Programs like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have become a popular way for families and groups of friends (or groups of strangers) to share information and organize their lives. Now corporations are hoping they can tap into those capabilities as a way to improve employee productivity, collaboration and communication on the job -- and a long line of software vendors are hoping to position themselves as the ones to help make the integration of social networking and business a reality. Is it worth the effort?
But will it work? And is it worth it? Research firm IDC projects that the global market for social platforms will jump from $630 million in 2011 to $1.86 billion by 2014. But while proponents tout the push for a more "social" business sector as a new era that will alter the way companies manage employees, skeptics say it could amount to nothing more than a ploy to help software companies sell more products.
"Clearly, social media has revolutionized how human beings interact," says Kendall Whitehouse, director of new media at Wharton. "It's logical to ask how it can transform internal business processes." Shawndra Hill, a Wharton operations and information management professor, agrees, but says there is a lack of concrete measurement on the impact of social networking on business returns. "Social networking in the enterprise sector is relatively new, and better tools can enable people to communicate across an organization. But before this really takes off, there needs to be some proof that these things are useful."
continue reading .....
No comments:
Post a Comment