Corporate benefits of Enterprise 2.0

Enterprise 2.0 is the term used to describe how a Web 2.0 approach can be used to work more collaboratively together in business. Harvard professor Andrew McAfee coined the phrase Enterprise 2.0, defining it:

“The use of emergent social software platforms within companies or between companies and their partner or customers.”

Enterprise 2.0 gives people the capability to create, modify and mange information with ease. Using simple web-based tools, relevant and up-to-date the knowledge within the organisation can be found and shared efficiently. It increases innovation, team productivity and agility.

Enterprise 2.0 is not just about technology, however there are many technologies that are enablers for the Enterprise 2.0 approach. Below are descriptions of the most popular, and how they can be used within businesses.

2.0 Platforms

* Blog
A personal or corporate website in the form of an online journal. Blogs are used to distribute frequently changing information or ideas and opinions, often incorporating links to other articles. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs, forming a place for people to discuss ideas and share opinions.

Examples of Blogs used in business:
- Project updates / Product updates
- Corporate communications
- Idea generation/discussion/Innovation

* Wiki
A collaborative website that can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. Collaborative authoring and information sharing can provide affordable and effective Knowledge Management platforms. Wikipedia is probably the best known example of an Internet-based Wiki.

Examples of Wikis used in business:
- Corporate intranet
- Documentation repository
- Knowledge sharing
- Team authoring

* Social (or Shared) Bookmarking
Social bookmarking systems are used to organize, and manage web-browser bookmarks. Bookmarks can be organised with informal tags. The combination of sharing and tags enables people with similar interests to uncover websites that they may have otherwise missed. This enables a far greater number of bookmarks to be effectively managed than the traditional browser-based folders approach.

Examples of Social Bookmarking used in business:
- Tracking and sharing for research groups
- Marketing analysis including SEO/SEM research
- Individual bookmark management

* Social Networking
Social Networking is the building of online communities (or networks) of people who share similar interests and activities. These services provide a collection ways for people to connect and interact, such as chat, messaging, file/photo sharing, or discussion groups.

Examples of Social Networking used in business:
- Find experts via profiles and searching
- Form teams with the right skill sets

* Mashups
Mashups are methods of combining multiple data-sources to deliver rich web-based content. Content used in mashups is often sourced from a third party via a public interface, RSS feed or API. The use of Google-Maps is probably the best known example of an Internet-based mashup, where websites display an embedded map on the same web-page as their location/address details.

Examples of Social Networking used in business:
- Combine data from new and legacy systems
- Enable end-user to combine information for analysis

Benefits for organisations to use corporate web 2.0 technologies are not easily quantifiable. Below some benefits are listed from a qualitative point of view, together with three case studies of successful Enterprise 2.0 companies.

* Openness encourages participation
The Enterprise 2.0 approach promotes open communications that encourage respect and participation, even across geographic and cultural boundaries. Access to knowledge empowers and motivates people to strive towards common goals together.

* Greater knowledge capture and sharing
Unlike information locked-up in email and discrete documents, centrally captured knowledge is easier to find and use when people actually need it. It is more likely to be up to date, and it can be fully searched by all who have access.

* Transparency
Data redundancies can be avoided as the data are centralised and accessible for all relevant stakeholders. This approach avoides that employee create their own, local data that may be obsolete in the meantime.

* Recruit and keep talented employees
High calibre people are attracted to companies using cutting edge technology. This is especially true for ‘Generation Y’ (today’s 18–25 year olds) who already use these technologies in their everyday lives and expect to be able to use them in the workplace too.

* Greater efficiency and less duplication
Diverse, distributed workforce is able to work together efficiently on projects. Information is more accessible, and subject-matter-experts can be found quickly. This avoids duplicated effort and saves time, leading to greater efficiency and improved productivity.

* Information sharing for corporate knowledge management
Information are web-based and accessible from all over the world. Employees on business trips can use them as well as field staff with home office.

The following three case studies demonstrate examples of organisations which have adopted Enterprise 2.0 principles and technologies successfully:

Intrawest case study
In April 2006, Intrawest Placemaking undertook a bold technical initiative focused on empowering individual employees. Using OpenRoad Communication’s ThoughtFarmer social software, they built a democratic, collaborative communication platform that could capture the company’s intellectual capital and strengthen the workplace community. The result was a read/ write, employee-maintained internal web site that has permanently changed the way the company interacts.
OpenRoad’s primary goal with ThoughtFarmer is simple: turn all users into authors. All employees at Placemaking can add, edit and annotate content on the ThoughtFarmer-powered intranet. With the exception of a few policy documents, Placemaking’s intranet is a completely open, malleable, living collection of current thoughts, processes and key learnings.

By turning every user into a contributor, OpenRoad envisioned several benefits for Intrawest Placemaking:

Fewer barriers to knowledge sharing. By letting users publish their own content with only a few clicks, they would be less likely to hoard knowledge and more likely to share it.

No distortion in knowledge transfer. Ideas would be exchanged person-to-person, in one step, eliminating distortion and filtering.

An increase in employee engagement. Users that could add and edit content would feel a sense of ownership over their intranet. Because the leadership of Placemaking would be putting considerable trust in employees, employees would, in turn, be more likely to trust the company and its leaders.

Self-healing content. If a user saw an error, he or she would be able to fix it immediately, reducing inaccuracies.

No excessive burden on a couple of administrators. The users would be the editors. Content maintenance would no longer require a dedicated team.

Placemaking has six regional offices in Canada, the United States, and Europe in addition to the Corporate Home Office. Most of the over 250 employees at these offices have never met face to face. But ThoughtFarmer has brought these people together and helped them to feel like part of a community, rather than just employees of the same organization.
As employees upload photos, amusing anecdotes, and reveal more of their individuality and personality, the popularity of the intranet continues to build.

General Motors Case study
General Motors FastLane was one of the first blogs personally written by a senior executive. On FastLane, GM’s Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz and others share their thoughts and opinions about the automaker’s product line. Recently, GM has used its blogs to correct biased or inaccurate reporting in the mainstream media. The primary goal of the blog is discussing GM products and a team of 6 people – all with other responsibilities – work on the blog.

But it’s also important to set expectations in corporate blogging. The blog is a product blog, and it had to be clear that the blog was not going to respond to other issues such as policies or customer service issues. Once that was clear, readers understood that GM is keeping on topic, but doesn’t ignore inquiries. If a reader posts an issue for customer service, it is forwarded, but not posted.

Results of creating and maintaining the blog: In line with the overall goal, GM is now more responsive to customers. Instead of acting on hunches, they are more in touch with people. In addition, the company has opened up more internally, and there is more interest in experimenting with new media.

Casio case study
To improve the way Casio Ltd. employees and departments communicated with each other, and to provide a faster way to make content changes, a flexible communications platform was required. After researching various CMS tools, blogs seemed to be the perfect answer. Casio selected Movable Type for its smooth integration into Casio’s existing systems, the freedom it would give employees to communicate with one another, and the ease with which changes could be made to new and existing content.

Since using Movable Type-powered blogs, Casio has enjoyed easier content changes and increased communication. For instance, the person in charge of “company notifications” was able to change settings after only 5 minutes of training. The sales department reduced the time and work needed to update content. And as Watabe Sho from advertising added, “categories and archives are made automatically. People have conversations around our Digital Photo Gallery, increasing both posts and conversation.”
Casio’s managers use the blog to communicate directly to employees in order to lessen the gap between them. Currently, the director of the Operations Department disseminates information via a blog; communication is streamlined, and efficiencies are improved. In addition, Casio’s Hanemura Technology Center in Tokyo uses blogs to promote new and original ideas and very easily post thoughts. This allows previously unpublicized knowledge to be shared, information to circulate, and new ideas to emerge.

Casio states that they could achieve the following goals:
- Faster, more direct communication among departments and employees
- Easier idea exchange and increased idea generation
- More efficient implementation of changes

The three case studies show how companies can profit from using Enterprise 2.0 benefits. It is not necessary at all, to implement all web 2.0 technologies at the same time. Startig with a wiki or a blog allows organisations first experiences and initial learnings. Further social elements can be added later, if appropriate.