The Social Enterprise: The Business of Going Social

The Business Of Going Social

The AgileEnterprise

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The AgileEnterprise

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why consider going social?

The explosion in the population of online

social communities is changing how we live

and interact with others. Web users of all

ages now naturally expect to gather and

share information that was once held by

organizations as too privileged or too

difficult and costly to extract and

share — whether at home, at work or on

the road. This phenomena represents new

challenges for organizations seeking to

respond to their customer and employee

expectations to more freely and openly

collaborate and share.

Technology providers have proclaimed a

new era in computing and are aggressively

marketing solutions to help organizations

bridge this gap. Social CRM is a young market

filled with many players, and evolving quickly

as more experienced companies enter the

arena. The value of social CRM is growing as

companies engage in more direct dialog with

employees and customers — for example,

giving voice to the brightest thinkers in an

organization regardless of rank or avoiding

a potential PR fiasco by nipping in the bud

a customer complaint posted on a public

social network.

Bluewolf believes that companies best

poised to benefit from social CRM are those

that already have a strong foundation

of customer information in place. An

organization’s current ability to efficiently

access and analyze accurate data is an

essential prerequisite before adding a

potential tidal wave of new information that

comes with integrating systems with social

channels. Coupling this with a strong vision

from leadership and social-smart processes/

technologies will lead to intended business

outcomes, and avoid unintended consequences.

— Greg Kaplan

Managing Director & VP, Bluewolf

a social enterprise is a successful enterprise

Speed and connectivity are the watchwords

for business success in the systems revolution,

building new opportunities for workforce

collaboration. Businesses can no longer afford

to simply react to customer expectations

by merely fulfilling requests for service. A

successful social enterprise business culture

must identify unfilled customer needs and

other meaningful solutions based on routine

and proactive interaction among product

and service subsets.

Huntington Bancshares Inc. is transforming

the sales culture of diverse business units by

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connecting sales functions into an integrated

social enterprise, so that thousands of

colleagues now drive the growth of the

company together and can see the direct

benefits of doing so. It’s a logical and

necessary step for the future of any

growth-driven organization.

— Zahid Afzal, EVP & CIO

Huntington Bancshares Inc.

introduction — defining the social enterprise

In a world where social sharing has become

ubiquitous — we share pictures, fleeting

moods, political harangues and funny

stories — we continue to hesitate to bring

that sense of openness to the workplace.

The idea of a social enterprise is one that

attempts to capture the free flow of thought

and information that we bring to our social

interactions into our organizations. The

goal is to foster dialogue, share ideas and

build transparency. With the advent of the

social web, what used to occur around the

water cooler can now be systematized to

incorporate a wider pool of people, across

departments, hierarchies and functionalities.

The social enterprise represents an agile

enterprise, one that fosters ideas through

collaboration, engagement and nurturing.

It mines the knowledge of its employees,

clients and customers to create value.

A study by McKinsey & Co., which surveyed

more than four thousand executives,

found organizations that promote social

engagement within the enterprise had 41%

improved collaboration across silos, 55%

better information sharing, 24% increased

revenue and 43% greater market share1.

Key defining points of a social enterprise

include the promotion of:

Internal Operations and Collaboration:

Social enterprises take knowledge

sharing and brainstorming within teams

to the next level. They create platforms

that allow ideas to flow, be tracked and

communicated clearly through cloud

based software systems. They build a

vehicle for internal voices to be heard

across the spectrum and, in very large

organizations, they break down the

barriers created by geography function

or sheer size.

Transparency: The social web is about

openness, and social enterprises thrive on

transparency. They allow executives an

opportunity to see through the layers of

hierarchies to understand how employees

are communicating and working

with each other. They also allow peer

transparency and create an environment

that values competition in creating value

and building a business.

Customer/Client Engagement:

Meaningful engagement with customers

is a core of business practices today.

A social enterprise is one that builds

this focus into their internal, client

1 Source: McKinsey & Company, “The rise of the networked enterprise, Web 2.0 finds its payday.” Survey of 4,394 executives. December 2010.

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and customer engagement. More than

having a Facebook page or Twitter feed,

the focus of social engagement should

be about a constant transfer and flow

of information that feeds both value

and excitement/loyalty to a product

or service as it happens. For example,

consider Secret’s anti-bullying campaign

on Facebook. It extends the values of the

brand around a core issue that customers

care about. Consumers are commenting

online around Secret’s Facebook page

and building positive brand identity. The

goal is to be unique, engaging and build

positive brand sentiment.

Brand Building: Communicating who you

are in the social world is defined by your

fans — your clients, customers or those

who simply admire the contributions

that your company is making through

its products, services or community. It’s

about communicating an image through

the social platforms that consumers and

clients use. This is accomplished through

mobile ready websites to how companies

handle major news releases and

communications. In the social enterprise,

brand building is a constant exercise that

adapts and changes according to how

customers react in real time — allowing

companies to shape their brand and the

conversation around it more than they

have in the past.

Establishing an Internal Culture:

A lot of companies talk the talk of

collaboration, but few walk the walk.

While some, like Google, go as far as

designing their workspace to build

interaction, many workers are stuck

in cubicle farms meeting their teams

or those on their floor on a regular

basis, but rarely interacting with other

members of the company. A tool such as

Chatter by Salesforce promotes internal

collaboration by emulating the news feed

and interactivity of sites like Facebook,

but with a company focus. Bridges are

built between employees and an inside

view to deals and business is shared

across a wider array of employees.

Creating this kind of shared platform

is where the true social enterprise

distinguishes itself.

the internal social enterprise — driving employee engagement

Social media is a channel that connects

people and teams, promotes engagement

and produces collaboration and innovation.

The social enterprise is one that embraces

all the components of social media. Its

relevancy exists for every organization and

industry. Incorporating tools that encourage

collaboration and capture that into revenue

enhancing ideas marks the successful social

enterprise. In making your organization more

of a social enterprise, the following themes

should be a goal:

Break Down Silos: A key way to

understand the social enterprise is to

look at the concept of the silo. It’s a term

bandied about in conversations about

organizational cooperation and change










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when companies want to get employees to

look up from their computer screens and

work together more. But, it’s a metaphor

that’s far more powerful than we realize. A

silo represents an impenetrable repository

storing something necessary. Now imagine

breaking through that silo and having

what’s stored inside pour out. Social

media captures that flow of information

contained within one individual’s or

team’s experiences. Social enterprises

use tools that break the individual silos

employees build around the knowledge

they accumulate through their work or

small teams and allows that information to

be more widely distributed.

Share In Real Time: The days of keeping

information close to the chest or being

“in the know” are over. Successful

organizations are seeking to share

information with each other through

the cloud so that ideas and info are

available when you want it, where you

want it. Building the infrastructure

to allow employees to do this easily

is critical to collaboration. Sharing

information when it happens is crucial

for a true social enterprise.

Faster, Stronger Internal Engagement:

A new employee at Cisco or Hewlett-

Packard is one among 30 to 40 thousand

people. The time it takes for him or her to

build a network and become acclimated

is time lost in generating ideas and the

knowledge that s/he brings from another

corporate environment. A strong social

enterprise culture within a company

allows for faster internal adoption in

building networks, getting voices heard

and learning the company’s culture.

Eagle’s Eye View: It’s rare for executives

to truly know the thoughts of their

employees, what they’re working on

and how deals are progressing. Creating

internal platforms that track progress

and show information sharing gives an

eagle’s eye view of the internal business

operations to the C-suite. Tablet mobile

technology innovation lead by Apple with

its iPad2 and a few notable mentions

Lenovo Idea pad, Dell Streak Android

Tablet and the Sony Dash Mobile.











how social ready is your enterprise?

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action steps: how to bring the social enterprise into your work place

Creating a social enterprise internally requires

a 360 approach that incorporates business

processes with management oversight and

clear metrics. Some of the ways that you

can bring your social enterprise into the

workplace include:

Tools and Platforms: The social enterprise

seeks to create platforms that bring

groups together and provide a trail of

documentation. This helps to demonstrate

the generation of ideas that lead to new

projects or innovations. The goal is not for

a select group to be “in the know,” but for

everyone to “know it all.”

Internal Champions: Every cause needs

an advocate and having internal adopters

of the social enterprise philosophy is

critical for an organization’s success.

Having individuals who can put these

practices of sharing, collaboration and

use of new technology that carry weight

and authority in an organization sets

a precedent that other employees can

follow. Identifying these individuals in

your organization and giving them the

tools to be early champions of the social

enterprise will aid adoption.

Defining Standards of Collaboration:

Defining how your organization would

like its employees to collaborate, use

new tools and build a social enterprise

are necessary first steps. Write a policy

document or company manifesto that

lays out goals on how employees should

work together to foster collaboration and

sets standards that can be measured.

Consider posting an industry specific

news article or participating in an

online discussion once a week. Put the

goals and the standards for the social

enterprise on paper. This will break down

the process of building collaboration

from a cool idea into a manageable and

achievable process.

Executive Oversight: Without

management buy-in and constant

encouragement, a social enterprise can

never truly get off the ground. Employees

need to feel that it’s safe to share

thoughts and ideas freely. Implementing

a social enterprise should include getting

management to participate in the flow

of information and ideas by commenting

online, asking how people are sharing,

how they are using tools and how they

are staying engaged online.

Metrics: While calculating an ROI of

your social enterprise initiatives may

not be possible, setting standards and

ensuring that you are measuring up to

them is critical. How many employees

are engaging online? How much sharing

has there been around deal flow? What’s

the usage pattern around cloud-based

services? These are the types of metrics

that can help you gauge employee

adoption. Firms struggle to allocate value

to multiple touch points for a single

opportunity. What matters the most?

What type of social activity pushed










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the deal over the line. Like any form of

measured research, test and control

methods, varied tools and power of

experience will shape a social media ROI.

Experimentation: In finding the path to

success as a social enterprise, the goal

is to be ambitious and persistent, willing

to try different paths on the road to

achieving the optimal blend of collaboration,

communication and revenue enhancement.

The social enterprise is new terrain for

many companies, and there is no path

most taken. Instead, as new technologies

and best practices emerge, an organization

needs to try different approaches to see what

works best within their industry and

organizational culture. That willingness to

try new things is a hallmark of the social

enterprise because it’s a public declaration

of openness and receptivity to new ideas,

and the failures and success that result

from attempting to build a more collaborative

ecosystem. This should serve to motivate

internal and external stakeholders.

the external social enterprise —building a two-way dialogue

The other side of the coin of the social

enterprise is the external dialogue that a

company has with its customers. How does

it build engagement, loyalty and interest in

the brand? How does a company become

a thought leader? Claiming to be a thought

leader requires the use of contemporary

social media tools and a corporate strategy

committed to the constant work of

managing, building and refining a company’s

image in the public sphere.

Facebook and Twitter are Baby Steps:

The pages of AdAge and other trade

magazines are filled with articles that

dissect the value of a Facebook “like,”

but creating a social media page

or updating on Twitter are only the

beginnings of building dialogue with

customers and clients. Status updates

are a way to start a conversation, but

building loyalty and interest require a

rationale and a connection to the lives

of your customers. Great case examples

range from Sun Microsystems to Burger

King. Jonathan Schwartz’s blog for Sun

Microsystems receives 400,000 hits

a month and comments of all kinds

are allowed and approved. Burger King

ran a Facebook campaign that asked

customers to sacrifice ten Facebook

friends to win free food - it quickly went

viral. Both these campaigns dabble with

the negative. Unafraid of backlash, they

put ideas out there. Having a “safe” and

“controlled” Facebook or Twitter feed

won’t provide the social ROI that are likely

by taking bold steps.

Thought Leadership: When there’s a new

product launch or industry news that’s

worth commenting on, is your company

helping lead the dialogue? With the case of

B-to-B companies, being on the forefront

of thought leadership on trends and ideas

is critical to showing customers that

your company is innovating. Blog posts










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or interacting with your industry’s trade

publications are ways to build that sense

of communication. IBM and Forrester

Research provide strong examples of this

type of thought leadership. Both companies

have employees and lead consultants blog

constantly, providing a steady update on

news of the day in their industry. It creates

dialogue and builds trust that your B-to-B

partner is on top of your field.

An Ear to the Ground: How often does

your company report its social media

monitoring metrics? Does it even use

them? Listening to what consumers and

clients have to say is as critical as voicing

your firm’s thoughts and opinions. Radian

6 and Get Satisfaction are both great tools

that allow companies to hear through

the social “noise.” Radian 6 may put it

best when it says that smaller brands

and new entrants need to understand

the value of listening and participating in

the conversations around their product

category and brands that are similar to

them, not just their own. It builds an

intimate knowledge of the consumer

mindset, which can be translated into

actionable insights.

Knowledge Communities: One part of the

social enterprise strategy for companies

is to build a base of users – whether

bloggers or avid customers – who are a

barometer for the ideas and initiatives

your firm is generating. Companies such

as Collective Bias are organized around

finding you that group of go-to users,

while others like Bluewolf can guide an

organization to map out a strategic vision

and tactical plan to customize cloud

and mobile technology based platforms

to promote internal engagement . For

example, Bluewolf has used Chatter to

build user groups around ideas focused

on new adoption of technologies. The

groups within Chatter create a forum for

participation and internal idea generation

that the rest of the organization can

tap into. Whatever approach you take,

building that dialogue and relationship

with a select group of customers/

clients creates a new laboratory for your

company that’s closer to the ultimate

end client/customer than you may get

through classic market research.

action steps: talking and listening to your consumers and clients

Owning the Social Media Messaging: The

approach to social media varies wildly from

brand to brand. For example, IBM allows

employees to blog about whatever they

want and emphasizes that the views are

not necessarily that of the company. Other

firms, such as Pepsi, tightly control their

Facebook and Twitter messaging and the use

of their brand online. What best works for

you depends on your brand, customer base,

and how comfortable you are with letting go

of the reins.

But, make a decision and assign external

social media responsibility to a team or

group of users within the company. Track

progress and then re-evaluate after six










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about us >

Bluewolf is your guide on the journey to

enterprise agility. We partner with clients to

sync business and IT to create a new level of

business responsiveness. From cloud enabled

customer life cycle innovation, to IT staffing,

to agile managed services, Bluewolf knows

how to get your business to the next level of

innovation. Our clients include Time Warner

Cable, GlaxoSmithKline, ADP, Dow Jones &

Company, United Way, Chevron and more.

months. If you started with a tight fist

around your messaging, you might just get

confident enough to loosen your grip.

Incentivizing Participation: You have

a Facebook page, a Twitter account,

maybe a blog - now what? Building an

audience is the key to brand success in

the social media sphere. It can come

through innovative contests or coupon

redemption, or in the case of B-to-B,

focusing on strategic insights that help

your customers business. Whatever your

industry, the goal is to have something

that would bring people in because you

have something of value to give away,

share or contribute.

Quality of Content: In the most

attended webinar hosted by author of

Facebook Marketing and the Hierarchy

of Contagiousness, @danzarella said

“engaging in the conversation does not

work. Publishing interesting content

does.” Correlation of your content

to what the audience is interested in

attracts engagement like “fruit flies.”

The accessibility of your content also

contributes to how well it will be shared

and how organic conversations will occur

around them.

Invest In Metrics: Expecting a dollar

per dollar ROI on your social media is

unrealistic, but it doesn’t mean there

isn’t great value in investing in the

tools and platforms you need to

understand how your social chatter

measures up. Also, simply gauging

consumer or client sentiment around

an issue may help generate the next

big idea for your company.

conclusion — the path to leadership

The social media we have today is bulldozing

the silos of our stored knowledge and

creating platforms where that knowledge

can be shared freely. The social enterprise

seeks to capture the data that we all store

within us and within small groups, and

bring that data into the open so that it can

be compared, discussed and acted upon.

Organizations that embrace this change,

which mimics how our world operates with

information today, are the best positioned to

be leaders in their fields. The keys to success

lie in understanding that openness and

collaboration are the new norm. Businesses

that wish to ride the new social wave with

success will choose to revamp practices to

become social sharing organizations.

we’d love to hear your comments or questions about this white paper

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