The Social Networks in the Business World: Office Resources for Private Interaction - Essay Example

Social networks and information management systems are playing an increasingly significant role in business today, with knowledge becoming one of themost crucial recourses in the many organizations. A firm must make use of a variety of information and knowledge management systems and tools. In order to bring the wealth of information vested in the different members of the organization to bear. Information in this case, may range from; new ideas, feedback from consumers and other market information, as well as operation procedures. As such, a knowledge base through which information can be gathered and distributed within and without the business environment so it can reach the pertinent departments and people is crucial. In the past, the avenues through which information could be passed both for corporate or social spheres were severely limited; comparatively speaking, business information was almost exclusively passed and managed through word or mouth and hard copy documents which substantially circumscribed its scope. Conversely, today data is stored in online data banks which makes it accessible sometimes in real-time and to numerous parties transcending temporal and geographical circumstances. Social networks such as; Facebook and twitter, as well as the many other companies that allow interactive interfaces for networking such as yahoo have increased the versatility of business communication. Many firms have pages on these networks and through them; the staff gets feedback from the consumers as well as carrying out a variety of other task such as advertising, and supplying production information. In this essay, the role of information management systems and social networking practice in the corporate world is critically examined, initially by analyzing published works on the retrospective application of the same. Then an evaluation of the factors necessitating their usage in specific situations as well as the challenges faced in the process. Finally with due consideration to research and examples covered, supply an assessment and attempt projections of the impact and role of social networks in future business practice. According to an essay by Anria Sophia van Zyl Titled; “The impact of Social Networking 2.0 on organizations” posits that with the advent of web technologies, the rules of business and social interaction are being rewritten since electronic media has become more prevalent as well as tools such as wikis, tags and blogs. The increase in social networking has been attributed to the availability of low cost internet as well as cheap laptops and other networking hardware’s (2008). The essay cites research conducted by clear swift to determine the extent to which social media is used in America by business people and office workers. The result showed that, over 83 percent of the workers use office connections to access social media sites such as Facebook and twitter. It also showed 30 percent of employees in the United States and 42 in the united kingdom admitted to having used the social media sites to discuss work and business related issues. Taking these data to consideration, the need and relevance of social media in business becomes apparent; for instance employers traditionally frowned at idea of their staff using office resources to access social networking sites because of the underlying assumption that this leads to time wastage. Nevertheless, the fact that employees used it for business deals despite it not being required of them is evidence that it can be used to the advantage of the firms in question. Indeed many firms have actually done so and social networks have become part of the normal communication between employees in the firm as well as customers. Knowledge can be differentiated in three categories namely the association with the knower, the fact that it is embedded in them and finally the knower must be committed to understanding the information presented (Brown and Duguid 119-120). Nelly Todorova, in a similar paper; dealing with the value of knowledge management systems asserts that human resource and information inthe 21stcentury knowledge economy are the most valuable assets in any business organization. Indeed, firms can only achieve any degree of competitive advantage by learning new information, as well as, putting it to use in the most profitable way possible. Knowledge management (KM) comes in handy since employees can create, share and make us of information in an efficient and cost effective manner so as enhance the organizations knowledge (2010). The paper separately discusses value which the organization is perceived to create for the different targets, which could include; society, the employees, as well as, the customers perceive as the role of the organizations to create. Human capital is described as being representative of the value of skill as and tactic knowledge as well as individuals abilities, social capital which encompasses all the above in a networked environment since it is anon formal organization existing alongside the formal hierarchy in the firm. Social networking has often occupied this sphere; however it is slowly taking over some roles of formal hierarchy. In a documented study by the university of Johannesburg, 80 percent of the respondents quizzed said that Technologically based KMS were beneficial to the their practice for business in a variety of ways such as communication with clients, distribute knowledge collect data by colleagues as well as upgrade existing data (Moloto and Buckley 248). This is mostly done through social networks like Facebook, however the social network world has expanded in such a way that professionals have come up with a site custom designed for them. This site called linked is currently the social network with the largest number of professional clients at about 140 million which accounts or a sizable chunk of the social networkers. Craig Marinello and Kenneth Lacho from the University of New Orleans in a paper posit that the best way of marketing and promoting their products is through online sites. Today, the business world has expanded exponentially and goods are bought and sold online transcending geographical and political boarders since they are able to expose their products on a global scale thanks to globalization. (Lacho and Marinello 131). The aforementioned writers; however, cautions perspective business people from losing focus and ending up using the social networking sites to catch up with old friends getting at the expense of the business. One can select the social media to use depending on their needs and the line of business they are involved in, for instance for maximum exposure to a wide audience, Facebook would be ideal. However, for a situation where one wants to control access to the data as well as give specified recruiting information, LinkedIn is the way to go. Maintaining the morale of the staff as well as keeping up the standards of discipline among the employees is one of the challenges facing managers staff morale and job satisfaction, while maintaining discipline and productivity (Sophia 910). Social networks have the ability to take the friction out of the, collaboration that have often been associated with pooling competing ideas. This is because the emergence of social networks facilitates a culture of sharing and through this increases job satisfaction, ergo, productivity which in the long run are the principle interests of any business organization. It has also been argued that people are motivated to use social networking sites since they get used to giving information without expecting payback, when a large number of people have this mentality, they will be eager to give and share data for free and this goes a long way in creating a culture of sharing data and expertise. In the year 2005, business people began to realize that sites such as face book and MySpace could be used to reach their customers around the world much faster, cheaply and more effectively than the traditional methods (Gery 13). The value of studying the impact of social networks in business can be explained by the theory of social embeddedness which posits that economic activity can only be successfully analyzed when focus is paid to the social context in which it takes place (BarNir,et al 224). In the 2009, IT experts at ford motors were working on a way to develop a collaborative software that could enhance social networking and they came up with Yammer, which the firm has used effectively and extensively as an information management system and social network and this has had considerable effect in streamlining communication and internally as well as improving the levels of efficacy as the employees seek solutions to problems as well as searching for pertinent production, publicity and customer information. Launched in the year 2008, yammer is a free enterprise social network used for private communication between individuals in a firm; it is notable that 80 percent of the fortune 500 firms use the service. In a demonstrative experiment, by Supervalu, one of Americas leading grocery stores showed that firms using yammer had a considerable advantage over those that weren’t especially during the holiday season (Kiron et al 7). Using yammer, ford was able to resolve several of its communication problems as well make savings and increase productivity among its workers. Yammer allowed the firms employees to ask questions and get immediate feedback as well as share news and announcements publicly as well as on a need to know basis depending on the data in question. Workers can connect and use the tool to collaboratively solve problems through engagement in and Brainstorming sessions through which they may discover valuable information as well as replacing email with faster means such as instant messaging (IM). According to Ed Krebs, fords non-industry related affairs are posted in yammer groups which have registered share interests; as such, ford employees are supplied with a forum to connect likeminded individuals analogous to popular social networks such as twitter (Yammer 2011). The use of social networks to manage information fits well with Qureshi’s idea of Intellectual Bandwidth which is focused on the ability of an organization to create value using its intellectual capital (Qureshi et al. 201). The different forms of social networks allow for free and easy methods of creating, acquiring and making use of this capital among its employees. Some of this are internal, such as yammer, which firms use exclusively within their formal circles while others like Facebook can be used to communicate not only with members but also the world at large. Another brand that has been using social media to market and create awareness is Starbucks, today the coffee maker chain heavily relies on Facebook twitter as well as its website which has a very user friendly interface to communicate and receive data from clients. Starbucks noticed that on Facebook people normally comment about what they have been doing all day. They started a campaign, where they would place pictures in major cities and have their fans and followers compete on who can comment on it before the end of the day. Taking cognizance that the coffee chain has over 1.4 million Facebook members and 800,000 followers on twitter, it is clearly benefiting from the wave of social media. Starbucks also uses you tube to share videos, for instance on the night before the election, Starbucks posted a video on you tube declaring that on election da, the coffee would be free in their branches. In less than four days, this was the most watched video in you tube and statistics suggest that its name was mentioned in online conversation every 8 seconds. This gives it a massive edge over it competition since the popularity comes without and charges, YouTube being free and yet millions are talking about the firm which is the goal of every business that is using advertising services. While social networking has boosted business in myriad ways, there have been challenges in the implementation as well as the workings of the systems in business. One of the main issues that arise from the use of social networks is wastage of time and company resources, when a firm allows its staff to use Facebook or twitter to interact with clients and colleagues; it cannot restrict the extent to which these interactions will occur. Furthermore some of the workers can waste valuable company time chatting up old friends and participating in online activities that have nothing to do with the job at hand. Owing to the addictive nature of social networks, employees can spend the whole day on such sites under the guise of being busy while in reality they are misusing the resources. Both of the firms discussed herein reportedly encountered that problem, however with proper supervision, the trends were easily managed. After realizing, that the use of media such as Facebook had the potential to waste time and resources on private interaction, they settled for yammer, this way, they can get the benefits of social networking on a corporate level while avoiding the potential for non-business usage. Security is another major concern; some of the intercompany information appearing in the websites like yammer can be leaked or even worse accounts hacked by outsiders or the competition. Indeed the availability of data in cyberspace makes it prone to hackers and this ultimately takes the field of industrial espionage to another level altogether. Furthermore, with the data online, outsiders are able create fake pages and phishing company websites with the intention of defrauding clients and spreading malicious software such as viruses and worms (Ionescu 375). To mitigate this, the managers of these sites have developed stringent security protocol for them limiting the levels of access to their client’s data, this way the firms can protect information. Moreover, bearing in mind that social networking is not the only means of interaction; privileged information can be sent through other means that are more secure such as email. Social networking, and information management systems have undoubtedly played a crucial role in promoting, and enhancing business in the past and the future cannot be envisioned without their contribution being considered. Tomorrow’s businesses are likely to use less of the convectional advertising media, such as television and radio in favor of online adverts through social networks (Burrus 51). Considering that over a billion of the world’s population is subscribed to some form of social network, an ad placed say on YouTube or twitter is more likely to be accessed by more people than a TV ads. There is also the longevity aspect of it, ads on social media are available for as long as the advertiser wants them to be, as opposed to TV and radio ads which will only be shown for a few minutes or seconds at a time. Continued use of social networks will increase the amount of information available online over the years, as a result, in future data will no longer be controlled by a privilege few. Thanks to networks such as Google and Facebook, a university professor in a first world country and a school boy in a third world country can have access to the same data if they have access to the internet. From the examination of fords experience with Yammer, one can confidently project that more firms will be likely to move from the ordinary social networks in favor of more business oriented ones, this way they will eliminate the potential for wasting time while capitalizing on the immense opportunities for networking supplied by social networking. As more managers come to realize the value of knowledge management, the role of Social Networking will become more defined and firms may in the future dispense with websites and connect with customers exclusively through social networks. As a result of increased social networking both in official and private capacities individuals have created motivated the media companies to differentiate business and social account. Earlier in the year, face book which is leading in terms of membership introduced a future that allows users to operate separate profiles one for business and the other for private socialization. The field of education is also beginning to accept face book as a necessary evil and despite its being blocked in many learning institutions, there are other s using it as a platform for interaction between learners and professors to discuss academic content (DiVall,et al 3). Ergo, it is quite possible that future schools will embrace and exploit social networks in the same way business are doing. In the future, the firms may also be forced to introduce filters since the one may not be able to access data because of the many posts that friend’s post which may not be relevant to the user at the time. Audio and video conferencing may also be the tools of tomorrows social networks, in the same way friends can chat on a wall or in a chat room using texts, the future may see this happening in real time through live video feeds. While a large number of today’s jobseekers “pound pavements” in search for work, a future where social networks dominate corporate world will see them looking for opportunities, on the websites of perspective employers(Vallone 2009). Currently, linked in allows people to use their profile to recruit and search for potential employers, such trends are likely to increase in posterity with face book following suit in creating official (business) profiles. Teleconferencing may be brought closer to the to the small business people who might not be afford such services at present, in fact face book and Google already have such features, although they are often encumbered by slow networks. In summary, while one cannot know for sure what changes will occur, it is safe to assume the levels of interactivity in business through social networks will be greater and someday, it is possible that evolved forms of social networks may be the main communication tools used by firms. Ultimately, there can be no doubt about the fact that information management has had considerable impact on business over the last few year. Social networking is arguably the social and corporate tool of the future if one takes to consideration the extent to which it is being used in business today. Studies have shown that social networks have filtered into the business world initially through employees using office resources for private interaction, however, this despite opposition by management later became accepted as a part of business communication and firm embraced the use of social networking (Burrus 1). This trend has proved instrumental in enhancing employee morale and nurturing a culture of sharing in many organizations. Consumers also get a chance to interact with the firms and supply feedback which goes a long way in promoting increasing the firm’s productivity as well as customer satisfaction. Several firms have inculcated social media into their communication schemes with some choosing specific enterprise media such as Ford motors, yammer while others like Starbucks use twitter Facebook, YouTube, and a variety of other media to intact with their clients and advertise products. While firms may encounter challenges as a result of using social media, such as security risks and employee time wastage, the benefits accrued in the long run more than make up for the inconveniences since they are able to reach customers all over the world in real time not to mention they pay little or nothing for these networks. References Lacho, K.J. & Marinello, C. 2010, "How Small Business Owners can use Social Networking to Promote their Business", The Entrepreneurial Executive, vol. 15, pp. 127-133. Anria Sophia, v.Z. 2009, "The impact of Social Networking 2.0 on organisations", The Electronic Library, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 906-918. Vallone, J. 2009, Job Seekers Employing Social Networking A Way To Build Connections Business focus of LinkedIn site attracts unemployed, companies that are hiring, Los Angeles, United States, Los Angeles. Garry, E.H. 2009, "UTILIZING SOCIAL NETWORKING AS A BUSINESS MARKETING TOOL FOR NGOs", Law Technology, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 1-53. Todorova, N. 2011, "Value of Knowledge Management Systems:: A Review Paper", Academic Conferences International Limited, Reading, United Kingdom, Reading, pp. 475. Qureshi, S., Briggs, R.O. & Hlupic, V. 2006, "Value Creation from Intellectual Capital: Convergence of Knowledge Management and Collaboration in the Intellectual Bandwidth Model", Group Decision and Negotiation, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 197-220. Brown, J.S. and Duguid, P. (2000), The Social Life of Information, HBS Press, Boston Kiron, D., Palmer, D., Phillips, A.N. & Kruschwitz, N. 2012, "Social Business: What Are Companies Really Doing?", MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 1-32. 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