The Use of Wikis for Home Bank - Case Study Example

The Use of Wikis for Home Bank Prepared for Home Bank Lafatte, Los Angeles April 30, Letter of Transmittal Home Bank Project Team 503 Kaliste Saloom Rd Lafayette, Louisiana 70508 April 27, 2014 Home Bank 503 Kaliste Saloom Rd Lafayette, LA. 70508 Dear Supervisor, As requested by the supervisor, this report explains whether it is necessary to develop a pilot wikis for Home Bank. Our team hopes that we will convince by our recommendation regarding the best way forward in this project. This study aims at providing information and hard data related to development and use of Wikis, including how other companies such as IBM and Best Buy have used it. The report will also suggest the type of wiki that is suitable for World Bank. Furthermore, this report will highlight some of the benefits, costs and risks associated with the development of a wiki. The methodology used to find data for this report is a secondary data collection method which involves a case study of IBM and Best Buy. Secondary sources such as periodicals, articles and websites will also be used to find information on how to use Wikis. We will be happy to discuss with you the findings of this report at any time you may request. I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for the confidence yourconfidence in selecting us to undertake this project. Sincerely (hand written signature) Finance Officer, Homebank Table of Contents List of figures Figure 1……………………………………………………………………………………………5 Figure 2…………………………………………………………………………………………..12 Executive Summary Home Bank can benefit significantly from the development of a collaborative wiki. A wiki can enable the company to engage its employees in collaborations, discussions and information sharing which enhances knowledge creation. Knowledge creation can be enhanced by bottom-up communication. As a result, the company will achieve innovative growth, business sustainability, improved business operations, and increased competitive advantage. This report proposes that the company should develop a pilot wiki in form of a knowledge based wiki which will cover a limited geographical area, just enough for its employees within Mississippi and Louisiana to come together and collaborate. The Problem This report was designed to determine whether Home Bank will benefit by integrating wikis into their business. The report will answer the following questions: Does Home Bank have enough resources to implement wikis? What are the needs of developing a wiki? How do IBM and Best Buy benefit from using wikis? What types of wikis do they use? What is their approach? What are the benefits, costs and risks involved in developing a wiki in Home Bank? What type of wiki should Home Bank use? Background Home Bank has commissioned a team to investigate the use of wikis in order to determine whether the company should use them. The team has then set out to find relevant information about wikis. The starting point for the team is to explain exactly what a wiki, its theoretical justification, and how it is used. The background on Home Bank is also necessary. A wiki is a powerful enterprise 2.0 collaborative tool used as a means of communication in a company (Nations 2014). In traditional communications of a company, corporate communication often flows in a straight line from top o bottom. A business wiki enhances a bottom-up flow of communication. The tool is replacing internal knowledge base at the workplace and includes new report and memo templates. Home Bank is a lending and financial institution which was founded in 1908 as a Home Building and Loan Company. Currently, it operates in 27 locations across Mississippi and Louisiana. The bank is mainly concerned with personal banking as its major trademark. Home Bank is a subsidiary of Home Bancorp, Inc. which trades in the Nasdaq Global Market using the symbol HBCP. Discussion and Findings The results of this research indicate that a wiki is an important collaborative tool which enables a business to enhance top-down and bottom-up communication which leads to an interactive form of communication between the top level management and the bottom level managers as well as employees. It enhances effective feedbacks. It is also easy to develop and use, and has capabilities of editing so that even employees can provide their opinions and the wrong information provided by management can be edited. Home Bank needs a Wiki for Knowledge Base. A worldwide wiki such as the one used by IBM is not necessary because Home Bank is located in a limited coverage area of Louisiana and Mississippi. Capabilities of Home Bank In order to determine whether is necessary to have a wiki for Home Bank in the first place, it is important to know whether Home Bank is capable of developing a wiki. In this case, capabilities of Home Bank will be established in terms of technological abilities, employees’ competence, financial resources, and managerial competence. Home Bank is a subsidiary of Home Bancorp, Inc. Therefore, the financial position of Home Bancorp determines whether Home Bank has the financial viability of developing a wiki. In its financial report of 2013, Home Bancorp, inc. reported a net income of $7,294which shows a drop from $9,190 in 2012. The net income for 2011 was $5,120. This is shown below: Figure 1: Income Statement of Home Bancorp, Inc (Bome Bancorp 2013). In terms of managerial competence, Hoe Bank has a committed Board of Directors guided by a Code of Conduct. In the code, there are rules guiding management interlocks. In wikis, one of the major problems is that the management and the employees can use their knowledge in IT to misuse the wiki by using it to have a dual service with other banking institutions, other securities organisations, and other third parties prohibited by the statutes and regulations. The code of conduct also requires managers and employees to act with honesty and integrity in all undertakings related to the company’s businesses and communication (Home Bank Inc., 2008). As a result, employees and managers of the company can handle all communications through the wiki responsibly for the benefit of the company. Home Bank also has a system of infrastructure and information technology which can be used to develop a wiki. Employees in the IT department are also well equipped with IT knowledge and skills that can be used to develop a good and effective wiki. However, the company’s network and market area is not wide enough to enable the development of a worldwide wiki. The company covers the areas of Mississippi and Louisiana only. Therefore, the IT experts will be mainly concerned with developing a wiki that covers the small area of Louisiana and Mississippi. With the opening of seven branches in Mississippi early this year, it has become necessary for the bank to develop a collaborative tool for employees in the new branches to communicate with employees from other branches as well as the company’s management. This will enhance knowledge development and management in all areas of the company’s management and operations. This need calls for the development of a wiki which will enable all members of the company to share information in pursuit of knowledge in all departments. In this case, a knowledge based type of wiki is required. Best Buy’s Geek Squad Workplace Wiki Geek Squad is Best Buy’s subsidiary company headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. The company is a service company which offers computer repair services. Best Buy acquired Geek Squad in 2002. Geek Squad has developed social computing tools to help in collaboration, innovation and growth. The company developed a collaborative technology in form of a Workplace Wiki which allows thousands of Geeks to brainstorm new products and services, exchange some tips on services, manage projects, and interact with peers. Brad Anderson, the CEO of Best Buy argues that a collaborative tool at the workplace enables the company to utilize human capital effectively (Tapscott and Williams 2007). Best Buy uses a young generation workers who embrace new web technologies as opposed to older workers. According to Tapscott and Williams (2007), this approach has enabled the company to grow and open additional 100 stores as competitors such as Circuit City are shutting down. Geek Squad’s youthful employees have created a collaborative workplace with wikis, blogs, chat groups, file-sharing, and playlists. This increases the ease of using technology, enhances social connectivity and promotes creativity and diversity in the workplace. In Geek Squad, internal wikis are used to enhance bottom-up knowledge creation (Tapscott and Williams, 2007). They stimulate creative thinking and develop knowledge. Geek Squad’s wiki also involves the creation of high-level documents by a few people. IBM’s InnovationJam Although IBM’s type of wiki is a worldwide wiki, it is necessary to outline its basic approach in order to identify the possibility of IBM’s wiki being used as a collaborative tool. IBM developed a collaborative wiki in 2006 referred to as InnovationJam. This wiki was used to bring together employees from over 160 countries. The wiki also invited clients, business partners, and family members to join a brainstorming session. A total of 100,000 participants were engaged in the session which involved two 72-hour sessions of online discussions. The shared information in the collaboration was expected to transform industries, protect the environment, and improve human health in the coming decades (Tapscott and Williams, 2007). This wiki took up about $100 million dollars, and IBM’s chief executive of the time believed that the commitment will yield a lot of economic and social benefits. Creating a wiki is therefore a good step of enhancing effective business management and collaborations. Benefits, Costs and Risks Associated with Business Wikis Benefits of Wikis to Home Bank Wikis offer a lot of potential benefits for a business. Based on the case study of Best Buy, it is clear that a wiki can be used to create knowledge among employees. In this case, employees collaborate through wikis and share information and ideas to build their knowledge. This enhances knowledge creation; as a result, knowledge is used for innovative growth of the business (Porter 2009). Home Bank can also use wikis to surrogate knowledge base through which employees can solve the problems facing the company; for example data loss and failure of the computing and online banking system. According to IBM, wikis can also be used to enhance sustainability of communities and the environment. This can also be the case in Home Bank because wikis can be used by employees to discuss issues affecting the communities they come from; hence they can collectively work towards meeting the needs of such communities. The use of wikis may also give the company competitive advantage in the market. Costs of Wiki in Home Bank A business wiki can be costly in form of funds committed to the project. For example, IBM committed $100 million to develop its wiki. The monetary cost may be less for Home Bank because it is not a worldwide tool. However, it is still worth giving attention. Another cost involved is the resources that will be committed in form of IT knowledge and competence (Collins 2014). The company will have to hire qualified IT personnel to develop the collaborative tool or pay the existing employees to do it. In either case, money will be committed to accomplish the project. Risks Associated with Wikis In terms of risks, it is possible for the outcome to become different from the expected results because of the changing technological environment. Other occurrences beyond the control of the company such as failure in the computing system may also cause failure in the collaborative tools. Developing a Pilot Wiki for Home Bank Home Bank should use a pilot wiki which covers a limited area like the one developed by Best Buy because Home Bank operates in a small geographical area. The type of wiki pilot should be Knowledge Base Wiki for workplace collaboration. This enables employees and the management to communicate in a bottom-up approach in order to enhance knowledge creation and initiate innovative growth in the business. The wiki should be collaborative and should be able to bring together members of the workplace (Chatfield 2009). A collaborative wiki operates as shown in the figure below: Administration Member Member Member Member Member Fig 2: Wiki Pilot Structure The pilot wiki should be developed formally in the IT department using new software that can be installed by experienced IT personnel of the company or outsourced IT experts. As the pilot wiki progresses, it can then migrate from the IT department into the broader workplace environment (Tapscott and Williams, 2007). The development of the pilot wiki from the IT to other departments progressively ensures that risks are managed and avoided such that if the pilot wiki causes problems in its initial stage, it does not affect other departments, and it becomes easier to initiate changes in one department than in the entire workplace. Conclusion and Recommendations Analysis of secondary data on development of wikis indicates that a wiki can be a source of effective knowledge creation and business operations in a company. Home Bank can achieve these advantages by developing its own knowledge based wiki which can be used to create knowledge among employees in order to enhance innovative growth. The company already has enough financial, technological, and human resources to develop a pilot wiki. Based on these research findings, we therefore recommend that the company should develop a pilot wiki. The recommended type is a knowledge base wiki covering a limited geographical area. Works cited Chatfield, Brian T. The complete guide to wikis: how to set up, use, and benefit from wikis for teachers, business professionals, families, and friends. Ocala, Fla: Atlantic Pub Group. 2009. Print. Collins, Rod. Wiki management: a revolutionary new model for a rapidly changing and collaborative world. New York: American Management Association. 2014. Print. David, Kroenke and Donald Nilson. Office 365 in Business. Hoboken: Wiley. 2011. Print. Home Bancorp, Inc. 2013 Annual Report. Washington, DC: Securities and Exchange Commission. Goosen, Richard J. E-preneur: from Wall Street to wiki: succeeding as a crowdpreneur in the new virtual marketplace. Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press. 2008. Print. Home Bancorp, Inc. Code of Conduct and Ethics. 2008. Web. Accessed April 27, 2014 from http://home24bank.investorroom.com/index.php?s=117 Nations, Daniel. The Business Wiki: Wiki in the Workplace. 2014. Web. Accessed April 27, 2014 from http://webtrends.about.com/od/wiki/a/business-wiki.htm. Porter, Alan J. Wikis in the Workplace: A Practical Approach. 2009. Web. Accessed April 27, 2014 from http://arstechnica.com/business/2009/11/welcome-to-the-wiki-party/. Tapscott, Don and Anthony D. Williams. “Innovation and Design: The Wiki Workplace.” Bloomberg Business Week. 2007. Web. Read More