SlideShare a Scribd company logo
1 of 12
Download to read offline
Patterns in achieving social business success 
by leading and pioneering organizations
Change is the new constant. Organizations are being buffeted simultaneously by a num-ber 
of macro-economic trends, such as compressed and highly volatile economic cycles, 
a shift of power in commercial relationships from sellers to buyers and the continued 
development of an increasingly global, distributed workforce. 
Fortunately, there are new trends and capabilities in technology and business practices 
that can help organizations adapt to, even take advantage of, these macro-economic 
changes. Cloud, mobile and social computing, when deployed together, can enable 
organizations to innovate and execute faster, better understand and serve their custom-ers, 
and build and empower a more-engaged workforce. This paper will focus on how 
organizations can use social business practices and capabilities to transform themselves, 
and create competitive advantage and substantial new value. 
A social business is an organization whose culture and systems encourage networks 
of people to create business value. Social businesses connect individuals, so they can 
rapidly share information, knowledge and ideas by having conversations and publish-ing 
informal content. They analyze social content from multiple channels and sources, 
in addition to structured data, to gain insights from both external and internal stake-holders. 
When those things happen, innovation and business execution rates increase, 
better decisions are made, and customers and employees are more engaged and satis-fied. 
Social businesses enjoy lower operating costs, faster speed-to-market, improved 
Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 3 
customer and employee engagement, and increased profitability. 
Many organizations don’t get it. They do not fully appreciate the magnitude of the value 
creation potential of social business. One study estimates that as much as $1.3 trillion 
of potential value could be created by social business — in just four industry sectors!3 In 
other words, social business is likely to spawn a level of business value creation similar to 
that of the adoption of online commerce capabilities (ebusiness) a decade ago. However, 
the same study found that, as of last year, just three percent of all organizations surveyed 
are deriving substantial benefit from social across all stakeholders. 
There are leaders across specific industries who do understand that social business repre-sents 
an enormous opportunity to transform their organization and fuel substantial value 
creation. Those companies are applying their own social capabilities — not just Facebook 
and other public social networks — to business processes that connect external and inter-nal 
stakeholders, including customers, partners and employees. They are transforming 
key business processes by enabling the human interactions necessary to produce results 
when the effectiveness of automated process activities has been exhausted. 
Which socially-enabled business processes are producing meaningful value now? By 
socially transforming Customer Service, organizations have reduced their customer 
defection rate by as much as five percent, increasing profits by up to 68 percent. Being 
social has helped businesses cut as much as two-thirds off their new Product Develop-ment 
times. Human Resources functions have reduced by two days New Hire On- 
Boarding time. Marketing departments have achieved a 100 percent increase in market 
exposure via social. And some organizations have jump-started their Sales processes, 
increasing sales manager revenue by 40 percent and improving sales efficiency by up to 
50 percent, by better connecting sales people and customers. 
Exactly how are organizations transforming these processes and becoming social 
businesses? What best practices have emerged? Those questions are addressed by the 
Social Business Patterns on the following pages. 
54% 
of companies expect to 
support their Customer 
Service processes with 
social capabilities within 
two years, up from 38% 
at present1 
60% 
will socially-enable their 
Sales processes in the 
next two years, up from 
46% now2
Social Business Patterns 
Organizations that are relatively experienced with social business perspectives and 
techniques are seeing opportunities to improve specific business processes and their 
execution through the application of Social Business Patterns. These patterns are 
similar in concept to business process flows, in that each represents a repeatable, 
proven set of value-producing actions. Some organizations begin by applying just 
one pattern, but know they can realize compound benefits by implementing mul-tiple 
patterns over time. 
Table 1 summarizes six Social Business Patterns that organizations can apply to 
quickly realize business results. More detail on each Social Business Pattern is 
described following the table. 
Social Business Pattern Value Producers 
Finding Expertise 
(See Page 5 for details) 
Table 1: Social Business Patterns and how they produce value 
Social Business Patterns 
are similar in concept to 
business process flows, 
in that each represents a 
repeatable, proven set of 
value-producing actions. 
4 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 
• quickly locate the right people, or published content 
containing, the expertise needed to solve a problem 
• connect the best possible resources to effectively 
respond to customer needs 
• document and share reusable solutions to common issues 
• create highly-engaged and productive employees 
Gaining External 
Customer Insights 
(Page 6) 
• quickly learn customers’ opinions and preferences 
related to existing and potential products and services 
• identify and connect with key customer influencers to 
aid marketing efforts 
Increasing Knowledge 
Sharing 
(Page 7) 
• more efficiently and effectively capture, share and 
access knowledge 
• increase innovation through wider reach of ideas 
• reduce excessive, unproductive time spent searching 
and exchanging information 
Improving Recruiting 
and On-Boarding 
(Page 8) 
• collaboratively find and connect the right candidate 
to the right position 
• streamline assessment and hiring processes 
• better connect, engage and retain new hires 
• contextually recommend expertise to increase new 
hires’ productivity 
Managing Mergers 
and Acquisitions 
(Page 9) 
• increase overall success rate of merger and acquisition 
activities 
• raise effectiveness of vision setting and communication 
before, during and after merger or acquisition 
• accelerate creation of “one company” community and 
culture 
Enabling and Improving 
Workplace Safety 
(Page 10) 
• speed communication of new or changed safety regula-tions, 
policies and procedures 
• minimize or eliminate project execution delays arising 
from actual or potential safety issues 
• improve innovation in safety procedures by increasing 
dialog between safety experts and workers 
“I’ve had more than 30 
conversations with IBM 
customers who have not 
only implemented and 
benefited from social 
business IT implementa-tion, 
but have quanti-fied 
the results…the ROI 
is real.”4
Finding Expertise 
It is difficult for most people to locate the best expertise needed to quickly resolve 
problems or best address a business opportunity, whether that expertise resides 
inside another person or within published content. Employee engagement, effec-tiveness, 
and productivity suffer as a result. Externally, this lack of readily-available 
expertise leads to failures in closing sales opportunities, as well as lower satisfaction 
among existing customers requiring service and support. This Social Business Pat-tern 
shows how relevant expertise can be captured, discovered and shared in support 
Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 5 
of both internally- and externally-facing business processes. 
Business challenges 
Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this 
Social Business Pattern include: 
• Employees do not proactively share expertise or knowledge with each other 
• Employees and business partners can’t locate the expertise needed to help them 
support customers and resolve internal process issues 
• Profitability drops because the same solution is ‘invented’ many times by different 
employees and business partners 
• Sales efforts fail, or drag on with no conclusion, because the organization does not 
convince the prospect with relevant information and expertise 
• Research and Development efforts do not delight customers or produce desired 
products quickly 
• Expertise of workers approaching retirement has not been captured before those 
expert have left the workforce 
Recommended Actions 
This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: 
• Use analytics on social interactions, files and other assets to discover hidden 
expertise across your company 
• Recommend human and digital sources of expertise to employees and business 
partners in the context of their work 
• Provide social tools that enable internal and external stakeholders to communi-cate 
and collaborate with experts 
• Document and share innovative solutions to internal and customer problems 
with others 
• Reward or recognize employees for proactively sharing expertise so that it can be located 
by others and for collaborating to solve challenges and documenting the solutions 
Observed Benefits 
Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business 
Pattern have observed the following business benefits: 
• 30% improvement in speed of accessing experts6 
• 55% increase in visibility of company’s subject matter experts on its public website7 
IBM Experience 
By any measure, the cumulative expertise of IBM employees is staggering. To better 
tap into that wisdom, IBM has developed analytics, expert recommendation and other 
expertise location capabilities for internal use. Employee profiles, blogs, emails (by 
permission), as well as content repositories and other information sources, are auto-matically 
crawled and manually searched to find expertise. 
Lowes built internal commu-nities 
to share best prac-tices 
and see deeper into 
their human capital across 
stores. Clarissa Felts, Lowes 
VP of Collaboration, pre-sented 
at Connect 2013 and 
mentioned how using IBM 
Connections has improved 
their recruitment process 
within headquarters in find-ing 
proven talent that knows 
the store environment from 
first-hand experience. 
Asian Paints sales staff 
members found it difficult 
to share best practices and 
innovative ways of sup-porting 
dealers, and they 
had no way to post issues 
of concern to the entire 
sales team. IBM Connec-tions 
software is heav-ily 
used [now] in the sales 
department, which finds it 
an excellent tool for solv-ing 
challenges by sharing 
innovations, expertise and 
best practices. 
“adding social features 
and mobile access to 
CRM applications in-creased 
the productivity 
of sales people by 26.4 
percent”5
Gaining External Customer Insights 
A recent survey found that “96% of respondents indicated there was no meaning-ful 
integration between what the company was doing externally (e.g. social media 
outreach, customer and supplier communities) and internally with their social col-laboration 
6 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 
platforms.”8 Social businesses can take advantage of market opportunities 
because they use listening and analytics technologies to uncover insights, gleaned 
from multiple channels and sources, about their customers. They then feed those 
insights into internal social systems and processes, enabling employees to collabora-tively 
respond to customers with appropriate solutions. This Social Business Pattern 
reveals how organizations can better serve their customers, speed new revenue gains 
and cut cost out of the product and service development process. 
Business challenges 
Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this 
Social Business Pattern include: 
• Inability to understand the evolving needs of existing and potential new customers 
and markets, and to meet them with relevant offerings 
• Struggling to begin or accelerate a shift from mass marketing to targeting key 
individuals whose influence reaches large numbers of potential customers 
Recommended Actions 
This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: 
• Deploy social monitoring tools to ‘listen’ to and understand customer sentiment 
• Use data and social analysis tools to gain insight into existing and potential cus-tomers’ 
needs, wants and preferences 
• Leverage social communication tools to dialog with influential individual custom-ers 
and key influencers 
• Discuss insights about customers in internally-facing social systems to collabora-tively 
identify, prioritize and develop new product and service capabilities. 
Observed Benefits 
Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business 
Pattern have observed the following business benefits: 
• Nearly 50% reduction in customer/agent service costs9 
• >50% decrease in time required to develop new services and features10 
• 20% reduction in man hours needed to create new product release information11 
• 100% year-over-year average growth in new business premiums12 
IBM Experience 
IBM has supplied its expertise and analysis capabilities to some of the premiere 
sporting events in the world, including the US Open tennis and Masters golf 
tournaments. IBM works with event sponsors to help them quickly harness insights 
to improve their understanding of the event’s operations. Event sponsors can also 
learn, in real-time, from customer interaction with the event’s website. 
IBM has even run its own digital events, called Jams, during which insights are 
gained from online discussions involving its employees, business partners, customers 
and other stakeholders. IBM also plans and conducts Jams on behalf of customers 
seeking to learn more about their employees and external constituents.13 
[Ricoh] resolved these 
problems by reengineering 
the work process so that 
staff can publish docu-ments 
in rough form using 
the SmartCloud Engage 
Connections capabilities 
that also allow global sales 
companies to collaborate 
on revisions. This change 
was partly motivated by a 
desire for a more proactive 
method of assimilating mar-ket 
and customer informa-tion 
available to the global 
sales companies to more 
effectively provide products 
tailored to local needs. 
The solution was a self-service 
portal called Lifeline, 
[which] delivers services to 
all of Reliance’s key stake-holder 
groups, from custom-ers 
and prospects to the 
company’s employees and 
agents. The portal provides 
customers with a one-stop 
experience through which 
they can research and 
purchase insurance plans, 
manage their portfolios and 
pay their premiums. Storing 
all … customer and transac-tion 
information within a con-solidated 
data warehouse 
enables [Reliance] to see the 
big picture as to which prod-uct 
offerings are successful 
and which are not. 
“Many corporate tech-nology 
companies have 
social media or analyt-ics 
products … But IBM 
has the early lead in 
marrying the two”14
Increasing Knowledge Sharing 
Pioneering social businesses are shifting their focus from discrete knowledge trans-actions 
to on-going knowledge relationships. These companies are creating value 
by sharing knowledge across internal barriers created by organizational structure 
and systems, and traditional borders between themselves and their partners and 
customers. They are also integrating gamification elements to reward individuals 
who openly share their knowledge. This Social Business Pattern demonstrates how 
to use social practices and capabilities to locate, share and use collective knowledge 
for competitive advantage in today’s fast-paced environment. 
Business challenges 
Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this 
Social Business Pattern include: 
• Excessive cost attributable to “not knowing what we know,” which leads to rework 
and solution duplication 
• Delays in revenue recognition and creation of unnecessary cost due to inability 
to execute quickly 
• Losing market share because the current rate of innovation is insufficient to 
produce and maintain competitive advantage 
Recommended Actions 
This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: 
• Add social communication functionality to other, existing enterprise applications 
to foster open conversations 
• Make people-based knowledge as accessible as document-based knowledge 
through expert recommendation and always-available social communication tools 
• Use gamification elements to provide social recognition to those who freely and 
openly share their knowledge 
Observed Benefits 
Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business 
Pattern have observed the following business benefits: 
• 30% improvement in speed of accessing experts16 
• Productivity increases of 20-25% attributable to reduced need for status meetings17 
• Accelerated problem resolution due to more effective use of communication tools 
• Improved employee engagement and satisfaction 
IBM Experience 
The research and professional services organizations within IBM are excellent 
examples of knowledge-driven businesses. IBM Research employees possess deep 
knowledge in specific areas of investigation; they include Nobel Laureates and 
winners of other prestigious awards. Many of the researchers at the IBM Center 
for Social Business have been at the forefront of exploring how knowledge is shared 
within organizations and what can be done to improve those methods and tools. 
They actively participate in IBM client engagements across all industries.18 
Blue IQ is a program that helps IBMers adopt social business practices, including 
sharing knowledge. Since 2007, Blue IQ Ambassadors have volunteered their time 
and expertise to help their peers collaborate more successfully. Ambassadors help 
their colleagues understand why knowledge sharing and other social practices are 
important to their work, as well as to the collective business results of IBM. 
Russell’s Convenience 
needed an easy way to 
connect and share knowl-edge 
among its 25 stores 
and with its licensees, 
vendors and partners to 
quickly identify and resolve 
operational issues. The 
company adopted the 
IBM SmartCloud Engage 
services to enable staff 
members to communicate 
more seamlessly and trans-parently 
across stores and 
with external stakeholders. 
TD Bank Group needed 
to improve internal com-munications 
and collabora-tion, 
standardize business 
processes and capitalize 
on its employees’ collective 
knowledge and experience. 
The company deployed IBM 
Connections social busi-ness 
software to provide... 
better business processes 
through knowledge and 
expertise uncovered by the 
network and more confident 
decisions that are vetted 
by experts and reflect past 
experiences. 
“Knowledge has become 
the key economic resource 
and the dominant—and 
perhaps even the only 
—source of competitive 
advantage.”15 
Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 7
Improving Recruiting and On-Boarding 
It is increasingly important for organizations to identify, hire and retain the best 
available talent, in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage. Businesses 
must also increase the effectiveness of their on-boarding activities to quickly get new 
hires acclimated and productive. This Social Business Pattern shows how to meet 
those objectives by harnessing communities and social networks that connect external 
candidates with HR staff and hiring managers, as well as new hires with direct super-visors, 
team members and other sources of expertise. 
Business challenges 
Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this 
Social Business Pattern include: 
• Identifying and attracting the best possible candidates 
• Accessing candidates in relation to corporate culture and matching their talents to 
specific, best-fit job openings 
• Getting new hires started and making them productive contributors as quickly as possible 
Recommended Actions 
This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: 
• Use externally- and internally-facing social capabilities to connect HR staff, hiring 
managers and candidates in the recruiting process 
• Employ social capabilities to connect new hires with HR staff, direct supervisors 
and other new hires in the on-boarding process 
• Leverage internal social capabilities to connect new hires with team members and 
needed expertise to quickly develop productivity 
Observed Benefits 
Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business 
Pattern have observed the following business benefits: 
• 30% more candidate searches completed annually19 
• 25% reduction in time needed to fill open positions20 
• Two-day reduction in time to on-boarding new employees21 
• 30% faster new hire time-to-value22 
• At least 20% increase in employee retention23 
IBM Experience 
With a global headcount over 430,000, IBM has large-scale experience in recruiting, 
hiring and on-boarding new employees. Its Human Capital Management (HCM) pro-cesses 
are frequently optimized and have become socially-enabled in recent years. 
IBM uses LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to support its external-facing 
recruiting processes. Potential candidates can be made aware of country- and role-spe-cific 
positions for which IBM is hiring, as well as interact with IBM recruiters through 
these channels. IBM recruiters and hiring managers can learn about the candidate by 
conversing online with them and by visiting their social profiles on the Web. 
During the IBM on-boarding process, new hires establish their internal social profile 
and connect with their supervisor and team members. New employees are also in-structed 
on ways to find the information and expertise they will need to quickly become 
a productive contributor at IBM, including the use of social capabilities. 
Working with Kenexa to 
use contextual targeting to 
find scientists in print and 
online, Regeneron found 
400-600 scarce, highly 
skilled scientists per year, 
without sacrificing on 
quality. In a few short years, 
Regeneron has risen from 
being unranked, to #2 in 
the 2011 edition of Science 
magazine’s Top Employers 
Survey. 
[A new] applicant tracking 
system helped AMC Theaters 
find candidates who could 
thrive in its culture. As a result, 
theaters led by managers who 
most closely aligned with the 
“fit” strategy increased profits 
per customer by 1.2 percent, 
which translated into millions 
of extra dollars of net income. 
AMC increased candidate 
leads from 250,000 in 2006 
to 1.4 million in a two-year 
period. AMC’s “fit” strategy 
matched the right people 
to the right jobs, resulting in 
11 percent lower employee 
turnover rates. 
Executive search firm 
ZurickDavis uses a portfolio 
of IBM technologies to 
support their work placing 
candidates with clients. 
After socially-enabling their 
key processes, ZurickDavis 
completes 30% more 
searches annually and fills 
positions in 25% less time. 
Their profitability has 
increased by 100%. 
“Think about it: much of what it really takes to get up the 
learning curve doesn’t come from some dusty old policy 
and procedure manual. It comes from what you learn from 
the people around you.”24 
8 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success
Managing Mergers and Acquisitions 
One traditional way for organizations to create significant value is through carefully 
considered mergers and acquisitions (M&A). However, failure rates on M&A activi-ties 
are incredibly high, often because the vision for, and culture of, the combined 
entity is neither adequately considered, nor clearly communicated. This Social Busi-ness 
Pattern demonstrates how organizations can use social networking techniques 
and technologies to create and communicate a compelling, shared vision, improve 
M&A management activities and connect experts that will positively influence both 
the single culture and operations of the combined entity. 
Business challenges 
Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this 
Social Business Pattern include: 
• Executives have differing visions for the combined entity 
• Managers and employees do not understand the strategic intent or tactical activi-ties 
Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 9 
of an M&A action 
• The combined entity exhibits two distinct cultures 
• The new company suffers low retention of employees from the acquired organization 
Recommended Actions 
This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: 
• Create and leverage a social network comprised of senior leadership, HR and 
Corporate Communications of both organizations to engage on and communicate 
a vision for the combined company 
• Use multiple social channels and tools to discuss, make decisions on and commu-nicate 
specific M&A actions 
• Leverage communities to connect the cultures and expertise of the two organiza-tions 
being combined 
Observed Benefits 
Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business 
Pattern have observed the following business benefits: 
• Lower integration costs attributable to reduction of task duplication 
• At least 20% increase in employee retention26 
• Higher productivity and lower costs due to increased employee retention and 
engagement stemming from cultural alignment 
IBM Experience 
IBM has completed at least 120 acquisitions since 2001.27 Through those experiences, 
much has been learned about establishing a common vision, creating a single organiza-tional 
culture, managing integration activities and retaining engaged employees. 
IBM use of social capabilities has spanned the range of M&A processes. IBM 
employees work together, and with external partners, to assess and value potential 
acquisition candidates. IBM teams build business cases together to justify specific 
M&A action. Acquired employees participate in IBM on-boarding processes, which 
are infused with social practices and capabilities (see IBM Experience on Page 8). 
At TD Bank, fast growth 
through acquisitions 
compounded this chal-lenge; 
the bank now has 
more branches in the 
United States than in 
Canada. The bank’s 
solution was to deploy 
IBM Connections software 
to create an employee-driven 
social network. Key 
objectives were to help 
employees connect to 
others across the far-flung 
enterprise; improve access 
to needed expertise and 
information that staff might 
not know about; and em-power 
staff to initiate com-munications, 
collaboration 
and social networking. 
Omron Europe was split into 
two divisions, with separate 
sales and marketing teams 
serving many of the same 
customers. Better com-munications 
and collabora-tion 
across divisions would 
help ensure that customers 
recognized the company 
as “one Omron.” “We are 
much more than the sum 
of our parts,” says Michael 
Min, Strategic Commu-nication 
and eMarketing 
Manager. 
“companies spend more 
than $2 trillion on acqui-sitions 
every year. Yet 
study after study puts the 
failure rate of mergers and 
acquisitions somewhere 
between 70 and 90%.25
Enabling and Improving Workplace Safety 
The focus today on safety in the workplace spans compliance and cost issues to 
proactive communication and collaborative innovation. That focus is important. A 
study conducted by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/ 
OSHA) showed a 9.4 percent drop in injury claims and a 26 percent average savings 
on workers’ compensations costs in the four years after a Cal/OSHA inspection.28 
This Social Business Pattern can help organizations transform safety from a source 
of liability to an asset by identifying and engaging relevant expertise, and by im-proving 
real-time situational awareness, communications and decision-making. 
Business challenges 
Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this 
Social Business Pattern include: 
• Requirement to stay abreast of, and comply with, rapidly changing safety regula-tions 
and procedures is costly 
• Complex, distributed work environment makes it difficult to effectively communi-cate 
new safety practices 
• Geographic and time differences make it difficult for safety experts to quickly 
connect with and coach front-line workers 
Recommended Actions 
This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: 
• Provide line workers with the latest, relevant safety expertise, automatically and 
contextually, through social software on mobile devices 
• Create communities to connect safety experts with workers to share new or 
revised safety practices 
• Use real-time, social communications tools to link employees in office and 
front-line work environments for collaborative safety decision-making 
Observed Benefits 
Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business 
Pattern have observed the following business benefits: 
• Three times fewer accidents among most highly-engaged dealer partners29 
• Higher productivity attributable to shorter project execution delays and fewer 
hours missed by injured workers 
• Better innovation in safety procedures thanks to increased dialog between experts 
and workers 
IBM Experience 
For decades, IBM has owned and operated a number of manufacturing plants, many 
of which routinely house hazardous chemicals and use potentially-dangerous equip-ment 
to produce products. The company formalized its commitment to workplace 
safety in 1967 and consistently demonstrates low workday case rates.30 
Developments in how IBM communicates workplace safety practices and procedures, 
as well as learnings from assisting customers on safety issues, inform this Social 
Business Pattern. 
“IBM paid close attention to customer feedback, feature requests and requirements 
while developing the latest iteration of its social enterprise suite. While the company 
has many point products in the social enterprise space, its new social business soft-ware 
suite brings all these products under a common platform, making them easier 
for companies to implement.”32 
“We are always focused 
on keeping the number of 
accidents as low as pos-sible, 
and we wanted to 
enlist the on-the-job exper-tise 
of our employees to find 
the best ways for maintain-ing 
a safe and productive 
work environment.” says 
Adam Holbrook, Group 
European Environmental 
Health and Safety Manager 
at Doncasters Group Ltd. 
Keyera employees are widely 
separated by geography. 
Roughly one-fifth of them 
work at headquarters. The 
rest are dispersed among 16 
gas plants. The organization 
deployed IBM Connections 
software to provide ready 
access to company informa-tion 
and help employees 
share knowledge and inter-act 
with their peers in other 
operational areas. [Using 
Connections] helps Keyera 
ensure timely dissemination 
of critical safety policies and 
checks. 
“Organizational safety 
culture is largely deter-mined 
by the effective-ness 
of safety communi-cation.” 
31 
10 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success
IBM and Social Business 
In early 2011, IBM publicly declared that it was becoming a social business, acceler-ating 
existing initiatives to better connect the organization’s employees, customers, 
partners and suppliers. These efforts to transform IBM culture, business processes 
and computing systems — and, ultimately, its business outcomes — have yielded 
global, first-hand experiences with, and knowledge of, social business. 
Not only is IBM a social business itself, but the company has also helped others on 
their journey to becoming social. More than 60 percent of Fortune 100 companies 
have licensed IBM solutions for social business.33 IBM consultants work daily with 
organizations from all industries and geographies to help them tap the transforma-tive 
power of social business. IBM Social Business Agenda workshops and Smarter 
Workforce Integration Services are just two examples of the kinds of tightly interwoven 
cultural, process and technology guidance that IBM can provide to customers. 
This social business know-how has also informed the design of related IBM soft-ware 
and cloud-based services, as well as their implementation and use, both within 
the company and in customer organizations. When IBM released IBM Connections, 
in 2007, it was one of the first enterprise social software products in a nascent 
market. Since then, the IBM social platform has grown and can now be used to 
embed social capabilities in any business process. 
IBM WebSphere Portal has proven itself as an ideal container for role- and process-specific 
social activity. IBM Content Manager and IBM FileNet services marry 
traditional enterprise content management practices with sharing of content in 
social channels. IBM unified messaging, analytics and web experience management 
technologies have also been integrated into the IBM social platform. With the 
recent acquisition of Kenexa and its award-winning Human Capital Management 
solutions, IBM is able to offer socially-enabled talent management capabilities.34 
Much of the IBM social platform is accessible on mobile devices such as tablets and 
smartphones. In fact, IBM social capabilities are available as native applications on a 
broader array of mobile operating systems than any of its competitors offer. 
IBM social business software and in-cloud services are frequently recognized as indus-try 
leaders by the most influential analyst firms. Those acknowledgements include: 
• IDC has designated IBM as the Worldwide Enterprise Social Software Market 
Share leader for the last four consecutive years (2009-2012)35 
• Gartner named IBM a “Visionary” in its most recent assessment of the Enterprise 
Content Management category36 
• Forrester Research categorized IBM among the “Leaders” in its latest Forrester 
WaveTM for enterprise social platforms37 and its similar assessment of providers of 
cloud-based collaboration services38 
• IDC named IBM a “Leader” in its most recent market assessment of providers of 
HR, learning and recruiting process outsourcing services39 
Through the combination of its deep social expertise, deployment and adoption 
services and market-leading social business capabilities, IBM is uniquely positioned 
to help organizations capture information, create insights and generate interactions 
that translate into real business value. 
“IBM paid close attention 
to customer feedback, 
feature requests and 
requirements while 
developing the latest 
iteration of its social 
enterprise suite. While the 
company has many point 
products in the social 
enterprise space, its new 
social business software 
suite brings all these 
products under a common 
platform, making them 
easier for companies to 
implement.”32 
Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 11
1. Cortada, James et al. The Business of Social Business: What works and how its done. IBM 
Institute for Business Value, November, 2012 
2. ibid. 
3. Chui, Michael et al. The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social 
technologies. McKinsey Global Institute, July, 2012. The four industrial sectors are 
Consumer Packaged Goods, Consumer Financial Services, Professional Services and 
Advanced Manufacturing. 
4. Guptill, Bruce. “Live from Lotusphere: Customers and Accidental Social Business ROI.” 
Saugatuck Technology ‘Lens 360 Blog’, January, 18, 2012 
5. Wettemann, Rebecca. Social, Mobile CRM Boost Sales Productivity. Nucleus Research, March, 2012 
6. Chui. op. cit. 
7. Cited by IBM CEO Ginni Rometty in her January 2013 kickoff video 
8. Current State of Social Engagement inside the Large Enterprise. Dachis Group Social Business 
Council, August, 2012 
9. Reliance Life Insurance Corporation: Gaining market leadership with breakthrough self-service. 
IBM Corporation, 2010 
10. ibid. 
11. Ricoh generates new ideas with lateral communication on a global scale. IBM Corporation, 2012 
12. Reliance, op. cit. 
13. For more information about IBM Jams, see www.collaborationjam.com 
14. O’Grady, Stephen. Quoted in “IBM Makes its Social Computing Strategy Smarter.” New 
York Times ‘Bits’ blog, January 16, 2012 
15. Drucker, Peter. Managing in a Time of Great Change. Truman Talley: New York, NY (1995), p. 271 
16. Chui. op. cit. 
17. ibid. 
18. For more information about the IBM Center for Social Business, see www.research.ibm.com/ 
social 
19. ZurickDavis increases sales by approximately 120 percent annually. IBM Corporation, 2012 
20. ibid. 
21. TD Bank Group gains cohesion with social business software. IBM Corporation, 2012 
22. Chui. op. cit. 
23. ibid. 
24. Judy, Charlie. “Empower Employees for Success with Social Onboarding.” HR Fishbowl 
blog, October 30, 2012 
25. Christensen, Clayton et al. “The Big Idea: The New M&A Playbook.” Harvard Business 
Review, March 2011 
26. Chui. op. cit. 
27. Eurobas et al. “List of mergers and acquisitions by IBM.” Wikipedia, 2012-2013 
28. Business Case for Safety and Health. United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety 
& Health Administration. 
29. Connecting Employee Engagement and Key Metrics Impacts the Bottom Line for Caterpillar. 
Kenexa Corporation, 2012 
30. See www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/employee_global_workplace_safety.shtml 
31. Williams, Joshua. “Improving Safety Communication Skills: Becoming an Empathic 
Communicator.” www.safetyperformance.com 
32. Carvalho, Larry. “Notes from LotuSphere and thoughts on IBM.” GigaOM Pro Blog, January 
18, 2012 
33. IBM to Acquire Kenexa to Bolster Social Business Initiatives. IBM Corporation, August 27, 2012. 
34. For a list of awards with which Kenexa has been honored, see www.kenexa.com/ 
AboutKenexa/MediaRoom/OurAwards 
35. IDC Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker, 2H 2012. IDC, April, 2013 
36. Gilbert, Mark et al. Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management. Gartner, October, 2012 
37. Koplowitz, Rob. The Forrester WaveTM: Enterprise Social Platforms, Q3 2011. Forrester 
Research, August, 2011 
38. Keitt, TJ. The Forrester WaveTM: Cloud Strategies of Online Collaboration Software Vendors, Q3 
2012. Forrester Research, August, 2012 
39. Rowan, Lisa. IDC MarketScape: Worldwide HR BPO 2012 Vendor Analysis. IDC, Document 
#237630, November, 2012 
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2013 
IBM Corporation 
Route 100 
Somers, NY 10589 
Produced in the United States of America 
April 2013 
IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks of 
International Business Machines Corp., registered in 
many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and 
service names might be trademarks of IBM or other 
companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is 
available on the web at “Copyright and trademark 
information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. 
This document is current as of the initial date of 
publication and may be changed by IBM at any time. 
Not all offerings are available in every country in 
which IBM operates. 
THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT 
IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY 
WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, 
INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES 
OF MERCHANT­ABILITY, 
FITNESS FOR A 
PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY 
WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. 
IBM products are warranted 
according to the terms and conditions of the 
agreements under which they are provided. 
Please Recycle

More Related Content

What's hot

Socially Driven Collaboration Research Study 2014
Socially Driven Collaboration  Research Study 2014 Socially Driven Collaboration  Research Study 2014
Socially Driven Collaboration Research Study 2014 Leader Networks
 
The Social Mind Research Study
The Social Mind Research StudyThe Social Mind Research Study
The Social Mind Research StudyLeader Networks
 
Deep Dive Into Operationalizing Social Media
Deep Dive Into Operationalizing Social MediaDeep Dive Into Operationalizing Social Media
Deep Dive Into Operationalizing Social MediaZena Weist
 
How to Excite Your Executives About Online Community!
How to Excite Your Executives About Online Community!How to Excite Your Executives About Online Community!
How to Excite Your Executives About Online Community!Leader Networks
 
New expectations for a new era chro insights from the global c-suite study
New expectations for a new era   chro insights from the global c-suite studyNew expectations for a new era   chro insights from the global c-suite study
New expectations for a new era chro insights from the global c-suite studyIBM Software India
 
SME2: Social Media Excellence x Social Media Expertise
SME2: Social Media Excellence x Social Media ExpertiseSME2: Social Media Excellence x Social Media Expertise
SME2: Social Media Excellence x Social Media ExpertiseRichard Binhammer
 
2015 state of social media
2015 state of social media2015 state of social media
2015 state of social mediarealtop466
 
Deborah Limb, Learning Pool
Deborah Limb, Learning PoolDeborah Limb, Learning Pool
Deborah Limb, Learning PoolPaul McElvaney
 
Эффективность social business (исследование Jive)
Эффективность social business (исследование Jive)Эффективность social business (исследование Jive)
Эффективность social business (исследование Jive)Andrei Kamarouski
 
Social business software survey results
Social business software survey resultsSocial business software survey results
Social business software survey resultsWilco Turnhout
 
Relationship economics
Relationship economicsRelationship economics
Relationship economicsPROQUAME
 
The unsocial company
The unsocial companyThe unsocial company
The unsocial companyKeith Childs
 
Master fi serv_deck
Master fi serv_deckMaster fi serv_deck
Master fi serv_deckMzinga
 
Understanding the business value of social solutions in human resources
Understanding the business value of social solutions in human resourcesUnderstanding the business value of social solutions in human resources
Understanding the business value of social solutions in human resourcesBhupesh Chaurasia
 
Making the Case for Adding Collaboration in the Enterprise
Making the Case for Adding Collaboration in the EnterpriseMaking the Case for Adding Collaboration in the Enterprise
Making the Case for Adding Collaboration in the Enterprisecathylums
 
FinancialServicesWhitePaper
FinancialServicesWhitePaperFinancialServicesWhitePaper
FinancialServicesWhitePaperRich Scott
 
Success Factors for Corporate Social Innovation
Success Factors for Corporate Social InnovationSuccess Factors for Corporate Social Innovation
Success Factors for Corporate Social InnovationWider Sense GmbH
 
2021's best consulting startups
2021's best consulting startups2021's best consulting startups
2021's best consulting startupsMerry D'souza
 

What's hot (19)

Socially Driven Collaboration Research Study 2014
Socially Driven Collaboration  Research Study 2014 Socially Driven Collaboration  Research Study 2014
Socially Driven Collaboration Research Study 2014
 
The Social Mind Research Study
The Social Mind Research StudyThe Social Mind Research Study
The Social Mind Research Study
 
Deep Dive Into Operationalizing Social Media
Deep Dive Into Operationalizing Social MediaDeep Dive Into Operationalizing Social Media
Deep Dive Into Operationalizing Social Media
 
How to Excite Your Executives About Online Community!
How to Excite Your Executives About Online Community!How to Excite Your Executives About Online Community!
How to Excite Your Executives About Online Community!
 
New expectations for a new era chro insights from the global c-suite study
New expectations for a new era   chro insights from the global c-suite studyNew expectations for a new era   chro insights from the global c-suite study
New expectations for a new era chro insights from the global c-suite study
 
SME2: Social Media Excellence x Social Media Expertise
SME2: Social Media Excellence x Social Media ExpertiseSME2: Social Media Excellence x Social Media Expertise
SME2: Social Media Excellence x Social Media Expertise
 
2015 state of social media
2015 state of social media2015 state of social media
2015 state of social media
 
Deborah Limb, Learning Pool
Deborah Limb, Learning PoolDeborah Limb, Learning Pool
Deborah Limb, Learning Pool
 
Эффективность social business (исследование Jive)
Эффективность social business (исследование Jive)Эффективность social business (исследование Jive)
Эффективность social business (исследование Jive)
 
Social business software survey results
Social business software survey resultsSocial business software survey results
Social business software survey results
 
Relationship economics
Relationship economicsRelationship economics
Relationship economics
 
The unsocial company
The unsocial companyThe unsocial company
The unsocial company
 
Master fi serv_deck
Master fi serv_deckMaster fi serv_deck
Master fi serv_deck
 
Understanding the business value of social solutions in human resources
Understanding the business value of social solutions in human resourcesUnderstanding the business value of social solutions in human resources
Understanding the business value of social solutions in human resources
 
Collaboration and globalization e-book
Collaboration and globalization e-bookCollaboration and globalization e-book
Collaboration and globalization e-book
 
Making the Case for Adding Collaboration in the Enterprise
Making the Case for Adding Collaboration in the EnterpriseMaking the Case for Adding Collaboration in the Enterprise
Making the Case for Adding Collaboration in the Enterprise
 
FinancialServicesWhitePaper
FinancialServicesWhitePaperFinancialServicesWhitePaper
FinancialServicesWhitePaper
 
Success Factors for Corporate Social Innovation
Success Factors for Corporate Social InnovationSuccess Factors for Corporate Social Innovation
Success Factors for Corporate Social Innovation
 
2021's best consulting startups
2021's best consulting startups2021's best consulting startups
2021's best consulting startups
 

Viewers also liked

Thunderbird (1)ene
Thunderbird (1)eneThunderbird (1)ene
Thunderbird (1)eneDiana Ene
 
THE UNIVERSE LESSON
THE UNIVERSE LESSONTHE UNIVERSE LESSON
THE UNIVERSE LESSONt8tteam
 
Heterokesdatisitas
HeterokesdatisitasHeterokesdatisitas
Heterokesdatisitasganuraga
 
3D-ICONS - D4.3: Final Report on Post-processing
3D-ICONS - D4.3: Final Report on Post-processing3D-ICONS - D4.3: Final Report on Post-processing
3D-ICONS - D4.3: Final Report on Post-processing3D ICONS Project
 
Patologie otorinolaringoiatriche pp
Patologie otorinolaringoiatriche ppPatologie otorinolaringoiatriche pp
Patologie otorinolaringoiatriche ppMerqurio
 
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageoLa terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageoMerqurio
 
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageoLa terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageoMerqurio
 

Viewers also liked (9)

Thunderbird (1)ene
Thunderbird (1)eneThunderbird (1)ene
Thunderbird (1)ene
 
THE UNIVERSE LESSON
THE UNIVERSE LESSONTHE UNIVERSE LESSON
THE UNIVERSE LESSON
 
عمليات العصب الاوسط بالمنظار- Current Endoscopic CTR techniques - البروفيسو...
عمليات العصب الاوسط بالمنظار-  Current Endoscopic CTR techniques  - البروفيسو...عمليات العصب الاوسط بالمنظار-  Current Endoscopic CTR techniques  - البروفيسو...
عمليات العصب الاوسط بالمنظار- Current Endoscopic CTR techniques - البروفيسو...
 
Heterokesdatisitas
HeterokesdatisitasHeterokesdatisitas
Heterokesdatisitas
 
3D-ICONS - D4.3: Final Report on Post-processing
3D-ICONS - D4.3: Final Report on Post-processing3D-ICONS - D4.3: Final Report on Post-processing
3D-ICONS - D4.3: Final Report on Post-processing
 
Joni hillman
Joni hillmanJoni hillman
Joni hillman
 
Patologie otorinolaringoiatriche pp
Patologie otorinolaringoiatriche ppPatologie otorinolaringoiatriche pp
Patologie otorinolaringoiatriche pp
 
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageoLa terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
 
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageoLa terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
La terapia della malattia da reflusso gastroesofageo
 

Similar to IBM Social Patterns

Patterns in achieving Social Business success by leading and pioneering organ...
Patterns in achieving Social Business success by leading and pioneering organ...Patterns in achieving Social Business success by leading and pioneering organ...
Patterns in achieving Social Business success by leading and pioneering organ...IBM Software India
 
The business of social business
The business of social businessThe business of social business
The business of social businessLeon Henry
 
Social Business for Complex Organizations
Social Business for Complex OrganizationsSocial Business for Complex Organizations
Social Business for Complex OrganizationsEdelman Digital
 
Introducing Social Employee Engagement: Shifting From Technology To People
Introducing Social Employee Engagement: Shifting From Technology To PeopleIntroducing Social Employee Engagement: Shifting From Technology To People
Introducing Social Employee Engagement: Shifting From Technology To PeopleMSL
 
Social Learning Innovation
Social Learning InnovationSocial Learning Innovation
Social Learning InnovationMzinga
 
How to Integrate Social Media strategy for your company
How to Integrate Social Media strategy for your companyHow to Integrate Social Media strategy for your company
How to Integrate Social Media strategy for your companyFernando Cebolla Pola
 
SASUG April - Building Social Networks and the Social Journey
SASUG April - Building Social Networks and the Social JourneySASUG April - Building Social Networks and the Social Journey
SASUG April - Building Social Networks and the Social JourneyDavid Broussard
 
Amplifying employee voice exec report
Amplifying employee voice exec reportAmplifying employee voice exec report
Amplifying employee voice exec reportPauline Mura
 
Amplifying employee voice exec report
Amplifying employee voice exec reportAmplifying employee voice exec report
Amplifying employee voice exec reportPauline Mura
 
Amplifying Employee Voice: Better Connect to the Pulse of your Workforce
Amplifying Employee Voice: Better Connect to the Pulse of your WorkforceAmplifying Employee Voice: Better Connect to the Pulse of your Workforce
Amplifying Employee Voice: Better Connect to the Pulse of your WorkforceCasey Lucas
 
Wp 5 the compelling returns from ibm connections in support of social business
Wp 5  the compelling returns from ibm connections in support of social businessWp 5  the compelling returns from ibm connections in support of social business
Wp 5 the compelling returns from ibm connections in support of social businessIQVIA
 
Driving Repeatable Business Innovation: The Vision to Action Lifecycle
Driving Repeatable Business Innovation: The Vision to Action LifecycleDriving Repeatable Business Innovation: The Vision to Action Lifecycle
Driving Repeatable Business Innovation: The Vision to Action LifecycleMindjet
 
Top HR Processes Ripe for a Social Enterprise
Top HR Processes Ripe for a Social EnterpriseTop HR Processes Ripe for a Social Enterprise
Top HR Processes Ripe for a Social EnterpriseKangoGift
 
Business Models: Six recommendations to enable business model innovation in t...
Business Models: Six recommendations to enable business model innovation in t...Business Models: Six recommendations to enable business model innovation in t...
Business Models: Six recommendations to enable business model innovation in t...melnorman
 
Taking social networking to the next level
Taking social networking to the next levelTaking social networking to the next level
Taking social networking to the next levelAndrea Baker
 
W2O Group Function Optimization 2014 report
W2O Group Function Optimization 2014 reportW2O Group Function Optimization 2014 report
W2O Group Function Optimization 2014 reportW2O Group
 

Similar to IBM Social Patterns (20)

Patterns in achieving Social Business success by leading and pioneering organ...
Patterns in achieving Social Business success by leading and pioneering organ...Patterns in achieving Social Business success by leading and pioneering organ...
Patterns in achieving Social Business success by leading and pioneering organ...
 
The business of social business
The business of social businessThe business of social business
The business of social business
 
Social Business for Complex Organizations
Social Business for Complex OrganizationsSocial Business for Complex Organizations
Social Business for Complex Organizations
 
Introducing Social Employee Engagement: Shifting From Technology To People
Introducing Social Employee Engagement: Shifting From Technology To PeopleIntroducing Social Employee Engagement: Shifting From Technology To People
Introducing Social Employee Engagement: Shifting From Technology To People
 
Social Learning Innovation
Social Learning InnovationSocial Learning Innovation
Social Learning Innovation
 
Marcus Evans EEA presentation
Marcus Evans EEA presentationMarcus Evans EEA presentation
Marcus Evans EEA presentation
 
How to Integrate Social Media strategy for your company
How to Integrate Social Media strategy for your companyHow to Integrate Social Media strategy for your company
How to Integrate Social Media strategy for your company
 
SASUG April - Building Social Networks and the Social Journey
SASUG April - Building Social Networks and the Social JourneySASUG April - Building Social Networks and the Social Journey
SASUG April - Building Social Networks and the Social Journey
 
Amplifying employee voice exec report
Amplifying employee voice exec reportAmplifying employee voice exec report
Amplifying employee voice exec report
 
Amplifying employee voice exec report
Amplifying employee voice exec reportAmplifying employee voice exec report
Amplifying employee voice exec report
 
Amplifying Employee Voice: Better Connect to the Pulse of your Workforce
Amplifying Employee Voice: Better Connect to the Pulse of your WorkforceAmplifying Employee Voice: Better Connect to the Pulse of your Workforce
Amplifying Employee Voice: Better Connect to the Pulse of your Workforce
 
What stops you from achieving goals
What stops you from achieving goalsWhat stops you from achieving goals
What stops you from achieving goals
 
Social media vs. Social business
Social media vs. Social business Social media vs. Social business
Social media vs. Social business
 
Wp 5 the compelling returns from ibm connections in support of social business
Wp 5  the compelling returns from ibm connections in support of social businessWp 5  the compelling returns from ibm connections in support of social business
Wp 5 the compelling returns from ibm connections in support of social business
 
IBM Collective intelligence
IBM Collective intelligenceIBM Collective intelligence
IBM Collective intelligence
 
Driving Repeatable Business Innovation: The Vision to Action Lifecycle
Driving Repeatable Business Innovation: The Vision to Action LifecycleDriving Repeatable Business Innovation: The Vision to Action Lifecycle
Driving Repeatable Business Innovation: The Vision to Action Lifecycle
 
Top HR Processes Ripe for a Social Enterprise
Top HR Processes Ripe for a Social EnterpriseTop HR Processes Ripe for a Social Enterprise
Top HR Processes Ripe for a Social Enterprise
 
Business Models: Six recommendations to enable business model innovation in t...
Business Models: Six recommendations to enable business model innovation in t...Business Models: Six recommendations to enable business model innovation in t...
Business Models: Six recommendations to enable business model innovation in t...
 
Taking social networking to the next level
Taking social networking to the next levelTaking social networking to the next level
Taking social networking to the next level
 
W2O Group Function Optimization 2014 report
W2O Group Function Optimization 2014 reportW2O Group Function Optimization 2014 report
W2O Group Function Optimization 2014 report
 

More from IPG Mediabrands

Targeting Tribes Through Tech
Targeting Tribes Through TechTargeting Tribes Through Tech
Targeting Tribes Through TechIPG Mediabrands
 
Good Stats on 13-24 y.o. Online Behaviour
Good Stats on 13-24 y.o. Online Behaviour Good Stats on 13-24 y.o. Online Behaviour
Good Stats on 13-24 y.o. Online Behaviour IPG Mediabrands
 
Social media measurement frameworks
Social media measurement frameworksSocial media measurement frameworks
Social media measurement frameworksIPG Mediabrands
 
Using Digital Data To Determine The Next Ice Cream Flavour
Using Digital Data To Determine The Next Ice Cream FlavourUsing Digital Data To Determine The Next Ice Cream Flavour
Using Digital Data To Determine The Next Ice Cream FlavourIPG Mediabrands
 
The Importance of Social Media Insights in Financial Services
The Importance of Social Media Insights in Financial ServicesThe Importance of Social Media Insights in Financial Services
The Importance of Social Media Insights in Financial ServicesIPG Mediabrands
 
Social Intelligence Report
Social Intelligence ReportSocial Intelligence Report
Social Intelligence ReportIPG Mediabrands
 
MWC Social Insight Report
MWC Social Insight ReportMWC Social Insight Report
MWC Social Insight ReportIPG Mediabrands
 
Social Media Trends From The Consumer Electronics Show 2014
Social Media Trends From The Consumer Electronics Show 2014Social Media Trends From The Consumer Electronics Show 2014
Social Media Trends From The Consumer Electronics Show 2014IPG Mediabrands
 
Social Media in B2B Communications - Dec 2013
Social Media in B2B Communications - Dec 2013Social Media in B2B Communications - Dec 2013
Social Media in B2B Communications - Dec 2013IPG Mediabrands
 

More from IPG Mediabrands (9)

Targeting Tribes Through Tech
Targeting Tribes Through TechTargeting Tribes Through Tech
Targeting Tribes Through Tech
 
Good Stats on 13-24 y.o. Online Behaviour
Good Stats on 13-24 y.o. Online Behaviour Good Stats on 13-24 y.o. Online Behaviour
Good Stats on 13-24 y.o. Online Behaviour
 
Social media measurement frameworks
Social media measurement frameworksSocial media measurement frameworks
Social media measurement frameworks
 
Using Digital Data To Determine The Next Ice Cream Flavour
Using Digital Data To Determine The Next Ice Cream FlavourUsing Digital Data To Determine The Next Ice Cream Flavour
Using Digital Data To Determine The Next Ice Cream Flavour
 
The Importance of Social Media Insights in Financial Services
The Importance of Social Media Insights in Financial ServicesThe Importance of Social Media Insights in Financial Services
The Importance of Social Media Insights in Financial Services
 
Social Intelligence Report
Social Intelligence ReportSocial Intelligence Report
Social Intelligence Report
 
MWC Social Insight Report
MWC Social Insight ReportMWC Social Insight Report
MWC Social Insight Report
 
Social Media Trends From The Consumer Electronics Show 2014
Social Media Trends From The Consumer Electronics Show 2014Social Media Trends From The Consumer Electronics Show 2014
Social Media Trends From The Consumer Electronics Show 2014
 
Social Media in B2B Communications - Dec 2013
Social Media in B2B Communications - Dec 2013Social Media in B2B Communications - Dec 2013
Social Media in B2B Communications - Dec 2013
 

Recently uploaded

Protecting Your Little Explorer at Home!
Protecting Your Little Explorer at Home!Protecting Your Little Explorer at Home!
Protecting Your Little Explorer at Home!andrekr997
 
Independent Escorts Lucknow 8923113531 WhatsApp luxurious locale in your city...
Independent Escorts Lucknow 8923113531 WhatsApp luxurious locale in your city...Independent Escorts Lucknow 8923113531 WhatsApp luxurious locale in your city...
Independent Escorts Lucknow 8923113531 WhatsApp luxurious locale in your city...makika9823
 
Top Astrologer, Kala ilam specialist in USA and Bangali Amil baba in Saudi Ar...
Top Astrologer, Kala ilam specialist in USA and Bangali Amil baba in Saudi Ar...Top Astrologer, Kala ilam specialist in USA and Bangali Amil baba in Saudi Ar...
Top Astrologer, Kala ilam specialist in USA and Bangali Amil baba in Saudi Ar...baharayali
 
Models Call Girls Shettihalli - 7001305949 Escorts Service 50% Off with Cash ...
Models Call Girls Shettihalli - 7001305949 Escorts Service 50% Off with Cash ...Models Call Girls Shettihalli - 7001305949 Escorts Service 50% Off with Cash ...
Models Call Girls Shettihalli - 7001305949 Escorts Service 50% Off with Cash ...jicagig173
 
Dubai Call Girls O528786472 Diabolic Call Girls In Dubai
Dubai Call Girls O528786472 Diabolic Call Girls In DubaiDubai Call Girls O528786472 Diabolic Call Girls In Dubai
Dubai Call Girls O528786472 Diabolic Call Girls In Dubaihf8803863
 
Mastering Wealth with YouTube Content Marketing.pdf
Mastering Wealth with YouTube Content Marketing.pdfMastering Wealth with YouTube Content Marketing.pdf
Mastering Wealth with YouTube Content Marketing.pdfTirupati Social Media
 
Online Social Shopping Motivation: A Preliminary Study
Online Social Shopping Motivation: A Preliminary StudyOnline Social Shopping Motivation: A Preliminary Study
Online Social Shopping Motivation: A Preliminary StudyAJHSSR Journal
 
AI Virtual Influencers: The Future of Influencer Marketing
AI Virtual Influencers:  The Future of Influencer MarketingAI Virtual Influencers:  The Future of Influencer Marketing
AI Virtual Influencers: The Future of Influencer MarketingCut-the-SaaS
 
办理伯明翰大学毕业证书文凭学位证书
办理伯明翰大学毕业证书文凭学位证书办理伯明翰大学毕业证书文凭学位证书
办理伯明翰大学毕业证书文凭学位证书saphesg8
 
Spotify AI DJ Deck - The Agency at University of Florida
Spotify AI DJ Deck - The Agency at University of FloridaSpotify AI DJ Deck - The Agency at University of Florida
Spotify AI DJ Deck - The Agency at University of Floridajorirz24
 
AI Virtual Influencers: The Future of Influencer Marketing
AI Virtual Influencers:  The Future of Influencer MarketingAI Virtual Influencers:  The Future of Influencer Marketing
AI Virtual Influencers: The Future of Influencer MarketingCut-the-SaaS
 
VIP Moti Bagh Call Girls Free Doorstep Delivery 9873777170
VIP Moti Bagh Call Girls Free Doorstep Delivery 9873777170VIP Moti Bagh Call Girls Free Doorstep Delivery 9873777170
VIP Moti Bagh Call Girls Free Doorstep Delivery 9873777170Komal Khan
 
Cosmic Conversations with Sociocosmos...
Cosmic Conversations with Sociocosmos...Cosmic Conversations with Sociocosmos...
Cosmic Conversations with Sociocosmos...SocioCosmos
 
Impact Of Educational Resources on Students' Academic Performance in Economic...
Impact Of Educational Resources on Students' Academic Performance in Economic...Impact Of Educational Resources on Students' Academic Performance in Economic...
Impact Of Educational Resources on Students' Academic Performance in Economic...AJHSSR Journal
 

Recently uploaded (20)

Bicycle Safety in Focus: Preventing Fatalities and Seeking Justice
Bicycle Safety in Focus: Preventing Fatalities and Seeking JusticeBicycle Safety in Focus: Preventing Fatalities and Seeking Justice
Bicycle Safety in Focus: Preventing Fatalities and Seeking Justice
 
Protecting Your Little Explorer at Home!
Protecting Your Little Explorer at Home!Protecting Your Little Explorer at Home!
Protecting Your Little Explorer at Home!
 
young call girls in Greater Noida 🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Service
young call girls in  Greater Noida 🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Serviceyoung call girls in  Greater Noida 🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Service
young call girls in Greater Noida 🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Service
 
young Call girls in Dwarka sector 23🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Service
young Call girls in Dwarka sector 23🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Serviceyoung Call girls in Dwarka sector 23🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Service
young Call girls in Dwarka sector 23🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Service
 
Independent Escorts Lucknow 8923113531 WhatsApp luxurious locale in your city...
Independent Escorts Lucknow 8923113531 WhatsApp luxurious locale in your city...Independent Escorts Lucknow 8923113531 WhatsApp luxurious locale in your city...
Independent Escorts Lucknow 8923113531 WhatsApp luxurious locale in your city...
 
looking for escort 9953056974 Low Rate Call Girls In Vinod Nagar
looking for escort 9953056974 Low Rate Call Girls In  Vinod Nagarlooking for escort 9953056974 Low Rate Call Girls In  Vinod Nagar
looking for escort 9953056974 Low Rate Call Girls In Vinod Nagar
 
Top Astrologer, Kala ilam specialist in USA and Bangali Amil baba in Saudi Ar...
Top Astrologer, Kala ilam specialist in USA and Bangali Amil baba in Saudi Ar...Top Astrologer, Kala ilam specialist in USA and Bangali Amil baba in Saudi Ar...
Top Astrologer, Kala ilam specialist in USA and Bangali Amil baba in Saudi Ar...
 
Models Call Girls Shettihalli - 7001305949 Escorts Service 50% Off with Cash ...
Models Call Girls Shettihalli - 7001305949 Escorts Service 50% Off with Cash ...Models Call Girls Shettihalli - 7001305949 Escorts Service 50% Off with Cash ...
Models Call Girls Shettihalli - 7001305949 Escorts Service 50% Off with Cash ...
 
FULL ENJOY Call Girls In Mohammadpur (Delhi) Call Us 9953056974
FULL ENJOY Call Girls In Mohammadpur  (Delhi) Call Us 9953056974FULL ENJOY Call Girls In Mohammadpur  (Delhi) Call Us 9953056974
FULL ENJOY Call Girls In Mohammadpur (Delhi) Call Us 9953056974
 
Dubai Call Girls O528786472 Diabolic Call Girls In Dubai
Dubai Call Girls O528786472 Diabolic Call Girls In DubaiDubai Call Girls O528786472 Diabolic Call Girls In Dubai
Dubai Call Girls O528786472 Diabolic Call Girls In Dubai
 
Mastering Wealth with YouTube Content Marketing.pdf
Mastering Wealth with YouTube Content Marketing.pdfMastering Wealth with YouTube Content Marketing.pdf
Mastering Wealth with YouTube Content Marketing.pdf
 
Online Social Shopping Motivation: A Preliminary Study
Online Social Shopping Motivation: A Preliminary StudyOnline Social Shopping Motivation: A Preliminary Study
Online Social Shopping Motivation: A Preliminary Study
 
AI Virtual Influencers: The Future of Influencer Marketing
AI Virtual Influencers:  The Future of Influencer MarketingAI Virtual Influencers:  The Future of Influencer Marketing
AI Virtual Influencers: The Future of Influencer Marketing
 
办理伯明翰大学毕业证书文凭学位证书
办理伯明翰大学毕业证书文凭学位证书办理伯明翰大学毕业证书文凭学位证书
办理伯明翰大学毕业证书文凭学位证书
 
Spotify AI DJ Deck - The Agency at University of Florida
Spotify AI DJ Deck - The Agency at University of FloridaSpotify AI DJ Deck - The Agency at University of Florida
Spotify AI DJ Deck - The Agency at University of Florida
 
AI Virtual Influencers: The Future of Influencer Marketing
AI Virtual Influencers:  The Future of Influencer MarketingAI Virtual Influencers:  The Future of Influencer Marketing
AI Virtual Influencers: The Future of Influencer Marketing
 
VIP Moti Bagh Call Girls Free Doorstep Delivery 9873777170
VIP Moti Bagh Call Girls Free Doorstep Delivery 9873777170VIP Moti Bagh Call Girls Free Doorstep Delivery 9873777170
VIP Moti Bagh Call Girls Free Doorstep Delivery 9873777170
 
Cosmic Conversations with Sociocosmos...
Cosmic Conversations with Sociocosmos...Cosmic Conversations with Sociocosmos...
Cosmic Conversations with Sociocosmos...
 
Hot Sexy call girls in Ramesh Nagar🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Service
Hot Sexy call girls in Ramesh Nagar🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort ServiceHot Sexy call girls in Ramesh Nagar🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Service
Hot Sexy call girls in Ramesh Nagar🔝 9953056974 🔝 Delhi escort Service
 
Impact Of Educational Resources on Students' Academic Performance in Economic...
Impact Of Educational Resources on Students' Academic Performance in Economic...Impact Of Educational Resources on Students' Academic Performance in Economic...
Impact Of Educational Resources on Students' Academic Performance in Economic...
 

IBM Social Patterns

  • 1. Patterns in achieving social business success by leading and pioneering organizations
  • 2.
  • 3. Change is the new constant. Organizations are being buffeted simultaneously by a num-ber of macro-economic trends, such as compressed and highly volatile economic cycles, a shift of power in commercial relationships from sellers to buyers and the continued development of an increasingly global, distributed workforce. Fortunately, there are new trends and capabilities in technology and business practices that can help organizations adapt to, even take advantage of, these macro-economic changes. Cloud, mobile and social computing, when deployed together, can enable organizations to innovate and execute faster, better understand and serve their custom-ers, and build and empower a more-engaged workforce. This paper will focus on how organizations can use social business practices and capabilities to transform themselves, and create competitive advantage and substantial new value. A social business is an organization whose culture and systems encourage networks of people to create business value. Social businesses connect individuals, so they can rapidly share information, knowledge and ideas by having conversations and publish-ing informal content. They analyze social content from multiple channels and sources, in addition to structured data, to gain insights from both external and internal stake-holders. When those things happen, innovation and business execution rates increase, better decisions are made, and customers and employees are more engaged and satis-fied. Social businesses enjoy lower operating costs, faster speed-to-market, improved Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 3 customer and employee engagement, and increased profitability. Many organizations don’t get it. They do not fully appreciate the magnitude of the value creation potential of social business. One study estimates that as much as $1.3 trillion of potential value could be created by social business — in just four industry sectors!3 In other words, social business is likely to spawn a level of business value creation similar to that of the adoption of online commerce capabilities (ebusiness) a decade ago. However, the same study found that, as of last year, just three percent of all organizations surveyed are deriving substantial benefit from social across all stakeholders. There are leaders across specific industries who do understand that social business repre-sents an enormous opportunity to transform their organization and fuel substantial value creation. Those companies are applying their own social capabilities — not just Facebook and other public social networks — to business processes that connect external and inter-nal stakeholders, including customers, partners and employees. They are transforming key business processes by enabling the human interactions necessary to produce results when the effectiveness of automated process activities has been exhausted. Which socially-enabled business processes are producing meaningful value now? By socially transforming Customer Service, organizations have reduced their customer defection rate by as much as five percent, increasing profits by up to 68 percent. Being social has helped businesses cut as much as two-thirds off their new Product Develop-ment times. Human Resources functions have reduced by two days New Hire On- Boarding time. Marketing departments have achieved a 100 percent increase in market exposure via social. And some organizations have jump-started their Sales processes, increasing sales manager revenue by 40 percent and improving sales efficiency by up to 50 percent, by better connecting sales people and customers. Exactly how are organizations transforming these processes and becoming social businesses? What best practices have emerged? Those questions are addressed by the Social Business Patterns on the following pages. 54% of companies expect to support their Customer Service processes with social capabilities within two years, up from 38% at present1 60% will socially-enable their Sales processes in the next two years, up from 46% now2
  • 4. Social Business Patterns Organizations that are relatively experienced with social business perspectives and techniques are seeing opportunities to improve specific business processes and their execution through the application of Social Business Patterns. These patterns are similar in concept to business process flows, in that each represents a repeatable, proven set of value-producing actions. Some organizations begin by applying just one pattern, but know they can realize compound benefits by implementing mul-tiple patterns over time. Table 1 summarizes six Social Business Patterns that organizations can apply to quickly realize business results. More detail on each Social Business Pattern is described following the table. Social Business Pattern Value Producers Finding Expertise (See Page 5 for details) Table 1: Social Business Patterns and how they produce value Social Business Patterns are similar in concept to business process flows, in that each represents a repeatable, proven set of value-producing actions. 4 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success • quickly locate the right people, or published content containing, the expertise needed to solve a problem • connect the best possible resources to effectively respond to customer needs • document and share reusable solutions to common issues • create highly-engaged and productive employees Gaining External Customer Insights (Page 6) • quickly learn customers’ opinions and preferences related to existing and potential products and services • identify and connect with key customer influencers to aid marketing efforts Increasing Knowledge Sharing (Page 7) • more efficiently and effectively capture, share and access knowledge • increase innovation through wider reach of ideas • reduce excessive, unproductive time spent searching and exchanging information Improving Recruiting and On-Boarding (Page 8) • collaboratively find and connect the right candidate to the right position • streamline assessment and hiring processes • better connect, engage and retain new hires • contextually recommend expertise to increase new hires’ productivity Managing Mergers and Acquisitions (Page 9) • increase overall success rate of merger and acquisition activities • raise effectiveness of vision setting and communication before, during and after merger or acquisition • accelerate creation of “one company” community and culture Enabling and Improving Workplace Safety (Page 10) • speed communication of new or changed safety regula-tions, policies and procedures • minimize or eliminate project execution delays arising from actual or potential safety issues • improve innovation in safety procedures by increasing dialog between safety experts and workers “I’ve had more than 30 conversations with IBM customers who have not only implemented and benefited from social business IT implementa-tion, but have quanti-fied the results…the ROI is real.”4
  • 5. Finding Expertise It is difficult for most people to locate the best expertise needed to quickly resolve problems or best address a business opportunity, whether that expertise resides inside another person or within published content. Employee engagement, effec-tiveness, and productivity suffer as a result. Externally, this lack of readily-available expertise leads to failures in closing sales opportunities, as well as lower satisfaction among existing customers requiring service and support. This Social Business Pat-tern shows how relevant expertise can be captured, discovered and shared in support Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 5 of both internally- and externally-facing business processes. Business challenges Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this Social Business Pattern include: • Employees do not proactively share expertise or knowledge with each other • Employees and business partners can’t locate the expertise needed to help them support customers and resolve internal process issues • Profitability drops because the same solution is ‘invented’ many times by different employees and business partners • Sales efforts fail, or drag on with no conclusion, because the organization does not convince the prospect with relevant information and expertise • Research and Development efforts do not delight customers or produce desired products quickly • Expertise of workers approaching retirement has not been captured before those expert have left the workforce Recommended Actions This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: • Use analytics on social interactions, files and other assets to discover hidden expertise across your company • Recommend human and digital sources of expertise to employees and business partners in the context of their work • Provide social tools that enable internal and external stakeholders to communi-cate and collaborate with experts • Document and share innovative solutions to internal and customer problems with others • Reward or recognize employees for proactively sharing expertise so that it can be located by others and for collaborating to solve challenges and documenting the solutions Observed Benefits Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business Pattern have observed the following business benefits: • 30% improvement in speed of accessing experts6 • 55% increase in visibility of company’s subject matter experts on its public website7 IBM Experience By any measure, the cumulative expertise of IBM employees is staggering. To better tap into that wisdom, IBM has developed analytics, expert recommendation and other expertise location capabilities for internal use. Employee profiles, blogs, emails (by permission), as well as content repositories and other information sources, are auto-matically crawled and manually searched to find expertise. Lowes built internal commu-nities to share best prac-tices and see deeper into their human capital across stores. Clarissa Felts, Lowes VP of Collaboration, pre-sented at Connect 2013 and mentioned how using IBM Connections has improved their recruitment process within headquarters in find-ing proven talent that knows the store environment from first-hand experience. Asian Paints sales staff members found it difficult to share best practices and innovative ways of sup-porting dealers, and they had no way to post issues of concern to the entire sales team. IBM Connec-tions software is heav-ily used [now] in the sales department, which finds it an excellent tool for solv-ing challenges by sharing innovations, expertise and best practices. “adding social features and mobile access to CRM applications in-creased the productivity of sales people by 26.4 percent”5
  • 6. Gaining External Customer Insights A recent survey found that “96% of respondents indicated there was no meaning-ful integration between what the company was doing externally (e.g. social media outreach, customer and supplier communities) and internally with their social col-laboration 6 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success platforms.”8 Social businesses can take advantage of market opportunities because they use listening and analytics technologies to uncover insights, gleaned from multiple channels and sources, about their customers. They then feed those insights into internal social systems and processes, enabling employees to collabora-tively respond to customers with appropriate solutions. This Social Business Pattern reveals how organizations can better serve their customers, speed new revenue gains and cut cost out of the product and service development process. Business challenges Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this Social Business Pattern include: • Inability to understand the evolving needs of existing and potential new customers and markets, and to meet them with relevant offerings • Struggling to begin or accelerate a shift from mass marketing to targeting key individuals whose influence reaches large numbers of potential customers Recommended Actions This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: • Deploy social monitoring tools to ‘listen’ to and understand customer sentiment • Use data and social analysis tools to gain insight into existing and potential cus-tomers’ needs, wants and preferences • Leverage social communication tools to dialog with influential individual custom-ers and key influencers • Discuss insights about customers in internally-facing social systems to collabora-tively identify, prioritize and develop new product and service capabilities. Observed Benefits Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business Pattern have observed the following business benefits: • Nearly 50% reduction in customer/agent service costs9 • >50% decrease in time required to develop new services and features10 • 20% reduction in man hours needed to create new product release information11 • 100% year-over-year average growth in new business premiums12 IBM Experience IBM has supplied its expertise and analysis capabilities to some of the premiere sporting events in the world, including the US Open tennis and Masters golf tournaments. IBM works with event sponsors to help them quickly harness insights to improve their understanding of the event’s operations. Event sponsors can also learn, in real-time, from customer interaction with the event’s website. IBM has even run its own digital events, called Jams, during which insights are gained from online discussions involving its employees, business partners, customers and other stakeholders. IBM also plans and conducts Jams on behalf of customers seeking to learn more about their employees and external constituents.13 [Ricoh] resolved these problems by reengineering the work process so that staff can publish docu-ments in rough form using the SmartCloud Engage Connections capabilities that also allow global sales companies to collaborate on revisions. This change was partly motivated by a desire for a more proactive method of assimilating mar-ket and customer informa-tion available to the global sales companies to more effectively provide products tailored to local needs. The solution was a self-service portal called Lifeline, [which] delivers services to all of Reliance’s key stake-holder groups, from custom-ers and prospects to the company’s employees and agents. The portal provides customers with a one-stop experience through which they can research and purchase insurance plans, manage their portfolios and pay their premiums. Storing all … customer and transac-tion information within a con-solidated data warehouse enables [Reliance] to see the big picture as to which prod-uct offerings are successful and which are not. “Many corporate tech-nology companies have social media or analyt-ics products … But IBM has the early lead in marrying the two”14
  • 7. Increasing Knowledge Sharing Pioneering social businesses are shifting their focus from discrete knowledge trans-actions to on-going knowledge relationships. These companies are creating value by sharing knowledge across internal barriers created by organizational structure and systems, and traditional borders between themselves and their partners and customers. They are also integrating gamification elements to reward individuals who openly share their knowledge. This Social Business Pattern demonstrates how to use social practices and capabilities to locate, share and use collective knowledge for competitive advantage in today’s fast-paced environment. Business challenges Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this Social Business Pattern include: • Excessive cost attributable to “not knowing what we know,” which leads to rework and solution duplication • Delays in revenue recognition and creation of unnecessary cost due to inability to execute quickly • Losing market share because the current rate of innovation is insufficient to produce and maintain competitive advantage Recommended Actions This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: • Add social communication functionality to other, existing enterprise applications to foster open conversations • Make people-based knowledge as accessible as document-based knowledge through expert recommendation and always-available social communication tools • Use gamification elements to provide social recognition to those who freely and openly share their knowledge Observed Benefits Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business Pattern have observed the following business benefits: • 30% improvement in speed of accessing experts16 • Productivity increases of 20-25% attributable to reduced need for status meetings17 • Accelerated problem resolution due to more effective use of communication tools • Improved employee engagement and satisfaction IBM Experience The research and professional services organizations within IBM are excellent examples of knowledge-driven businesses. IBM Research employees possess deep knowledge in specific areas of investigation; they include Nobel Laureates and winners of other prestigious awards. Many of the researchers at the IBM Center for Social Business have been at the forefront of exploring how knowledge is shared within organizations and what can be done to improve those methods and tools. They actively participate in IBM client engagements across all industries.18 Blue IQ is a program that helps IBMers adopt social business practices, including sharing knowledge. Since 2007, Blue IQ Ambassadors have volunteered their time and expertise to help their peers collaborate more successfully. Ambassadors help their colleagues understand why knowledge sharing and other social practices are important to their work, as well as to the collective business results of IBM. Russell’s Convenience needed an easy way to connect and share knowl-edge among its 25 stores and with its licensees, vendors and partners to quickly identify and resolve operational issues. The company adopted the IBM SmartCloud Engage services to enable staff members to communicate more seamlessly and trans-parently across stores and with external stakeholders. TD Bank Group needed to improve internal com-munications and collabora-tion, standardize business processes and capitalize on its employees’ collective knowledge and experience. The company deployed IBM Connections social busi-ness software to provide... better business processes through knowledge and expertise uncovered by the network and more confident decisions that are vetted by experts and reflect past experiences. “Knowledge has become the key economic resource and the dominant—and perhaps even the only —source of competitive advantage.”15 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 7
  • 8. Improving Recruiting and On-Boarding It is increasingly important for organizations to identify, hire and retain the best available talent, in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage. Businesses must also increase the effectiveness of their on-boarding activities to quickly get new hires acclimated and productive. This Social Business Pattern shows how to meet those objectives by harnessing communities and social networks that connect external candidates with HR staff and hiring managers, as well as new hires with direct super-visors, team members and other sources of expertise. Business challenges Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this Social Business Pattern include: • Identifying and attracting the best possible candidates • Accessing candidates in relation to corporate culture and matching their talents to specific, best-fit job openings • Getting new hires started and making them productive contributors as quickly as possible Recommended Actions This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: • Use externally- and internally-facing social capabilities to connect HR staff, hiring managers and candidates in the recruiting process • Employ social capabilities to connect new hires with HR staff, direct supervisors and other new hires in the on-boarding process • Leverage internal social capabilities to connect new hires with team members and needed expertise to quickly develop productivity Observed Benefits Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business Pattern have observed the following business benefits: • 30% more candidate searches completed annually19 • 25% reduction in time needed to fill open positions20 • Two-day reduction in time to on-boarding new employees21 • 30% faster new hire time-to-value22 • At least 20% increase in employee retention23 IBM Experience With a global headcount over 430,000, IBM has large-scale experience in recruiting, hiring and on-boarding new employees. Its Human Capital Management (HCM) pro-cesses are frequently optimized and have become socially-enabled in recent years. IBM uses LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to support its external-facing recruiting processes. Potential candidates can be made aware of country- and role-spe-cific positions for which IBM is hiring, as well as interact with IBM recruiters through these channels. IBM recruiters and hiring managers can learn about the candidate by conversing online with them and by visiting their social profiles on the Web. During the IBM on-boarding process, new hires establish their internal social profile and connect with their supervisor and team members. New employees are also in-structed on ways to find the information and expertise they will need to quickly become a productive contributor at IBM, including the use of social capabilities. Working with Kenexa to use contextual targeting to find scientists in print and online, Regeneron found 400-600 scarce, highly skilled scientists per year, without sacrificing on quality. In a few short years, Regeneron has risen from being unranked, to #2 in the 2011 edition of Science magazine’s Top Employers Survey. [A new] applicant tracking system helped AMC Theaters find candidates who could thrive in its culture. As a result, theaters led by managers who most closely aligned with the “fit” strategy increased profits per customer by 1.2 percent, which translated into millions of extra dollars of net income. AMC increased candidate leads from 250,000 in 2006 to 1.4 million in a two-year period. AMC’s “fit” strategy matched the right people to the right jobs, resulting in 11 percent lower employee turnover rates. Executive search firm ZurickDavis uses a portfolio of IBM technologies to support their work placing candidates with clients. After socially-enabling their key processes, ZurickDavis completes 30% more searches annually and fills positions in 25% less time. Their profitability has increased by 100%. “Think about it: much of what it really takes to get up the learning curve doesn’t come from some dusty old policy and procedure manual. It comes from what you learn from the people around you.”24 8 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success
  • 9. Managing Mergers and Acquisitions One traditional way for organizations to create significant value is through carefully considered mergers and acquisitions (M&A). However, failure rates on M&A activi-ties are incredibly high, often because the vision for, and culture of, the combined entity is neither adequately considered, nor clearly communicated. This Social Busi-ness Pattern demonstrates how organizations can use social networking techniques and technologies to create and communicate a compelling, shared vision, improve M&A management activities and connect experts that will positively influence both the single culture and operations of the combined entity. Business challenges Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this Social Business Pattern include: • Executives have differing visions for the combined entity • Managers and employees do not understand the strategic intent or tactical activi-ties Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 9 of an M&A action • The combined entity exhibits two distinct cultures • The new company suffers low retention of employees from the acquired organization Recommended Actions This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: • Create and leverage a social network comprised of senior leadership, HR and Corporate Communications of both organizations to engage on and communicate a vision for the combined company • Use multiple social channels and tools to discuss, make decisions on and commu-nicate specific M&A actions • Leverage communities to connect the cultures and expertise of the two organiza-tions being combined Observed Benefits Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business Pattern have observed the following business benefits: • Lower integration costs attributable to reduction of task duplication • At least 20% increase in employee retention26 • Higher productivity and lower costs due to increased employee retention and engagement stemming from cultural alignment IBM Experience IBM has completed at least 120 acquisitions since 2001.27 Through those experiences, much has been learned about establishing a common vision, creating a single organiza-tional culture, managing integration activities and retaining engaged employees. IBM use of social capabilities has spanned the range of M&A processes. IBM employees work together, and with external partners, to assess and value potential acquisition candidates. IBM teams build business cases together to justify specific M&A action. Acquired employees participate in IBM on-boarding processes, which are infused with social practices and capabilities (see IBM Experience on Page 8). At TD Bank, fast growth through acquisitions compounded this chal-lenge; the bank now has more branches in the United States than in Canada. The bank’s solution was to deploy IBM Connections software to create an employee-driven social network. Key objectives were to help employees connect to others across the far-flung enterprise; improve access to needed expertise and information that staff might not know about; and em-power staff to initiate com-munications, collaboration and social networking. Omron Europe was split into two divisions, with separate sales and marketing teams serving many of the same customers. Better com-munications and collabora-tion across divisions would help ensure that customers recognized the company as “one Omron.” “We are much more than the sum of our parts,” says Michael Min, Strategic Commu-nication and eMarketing Manager. “companies spend more than $2 trillion on acqui-sitions every year. Yet study after study puts the failure rate of mergers and acquisitions somewhere between 70 and 90%.25
  • 10. Enabling and Improving Workplace Safety The focus today on safety in the workplace spans compliance and cost issues to proactive communication and collaborative innovation. That focus is important. A study conducted by California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/ OSHA) showed a 9.4 percent drop in injury claims and a 26 percent average savings on workers’ compensations costs in the four years after a Cal/OSHA inspection.28 This Social Business Pattern can help organizations transform safety from a source of liability to an asset by identifying and engaging relevant expertise, and by im-proving real-time situational awareness, communications and decision-making. Business challenges Common challenges faced by organizations that could benefit from applying this Social Business Pattern include: • Requirement to stay abreast of, and comply with, rapidly changing safety regula-tions and procedures is costly • Complex, distributed work environment makes it difficult to effectively communi-cate new safety practices • Geographic and time differences make it difficult for safety experts to quickly connect with and coach front-line workers Recommended Actions This Social Business Pattern features these distinguishing actions: • Provide line workers with the latest, relevant safety expertise, automatically and contextually, through social software on mobile devices • Create communities to connect safety experts with workers to share new or revised safety practices • Use real-time, social communications tools to link employees in office and front-line work environments for collaborative safety decision-making Observed Benefits Organizations that have applied the practices that constitute this Social Business Pattern have observed the following business benefits: • Three times fewer accidents among most highly-engaged dealer partners29 • Higher productivity attributable to shorter project execution delays and fewer hours missed by injured workers • Better innovation in safety procedures thanks to increased dialog between experts and workers IBM Experience For decades, IBM has owned and operated a number of manufacturing plants, many of which routinely house hazardous chemicals and use potentially-dangerous equip-ment to produce products. The company formalized its commitment to workplace safety in 1967 and consistently demonstrates low workday case rates.30 Developments in how IBM communicates workplace safety practices and procedures, as well as learnings from assisting customers on safety issues, inform this Social Business Pattern. “IBM paid close attention to customer feedback, feature requests and requirements while developing the latest iteration of its social enterprise suite. While the company has many point products in the social enterprise space, its new social business soft-ware suite brings all these products under a common platform, making them easier for companies to implement.”32 “We are always focused on keeping the number of accidents as low as pos-sible, and we wanted to enlist the on-the-job exper-tise of our employees to find the best ways for maintain-ing a safe and productive work environment.” says Adam Holbrook, Group European Environmental Health and Safety Manager at Doncasters Group Ltd. Keyera employees are widely separated by geography. Roughly one-fifth of them work at headquarters. The rest are dispersed among 16 gas plants. The organization deployed IBM Connections software to provide ready access to company informa-tion and help employees share knowledge and inter-act with their peers in other operational areas. [Using Connections] helps Keyera ensure timely dissemination of critical safety policies and checks. “Organizational safety culture is largely deter-mined by the effective-ness of safety communi-cation.” 31 10 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success
  • 11. IBM and Social Business In early 2011, IBM publicly declared that it was becoming a social business, acceler-ating existing initiatives to better connect the organization’s employees, customers, partners and suppliers. These efforts to transform IBM culture, business processes and computing systems — and, ultimately, its business outcomes — have yielded global, first-hand experiences with, and knowledge of, social business. Not only is IBM a social business itself, but the company has also helped others on their journey to becoming social. More than 60 percent of Fortune 100 companies have licensed IBM solutions for social business.33 IBM consultants work daily with organizations from all industries and geographies to help them tap the transforma-tive power of social business. IBM Social Business Agenda workshops and Smarter Workforce Integration Services are just two examples of the kinds of tightly interwoven cultural, process and technology guidance that IBM can provide to customers. This social business know-how has also informed the design of related IBM soft-ware and cloud-based services, as well as their implementation and use, both within the company and in customer organizations. When IBM released IBM Connections, in 2007, it was one of the first enterprise social software products in a nascent market. Since then, the IBM social platform has grown and can now be used to embed social capabilities in any business process. IBM WebSphere Portal has proven itself as an ideal container for role- and process-specific social activity. IBM Content Manager and IBM FileNet services marry traditional enterprise content management practices with sharing of content in social channels. IBM unified messaging, analytics and web experience management technologies have also been integrated into the IBM social platform. With the recent acquisition of Kenexa and its award-winning Human Capital Management solutions, IBM is able to offer socially-enabled talent management capabilities.34 Much of the IBM social platform is accessible on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. In fact, IBM social capabilities are available as native applications on a broader array of mobile operating systems than any of its competitors offer. IBM social business software and in-cloud services are frequently recognized as indus-try leaders by the most influential analyst firms. Those acknowledgements include: • IDC has designated IBM as the Worldwide Enterprise Social Software Market Share leader for the last four consecutive years (2009-2012)35 • Gartner named IBM a “Visionary” in its most recent assessment of the Enterprise Content Management category36 • Forrester Research categorized IBM among the “Leaders” in its latest Forrester WaveTM for enterprise social platforms37 and its similar assessment of providers of cloud-based collaboration services38 • IDC named IBM a “Leader” in its most recent market assessment of providers of HR, learning and recruiting process outsourcing services39 Through the combination of its deep social expertise, deployment and adoption services and market-leading social business capabilities, IBM is uniquely positioned to help organizations capture information, create insights and generate interactions that translate into real business value. “IBM paid close attention to customer feedback, feature requests and requirements while developing the latest iteration of its social enterprise suite. While the company has many point products in the social enterprise space, its new social business software suite brings all these products under a common platform, making them easier for companies to implement.”32 Social Business Patterns in achieving social business success 11
  • 12. 1. Cortada, James et al. The Business of Social Business: What works and how its done. IBM Institute for Business Value, November, 2012 2. ibid. 3. Chui, Michael et al. The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies. McKinsey Global Institute, July, 2012. The four industrial sectors are Consumer Packaged Goods, Consumer Financial Services, Professional Services and Advanced Manufacturing. 4. Guptill, Bruce. “Live from Lotusphere: Customers and Accidental Social Business ROI.” Saugatuck Technology ‘Lens 360 Blog’, January, 18, 2012 5. Wettemann, Rebecca. Social, Mobile CRM Boost Sales Productivity. Nucleus Research, March, 2012 6. Chui. op. cit. 7. Cited by IBM CEO Ginni Rometty in her January 2013 kickoff video 8. Current State of Social Engagement inside the Large Enterprise. Dachis Group Social Business Council, August, 2012 9. Reliance Life Insurance Corporation: Gaining market leadership with breakthrough self-service. IBM Corporation, 2010 10. ibid. 11. Ricoh generates new ideas with lateral communication on a global scale. IBM Corporation, 2012 12. Reliance, op. cit. 13. For more information about IBM Jams, see www.collaborationjam.com 14. O’Grady, Stephen. Quoted in “IBM Makes its Social Computing Strategy Smarter.” New York Times ‘Bits’ blog, January 16, 2012 15. Drucker, Peter. Managing in a Time of Great Change. Truman Talley: New York, NY (1995), p. 271 16. Chui. op. cit. 17. ibid. 18. For more information about the IBM Center for Social Business, see www.research.ibm.com/ social 19. ZurickDavis increases sales by approximately 120 percent annually. IBM Corporation, 2012 20. ibid. 21. TD Bank Group gains cohesion with social business software. IBM Corporation, 2012 22. Chui. op. cit. 23. ibid. 24. Judy, Charlie. “Empower Employees for Success with Social Onboarding.” HR Fishbowl blog, October 30, 2012 25. Christensen, Clayton et al. “The Big Idea: The New M&A Playbook.” Harvard Business Review, March 2011 26. Chui. op. cit. 27. Eurobas et al. “List of mergers and acquisitions by IBM.” Wikipedia, 2012-2013 28. Business Case for Safety and Health. United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration. 29. Connecting Employee Engagement and Key Metrics Impacts the Bottom Line for Caterpillar. Kenexa Corporation, 2012 30. See www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/employee_global_workplace_safety.shtml 31. Williams, Joshua. “Improving Safety Communication Skills: Becoming an Empathic Communicator.” www.safetyperformance.com 32. Carvalho, Larry. “Notes from LotuSphere and thoughts on IBM.” GigaOM Pro Blog, January 18, 2012 33. IBM to Acquire Kenexa to Bolster Social Business Initiatives. IBM Corporation, August 27, 2012. 34. For a list of awards with which Kenexa has been honored, see www.kenexa.com/ AboutKenexa/MediaRoom/OurAwards 35. IDC Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker, 2H 2012. IDC, April, 2013 36. Gilbert, Mark et al. Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management. Gartner, October, 2012 37. Koplowitz, Rob. The Forrester WaveTM: Enterprise Social Platforms, Q3 2011. Forrester Research, August, 2011 38. Keitt, TJ. The Forrester WaveTM: Cloud Strategies of Online Collaboration Software Vendors, Q3 2012. Forrester Research, August, 2012 39. Rowan, Lisa. IDC MarketScape: Worldwide HR BPO 2012 Vendor Analysis. IDC, Document #237630, November, 2012 © Copyright IBM Corporation 2013 IBM Corporation Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 Produced in the United States of America April 2013 IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at “Copyright and trademark information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every country in which IBM operates. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT­ABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. IBM products are warranted according to the terms and conditions of the agreements under which they are provided. Please Recycle