The Pitney Bowes Employee Innovation Program demonstrates how to successfully design and implement an innovation community within a large organization. Key aspects included:
1) Taking a human-centered design approach through participatory research with employees, managers, and senior leaders to understand needs and design a system that fits the organizational culture.
2) Launching an internal online platform called IdeaNet to host innovation challenges and crowdsource ideas from across the 30,000 person global workforce.
3) Achieving measurable results within two years, including nearly 3,000 ideas submitted and 874 ideas adopted, while also providing intangible benefits like increased employee engagement.
The document discusses the concepts of Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0. It provides definitions of Enterprise 2.0 from various experts that focus on adopting social media and participative technologies in organizations. The document then reviews principles and lessons from prior management philosophies like Scientific Management, the work of Deming, Drucker, Senge and Toyota. It proposes a new perspective on Enterprise 2.0 as a learning organization focused on knowledge work and workers.
This document discusses social learning and defines it as learning that is social by nature because humans are inherently social beings. Social learning aims to empower practitioners to form learning partnerships to create personal and organizational value. It can take the form of collaborative or informal learning. The document notes that social learning is not just a technical solution or communications channel, but a set of behaviors. While not entirely new, social media now enables social learning to occur across networks and a changing work environment. Success requires focusing on business needs, embedding social learning in workflows, identifying communities of interest, and cultivating trust through openness and transparency.
Social by design: jump-start your social business strategyTimi Stoop-Alcala
This presentation was inspired greatly by the book 'Social Business By Design' by Dion Hinchcliffe and Peter Kim. It was meant to be an introduction to social business, and how to strategically approach the use of social media in your organisation for valuable business impact.
Originally presented at Creative Niche's knowledge season series, 'Project Greenhouse: Social Media Strategy to Build Brands and Communities'.
The document announces an event called IDEA Jam 2012 that will take place on November 8, 2012. It will include a readout of results from the Georgia Social Business Survey, breakout sessions on key findings from the survey led by subject matter experts, and a reception. Attendees will learn about emerging social business tools and practices and be challenged to apply them. The goal is for attendees to learn, share, engage, and take home ideas to improve their social business efforts. Several speakers and facilitators are also introduced who will address topics like virtual meeting technologies, corporate culture, and using social media for business.
Perspective on virtual collaboration benchmark.pptLucy Garrick
This document summarizes a benchmark study on virtual collaboration in organizations. The study found that (1) many organizations are piloting or starting to use virtual collaboration technologies but struggle with user adoption and engagement. (2) Barriers to collaboration include difficulties engaging people and a rigid emphasis on risk management. (3) Planning processes focus more on tactics than strategy. The report provides details on the qualitative and quantitative research conducted, including sectors interviewed and tools used. It concludes that organizations need to adapt quickly to thrive in a globalized world.
The document discusses collaborative innovation networks (COINs) and their characteristics. It states that COINs are groups of self-motivated people who collaborate online to achieve a common goal by sharing ideas and work. COINs operate with no formal leadership and adhere to principles of open knowledge sharing, reciprocity, transparency and rationality. The success of COINs comes from the collective intelligence that emerges from collaboration between diverse individuals.
The Socially Integrated Enterprise: Organisations or Communities? The new Col...OpenKnowledge srl
The document discusses how organizations are transforming into socially integrated enterprises by embracing social media and online collaboration. It suggests that organizations must cultivate trusted relationships through social networks in order to drive innovation, marketing, and workforce effectiveness. A socially integrated enterprise engages employees and customers through transparent and nimble social interactions in order to deepen relationships and generate new ideas faster.
Best Practices In Collaborative Innovation: How CPG Manufacturers & Retailers...Jenna Dudevoir
This white paper is based on a research study with thirty global consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, and brokers to better understand how manufacturers and retailers are working together to drive profitability and deliver innovative products.
The document discusses the concepts of Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0. It provides definitions of Enterprise 2.0 from various experts that focus on adopting social media and participative technologies in organizations. The document then reviews principles and lessons from prior management philosophies like Scientific Management, the work of Deming, Drucker, Senge and Toyota. It proposes a new perspective on Enterprise 2.0 as a learning organization focused on knowledge work and workers.
This document discusses social learning and defines it as learning that is social by nature because humans are inherently social beings. Social learning aims to empower practitioners to form learning partnerships to create personal and organizational value. It can take the form of collaborative or informal learning. The document notes that social learning is not just a technical solution or communications channel, but a set of behaviors. While not entirely new, social media now enables social learning to occur across networks and a changing work environment. Success requires focusing on business needs, embedding social learning in workflows, identifying communities of interest, and cultivating trust through openness and transparency.
Social by design: jump-start your social business strategyTimi Stoop-Alcala
This presentation was inspired greatly by the book 'Social Business By Design' by Dion Hinchcliffe and Peter Kim. It was meant to be an introduction to social business, and how to strategically approach the use of social media in your organisation for valuable business impact.
Originally presented at Creative Niche's knowledge season series, 'Project Greenhouse: Social Media Strategy to Build Brands and Communities'.
The document announces an event called IDEA Jam 2012 that will take place on November 8, 2012. It will include a readout of results from the Georgia Social Business Survey, breakout sessions on key findings from the survey led by subject matter experts, and a reception. Attendees will learn about emerging social business tools and practices and be challenged to apply them. The goal is for attendees to learn, share, engage, and take home ideas to improve their social business efforts. Several speakers and facilitators are also introduced who will address topics like virtual meeting technologies, corporate culture, and using social media for business.
Perspective on virtual collaboration benchmark.pptLucy Garrick
This document summarizes a benchmark study on virtual collaboration in organizations. The study found that (1) many organizations are piloting or starting to use virtual collaboration technologies but struggle with user adoption and engagement. (2) Barriers to collaboration include difficulties engaging people and a rigid emphasis on risk management. (3) Planning processes focus more on tactics than strategy. The report provides details on the qualitative and quantitative research conducted, including sectors interviewed and tools used. It concludes that organizations need to adapt quickly to thrive in a globalized world.
The document discusses collaborative innovation networks (COINs) and their characteristics. It states that COINs are groups of self-motivated people who collaborate online to achieve a common goal by sharing ideas and work. COINs operate with no formal leadership and adhere to principles of open knowledge sharing, reciprocity, transparency and rationality. The success of COINs comes from the collective intelligence that emerges from collaboration between diverse individuals.
The Socially Integrated Enterprise: Organisations or Communities? The new Col...OpenKnowledge srl
The document discusses how organizations are transforming into socially integrated enterprises by embracing social media and online collaboration. It suggests that organizations must cultivate trusted relationships through social networks in order to drive innovation, marketing, and workforce effectiveness. A socially integrated enterprise engages employees and customers through transparent and nimble social interactions in order to deepen relationships and generate new ideas faster.
Best Practices In Collaborative Innovation: How CPG Manufacturers & Retailers...Jenna Dudevoir
This white paper is based on a research study with thirty global consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, and brokers to better understand how manufacturers and retailers are working together to drive profitability and deliver innovative products.
Shortlisted submission for 2016 CEB Internal Communications Awards in the Innovations in Digital, Social and Mobile category. Winner to be announced November, 2016.
Leadership Development in a Learning 2.0 World Tom Gram
The document discusses using Web 2.0 technologies and communities of practice to improve leadership development. It proposes that leadership skills are best developed through experience, reflection, and social learning. Web 2.0 allows for continuous, informal learning through collaboration and knowledge sharing. Specifically, it recommends creating an online community of practice where managers can interact, share expertise, and learn from each other's experiences. The community would be facilitated and provide both explicit knowledge resources as well as opportunities for productive discussion to develop tacit knowledge. Proper planning, design, facilitation and sustainment are needed to ensure the success of such leadership development communities of practice.
Strategic use of ICT and communication tools, Module 1.pdfBrodoto
The document discusses various tools for strategic use of ICT and communication by organizations, including project management tools, internal and external communication tools, collaboration tools, and educational/presentation tools. Some of the key tools mentioned are Asana, Slack, Zoom, Google Suite, Canva, and Blender. These tools help improve work tracking, organization, and productivity for remote and hybrid work.
This document discusses the future of learning and how it will become smarter, simpler, and more social. Learning will be personalized and accessible anywhere through new technologies like augmented reality, ubiquitous computing, and smart devices. This will impact learners by providing information in incomplete chunks without proper context unless educators guide learners. Educators must help learners make sense of information, reflect critically, and collaborate to build collective intelligence. The future role of educators will be to facilitate networks and empower self-directed, autonomous learning while supporting learners' development.
8th Annual Internal Communication Forum
Getting to the point through Internal Communication
www.arkgroupaustralia.com.au/Events-E030IntComm.htm
Best practice for effective company-wide communication
One-day connected forum and post-forum workshops
Expert panel of speakers representing:
| City of Sydney Council | Deloitte | La Trobe University | Kimberly-Clark Australia | ACE Insurance Limited | ComSuper |
| Macquarie Community College | Research Australia | TM Consultancy | BPS Communications
| Oakton Consulting Technology | Cechange |
Our most recently published article in case you missed it!
The Secrets of Great Internal Brands
www.arkgroupaustralia.com.au/News-internalbrands.htm
Written by:
Barbara Palframan Smith, Director, BPS Communications; Former Convenor and Lecturer, Public Relations Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney; IABC Gold Quill winner
and Simon Covill, Director, Cechange; Manager, Internal Communication - People & Culture, City of Sydney; Former Head of Corporate Relations & Communications, St.George Bank
Working Social Becoming A Collaborative Firm ALPMA WebinarDavid Blumentals
Today, every law firm increasingly relies upon being able to prosper online to succeed – or even to survive – competitively.
What this means is that every law firm needs to invest at least some resources into a specific goal: becoming a more “social” firm.
The course was about how to implement user centered design in organizations. It was part of the Master degree program in Business with orientation in User Centered Design. Laurea University of Applied Sciences.
Strategic use of ICT and communication tools, Module 3.pdfBrodoto
This document provides descriptions of various tools that can help social entrepreneurs with business development, impact measurement, networking, and cooperation. It describes tools that support business design, sustainability, and impact assessment. Some of the key tools mentioned include the Design Kit for human-centered design, IRIS+ for impact measurement, Strategyzer and Business Model Inc for business modeling, and the MaRS Startup Toolkit for innovation technologies. The document provides details on the purpose and features of these different tools.
The document outlines four keys to successfully deploying a social business network: 1) Governance - ensuring relevance through appropriate oversight, support and metrics; 2) Structure - establishing the right types of groups and communities; 3) Conventions - clarifying expectations for participant behavior; and 4) Practice - promoting adoption through champions and notifications. It provides examples for each key and emphasizes that social networks require active facilitation and guidelines to drive ongoing value for an organization.
Social Software: The Age of Connection and the Connected LearnerAnne Bartlett-Bragg
Social software provides opportunities to enhance learning by reconnecting learners and humanizing online experiences. Early e-learning implementations focused on accessibility but ignored human interaction. Now, social software like instant messaging, blogs, wikis and social bookmarking allow learners to collaborate and develop social networks. This connects learners and changes learning from a product to a conversation, implying organizations should adapt software to learners' needs rather than forcing adaptation to software limitations.
The Integrated Planning System - Presentation for FUNNEL B2B Marketing event,...Rowan Hetherington
The document discusses the need to reimagine marketing using an integrated planning system approach. It outlines five steps for the integrated planning system: 1) understand inputs like the digital landscape and business priorities; 2) define objectives and key constituencies; 3) employ listening strategies like social media monitoring; 4) create a management plan; and 5) implement systemic changes across the marketing system. The appendix provides resources on IBM's marketing solutions and sources for further information.
Epilife Consulting Inc. provides educational training and program development services to help organizations achieve their community engagement objectives. Their vision is to advance the global community's purpose and their mission is to help organizations through quality services. They offer organizational development, project development, training and publicity benefits to build stakeholder relationships, brand recognition, and social impact.
"Nurturing The Next Big Thing" from the March 2013 Issue of PM NetworkThink For A Change
1) Organizations must not only continuously develop new ideas, but also implement projects that deliver value from those ideas.
2) To succeed, companies must blend cutting-edge concepts with traditional project governance approaches to bring prototypes to market.
3) Aligning innovation strategies and projects closely with overall business strategies is key to effectively translating ideas into successful initiatives.
Smarter technologies will be embedded everywhere and know everything about us, adapting our environment based on our behaviors and preferences. This will impact organizational learning by providing unlimited access to information but potentially resulting in dislocated, incomplete learning without critical reflection. The solution involves facilitating individual and group sense-making through reflection, action, collection, creativity and collaboration supported by social networks.
Educators' roles may evolve to become trusted advisors who guide learners in establishing social networks and empower personal development. Building the future involves reframing concepts of learning, rethinking relationships with information, and reinvigorating practices to fulfill learning purposes.
DVG 2011 Jane Hart - social media in workplace learningdvg2011
The document discusses the impact of social media on workplace learning. It notes that social media is catalyzing change and that workers are increasingly using their own personal tools for both work and learning. It also notes that many workers are finding ways to use unsanctioned tools and technologies in their jobs. The document then discusses how learning and development (L&D) professionals can embrace these changes by supporting a broader approach to workplace learning that incorporates social media and helps workers build personal networks and learn from each other.
Hatch Connect, an engineering consulting firm, implemented Open Text's Livelink ECM software to enhance collaboration among its 8,700 global employees. The key goals were to leverage communications, increase competitiveness to retain technologically-savvy employees, and appeal to younger generations' demand for social networking. Employees formed 73 communities on topics like bulk materials handling and sustainability. This allowed sharing of specialized knowledge globally and met younger employees' expectations for collaboration beyond email. The communities have enhanced expertise availability and information sharing.
Exec Blueprints The Heart Of The Matter 27151Tim Young
IT innovation at Sprint Nextel occurs across infrastructure, processes, and products/services. Some recent examples include streamlining testing procedures and project management processes. For IT departments, 5-10% of efforts should go towards innovative solutions, but these must be linked to corporate goals and deliver value quickly. For IT leaders to facilitate innovation, they must transform their department's role from order-fillers to business partners generating innovation. This involves understanding business needs and proactively offering solutions.
The document outlines a project to develop pro bono consulting in China by training the Beijing Huizeren Volunteering Development Center to implement the Taproot Foundation model of matching skilled volunteers with non-profit organizations in need of capacity building support, with the goals of piloting pro bono engagements between companies, volunteers and NGOs in China and establishing a sustainable business model for Huizeren's pro bono program.
The document outlines 10 steps that can lead to prematurely aged skin: 1) sunbaking or tanning from UV radiation exposure, 2) cigarette smoking which restricts blood flow and collagen production, 3) free radicals from various environmental sources that damage skin cells, 4) stress that causes facial muscle tension, 5) lack of exercise resulting in dull skin, 6) lack of sleep shown as dark circles and bags, 7) a poor diet high in processed foods causing inflammation, 8) overconsumption of alcohol damaging blood vessels, 9) repeating facial expressions forming lines, and 10) depriving skin of moisture causing wrinkling. It provides treatments for each step such as sunscreen use, quitting smoking, antioxidants, relaxation
Shortlisted submission for 2016 CEB Internal Communications Awards in the Innovations in Digital, Social and Mobile category. Winner to be announced November, 2016.
Leadership Development in a Learning 2.0 World Tom Gram
The document discusses using Web 2.0 technologies and communities of practice to improve leadership development. It proposes that leadership skills are best developed through experience, reflection, and social learning. Web 2.0 allows for continuous, informal learning through collaboration and knowledge sharing. Specifically, it recommends creating an online community of practice where managers can interact, share expertise, and learn from each other's experiences. The community would be facilitated and provide both explicit knowledge resources as well as opportunities for productive discussion to develop tacit knowledge. Proper planning, design, facilitation and sustainment are needed to ensure the success of such leadership development communities of practice.
Strategic use of ICT and communication tools, Module 1.pdfBrodoto
The document discusses various tools for strategic use of ICT and communication by organizations, including project management tools, internal and external communication tools, collaboration tools, and educational/presentation tools. Some of the key tools mentioned are Asana, Slack, Zoom, Google Suite, Canva, and Blender. These tools help improve work tracking, organization, and productivity for remote and hybrid work.
This document discusses the future of learning and how it will become smarter, simpler, and more social. Learning will be personalized and accessible anywhere through new technologies like augmented reality, ubiquitous computing, and smart devices. This will impact learners by providing information in incomplete chunks without proper context unless educators guide learners. Educators must help learners make sense of information, reflect critically, and collaborate to build collective intelligence. The future role of educators will be to facilitate networks and empower self-directed, autonomous learning while supporting learners' development.
8th Annual Internal Communication Forum
Getting to the point through Internal Communication
www.arkgroupaustralia.com.au/Events-E030IntComm.htm
Best practice for effective company-wide communication
One-day connected forum and post-forum workshops
Expert panel of speakers representing:
| City of Sydney Council | Deloitte | La Trobe University | Kimberly-Clark Australia | ACE Insurance Limited | ComSuper |
| Macquarie Community College | Research Australia | TM Consultancy | BPS Communications
| Oakton Consulting Technology | Cechange |
Our most recently published article in case you missed it!
The Secrets of Great Internal Brands
www.arkgroupaustralia.com.au/News-internalbrands.htm
Written by:
Barbara Palframan Smith, Director, BPS Communications; Former Convenor and Lecturer, Public Relations Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney; IABC Gold Quill winner
and Simon Covill, Director, Cechange; Manager, Internal Communication - People & Culture, City of Sydney; Former Head of Corporate Relations & Communications, St.George Bank
Working Social Becoming A Collaborative Firm ALPMA WebinarDavid Blumentals
Today, every law firm increasingly relies upon being able to prosper online to succeed – or even to survive – competitively.
What this means is that every law firm needs to invest at least some resources into a specific goal: becoming a more “social” firm.
The course was about how to implement user centered design in organizations. It was part of the Master degree program in Business with orientation in User Centered Design. Laurea University of Applied Sciences.
Strategic use of ICT and communication tools, Module 3.pdfBrodoto
This document provides descriptions of various tools that can help social entrepreneurs with business development, impact measurement, networking, and cooperation. It describes tools that support business design, sustainability, and impact assessment. Some of the key tools mentioned include the Design Kit for human-centered design, IRIS+ for impact measurement, Strategyzer and Business Model Inc for business modeling, and the MaRS Startup Toolkit for innovation technologies. The document provides details on the purpose and features of these different tools.
The document outlines four keys to successfully deploying a social business network: 1) Governance - ensuring relevance through appropriate oversight, support and metrics; 2) Structure - establishing the right types of groups and communities; 3) Conventions - clarifying expectations for participant behavior; and 4) Practice - promoting adoption through champions and notifications. It provides examples for each key and emphasizes that social networks require active facilitation and guidelines to drive ongoing value for an organization.
Social Software: The Age of Connection and the Connected LearnerAnne Bartlett-Bragg
Social software provides opportunities to enhance learning by reconnecting learners and humanizing online experiences. Early e-learning implementations focused on accessibility but ignored human interaction. Now, social software like instant messaging, blogs, wikis and social bookmarking allow learners to collaborate and develop social networks. This connects learners and changes learning from a product to a conversation, implying organizations should adapt software to learners' needs rather than forcing adaptation to software limitations.
The Integrated Planning System - Presentation for FUNNEL B2B Marketing event,...Rowan Hetherington
The document discusses the need to reimagine marketing using an integrated planning system approach. It outlines five steps for the integrated planning system: 1) understand inputs like the digital landscape and business priorities; 2) define objectives and key constituencies; 3) employ listening strategies like social media monitoring; 4) create a management plan; and 5) implement systemic changes across the marketing system. The appendix provides resources on IBM's marketing solutions and sources for further information.
Epilife Consulting Inc. provides educational training and program development services to help organizations achieve their community engagement objectives. Their vision is to advance the global community's purpose and their mission is to help organizations through quality services. They offer organizational development, project development, training and publicity benefits to build stakeholder relationships, brand recognition, and social impact.
"Nurturing The Next Big Thing" from the March 2013 Issue of PM NetworkThink For A Change
1) Organizations must not only continuously develop new ideas, but also implement projects that deliver value from those ideas.
2) To succeed, companies must blend cutting-edge concepts with traditional project governance approaches to bring prototypes to market.
3) Aligning innovation strategies and projects closely with overall business strategies is key to effectively translating ideas into successful initiatives.
Smarter technologies will be embedded everywhere and know everything about us, adapting our environment based on our behaviors and preferences. This will impact organizational learning by providing unlimited access to information but potentially resulting in dislocated, incomplete learning without critical reflection. The solution involves facilitating individual and group sense-making through reflection, action, collection, creativity and collaboration supported by social networks.
Educators' roles may evolve to become trusted advisors who guide learners in establishing social networks and empower personal development. Building the future involves reframing concepts of learning, rethinking relationships with information, and reinvigorating practices to fulfill learning purposes.
DVG 2011 Jane Hart - social media in workplace learningdvg2011
The document discusses the impact of social media on workplace learning. It notes that social media is catalyzing change and that workers are increasingly using their own personal tools for both work and learning. It also notes that many workers are finding ways to use unsanctioned tools and technologies in their jobs. The document then discusses how learning and development (L&D) professionals can embrace these changes by supporting a broader approach to workplace learning that incorporates social media and helps workers build personal networks and learn from each other.
Hatch Connect, an engineering consulting firm, implemented Open Text's Livelink ECM software to enhance collaboration among its 8,700 global employees. The key goals were to leverage communications, increase competitiveness to retain technologically-savvy employees, and appeal to younger generations' demand for social networking. Employees formed 73 communities on topics like bulk materials handling and sustainability. This allowed sharing of specialized knowledge globally and met younger employees' expectations for collaboration beyond email. The communities have enhanced expertise availability and information sharing.
Exec Blueprints The Heart Of The Matter 27151Tim Young
IT innovation at Sprint Nextel occurs across infrastructure, processes, and products/services. Some recent examples include streamlining testing procedures and project management processes. For IT departments, 5-10% of efforts should go towards innovative solutions, but these must be linked to corporate goals and deliver value quickly. For IT leaders to facilitate innovation, they must transform their department's role from order-fillers to business partners generating innovation. This involves understanding business needs and proactively offering solutions.
The document outlines a project to develop pro bono consulting in China by training the Beijing Huizeren Volunteering Development Center to implement the Taproot Foundation model of matching skilled volunteers with non-profit organizations in need of capacity building support, with the goals of piloting pro bono engagements between companies, volunteers and NGOs in China and establishing a sustainable business model for Huizeren's pro bono program.
The document outlines 10 steps that can lead to prematurely aged skin: 1) sunbaking or tanning from UV radiation exposure, 2) cigarette smoking which restricts blood flow and collagen production, 3) free radicals from various environmental sources that damage skin cells, 4) stress that causes facial muscle tension, 5) lack of exercise resulting in dull skin, 6) lack of sleep shown as dark circles and bags, 7) a poor diet high in processed foods causing inflammation, 8) overconsumption of alcohol damaging blood vessels, 9) repeating facial expressions forming lines, and 10) depriving skin of moisture causing wrinkling. It provides treatments for each step such as sunscreen use, quitting smoking, antioxidants, relaxation
The document provides descriptions of various artworks located at the UnMuseum in Cincinnati, Ohio. It describes pieces that allow interaction, such as a house designed to look like a telescope, a room with curved floors, and a sensory elephant that includes drawers with touchable objects and sounds. It also discusses artworks that play with perceptions, such as murals only visible under black lights or from certain angles. The document encourages visiting the UnMuseum to interact with the unique art installations.
Rated Profiles is an innovative job portal that allows students to document their career development activities and projects from their first year on a daily basis in order to be ranked and screened for job placements. The portal aims to address issues faced by students, colleges, and employers regarding the traditional placement process. It offers a unique methodology where students, colleges, and industries can work together to improve placements. Key aspects of the RP methodology include students registering, preparing through daily targeted activities, getting ranked based on consistent preparation, undergoing screening tests and video interviews, and ultimately getting placed.
Aansluiten En Uitdagen Op Het Snijvlak Van Motivatie En Verschillen In Leer ...Mara Lammertzen
Deze publicatie is nog niet af, maar het geeft een idee van de mogelijkheden om in de \'range\' tussen sturen en loslaten aan te sluiten op verschillen in leerbehoeften en motivatoren.
Shunya Kimura presents on mining the social graph using Neo4j. The presentation discusses past work using relational databases and the challenges of maintenance and scalability. Graph databases like Neo4j are introduced as an alternative that can handle large graphs with millions of nodes and relationships. Examples are provided on loading sample social graph data into an embedded Neo4j instance and performing simple traversals on the graph.
This document provides an introduction to analyzing social graphs using graph databases. It discusses using Neo4j to store social graph data and analyze centrality and clustering coefficients. Sample code is shown for inserting nodes and relationships in Neo4j and traversing the graph. Analyzing a sample social network dataset found centrality values ranged from 1 to over 900, with a median of 10, and clustering coefficients ranged from 0 to 1. Visualization of the social graph and analysis results is also briefly discussed.
Introduction data structure for GraphDBshunya kimura
The document discusses the data structure used for nodes in a graph database. It describes how nodes are stored in a node cache managed by a node manager. Relationships between nodes are stored in a relationship cache. When a new node is created, it is assigned an ID and added to the node cache and persistence manager. Creating a relationship involves linking two existing nodes in the relationship cache. The cache uses a least recently used (LRU) algorithm to manage memory usage.
Este documento lista várias bibliotecas de instituições educacionais de Portugal, Brasil, Espanha, Irlanda, França, Reino Unido, Estados Unidos, Rússia, Itália, Egito e China. Também inclui atividades realizadas em bibliotecas escolares portuguesas como leituras com pais e adaptações de histórias.
By 2017, IBM had trained 50 000 of its employees in design thinking. Big players across all in- dustries are bringing the design mindset and design thinking tools into their ranks. They are motivated by the challenge of gaining competitive advantage and looking for sustainable models
to innovate. Creative sales pitches from marketing wizards will make design thinking sound very easy, but that is one of the many misconceptions in this field. However, starting with the right expectations and following tested implementation tips can help bring very tangible benefits to BPO organizations.
How a government public agency is using Social Business platforms to drive in...Milind Pansare
When you think innovation, most people are quick to think of innovative brands in the private sector. But what may surprise some is how the public sector is embracing enterprise social business technology. For example, the U.K.'s largest public agency serving 20million customers has linked lean practices with its innovation program to produce 10's of millions (of Pounds) in savings.
16 Enterprise Social Networking Predictions for 2013tibbr
Enterprise social networking predictions for 2013 include:
1) A focus on driving behavioral change and adoption through integration with core business processes and data-driven insights.
2) Using social data internally for real-time optimization and management in addition to external monitoring.
3) Establishing social media strategies and capabilities to support key business functions through listening, engaging, and driving outcomes.
Social innovation leverages crowdsourcing to generate new ideas through collective intelligence that is more valuable than any individual idea. Companies are increasingly using social innovation to engage employees and speed innovation to market. Dell, Starbucks, and Cisco have found successes through social innovation platforms, generating new product ideas like Dell's Ubuntu laptop and Starbucks' splash sticks. Companies like Procter & Gamble have seen major benefits from social innovation, increasing productivity by 60% and success rates from 35% to 80% while decreasing R&D spending. Key lessons include ensuring executive support, managing the idea process, focusing challenges, recognizing top contributors, and assessing key performance indicators.
Introducing Social Employee Engagement: Shifting From Technology To PeopleMSL
Social employee engagement puts people at the centre by focusing on what inspires and
engages them to do their best work. This report offers a complete introduction to social business and sets out a roadmap for success.
We are social creatures and we crave social interaction. This presentation from SPSNYC is about how we build social solutions to our business problems...today.
Collaborative Enterprise & Social Media : definition, reasons & goals, implem...Frédéric Williquet
Enterprise 2.0 involves using social software and technology to facilitate collaboration between employees and with customers. The key goals are to improve collaboration, innovation, and awareness to gain a competitive advantage. Implementing an enterprise collaboration platform can shrink distances between people and information. Reasons to adopt social media internally include dismantling silos, leveraging relationships for ROI, and improving the employee and customer experience. Visualizing networks can help diagnose collaboration challenges and design efficient solutions. Intensive use of social technologies is correlated with market gains and stronger financial performance. Avoiding social networks comes at a cost to relationships and knowledge. The future of social media in organizations involves conversational channels, social search driving value, and work transcending boundaries.
The document discusses how to align social conversations with business objectives using a digital workplace platform. It suggests setting up networks and communities focused on business goals like innovation, customer relationships, and talent management. Organizing unstructured information and curating it can make it more useful. Assessing how social tools impact business processes is important. The goal is to produce value by inserting relevant conversations into business processes.
PDC 2008 Toward participatory organizations.Peter Jones
Presentation for paper: Socialization of practice in a process world: Toward participatory organizations. In Proceedings of Participatory Design Conference 2008, Indiana University, Oct 1-4 2008.
Infusionsoft Socially Enabled Internal Communication ProposalKimberle Morrison
The document outlines plans to implement a social enterprise platform at Infusionsoft to improve collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing among a growing employee base. It discusses research on best practices, identifying target user benefits, demoing potential solutions, and next steps of selecting a platform, launching an initial phase, and driving adoption. The goal is to preserve culture and connectivity as the company scales by tapping into employees' cognitive surpluses through a social workplace.
Delivering successful innovation depends on diversity. The document discusses how diversity is crucial to innovation and outlines IBM's innovation programs and approaches used with clients, including case studies. It emphasizes that diversity of thoughts and perspectives within teams is important for innovation. It also discusses IBM's global research capabilities and tools used to define and implement innovative ideas with clients.
This document provides an overview of social business and how organizations are applying social approaches. Some key points:
- Social business involves embedding social tools and practices into organizational activities both internally and externally. This allows for improved knowledge sharing, collaboration, and customer experiences.
- Leading organizations are applying social business to create valued customer experiences, drive workforce productivity and effectiveness, and accelerate innovation.
- To create customer value, companies are using social media to engage and listen to customers, build online communities, and shift marketing and sales online.
- Applying social approaches internally increases transparency, allows experts to more easily share knowledge, and improves collaboration both within and outside the organization.
- While investment in social business is
A Wall Street Journal article postulates that innovation comes from inside a company through networks—not lone individuals. The authors offers strategies to cultivate innovation, such as making efforts to break down the walls between company departments, rapidly testing and refining ideas, and figure out whether there are people in the chain of command who are hard to work with.
But for most large organizations, this “formula” for innovation is difficult to implement. Change, especially innovative change, is often is met with organizational resistance. Conversely, the culture of the organization often expresses collective frustrations with the limitations of business processes and underlying technologies to support business needs.
Doug Jackson, senior director of the Business Analysis Practice for Robbins Gioia (http://www.robbinsgioia.com), and Paula Pierce, CEO and principal transformation strategist, Peridona Strategies LLC (http://www.periodonastrategies.com), conduct an interactive session on integrating business analysis and organizational change management to create an environment for innovation and successful change. They will examine problems that prevent establishing successful innovation networks and provide an approach using best practices from both disciplines to help organizations harvest and test innovative ideas. They will show you how to:
• Identify the root of change resistance in our organizations
• Identify and capitalize on existing networks
• Apply BA and OCM best practices to create an environment for innovation.
The document discusses how idea management platforms can help foster innovation among remote workers by empowering collaborative computing technologies. It describes a fictional mortgage company that implemented the idea platform SpigitEngage to encourage employees working from home to generate and share new ideas. While the technology solved collaboration issues, non-participation remained a problem until incentives and goals were put in place. The conclusion is that as more businesses adopt remote work and seek innovation, idea management systems will grow in use.
The document discusses the challenges of digital transformation for finance organizations and leadership. It notes that 90% of CEOs believe their companies face disruptive changes due to digital technologies. It also discusses how organizations respond to pressure to innovate, looking at impacts at the individual, team, leadership, and organizational levels. Key levers for change are typically actions by leaders. HR also faces challenges in supporting digital transformation and may need to reinvent processes to build skills for digital leaders.
Embed Design Thinking in Co-Design for Rapid Innovation of Design SolutionsHeath Keighran
This document summarizes a study that applied design thinking and co-design approaches to create a prototype system called Art Lab for an art community. Researchers conducted idea generation sessions to understand user needs and gather ideas. The most popular ideas were then selected and further developed in an "Idea Lab" through prototyping and user evaluations. The iterative process involved end users and resulted in agreed upon design solutions for Art Lab, including prototype screens for registration, user profiles, finding/booking events, and feedback. The study demonstrated how integrating users throughout ideation, prototyping and evaluation can produce effective human-centered design solutions.
Driving Repeatable Business Innovation: The Vision to Action LifecycleMindjet
The current generation of Social Business tools has missed
a huge opportunity to impact business innovation and
results. By focusing on functionality that emphasizes
communications, they’ve omitted the required structure
and process needed to meaningfully affect the business.
In this presentation, we take you through the Vision to Action Lifecycle, and explain why a holistic approach to innovation can create repeatable, tangible results for your business.
The document discusses inspiring social change within organizations by embracing collaboration and social media. It outlines three ways to inspire social change: 1) aligning individual work to organizational goals through social media initiatives, 2) identifying and promoting natural pockets of collaboration, and 3) acting as a collaboration catalyst by celebrating successes and encouraging continued usage of social tools. The overall message is that social change happens gradually by focusing on people and breaking down barriers through various collaborative approaches.
Social business is transforming how organizations operate through the use of social media and networking tools. A three-day online discussion ("Jam") with over 2,700 participants from 80+ countries explored this topic. Key insights included: 1) Social tools can flatten hierarchies and change middle management roles; 2) Privacy fosters openness which leads to collaboration; 3) A customer-centric approach is important, using social tools to understand customers and engage them. Realizing the benefits of social business requires changes to company culture and processes, not just implementing new technologies.
The whitepaper discusses the seven Cs of social learning technologies: content, consumption, contribution, conversation, collaboration, connections, and control. It explains how social learning allows vicarious learning through observation and interactions. The paper also notes that adoption of social learning technologies continues to rise according to various reports, with priorities being increasing learning program effectiveness, integration with performance management, and reducing costs. Key challenges for organizations are governance, adoption, and adapting corporate culture to be more open to information sharing.
2. tap the intellectual capital of their employees. These The community is called IdeaNet, and activity is struc-
changes have prompted organizations to try different tured around online brainstorms, or “idea challenges,”
technologies for collaboration, including blogs and which take place over a 3–4 week period and engage
microblogging tools, wikis, virtual project rooms, and anywhere from 600 to 30,000 employees. Challenge topics
idea management systems. Sometimes these technologies are framed around real business issues and sponsored by
survive and add value. Frequently, they fall into disuse. the business leader accountable for developing and im-
plementing the solution. While challenges often target spe-
Whether a technology persists or not depends on how cific employee groups, a fundamental principle of the
well it supports the work to be done and fits the corporate community is its emphasis on openness; therefore, most
culture. All too often, work is designed around technol- challenges are accessible to and visible by all employees
ogy rather than the other way around. To build sustain- who visit the site. The expectation is that contributions will
able communities, managers need to view technology as come from all employees, from frontline workers to middle
an enabler and focus the effort on taking a participatory managers to senior leadership, including the CEO. This
and iterative approach to build a system that reflects the participation model creates situations where a manager
needs and values of stakeholders at all levels in the orga- may act in the community as an idea contributor one day,
nization. The key to success is a human-centered ap- and as a challenge sponsor on another day.
proach. Methods from anthropology, design, and action
research can help managers to design systems that take In its first two years post-pilot, IdeaNet received close to
into account the way people actually work. 3,000 ideas posted to 52 idea challenges and generated a
portfolio of 874 ideas adopted by the business units, rang-
The Pitney Bowes Employee Innovation Community ing from quick-win process improvements to concepts now
represents an example of how managers can take advan- in longer-term development (Figure 1). While participa-
tage of these new forms of collaboration and implement tion remained steady across both years, the second year
technology in a way that sticks. To create community saw fewer ideas adopted by project teams, a healthy result
at Pitney Bowes, the program team took deliberate steps to of a more refined focus in selecting ideas and a more
engage the participation of stakeholder groups across the realistic evaluation of the resources available to implement
organizational hierarchy. This involvement meant that ideas. As of December 2010, approximately 35 percent
the resulting community not only reflected the perspec- of those employees with daily access to the intranet had
tives of these very diverse groups, but also had shared participated in IdeaNet idea challenges, about 6,500 in-
ownership. These factors enhanced the results and sustain- dividuals. In 2011, the community’s third year, 10 chal-
ability of the program. lenges have been launched as of June; with just over 600
The Employee Innovation Program ideas posted in response to these challenges, 2011 is ex-
pected to match last year’s activity.
Like many companies, Pitney Bowes realizes the best
thinking can come from anywhere in the organization, Designing an Innovation Community
and in 2008 the CEO set out a vision to engage employees
in innovation, specifically using an innovation community. From the start, the program team charged with the design
The idea surfaced in response to an internal audit of inno- and execution of the innovation community took a socio-
vation and product-management practices that revealed technical systems perspective (Bansler 1989). This per-
barriers to innovation across the enterprise. The mission spective acknowledges that technical systems do not stand
of the new Employee Innovation Program was to engage apart from human systems and that technology should
all employees in innovation, to facilitate organic growth support work rather than work accommodating the tech-
and process improvements, and to foster a culture of in- nology. Applied to the creation of the innovation com-
novation through changes in behavior. munity, this stance meant that technology would make
Figure 1.—Participation and idea uptake for IdeaNet idea challenges, 2009 and 2010
20 Research • Technology Management
3. up an important enabler of the community (via the web
platform), but that the most fundamental driver for sus-
tainability was a design that combined an understanding
The team aimed for a
of the organizational culture with the dynamics of the
human work system. In other words, the team aimed for
a design driven by the organization’s needs and not the
design driven by
technology’s features or functions. In addition, the ap-
proach was underpinned by the belief that workers are the organization’s
experts in what they do and should therefore be involved
in the design of their work. The team viewed worker
participation as key to employee engagement because
needs and not the
participation enables people to find and create meaning
in their work (Weisbord 2004). technology’s
To get broad participation in the design process, the
team used methods from the practice of participatory de-
sign (PD). This approach elevates the importance of user
features or
participation in the design process, positioning the de-
signer as a facilitator of a user-centered design process,
rather than as a master architect of the solution. Tradi-
functions.
tionally, PD is concerned with the politics of design and
with the distribution of power in the workplace; PD
approaches to worker participation have been able to
both improve systems design (by accounting for the re- First, 25 interviews were conducted with managers and
alities of work) and address issues of managerial control directors across the company, all the way up to the se-
and workplace democracy (Kensing and Blomberg nior team. The purpose of this “innovation audit” was to
1998). As the innovation community launched, Pitney explore interviewees’ experiences with starting and build-
Bowes was in a time of transition. Having made a num- ing new products and services within the company, in
ber of business acquisitions in the recent past, the order to identify both impediments to innovation and
company had a dynamic mix of corporate cultures. Fur- opportunities to improve the approach to innovation
thermore, the CEO’s intention to reshape the company’s companywide. The data was analyzed using a frame-
culture of innovation helped to get broad participation in work (Hansen and Birkinshaw 2007) that broke down
the design process. the innovation process from idea to implementation. The
interviews revealed major organizational barriers to in-
The methods used in the program design process— novation; for example, authority for taking an idea to
collaborative workshops, ethnographic interviews, and implementation was fragmented across individuals and
interactive activities—are drawn from multiple disci- functions, and the sharing of ideas and customer knowl-
plines, particularly anthropology and design (Brown 2009). edge was limited by organizational silos. The audit also
The iterative nature of the design approach was inspired highlighted mechanisms that could better support inno-
by PD as well as by the action research paradigm, in vation efforts within the company. The resulting conclu-
which the researcher makes real-world interventions, sions underscored the urgency of the CEO’s mission to
evaluates the results, and then repeats the process, taking engage employees and planted the seed for the innova-
into account the information from previous iterations tion community.
(O’Brien 1998). To achieve employee and management
commitment along with program sustainability, the re- In the wake of the interviews, the program team ran a
search and design processes solicited participation from co-creation workshop with the company’s CEO Council
three levels in the organization: senior management, em- (top 40 executives) to identify and address discontinui-
ployees, and middle management. ties in vision and tactics for building an innovation com-
munity. CEO Council members completed a survey prior
Involving Senior Management to the workshop, providing their views on the basic ele-
ments of the proposed community. This feedback was
The management perspective had the potential to inform incorporated into a mock-up description of the future
the design in two important ways: (1) senior managers program. At their annual meeting, the members spent the
had a point of view about what would succeed within the afternoon in groups and worked through the mock-up in
organization and what barriers would need to be over- 90-minute breakout sessions, followed by a plenary dis-
come, and (2) the commitment (or lack thereof) of se- cussion. The intent was not to reach consensus, but in-
nior managers could make or break the community, so it stead to surface key assumptions and potential pitfalls
was critical to understand their priorities. and to provide a forum for these leaders to contribute to
September—October 2011 21
4. the design. With all units and functions represented, the A unique approach to oversight, prioritization of quick
session yielded important insight on what was needed to wins, and sponsorship of idea challenges all helped se-
make innovation successful in the company. nior managers build a sense of ownership in the program.
Senior managers actively shared in the process of de-
The co-creation with managers surfaced a paradox: the signing a human system that would work with technol-
management discipline traditionally emphasizes control, ogy to create the community.
while open innovation requires managers to relinquish
some level of control. As part of their design recommen- Engaging Employees
dations, the CEO Council established the Enabling In-
novation Group (EIG) as a unique oversight group to With the goal of incorporating into the community de-
resolve this tension. This executive working team sign the motivations and needs of employees, we con-
provided oversight but also served to champion the pro- ducted nearly 50 interactive interviews with individuals
gram and encourage open participation from managers representing over 20 job functions and multiple business
throughout the community. The work with managers re- units. Interviewees were asked about how innovation
vealed a paradox: the management discipline tradition- occurs in their organizations. These ethnographic in-
ally emphasizes control, while open innovation requires terviews also included a participatory activity in which
managers to relinquish some level of control. As part of employees used small cards on a board to design a ficti-
their design recommendations, the CEO Council estab- tious community website. This tangible activity pro-
lished the Enabling Innovation Group (EIG) as a unique vided employees with the ability to envision possible
oversight group to resolve this tension. This executive futures and provided the researchers with a richer data
working team provided oversight but also served to set than interviews alone would have.
champion the program and encourage open participation
Insight from the employee research was codified in an
from managers throughout the community. More than 30
“employee value proposition” that described the benefits
individuals were nominated for membership in the EIG;
that would motivate and sustain employee participation.
10 directors and vice presidents were selected based on
Employees were looking for a community that would
specific qualities, including their skills as coaches, influ-
allow them to
encers, and leaders who could create energy around in-
novation. This visible and desirable assignment helped to • Connect with individuals across the organization, to
combat the perception of the community as another “pro- find employees with specific expertise and to build
gram du jour,” and the personal capital of these individu- groups around shared topics of interest;
als lent the program credibility from the start. This team
contributed to the program design, helped navigate inter- • Learn about innovative projects across the company;
nal systems, and acted as spokespersons to leadership • Have a voice, be part of change, and exercise an abil-
teams across the organization during the first year. By ity to influence things; and
year two, IdeaNet saw widespread adoption; this allowed
the EIG’s oversight role to be phased out and the group • Gain personal recognition for their contributions.
to be replaced by Innovation Champions who worked to
Using the employee value proposition as a guide, the
embed the community in the organizational culture.
IdeaNet platform made accessible a wide variety of tools
Another critical learning from the workshop was the im- to enhance access to information and provide opportuni-
portance of demonstrating quick wins. Idea challenges ties to contribute. This included such social networking
were designed with this criteria in mind. In late 2008, a tools as profiles and the capability for users to collabo-
three-month pilot with 2,000 employees quickly demon- rate on ideas through commenting. The IdeaNet home page
strated that idea challenges can serve as a call to action, established a sense of community by including space for
sparking participation. Results of idea challenges func- such content as success stories, innovation event announce-
tion as a fast and visible way to demonstrate quick wins. ments, challenge results, and recently posted ideas. This
allowed employees to consume and contribute content
Idea challenges also serve as a way to foster senior lead- in brief, productive interactions. A daily digest e-mail to
ership engagement by giving managers ownership of interested subscribers compiled the previous day’s idea
the challenges. The CEO required each one of his direct submissions to make activity on IdeaNet visible and ac-
reports to sponsor at least one idea challenge during the tionable even outside of the site, so that participants did
year, making participation by senior leaders mandatory. not have to navigate to the site to follow recent changes.
Importantly, this charge established a metric that mea-
sured behavior—idea challenges required leaders to be Further interviews after the three-month pilot revealed
transparent about their business challenges and to open that while employees are invested in their own ideas,
discussion of possible solutions to a broader group of they cared less about getting personal feedback than they
potential contributors. These leadership behaviors are a did about knowing the overall challenge results. Partici-
critical piece to help foster a culture of innovation. pants expected to see that the challenge had created
22 Research • Technology Management
5. value for the unit. This learning led the program team to
establish a challenge closing process to ensure that a deci-
sion was made on every idea and communicated to the
Participants
original submitter. For ideas adopted by the sponsoring
unit, a time frame, owner, and next steps were summa-
rized in a multipage “Results Memo,” which was pub-
expected to see that
lished on IdeaNet and via the corporate intranet.
Post-pilot interviews also revealed that the majority of
the challenge had
employees did not feel connected to the activity of in-
novation, because they viewed innovation as a creative created value for
moment of identifying a large, disruptive idea. To build
participation in the community, it was vital to broaden
the definition of innovation and to enable each employee
the unit.
to see him or herself as a potential contributor. Site con-
tent was added to describe the roles employees could play
in innovation—as submitters, commenters, or connectors—
and additional communication reinforced this message. also initiated challenges or advocated to senior manage-
Emphasis was placed on the broad scope of ideas that ment for the launch of a particular challenge. During the
are valuable to the company, including everything from early idea challenges, the program team worked along-
basic process improvements to new growth areas. side middle managers to actively guide business-unit chal-
lenge teams in running effective challenges. Working
Once the community was active, the program team con- with these middle managers also provided a front-row
tinued to use participatory approaches with employees to seat to the realities of running the process and allowed the
guide activities to fulfill the community’s mission. For program team to adjust the design based on work realities.
example, midway through the first year the team hosted This flexibility proved hugely effective in ensuring a
a day-long “Open Space” meeting focused on direction quality process that produced the kind of outcomes man-
for the program’s second year. Open Space is an approach agers were driving for. It also enabled the program team
to conducting large meetings in which participants de- to make quick interventions if anything went off track.
sign their own agenda by nominating and leading topics of To accomplish this ongoing collaboration, a role was es-
their choice, within a predetermined overarching theme tablished for a “challenge architect” to work with spon-
for the meeting (Bunker and Alban 1997). Over 50 of sors to translate their objectives into idea challenges and
IdeaNet’s stakeholders and most-active users attended, shepherd challenge teams to get the most out of em-
representing every business unit. The day included 23 ployee participants. This role is central to the iterative
participant-led discussions under the theme of “How can learning effort, as it serves as program eyes and ears on
we continue to enable employees to innovate at Pitney the business-unit challenge teams and supports their
Bowes?” Each discussion produced clear recommenda- adoption of innovation practices. It also serves to main-
tions for program improvements. In some cases the pro- tain process controls that have proven critical for elevat-
gram team had to weigh employee preferences for new ing the probability of success for this new initiative.
technical features against the ability of IdeaNet to sus-
tain participation. In the first year, work with middle managers resulted in
significant modifications to the program. The most im-
Ensuring that the program was in tune with employee
portant was building and refining the practice of framing
motivations and making employees co-creators were im-
idea challenges around current business issues (VanGundy
portant factors in sustaining engagement in the community
2005). At the outset of IdeaNet, sponsors tended to ask
and differentiating IdeaNet from other top-down initia-
lightweight questions and to treat IdeaNet as an activity
tives. This involvement, like that of senior management,
separate from work they were doing to address their
demonstrates that while the technology enabled parts of
strategic objectives. Working closely with middle man-
the design—such as publishing the results memos—the
agers made it possible to move from this compartmen-
importance of the technology was far second to the par-
talized approach and position idea challenges as a tool
ticipatory design of the human system surrounding it.
that could be used to address current business challenges
and explore key strategic questions. The result of this
Including Middle Management shift was an evolution in the type of challenges that were
issued. In the first year, the program team experimented
Middle managers played a unique role in the community, to improve challenge outcomes and employee engage-
since in addition to being participants, they reviewed, ment; year two saw fewer challenges, but these were
prioritized, and implemented ideas. In some cases they more closely linked with the business and more focused
September—October 2011 23
6. on growth—reflecting the increasing comfort with using The make-up of the business-unit challenge teams has
challenges as a modality for approaching strategic innova- also evolved with experience. The process of running an
tion questions (Figure 2). effective challenge includes a team of four to five people
from the sponsoring organization who post comments
One excellent example of how challenges have come to on the site during the challenge and make decisions
support innovation work is their use by one business about the ideas once the challenge closes. Early on, these
unit’s R&D organization. This team actively experi- teams were made up of stakeholders who represented the
mented with IdeaNet challenges and evolved them to perspectives of business functions relevant to the chal-
function as the front end of their innovation pipeline. lenge. Over time, however, it became clear that these
Each challenge issued by the group addresses a strategic challenge teams also needed to include the individuals
area of opportunity, and all employees across the unit are who would have responsibility for acting on the ideas.
invited to participate. Top ideas from these challenges are Frequently, employees post ideas that are not completely
reviewed by an executive committee within the unit, actionable; the ideas are not fully formed, may identify
which makes decisions about further development. High only part of a solution, or are not well articulated. The
involvement—over 75 percent of all employees in the inclusion on the challenge team of individuals charged with
unit participate—has contributed to the identification of implementing ideas gives these individuals the opportu-
additional business opportunities for development. In ad- nity to comment on ideas, ask questions, or build out
dition, the active engagement from this unit has informed ideas in collaboration with submitters.
many of the companywide best practices for the program.
In the third year, the challenge architect role itself has
shifted, from working alongside individual middle man-
agers to establishing a network of practitioners across
the organization who shepherd challenge teams. The EIG,
which provided strategic oversight and advocacy in year
one, has now been replaced by these challenge practitio-
ners, called “Innovation Champions,” who work to embed
this innovation practice within the business units. Innova-
tion champions have oversight of IdeaNet as a unit-level
business tool; they facilitate challenges, track and report
results, and build innovation practices within their units.
Results
The Pitney Bowes Employee Innovation Community
was initiated to support organic growth and employee
engagement as part of a renewed focus on the company’s
culture of innovation. The program has demonstrated re-
markable results on both fronts. The outcomes of idea
challenges have increased the bottom line, contributed
to strategy, impacted employee engagement, and created
other intangible benefits.
From an engagement perspective, employee participation
has steadily increased over time, with particular success
with customer-facing employees such as call center staff,
service personnel, and salespeople. The annual employee
engagement survey includes six questions on innovation
and empowerment; scores on five of these questions in-
creased 3–5 percent in the program’s first year, a statisti-
cally significant movement. Employee engagement
resulting from idea challenges is evidenced in very tangi-
ble ways. For example, IdeaNet provided an opportunity
for R&D personnel and technical fellows to engage in
conversations across the organization and make connec-
tions outside their own work groups. One idea posted by a
developer in India related to an active project in the corpo-
Figure 2.—Number and type of challenges, 2009 and 2010 rate R&D group. The R&D team was able to include this
24 Research • Technology Management
7. developer in project discussions and move quickly to pilot opportunities is projected at two or more years in the
the idea by working with his network in India. future (Figure 3). Of the 38 value-producing challenges,
thus far, near-term actions emerging from 7 constitute
From the perspective of building a culture of innovation, the majority of the $10 million in revenue and $320,000
behavior change has also been visible, most notably in cost savings realized to date. Yet to be measured are
among middle managers. For middle management, sup- results from six other challenges, which include new
port for innovation and the innovation community took products in development, as well as process or service
shape as leaders stepping forward to use idea challenges improvements still in progress. The remaining 25 chal-
as a business tool. Their willingness to demonstrate a de- lenges have produced a variety of intangible values, includ-
sire for open collaboration—to make their business chal- ing increased customer satisfaction, increased employee
lenges public and consider varying solutions—was a engagement, greater efficiency, and new training and
significant new behavior. Another important cultural im- recognition programs. Ideas from some challenges were
pact was an increase in cross-organizational collaboration, also incorporated into product roadmaps and other long-
evidenced by cosponsored challenges in which business term strategic initiatives and business strategy.
units shared responsibility for implementing ideas.
Challenges produced value in diverse ways. For exam-
Of the 52 challenges launched in 2009 and 2010, 38 pro- ple, a sales challenge resulted in three major actions that
duced value, either tangible (in the form of bottom-line contributed to a 23 percent year-over-year increase in
impact as cost savings or revenue gains) or intangible (in revenue. As the result of another challenge, a simple new
the form, for instance, of strategic value). Some value was protocol was instituted for call center agents that in-
realized within the first two years; the time horizon for creased customer satisfaction scores by 10 percent and
realizing the value of longer-term or more complex was still maintained at this level a year later. In another
Figure 3.—Value of IdeaNet challenges, 2009–2010
September—October 2011 25
8. instance, two challenges sponsored by international orga-
nizations that were active at the same time enabled a ser-
endipitous connection that yielded new service contracts.
One lesson was
Not all challenges produce value, in particular because
challenges require a balance between asking questions
central:
with enough uncertainty to warrant a challenge and
framing narrowly enough to produce actionable ideas. A
significant number of the early challenges served to im-
implementing
prove innovation practices, like that of framing the chal-
lenge question. The overall percentage of challenges technology for
with limited results was 27 percent (14 challenges), al-
though the percentage decreased from 38 percent in
2009 to just 10 percent in 2010. Even these apparent
collaborative
failures, however, must be seen as learning opportuni-
ties. “Failed” challenges offer a window for sponsors
and senior management to reflect on what can be
innovation is
learned—either about the business space or the deci-
sions to be made, even if there are no specific actions principally about
resulting from the challenge itself.
These outcomes illustrate the complexity of measur-
ing results from innovation and represent the diversity
designing for a
of results managers can expect. At Pitney Bowes, a
significant driver of the effort was the CEO’s inten-
human system;
tion to focus equally on growth and fostering a culture
of innovation culture change. The actual return on
investment of IdeaNet includes both tangible and in-
technology is
tangible value generated across a time horizon ex-
tending years out. Many actions, like those that
increase customer satisfaction, are of significant im-
secondary.
port to the company but are difficult to assign a dollar
value to. In addition, current actions underway repre- 1. Start from your context. Best practices are helpful,
sent a portfolio of ideas with estimated future value but it is critical to consider the context of the organi-
that has yet to be calculated. Finally, the community zational culture. Another organization’s practice or
itself is now an important component of the compa- technology platform can’t be forced to fit your par-
ny’s innovation architecture, achieving the CEO’s ob- ticular culture. The key to sustainability is the upfront
jective of engaging employees and fostering a culture work to understand the needs and barriers that are
of innovation. unique to the organization.
Lessons Learned 2. Design first, consider technology second. Estab-
lishing an innovation community is not about procur-
A number of factors contributed to the success of the ing a technology platform, but about designing a
Pitney Bowes Employee Innovation Program (see “Key socio-technical system that takes into account real
Success Factors,” p. 27.). However, one lesson was cen- organizational dynamics.
tral: implementing technology for collaborative inno-
vation is principally about designing for a human 3. Plan for change. Build in the practice to monitor,
system; technology is secondary. In the case of the learn, and modify as the community evolves, ideally
Pitney Bowes Employee Innovation Program, the pro- in collaboration with stakeholder groups.
gram team used participation from stakeholders at all
4. Recognize and accept failures as learning oppor-
levels of the organization to build a community that ac-
tunities. Even with the best design practices and par-
complished the CEO’s intention for engagement and
ticipation, failure must be accepted as a natural part
growth, while also serving the unique needs of each
of an evolutionary human system. Set aside time to
constituent group. Based on this example, managers
reflect on what has been learned—but don’t over-
can draw on a few key design principles when creating
think it. Keep experimenting.
an innovation community—or any system that requires
the commitment of groups across organizational silos This effort was well served by good planning; how-
or management hierarchy. ever, the planning, like the program itself, was dynamic
26 Research • Technology Management
9. Key Success Factors for an Enterprise Innovation Community
Stakeholder involvement at all levels
Participation should include senior managers as sponsors, mid-level managers as project leads and idea implementers, and
all employees as contributors. The program should have a senior executive as sponsor.
Pilot program before enterprise launch
A pilot program provides the opportunity to test the approach by starting small and scaling. A good pilot program can help
identify ways to overcome existing barriers to innovation and evolve the design prior to a formal launch.
Value proposition for community members
Understanding what will motivate participation in a specific organization is critical. Typical benefits include personal rec-
ognition, networking across the organization, and contributing ideas that positively impact the company.
Network of support
To ensure long-term sustainability, the program should be owned by the entire organization (not a single unit) and include
a network of champions to embed innovation practices in each unit of the organization.
Transparency of results
The practice of sharing results should mirror the open nature of the community and should include both quick wins and
long-term work in development. Participants don’t expect that every idea will be implemented, but they do want to see the
outcomes.
Foundation in current business objectives
Challenges should be focused on current business objectives, enabling them to become part of existing work supported by
a ready-made team to execute ideas.
and based on reflection-in-action (Schön 1983). The evolution. Also thanks to the engaged employees of
imperative for quick wins cannot supersede good plan- Pitney Bowes for continued participation and support of
ning. In this case, the program team used visible action innovation.
to meet the need for quick wins at the same time that
those actions created the space needed for deliberate References
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Three theoretical schools. Scandinavian Journal of Information
Conclusion Systems 1:3–20.
Brown, T. 2009. Change by Design: How Design Thinking
Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation. New York:
Innovation is inherently uncertain, and human systems are HarperCollins.
dynamic. Building a sustainable innovation community Bunker, B. B., and Alban, B. T. 1997. Large Group Interventions:
required the program team to gain authentic participation Engaging the Whole System for Rapid Change. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
from stakeholders and be open to evolving the program Hansen, M., and Birkinshaw, J. 2007. The innovation value chain.
design to meet the unique needs of all groups. The team Harvard Business Review 85(6):121–130.
did not approach the project as master architects, but Kensing, F., and Blomberg, J. 1998. Participatory design: Issues
and concerns. Computer Supported Cooperative Work 7:167–
rather followed the spirit of the participatory design notion 168.
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uses technology as an enabler and is bounded but not con- [An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research]. In
Teoria e Prática da Pesquisa Ação [Theory and Practice of Action
trolled. Striking this balance is not without its challenges, Research], ed. Roberto Richardson. João Pessoa, Brazil: Universidade
and the program team regularly considered where and Federal da Paraíba. (English version). http://www.web.ca/∼robrien/
how to intervene. The resulting community meets different papers/arfinal.html (accessed June 21, 2011).
Schön, D. 1983. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals
needs at each level in the organization, but collectively it Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.
clearly serves the interests of Pitney Bowes to drive VanGundy, A. B. 2005. The care and framing of strategic innovation
growth and support a culture of innovation. challenges. The Wonderful World of Jeffrey Baumgartner, Innovation,
September 29. http://www.jpb.com/creative/VanGundyFrameInnov.pdf
The authors would like to thank the teams, individuals and (accessed June 21, 2011).
Weisbord, M. R. 2004. Productive Workplaces Revisited: Dignity,
managers who supported the early research and contrib- Meaning, and Community in the 21st Century. San Franciso:
uted to the program throughout pilot, launch, and ongoing Jossey-Bass.
September—October 2011 27
10. In today’s business landscape, we consistently see
that the best performing companies are the ones
with a set of innovation capabilities. A key factor
explaining why these organisations outperform
their rivals is that they also ensure their innovation
efforts are tightly aligned with their overall
corporate strategy.
INSEAD’s Strategic R&D Management programme
will help you to view R&D from a strategic
perspective and to build the tools to translate
corporate strategy into innovation initiatives.
07 – 11 November 2011 in Fontainebleau, France
Contact us:
Tel: +33 (0)1 6072 9350
Email: srdm@insead.edu
www.insead.edu/srdm
Executive Education
Is your R&D
aligned with your
corporate strategy?