Exploitation of Innovation Within IBM Through Social Business - Case Study Example

IBM AND SOCIAL BUSINESS Introduction The era of technological and information advancement has brought about amyriad of opportunities both to business organizations as well as to individual consumers. An example to the great success that the business world is experiencing is the use of social media technologies for commercial/business purposes. Social businesses are defined as organizations, which apply emergent technologies such as the web 2.0 together with changes in the processes, organization as well as business cultures in order to adopt a rather different landscape in business dealings (Alley, 2014, para 1-4; Kiron, Palmer, Phillips, & Kruschwitz, 2012, p. 1-10; Kiron, Palmer, Phillips, & Kruschwitz, 2012, p. 51-60). There is higher acknowledgement of the interactions of people as they are the main platform upon which the business thrives. In particular, software and applications for social networking are easily gaining new use and are increasingly being exploited for commercial gains by both small as well as large enterprises (Baxter and Watson, 2012, p. 1-2). Although criticism has risen in the past that social media are strategically meant for the young generation hence would be partial if applied for business purposes, reality has worked to prove the contra of the argument. One such a company that has adopted the social structure for business and has done extremely well is the IBM Company ("How social networking increases collaboration at IBM", 2010, p. 32-35). This paper therefore intends to carry out an intensive analysis of IBM company exploitation of social network services for business gains. The report will have four main parts, which are organizational learning approach, social media development, knowledge management features and the extent of subsequent innovation within the IBM Company. Organizational learning approach Traudt and Vancil (2011, p. 1-13) in investigating the IBM story concerning adoption and use of social software and applications for compared the rates and levels of deployment of the software within trading organizations and found out that the process was easily gaining momentum within many organizations. Organizations, which had already adopted the technologies, recorded realizing higher returns in productivity as well as realizing higher savings in time. However, it is to be noted that installation of social software serves as an enabler for transformation of a business into a social business unlike as otherwise would be thought as the actual social business. Commitment, time as well as effort in transforming a business into a social business are prerequisite and mandatory necessities in the process ("IBM; IBM Accelerates Social Business Adoption with New Mobile Software", 2011, p. 527). Nevertheless, it is acknowledged that transformation of a business into a social business makes it more efficient, open as well as innovative which are necessary attributes towards better customer-employee interrelations ease in making decisions as well as speed-to-market potential. Social business exploits among other cultural heritage in accelerated innovations and intellectual capital reuse. We acknowledge that using social software in an organization has the capacity of affecting merely all departments as well as ensuring higher results by the departments ("IBM; IBM Fuels Social Business Adoption With Partner and Academic Skills Initiative", 2011, p. 976). In learning about social business, IBM reveals that basic elements to be learnt include that market factors drives such a change, social business objectives are necessary, social business outputs need be outlined as well as social software acts as the enabler. The organizational learning approach is therefore fundamental in dictating the direction of the business with the organizational change. Learning and effectively implementing such a change into social business follows distinct steps which are evaluating for the strategic factors necessitating such a change, understanding the main social business objective an organization intends to fulfill as well as understanding the social outputs to be targeted for supporting of the objectives identified. Moreover, there is the need to have the applications as well as platforms necessary for realization of the targeted outputs defined. The IBM developerWorks is an online pool of resources that was created as a learning approach and offers information as well as technical learning contents to application managers, IT managers, system administrators as well as to academicians. In a rather differentiated approach than through use of social media like facebook and twitter, IBM sought of a mechanism to raise interactions of people online for monetary gains and this is how ‘my developerWorks’ was born. Higher level of collaboration and interactions form the basis of the social business as is embraced by IBM. Social media development It is to be noted that information technology has increasingly shaped the modes of communication adopted within organizations and this explains the emergence of such communication mechanisms as through websites, social media as well as through teleconferencing services. Recent developments have seen the development of a specialized web which is referred to as ‘Web 2.0’ and which allows communication between many people on the same web platform (Bughin, chui and Miller, 2009, para 1-7). Web 2.0 technologies, which are the most modern technologies for use in such organizations as IBM, allow easy and efficient communication between organizational management, employees as well as the customers. Suppliers as well as other persons involved within the supply chain management also take advantage of the ease of communication through the web 2.0 inventions and this improves the performance of the organization. At the time when dot com era was overtaken, technological advancement in web development brought about new web applications and software whose main feature was online interactive pages. This simply took the name Web 2.0 and as referred to previously, the web based system allows increased interactions by people from the same web page (Anderson, 2007, para 1-3). Therefore, it represents varying ways through which web pages are designed and adopted for use. Moreover, it incorporates other features as instant messaging, group diaries, virtual offices that are hosted, video and audio conferencing as well as address books which all aid in effective communication. Paramount to the main notable advantages with this technology is that people would adopt a virtual community through which communication and interactions would be on the social media. Therefore, the members to such a virtual community would be in a position to communicate, exchange materials and share information, among other practices, which were not enabled by previous versions of web applications. Social business as well as interactive social media platforms adopts the new web development applications for ease of convenience and economies. Nevertheless, increased awareness has seen in the recent past the technology gain popularity among firms playing the information sector, journalism as well as within entertainment industries across the globe. Business organizations adopts internet as the main necessity, just as was previously used by other web versions but has higher appliances such as phones, tablets, laptop computers and notepads among others and has higher levels of interactions between a person to another. It is to be noted that Web 2.0 has brought about great revolution in modern day communications and interactions across different geographical localities. Virtual communication has been in the rise with the designing and adoption of the technology with physical communication being in the verge of being overtaken and forgotten in business transactions. IBM enjoys strategic benefits while it operates the social business which include Communication efficiency: Ease of interactions and communication through the virtual platform aids in good management of such an organization. Customers at the destination countries where the organization exports its products to gets easy means to communicate direct to the management on which ever the concern they would like addressed as well as on commendation to the organization. Such platforms as social media provide rather cheap means through which customers and the organizational management would interact and this would reduce instances of information distortion between either party in the communication. The technology through which the web 2.0 web version relies on is therefore very effective in addressing the challenge of physical distance as well as communication through provision of virtual interactive platforms, which require little technical expertise (Barnes et al, 2012, p. 688). Marketing: The entire process involved between the manufacture of products by the producer and the consumption by the final consumer sums up marketing process, which comprises a wide range of processes that include proper identification of consumer needs and wants, and formulating mechanisms to meet the needs, and satisfy the wants. Marketing has been seen to satisfy needs and wants by giving information to target groups as well as bringing the products to their reach. In reference to knowledge management, marketing involves effective capturing, sharing, developing as well as the effective use of knowledge from an organization to gain customers for the products. The technologies of Web 2.0 for social media have been in the recent past adopted as effective tools for organizational management of information, which is not limited to marketing knowledge. Cost: As a profit making organization, IBM Company has an obligation to adopt the most cost effective means of management of organizational information in order to maintain low profile of operational costs for profit making. Social media applications and software have been shown to be easier and effective in passing information from a person to another as it is applied within such simple appliances as the telephone. The organization would have no need to use the rather expensive mechanisms as mails and letters, which are cumbersome and take long time in response. Challenges Over exposure of organizational information: It is a concern in the modern era that social media places so much information open to all people in the internet which threatens levels of secrecy and security of an individual or such an organization as IBM. Hackers as well as such other intruders whose motives would be bad threaten the well-being of such an organization and customers through the ease of access to the sensitive information exposed through the web. Hacking: Hackers and such intruders invade the systems of an organization through malware or specialized programs, which would rely on such information, share across the social media platforms. Therefore, the cyber crime should be an urgent matter to consider while investing in and adopting internet use in organizational management and for business. Malicious software has been in use even with the previous version of web applications and is equally a potential threat to the welfare of any individual or organization operating in social business (Reavis, 2012, p3-6). The software in use include viruses which gain access to computer systems of an organization and corrupt the stored information or copy it and replicate it which over exposes it to unintended persons. The result would be very disastrous to any organization hence the concern that web 2.0 in social media increases the threat of hacking. Installation costs: technology advancement is very expensive to any organization especially on setting up the infrastructure. Relatively larger organizational however enjoy benefits of accumulated capital for installation of complex systems of IT such as the system of web 2.0 and software/applications necessary for operation of social business (Harris and Rae, 2009, p. 694). Knowledge management features Through businesses, adopting technological changes social business platforms are developed whose main advantages are creation of valued customer experiences, increased productivity by the employees as well as accelerating innovation. In particular, customer servicing as well as overall sales are pointed out as the main beneficiaries to adoption of the technological platforms and technologies as characterize the social business today (Cortada, Lesser and Korsten, 2012, p.2-5). The main management features in knowledge within organizations investing in social business is through creating the valued experience to customers, improving on effectiveness and productivity of workforce as well as improving then rates of innovation. In creation of valued customer experience, an organization engages and listens to customers, builds the community as well as shifts knowledge ideology towards service and sales. Workforce effectiveness and productivity is improved through managing transparency and velocity of knowledge, building on expertise as well as through leveraging capabilities even beyond the boundaries of an organization ("IBM: The Business of Social Business: What Works and How Its Done", 2012, para 1-5). Finally, management of knowledge through innovation is realized through capturing ideas and creativity from everybody, creating enabling environment internally for innovations as well as enabling structured efforts of innovation within the organization. IBM Company has invested in a number of features that would be strategic in helping other organizations embrace the social business ("Computer Networks; IBM Launches New Software and Social Business Consulting Services", 2010, p. 1040). The ‘IBM connections suite’ is strategically created as a social software, ‘IBM social analysis’ suite eases operations of sophisticated analysis, ‘social content manager’ orders contents in the right contexts for sharing as well as the ‘global business services’ meant for optimization (Cortada, Lesser and Korsten, 2012, p. 1-4). Extent of subsequent innovation In exploration of new fronts of future innovations, jamming is given priority within the IBM Company. This is a platform created online through which people are involved in brainstorming conversations with a vision of developing new insights and perspectives of addressing challenges and problems. The ideas developed through jamming have been necessary in establishing actionable points on critical business agendas in the past through involving such wide spectrum of persons. The IBM has employed in the past the innovation in involving business partners and shareholders across the globe in deliberating on making the world better. Now that many organizations show signs of reaching the tipping point and having mass of interactions across the globe, the social way is increasingly being adopted for effectiveness in communication and maintenance of the ties. Though social networking has been explored intensively in the past, emerging trends required the adoption of higher effective tool than just social media such as facebook and twitter among many others that are in use today. Jamming therefore presents an effective social tool to be exploited for the success of social business even in the future. The involvement of such different players brings on board great minds in expertise through which a pool of opinions and insights would be collected. This has been most important to the evolution of IBM to becoming fully social business, as other organizations are (IBM Corporation, 2011, p. 1-11). Conclusion Commercial use of social networks and platforms is gaining prominence among trading organizations globally. In an analysis of how IBM has exploited the technology for commercial purposes, this report has found out critical features with IBM. From the report, IBM stands to influence other global organizations towards restructuring service delivery and how interactions are facilitated between stakeholders, shareholders as well as the customers for the good of the organization (Rahman, & Hussain, 2012, p. 118-125). It is established that the modern technology facilitates interactions by persons over web platforms as aided by the development of web 2.0 technologies, which took over from dot com web technologies. This web service allows interactions through communication on a common web platform as is used through social media. The use of facebook, twitter as well as whatsup platforms is pegged on the technology hence widely known. However, an emergent issue is how organizations are restructuring their operations to adopt social business structures. Though restructuring processes are costly, the analysis of IBM company reveals that social business presents a whole range of advantages and hence the necessity for other organizations to venture into the mode of business. Organizations already adopted into the social mode of business reveal realizing higher returns in saving time and increased sales. Besides, decision-making processes are easier in the mode of business as compared to the previously used business modes. The social business is however seen to be dependent on software that is installed. Social media brings about a variety of advantages to a business venture among which are efficiencies in communication, marketing as well as lowered costs of operations (Bulkeley, 2007, para 1-5). However, it has associated shortcomings such as overexposure of important information of an organization as well as costs associated with installation. This report therefore shows that great steps have been made by organizations towards embracing technological advancement and use of social media for commercial purposes (Anon, 2012, para 1-3). Bibliography Alley W., 2014. Social media. 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