Case Study #2 Linkedin: The Social Network and E-Marketplace for Professionals Founded in 2002, LinkedIn is the premiere social network for professionals, offering a comprehensive platform that stresses career progression and business services rather than updates for family and friends. LinkedIn is far smaller than Facebook, but many high-powered professionals are members, including Fortune 500 business execs who rely on the service to expand their personal networks, identify career opportunities, recruit talent for their companies, and share information LinkedIn invites individuals to create free accounts to post their employment histories, education, and skill sets; connect with colleagues; and identify promising job opportunities. But unlike other social networks that rely heavily on targeted advertising as their main source of revenue, LinkedIn enjoys a diverse revenue base with three major product lines. The company's Talent Solutions line offers a variety of services to recruiters, drawing on the network's user data to help companies identify the best candidates for the positions they have available and encourage them to apply. Sony, for instance, relies on LinkedIn to help find talented professionals not sports mana son.com Log in to AS My Account ALEKS - Sid Chegg Writing Assignment Chapter 6 C Case Study #2 The company's Talent Solutions line offers a variety of services to recruiters, drawing on the network's user data to help companies identify the best candidates for the positions they have available and encourage them to apply. Sony, for instance, relies on LinkedIn to help find talented professionals not only by searching the database but also by tapping the networks of Sony's own employees, who can offer referrals. LinkedIn's Marketing Solutions line earns revenue from targeted advertising based on user profiles, much like other social media platforms. Companies can also create "sponsored content," in which industry leaders offer their insights and knowledge directly to users who are likely to be interested. CRM software developer Hubspot uses LinkedIn Marketing Solutions to reach marketing professionals and engage them with e-books, webinars, and how-to guides. The third revenue source is Premium Subscriptions, which offers advanced features to members that match their interests and goals. For example, job seekers can see who has viewed their profile and can compare themselves to other candidates for particular positions. Some plans also offer access to an extensive educational video library. College students and recent grads are among LinkedIn's fastest-growing user groups, mainly because the company promotes its services to help grads find their ideal first job. Using data analytics on its big data, LinkedIn recommends positions that are well suited for graduates based on their profiles and majors and also points out oneninas at companies that have historically hired stark revel-ise.pearson.com sports mana Log in to AS My Account ALEKS - Sid. Chegg Writing Assignment Case Study #2 Chapter 6 and also points out openings at companies that have historically hired graduates from the same college. Details on the career paths of those fellow alums will also help the new grad see how to get ahead. LinkedIn continues to improve its services to recruiters and job seekers, drawing on artificial intelligence to select appropriate candidates and job opportunities. The use of Al for such purposes, however, can run into ethical and legal trouble because the software may inadvertently exhibit bias against certain candidates. Amazon's Al-driven hiring software, for instance, began discriminating against women because it was analyzing a decade of past hiring decisions and the resumes of successful applicants - mostly men. The software was downgrading resumes showing attendance at some women's colleges, or even resumes that just used the term "women's," as in women's chess club. The company wisely abandoned the tool. For LinkedIn, that kind of bias may become a danger because research shows that the self-portraits men and women submit to the network differ somewhat. Men's portraits tended to signal status clues, but women's emphasized that feature less. In 2016, Microsoft purchased LinkedIn for a whopping $26.2 billion. Microsoft had tried to develop its own social networking platform with little success, but the LinkedIn purchase achieves that goal. Most people on LinkedIn already use some or all of Microsoft Office products, and integration is underway. Imagine, for example, a businessperson heading for the next meeting on the Outlook calendar with the email addresses of the other attendees. Cortina, Microsoft's winnal nersonalassistant could offer a briefing on the sports mana. Log in to AS... My Account ALEKS - Sid Chegg Writing Assignment Chapter Case Study #2 In 2010, VICTOsort purchased Linkedin for a whopping $20.2 DION. IVICROSOFT had tried to develop its own social networking platform with little success, but the LinkedIn purchase achieves that goal. Most people on LinkedIn already use some or all of Microsoft Office products, and integration is underway. Imagine, for example, a businessperson heading for the next meeting on the Outlook calendar with the email addresses of the other attendees. Cortina, Microsoft's virtual personal assistant, could offer a briefing on the backgrounds and interests of the other attendees, drawing from LinkedIn profiles. Armed with some personal information, the businessperson could quickly establish a connection that leads to a solid relationship. With Microsoft's backing, LinkedIn has a promising future. Discussion Questions 6-25. LinkedIn does not rely heavily on targeted advertising but generates revenue from other sources. Identify other sources of revenue that LinkedIn uses and explain how each contributes revenue. 6-26. What are some of the advantages for college students to use LinkedIn 6-27. What are some of the advantages and benefits to Microsoft in the acquisition of LinkedIn? 6-28. Describe how Microsoft could integrate its products with LinkedIn to provide greater value to LinkedIn customers