .'” H m h rvation more than 2,000 years ago. Some
things never change. Leaders inspire trust and create a vision which people can build upon.
Leaders are platforms themselves for others to succeed RT @valaafshar: People ’ v
leaders. Leaders serve people. - @leadershipfreak
— G.L. Cuccureddu SMP (@glcuccureddu) October 14, 2012
In which organizational and management culture do you think that a leader as a platform
excels best?
Ch l H y “Gods of Management” mp cl fy f u c m m
cultures that exist within all organizations. He uses the ancient Greek gods to symbolize these
management cultures or philosophies. There are four types of management cultures or
philosophies present within all organizations. The four cultures are the club (Zeus), role
(Apollo), task (Athena), and existential (Dionysus) cultures.
As Sinek says, being amongst people who believe what you believe, that is key.
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
culture
The Link Between Sports, Business and Continuous
Improvements
z 16:08:17 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Yesterday I was listening to juridical program on BNR, a Dutch business
. I ’ m m h x c m f h p v w u h h
been an laywer, then went into sports and then back into the legal sector. He shared his
learning from sports that can be translated to business.
His learning was that –in (t)his case, laywers, being conservative should look at sports, where
the culture of continuous improvements is much more embedded, every week looking at ways
to improve performance, strategy, tactics and the actual play to always become a bit better.
H l h l yw h l l c p much h ucc f “l w ’
pl y” v much.
I l h l y m v u u h ’ c p cy u c u lly
doing it.
Be resilient and learn to adapt. #quotes RT @valaafshar
— Pam Moore (@PamMktgNut) October 14, 2012
Are you learning to be adaptive and resilient in order to create and accelerate your
competitive advantages?
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
continuous improvements
Six Improvements Enabled When Supply Chain
Participants Collaborate and Share Information
z 15:03:27 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Research by IDC has shown that there is a growing need for solutions that
incorporate external stakeholders such as customers and suppliers in business workflow
processes and feedback mechanisms. This article on Forbes sustains the importance (mantra
as he writes it) and the ability to create and sustain collaborative processes with global supply
chain partners. It is crucial to properly manage, and in some cases, capitalize on complexity in
the current environments.
As competition increases, supply networks become more global and more organizations turn
to outsourcing, whereby networked business environments are becoming the norm and
technology is the enabler. Last week Ultriva launched its enhanced cloud-based collaborative
supply chain solution to further accelerate productivty and performance.
The six improvements through collaboration and information sharing are:
Bringing products to market quicker,
Reducing production and logistics costs,
Driving market share, and
Increasing sales, while maximizing ROI.
Which improvements can you point to that are made possible through collaboration?
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
collaboration
Leadership Team Engagement Crucial for Supply Chain
Optimization Success
z 14:21:05 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
With continued economic uncertainty and increasing global competition,
supply chain design and optimization has never been more important to achieve an efficient,
profitable business - and for gaining competitive advantage. Register for this upcoming
webinar to understand more and better why supply chain excellence is business critical these
days. Read further to have a look at the four key results, one of them being the cost reductions
y upply ch c ll …
Why is leadership engagement crucial?
Because big decisions will have to be made at executive level - perhaps the closure or
movement of physical assets; at the very least, a change in core processes, roles and
responsibilities.
Four key results:
Supply chain design and optimization improves perfect order rating by 17%
Supply chain design and optimization improves service and halves supply chain
costs Supply chain collaboration reduces operating costs by up to 50%
Supply chain design and optimization reduces inventory and increases agility
Supply chain collaboration can have an enormous impact on your ability to service customers
effectively and profitably - harnessing mutual capability, brings continuous improvement in
supply chain efficiency. Social media act as cost-effective enablers to reinforce collaboration,
transparency and continuous improvements and learning. Platforms that can be used for this
purpose go beyond Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook which we determined in this article.
The webinar is presented by Paul Archer and Steve Rowntree, both partners at Oliver Wight.
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
collaboration
leadership
engagement
Sell Through Social Media to Close More Leads
#Infographic
v j 19:12:53 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
InsideView created an infographic on how social B2B is, and how social
media is being used to generate more leads. I found this infographic here, he has good points
about social selling. The writer elaborates how social technologies also changed the way in
which we collaborate online, with most B2B buying decisions starting, progressing, and often
even closing online without any face-to-face meetings. Though, nothing beats face to face.
Have a look at S ’ “T u ” v and understand why. Balance between virtual and
“ ffl ” ll mp .
Linkedin generates more leads than Facebook, Twitter or blogging. Understanding the nature
of Linkedin in comparison to blogging this is an incorrect reasoning. Blogging and Linkedin
go hand in hand, where blogging is important for the first phases in the buying cycle, and
Linkedin for the subsequent phases.
Another result is where a hospital saw a 15% conversion of leads to sales using live tweeting
during orthopedic surgery. Using social media in such cases creates trust, openness and
engagement, ultimately resulting in sales. Another great example is the social media project
by Philips Healthcare.
Online conversations with prospects accelerate deals, have a look at the bottom of the
infographic.
At the end, the infographic mentions three key reasons why businesses need social selling.
1. Customers are already there
2. Competition is there, and if not, they will be soon
3. Employees and new hires expect it
Another reason I add is the opportunity to distinguish yourself as a business through
thoughtleadership, become a trusted source to rely upon.
A lot of companies know already what their problem is, they want a partner that navigates
them, that supports them effectively in their journey.
Source: hosting.ber-art.nl via Damarque on Pinterest
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
social media
Eight Tips to Unlock Employee Engagement
v j 18:44:55 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
E m ’ h x ff y u mpl y v m h m
c mp y ucc . I ’ wh mpl y m m everything go a little better
for each other, their customers and their communities. Read further how you as a leader can
influence your employees and teams.
The eight tips are:
1. Give your time
2. Look for their strengths
3. Involve them in the process
4. Pick a cause. Get involved
5. Be honest
6. Actions speak louder than words
7. Ask for help
8. Customize your interactions
What tip(s) can you recommend from your own experience?
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
employee engagement
Social CRM Requires a Whole Brain Approach
v j 16:28:22 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Interesting article by Chris Bucholtz, where he outlines that success in
social CRM requires as much knowledge of processes as it does willingness to engage with
customers. A social CRM team, therefore, has to have people whose strengths lie in these
different areas. What is needed is a good combination of people who are left-brained and
those who are right-brained.
One of the tricky parts of developing a social CRM (sCRM) strategy is that it requires left
brain and right brain thinking. The left brain, where more logical and procedural thinking
takes place, is comparable to how "traditional" CRM operates, organizing and distributing
data based on predetermined processes. The right brain, the center of creative thinking, is
comparable to SCRM, discovering new relationships and communication models and
engaging and conversing with customers.
Read here the complete article.
Basically any kind of change journey and adaptation in the knowledge-centric and connected
society requires a whole brain approach.
Look at this presentation to understand the four critical (left and right brain) areas to be
successful.
Stay tuned for more information on the whole brain approach and business improvements!
Categories:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Tags:
social crm
Unilever Reaches Out to Innovation Community to Help
the Business Deliver on Its Sustainable Growth Agenda
v j 16:11:23 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Unilever, one of the world's largest consumer goods manufacturers, has
released a new set of challenges to the world's innovation community to help the business
deliver on its sustainable growth agenda.
In March 2012, the company's Open Innovation team launched a new online platform which
offered experts the opportunity to find some of the technical solutions it needs to achieve its
ambition of doubling the size of its business while reducing its environmental impact, as set
out in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.
Following the success of the platform, Unilever has now unveiled the details of another three
research projects for which its Research & Development department is seeking external
know-how.
The three new "wants" which Unilever is seeking collaboration on span two of its four global
categories, Homecare and Refreshments. They are:
New technologies which break down fatty deposits left on clothes and hard surfaces in
an efficient, odourless and environmentally friendly way. The solution could be
incorporated as an ingredient in the detergent formulation or work as a pre-treatment
application.
New technologies which enable us to reduce the sugar in our ready-to-drink teas by 30
per cent, without impacting on their taste or mouthfeel.
New technologies which enable us to stabilise natural red colour cost-effectively, for
use in our fruit and dairy products. The solution must maintain the stability of the
colour throughout its shelf life and be water soluble.
All ideas submitted on all 13 wants will be assessed by Yet2.com, an independent open
innovation consultancy, before any reach Unilever's Open Innovation team.
Jon Hague, VP Open Innovation, Unilever said:
We've been hugely impressed by the quality, ingenuity and inventiveness of the submissions
that we've received since we launched our Open Innovation platform six months ago.
We have a long track-record of working with external partners to develop new technologies,
so we were already very aware of the strength and depth of the innovation talent which exists
outside of Unilever. However this was the first time we have shared our research projects in
such an open forum and it's very exciting to have tapped into a new community of inventors
who share our passion for sustainable innovation and creating a better future for our
consumers and the environment.
Categories:
Innovation
Tags:
open innovation
unilever
Nicholas Christakis: The Hidden Influence of Social
Networks
v j 15:47:38 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
This is a great video that you have to watch! We're all embedded in vast
social networks of friends, family, co-workers and more. Nicholas Christakis tracks how a
wide variety of traits -- from happiness to obesity -- can spread from person to person,
showing how your location in the network might impact your life in ways you don't even
know.
One piece stood out to m Ch ’ l h wh h p u c c h
matter.
He gives as an example the graphite and diamond difference. If atoms are arranged in one
particular way, it becomes soft and dark. If you interconnect atoms in another different way it
comes hard and shining (diamond). He said that those properties do not reside in the (carbon)
atom itself but in the interconnection between those atoms.
In a world where intangible capital is of increasing importance, this interconnection between
people, knowledge etc is important to understand. It is important to understand that an
employee in one organization is not happy and in the other one that same employee is a rising
star.
You can reason this between individuals, teams, departments and organizations (within the
chain).
H v l h c mpl v ’ w ll w h h 9 m u . Al l h p wh
he talks about Obesity and relationships and clustering.
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
social networks
Christakis
Content Marketing Is Increasingly Important But Strategy
Lacks
v j 15:27:29 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
A survey conducted by Econsultancy amongst 1,300 marketing
professionals, shows a surprising result. 38% of the respondents do not have a content
marketing strategy in place whilst a whopping 90% believe that content marketing will
continue to become more important. Content marketing is now seen as an emerging discipline
it its own right by a majority of marketers. Indeed, 64% of in-house marketers agree that
c m ‘ c m w c pl ’.
(taken from the Econsultancy website)
What is more interesting for me are the content marketing objectives. Increased enagagement
(52%) was the most common objective, followed by driving traffic (42%) and brand
awareness (35%) the most given objectives.
What I find interesting is that some of these objectives are not linked to business objectives.
Increased engagement, for the purpose of what?
Increasing traffic to the site, for the purpose of what?
Be sure to link your content marketing efforts with your business objectives and then
downdrill which tactics will support that effectively and efficiently.
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
content marketing
Valorize Your Employees' Knowledge And Experience!
okt 16:52:22 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Collaborative innovation has been gaining traction for quite a while now.
The outside-in mantra is hot and sexy. Incorporating external stakeholders has definately lots
of advantages, also being proven. However, what I do miss and do see and hear is that the
employees are being left out or not being seen as equal potential innovators. This is a missed
opportunity in terms of sustainable HR, happy and engaged employees that are able to fully
valorize their knowledge and experience.
We reported u h Luf h C ’ upply ch p v ch ll . Th
challenge is open to external stakeholders and I was interested to learn if employees were able
to submit ideas. Lufthansa Cargo answered friendly the following response:
@damarqueviews Employees of Lufthansa Cargo may participate in the contest but are
unfortunately not eligible to win any prizes.
— Air Cargo Challenge (@LH_Cargo) October 9, 2012
Collaborative innovation is also a great means to create better internal connections and
relationships. Employees want to be part of the brand and want to be engaged. Just as external
stakeholders, employees can have great ideas, make use of them in an equal way. With this I
mean that they should be eligable of prizes, or when turning it around, first create an internal
collaborative innovation challenge. This way you can test collaborative innovation processes
lly c ly y u c wl y u mpl y ’ mp c . I pu mpl y
motivation and takes away a potential feeling of disadvantage.
Michael Porter said that employees are the major source for a company to increase
competence and profits. Take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers
and your profits.
From this perspective, the customer experience can also be seen as a measure for your
employee experience and engagement.
Unlock the collective intelligence of your employees!
Wh ’ y u p h ?
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Intangible Capital
Tags:
innovation
open innovation
The Four Benefits of Intangible Capital Management in
the Social and Knowledge Era
11:11:32 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Recently I interviewed Mary Adams, an expert in intangible capital
management (ICM), on the intersection of intangible capital and social media. One of the
important things to realize is that the intangible nature of the social and knowledge era forces
businesses to look holistically at their business, to think differently about what makes the
business competitive and viable. Intangible capital is everywhere. Have a look at a clear
introduction on what Intangible Capital is and what the benefits are.
What is Intangible Capital? from Mary Adams
The four benefits of IC Management:
Optimized performance
Increased innovation
Higher valuation
Great reputation
Read the interview to understand how intangible capital is defined.
Social media are enablers to cost-effecitvely support the four "capitals" within IC.
Think about Structural Capital, IT and processes that are more collaborative, to unlock and
valorize knowledge.
Think about Relationship Capital and how social media are platforms (means) where
stakeholders can communicate faster.
By taking an IC view, you can look at your business beyond functions, beyond departments
and teams, and look at value that is being supported and concretized through your functions,
departments etc.
Are you looking at your business from this intangible and holistic point of view?
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
intangible capital
Ultriva Launches Enhanced Cloud-Based Collaborative
Supply Chain Software
9:54:06 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Ultriva, a player in collaborative supply chain solutions, announced on the
ninth of October an enhanced version of its cloud-based software that further accelerates
productivity and performance for manufacturing firms around the globe. In a co-creation with
their customers they enhanced the software incorporating innovative social media concepts.
The enhanced version includes:
a 'Collaborative RFQ' (Request for Quote) module that incorporates innovative social
media concepts,
an 'Inventory Optimization Tool' that helps organizations to improve the operational
and financial performance of their supply chains and
a 'Collaborative Planning' module that combines historical consumption and
replenishment data with forward-looking demand data to calculate future inventory
positions.
The inability of current supply chain management systems to support true collaboration and
execution between manufacturers and their supply chain partners results in supplier
whiplashing, poor delivery performance and lost revenue.
Narayan Laksham, Ultriva founder and CEO said:
These new features are in line with our mission of providing greater transparency and
collaboration between manufacturers and their supply chain partners. Ultriva's customers have
experienced an average 35% increase in inventory velocity along with across-the-board
improvements in employee productivity and supply chain decision making. We will continue
to work closely with our customers to deliver even greater value through ultra-responsive,
demand-driven supply chains.
Scott Harvey, vice president of Operations at CareFusion said:
The Ultriva cloud-based platform has a low barrier to entry and allows for an incredibly high
level of standardization across all of our suppliers, which made it the obvious solution for
CareFusion. As a medical device company working in a highly regulated industry, it is
imperative that we maintain a high level of transparency and accountability—something that
Ultriva's solutions provide for us and our suppliers.
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
social media
social technology
McKinsey: How Leading Companies Develop More
Innovative and Cost-Effective Products
9:29:14 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
By combining deep insights about customers, competitors, and costs, a few
l c mp f h “ w p ” p uc v l pm : l w c wh l
designing better products that customers value more. The results—including better products,
happier customers, higher margins, and, ultimately, a stronger ability to innovate—should
serve these organizations well in years to come.
A few leading companies (in industries as varied as appliances, automotive, consumer
packaged goods, high tech, and medical devices) are encouraging more focused collaboration
among multiple functional groups (notably marketing and sales, operations,
engineering/R&D, and procurement), these leaders are combining deep insights about
customers, competitors, and supply bases to strip out costs and amplify what customers truly
value.
The McKinsey article discusses three of such companies. Their experiences offer insights for
any product maker hoping to improve its competitiveness. Below you will find excerpts of
these cases. Click here to read the complete cases.
Case 1: Appliance maker
The challenge
Senior executives at a large, low-cost manufacturer of appliances and white goods were
c c u h lu h p f m c f h c mp y’ h u h l f u . I h
l m h p l pl y h c mp y’ h m c u y—an emerging
market—but was now losing domestic share in two important, and fiercely competitive,
product categories.
Case 2: Medical-capital-equipment maker
The challenge
A large manufacturer of medical devices and capital equipment was losing market share to an
Asian-based entrant offering lower prices for a key product. The manuf c u ’ R&D m
w p pl x . By m h c mp ’ c m h p uc h ul u
20 to 25 percent higher h h c mp y’ c f w p uc . A h -to-head
comparison of product characteristics clearly indicated tha h c ’ w f
many dimensions, including quality. The consensus of the R&D group was to stay the
course—the competitor, they grumbled, was selling below cost to grab market share and
would eventually have to raise its prices.
(taken from Mckinsey article)
Case 3: Medical-device manufacturer
The challenge
An acquisition created big expectations—and challenges—for the operations group of a
medical- v c m . Th c mp y’ l h v c uc f
15 percent after examining the various operational synergies possible from the deal. Hitting
the target would require the company to, among other things, rationalize its product portfolio
while modifying how it designed and sourced its products.
Are you cost-effectively making use deep insights about customers, competitors, and costs to
create better, faster and cheaper products?
How are you gathering these deep insights about customers, competitors and costs?
Categories:
Innovation
Tags:
insights
The Role of Culture and Leadership in Creating
Community-Centered Organizations
8:47:53 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
An academic paper published by International Journal of Leadership
Studies, t l “Toxic versus cooperative behaviors at work: The role of organisational culture
and leadership in creating community-centered organisations” (G l C -Ruffino,
Ivancevich, Konopaske) provides an excellent summation of defining a toxic workplace.
“A w pl c m y x c f:
1. mediocre performance is rewarded over merit-based output (Colligan &
Higgins, 2006; Doyle & Kleiner, 1993)
2. employees avoid disagreements with managers for fear of reprisal (Jones,
1996);
3. personal agendas take precedence over the long-term well-being of the
company (Atkinson & Butcher, 2003);
4. l c ly l h mp f (“M l ” 003);
5. new leaders do not stay long and employee turnover is common; and,
6. employees are treated more like financial liabilities than like assets (Macklem,
2005), and
7. bosses routinely throw temper tantrums, make unreasonable demands, scream,
and use obscenit (A ym u 8).”
In sum, organizational leaders and managers would be well advised to take steps to infuse
their organizational cultures with a more community-centric orientation. As stated previously,
such a cohesive entity or community is characterized by mutually supportive persons, an
environment comprised of policies that are perceived as egalitarian and fair, and colleagues
who are engaged in the process of self-development.
Differences between Toxic and Community-Centered Organizations
Business2Community further elaborates on the research:
One word springs to mind when I read a list like this – Values. It is clear that when assessing
those companies whose culture is defined as toxic, the values of the organisation are either
corrupt, non-existent or exist in the world of PowerPoint templates only. In other words
values misalignment equals toxicity. In such environments many people choose to leave the
organisation. An early 2012 survey by Corporate Crossovers of more than 300 female
entrepreneurs found almost a quarter (23%) cited that culture and values misalignment was
the main reason they have left their corporate jobs. The results, as demonstrated in the
previous post (Part 1) can materially impact the bottom line.
But what about those employees who stay? In a tough labour market, job choice is often
limited and hence employees may be unable to resign without the security of a confirmed new
job. Employees who continue to work under the stress of a toxic environment risk effecting
their health.
What is your opinion on the differences between the two types of organizations?
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
culture
leadership
Tactics to Sustain Employee Commitment To The
Customer Experience
8:23:00 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Jeff Valentine has led transformative customer experience initiatives at 3
companies, across 12 different business units, and has been doing this work for over 10 years.
He gave a presentation for the Customer Experience Professional Association. Read what his
h c c wh h Cl A v y B ’ (CAB’ ) c m .
Changing the customer experience takes the coordination of many departments and spans all
tiers of the company. To be successful a customer experience practitioner must become a
master at effective communications inside and outside of the organization.
Connect the voice of your customers to your employees
Jeff shared a variety of tactics for sustaining employee commitment to the customer
experience. These included:
Using the company Intranet to keep everyone updated on progress
Using video footage of clients speaking about how changes the company made helped
to improve their businesses
Having the CEO give updates on what the company is hearing from clients will go
miles in keeping everyone focused on improving the customer experience
Yesterday, on the business radio BNR, two companies elaborated how they are deploying
sustainable HR and keep their employees engaged (who will take care of their customers).
The two companies score high on:
Engagement
Leadership
Clear focus and vision
Training and self-development.
Passion for the job
Open and honest
This is in line with one of the wise lessons of Richard Branson:
F B h m mp f c f l h p l h p pl . “If
y u’ w h p pl … y u lly c u ly c u p pl h I’m u w
c ul f j f y u V ” h y . “Th c mp h l f h p pl
h c mp h lly w ll. I’m u w ’ l f w h u u h w ul
th m mp .”
T h mpl y mp m pl y c uc l h ucc f B ’ V
Emp pu mpl y f cu m c h h l h . “A c mp y
p pl … mpl y w w… m I l ed to or am I a cog in the wheel? People
lly f l w .”
Client Advisory Board's (CAB's)
J ff v c f f m Cl A v y B ’ (CAB’ ). A CAB up f
individuals representing the portfolio of your customers. These individuals are selected for
their strategic insights and are regularly tapped for ideas on how the vendor could improve the
xp c l v . CAB’ c c ly u ful ul up y u V c f h
Customer efforts and Jeff offered advice on going about the selection process, measuring ROI
of these meetings, and general best practices for managing the CAB relationships.
What tactics are you deploying for employee engagement that spur a great customer
experience?
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
customer experience
employee engagement
Four Ways to Strengthen The Collaboration Culture
7:06:16 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
I spotted this whitepape c ll “Bu l c ll v w pl c ”
which explores what is meant by collaboration and why organisations and individuals should
build their collaboration capability. Then, based on that understanding, it lays four ways for
developing a collaboration capability.
What is collaboration
Collaboration is a process through which people who see different aspects of a problem can
constructively explore their differences and search for solutions that go beyond their own
l m v f wh p l . A y ’ m h up f p pl w
together as teams and communities.
The three types of collaboration
In team collaboration, the members of the group are known, there are clear task
interdependencies, expected reciprocity, and explicit time-lines and goals. To achieve the
l m m mu fulfil h p w h h m .
In community collaboration, there is a shared domain or area of interest, but the goal is more
often focused on learning rather than on task. People share and build knowledge rather than
complete projects. Members may go to their communities to help solve their problems by
asking questions and getting advice, then taking that advice back home to implement in their
teams. Membership may be bounded and explicit, but time periods are often open or ongoing.
Network collaboration steps beyond the relationship-centric nature of team and community
collaboration. It is collaboration that starts with individual action and self-interest, which then
accrues to the network as individuals contribute or seek something from the network.
Membership and time-lines are open and unbounded. There are no explicit roles. Members
most likely do not know all the other members. Power is distributed.
Read more the three types of collaboration here.
Success factors
Below you find a neither definitive nor comprehensive list of things that are important to
achieve collaborative success.
Team
Common purpose or goal
An outcome that is valued
Pressure to deliver (a due date)
Complex problems that a single person could not resolve on their own
An explicit process for getting things done (no ESP required)
Community
A topic that members care about to a point where their identity is wrapped up in that
topic
A community coordinator who can orchestrate activities, introductions and
opportunities for learning
Regular social activities to build trust and new social connections among team
members
Opportunities to practise and gain experience, or vicariously gain experience by
hearing the stories of other practitioners
Leaders who see value in the community and at best encourage their staff to
p c p w ’ c u c mmu y p c p
Network
Technology to store and retrieve information of interest which makes it immediately
fi l v y h w
An appreciation of how effective use of social technology, such as bookmarking, will
save time and assist team and community collaborations
Having diverse skills in the organisation— c fil c c —who help
make sense of information and connections from the network and bring them back into
h fl w f l w . N v y h h u u h p pl
to
A tolerance for a high volume of information—knowing that you can catch what you
f m h fl w u y u c ’ he entire river
Ability to see connections across diverse signals and bits of information
Read the complete list here.
Does your organisation have a culture that works for the team, community and network types
f c ll ? O y u fi h cul u h fl c ll ? S fl
culture may include a singular focus on individual achievement, a culture that does not value
sharing knowledge or expertise, or simply ignoring the network.
Read further to understand the role of leadership, the team-,community- and network culture.
Four ways to strengthen the collaboration culture:
Foster collaboration leadership and support. Look here what the eight key indicators
are for a collaborative leader
Communicate the fruits of collaboration
Implement collaboration tools
Start Communities of Practice
What type of collaboration to you have in your organization?
Have you already implemented the four ways to strengthen collaboration culture?
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Intangible Capital
Tags:
culture
collaboration
leadership
Cisco Elaborates on its Corporate Social Responsibility
Programs On #CSRchat
w 22:41:57 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The Cisco CSR team was a guest on the bi-weekly #CSRchat. Read the
Corporate social Responsibility insights that Cisco shared with the crowd.
[View the story "Cisco Elaborates on its Corporate Social Responsibility Programs" on
Storify]
Cisco Elaborates on its Corporate Social
Responsibility Programs
CiscoCSR wasa guest on the bi-weekly #CSRchat. Read
the insights that Cisco CSR shared!
Storified by Damarque · Wed, Oct 10 2012 13:36:44
@CiscoCSR Q1: Why does @CiscoSystems do CSR? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A1:CSR helps build relationships & incubate new tech for benefit of society, planet & our
business http://csr.cisco.com #CSRchatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q2: The slogan of @CiscoCSR is: "you + networks=impact ^ x". Can you
explain this philosophy? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A2: When people & technology come together to address an issue, you can multiply your
impact. http://cs.co/6018TCv0 #CSRChatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q3: What is the focus of the @CiscoCSR program? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A3:Focus on 5 pillars:Governance & Ethics, Supply Chain, Our People, Society & the
Environment. http://cs.co/6012TCv4 #CSRChatCisco CSR
A3:In society we focus on: #Education, #Healthcare, Economic Empowerment &Critical
Human Needs http://cs.co/6015TCv7 #CSRchatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q4: How does @Cisco leverage its products and skills to impact communities?
#CSRchatSusan McPherson
A4: We donate people expertise, networking& collaboration technologies and cash to address
social issues. http://cs.co/6017TCvh #CSRchatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q5: Can you tell us about one or two of your favorite @CiscoCSR initiatives?
#CSRchatSusan McPherson
A5:Networking Academy has provided ICT skills education to 4+ M students thru people and
tech networks. http://cs.co/6016TCay #CSRChatCisco CSR
A5:After Sichuan quake built tech foundation to improve access to healthcare & education for
rural residents http://cs.co/6012TCaO #CSRChatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q6: Why did Cisco CSR decide to partner w/ @HuffingtonPost on new
@HuffPostImpact section #ImpactX? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A6:We partnered w/ @HuffPostImpact on #ImpactX to inspire others to multiply their impact
through partnerships and technology. #CSRchatCisco CSR
A6: We also hope to share what @CiscoCSR has learned about using technology for
#socialgood. http://cs.co/6014TCaw #CSRchatCisco CSR
A6:Here is the link to the intro #ImpactX blog post from Cisco SVP Tae Yoo that explains
more. http://cs.co/6011TCa9 #CSRChatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q7: Who are some of @CiscoCSR's community partners and how do you select
them? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A7: We partner with many NGOs like @CityYear, @Inveneo, @FeedingAmerica and
@OneEconomy. http://cs.co/6014TCaY #CSRChatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q8: The @Cisco YouTube channel is quite popular. How do you use video to
engage audiences w/ @CiscoCSR? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A8:Video really brings a story to life-seeing & hearing from those impacted. Powerful
engagement tool in #SocialMedia. #CSRChatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q9: Big question. How does @CiscoCSR use social media to advance its CSR
goals? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A9:We use #SM to share best practices, impact metrics, promote our partners, encourage
employee & customer engagement. #CSRChatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q10: Which social platform have you found most effective for @CiscoCSR?
#CSRchatSusan McPherson
A10: A combo of blog posts, twitter and FB, with links to videos and stories on
http://csr.cisco.com. #CSRChatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q11: Why do you think it's so important to communicate the @CiscoCSR
program w/ such a wide audience? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A11:Cisco is a global co committed to driving value for society, the planet & our business.
Hope to inspire others on #socialgood. #CSRchatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Q12: @CiscoCSR What tips would do you have for other CSR managers hoping
to incorporate social media? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A12:Be clear on goals and success metrics; focus on sharing best practices and lessons
learned, not just building followers. #CSRChatCisco CSR
@CiscoCSR Ahhh. Employee Enagement! Q13: How does @CiscoCSR engage employees
with programs? #CSRchatSusan McPherson
A13:We build awareness then encourage employees to donate to local/ global causes. Cisco
has an active volunteer program. #CSRChatCisco CSR
A14:Yes, one goal is to make our 60,000+ employees #CSR ambassadors for Cisco. Social
media is a great way to do that. #CSRChatCisco CSR
Q15: The @CiscoCSR reports are very thorough. What is your strategy for measuring
impact? #CSRChatSusan McPherson
A15:We follow the Global Reporting Initiative(GRI) -provides a complete sustainability
reporting framework http://cs.co/6012TCxg #CSRChatCisco CSR
Q16: What does the future of @CiscoCSR look like? #CSRChatSusan McPherson
A16:Our goal is to embed #CSR into daily operations so we can further multiply our impact
on society, the planet and our business. #CSRChatCisco CSR
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
CSR
Customer-Centricity Is Not An End Goal
w 22:20:43 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Forbes published an article called "The CMO is dead" which has
p . I ’ h h CMO l ead, and the reasons given are not reasons
to clarify the CMO dead, but to enrich the way CMOs conduct their role. One remark stood
out which was that the number one objective for the Chief Customer Officer (the new CMO
according to the writer) is customer-centricity.
The following end paragraph of the article was:
Back in the 1950s, the management guru Peter Drucker wrote that a company has two and
only two key functions – marketing and innovation – and that all other functions should
support these. Back to basics: Objective number one for the CCO is customer-centricity. This
focus must come from the very top and filter down through the whole organization so
everyone has the incentive to add value to the customer. Although paying attention to the
customer is common sense, unfortunately common sense is less and less common. The CCO
must be the first step in the right direction.
So – goodbye to the CMO, hello to the CCO.
What Drucker also said is that the purpose of an organization is to create and retain a
customer. Thàt is the basic which is being achieved through marketing and innovation. I don't
think that the objective number one for the CCO -CMO or however you want to name the
role- is customer-centricity. Customer-centricity is a means to and end. Companies do not
become customer-centric in order to achieve customer-centricity, they become customer-
centric to gain competitive advantages, to create profitable growth, to be able to be a resilient
organisation that does things different and relevant.
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
customer-centricity
Why Global Processes Help the Locals in Customer
Experience - Forrester Report
w 17:05:43 | Frederic Gilbert
According to the Forrester's report recent report "Global Processes Help to
Deliver Relevant Local Customer Experience", companies need to master 6 key disciplines of
Customer Experience in order to make their Customer Experience Strategy effective both on a
global and local scale. It all starts with people and how you let them express in your
framework. Here are the 6 disciplines you need to master:
Customer Understanding,
Measurement,
Governance,
Strategy,
Design
Culture.
The study clearly identifies the pitfalls and hurdles companies are experiencing to scale
Customer Experience to the local level. The variabilty due to human interactions can boost or
burn down the entire project. Hence the necessity to set up an agile process starting at the top
level but capable of adapting to the above topics. Trust & getting the people with the right
mindset to interact with customer would also be very important matters to master.
The questions raised by the study : In the end, the study challenges the decision makers to respond to the following : Does your
organisation have a global vision of the Customer Experience Strategy it wants to set up? are
all executives on-board? do you understand the stakes of Experience and how it can be used
to serve your business & customers? Can you scale the initiative and let it be embraced by the
locals to deliver the brand promises?
Key Findings
As already-heard as it seems, the 2 key findings of the research document are :
Customer Experience is Local by definition : As markets are more and more
commoditized in terms of services & products, Customer Experience has become the
key differenciator. However the experience is characterized by the interactions one has
with a brand. The perception of the experience and interactions can be largely
influence by culture, language and geography. Consequently local should be
empowered to adapt to the specificities of the environment
Firms need a global approach to Customer Experience Management : The choices that
existed before were either controlling everything from the headquarters or letting local
branches be entirely autonomous in the initiatives. However neither of these strategies
are profitable and tend to erode the brand's consistency and promise. Hence the
necessity to frame the approach with a set of processes and practices that can be
repeated, transferred to local branches. Success is in sharing the vision, values,
promises and delivering them at a local level with relevance.
Is your experience scalable? and can you act locally? Feel free to connect with us and lets
discuss the topic together.
Categories:
Customer Experience Management
Tags:
customer experience
Change Management
Global Technology
Processes
research
Eight Key Indicators For Collaborative Leaders
w 16:34:14 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
What is collaborative leadership? Collaborative leadership is a philosophy
of leadership where the leader becomes a facilitator instead of an authority figure and allows
the team or a group of people to collectively discuss problems, make decisions and innovate
lu . Th f m c u h v z l “Z u cul u ” wh h
leader is key. In a time where organizations are more and more perceived as platforms, I
believe that leaders need to be platforms as well. Have a look at the eight indicators.
Source: visual.ly via Damarque on Pinterest
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
collaborative leader
Lufthansa Cargo's Supply Chain Open Innovation
Challenge
9 7:14:58 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Lufthansa Cargo has just launched its second Air Cargo Innovation
Challenge. This is for customers or anyone who thinks they know at supply chain, to submit
creative, exciting (or not so exciting) and out-of-the-box ideas about improving customer
service in the air freight industry.
This challenge is being split into four categories;
Customer touch points and services - Tell us how we can better and more effectively
interact with our clients.
Applify Cargo and the use of new technology - How can all modern means of
communication via new technology be applied to Air Cargo customer service?
Customer loyalty programs - Can you imagine innovative and attractive loyalty
programs which provide added value to the customer?
Blank room - forward thinking and out-of-the-box ideas. Anything goes here, be a
visionary and inspire us!
The contest ends on November 7th, with winners announced the first week of December.
Categories:
Innovation
Tags:
Lufthansa Cargo
Three Critical Elements to Sustainable Employee
Engagement
m 8 21:06:12 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Th “ Gl l W f c S u y: E m R ” study by
Towers Watson provides a snapshot of the attitudes and concerns of 32,000 workers around
h w l . I h l h h w mpl y ’ v w ff c h m h w
commitment to their employers, and ultimately, their behavior and performance on the job. As
such, it provides us with important insights into the elements of the work environment that
help shape employee behavior and performance in positive ways to support growth goals.
And it presents a new and more robust definition of engagement — sustainable engagement
— designed for the 21st-century workplace. Sustainable engagement fits the Purpose-driven
organization we wrote about earlier.
Globally, nearly two-thirds (65%) of the more than 32,000 full-time workers participating in
u u y h hly . Wh l h ’ u p — considering workers have
been doing more with less, and for less, for over half a decade — it poses a significant risk for
employers. Are they at a critical tipping point in their ability to sustain engagement over time?
And if they are, what actions can they take to turn the tide, given the significant implications
of declining engagement on productivity and performance?
Other key findings from the survey:
Stress and anxiety about the future are common.
Security is taking precedence over almost everything.
Attracting employees is almost entirely about security.
R mpl y h m w h h “qu l y” f h w xp c v ll.
Employees have doubts about the level of interest and support coming from senior
leaders.
There are three key points to understand sustainable employee engagement:
1) Engagement is not satisfaction or happiness at work. Employees can be
quite satisfied with their work and happy to come in every day because the
love the Starbucks in the café or spending time with their friends at work. That
’ m h y’ uly engaged – willing to give additional discretionary
effort (above and beyond job specs) because they want to.
2) Sustained engagement requires you change the game. You cannot
continue to do the same things ad nauseum and expect continued strong results.
What engages people today will change as the people themselves and their
w l ch . Th ’ h y p f h “enablement” portion of the
sustained engagement equation. Are you continuing to give your employees
what they need so they want to deliver the discretionary effort you need?
3) Energy matters – and so does attitude. Well-being, a key component of
T w W ’ f f “energy ” h p c I’v w
before that is too easily discounted. Do you want to come to work and do your
best in a miserable environment of grumpy, mean or even abusive people? I
w h ’ c uc v m ng my best work. Creating a positive work
environment is fundamental to sustained engagement.
Source: recognizethisblog.com via Damarque on Pinterest
What does your organization do to create an energized and purpose-driven environment?
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
employee engagement
The Five Biggest Supply Chain Challenges According to
the Supply Chain Council
m 8 20:28:22 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The Supply Chain Council (SCC) is an independent, nonprofit, global
corporation with membership open to all companies and organizations interested in applying
and advancing the state-of-the-art in supply chain management systems and practices. The
recent economic recession forces companies to take an intense look at their supply chains,
question some of their assumptions, and root out major inefficiencies. Read what the SCC
identified as the five key supply chain management challenges.
The five challenges identified by the Supply Chain Council:
Customer service Effective supply chain management is all about delivering the right product in the
right quantity and in the right condition with the right documentation to the right place
at the right time at the right price. If only it were as simple as it sounds.
Cost control Supply chain operating costs are under pressure today from rising freight prices, more
global customers, technology upgrades, rising labor rates, expanding healthcare costs,
new regulatory demands and rising commodity prices. To control such costs there are
thousands of potential metrics that supply chain organizations can and do measure.
Managers need to zero in on the critical few that drive total supply chain costs within
their organizations.
Planning and Risk Management Supply chains must periodically be assessed and redesigned in response to market
changes, including new product launches, global sourcing, new acquisitions, credit
availability, the need to protect intellectual property, and the ability to maintain asset
and shipment security. In addition, supply chain risks must be identified and
quantified. SCC members report that less than half of their organizations have metrics
and procedures for assessing, controlling, and mitigating such risks.
Supplier/partner relationship management Different organizations, even different departments within the same organization, can
have different methods for measuring and communicating performance expectations
and results. Trust begins when managers let go of internal biases and make a
conscious choice to follow mutually agreed upon standards to better understand
current performance and opportunities for improvement.
Talent As experienced supply chain managers retire, and organizations scale up to meet
growing demand in developing markets, talent acquisition, training, and development
is becoming increasingly important. Supply chain leaders need a thorough
understanding of the key competencies required for supply chain management roles,
specific job qualifications, methods for developing future talent and leaders, and the
ability to efficiently source specific skill sets.
Do these challenges is these areas also apply to you?
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
supply chain council
The Purpose-Driven Organization - First Why Then Trust
m 8 19:56:19 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
We live in an era of transparency, of an easyness to collaborate and share
f m . Bu ’ l h f distrust, of crises and a Post-Growth Economy or Shared
Value by Porter. It are in these turbulent times that a Purpose driven organization will have
more impact, be more directive and inspiring and is more sustainable. As Sinek says, being
amongst people who believe what you believe, that is key. This counts for your employees,
your business partners and customers, the complete supply chain. Being amongst people that
share the same the Purpose, only then Trust thrive in this connected society.
Have a look at this inspiring video by Sinek, First Why and then Trust.
In a social media ruled era, outside-in reigns, the customer is king, co-create with them and
what more.
One of the wise lessons of Richard Branson however is:
F B h m mp f c f l h p l h p pl . “If
y u’ w h p pl … y u lly c u ly c u p pl h I’m u w
c ul f j f y u V ” h y . “Th c mp h l f h p pl
h c mp h lly w ll. I’m u w ’ l f w h u u h t would be
h m mp .”
T h mpl y mp m pl y c uc l h ucc f B ’ V
Emp pu mpl y f cu m c h h l h . “A c mp y
p pl … mpl y w w… m I being listened to or am I a cog in the wheel? People
lly f l w .”
If you take care of your employees they will take care of your customers. This is where
Purpose and Trust are important.
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Intangible Capital
Tags:
purpose
Social CRM Company Capillary Technologies Raises
$15.5M: Real-time Is The Big Differentiator
m 8 17:23:36 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
TechCrunch reports that Capillary Technologies, a social CRM company
that helps retailers engage over mobile, email, social and in-store channels, is announcing the
close of $15.5 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital and Norwest Venture
Partners with Qualcomm Ventures also participating in the round. The company, which offers
a cloud-based SaaS platform for customer engagement, clienteling, loyalty and social CRM
solutions, currently works with over 100 major brands across 10,000 locations worldwide, and
just recently entered the U.S. market.
What makes the system a big draw for brands, he explains, is its ability to integrate with
hundreds of different point-of-sale systems, as well as th f w ’ l-time nature which is
able to identify customers immediately after sign-up – f wh l h y’ ll h .
How the tech works:
A cu m h up u h ph y c QR c h ’
display. Th y’ h p -up to receive messages from the brand, and that
page uses Facebook Connect to quickly pre-f ll h cu m ’ f m wh l l h
customer data back with the brand. The moment the sign-up process is complete, the cashier
at the point-of- l mm ly h cu m ’ p c u ll pp
h y m. B f f h cu m ’ c h c u ff
c mm h c um ’ v c .
Co-founder Krishna Mehra (President – Americas), who founded the company alongside
CEO Aneesh Reddy and VP of Operations Ajay Modani:
Trying to engage with customers is adifficult thing. The existing mechanisms to capture
customer data and interact with customers through plastic cards, and all these things, are very
sub- p m l. M y m v pu ch c ’ lly c p u l f qu l y cu m
. Th ’ m h w lve very well.
What makes the system a big draw for brands, he explains, is its ability to integrate with
hundreds of different point-of- l y m w ll h f w ’ l-time nature which is
able to identify customers immediately after sign-up – f wh l h y’ ll h .
Categories:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Tags:
social crm
The Supply Chain Defines Social Media Too Narrowly
m 8 16:53:33 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
We are investigating how transparency and collaboration –through the
integration of social technologies- can help supply chains to innovate, to be resilient.
Improvements in the supply chain are created through information sharing and better
alignment in decision making. There are discrepancies between the above and practice. I came
across this article on supply chain executives and how social media is perceived. It describes
well some of the experiences and feedback we encounter.
The majority of the supply chain executives who participated in the sessions of the The
Logistics & Supply Chain Forum, believe that social media will transform supply chain
p c (f h ) w y w c ’ m y.
However, and this is not just limited to the supply chain, the writer elaborates:
F m x cu v h pu l c l h m “ c l m ” c lly qu
F c Tw L I h pu l cly cc l . Bu h c y m f “ c l
w ” lu l clu “E p . ” ppl c ( “Enterprise Social
Software”) h c mp c pl y lly f c l c mmu c
collaboration between employees and different functional groups, and with suppliers,
customers, and other external partners in a private, secure environment.
Th ’ f c nuous learning curve in educating the supply chain (and business in
general) in what social technologies are, the scope and applications of them. Partially the
discrepancy is sustained by the supply side of social technologies (agencies, consultancies
etc), focussing on B2C, specific functions such as Marketing, PR and comms and specific
networks. As the review of the Forum continues :
[…]I h h l l l y u c l m ff c v ly v c u u
mp v m v h c mp y u h x cu v ’ u l w
because his definition of social media was limited to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
In other words, many executives get caught up in the terminology (blogs, wikis, tweets,
discussion forums, RSS, Enterprise 2.0, etc.) and view social media as more work to do, more
information they need to sift through in addition to emails and voicemails. Think beyond
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Focus on the work, not the words.
The perception of social technologies to be additional work is an incorrect approach. Social
technologies offer better, faster and cheaper ways to support a vision or solve a business
p l m. If h y ’ v lu y u h v c f h m . “Bu l
ff h y w ll c m ” ff c v pp ch ch l y-centric instead of
business-centric.
In our continuous efforts in understanding the top challenges within supply chain
management and how potentially social technology integration can help solve them, please
share yours in the blog or contact us.
C c ly u ch h ’ ch ll w ll h lp uc ch h cc l
supply chain innovation.
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
social technology
integration
Key Role of Social Business Analyst Is Emerging
z 14:34:41 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
In a previous article about delivering the social business imperative, the
enabling roles to deliver social business mentioned an emerging critical role, the Social
Business Analyst. A dedicated role that acts as a liaison between IT and the business.
In the Forrester article, Koplowitz ends with the role of the social business analyst which is
often not funded and where skills are only now being defined:
Social business analysts define and measure business value. Emerging systems of
engagement and their ever-increasing integration with systems of record offer businesses the
opportunity to re-think knowledge worker-c c p c . O c “ f y u u l
h y w ll c m ” pp ch unlikely to drive optimal results. Forward-thinking organizations
have established a dedicated role to act as a liaison between IT and the business to educate the
business on driving business value and to take technical requirements from the business back
to IT to drive social business and collaboration strategy and investments. This critical role is
just emerging and often requires organizations to add net new headcount.
Th “ f y u u l h y w ll c m ” pp ch w ll ò v p m l ul v g and
linking it with business issues and how it can create business value is a sustainable approach.
Secondly, start small, test and learn, build your business case and decide upon results if and
how you should proceed with further integration.
The benefits of this process are higher speed, lower risk and a better outcome versus
traditional IT implementation processes. Furthermore, this approach promotes sharing and
collaboration and leads to a better mutual understanding among the team members of their
respective missions, goals and needs.
From a non IT perspective, social business analysts need to understand and be able to change
and direct culture, processes and capabilities in order to align effectively the social IT
solutions with the business. Besides those, there are the politics, reaching out to the right
stakeholders and what more that need to be addressed effectively, if a social business
transformation wants to happen effectively.
Do you think all these skills can be unified in one person? Or would a cross-competence team
be more feasible?
Ask us if you wish to find out what skills a social business analyst needs to have within your
business context and challenges.
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
social technology
social business
Forrester: Four Major Goals for Enterprise Social
Networking Integration
z 10:00:22 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Forrester fields hundreds of client inquiries each year on the topic of social
business and collaboration. And the trend doesn't appear to be slowing. Transparency,
collaboration and acceleration of the intangible capital are creating both challenges and
opportunities.
Vice president of Forrester Research Rob Koplowitz said at TUCON 2012, Las Vegas:
W ’ v c l ch l y m h f . Wh ’ ch m h y h
l h l l c m c l y… W ’ w c ph c u .
Why are they implementing social technology? Koplowitz answered that companies are
depending on information.
By having a (more) transparent infrastructure, across silos where different perspectives
h c u p c p pl wh m c mp l “
p ” much f ff c v .
Earlier this year, Koplowitz wrote this article on delivering the social business imperative.
The goals he hears from clients revolve around four major goals:
Breaking down geographic boundaries. There is a keen recognition that large global
organizations do not capture information and identify expertise effectively. Finding
content and experts in a large, geographically dispersed organization can be like
finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. If I have a question in London and the
best answer is from someone in Singapore, can I really expect that connection to be
made?
Breaking down organizational boundaries. Same dynamic as above, different
barriers. If I'm in customer service and the information I need to help a customer is
with a salesperson, can I make that connection?
Flattening organizational hierarchy. Of those investing in social networking
solutions, many are driven from the top down. C-level executives are often turning to
IT with the mandate to make the enterprise "more social." Why are these executives
looking to drive such profound change? Because they recognize that their businesses
are far too complex to be run effectively without meaningful input from the people
that are actually running the business every day.
Driving collective action. The actions of many are more powerful than the actions of
few. And organizations are acutely aware of this. In most of my client conversations,
the topic of innovation is a top-level driver of enterprise social initiatives. Within
innovation, the topic of new product development is top of mind. In other words,
many organizations are looking to drive the lifeblood of success, the products they
sell, collectively.
In a previous article we reported about four reasons why Enterprise Social Networking is
exloding. One of the reason was the ability to drive real business value. McKinsey researched
that the unlocked potential annual value of social technologies is 1.3 trillion in four sectors.
In order to achieve this, Koplowitz says that successful implementation of social business and
collaboration solutions requires standard IT diligence and the usual roles to apply it. Some of
these roles are tecnical and some are non technical. Examples are collaboration managers,
solution- and enterprise architects, HR professionals, community leaders and social business
analysts.
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
Enterprise Social Networking
The Future of Retail: Consumers Expect An Ingrated
Multi-Channel Service
v j 20:08:41 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
In a new report, l “D l Sh pp R l v cy ” C p m u v y
16,000 digital shoppers across 16 developing and mature markets about their use of different
channels and devices for shopping. The study demonstrated that shoppers are not loyal to one
channel but expect a seamless integration across online, social media, mobile and physical
stores.
The study also highlighted that 56 percent of respondents are likely to spend more money at a
physical store if they had used digital channels to research the product prior to purchase,
however 73 percent of respondents also expect online prices to be lower than those in physical
stores.
When asked what channels were important or very important for learning about products, 72
percent said Internet sites, 58 percent cited email newsletters and product/coupon offers, and
49 percent mentioned in-store technology.
The Tennessean reports on the study:
The simple availability of information is no longer an issue. What companies must do is
become trusted sources of knowledge and provide the platforms where consumers can share
experiences. Those companies will become the preferred brands.
Exactly this is important, creating such a compelling and relevant customer experience that a
brand becomes a trusted source.
SocialCommerceToday elaborates on the report by writing that the retail landscape as we
know it is set to change. More than half of the respondents from both developing and mature
markets said they expect physical stores for increasing numbers of categories will simply
become showrooms to select and order products by 2020.
This development might mean it helps the change the brick and mortar retail landscape.
Creating areas of mainly showrooms, pop-up stores and what more, combining it with an
online environment, creating the expected integrated (transmedial) all-channel service.
Local shopping engine Milo has produced an infographic of the research, see below:
Source: socialcommercetoday.com via Damarque on Pinterest
Categories:
Business Models
Tags:
retail
sector
capgemini
research
Co-operatives Are Resilient And Contribute To a More
Balanced Economy
v j 14:57:31 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The Guardian reports about the launch of The Co-operative Enterprise Hub
to support the creation and growth of community-owned enterprises. The Co-operative has
pledged a further £5million between 2012-14 to continue to develop the service which
provides free specialist advice, training and access to finance – plus a radical new scheme to
underwrite community share issues - enabling co-operatively-owned organisations to get off
the ground or grow.
From pubs to post offices and retail to renewables, resilient communities are turning to co-
operatively-owned solutions to operate business and services that are set-up, run and
controlled for the benefit of the community.
Michael Fairclough, head of community and co-operative investment at The Co-operative,
said:
Communities, driven by needs other than to maximise profit, are turning to co-operatively-
owned solutions to tackle local issues and, for the provision of businesses and services
important to their needs - enterprises operated by a general public increasingly concerned for
environment, accountability, community cohesion and sustainability. The co-operative
business model has a significant role to play in fostering the growth of future enterprise and
contributing to the rebuilding of a more balanced and stable economy.
Tiziana O'Hara from the Northern Ireland Co-operative Forum - the regional body
representing existing and emerging co-operatives in Northern Ireland, said:
Co-operatives are resilient even in a downturn, reinforcing the fabric of our communities and
contributing to a more balanced economy.
I ’ x c ly h m l c c my w ’ l f . Th f x mpl u h
collaborative consumption initiatives, or where networks of self-employed people are helping
each other. These kind of initiatives, spread the risk and benefits the individuals within
communities.
Indeed communities and societies need to have a better grip on the economy. How do you
think this fits within the purpose of a business and shared value, as explained by Michael
Porter?
Categories:
Open Industry and Open Economy
Tags:
co-operative
Social Media Monitoring Tools Comparison Guide:
Radian6 Tops
v j 14:04:53 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
PR 20/20 has created a social media monitoring tools comparison guidethat
compares nine monitoring tools. They have compared things like price, the ideal user, blog
coverage, social media coverage, email alerts, dashboard and more. There are a lot more
m l I ’t know why exactly thése nine have been selected, but it does give a
good overview between the tools.
Radian6 tops the other eight tools. Of course it depends on what kind of user you are and for
what objectives you want to use monitoring. The coverage, completeness and depth of
Radian6 in terms of sources is impressive. Having a full (or near full) overview of the
landscape is a precondition to do your analysis on. Have a look at the guide below.
Which monitoring tool do you advice which is not listed?
Categories:
Technology
Tags:
social media monitoring
Top Five Trends in B2B Content Marketing
v j 11:04:11 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Holger Schulze conducted a survey and compiled the report B2B Content
Marketing Trends 2012. I ’ p f h f wh c m
wh . I ’ l z h c m ju xp c
m m f l v wh l . W ’v pply c marketing for many
years now, amplifying the brand, spur thought leadership and being a platform where people
(businesses) with the same Purpose gather.
The top five trends are:
1. Content marketing is expanding dramatically in terms of tactics, forms and volume of
content.
• 8 p c f m y c p uc h
• Ov h lf f h p c p u m f m c c h h y m
“ ff c v ”
• Th m p p c c c ff t functional roles
2. Content is at the heart of B2B marketers top 3 goals—lead generation, market
education and brand awareness.
3. The fastest growing content format is Infographics, whose use increased 1.5x from last
year.
4. Biggest challenge for marketers is time and bandwidth to create content.
• 9 p c f B B m c w c f m c ch
5. Most B2B marketers are trying to measure content engagement.
• W ffic v w & w l l qu y & qu l y h p 3 m u ments
Three top goals for B2B content marketing
The top three goals are –as mentioned in the trends- lead generation, thought leadership &
market education and brand awareness. Through brand awareness by educating the market
and thought leadership, as a brand you Give First. You connect the dots, you create clarity
amongst the many developments. You develop Trust and become a reliable source.
Future
Over 84 percent of marketers are increasing content production over the next 12 months, over
30 percent of them significantly so. 14 percent of marketers expect volume to stay flat. In
contrast, last year, over 71 percent of respondents saw an increase in content production —
looks like the pace of content production is picking up steam.
What about you? Are you picking up on B2B content marketing? If so, what is your top goal?
Thanks for the hat tip Greg!
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
content marketing
Shared Thoughts From the #HBRchat On Big Data
21:00:59 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Today I joined the #HBRchat facilitated by @HBRExchange. Today's
topic was big data. Lots of people shared their thoughts on the topic. Have a look below for a
compilation of great thoughts shared by attendees of the chat. Enjoy.
[View the story "Thoughts from the #HBRchat on #bigdata" on Storify]
Thoughts from the #HBRchat on #bigdata
Today the #HBRchat by @HBRExchange was about
bigdata. Have a look below for some great thoughts shared
by attendees of the chat.
Storified by Damarque · Thu, Oct 04 2012 11:52:34
"The first question a data-driven organization asks itself is not 'What do we think?' but 'What
do we know?'" http://bit.ly/SxMBrC #hbrchatHBR Exchange
Great point. RT @leadfearlessly: Intuition guides what to ask, data makes course corrections.
#HBRChatSusanne Goldstein
RT @HBR xch : "B ’ p w h f v hum h ."
http://flpbd.it/QyJqs #hbrchatPallav Sinha
@HBRexchange The discussion at #hbrchat was immense but you were rather ungenerous
with the RTs today. Many valuable insights were ignored. (Ritu)
I fully support emphasis on proper methodology. RT @diwasamadge: ...pitfall of the mass
data grab #HBRchatLisa03755
@Lisa03755 @erichargraves It's not always about FASTER, it's about SMARTER -
sometimes takes more time upfront. #hbrchatTranscend Coaching
Data is a tool for execution. It doesn't execute, but rather leads our assumption about the
future. Better data, Better assumptions #HBRchatEric Hargraves
@mikepweiss Data, if not named & shared correctly can get "too inside baseball". Action
from actionable data #HBRChatSusanne Goldstein
@leadfearlessly Prototype and simulate it. Then, implement it on small scale and identify the
strengths and weakness. Leverage it. #HBRChatVidhya
@HBRexchange. Data comes fm data modeling wch should be outputted by conceptualizing
a fact-proof reality, thus buiding it fm facts #hbrchatMichel. M
transparency improves decision making. Multiple teams may benefit from the same data
through differing perspectives. #HBRchatEric Hargraves
@vasundhar Yes, right measure gives the right ingredient to concentrate upon to improve
efficiency and to cut costs. #HBRChatVidhya
MT @FollowSusanne: A3: Right data for right people. Data dissemination should be part of
companys information sharing strategy. #hbrchatHBR Exchange
If broad, need great reporting tools to drill into specific questions. #hbrchatTranscend
Coaching
Bravo! RT @leadfearlessly: Data drives better decisions only when we stop looking ONLY
for the data that supports our opinion... #hbrchatLisa03755
@phixod @AchimMuellers Proper methodology, analysis, and interpretation become
increasingly valuable due to data noise. #HBRchatDaniel Iwasa-Madge
@Lisa03755 @hbrexchange This is where increased level of skill is needed for big data. Next
big challenge is hiring the skills set #hbrchatLinda O'Neill
Data validates Intution. Intution in a way is outcome of experience, which is data that can't be
transfered. #HBRChatvasundhar
Strategy is always an intuitive leap. Data helps measure whether or not it works.
#hbrchatTranscend Coaching
Visualization of #bigdata correlation and causation can often sway where words cannot.
#hbrchatStephen Bates
If it is only Data, then the chimp promoting his product on #HBRChat search can make a
decision as well ! Intuition from experience shd aidSid Mishra
Concur!! RT @Lisa03755: @hbrexchange A2: Intuition AND data – They complement each
other. I always want supporting data. #hbrchatStephen Bates
Smart leaders calibrate their positions & decisions with new input. #intelligence
#hbrchatJustin Mass
Data is a tool. Intuition is a feeling. Talking to customers/users/implementers -- priceless
#HBRChatSusanne Goldstein
RT @ValaAfshar: RT @ValaAfshar: Good management is based on data, experience,
judgment and influence. #HBRchatRich Casselberry
Fostering a culture of evidence-based decision making is critical. Reject the anecdote.
@HBRexchange #HBRchatDaniel Iwasa-Madge
@jmass In masses of data, it's difficult to determine what info is unusable in the given context
and to pinpoint the relevant data.#HBRchatVidhya
The difficulty is not creating charts and dashboard, it's creating the ones that deliver
actionable insights - dataviz is much more #hbrchatEric Kim
+1 RT @jmass: Data not big if action not acute. #hbrchatW3 Consulting
Training is key to ask creative questions, interpret & communicate action-oriented results for
#bigdata value #hbrchatMarie Taillard
Vital components 2 data analysis: #accuracy in reporting, selection of appropriate tests,
ensuring generalizability of #results. #HBRchatEvelyn Eury
Having data could be mistaken for having knowledge. Just having the data is not enough it
has to be managed to leverage it.#hbrchatAvason Consulting
Categories:
Big Data
Tags:
harvard business review
Three Social Media Opportunities in Supply Chain
Strategies
16:57:41 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
SCM W l ’ u l Ch f Supply Ch Off c Report, a global study of
almost 1,400 executives co-led by highly respected supply chain academic Dr Hau Lee, found
that social media i pl y l l l y’ upply ch ( 7% “ ff c ”
today). Read further what the three opportunities are and other key findings of the survey.
In the future many see three opportunities:
Get customer feedback (56%),
Inform product innovation (46%) or
Warn of supply disruptions (41%).
What do you think of these three opportunities as spotted by the respondents?
Other key findings are:
Digital and eCommerce. The steady growth of online shopping is increasing supply chain
complexity at many levels and forcing those closest to the consumer to adapt.
Three-quarters of respondents expect changes to their manufacturing strategies and
distribution networks, while 56% expect brands to increase their direct-to-customer
fulfilment channels.
By a ratio of 4:1 respondents expect consumers to be increasingly receptive to offers
trading price, convenience and selection against each other rather than merely seeking
the lowest possible price.
Most supply chain profession l hy w y f m h f m v u l ’ p v
web data (Facebook pages, Google searches, etc). But other sources of customer
insight are seen as fair game.
Social and environmental responsibility (SER). The trend towards SER initiatives seems
unstoppable and companies are becoming less tolerant of violations.
Almost a third of companies now give no warning to suppliers when they breach SER
standards, and of these almost half immediately terminate the relationship. Among
those that do warn first, those terminating rather than reducing business has grown
year on year.
Only a quarter of firms believe they have good visibility of SER performance across
their extended supply network.
More than half of respondents report good results from SER efforts in complying with
government regulations and laws, and in improving both supplier relationships and
customer satisfaction. But measuring benefits is a challenge for almost 6 out of 10.
Risk management. The vast majority of companies have been hit financially by
disruptions recently, and executives are on high alert when it comes to their suppliers.
Shortages of raw materials and components top the list of risks that respondents are
m w u ( h “v y c c ”). Sh pp up ural
disasters and other incidents affecting supplier facilities, and the failure of key
suppliers are close behind.
More than 8 out of 10 companies have been hit by supply- and demand-side
disruptions during the past two years. Almost half have suffered a loss of
sales/revenue and more than a third have experienced lower profits.
Dual or multi-sourcing of key materials and components is the most widely used
approach for mitigating risk, with more than three-quarters doing this on the supply
side.
Strategy alignment and value creation. Firms look to their supply chain functions for
smarter product launches, greater customer loyalty and higher sales – not just
operational excellence.
While almost two- h f x cu v p c uc w “v ry
mp ” v f h upply ch fu c h lf l h m u
increasing sales revenue and differentiating customer service from that of competitors.
The most significant ways in which supply chain excellence boosts top-line growth,
according to survey respondents, are the ability to launch new products on schedule,
ramp up production quickly, ensure repeat purchases through greater customer loyalty,
and receive priority treatment from suppliers when key materials and components are
in short supply.
The standing of the supply chain function is growing. Six out of 10 respondents agreed
h “ upply ch u qu lly mp p f u ucc
l m R&D/p uc v l pm ” c mp w h ju 0% who
believed it was still seen as a cost centre or service function.
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
social media
strategy
Twitter and Nielsen Team Up To Offer Brand Surveys
15:52:04 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Twitter has unveiled Twitter Surveys, a new advertising tool for brands and
marketers. Twitter will offer surveys (via @TwitterSurveys) that can run inside a Twitter
u ’ m l . A w w ll f u w h u v y h f h h cl c
w ll pp w h h m l h ’ w y f m Tw . Tw w w h
Nielsen to offer analysis of the results, allowing for more direct comparison to campaigns on
other sites as well as on TV.
However, the surveys are not designed to promote a particular product or service, but instead
to help marketers understand the success of their campaigns. Brand Strategy vice president
Joel Lunenfeld said:
It will give brands better insights to determine purchase intent, overall awareness, and other
advertising metrics and analytics that can lead to greater engagement on Twitter.
Have a look on Slashgear for screenshots.
Enabling technologies
This is a great example of how social is an enabling technology to have a faster (scalable and
with a click), better (continuous) and cheaper (in relation to conventional means)
understanding of purchase intent, awareness and understand campaigns across multiple
media.
Forbes further elaborates on the extensiveness of applications:
More i c h ’ h f f u l m u v y .
With the capability to offer a more interactive experience right inside the current Twitter
service, Twitter eventually could offer brands more creative tools beyond surveys, such as
rich media, video, commercial message sharing with followers or others on Twitter, or even
the ability to buy products without leaving Twitter.
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
nielsen
surveys
CEOs See Digital as Significant Driver of Future Growth
13:44:29 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Acc E & Y u ’ l CEO study Opportunity and
optimism: How CEOs are embracing digital growth released in September 2012, global
media and entertainment CEOs are optimistic about the digital future and expect digital
revenue will be a rapidly increasing percentage of overall revenue for companies.
Interesting insights from the report:
The technologies that enable double-digit growth are creating new digital ecosystems
Mobile devices to be the biggest driver of growth in content consumption
Ability to persuade customers to pay fair value for digital content among top CEO
challenges
84% of CEOs believe the role of social networking for their company is to connect
with customers; building audiences and brands are secondary.
76% of CEOs said the j c v f “ pp” p f u l f w
enhanced content and services.
The top priority for CEOs remains the evolution of digital and online distribution
(56%), followed by creatively differentiating content (44%).
Social and interactive media companies are best positioned among all media and
entertainment companies to thrive in the future, according to 59% of CEOs.
(taken from Mediapost)
The role of social media according to media and entertainment CEOs is quite limited to
connecting with customers (84% of respondents). Building audiences, which I think is more
from an acquisition point of perspective is second, with 69% of the respondents affirming
this.
The role of a distribution platform is just 50%, which I think has a big potential when looking
at user-centric applications instead of content-centric applications. Why not infuse Facebook
with content instead of getting people to specific content sites?
(taken from Mediapost)
Ubiquity is key, and social is already diffused quite a lot, therefore 41% of the respondents
say it is a big driver for growth. Number one with a full 100% affirmation is ubiquity from a
device point of perspective, namely mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets will spur
growth.
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
ceo
EY
research
entertainment
sector
The Multichannel Future of Doctor-Patient Relationships
12:52:25 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
P hc ’ article on the future of doctor-patient relationships ended with
the conclusion that the key to reducing physician stress and increasing patient trust , is getting
c c h v c c mmu c w h p . I ’ m f y u
use a horse and buggy like American doctors practiced medicine 150 years ago or apps and
p v c l w f h l hc ’ ll u h p -doctor relationship. What
are the three aspects of technology that drive a sea change in the doctor-p l h p…
P hc ’ cl h m ch l mentions:
1. Healthcare apps: Smartphone usage and adoption of innovative healthcare
apps are rising rapidly. Android may soon be the biggest selling medical
device in the world. Combined with private social networks for doctors and
patients, healthcare apps become a teaching and reference tool and also a great
private messaging tool for doctors to provide guidance and patients to provide
their personal experience and latest data points.
2. Knowledge management: Doctors have always been among the heaviest
users of Internet and search technology in the world for searching,
investigating, collaborating and publishing papers.Once upon a time, doctors
were exclusive gatekeepers of knowledge that a patient could not hope to
attain.Today, patients have high accessibility to data (whether a layman can
correctly interpret the data and convert it into valuable information and avoid
post-hoc error is another y…).Th c -patient relationship is getting
m p l h p wh c f p “What do you
think you have?” fully xp c h p h v h ch f
he came in.
3. Time (not having enough of it): We are all busy, but doctors are really busy
p pl h y’ l v p m m c mmu c w h p h
than getting into trouble with technology, clunky user interfaces and arcane
menus. A great user interface is fun, compelling and time saving for a busy
doctor.
The multichannel approach of relationships comes in when the writer challenges readers with
the question if healthcare apps, search engines, and directories add value to healthcare without
doctors?
His answer is:
No.
If you trust someone a lot – h y u’ll lly l h m . If y u ’ u h m –
then you may believe the opposite of what they say.
People became doctors because they wanted to help people, learn science and achieve better
science, not because they wanted to make a career out of texting with patients.
Patients come to doctors after conducting their own research because they need the physicians
knowledge, scientific training and gateway services to that scarce social resource called
healthcare.
So we have two channels in essence; a digital channel where you can search and play with
your app and a physical channel where you can learn and be guided by your doctor.
This is really a mashup. A maship of your virtual life and your real life.
And, that mashup of digital interactions and real interaction is a wonderful contribution to the
doctor-patient relationship.
Th c u f pl c “ch l ” h w ch ll c
multichannel approach that is complementary to each other.
Relationships (between care givers and patients/family) have a major impact on healthcare
outcomes. For the supply side: facilitating engagement and participation among healthcare
stakeholders is a major opportunity for gaining competitive advantage.
Digital and social technology support cost-effective healthcare:
Physicians believe the Internet is a real asset and love engaging with online
communities to share information and understand anxieties and needs.
Social media have made people hyper connected and has given the patient easy access
to information and more control over their own health.
Always find the best balance in needs and channels to create a holistic and beneficial doctor-
patient experience.
Categories:
Customer Experience Management
Tags:
healthcare
Content Marketing: The Content and Context Diarchy
11:43:41 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
A diarchy is a form of governing by two rulers, diarchies are known for
instance from ancient Sparta and Rome and is one of the oldest types of government. Within
content marketing the Diarchy is becoming more needed, just quality content is not going to
make it anymore. ExploreB2B wrote an article with a enumeration of reasons why content is
not being read.
The reasons are:
Your blog is new
There are millions of other blogs addressing the same topic as yours
Potential readers are unable to find you
You do not offer any subscription or information system
You do not give enough information about the blog or author
You post in irregular times and there are large spans of time in which there is no post
You publish, but do not share or spread your content
Creating a good context for the purpose of qualitative and relevant content is just as important
as the content itself.
Most importantly think how content marketing helps you in achieving your goals. This will
set the context and directions you will undertake.
If you relate content marketing to your brand, your target audience and what you want to
ch v y u c ff l y u h . Al l c ‘ v u
y m’ h u wh c c fu c wh ch y u c u
for content pieces. Make sure you syndicate your content in relevant social networks but also
offer a sharing infrastructure. It needs to be dead easy to share.
Start mapping your content and context needs and keep drilling down till you have created a
full and clear picture.
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
content marketing
Michael Porter's Purpose of Business
7:22:20 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
At the World Business Forum 2012 Michael Porter spoke about the
purpose of business, about shared value. The concept of shared value—which focuses on the
connections between societal and economic progress—has the power to unleash the next
wave of global growth, Porter wrote in the January 2011 edition of Harvard magazine. Have a
look what Porter said during the World Business Forum 2012.
The Purpose of Business
(Image from @pmadero)
There is an opportunity to transform thinking and practice about the role of the
corporation in society
Shared value gives rise to far broader opportunities for economic value creation
than conventional management thinking
Shared value thinking will drive the next wave of innovation, productivity and
economic growth Shared value will give rise to a new generation of management thinking
Businesses acting as businesses, not as charitable givers, are arguably the most
powerful force for addressing many of the pressing issues facing our society
A transformation of business practice around shared value will give purpose to the
corporation and represents our best chance to legitimize business again
These macro shifts in thinking and business context, or at least challenges for the status quo
are important. Important to understand how business will be conducted in the (near) future.
Important to understand what society thinks needs to be achieved. And important because it
affects the business strategy, its tactics and execution.
Have a look h f ll w ‘ y’ p c up m f h h p c up y
u M ch l P ’ p h WBF .
[View the story "Michael Porter's Purpose of Business - Shared Value" on Storify]
Michael Porter's Purpose of Business -
Shared Value
At the World Business Forum 2012 Michael Porter spoke
about the purpose of business, about shared value. The
concept of shared value—which focuses on the connections
between societal and economic progress—has the power to
unleash the next wave of global growth,
Storified by Damarque · Wed, Oct 03 2012 22:11:33
Shared value: capitalism is the key to solving the social needs of society. Create new markets.
Go beyond CSR. @MichaelEPorter #WBFNYJared Jamison
RT @LaureateIntlU: @MichaelEPorter at #wbfny "Shared value thinking will drive next
wave of innovation, productivity & economic w ..."ديمحلا دبـع دومـحم
RT @majo0207: "CSR is more about reducing the harm and building a reputation than
actually solving a problem," - Michael Porter #wbfnyWOBI
Michael Porter enWOBI TV #wbfny http://pic.twitter.com/sdi5BLYyViviana Alonso
RT @PeteBelyea: RT @PeteBelyea: People don't want to work for a company who's goal is
to increase shareholder value... You need "purpose" #WBFNY (@ Port ...Pedro G. Madero
Michael E. Porter on stage. #wbfny #wobi http://pic.twitter.com/dHzRLS0PCarmine A. Buda
Shared value is industry & company specific. Decide where's the biggest impact & biggest
connection - Michael Porter #WBFNYThink Marketing
#WBFny Michael Porter points out oil sands example of how industry has to review
economic cost of water & how recycling it proved beneficialShafraaz Kaba
RT @majo0207: "CSR is more about reducing the harm and building a reputation than
actually solving a problem," - Michael Porter #wbfnyWOBI
Social Deficits in the Community creates Economic Costs for Businesses #WBFNY
@Michael PorterJSC Management
Porter channels Econ 101-- externalities as market opptys for businesses @MichaelEPorter
#WBFNYMargaret Molloy
Social needs represent the largest market opportunities- Michael Porter at #WBFNYTatyana
Benders
Porter provokes packed house to broader definition of capitalism and ROI @MichaelEPorter
#WBFNYMargaret Molloy
"Creating Shared Value: Creating economic value by creating societal value." Michael Porter
#wbfnyThorsten Wichtendahl
"There are no examples of corporate philanthropy solving social problems"-Michael Porter
#WBFNY #LAUREATEWBFIBI BARRIENTOS™
Michael Porter's speech #WBFNY: Notion of "creating shared value" (CSV) is next step to
CSR. http://pic.twitter.com/mplWuqzAJulien Lafond
RT @illuminantceo: RT @illuminantceo: Prof Michael Porter of HBS advocating "addressing
social problems with capitalism" at the #WBFNYLeslie Henderson
At Michael Porter speech: effective businesses have moved from philanthropy to CSR to a
new Creating Shared Value approach #wbfnyWilliam Sparks
Porter: we're at time of knowing NGOs and govt can't solve the big problems, but biz
legitimacy and respect way down #WBFNYAndrew Winston
There can be no good society w/o business- Michael Porter #wbfny but what is the role of
business?Kelly Hoey
Michael Porter en #WBFNY @UVM_cl http://pic.twitter.com/oy1BXIzuFelipe Orlando
Valle
Michel Porter Creating Shared value, the new competitive adventage en el #WBFNY
http://twitpic.com/b0q921Juan Otero
Categories:
Open Industry and Open Economy
Tags:
michael porter
shared value
Nimble CEO: “Nimble Is Today to Salesforce What
Salesforce Was in the 90s and 2000s to Seibel”
woe 3 17:12:33 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
E l h y N m l ’ CEO Jon Ferrara made the bold statement
“Cu m l h p m m uc ”. F c ll N m l c l cu m
relationship management (CRM) company. Yesterday VentureBeat reported that Nimble is
going strong, having announced a series of product updates that will help salespeople more
effectively manage their contacts.
Nimble integrates all major social networks in order for sales people to have a holistic view of
a person, beyond a business card. VentureBeat follows:
The founders hope that their sales customers will no longer need to make those awkward cold
calls. Instead, the process will become far more personal. For instance, when a potential sales
p p c m “ch c - ” y F u qu y u’ll be notified and could join them for
cup f c ff . Th h w h h c l m y u’ll l ch
through their status updates for potential conversation topics.
Currently Nimble has has 45,000 users, 250 fully committed value-added resellers, and
40,000 unique visitors per month.
Are you using Nimble? If so, what are your perceived major benefits of using it?
Categories:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Tags:
nimble
salesforce
Booking.com Superior On Social Media
w 3 16:45:35 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
E-commerce is vital to the travel industry, with almost three-quarters
of travel research taking place online and around a third of hotel revenue coming from online
bookings. A new report from QuBit found that Booking.com has the strongest social presence
amongst hotel brands in the UK. From a value creation point of perspective, how can all this
be capitalized?
Econsultancy elaborates on the QuBit report:
To measure how well each of the brands is performing on social media QuBit assessed their
presence across Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and Facebook.
S c l c c lcul ch c mp y’ ch c l w wh ch h
weighted based on the average time spent on the website and revenue driven through each
source.
Booking.com is an innovative and data-driven company, I wonder how they are maximizing
value out of all this social data and engagement.
There are four steps and activities in value creation through social technologies. From passive
to co-creative. Each step adds more cumulative value.
Booking.com listened to the customers base and picked out those platforms and executed
accordingly, which then shifts into facilitating communities and creating trust. Their
engagement on (for instance) is impressive and they are getting lots of fans to like and
involved in discussions.
What is Booking.com doing within the last stage of activities?
I h B .c m h m y ll c v u ’ m f ll w h u h
u l c c l m ’ full potential.
Have you unlocked social's full potential?
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
booking.com
hotels
social media
Social CRM Is Conversation Driven, Sales Are By-Product
w 3 15:58:00 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The infographic created by Our Social Times shows representation of a
complex issue, CRM. It's a good starting point for organisations seeking to integrate social
media into their customer and stakeholder management processes. The infographic hightlight
four uses of social CRM, Marketing, sales, Feedback and Service & Support. Read the key
points and see the differences between traditional CRM and social CRM.
The key points are:
.T y’ cu m m mp w c c h v f . B
respond.
2.Traditional CRM is about colelcting and managing customer data. Social CRM is a strategy
for customer engagement.
3.Traditional CRM is sales driven. Social CRM is conversation driven and sales are a by-
product.
Wh ’ y u p h h p ?
Source: econsultancy.com via Damarque on Pinterest
Categories:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Tags:
social crm
Link Your Strategic Issue With the Right Social Media
Monitoring Solution
w 3 12:43:14 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
I came across this article on SocialMediaToday m “ Qu
A S c l M M P v ”. Th y’v c mp l l f qu y
prospective social media monitoring partner. These are good questions for sure, but these
questions come at the end. Before you start inviting social media monitoring providers, figure
out what strategic issue you want to solve within the given context.
The article ends with:
There is a wide range of monitoring options that run the gamut from free and low scale to
v y xp v p h. Y u’ll h v c wh ch v c e best for you based
y u qu m wh y u’ l u f h m.
The starting point is: How can social technologies and data achieve business objectives
faster, better and cheaper?
What organizational functions do you need to alter in order to achieve your business
objective, or solve your strategic issue?
For example, different social media monitoring requirements are needed depending if you are
to capture consumer insights, or you want to provide customer care via monitoring. The
former means lots of analytical functionalities to help to understand effectively and efficiently
the social data. The latter requires perhaps more of a cockpit solution, where organizations
can aggregate conversations and workflow them to people to solve them. If you want to
generate and foster sales leads, a more integrated social monitoring and CRM solution might
be the best one.
Depending on how social technology (monitoring) can add value to a specific function you
can downdrill to the functionalities that enable you to do so.
Are you working from the business context?
Categories:
Technology
Tags:
social media monitoring
Share Your Examples of Innovators in Supply Chain and
Social Media Integration
18:52:13 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The topic of supply chain and the potential benefits of social media and
ch l p c. I ’ f f m y mpl m u
conversations around these two topics are increasing.
Research by IDC showed a growing need for solutions that incorporate external stakeholders
such as customers and suppliers in business workflow processes and feedback mechanisms.
An article in the CFO magazine points out to a supply chain revolution but that the challenge
is balance (in information supply). And yesterday Lora Cecere wrote a great blogpost as
response on my question what the biggest barrier for social technology integration in the
supply chain is.
Today I came across a tweet by @IEMichaela:
Why are social media collaboration technologies increasingly being integrated across the
supply chain? #SOPVGS
— Michaela Morrison (@IEMichaela) October 2, 2012
I was interested to know more about her experience and examples on supply chain and social
media integration.
@OPSrules said it all:
We would love to hear some. RT @damarqueviews @iemichaela Could you share some
examples of innovators in #supplychain and #socialmedia?
— OPS Rules Alerts (@opsrules) October 2, 2012
Please share your examples of innovators in the supply chain space that are experimenting
and thriving with social media integration. Transparency of sharing your examples will
further help understand what works and what not and where it could possibly head towards.
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
integration
How Social Media Is Changing Education
15:48:01 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
According to the latest data provided by BestCollegesOnline.com, 100% of
colleges and universities surveyed are using some form of social media. Based on that data,
The Technology Cafe created an infographic. Have a look what the key findings are.
The Technology Cafe broke the goals –behind social media integration- down into the
following categories:
1. Increase awareness/advocacy/rankings
2. Engage current students/faculty/staff
3. Recruit students, engage admitted students/alumni
4. Crisis issues and management
One in three schools say that social media is more efficient than traditional media in reaching
their target audience. When we look at the potential value and how easy it is to capture that
value (McKinsey research), there are great opportunities to transform, innovate but also
disrupt the educational sector.
How do you think social media will change education?
Have a look at the infographic and its results below:
Source: thetechnologycafe.com via Damarque on Pinterest
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
education
sector
Five Social Media Opportunities for Car Insurers
15:12:31 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Socialnomics wrote an article why car insurers should be active on social
media. The article proposes five opportunities. Read what these are and my thoughts and
reaction to each of those five.
The five mentioned opportunities are (read the full descriptions here):
* Have a regularly updated blog – Your auto insurance website should have a blog that
provides relevant and timely news for consumers. Not only do you want to promote what your
business is doing, but also key in consumers on things going on in the auto insurance industry.
By doing so, your business will come across as an authority in the car insurance business.
Agree, key is that creating authority is of importance. Becoming a reliable source to whom
customers can return over and over again. This means also that car insurers need to talk about
cu m ’ ch ll h c ly w ll l h u ’p uc .
* Turn to the social media leaders – While there are countless social media vehicles
available for businesses, it only makes sense to first focus on the big ones, i.e. Facebook and
Twitter. The two leading social media venues are a great way for your auto insurance business
to interact with the public.
Always assess social media networks. Be where your customers are and be on those networks
that will support achieving your objectives and strategy. There are thousands and thousands of
ch c l w . Wh y y u m ’ p h h F cebook and
Twitter?
* Have a personable business approach – Yes, your goal on social media is to sell auto
insurance, but you have to do it in a non-aggressive manner. Consumers on social media want
to see a personable side to the man or woman selling car u c m h y ’ w
to get hit over the head with sales pitches all the time. It is important that personalities win out
here, meaning carry on conversations with consumers just like you would a neighbor.
This is in line with the first opportunity. Talk about needs, challenges and what more.
* Explore other social media options – While as mentioned Facebook and Twitter remain
the king and queen of social media, sites like Google+ and Pinterest are also good venues to
be seen and heard on.
For Google+ and Pinterest counts the same. Assess if these networks suite your audiences,
objectives and strategy.
* Link back to different media – Lastly, your social media efforts do not just have to be
verbal ones. You should also use Facebook, Twitter and other venues to link back to your
videos, podcasts and more. The days of advertising your car insurance business through a
simple flyer or business card are long gone.
Content marketing comes in many forms, choose those that best supports your goal.
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
insurance
automotive
sector
Salesforce Leads Gartner's Magic Quadrant 2012 for
Social CRM
11:39:12 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Relationships, not technologies, are what make CRM strategies successful.
They connect people and get work done, deliver value, solve problems and gain insight into
how better to serve customers in the future. The reality of Social CRM is that many
enterprise ’ f wh h y w h x v . S h y qu ly u l
their own CRM systems. This is in line with my observations on tailored monitoring
technologies.
Forbes elaborates on this discrepancy:
While it is an excellent analysis at the technical level, it needs more balance with the real
value of CRM in changing companies by changing people and relationships. By not having
that balance, the quadrant misses out on major trends occurring in Social CRM today.
Salesforce leads the social CRM market when it comes to the completeness of their vision in
combination with the ability to execute. Jive and Lithium follow closely.
Though, In a recent article on Forbes, the following was mentioned on Salesforce:
Panels agreed that while Salesforce has done well on the SaaS platform, it is getting a
reputation in larger corporate accounts of being hard to customize and use.
There will be a need for customization, be more business specific and relevant.
80% of companies follow the five stages of Social CRM Adoption, with social media
monitoring by PR and communications firms being the most common starting point. The
majority of the companies (70%) have are in the Initial and Developing stages of this maturity
model.
This abovementioned image relates to McK y’ m l, where ten social technologies can
add value in organizational functions within and across enterprises:
Knowledge valorization
Number nine and ten can be overlayed on the left side Organizational Functions, that will
open up these silos, and unlocking the power of cross-departmental thinking and ideation.
Opening up the organization internally and the value network (between organizations) will
boost be the apex of knowledge valorization. Valorizing knowledge faster and better,
speeding up processes, decision-making to operate within the window of –real-time-
opportunity.
Categories:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Tags:
salesforce
social crm
Four Preconditions To Capitalize on Your Big Social Data
10:08:06 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Last week, september 26th, I gave a presentation at Data Pioneers, an
inspirational afternoon where in short sessions different insights were given on social media
research and big data. The presentation I gave was from a business context point of
perspective. What are the four preconditions in order to be able to benefit from social big data
as effectively and efficiently. View the presentation in this post.
Multiscope Data Pioneers - Taming Big Social Data
Multiscope Data Pioneers - Taming Big Social Data from DamarqueViews
In a fast (continuously) changing connected world we need to make a plan of action that
integrates social technologies and their data effectively to become fast, fluid and flexible in
order to stay competitive.
To integrate social technologies and to benefit from their data effectively, a holistic starting
point needs to be taken. How can social technologies and data achieve business objectives
faster, better and cheaper.
The current state of social data however shows a discrepancy between experience and
expectation, there is still a lot of untapped potential business value. The most important
discrepancies are lack of leadership, vision and skills to act on unstructured big social data.
I made the analogy with the dragonfly. The dragonfly is the only insect able to propel itself in
any direction—with tremendous speed and force—when its four wings are working in concert
(see also the Dragonfly Effect).
Th “ fly” organisation also needs to be resilient, agile, to be able to propel itself in any
direction, fast, fluid and flexible and pointed out in the first slide. But to do so, the dragonfly
needs its four wings to work in concert.
What are the four business succe “w ”?
Align social media strategy with business objectives
Build internal capabilities
Tailor organizational design to operations
Create a culture of sharing, accountability and learning
F c u h p w h h f u “w ” not specific to big data. This is
correct, these four success factors are applicable to any change journey. Business
management would become very complex if for any new development a specific and unique
framework should be adhered.
What is your biggest barrier to effectively make use of big social data?
Click here to read how we can help you throughout the whole process in a low risk manner to
benefit from social big data.
Contact us to jointly assess the opportunities and challenges for your business.
Categories:
Big Data
Tags:
social media
Is Content Marketing Traditional Advertising's New
Rival?
m 21:11:30 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
A rich infographic by Marketo shows that content marketing is a force to
be reckoned with. As companies seek to expand their reach online, budgets for Content
Marketing are growing and new tactics and promotion strategies are being explored. Dive in
the infopgraphic and see how organizations are currently using it, and the budgets that are
being allocated tot his massive new platform.
The quote by Gary Vaynerchuck fits perfectly with the infographic:
"I think we're all in the content business" ~ @garyvee (via @tonyahallradio ) @driverappear
LISTEN NOW HERE > @1580krel
— Tonya Hall (@TonyaHallRadio) October 1, 2012
We are all in the content business, it is one of the ways how organizations can thrive in an
intangible and knowledge driven society. Attention = key.
Why should companies use content marketing?
The infographic shows it shoulde be used for risk mitigation, lead generation, lead nurturing
and lead scoring. Especially the risk mitigation reason is forgotten, but this getting of greater
importance. In a dynamic landscape, right decisions needs to be made day in day out, a trusted
advisor can support their clients through content marketing.
What are the top three content marketing tactics that you are using?
With regard to the budgets, 51% will increase its spend in the next 12 months. In terms of
outsourcing content marketing or doing it in-house, 45% mentions that it is fully done in-
house and 52% is having a dual approach, both in-house and outsourced.
If you outsource your content marketing, which tactic is that?
Do you think content marketing will overtake traditional advertising when it comes to budget?
Source: slagtermedia.nl via Damarque on Pinterest
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
content marketing
Supply Chain and Social Media: Lora Cecere Responds
With Great Insights
m 20:25:07 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
It is affirming once more how social media makes it possible to connect
qu c ly w h xp . Supply ch ‘Sh m ’ L C c w p qu
I asked her via Twitter. Never expected to be a complete blogpost. Thanks Lora! Read here
valuable insights on supply chains and social media.
Based on a retweet by @Icecere on social media being a platform for supply chain innovation,
I asked her the following question:
@lcecere @chrobinsoninc @bizphyx What do you think is the biggest barrier for social tech
to be a platform for #supplychain innovation?
— Damarque (@DamarqueViews) September 30, 2012
This is what she responded:
The supply chain is knotted. It is unruly. It is complex. Will it ever be tamed through social?
Yesterday, @DamarqueViews asked me a question on twitter: “What do you think are the
greatest barriers in the adoption of social technology in the supply chain?” I laughed. Such a
deep question on twitter. I tried and tried to figure out how I could answer this question in 140
characters on Twitter. I could not. It was preposterous to try. So, I thought that I would write a
blog to answer what seems like a simple question.
For many readers that know my background, they know how deeply I have thought about the
topic. I find the evolution of social technologies, and the promise of social, exciting for the
supply chain. So much so that in 2010, I believed that the convergence of social and
traditional enterprise applications would happen quickly. It is one of the reasons that I went
from working at AMR Research to being a partner at the Altimeter Group. It is also why I
launched the Rise of Social Commerce Event at Altimeter. It is why I bought a license for
Jive and built the Supply Chain Insights Community.
My writing in this area was very early. I quickly found that the two topics were worlds apart. I
had to learn a new language, a new set of vendors and connect with a new group of users. It
was earlier than even supply chain innovators. What I found when I tried to help supply chain
leaders connect the dots was:
Click here to read her complete blogpost response on the matter.
What do you think of Cecere's views?
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
Lora Cecere
Five Challenges in Establishing And Running an Online
Health Community
m 15:17:58 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
In the article “Th p w f P c mmu “ f v ch ll
mentioned to pharma marketers when they set up and run an online health community. Most
importantly is the shift from product thinking into patient thinking by pharma marketers.
The five challenges mentioned are:
(1) Your audience has unmet needs and your online community needs to fill those needs. You
need to do research to really understand what they need besides product benefits. You need to
understand the emotional needs.
(2) Marketers should work very closely with their MLR teams to ensure that they can win
them over for the need of establishing online communities.
(3) You can work within DDMAC guidelines by either establishing an online community in
an unbranded site or by having every post be reviewed before it goes live on a branded site.
This is what I did with Sarafem over 10 years ago and it was successful.
(4) You need to provide patients with answers THEY want answered not with marketing point
of sale talk. Remember ePatients today want to better understand how treatments are going to
allow them to live a quality of life on THEIR terms.
(5) Think of your brand beyond just the product. Think of your brand as the first place
ePatients turn to for help and answers especially when the media talks about new treatment
options or problems with current treatments.
Participatory healthcare
Pharma marketers have the opportunity to become that trusted source for patients. People
’ w m sources, on the contrary, they want a trustworthy source they can relate to.
Relationships (between care givers and patients/family) have a major impact on healthcare
outcomes, become the facilitator. Facilitating engagement and participation among healthcare
stakeholders is a major opportunity for gaining competitive advantage.
Digital and social technology support cost-effective participatory healthcare:
Physicians believe the Internet is a real asset and love engaging with online
communities to share information and understand anxieties and needs.
Social media have made people hyper connected and has given the patient easy access
to information and more control over their own health.
Are you planning an online health community to create sustainable competitive advantage?
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
healthcare
The State of Social Media in Healthcare
m 13:42:21 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Patients are more and more self-reliant when it comes to finding out
information on healthcare issues (before visiting a doctor). One finding shows that patients
trust traditional communication over digital and social media. Why do you think this is? Have
a look at the infographic for all findings.
Source: 9.mshcdn.com via Damarque on Pinterest
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
healthcare
trends
Accenture Research Shows Citizen Support for Police Use
of Digital and Social Media
m 13:25:39 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The intent to support is there, but the police needs to inform and
communicate more and better. Nearly all (92 percent) of citizens surveyed by Accenture in six
countries want to support their police force and believe they have an important role to play in
reporting crime (88 percent). However, the vast majority (84 percent) of almost 1300
respondents say they are only minimally informed of local police activities, according to a
survey released by Accenture at the annual conference of the International Association of
Chiefs of Police (IACP).
The survey was held amongst citizens from Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, the United
States and the United Kingdom found the following key findings:
Almost three-fourths (71 percent) of those surveyed say police use of digital channels
can help overcome the communication gap
only 20 percent believe their local police use digital channels
Almost three-fourths (72 percent) of respondents believe social media can be an
effective tool to report crimes, generate suspect leads and support police investigations
Only 13 percent of respondents said their local police are currently using social media
as a communications channel
More than half of respondents (53 percent) believe the use of social media by police
can improve police services
47 percent believe it can prevent crime.
Citizens also expressed preferences for specific social media platforms: 81 percent of
respondents said they would most likely use Facebook to interact with police and 35
percent said they would use Twitter
Almost one-fourth (23 percent) of respondents believe police should use smartphone
and mobile applications to communicate with citizens
50 percent said they would like to see an increase in the use of police websites and
portals.
Only 22 percent of those surveyed, however, said their police force is currently using
dedicated websites and portals
The research found that police across all six countries continue to rely heavily on
traditional media channels, including newspapers (69 percent) and radio or television
news reports (45 percent), as their primary tools for one-way communication with
citizens
Despite citizens' interest in the use of more digital channels, traditional community
policing methods remain important. The majority (63 percent) of respondents still
prefer to report a crime over the phone or in person to a police officer
More than half of respondents (51 percent) said that "seeing police on the street"
instils confidence in local policing efforts
More than half of those surveyed (53 percent) would like to have a designated
community police force contact.
71 percent of respondents said they would interact with police more often if they had
the option to remain anonymous when reporting a crime or providing information to
support police investigations.
Ger Daly who leads Accenture's global Defence & Public Safety business said:
The findings of this survey show a strong desire by citizens to change the way they interact
with law enforcement agencies and to support their local police chiefs in delivering crime-
fighting services in new ways. Citizens want to receive and share information with police
through their method of choice, which increasingly is a digital and mobile channel and they
are looking for ways to engage with police while reserving the option of anonymity.
Speaking at the IACP annual conference, Tim Godwin, Accenture senior executive and
retired U.K. Metropolitan Police Service deputy commissioner said,
The strong belief among citizens that digital technologies and social media channels can
improve police services and prevent crime demonstrates the importance of police forces
continuing to adopt new tools to foster two-way communication with citizens. By increasing
the number of channels by which police communicate, they will gain valuable intelligence
that can help prevent crime and secure prosecutions.
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
police
public
communication
Most CMOs Don't Plan to Outsource Key Marketing
Tactics Such as Social Media
z 3 p m 15:09:21 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Just as we must maintain healthy exercise and eating habits to stay fit
physically, marketers benefit from developing their own regimen for success. generation
goals, driving business forward. Optify's "2012 Marketing Athlete Survey Report", surveying
269 B2B marketers, explores how these marketing athletes mastered the available tools and
channels to boost their company's overall growth.
Key findings of the survey are:
Nearly 70 percent of respondents are over age 30, with 83 percent of this age group
reporting 5 or more years in a marketing role. These athletes feel accomplished at
many marketing activities and claim to be very well versed in traditional outbound
tactics, as well as inbound marketing channels, such as social media and SEO. Those
under 30 feel confident with online tactics, but aren't as confident about offline tactics
and PR.
Most athletes don't plan to outsource key marketing tactics, such as social media (79
percent), email marketing (76 percent), and lead generation (72 percent) in the next 12
months.
Seventy percent of athletes use more than one marketing tool when dealing with social
media, while 24 percent use no tools to manage SEO.
The majority of marketing athletes, 45 percent, spent 15+ hours per week focused on
marketing execution, while only 14 percent spent 15+ hours on marketing operations
such as reporting and software platform management.
In the area of marketing execution, content (30 percent), lead generation (17 percent),
and website management (16 percent) are the main focus for those putting in 15+
hours. However, 30 percent report that they spend no time nurturing leads.
While social media has become the top lead generation tactic, with 13 percent of
respondents spending 15+ hours developing their social presence, PPC (pay-per-click)
continues to fade in popularity, with 57 percent of respondents spending no time with
this tactic at all.
Many marketing athletes consider themselves experts in social media (42 percent),
offline tactics (34 percent), and email marketing and SEO (28 percent). Weaknesses,
dominate in the areas of PPC (25 percent) and online advertising (18 percent).
Eighty-two percent of respondents believe they are spending most of their time on
marketing activities that are important to their business. However, 27 percent feel they
have too many lead generation tools and channels to manage.
Two findings got my attention.
First of all that 79% of the surveyed marketers are not outsourcing key marketing tactics such
as social media. Core activities are normally not outsourced and being kept in-house. What is
interesting in relation to this figure is that –just- 42% of the marketers consider themselves as
experts in social media. Research by IBM shows even a lower percentage of marketers having
social media capabilities.
What about the rest? Are they deploying social media ineffectively? Are they not looking at
h full p l y h c p l ? Wh ’ y u h u h ?
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
outsourcing
Evolution of Social Media Monitoring: Bespoke, Tailored
or Off the Rack?
z 3 p m 13:05:15 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
I came across this article on SocialEnterpriseToday that discusses the three
f m f c l m m f m m ly S v h ff ‘ z ’
monitoring solutions and on the other hand the tailored or even bespoke solutions that are
m cu m z . I’v v lv p uc v l pm f lm f v y w h
online marketing management system and involved in social media monitoring for more than
five y . R m f my h u h h u …
Definitions
This is how the article defines the three forms:
Off the rack: software-as-a-service from a single vendor, up and running with minimal
configuration in minutes, hours, or days.
Custom tailored: software using the available APIs to combine the strengths of multiple
products and vendors.
Bespoke: software which in this context means completely custom software development.
The article mentions Toyota's new social media and CRM tool:
The tool took 60 hours to develop, largely using software Toyota already had. Oracle Endeca
Discovery handles data discovery and search analytics, WiseWindow and DataSift aggregate
social data, and Lexalytics analyzes sentiment.
Toyota is using the tool to improve customer service, product forecasting and quality, and
lead generation. It plans to feed information to dealers in the future.
Industry life cycle
Starting top down, in terms of the industry where social media monitoring and social analytics
more generally are in, Gartner pointed out in their annual Hype Cycles that social analytics
still needs to reach the Peak. This means that social analytics still has a few years to go in
terms of adoption and reaching the Plateau of Productivity. Going through the Trough means
that z w ll c u ch ll w h (cu ‘ ff h c ’ lu ) h
will occur a natural evolution by vendors to evolve their tools more into the customized
direction.
Why? Because reaching the Plateau, technologies need to have proven themselves in a more
effective and mature way.
Customer and market needs
Secondly it all depends on the customers and market segments that the vendor is targeting.
Back then we targeted top 500 Dutch advertisers with our online marketing management
system. These were customers with a big online budget. Just as with Toyota, these are
organizations that likely want to have customized solutions in order to become and remain
competitive. Another aspect was that many clients were pure online businesses, meaning that
online channels were their lifeblood.
O h m m c SME’ “L M j y L ” wh ch
w ul ’ f f m h lu .
When we relate this to the importance of social media monitoring and social analytics within
h c c p l c m h v qu l v ‘ v u y m’
place is becoming increasingly important.
Not to mention the figures and place McKinsey has given to social analytics and business
value from social technologies.
Value proposition
Thirdly it depends on the strategy the vendor takes. Is it one of Operational Excellence,
Product Leadership or Customer Intimacy. Customer Intimacy focusses on bespoke tools,
tailoring and customizing solutions for each and every customer.
Product Leadership and Operation Excellence are probably less customizable (depending on
the definition of customization) in order to achieve its goals.
With the online marketing management system we operated a Product Leadership strategy
with some extension to further customization for particular large clients. We had a high focus
on retention and customer satisfaction. We invested a lot in training and continuous
h c m f h y m m h m ’ cu m ’ ch ll
opportunities.
Future direction
I think based on the abovementioned considerations the biggest piece of the market will shift
w m “ l ” lu m h m . Th p c f c lly w ll h c
for large organizations and online, social and customer-c c z . F SME’ h
“ ff h c ” lu w ll l c u ) h d investment is beyond their
ch ) l “c c l” ( l c v l uch m v
capabilities, alternatives, their customers etc). There will always be room for bespoke
solutions, true 100% customized solutions with l v u ch u I ’
this as mainstream.
I see opportunities for social monitoring vendors when offering APIs and possible assistance
h API h cl ’ u y m . Th f h m y h v r
can do when it comes to client satisfaction and retention. Next to the more technical support,
there is the business support, helping the customer translate its business challenges and goals
in sourcing the right technology and then using it in the most effective ways.
In a recent article on Forbes, the following was mentioned on Salesforce:
Panels agreed that while Salesforce has done well on the SaaS platform, it is getting a
reputation in larger corporate accounts of being hard to customize and use.
In another recent report by Nucleus, the survey found a propensity to swith regarding CRM
cloud applications. Nucleus examined the willingness of cloud customers to switch
applications and found that 52 percent of CRM customers are willing to switch within the first
six months of their deployment. This has important implications for both short-term sales
strategies and the valuation of the overall lifetime value of a customer, as lost deals are deals
to be won back for the next two quarters.
I do believe this counts for social media monitoring tools as well.
Conclusion
Based on my experience with product development, having tested quite a few social
monitoring tools and the (technology- v ) u l c p w ’ v w ll h ve
to become a trusted advisor, both on technology and business level to serve clients as good as
possible. This increases retention and satisfaction and enables long-term relationships. In the
five years I was involved with the online marketing management system we had 0% churn.
Where do you think the social media monitoring market will evolve to?
Categories:
Technology
Tags:
social media monitoring
Four Reasons Why Enterprise Social Networking Is
Exploding
z 9 p m 14:52:01 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Forrester has estimated the market will be worth around $6.4 billion in 2016, in 2010 the
value was $600 million. Read further to understand why Enterprise Social Networks (ESNs)
are growing in popularity.
The four reasons are:
Enterprise social networks drive real business value. The main reason companies should use enterprise social software is because they drive
legitimate business value. Altimeter group reports their ability to encourage sharing, capture
knowledge, enable action, and empower people makes them a valuable solution.
They offer helpful features not found in current technology. Enterprise social software allows your company to establish private communities with clients,
employees to access your network with their mobile devices, and easily share screens with
multiple coworkers
Employee demand. As would probably be expected, employees are actually demanding workplace platforms that
resemble the applications they use personally.
It’s more than the cool thing to do. The primary reason any company should purchase a social networking solution is to enhance
business outcomes. It happens because businesses learn how to increase the value they receive
from their social networks.
In another research (by McKinsey) the unlocked potential value was estimated on a 1.3
trillion and was largely to be accounted to better productivity of high-skill knowledge
workers.
This is were Enterprise Social Networking comes in, valorizing knowledge faster and better,
speeding up processes, decision-making to operate within the window of –real-time-
pp u y. Ev lv l u l cqu h u ’ c p l y
to adapt rapidly and cost-effective to changing demands and landscapes, partially caused by
social technologies themselves.
Have you implemented ESN?
Categories:
Technology
Tags:
Enterprise Social Networking
Five Lessons From Forrester on Social Media Integration
z 9 p m 11:42:48 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Rob Koplowitz, Vice President and Principal Analyst gave an interesting
presentation c ll “S c l Ch Ev y h ”. Th p c f
introduction, how to use the POST model to plan for success and ten steps to develop a social
business strategy. There is a lot of good information in it, but for me, the five lessons in the
p ‘m l y l ’ w h m mp .
The five lessons are:
1. Start with people and objectives
2. Technology matters . . . in the context of goals
3. Work across organizational boundaries
4. Dedicate people to the program and success
. If h cul u ’ y h c up 3 p
I ’ f cl ché u ll ppl y m y m ly u objectives
p pl p . Of ll í h h w y u . I ’ l c m m
and more important in a maturing industry life cycle. Organizations demand effective
solutions to achieve their business objectives. As there are many technologies, it is key to
integrate those that effectively support the goals. Not only the goals, fast changing micro- and
macro dynamics force organizations to be agile, adaptive and responsive. Be sure to do this in
the right manner.
Other findings
Other interesting findings include:
At this point, it are the Baby Boomers that demand social software. What conclusion do you
think, can be drawn from this?
53% consider increased use and deployment of collaboration technologies a high or critical
software priority.
A h c ll ‘ p cy’ ch l l f ch p
knowledge valorization, it has to be orchestrated right.
Of US information workers, 20% use public social networks, 56% are investing in enterprise
social solutions.
This is happening because enterprise social networks (ESN) are driving real business value
and outcomes.
Thanks for the hat tip @tibbr.
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
forrester
integration
Are Marketers Truly Customer Centric?
z 9 p m 10:56:28 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Acxiom's analysis of the survey was released in a report l “A
Cu m C c y P x ” h p y wh l 8% f respondents agree that their
companies have a relentless focus on building customer insights, only 21% report that they
h v w ll h v v lu c f ch cu m . D l m h h y’ h
cutting edge of what empowered consumers are d u f c h y c ’ h f f
the trees. While mostly focused on deploying new channels and creating better ROI metrics,
most lack a customer centric strategy that creates long term value.
The biggest barrier to achieving customer-centricity, according to 54% of respondents, is an
inability to manage the data and technology necessary to measure results at the customer
level. More than a third of media industry representatives admit that they struggle with the
problem, while a similar segment of agency personnel say that they are able to measure at the
individual channel level only.
Acxiom CMO Tim Suther said:
Companies' customer-centric goals are aspirational. They're not based in reality. When
marketers say they don't recognize their customers at all, that's truly scary. Even among the
26% who say they do a decent job, only 4% have the central repository of information that
allows them to recognize people across channels.
Customer centricity remains an attractive means to achieve the following:
Marketing ROI -> +15 – 30%
Customer profitability -> +10 – 15%
Pricing power -> +5 – 7%
Click here to read all the results of the survey (presentation on Slideshare).
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
customer centricity
Rishad Tobaccowala: “Digital is like hydrochloric acid, it
burns through everything”
v j 8 p m 14:47:17 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
I came across this quote in a Forbes article where key points taken from
S f ’ D l M P m listed. S f ’ G u Sch ol of Business
(GSB) Executive Education hosted the Digital Marketing Program over three days last week,
August 29th
through the 31st. According to Louis Columbus, who attended the program, it
was so valuable because the focus was on practical, pragmatic advice from professionals who
are excelling in digital marketing, social media and big data.
I’ll p c u m . Rishad Tobaccowala key take aways as these were the ones that attracted me
the most:
Outside channels of communication have greater credibility to employees than
internal channels
A qu f m h p “D al is like hydrochloric acid, it burns
h u h v y h ” h u h h h y f h v .
He sees four marketing mindset shifts:
1. From focus on users to users and voices (voices are the influencers, both good
and bad, of your brand)
2. A shift from segmentation to segmentation and re-aggregation
3. From telling to delivering
4. From marketing to facilitation
The future of retailing is delivering exceptional customer experiences daily – expect to see
BestBuy dedicate 70% of floor space to creating excellent experiences for example.
Mobility is now a cornerstone of marketing and sales; State Farm has 1,000 developers
working on mobile solutions for quoting, pricing and claims management today.
Becoming a platform business
The most intriguing ones are under the marketing mindshift. Listening to users and voices,
from telling to delivering and from marketing to facilitiation. He sees a shift where
organizations facilitate, provide a platform where people can (co-)create their own story, their
own experience. And not so much market products to people.
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
IBM #Infographic - Biggest Challenge for CMOs is
Adapting to the Customer-Centric Social Landscape
v j 8 p m 14:25:42 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
According to the IBM CMO study infographic (which you can find below),
the CMO has a challenge to adapt itself to many developments, the most important ones being
social media and data impact and the ever expanding digital landscape in terms of devices and
channels. Yes, indeed, customer experience is the biggest challenge.
Source: cmswire.com via Damarque on Pinterest
Customer Experience key challenge
A whopping 79% feels unprepared to manage the impact of key changes in marketing such as
big data, social media and the growing amount of channel and device choices. This is in line
w h l y ’ Forbes Insights research that found that a consistent customer experience is
the biggest marketing challenge.
Individuals versus markets
In regards to the section about the problem of the CMO still focusing on markets rather than
v u l I ’ w. A the figures strange? I visited a conference last Wednesday
where a lot of market researchers attended on the topic of social media data and research, and
’ y v y ‘h p ’ u c l .
Obstacles
Interesting to see that, in relation to the obstacles portrayed in the infographic, the culture is
not being mentioned. In a recent survey by Appirio, culture was in fact the biggest hurdle on
h w y c m c l p . Th w c c mp u h ’
bit too much discrepancy.
What results in the infographic do strike you?
To have a look at other curated infographics, click here for our Pinterest account.
Categories:
Marketing and Sales
Tags:
ibm
research
customer experience
Kellogg’s World’s First Retail Outlet: Future of Retail?
7 p m 13:57:52 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The Tweet Shop is a retail outlet from Special K that opened this week in
London, the ’ f p m Sp c l K C c C p ; h f f h
v y c . Th Tw Sh p c f u S h ’ M S L p
from 9AM to 5PM, from 25th to 28th September. Is this the future of (pop-up) retail?
It can certainly be part of the future. The pop-up store is a response to the growing vacancy
rate of retail estate and the battle for consumer attention. It's an easy way to test a concept or a
neighborhood to try. And it creates - if it is good - a lot of buzz and free publicity, by asking
people to pay with social currency, the buzz and free publicity is found in both virtuality and
reality.
Sarah Case from Special K comments:
Th v lu f p v m c l m y c mp w ’ xcited
to be the first company to literally use social currency instead of financial currency to launch
this new product in our bespoke Special K shop.
Th w f Sp c l K w h p h ’ m v c p h h h
street will create a major buzz on and offline.
What do you think, is this the future for retail?
Categories:
Business Models
Tags:
Kellogg's
retail
Success of Social & CEM Technologies depends on
Consultware
7 p m 13:14:10 | Frederic Gilbert
The increasing number of software & applications dedicated to CEM, Social CRM, and Social
Technologies, contributes to the emergence of a need for people & companies which can both
deal with Business Consulting & understand the direct application of a technology inside the
customer's business issues and initiatives. Hence the term of ConsultWare (Consulting +
Software).
If we define Consultware: A company which can understand precisely the needs and
expectations of a business initiative and provide both the methodologies and the technologies
to succeed in the initiative. The Consultware firm has a core business of assessing, training,
accompanying its customers in given initiatives and identifying through its expertise the best
technologies to meet and exceed goals.
Context
There is a fact that the majority of software vendors in CEM & Social CRM are experiencing
today: Software doesn't sell by itself! and even more when you're in the beginning of the
educational curve on a given subject. In other words, it is not because you have the new killer
app that it will automatically be taken over by businesses. It's a fact well-known by software
vendors in other domains. CEM, Social CRM & Social Media vendors are learning as well,
but various factors make different than what it was for others like CRM or ERPs, we'll come
to that later. There are 2 ways to challenge the issue to develop sales for these actors :
Develop your own professional services
Set up partnership program to get the finest consulting firms either to sell your
software or to roll it out
No ground breaking news here of course. However cutting edge technologies editors struggle
to have their new solutions into the market because customers eventually say: "Yes great, but
what do I do with it?". Now one can argue that companies can provide minimum consulting
but when it comes to Social CRM software or CEX/CEM Software it's a whole different
story.
4 facts that prove the concept
1. It's driven by the shift in the relationship with the customers: Until the early
2000's businesses were product-centric and software was designed this fact. It was
business driven, people inside companies knew exactly their jobs to create a
transactional environment. Today the Customer Centric model pushed inevitably by
customer interactions have moved to a conversational environment where there is little
education that has been done on how to do it and what to do it with,
2. The idea behind is yet to be rooted inside the company's vision : Clearly when you
talk about listening, engaging and getting your customers to participate in the CEX &
Social way, very few businesses are ready to commit and jump in! They of course say
they do it but just do a quick interview of 5 stakeholders or C-level excecutives, and
see if brand promises are consistent and clear in the interviews. If so how do they align
it in the employee-customer interactions? Hence, it is a good thing to have partners
that can deal with these cultural transformation.
3. Staff is not there at the moment: Not completely true, or partially true. Most of the
people actually know what it is all about when it comes to Social, but they experience
it on a personal level. Even if Social Media units are spreading inside companies the
vast majority link it to pure communication. They have not worked or not understood
how to implement Social inside the customer relations. Indeed they are opened to
people who can help them understand and build the strategies to get the most out of
the tools. Here again a consulting partner is useful for he makes the transcription
between software features and business uses.
4. Software is about selling licence not consulting: It is very hard to scale a business
that is initially set up as a software editing company and that has progressively
integrated consulting services. Investors look for scalable business meaning that once
basic requirements are met the software can sell and generate profits. Consulting is a
very different approach as if the software business really scales and you wish to
accompany your customers, you'll need to hire new consultants and increase the
weight of salaries. In the end it is seen as cost! but if you think more in terms of
customer centricity, proposing a fair amount of consulting services indeed may
reinforce your customers' loyalty and engagement. One is a short term vision, the
other long term and sustainable vision. No critics here, it depends on the focus
founders and shareholders have.
All these facts combined confirm the need to think strategy differently. Several companies
such as IBM and Microsoft have understood this already, they partner with IT services
providers which have opened business consulting services. However the size and the need for
reactivity is not a intrinsic characteristic of these companies. Markets move quickly, demand
for business support is increasing for CEM & Social Technologies and specialists inside the
big partners are not able to face the number of potential projects. Customer Experience &
Social Media rely on a very different type of business professionals which are often
independent consultants or small size companies. To reach full profitability the vendors from
CEM & Social CRM are now developing partnerships that can help transform the try. But will
there be enough people and enough time.
By the way, ask Damarque if you wish to find which technologies can meet your CEM &
Social initiatives.
Categories:
Technology
Samurai Business Book: Lessons From the Samurai For
Professionals in the Digital Age
7 p m 10:05:28 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The digital age of transparency imposes changes for businesses, shifting
from control to a more facilitating role, where ideas, communities and power give power
instead of titles and positions. More than ever, success comes from a purpose beyond earning
money. Success must be based on integrity, but how can we cherish integrity while facing
fierce competition and office politics? This is answered in the book "Samurai Business".
The book is written by Joris Merks. Joris Merks is Research Manager for Google and also
European Champion and Open German Champion in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. He practiced martial
arts for twenty years and holds a black belt in Judo and Aikido. Joris wrote books on both
marketing and martial arts.
The website elaborates:
P pl f l u w ch h c h c f Su Tzu: “Th
A f W .” U f u ely the concept of war is often emphasized, rather than the art. There
why Su Tzu ch “Th Th ll f W ” h l ju “H w
D y Y u E m .”
“Th A f W ” l h c S mu w . Th p h f the Samurai is a quest
for self-development that extends beyond fighting. The Samurai became successful in battle
through true skill and the ability to withstand the desire for power and victory.
“S mu Bu ” p p f l f c p l c without feeding them. The book
helps to focus on self-development to the benefit of your environment, while being rewarded
for your efforts. Apply the Samurai principles consistently and you may surprise yourself.
Integrity is not naivety and
kindness does not equal weakness. It is time to put the art back in the business and the
Samurai back in the professional.
Last but not least the thirteen Samurai Principles for success based on integrity:
Dedicate yourself to a purpose beyond power, control or earning money.
Develop yourself to the benefit of the world around you.
If you encounter a problem: change it, accept it or leave it.
Stay connected to yourself and the environment under any kind of pressure.
Take a close view of distant things and a distant view of close things.
Balance careful planning with creative and flexible execution.
D ’ f h v l v l pm .
Be respectful, yet clear and sharp.
Reflect without judging.
Look fear in the eyes while doing what you think is right and necessary.
Inspire people and celebrate successes with gratitude, not arrogance.
Be helpful and generous, yet choose the people around you wisely.
Take care of yourself and those around you.
Disclaimer: we received no payment whatsoever to publish this. I dedicated a post to this
book because in a fast-changing environment that is brought by digital and social, the
individual professional and how professionals behave to each other is overlooked.
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
samurai
Forrester: Social Media Not a Primary Sales Driver
7 p m 9:35:36 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Acc h F ' p “The Purchase Path of Online Buyers in
2012” ch m m l m h h m ff c v m v
online sales. Well, that's not really a shocker. One of the big differences between search, mail
and social is that the first two can be directly linked with a sale. That is a lot more difficult
with social media. Aside of the vanity-URL's and other unique means to make the link, it's a
challenge to assign what (specific) communication attributed to a sale.
Here h m p u w h u h p ’ l:
1. Paid search matters most for new customers
2. Email matters most for repeat customers
3. Social tactics are not meaningful sales drivers
When studying the image (from MarketingPilgrim), three things come to mind:
1. The entry point is being analyzed, not the complete conversion cycle. It could well be
that social is being used throughout the purchase cycle but not as first point.
2. This brings us to the second point, email marketing and search marketing are
established means to deploy for the purpose of sales, whereas social isn't. A question
that rises is, if the research took into account it analyzed customers that bought from
companies that had a fully deployed marketing mix. If the company did not have a
social ecosystem, then it's harder to compare.
3.
What do you think of the outcomes?
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
sales
Social Media Week Started: Exploring the Social, Cultural
and Economic Impact of Social Media #SMW12
m p m 13:49:33 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Social Media Week runs from today September 24th till the 28th in 14 cities
globally. The event explores the social, cultural and economic impact of social media and the
mission is to help people and organizations connect through collaboration, learning and the
sharing of ideas and information by focusing on three core areas: Collaboration, Content,
Conversation.
In the past few years social media has shown us the true power of what a connected society
can accomplish. Over the next 10 years, 3 billion new people will connect to each other
through the Internet and mobile technology- more than three times the number who are
currently online.
We are living in extraordinary times and witnessing the emergence of a networked and
communication abundant society. I
I SMW’ l f h c y wh ch m c c w ll l m l h
prosperous and sustainable world. Social Media Week will be the platform and global
network that will help people collectively realize this potential.
Have a look here at the SMW live (streaming) schedule.
Have a look here how you can attend in the 14 different cities.
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
social media week
4 Key Approaches to Create a Succesful B2B Social Media
Strategy
m p m 11:09:06 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Implementing and executing a social media strategy for your business-to-
business (B2B) organization, large or small, is not a simple task. At the Dreamforce 2012
event the this topic was discussed during a panel including Jen McClure of Thomson Reuters,
Tristan Bishop of Symantec, Tanya Donnelly of Schneider Electric, and Kevin Espinosa from
Caterpillar. Think and act like a media company.
Here are their key approaches to keep in mind to succeed at your B2B social media strategy:
Think Like an Exec to Convince Your Execs Oftentimes your executives or board may need a deeper understanding as to the importance
and benefit of a B2B social media strategy. To get their attention, think like them.
Develop Great Content Th m ff c v c c l m h uff h ll p uc . I ’ u
creating content that helps your audience learn something. It delivers value for them or helps
them to achieve something.
Utilize Enthusiastic Employees There are employees within your organization who love social media. It would enhance their
day-to-day to engage in social media. And while they may not be experts at it, this passion
can serve you well.
Understand the Social Environment Before you go and create that Twitter account or Facebook page, think about your audience.
Where do they spend their time? Some panelists saw conversations happening on forums and
l f c ’ ju c c l media presences that you think you need.
The key is to think and act like a media company, create content that establishes a link with
topic and company. Deliver value that helps people to progress and do this in places where
your audience is.
At the same Dreamforce event, Michael Brito Edelman Digital gave a presentation on
building social media profic cy c l z . Th w ’ p c f c lly f
B2B, but can be of course applied to it.
H w h why ’ mp c u c :
Employee Advocacy: Employees are trusted; they can help feed the content engine
Employee Collaboration: Innovation, Process improvement and an increase in
productivity
Partner Collaboration: Bringing products to market faster through social
collaboration
Social Marketing Excellence: Sharing best practices w/ other marketing teams,
geographies; governance/compliance
He then discussed key consideration when deploying a training curriculum:
Have a vision; aligned with business goals. Obviously.
Establish a Social Media Center or Excellence responsible for deploying training
initiatives.
Create actionable curriculum that enables employees and other marketing teams
Build workflows for content creation, approval, optimization and distribution
Start thinking like a media company
Building Social Proficiency Across The Organization from Michael Brito
Here his last consideration is the same, start thinking and acting like a media company.
Acquiring a media company DNA is not something that happens overnight. It has to support
your business goals and strategy, capabilities needs to be in synch (think of having
enthausiasts, processes and KPI’ ll ) h l cul u
open and one of sharing and learning.
The results can be great: become a thought leader, a trusted advisor and source providing
c h f h ’ p c p –voice that people can trust and relate to.
Please share your tips and approaches for a succesful B2B social media strategy!
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
B2B
strategy
training
Lack of Leadership and Vision is Biggest Barrier to
Unlock the Value of Big Data
m p m 10:32:16 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
SAS UK created an infographic that shows interesting results and current
states regarding big data in the UK. The most important ones to me are the importance of
skills and what business leaders say about big data. A combination in the lack of leadership,
vision and the neccesary skills are the biggest barriers to unlock and maximise the value from
big data.
Have a look at the infographic here.
In relation to the big data skills challenge, Harvard Business Review published the article
“D Sc : Th S x J f h C u y”.
Does the finding on leadership and vision surprise you or not?
Categories:
Big Data
Tags:
leadership
skills
Social Media Will Revolutionize Supply Chain but the
Challenge is Balance
z 3 p m 11:45:11 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
A recent article “S c l M h C m Supply-Ch R v lu “
in the CFO magazine pointed out how social media can help the supply chain to have better,
faster and cheaper output. The role of social media in the electronics supply chain is still very
fluid. Challenge for the supply chain will be balancing the benefits with the unknowns of
social media.
Five benefits social media provides to the supply chain are:
Creating Knowledge Networks
Balancing Speed and Contemplation
Portable Information Vaults
Replacing Collaboration with Community
Building a Platform for Innovation
EBNonline elaborates on the CFO article with the following intel:
[…] l c c u m y u qu ly p h upply ch f f m
social media. Components makers share their product development roadmaps with
distributors so distributors can target new-p uc pp u […]
and
For manufacturers and OEMs, the channel can provide feedback on supplier quality, order
and delivery performance, lead times, pricing, and potential second sources. Since brand
owners (OEMs) frequently outsource their manufacturing, suppliers have to be carefully
vetted because a missed delivery can mean entire production lines shut down. Manufacturers
also have to know that if product A is unavailable, product B is ready to ship.
Overlap
Much of this data is already captured and utilized by the typical electronics supply chain
systems: ERP, MRP, EDI, and in-house solutions. Much of this data is considered highly
proprietary by suppliers, distributors, and OEMs. Brand owners frequently secure preferential
pricing from suppliers that they don't want to share. Component and board designs are
considered a "secret sauce" by both component makers and OEMs. Since distributors and
electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers both service OEMs that compete with
one another, a great deal of information is kept in silos to keep it secure from prying eyes. The
"openness" of social networking may conflict directly with certain supply chain practices.
As an industrial products industry CEO in the IBM report explained:
"We're not yet comfortable that social media has matured to the point we'll benefit more than
w 'll uff ”
What do you think of his stance? Wait till it is has proven itself or take a more test-and-learn
approach to understand the potential for the specific organization?
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
supply chain
Gap Between IT and Business Users Ridiculously Huge,
According to Survey by LogiXML
z 3 p m 11:13:43 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
With the advent of more and more data, the conclusion by LogiXML
means that organizations have still a long way to go before it uses the data effectively. When
it comes to how IT views users of business intelligence (BI), most think users have little
wl f BI p j c f ’ w wh h y w f m BI u ch l BI
technology and practices, yet tend to be very adamant about their BI needs.
Findings include:
p c u ’ u h w much BI p j c ;
A combined 50 percent said users never know exactly what they want, or what they
want until after the project is completed;
A c m 9 p c h u ’ u f BI w h f m u
ill-equipped; curious, but uninformed; or helpless and hopeless and
A total of 76 percent said users made their BI needs known by loudly insisting,
“ c m l h ” um IT h “ l p hy.”
According to the data, user behavior can also be linked to why many BI projects fail. The top
three reasons: [user] requirements are unrealistic to begin with, lack of budget and resources,
and requirements change too quickly to adapt. Similarly, the top things IT lacks that keep
h m f m m u m : p l m y “ m u .” Wh
h w h y h u h u p m f h m 38 p c c m “ch c
FaceBo c mm ph f m c B h m p” “I w h I w.”
Ken Chow, CMO, LogiXML said:
Our survey data suggests that most IT professionals believe that users of BI are or would be
h w w h u IT’ h lp BI p j c . Th m y c v f
companies still employing traditional, old-school BI approaches and systems, or that certain
p BI ch l v mply ’ l v h p m f y-to-use,
self- v c BI. Wh v h pp h w ’ y m wh BI u
not dependent on IT for their BI needs.
Last but not least, about the BI trends the survey found that:
46 percent of respondents said that their organizations were not using mobile BI.
Of those that were, 26 percent m l BI m wh p pul 7 p c ’
v y p pul p c ’ “m p pul h A y B .” S x p c
’ v y p pul .
When asked to describe their company on big data, only 17 percent said they were
currently using it. Conversely, 27 percent said they are looking at big data analytics
for the future, 26 percent said they are actively pursuing big data analytics, a
c m 3 p c “ h y h v c upl c m p h u h ’
u ” “ wh ?”
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
research
business intelligence
big data
Shift in Company Culture is the Biggest Hurdle on the
Way to Becoming a Social Enterprise
z 3 p m 10:50:41 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
A recent survey, conducted by cloud enablement technology company
Appirio, amongst 300+ international (UK and US) respondents found that 30 percent of them
admitted a shift in company culture is the biggest hurdle on the way to becoming a social
enterprise.
Other interesting findings include:
P pl ’ u c l l w c much h y
Brits are more social at work than people in the US
Everyone generally recognizes the potential of social and wants their company to
invest more in it
People think culture and having an owner for social are more important for success
than budget
Th S c l W pl c l App ’ u v y h u h c mm f M F lm
(Forbes) and Rachel King (ZDNet).
Mark Fidelman F App ’ u y:
After surveying over 300 professionals, technology service provider Appirio determined that
most people are far more social personally than they are at work.
Interestingly, 41% believe their company should be doing more to become a social enterprise,
and twice as many managers are using social media compared to their employees they
manage. So the takeaway here seems to be that employees either are not allowed to engage in
c l w c v w ’ h v lu .
Most importantly, as the survey suggests, enterprise workers now understand that culture and
ownership of the social business transformation are key factors to the success of a social
enterprise.
ZDN ’ R ch l K h h h u h App ’ u v y w ll:
Ov ll App ’ ul c h ly h f u u v y h wh
h m “ c l p ” m .
What are your thoughts on this? What other critical area would you say is a big hurdle to
transition in a social and connected enterprise?
Have a look at the infographic below created upon the survey:
Source: thesocialworkplace.com via DAMARQUE on Pinterest
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
research
social business
change
Philips Wins Digital Communication Award With Unique
Social Media Project
zaterda p m 10:01:59 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Philips which teamed up with communications consultancy Fleishman-
Hillard, won the Digital Communication Award in the category 'Twitter Profile' . With the
social media project "the social heart of surgery ', organizations put innovation in healthcare
on the map in the Netherlands.
The social heart of surgery project
Innovation is crucial in the evolution of the healthcare industry, Philips Electronics and the
Catharina Hospital in the Netherlands, a leading interventional cardiology center, have teamed
up to showcase current solutions and future developments -by working together on building a
state-of-the-art electrophysiology (EP) lab- that shape the diagnosis and minimally invasive
treatment of heart rhythm disorders. This was followed by a unique social media initiative.
This partnership was followed by the social media initiative in the Netherlands focused on
Dutch heart patient Ad Langendonk. Starting on January 10, Mr. Langendonk and his
cardiologist, Dr Lukas Dekker, used Twitter before, during and after a minimally-invasive
v u wh ch c h w u m y M . L ’ h hy hm
disorder. The intervention was successfully performed on January 27, allowing Mr.
Langendonk to begin the process of regaining his quality of life.
You can read here further about the project, which I wrote about earlier this year.
Categories:
Innovation
Tags:
healthcare
philips
Salesforce Communities Providing First Steps for a More
Collaborative Supply Chain?
v j p m 16:55:30 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Last week I wrote an article on recent IDC research and that concluded that
there is a growing need for solutions that incorporate external stakeholders such as customers
and suppliers in business workflow processes and feedback mechanisms. Salesforce launched
its Community platform, to drive collaboration among employees, partners, and customers to
drive better business results.
The portal will go into a limited pilot this autumn, with general availability expected for the
second half of 2013. Such a long beta phase should give the company enough time to work
out any kinks and tailor the partner por l ll ’ .
Zuyderblog did a great job in elaborating on the platform and its key differentiators with other
vendors. An interesting figure Zuyderblog mentions, from a late McKinsey research is that
just 3% of organizations have deployed social technologies across all stakeholders: customers,
employees, and business partners.
About the Partner Communities it writes:
Partner Communities will enable corporations to invite key suppliers and partners to
collaborate on business processes in real-time. With turn-key execution, a company can
quickly launch a partner community within hours, therefore enabling immediate collaboration
on short term business opportunities or even for crisis management situations. Whether
planned or reactive, this partner community will provide tighter integration and
communications with key business partners to drive more sales through seamless deal
registration, increase efficiency of operations, improve product innovation, or enhance
customer servicing opportunities.
About the Customer Communities it writes:
Salesforce Customer Communities will help corporations create two-way communication,
real-time interactions and relationship building between brands and consumers. By combining
the strength of the Salesforce Chatter platform, with the consumer insights expertise of
R S l f c ’ Cu m C mmu p w p m f
understanding your target customers.
Top differentiators between Salesforce Communities and other vendors are:
Turnkey Implementation – Community platform can be deployed within
minutes
Custom Branding –Customize look, feel and messaging to best match
community objectives
Platform Flexibility –Set up community as either a public or private depending
on the situation
Secure, Private Conversations – All c v pl c S l f c ’
secure cloud
Complete Participant Profile– Ability to link into the complete members
profile, therefore allowing greater perspective, understanding and insights into
their community involvement and lead potential
Scalability– From a small partner product development community to a billion
dollar global product launch event, the community platform is secure and
stable no matter the size of the group
Insights and Reporting – Option to integrate with Radian6 to quickly access
trends, learnings, and feedback from single or multiple communities
According to you, what is the big need and problem of organizations regarding supply chain
management that can be supported or even solved by technologies such as Salesforce
Communities?
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
salesforce
collaboration
The Boston Globe and MIT Co-Create to Accelerate
Newsroom Innovation
v j p m 14:22:49 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The Boston Globe and the MIT Center for Civic Media announced today
the launch of a new collaboration to introduce experimental ideas from the university to the
large audience of the Globe's websites, Boston.com and BostonGlobe.com.
Knight Foundation plans to announce the collaboration on Sept. 22 at the 2012 Online News
Association conference in San F c c . ONA’ u l c f c p h c u y’
p m h f h ’ l l j u l .
Purpose
The collaboration is funded with $250,000 in support from the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, allowing the MIT and the Globe to work continuously together to share ideas and
bring projects to life through the two-way communication of a university outreach coordinator
and a creative technologist. Four Civic Media research fellowships will also be available in
the Globe Lab, an innovation center within The Boston Globe. The fellows will work at the
Globe during academic breaks, with two working for a month in January and two working
three months in the summer.
Michael Maness, vice president for journalism and media innovation at Knight Foundation
said:
This collaboration will apply academic research at the forefront of new media technologies to
f h c u y’ w m . W ’ xc wh h c v
organizations build together.
Martin Baron, editor of The Boston Globe said:
The relationships today between universities and media organizations in the same
c mmu m u v l p ” . “W p m u l
between these institutions. The collaboration with MIT is an important, exciting step forward,
but over time we envision a broad array of relationships with universities.
The collaboration will be overseen by Jeff Moriarty, vice president of digital initiatives at The
Boston Globe, Chris Marstall, creative technologist for the Globe, and Ethan Zuckerman,
director of the MIT Center for Civic Media.
Categories:
Innovation
Tags:
MIT
Boston Globe
collaboration
announcement
Purpose and Transparency Give Power in the Social Era
v j p m 12:03:50 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Yesterday I was following the #HBRchat and Nilofer Merchant tweeted the
following:
In industrial era, title/position gave you power. In #socialera, your ideas, communities, and
purpose give power. #hbrchat
— Nilofer Merchant (@nilofer) September 20, 2012
Have a look (once again) to Sinek's inspiring "Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire
Action" and it is or becomes clear that Purpose / Why in the connected and transparent society
is a key driver and precondition of prosperity.
The individual, no matter the title or position, is able to make a difference, to share expertise,
knowledge and passion, to be part of a shared Purpose. It is this Purpose that is mutually
beneficial to both the individual person and an organization.
Share your first-hand experience with on Purpose and social!
Categories:
Human Resources and Leadership
Tags:
Sinek
purpose
Napkin Labs' Fan Center Cultivates Communities That
Drive Value for Brands
v j p m 11:06:04 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Facebook understands how to connect people, but is missing the
mark with brands. Less than one percent of people click on brand pages, and even fewer
interact with company-centric posts and uninspiring sweepstakes. Today, Napkin Labs is
introducing Fan Center, a way for brands to push beyond the 'like' and cultivate real
communities that drive insights, innovation and sales.
The platform uses gamification and crowdsourcing to encourage fans to get more involved
with the brand. TechCrunch describes the distinguishment between Napkin Labs and others:
[…]Napkin Labs found that creating a new destination community is an uphill battle. So, the
startup shifted its strategy and began building tools that focused on the place where customers
of these brands are already spending their time: Facebook.
Napkin Labs CEO Riley Gibson said:
Facebook has become a powerful storytelling platform for brands, but the voice of the
customers gets easily lost. Using Fan Center, brands can host pro-active conversations to
capture ideas, feedback and stories straight from fans -- plus see and reward their biggest fans'
interactions on Facebook. Fan Center is helping to build the world's most participatory brands
by giving consumers an active role in the brand conversation.
It will be interesting if this difference in approach is going to work, from a tech-centric
perspective to a people- and community-centric perspective. Be where the customers of the
customer are. Facebook is already the starting point for many people, brands can create
uninterruptive experiences by amplifying the platform of choice of their customers. Looking
forward to tangible results.
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
Napkin Labs
community
crowdsourcing
insights
@NeelieKroesEU : "Europe needs to become the
connected, competitive continent. The e-EU" #DSEU
p m 14:29:57 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for
the Digital Agenda, ends her speech in Sofia, 20 September 2012 with the following: "To find
its place in the future global economy, Europe needs to become the connected, competitive
continent. The e-EU. The right networks, skills and innovation can transform Europe for the
better. I hope I can count on your support."
You can read her full speech here.
The most interesting project on thriving Europe and its digitization is the Digital Sunrise
Europe project, a private project what started with a proposal to the EU that took a life of its
own. Digital Sunrise is the result and probably the largest independent Social Media project in
Europe.
Thousands of European businesses providing high quality products and services and deliver
some of the very best products in the world. Yet most of them are rather unknown and mostly
selling only in local markets. On the other side there are thousands of foreign businesses
competing for the European market and the global competition is significantly increasing
every year. Resource limitations, budgets, language barriers, emerging business challenges
are main obstacles for European businesses not selling across Europe. Digital Sunrise Europe
provides alternative growth strategies to help businesses expand and stimulate the economy.
Have a look here how you can get started and be involved in the Digital Sunrise Europe
project!
Categories:
Open Industry and Open Economy
Tags:
european commission
Pinterest Delivers Highest Value for Online Shopping
Traffic [INFOGRAPHIC]
p m 9:19:35 | Frederic Gilbert
According to Richrelevance recent infographic "Who's driving shopping traffic for retail sites" Pinterest is the social network which delivers highest value. Pinterest presents the highest AOV (Average Order Value) and Facebook highest conversion rates. Twitter is behind on every metric presented in the traffic. The question behind such remarkable figures is are these metrics relevant both in terms of "Purpose of Touchpoint" and in terms of "Customer Experience?
Purpose The answer is inevitably "no". If we consider the characteristics of each network, Facebook, Pinterest & Twitter are not there for the same purposes and same goals.
Facebook is where interactions and recommendations from peers take place and from which people are more likely to follow the advise of their friends.
Twitter is still an "Innovator" and "Early adopters" network where people look for relevant pieces of information on the topics they favour but not for advice to shop online.
Pinterest is a different network with a major emphasis on visuals and emotional triggers. People are in a shopping mall where if your visuals are of poor quality your conversion rates will never explode. Furthemore, the people visiting Pinterest are also of different social background with higher education degrees and higher purchasing power.
So each network has a different population with different expectations. Everyone in it’s right place. Customer Experience It doesn’t mean that you must choose one for another. If you consider that for each network you have typical profiles than by using Customer Journey mapping techniques you can consider each of the network as a source of acquisition to the e-commerce platform, or a touchpoint for awareness. If you use it intelligently one social network can support the other. Take away
Understand who are the customers on each network and what makes them tick - emotional drivers and engagement rules
Create synergies between each touchpoint If your customers aren't there then conversion rate will be null whatever the
network
What's your opinion on these results?
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
research
Spigit Acquires Crowdcast: Combined They Provide
Crowd-Driven Predictive Analytics to Deliver Insights and
Forecasts With Predictable ROI
w 9 p m 14:07:06 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Spigit announced yesterday it has acquired San Francisco based
Crowdcast, the company that defined Social Business Intelligence. Spigit with Crowdcast
transforms innovation into a predictable discipline with the business rigor traditionally
associated with Marketing, Accounting, or Sales. For the first time, leaders can plan, visualize
and manage the entire innovation pipeline.
Spigit's social innovation products with Crowdcast technology can:
Forecast and combine multiple metrics into fundable business cases that leaders can
act on directly.
Deliver verified estimates leveraging the crowd that are as good as or better than
estimates from traditional sources, such as analysts.
Manage innovation investment as a portfolio, reducing risk and maximizing returns.
Mat Fogarty, Founder and CEO of Crowdcast said:
Crowdcast is delighted to join forces with Spigit. By combining our visions around innovation
and collective intelligence, we have the knowledge and technologies to power Social
Innovation 2.0 and fundamentally change the way products move from idea to success.
Paul Pluschkell, Founder and CEO of Spigit said:
There is a renaissance underway in the Social Innovation software market. Social Innovation
2.0 moves beyond idea capture and into execution. With the Crowdcast team and technology,
we add a critical piece of the innovation process -- leveraging the crowd to determine the
return on innovation.
Techcrunch further elaborates:
C w c ’ lu — which include a SaaS software platform and consulting and support
services — aim to bridge the gap between traditional business intelligence and enterprise
social network applications. The idea is for businesses to align their employees with the
purpose of the company, bringing all their insights, plans, and experience together in one
pl c c “ ly ccu ” u p c u c m .
As part of th m Sp w ll ll f C w c ’ p p f l
C w c ’ l h p m clu F u /CEO M F y Ch f Sc L l
F Sp ’ x cu v m.
Categories:
Technology
Tags:
spigit
crowdcast
business intelligence
social business
Interview With Mary Adams: The Intersection Between
Intangible Capital and Social Technologies
8 p m 13:40:58 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
We live in a knowledge-based, connected and data-driven economy. It is
becoming more and more important to maximize data and information from the outside AND
what is already inside the organization. This is where the intangible capital (IC) and Mary
Adams come in.
I had the great pleasure to meet and connect with Mary Adams when she gave valuable
feedback on one of my articles on InnovationManagement.se. Sh ’ xp l
capital, co-authored the book “I l C p l: Pu ing Knowledge to Work in the 21st-
C u y O z ” c -founded Trek Consulting on helping private organisations
leverage their unique intangible assets for higher growth, innovation, performance and
corporate value.
In this interview we explore the intersection of social technologies and the intangible capital.
Please tell us a bit more about yourself?
I my c h h l p cl y w w h h CEO’
CFO’ f companies in challenging situations: mergers, high growth, turnarounds and
high debt levels. This gave me a great foundation in business. But I was frustrated being on
the other side of the table from my clients. I wanted to work more closely with them and play
a more active role in solving their challenges. So in 1999, I started a strategy consulting
business.
Where did your interest in intangible capital originate?
I discovered the work being done in Europe and Asia in the intellectual capital community,
people like Leif Edvinsson, Karl-E Sv y. Ov h y I’v h w c m c
conferences in the field and have read voraciously. I started to understand the concepts of IC
and apply it in my work. I continue to collaborate with people around the world and am also
working with the U.S.-based thought leaders in our field: Baruch Lev, Ken Jarboe and the
folks at the Conference Board including Bart van Ark, Carole Corrado and Janet Hao.
What is your definition of the intangible capital and of what elements does it consist?
I use four categories for analysis, measurement, management and monetization of IC:
Human Capital - This includes all the talent, competencies and experience of your employees
and managers. This is the intangible capital tha “ h m h .”
Relationship Capital – This includes all key external relationships that drive your business,
with customers, suppliers, partners, outsourcing and financing partners, to name a few. This
kind of capital also includes organizational brand and reputation. Due to the growing
importance of networks in organizational structures, this is also sometimes called Network
Capital.
Structural Capital – This includes all knowledge that stays behind when your employees go
home at th f h y. Th f c uc u l c p l y’ z
including recorded knowledge, processes, software and intellectual property.
Strategic Capital – This is a category that is not always included in academic definitions of
IC. However, in our experience, this category of knowledge is the necessary complement to
the others. It includes all the knowledge you have of your market and the business model that
you have created to connect with market needs.
Why did you add the Strategic Capital element?
IC is basically knowledge. Knowledge is an abundant (often free) commodity. Yet, put to
work in the right situations, knowledge can create great value. If you are trying to understand
the knowledge of an organization, this value creation dynamic is critical— ’ h
z ’ f v l p h wl . I ’ l h z ’ w y f
preserving itself. No organization can survive without a business model. The value is usually
in monetary terms. And, while there are many ways to make money from knowledge, finding
h h m l ’ lw y y v u . Ev f h up y u lyz ’
organized for profit (examples include non-profits but also internal organizations such as
finance or IT), you still have to understand the value proposition. For all these reasons, I find
it necessary and valuable to understand strategic capital as a separate category of IC.
How does your view on the intangible capital differ from for instance Kaplan and
Norton’s work (book “Strategy Maps, Converting intangible assets into tangible
outcomes”)?
Kaplan and Norton simplify the IC categories. I think they were trying to make the IC ideas
more accessible but this over-simplification has limited the uptake of the Balanced Scorecard
pp ch. H ’ h w I h c :
Learning and Growth is a subset of human capital (leaves our experience, culture and
competencies)
Internal Business Processes are a subset of structural capital (leaves out knowledge,
data and IP)
Customers are a subset of relationship capital (leaves our partners and brands)
Financial is a subset of strategic capital (leaves our all the non-financial benefits
needed/expected by stakeholders)
You can see that IC paints a much richer tapestry of the knowledge side of business. I think
we should embrace the rich and unique IC of individual organizations, not try to simplify
them to irrelevance.
Knowledge is becoming the key competitive advantage in the global market, what do you see
as the main challenge for organizations to benefit optimally from all this knowledge?
Learning to talk about knowledge as the critical financial asset that it is. One of the greatest
shortcomings of the conversation in the KM and IC communities to date has been the inability
to show h c l h c c f c l ul w h wl . I ’ l y v l
the finances: 80% of the value of the average company in the U.S. is off balance sheet in
knowledge assets. The failure to understand this enormous information gap holds us all back
from paying attention to IC.
What are the challenges and opportunities created by social technologies for intangible
capital management (ICM)?
The way that we measure IC in my firm is by taking the pulse of stakeholders. This is easier
all the time thanks to social technologies. So I see the two absolutely linked. The value that IC
thinking brings to the situation is a framework to understand the social media feedback and
make it actionable. A more advanced use is to use these media to not just get feedback but to
also collaborate with stakeholders.
What do you see as a main benefit of integrating social technology for ICM?
As I said, the best way to measure intangibles is to ask the people that experience them—the
z ’ h l s. Social technology is a potential tool to do this, although it will be
a more advanced use of the tool....
Last but not least, how are you making your intangible business tangible?
The publication of our book a couple years ago was an important step. I also created the IC
Knowledge Center, an on-line community of close to 400 people from around the world
interested in IC. I feel strongly about the need to share knowledge and collaborate within our
community (we are always looking for more members!)
In some ways, the most important thing I am doing is operationalizing, productizing the
principal methodology we use to measure intangible capital. It is called the IC Value Drivers
assessment. The process identifies the unique intangible capital of an organization and then
plugs these unique elements into a standard questionnaire that includes IC that all
organizations have (such as finance, marketing and sales). We measure the strength of the IC
by polling internal and external stakeholders. The scores are very valuable on their own.
I y h mp ju c u ’ my u . I f l ly h h h p h h
we all must take in the IC community—w c ’ ju l h y w h v c l
make it easy for managers to apply the theories.
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
social technology
ICM
Social Media Investments Scaled Up: Community
Management, Content Development & Real-time Analytics
to Generate Business Value
8 p m 11:09:37 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Booz & Company and Buddy Media, a social enterprise software provider,
conducted a quantitative survey of 117 leading companies and a series of in-depth interviews
with senior marketing and media executives. The survey revealed that due to the importance
and opportunities by social media, 95 per cent expects to increase the social media
investments.
Key findings of the results are:
Strengthening c l m h CEO’ p c f p
companies;
Social media is a top marketing priority for about 60 percent;
78 percent believe that social media efforts enhance their marketing effectiveness
Currently, two-thirds of responding companies dedicate five percent or less of their digital
marketing spending to social media. Within three years, however, 56 percent of responding
companies expect to spend 10 percent or more of their digital marketing budgets on social
media, and 28 percent expect the figure to exceed 20 percent.
Scaling the Social Experience capabilities
The three identified capabilities that offer new ways to generate business value are
community management, content development and real-time analytics.
Community management
The art and science of convening and hosting fans in social media across multiple platforms
— quickly emerges as a vitally important skill.
Content development
To build a robust content development capability, companies must often completely reboot
their approaches to communications and campaigns. Leading social media teams are taking
steps to build publisher-l c p l c mp v ly f c um ’
engagement, and loyalty with high-value content just as media companies do.
Real-time analytics
Marketers increasingly need real-time insight into their audiences and the impact of their
content to know whether their social media efforts are on target. Robust, well-structured
analytics and metrics are critical to this understanding.
Social media ROI
The most advanced companies set out to achieve strategic business objectives with their social
media analytics. According to the survey, only about 40 percent of companies have metrics in
place today to measure ROI-focused key performance indicators, such as purchase intent,
leads generated, conversion rates, or actual sales.
S c l m ROI p c c u ’ ff cul . Wh h c l m
attributed to the amount of leads, which has often not a causal and direct connection? Did
social media influence the buyer in its decision-making, if so, how is that being proved?
I ’ h c u v c l m h c p pl c . I ’ h –volatile
and intangible- communication via social networks that create value. This will be the next
step in ROI understanding, pinpointing better which communication is responible for certain
results.
Wh ’ y u p h h p p c p l y u ?
If not, which other capability do you suggest?
Categories:
Digital and Social Media
Tags:
research
social media
Digitization and its Contribution to Competitiveness and
Economic Growth: Establishing a Virtuous Cycle
z sep m 16:06:21 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
The Dutch results from the Global Competitiveness Report 2012 by the
World Economic Forum were used abundantely by some political parties during the elections
last week. The Netherlands was globally –on overall- the number five most competitive
country and therefore current policy should be continued. Strategy + Business by Booz&Co
published an indepth study on economic growth being linked to the adoption of ICT. The
Dutch Digization Score showed that the Netherlands is an Advanced Economy, being in the
most mature stage of digitization. The more advanced the country, the greater the impact of
digitization, which establishes a virtuous cycle: A country reinforces and accelerates its own
progress as it moves along the line. This conclusion has meaning on the micro-, meso- and
m c c m c l v l f m m c w m c l h c u y’ l
competitiveness.
Digization Score components
To measure the impact of digitization on each country, the research study analyzed six key
attributes. Each was tracked through a group
of proxy indicators based on publicly accessible data:
The results are as follow:
(See exhibit 2 page 5 of the study for a bigger image)
Many countries in the Advanced stage are also countries that score high in the Global
Competitiveness Index.
The four stages as explained by Booz&Co:
The scores show that the progression of digitization proceeds in four similar stages in all
geographies:
• Constrained economies (those with a digitization score below 25) have barely begun to
develop affordable Internet connections, often because they are held back by political factors
or lagging economic development. Internet services remain expensive and limited in reach.
• Emerging economies (those with a score between 25 and 29.9) have achieved significant
progress in providing affordable and widespread access. However, the reliability of services
remains below par, capacity is limited, and usage is low.
• Transitional economies (those with a digitization score between 30 and 39.9) provide
citizens with ubiquitous, affordable, and reasonably reliable services, and usage is expanding
at a relatively rapid pace.
• Advanced economies (those with a score of 40 and higher) are in the most mature stage of
digitization. These countries have a talent base that can take advantage of digital services.
The contributions –per stage- made by digitization on the economic growth are:
Digitization and competitiveness contribution
The concept of competitiveness involves static and dynamic components. Although the
productivity of a country determines its ability to sustain a high level of income, it is also one
of the central determinants of its returns to investment, which is one of the key factors
xpl c my’ growth potential. These components are grouped into 12 pillars of
competitiveness:
Because ICT is an enabler as such, in one way or another it influences and impacts all of the
pillars. The most interesting for me in relation to the progress of competitiveness is pillar 11,
business sophistication.
Business sophistication: towards Open Industries and –Economies
The World Economic Forum explains the component:
“Th u h ph c u p c c c uc v h h ff c cy
the production of goods and services. Business sophistication concerns two elements that are
intricately linked: the quality of c u y’ v ll u networks and the quality of
v u l f m ’ p . Th f c p cul ly mp f
countries at an advanced stage of development when, to a large extent, the more basic sources
of productivity mp v m h v xh u . Th qu l y f c u y’ u
networks and supporting industries, as measured by the quantity and quality of local suppliers
and the extent of their interaction, is important for a variety of reasons. When companies and
suppliers from a particular sector are interconnected in geographically proximate groups,
called clusters, efficiency is heightened, greater opportunities for innovation in processes and
products are created, and barriers to entry for new firms are r uc . I v u l f m ’
advanced operations and strategies (branding, marketing, distribution, advanced production
processes, and the production of unique and sophisticated products) spill over into the
economy and lead to sophisticated and modern busine p c c h c u y’
u c .”
The words–networks, interaction, interconnected- are the next level of progression, means to
increase competitiveness further from a connected and Open Industry point of perspective.
Open Industry theref f w ll m f “Wh c mp uppl f m
particular sector are interconnected in geographically proximate groups, called clusters,
efficiency is heightened, greater opportunities for innovation in processes and products are
created, y f w f m uc .”
The interconnectedness by the WEF is geographically focussed. Social technologies add value
from a digital point of perspective. Creating digital interconnectness, geo-independant that
support transparency and agility throughout the industry.
Open Industry: the next level
McKinsey reported about the untapped potential value by social technologies. The first image
in the article point out to the ten ways social technologie scan add value. The emphasis will
shift to enterprise wide levers, focussing on inter-organizational collaboration and
communication, supporting the aforementioned transparency and adaptiveness.
Categories:
Open Industry and Open Economy
Tags:
open industry
social technology
competitiveness
Adobe Social Enters the Social Media Analytics Arena
v j p m 9:01:28 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Adobe has launched its social media tool, Adobe Social. It claim that the
product connects social marketing campaigns with real business results. As part of the Adobe
Digital Marketing Suite, Adobe Social includes social publishing, monitoring, ad buying and
analytics features.
The suite features tools to:
Integrate social marketing into a company's wider marketing efforts — content can be
created or personalised through Adobe Social and associated with a particular
campaign, with any resulting likes, retweets, and other social media buzz tied back to
that particular marketing push.
Buy social ads — allowing marketers to create Sponsored Story ads for Facebook and
then target them at a company's fans or non-fans, narrowed down by demographic.
Track whether social-media activity — such as a Facebook or Twitter promotion —
resulted in activity outside of that platform, including whether it led to a spike in
traffic on the company's homepage or any increase in purchases.
Monitor social media sentiment, along with functionality to monitor and moderate
social conversations.
Monitor activity on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and other social
platforms, and interrogated alongside more traditional marketing efforts through the
Digital Marketing Suite's analytics.
Have a look on WebProNews for screenschots of the tool.
What do you think of Adobe Social? Will this cockpit relieve the marketer and business
professional to efficiently and effectively use social, or is it not possible for one tech to serve
all needs?
What's your opinion on their claim of connecting social with business results, did they find
the solution for the longlasting quest of proving social media ROI?
Categories:
Technology
Tags:
social analytics
adobe
Research Shows Need for Social Technologies to Enable a
More Collaborative Supply Chain
w p m 15:44:56 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
IDC’ ch “The State of Enterprise Social Software Adoption 2012” p ll 7 US
senior executive-level decision makers on their current and future technology and business
plans, perceptions, and experiences related to the use of social media/networking for business
purposes and corporate sponsored enterprise social software. The most important finding is
that there is a growing need for solutions that incorporate external stakeholders such as
customers and suppliers in business workflow processes and feedback mechanisms. Because
of this, security (84%) and privacy (81%) are the top two important functionalities identified
by organizations.
Additional key survey findings include:
In 2012, 67% of companies surveyed have deployed corporate-sponsored enterprise
social software, noting that the level of autonomy an employee has on how they
manage individual task and business workflow has increased.
In 2011, the top response to why organizations were using social media, networking,
or community initiatives for business purposes was to acquire knowledge and ask
questions. This dropped dramatically in 2012, replaced with the notion of customer
feedback and engaging all constituents into the feedback process to support and add
value to the innovation process.
Survey respondents highlighted competitive pricing (87%), minimal performance
downtime and latency (85%), and meeting expectations with regard to solution
updates or upgrades (85%) to be the most important characteristics of solutions.
Vanessa Thompson, research manager for IDC's Enterprise Social Networks and
Collaborative Technologies, said:
"As enterprise social software grows into enterprise social networks (ESNs), solution
functionalities like profiles, activity streams, and blogs have quickly become assumed. The
marked shift in the buying behavior of solutions in 2012 highlights the need for solutions to
extend outside the company firewall and include customers, partners, and suppliers in the
feedback and business workflow processes."
Social Supply Networks
I’v w h m f m Supply Chain Magazine, a prominent magazine on all things
Supply Chain. Traditional linear supply chains have now evolved into complex collaborative
networks where different roles (such as supplier, buyer, competitor) are being simultaneously
fulfilled. Due to this networks arise on both a personal and business level: the social supply
network.
(For the Dutch people: check SCM’s September edition on social supply networks).
The challenge for the social IT supply side is to developed and find solutions that are able to
support such networks as illustrated at the left. Two pre-conditions - m IDC’
research- are security and privacy.
Organizations are realizing more and more that they need to collaborate in order to
innovateand stay competitive. The philosophy of Ujendre Ramautarsing (TSC Consultancy)
perfectly fits with these new dynamics:
“C mp w c mp u w upply ch ”
What are your thoughts on social technologies for the purpose of supply chains / social supply
networks?
Categories:
Supply Chain and Strategic Sourcing
Tags:
supply chain
social technology
Fortune 500 Companies Avoid Social Media
p m 13:31:59 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
According to the research conducted by Genesys, many consumer-facing Fortune 500
companies do not list their social media on their websites as means for customers to contact
them.
The press release m h ”M h h lf ( p c ) f c um -facing Fortune 500
businesses do p v h Tw h l h “C c U ” p f h w .
Additionally, despite the fact that Facebook has 900 million users across the world; half of
these businesses (51 percent) do not provide a link to their Facebook profile on the “C c
U ” p .”
Specifically to consumer-facing Fortune 500 companies, MediaPost elaborates:
“A u 7% f c um -facing Fortune 500 corporations do not list social media channels
on their Web site home page, 89% do not list an e-mail address on their site, and 13% don't
l ph um h C c U p .”
This goes beyond the avoidance of social media, the lack of email addresses and phone
number is a different and deeper issue.
Tom Eggemeier, head of Global Sales at Genesys said:
“Th f an indication that social media is still a very new phenomenon. Many
large consumer-facing companies are still struggling and not confident in their ability to deal
with customer queries and complaints via social media. Consumer-facing companies need to
resolve this disconnect by developing a customer service strategy that understands and
c l m ch l c v y cu m uch p .”
What is interesting from the article of MediaPost is that in the near future, agencies project the
fastest increase in spending will reside in video, mobile and social media, 69%, 68% and
48%, respectively.
How will these increases be utilized when social ecosystems are not in place, this means that
effectiveness of social integration is far from optimal, m h ROI l w ’
met and dissapointment will follow. Starting with a systemic test-and-learn approach to
support certain business goals is the fastest and most efficient way in understanding where
social media can add value.
Categories:
Customer Experience Management
Tags:
fortune 500
social media
research
IBM Acquires Kenexa to Boost its Social Business
Initiatives
p m 11:49:55 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
IBM and Kenexa Corporation announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for
IBM to acquire Kenexa, a publicly held company headquartered in Wayne, Pa., in a cash
transaction at a price of $46 per share, or at a net price of approximately $1.3 billion.
Th pu ch l IBM’ u -analytics software, which helps companies cull vast
amounts of data to make decisions and study trends. Kenexa works with more than 8,900
customers, including Starbucks Corp., General Electric Co. and Boeing Co. Armonk, New
York-based IBM has spent US$16-billion on 30 analytics acquisitions in the past five years,
according to the Financial Post.
Alistair Rennie IBM’ l m f c l u v w:
“Th v y c ly h v m w ’v m h lp cl c p
social networks and how we apply analytics. This idea of how you leverage talent and bring it
f w h c m f c p l u .”
Adopting social business technology to spur human capital
The adoption of social business technology is supporting the growth of big data and the need
for analytics in the organization. A recent global IBM study revealed that 57 percent of CEOs
identified social business as a top priority and more than 73 percent are making significant
investments to draw insights into available data.
The survey also reveals that 70 percent cite human capital as the single biggest contributor to
sustained economic value. R&D Magazine l h “ h c m h f IBM
and Kenexa are key differentiators at a time when organizations of all sizes are looking to
c w f c ff c c m h f m h u f m .”
What do you think of this acquisition?
Categories:
Business Models
Tags:
ibm
kenexa
social business
Unlocking Social Technologies' Untapped Potential
Annual Value of 1.3 Trillion Dollars
m 3 p m 11:39:24 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
This is one of the key findings by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) in their research “Th
c l c my: U l c v lu p uc v y h u h c l ch l ”. Th ch
attempts to quantify the value and can be realized across the value chain, not just in the
consumer-facing applications that have been at the forefront of adoption. Further, it found that
social technologies when being used within and across enterprises, they have to potential to
raise productivity of the high-skill knowledge workers that are critical to performance and
growth in the 21st century by 20 to 25 percent. The research contributes two-thirds of the US$
900 billion to US$ 1.3 trillion in annual value it estimates social technology can create across
the four commercial sectors of consumer packaged goods (CPG), consumer financial services,
professional services and advanced manufacturing sectors.
Knowledge valorization
Exactly from a knowledge-based economy point of perspective, social technologies are so
interesting and important. More than 75 percent of the average market value of an
organization is derived from intangible assets. Investments in human capital means focussing
on (continuous) (self-)education, shaping and training. Investments in organizational capital
means investing time and money in open business models, open innovation and setting the
h c f c v ‘ wl w ’. L u l v m
information capital spur the collection, interpretation and thus quality of the available internal
information.
This is were social technologies come in, valorizing knowledge faster and better, speeding up
processes, decision-making to operate within the window of –real-time- opportunity. Evolve
c m l u l cqu h u ’ c p l y p p ly
and cost-effective to changing demands and landscapes, partially caused by social
technologies themselves.
This is in line with the research that appoints c l ch l y’ p l v lu
creator lies in its ability to allow social interactions to occur with the speed, scale and
economics of the Internet.
Ten ways social technologies can add value in organizational functions within and across
enterprises
Number nine and ten can be overlayed on the left side Organizational Functions, that will
open up these silos, and unlocking the power of cross-departmental thinking and ideation.
Social analytics key in knowledge valorization
In the middle of the shown broad range of applications is Social Analytics, all kinds of tools
that measure and analyze interactions across platforms to inform decision-making. This is one
key element in valorizing social data into business value.
The second key element are the needed appropriate skills to mine and interpret all this
unstructered data qualitatively into business relevant value in ensuring success and benefit.
The fine balance and intertwining of (exclusive) human capabilities and social technology
innovations will enable businesses to prosper faster, cheaper and better. For the sceptical
people out there who doubts that social technology can produce significant hard ROI, this
report from McKinsey should quell your concerns.
Categories:
Intangible Capital
Tags:
mckinsey
social technology
economy
intangible capital
Gartner's Hype Cycle 2012: Big Data and Social Analtyics
Reach "The Peak"
z p m 19:32:50 | Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Gartner evaluates in a series of reports the the maturity, adoption and future direction of more
than 1,900 technologies and trends for 2012. The technologies are viewed from the
perspective of the Hype Cycle consisting of the following five phases: Technology Trigger,
Peak of Inflated Expectations, Trough of Disillusionment, Slope of Enlightenment, and
Plateau of Productivity.
The "Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies" report is the longest-running annual Hype
Cycle, providing a cross-industry perspective on the technologies and trends that IT managers
should consider in developing emerging-technology portfolios. This year technologies like
S c l A ly c B D h “P f I fl Exp c ”. I h ph
frenzy of publicity typically generates over-enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations. There
may be some successful applications of a technology, but there are typically more failures.
In the press release Gartner encourages enterprises to:
“C h ch l up because so many new capabilities and trends
involve multiple technologies working together. Often, one or two technologies that are not
quite ready can limit the true potential of what is possible. Gartner refers to these technologies
as "tipping point technologies" because, once they mature, the scenario can come together
f m ch l y p p c v .”
I believe one set is created by Big Data and Social Analytics. Social Analytics will be able to
mine and understand a subset of Big Data, social media data to offer organizations additional
streams of Business Intelligence, from an unmediated human perspective. Social analytics is
an umbrella for technologies such as social monitoring (Radian6, Alterian, Sysomos),
influencer techs such as Klout and PeerIndex and all kinds of tools to measure and analyze
Facebook, Twitter and so on.
I cc c w h h Hyp Cycl McK y’ ch “Minding your digital business”
outlines that big data and analytics are one of the three most important trends in e-business.
These are strategic priorities for their organizations. One potential cause for failure along the
Hype Cycle is the mentioning that the investments in these technologies are too small to
achieve their goals.
Challenges
There are however challenges concerning Big Data and (the usage and goals of) Social
Analytics, for instance:
Two thirds of marketers need data scientists to manage Big Data (MyCustomer.com)
Managing relations is a fundemental task of marketing in nowadays environment (The
Social Life of Brands by Booz & Co)
Only 6 per cent of the marketers use social media data to gain customer insight
(Emailvision research)
From our own experience we see a discrepancy between needed and acquired skills and how
to extract and productize insights derived from all this real-time social media data. Another
issue is the amount of social media data, especially for large (mulitnational) organizations.
Ac w h h ‘w w f pp u y’ cc y u ch ll wh h
thousands and thousands of conversations.
What do you think, which subset of Social Analytics will be integrated and used throughout
organizations within two to five years?
Categories:
Technology
Tags:
gartner
hype cycle
big data
social analytics