case study Compare the experiences implementing in- ternal social networks of the organizations described in this case. Why was Standard Bank successful? What role did management play in this process?

72 Part One Organizations, Management, and the Networked Enterprise Is Social Business Good Business? CASE STUDY A s companies become more dispersed in the When firms introduce new social media technol- global marketplace, businesses are turning in- ogy (as well as other technologies), a sizable num- creasingly to workplace collaboration technol- ber of employees resist the new tools, clinging to ogy, including tools for internal social networking. old ways of working, including email, because they These tools can promote employee collaboration and are more familiar and comfortable. There are com- knowledge sharing, and help employees make faster panies where employees have duplicated commu- decisions, develop more innovative ideas for prod- nication on both social media and email, increasing ucts and services, and become more engaged in their the time and cost of performing their jobs. BASF, work and their companies. the world's largest chemical producer with subsid- Adoption of internal enterprise social networking iaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries, is also being driven by the flood of email that em- prohibited some project teams from using email ployees typically receive each day and are increas- to encourage employees to use new social media ingly unable to handle. Hundreds of email messages tools. must be opened, read, answered, forwarded, or Social business requires a change in thinking, deleted. For example, Winnipeg, Manitoba-based including the ability to view the organization more Duha Group, which produces color paint samples democratically in a flatter and more horizontal way. and color systems for paint companies across the A social business is much more open to everyone's globe, was able to eliminate 125,000 excess emails ideas. A secretary, assembly line worker, or sales per year by adopting Salesforce Chatter social col- clerk might be the source of the next big idea. As a laboration tools. Managing Director Emeric Duha, result, getting people to espouse social business tools who used to receive 50 emails each morning from requires more of a "pull" approach, one that engages Asia, Europe, and Australia, now has a Chatter feed workers and offers them a significantly better way of everything going on in the company. to work. In most cases, they can't be forced to use Another driver of enterprise social networking is app fatigue." In order to collaborate, many em- Enterprise capabilities for managing social net- ployees have to log on to numerous apps, creating works and sharing digital content can help or hurt additional work. Contemporary enterprise social an organization. Social networks can provide rich networking systems often integrate multiple capa- and diverse sources of information that enhance bilities in one place. organizational productivity, efficiency, and inno- Recent studies have found that collaboration tools vation, or they can be used to support preexisting could be effective in boosting efficiency and produc- groups of like-minded people that are reluctant to tivity, while enabling users to make better business communicate and exchange knowledge with outsid- decisions. The products also expanded the potential ers. Productivity and morale will fall if employees for innovation. Not all companies, however, are suc- use internal social networks to criticize others or cessfully using them. Implementation and adoption pursue personal agendas. of enterprise social networking depends not only on Social business applications modeled on the capabilities of the technology but on the organi- consumer-facing platforms such as Facebook and zation's culture and the compatibility of these tools Twitter will not necessarily work well in an or- with the firm's business processes. The technologies ganization or organizational department that has won't provide benefits if they are applied to flawed incompatible objectives. Will the firm use social business processes and organizational behaviors. business for operations, human resources, or in- Digital collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, novation? The social media platform that will work Chatter, Yammer, Zoom, and WebEx added to email, best depends on its specific business purpose. texting, and messaging may enmesh employees in Additionally employees who have actively used too many interactions, leaving even less time for in- Facebook and Twitter in their personal lives are depth individual thinking and problem-solving. often hesitant to use similar social tools for work social apps. Chapter 2 Global E-business and Collaboration 73 74 Part One Organizat ons, Management, and the Networked Enterprise Northwards llousins, a nonprofit organiza Slank,fraturasime rom, tion providing allordable housing services in cea February 13, 2120, "Bedding a Better Enterprise with Yammer Microft.com, ad Petrusry 12, 2010 Manchester England, has an open organizational Daha Group luan by Inviting their customes into the culture, which encourages two-way communication Manufacturing Process Using Stese" www.lesforce.com, a and information transparency. Northwards has 340 ceased March 26, 2020: Ethan Bernstein Jesse Shors, and David employees, who do everything from rent collection L.122"Improving the thythm of our customer som wwwww, 2014; Marmel Kuch to scheduling repairs and cleaning maintenance. "The Growth of Enteprie Social Network at BASF," www. The organization wanted a way of exchanging infor simply communicate.com, sed March 12, 2018, Paul Leonard mation internally and with its customers that was and Thedal Nesley. What Managers Need to Know About Social casy to use and did not require much time for tech- "T" Harward and Rew Newmber-mer 2017 nical updates, Northwards introduced Yammer in Dimex.son Dua 2018 Connected Enterprise Beport, 2006. 2012 and now has 5 percent of employees engaged CASE STUDY QUESTIONS with the network 2-13 Identity the management, organization, and Steve Fincan, Northward's Head of Business technology factors affecting adoption of inter- Effectiveness and Communication, believes execu nal corporate Social networks tive support was critical to the network's growth 2-14 Compare the experiences implementing in The Northwards CEO regularly participates in dis- temal social networks of the organisations cussions, posts links to news stories of interest, and described in this case, Why was Standard Bank publishes a blog. The organization's executive direc- successful? What role did management play in Cors, who were initially skeptical about Yammer's benefits, now actively post content on the network 2-15 Should all companies implement internal en and answer questions terprise social networks? Why or why not? this process purposes because they see social media primarily Despite the challenges associated with launch- as an informal, personal means of self-expression ing an internal social network, there are companies and communication with friends and family. Most using these networks successfully. One company managers want employees to use internal social that has made social business work is Standard tools to communicate informally about work, but Bank, Africa's largest financial services provider, not to discuss personal matters. Employees accus- which operates in 33 countries (including 19 in tomed to Facebook and Twitter may have trouble Africa). Standard Bank has embraced social busi imagining how they could use social tools without ness to keep up with the pace of twenty-first-cer getting personal cury business. The bank is using Microsoft Yammer This means that instead of focusing on the tech- co help it become a more dynamic organization nology, businesses should first identify how social Use of Yammer at Standard Bank started to take initiatives will actually improve work practices for off in 2013, when the bank staped an important employees and managers. They need a detailed conference for its executives amund the world understanding of social networks: how people are and was looking for a collaborative platform for currently working with whom they are working, communicating conference logistics and posting what their needs are, and measures for overcoming content such as PowerPoint presentations. Many employee biases and resistance. agencies and consultants who worked for the bank A successful social business strategy requires used Yammer and liked the tool. Once conference leadership and behavioral changes. Just sponsor- participants saw how intuitive and useful Yammer ing a social project is not enough-managers need was, they wanted to use it in their own operations. to demonstrate the comuniment to a more open, Usage exploded, and the Yarmer social network transparent work style. Employees who are used to grew to over 20,000 sem just six months after collaborating and doing business in more traditional Standard Bank adopted the Finterprise version ways need an incentive to use social software Belinda Carreira, Standard Bank's Executive Head Changing an organization to work in a different of Interactive Marketing, is also reaching out to way requires enlisting those most engaged and departments most likely to benefit from enterprise interested in helping, and designing and building social networking the right workplace environment for using social Standard Bank has over 400 Yammer social technologies groups. Many are organized around projects and Management needs to ensure that the internal problem-solving such as linding credit card solu- and external social networking efforts of the com- tions that work well in Altican countries Yammer pany are providing genuine value to the business has become a platform for listening, where em Content on the networks needs to be relevant, up- ployees can casily share their concerns and in- ta-date, and easy to access users need to be able to sights. Yammer is also used for internal education connect to people who have the information they Yammer enables trainers to present mare visual and neck and would otherwise be out of reach or diffi- varied material than in the past, including videos cult to reach. Social business tools should be appro from the Internet. In some locations, the Internet priate for the tasks on hand and the organization's may be down for half the day, but Standard's em business processes, and users need to understand ployees are still able to access Yammer on their ma how and why to use them bile phones For example, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Carreira noles that succeastul adopcion and use had wabardor a custom-built enterprise social of a social tool such as Yamner will hit roadblocks network called Spacebook because no one knew without proper planning and organizational buy-in. hone its social tools would help people do their Many factors must be considered. Carreira recom- johs. Spacebook had been designed and developed mends that Yammer implementors work closely without taking into consideration the organization's with their organization's IT department, risk and culture and politics. This is not an isolated phenom compliance cearns, human resources, communica enon. Dimension Data found that one fourth of the cions department, and executive leadership across 900 enterprises it surveyed focused more on the the organization. In addition to internal resources, successful implementation of collaboration technol- Standard Bank drew on expertise provided by ogy, rather than how it's used and adopted. Yammer and Microsoft Chapter 2 References Aralar, Frik Trendlern, und Marshall Altyne Productivy Effects of Information Diffusion in Networks Arena, Michael, Rob Cross, Jonathan S, and Mary Be. MET Lenter for higital Buner (July 16 "How to Catalyelevation in Your Organization." MET Siam Manager Rewew (Summer 2017). Banker Rail D., Na Ha Pul... Paviou, and Jerry Laman "CIO Reporting Suc... S...agic Positioning and Fiem Pestormance MS Owatery 25, No. 2 June 2011) Bernstein, Euran Jesse Shoce, and David Laze" Improving te Rhythm of Your DollshareMIT nayet Rew (Fall 2019) Hugh J, Michael chui, ani Martin Garry"Huw Seal olan Hrah the cravin McKinsey Ghal Institute (May 2016). of burtistas computer and Informatically Cocupations." Occumonia! Outlook Handbook bls.gov, Dessed February 12, 2020 Colony George E CIOs and the Future of IT MIT Mew (Spring 2010) Criss, Hoh, Thomax Tonet, und Peter Gray Collaborate Smarter, Not Hardee" MIT Sloan Management (Pall Cummings Jeff, and Alan Tennis Virtual Fint Impression Netter: The Best of Enterprise Network In pessim Murmutun in Vantaal om. I Cry 42, No. 3 (Sepcember 2015). Forres. Besetoch. "Secil Baxiness: Delivering Crascal Business Value(April 2012 F: 01 & Sullivan. "Meetings and the World : Carcing die Course of Advanced Collaborio" (October 14, 2009). Gino, Francesca. "Cracking the Code od Susained Collaboration Hard Euskess Resle (November December 2019). Hrvard New Anal Service Collaboration Technology Boosts Organizations. Insight Enterprises Inc (nrury 1 2017 Kane Gerala interprise Serial Matt Cut Tarputland Future Ressibilities. Mis Quarterly Ecuatie 1, No. 1 (2015) Ksze, Gerald C., Dug Pilmer, Anh Nguyen hillipe and Kron. "Finding the value La Social Business. UITS exerit Renew 56, No. 3 (Spring 2014). Kiron. Dreid. Way Your Company Needs More Collaboration," NUT Sax Mawareneu' (Fall 2007) Leonarchiwalnd Twitally what Mange Need to Know About Social Tools Hand Business Route (November Damer )