Mba 502 – Chapter 2 Case Study
MBA 502
Chapter 2 Case Study
Questions 2-14:
Identify the people, organization and technology factors responsible for slow adoption rates of internal corporate social networks.
Today more than ever, social media is continuously growing and becoming more and more popular. It is useful for both personal life and for businesses. Most people would think social media websites, such as Facebook, would help businesses grow. However, according to Enterprise Survey, the results suggest that a mere 18 percent believed that these social media sites are successful. There are three types of factors that play a part in the slow adoption rates of internal corporate social networks.
The first factor is people, mainly the employees who have grown accustom to their own traditional ways of business and communicating and many do not believe they have the time to learn a new technology. They lack the initial push – the incentive – to begin utilizing social software; yet, of the employees who do use social software, only 22 percent of them actually think it is relevant to their jobs.
The second factor is organization. Altimeter Group reported that 34 percent believed that social sites have considerably helped with their team efforts, while nearly half claimed that social sites minimally influenced “retention, the speed of decision-making, or the reduction of meetings.”
Lastly, technology is a factor. Although many IT professionals believe that they lack sufficient knowledge of social media, the IT team needs to assist in content updating/managing and the overall ease of access to ensure that the social networks are creating value to businesses.
Question 2-15:
Why have most of the companies described in this case been successful in implementing internal social networks? Explain your answer.
While there are several obstacles that must be overcome to start a successful internal social network, some companies have either overcome these obstacles and lead the way in internal social network implementation success.