What is the Social Web?

1. What is the Social Web? • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_web • “The Social Web is a term that can be used to describe a subset of interactions that are highly social, conversational and participatory. The Social Web may also be used instead of Web 2.0 as it is clearer what feature of the Web is being referred to.” • Popular examples of social websites: • Wikipedia, MySpace / Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, SecondLife, Upcoming, Digg / Reddit / StumbleUpon, Flickr / Zooomr, del.icio.us, World of Warcraft, Amazon • Related terms: • Web 2.0, social media, social software, social networks, social news, social bookmarking, user-generated content

2. The Social Web in simple terms • Users • Content • Tags • Comments • Users post content • Users share content • Users annotate content with tags • Users browse content via tags • Users discuss content via comments • Users connect via posted content • Users connect directly to users

3. Introduction • Weblog, web log or simply a blog is a web journal • “A web application which contains periodic time-stamped posts on a common (usually open-access) webpage” • Individual diaries -> arms of political campaigns, media programs and corporations (e.g. the Google Blog) • Citizen journalism… • Posts are often shown in reverse chronological order • Comments can be made by the public on some blogs • Latest headlines, with hyperlinks and summaries, are syndicated using RSS or Atom formats (e.g. for reading favourite blogs with a feed reader)

4. The state of the “blogosphere” • Source: Technorati (March 2003 to March 2007)

5. Some quotes about blogs • “It'll be no more mandatory that [CEOs] have blogs than that they have a phone and an e-mail account. If they don't, they're going to look foolish.” - Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystems • “Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If your competitor has a product that's better than yours, link to it. You might as well. We’ll find it anyway.” - Robert Scoble, Microsoft, “Corporate Weblog Manifesto” • “Famous people have enough space to talk already. Blogging is interesting because of non-famous people.” - Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law School

6. Definition of wikis • A community-developed documentation project • “A piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly.” -- http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki • “A wiki is a type of website that allow users to easily add and edit content and is especially suited for collaborative writing. The name is based on the Hawaiian term wiki, meaning "quick", "fast", or "to hasten" (Hawaiian dictionary).” -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Makao, famous Hawaiian runner

7. Some uses of wikis • Wikis are being used for: • online encyclopaedias • free dictionaries • book repositories • software development • project proposals • writing research papers • event organisation

8. Podcasts are like audio blogs • “Podcasts are to radio what blogs are to newspapers and magazines” • The name “Podcast” is a portmanteau of “pod” from iPod and “broadcast” • Basically, podcasts are MP3 audio files created by individuals or organisations, published on the Web and downloaded by others to their iPods or other MP3 playing devices • Can be interviews, music shows, comedies, etc. • Famous podcasters include Ricky Gervais for the Guardian Unlimited site

9. My definition Communication Collaboration Connectedness Social Webmakes it work

10. Top 13 Social Web Products • www.bloglines.com rss feeder • www.del.icio.us online favourites • www.flickr.com online photos • www.wikispaces.com collaborative learning • www.youtube.com online videos • www.facebook.com social networking • www.43things.com goals organiser • spreadsheets.google.com online spreadsheets • podomatic.com host your own podcasts • www.rollyo.com/ roll your own search engine • www.digg.com collaborative favourites • www.ning.com/ social networking • www.secondlife.com 3d online digital world • www.gliffy.com/ draw and share diagrams on the web

11. We all live in a social network… • …of friends, family, workmates, fellow students, acquaintances, etc.

12. Everyone’s connected… • Friend of a friend • Theory that anybody is connected to everybody else (on average) by no more than six degrees of separation

13. From the beginning, the Internet was a medium for connecting not only machines but people Idea behind SNSs is to make the aforementioned real-world relationships explicitly defined online 2002: Friendster 2003: MySpace, LinkedIn, hi5 2004: orkut, Facebook 2005: Bebo What are social networking services (SNSs)?

14. Learning opportunities from organisational SNSs • An opportunity to create an internal network for sharing information and expertise: • Share information within an organisation’s own walls • Efficient way to mine for in-house expertise (“expert finding”) • Reduce the time spent mailing docs and e-mailing comments • Encourage employees, alumni, students, interns, new hires, retired staff, other stakeholders to interact with each other

15. Public SNSs for informal learning (in industry) • Figures estimate that 75-80% of learning is done informally, and with 40-50% of employees accessing information and knowledge from social media sites, Web 2.0 is potentially responsible for a large proportion of this informal learning (up to 30-40%): • “More than 40 percent of business users consume social networking applications like blogs, intranets and RSS [really simple syndication] feeds more than three times a week.” • “More than 30 percent of respondents read information in wikis, social networks, discussion boards and videoconferences / IMs more than three times a week.” • “More than 20 percent of respondents contribute to blogs, intranets, social networks, discussion boards, video conferencing and tagging [social media sites] more than three times a week.”

16. Which method is best for you? Create a social network via a web interface, hosted on someone else’s site (e.g., ning.com) Install off-the-shelf social networking software on your own server Install a content management system and customise the SN modules / themes yourself Creating your own SNS

17. Freely downloadable virtual world for Windows and Mac First occurrence of 30,000 concurrent residents on 1 February 2007 Probably around 150,000 active users (high “churn rate”) Linden Lab making some SL software (viewer) open source The Second Life virtual world

18. Object-centred sociality can provide meaning • Users connected via a common object, e.g., their job, university, hobbies, a date… • “According to this theory, people don’t just connect to each other. They connect through a shared object.” * Source: Jyri Engestrom, “Why Some Social Networks Work…”

19. Object-centred sociality can provide meaning (2) • “Good services allow people to create social objects that add value.” • Flickr = photos • del.icio.us = bookmarks • Blogs = discussion posts * Source: Jyri Engestrom, “Why Some Social Networks Work…”

20. CULTURE OF COLLABORATION ‘This is the labour of partnership, of folks who have pulled together and enjoyed what they’ve done and have become partners in what we’ve accomplished.... we’ve had a lot of great leaders in this company, and the greatest thing is we’ve got ideas from all 380,000 associates. That’s the best part – all of us working together. I hope we can keep it going’ – Sam Walton, President, Walmart ‘Our success depends on each of us. We work together in a way that recognizes and takes advantage of this... we supplement individual accountability by creating a team environment in which we collaborate to maximize overall performance’ – Warren Larsen, Former CEO, NZDB ‘The single most important thing is to remember that knowledge transfer and how-how transfer are simply part of performance. So when managing and directing the firm’s performance, you have to say explicitly that this is part of the strategy and that it’s very important’ – Sir John Browne, CEO, BP

21. “Communities of Practice” … Simply put they are “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly”. Wenger

22. The Model • Conceptualized by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger proposing the idea that • Learning is social and comes largely from our experience of participating in daily life • A process of engagement in a 'community of practice'. 

23. 3 Elements • The domain • The community • The Practice Domain Community Practice

24. Domain(Defines the issues) • Members have … • Identity defined by a shared area of interest • Commitment to domain • Shared competence

25. Community(People who care about the domain) • Members… • Participate in joint activities & discussions • Help each other • Share information • Build relationships so that they learn from each other

26. Practice (Shared ideas, tools, info., goals) • Members are … • Practitioners • Develop a shared repertoire of resources • Experiences • Stories • Tools • Ways of addressing recurring problems

27. Key Features of CoPs • Communication: Managed by making connections • Shared Domain of Practice, knowledge and resources • Focus on value, mutual exchange and learning • Crosses operational, functional and organizational boundaries • Defined by people, not tasks

28. What CoPs Do • Facilitate collaboration/communication • Develop/Identify Subject Matter Experts • Filter out incorrect information by peer groups • Capture knowledge (intellectual capital) • Prevent re-inventing the wheel by sharing knowledge and experiences • Share successful (best) practices • Decrease learning curve • Increase organizational learning

29. ORGANIZATIONS NEED BOTH PLATFORMS FOR COLLABORATION AND A SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT Platforms For Collaboration Established Power Games Individualistic teams and processes Culture Of Collaboration Collaboration creating value Not Established Look After # 1 Focus on individual, not company Untapped Team Spirit Not extracting full value from sharing Low High Supportive Environment

30. COLLABORATION SHOULD BE VALUE CREATING WITH MECHANISMS SUPPORTED BY AN OPEN ENVIRONMENT Value Of Collaboration recognized ‘It is this learning, sharing and action-driven culture, when laid across the diverse business of GE, that gives us our true advantage, an advantage single-industry companies can never match – what we call ‘horizontal learning’ across more than 250 diverse, global GE business segments’ – Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric ‘To me, the most important element in establishing a happy, prosperous atmosphere is the insistence upon open, free, and honest communication up and down the ranks of our management structure and with our associates’ – Sam Walton, President, Walmart ‘You can’t expect others to share their knowledge and resources with you fully unless you have a strong relationship with them’ – John Browne, CEO, BP Environment Of Openness, Trust And Mutual Respect ‘Our challenge has been getting people to systematically capture information the company needs in order to be able to use both explicit and implicit knowledge repeatedly. In the case of explicit knowledge, that means recording the actual data. In the case of implicit knowledge, it means keeping a record of the people who have the know-how to solve a problem so that others can find them when the need arises’ – John Browne, CEO, BP Mechanisms For Sharing In Place Note: See Appendix for further quotes on collaboration

31. Case Study KNOWLEDGE DATABASE – XEROX KM FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES Xerox Have Implemented A Comprehensive KM Database... • Value of collaboration recognized • Desire to capture the tacit local knowledge held by Xerox customer service representatives (technicians) for wider circulation • Environment of openness, trust and mutual respect • Research in Xerox revealed that customer service representatives shared knowledge within their local group in three ways: • Storytelling: systematic recounting of the problem and steps towards a solution • Improvisation: experimentation and improvisation, particularly when working in pairs • Informal communities of practice: discussions over meals, asking questions, sharing ideas and solutions • Mechanisms for sharing in place • Eureka project • Formation of a knowledge management database containing tips on repairing different problems with Xerox machines • Tips undergo a comprehensive peer review • local level • centralized review process organized by BUs • ensures that tips are relevant, reliable and not redundant • Reps chose to have their names on the tips rather than be paid to ensure high quality (not quantity) and earn peer status • Usefulness of tips tracked to ensure right information is included • ‘We now see knowledge sharing as a business discipline as important to the future as the quality movement turned out to be in the early 1980s – Web site Source: ‘Balancing Act: How to Capture Knowledge Without Killing It’, HBR, May/June 2000, p73; Web site

32. Case Study INFORMAL AND FORMAL NETWORKS – BP’s ‘PEER GROUPS’ Informal Networks Formalized Around Value Creation... • Value of collaboration recognized organizational recognition of collaborative value through evolving concept of peer groups, eg • 1992: ‘peer groups’ where leaders of approximately 12 similar BUs met to discuss strategic and technical challenges, without participation of senior management, ie knowledge sharing • 1994: peer groups became results orientated and responsible for allocating capital amongst BUs and setting BU performance targets, with collective accountability for group performance • Environment of openness, trust and mutual respect • Collaboration focused around an open market of ideas • Once had around 1700 networks and informal subnetworks • People very willing to call on others • Mechanisms for sharing in place • System of collaboration and networks spread across whole organization, not just at top level • In addition to peer groups, ‘cross-unit networks’ focusing on shared interests in networks and subnetworks • ‘Learning communities’: each BU is within a functional ‘peer group’, whose membership changes as BUs enter different stage of lifecycle • ‘Peer assist’: specific requests of expertise from another BU for a specified problem/project • ‘Human portals’: people within the company-wide knowledge Web who are approached for advice on who to contact • Electronic yellow-pages of experts and individual’s voluntary home pages outlining interests and expertise, technical data, real time lessons • ‘Virtual teams’: PC network backed by video conferencing, electronic blackboards, scanners, faxes, groupware to facilitate interaction Source: ‘Unleashing the Power of Learning: An Interview with British Petroleum’s John Browne’ HBR, Sept/Oct 1997, p146; ‘Introducing T-Shaped Managers: Knowledge Management's Next Generation’, Hansen and von Oetinger, HBR, March 2001, p107; Web site

33. Case Study PERMANENT TEAMS – FORD’S ‘GLOBAL STUDIO’ ‘Global Studio’ New Product Design Teams... • Value of collaboration recognized • ‘World Car’ global design strategy and manufacturing approach • Required a new process for product development • Realized that connectivity was the key to ensuring effective team work (both internal and with external partners) • Environment of openness, trust and mutual respect • Believe in building a team of people ‘who have agreed to join hands and are committed to putting their maximum effort into working together and trusting one another.’ (Alex Trotman) • Then team agrees that they will make mistakes • In 1996, ‘Ford 2000’ initiative aiming to have the intimacy, agility and spirit of a small company • Mechanisms for sharing in place • ‘Virtual Work Team’ using technology and tools • Rather than creating co-located national product teams or convening ‘elaborate’ design summits • ‘Global studio’ is a set of connectivity and team support tools that enables • Design engineers from different geographical locations to work concurrently on product design • Live, multiple-site interaction using audio, video, text, images, and 3D models • Intranet for communication and sharing knowledge within and among teams: original documents, analyses, discussions • Concurrent modification to product design Source: Literature search; Web site; ‘Lessons from the Top’

34. Case Study THE ‘BOUNDARYLESS’ GENERAL ELECTRIC GE Has Instigated A Boundaryless Culture... • Value of collaboration recognized • Businesses share technology, design, personnel, compensation and evaluation systems, manufacturing processes, and country and customers knowledge • Since 1981, employees with stock options have grown from 200 to 27,000 • Environment of openness, trust and mutual respect • One of GE’s values is to act in a ‘boundaryless’ fashion • an ‘open, anti-parochial environment, friendly toward seeking and sharing of new ideas, regardless of their origins’ • Mechanisms for sharing in place • Corporate Executive Council formed in 1996 with top 35 executives • Meet quarterly with sole purpose of spreading ideas across organization • Functional Council where top 150 executives meet quarterly • ‘Global Leaning Culture’ of extensive global training, including the Management Development Institute • Transfer human and intellectual capital across business units Source: Literature search; Web site

35. Case Studies COLLABORATION VIGNETTES Networks • Knowledge sharing • Most extensive corporate Website and intranet • Considers the knowledge base to be the most valuable asset • Microsoft Campus • Development Laboratory and Developer Community Centre to provide resources for developers • Nokia Learning Centres • Deliver training activities that transfer know-how throughout the company • Incentives for collaboration • Project incentive plans • Team incentive plans • Stock option plans • Culture of internal collaboration/ cooperation between disciplines • Chrysler Tech Center • For new product development • ‘Platform’ for each type of car • Includes many functions: design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, finance

36. COMPLETE QUOTES ON COLLABORATION ‘You can’t expect others to share their knowledge and resources with you fully unless you have a strong relationship with them’ – John Browne, CEO, BP Knowledge transfer and know-how transfer are simply part of performance’ – John Browne, CEO, BP ‘The most important aspect of any relationship is understanding what your partners hope to get out of it and to work hard to help then achieve that goal. It is the key to transforming a contractual relationship into a genuine collaboration’ – John Browne, CEO, BP ‘Our challenge has been getting people to systematically capture information the company needs in order to be able to use both explicit and implicit knowledge repeatedly. In the case of explicit knowledge, that means recording the actual data. In the case of implicit knowledge, it means keeping a record of the people who have the know-how to solve a problem so that others can find them when the need arises’ – John Browne, CEO, BP ‘It is this learning, sharing and action-driven culture, when laid across the diverse business of GE, that gives us our true advantage, an advantage single-industry companies can never match – what we call ‘horizontal learning’ across more than 250 diverse, global GE business segments’ – Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric ‘To me, the most important element in establishing a happy, prosperous atmosphere is the insistence upon open, free, and honest communication up and down the ranks of our management structure and with our associates’ – Sam Walton, President, Walmart

37. FIVE MAIN TYPES OF COLLABORATION Type Of Collaboration Definition Case Study Examples Knowledge database Navigation to an expert Network Permanent team Project team • Knowledge management system • Systematized records where useful to the organization • Usually accessed through an intranet/B2E portal • Ability to find an expert within the company • Using technology • Through people (official or unofficial) • Unofficial group loosely bound with no collective accountabilities, eg • Communities of practice • Learning communities • Team formed formally for long-term purpose with collective accountabilities, eg • Executive, Functional or Regional Councils • Global key account management teams • Cross-Directorships • Peer groups • New product development • Often facilitated through technology • Team formed formally for specific short-term purpose with collective accountabilities, eg • Merger integration team • Market entry team • Often facilitated through technology Xerox, Microsoft Siemens, Cisco Hallmark, GlaxoSmithKline BP, Carrefour GE’s WorkOut, BP, Microsoft Nokia GE, BP Nike Ispat BP Chrysler, Microsoft, Nike BP Carrefour, Nike, Chrysler

38. FRAMEWORK FOR ACHIEVING A COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT Toolkit Encourage A Collaborative Organizational Culture 1. Determine where collaboration creates overall value 2. Determine the most appropriate form of collaboration 3. Implement/review chosen form of collaboration 4. Measure the effectiveness of collaboration 5. Reward successful collaboration and make changes Identify areas where there is value in collaboration Determine overall value through a cost/benefit analysis Ensure value is explicit and transparent • Determine the most appropriate form of collaboration • Consider the • Frequency of collaboration • Impact on individual/division • Degree to which the information can be codified Articulate the process of operation for each existing and new form of collaboration • Determine whether value has been captured • Measure through • Joint outcomes • Peer review of contribution • Development of organizational capabilities • Link with metrics and targets in the performance management system Link successful collaboration with incentives/ performance management framework Make visible recognition for success Review collaborative efforts, ensuring focus on creating value Change collaborative structure, if necessary

39. Toolkit 1. DETERMINE WHERE COLLABORATION CREATES OVERALL VALUE Identify And Quantify Situations Where Value Can Be Created Quantify The Cost Of Collaboration • Same functions conducted across different locations/ environments • Effective allocation and utilisation of scarce resources • Effective execution of business processes • Eg, human resources, finance • Similar processes in different locations • Effective and timely transfer of knowledge/best practices • Eg, mining, manufacturing • Interdependency • Potential synergies captured • Smooth and quick implementation of strategies • Eg, resource trade-offs • Seamless face to customers • Eg, key account teams • Growth opportunities only available through collaboration • Eg, new product development, market entry of existing products • Constructive management of trade-offs that impact across organizational boundaries • Eg, post merger integration • Effort and energy required to reach collaborative state • Technology and resources required for collaboration • Lost revenue from reducing individual’s other responsibilities/accountabilities • Likelihood/difficulty of success • A collaboration must • Create value beyond that of individual or current performance cells • Not compromise individual accountability

40. Toolkit 2. DETERMINE THE MOST APPROPRIATE FORM OF COLLABORATION Apply Two Collaboration MatricesTo Determine The Most Appropriate Form Of Collaboration Format/Impact Collaboration Matrix Frequency/Impact Collaboration Matrix Codifiable Knowledge Database Frequency Of Collaboration Regular Knowledge Database Network Permanent Team Format Of Knowledge Not Codifiable Navigation To An Expert Network Permanent Team Project Team One-off Navigation To An Expert Project Team Mutual Benefit trade-off Mutual Benefit trade-off Impact On Individual/Division Impact On Individual/Division

41. Toolkit IMPLEMENT / REVIEW CHOSEN FORM OF COLLABORATION Network Networks Virtual Work Teams • Allow networks to grow as employees find useful • No official accountability for results • However require all networks to be results orientated • Not just meeting for mere knowledge sharing • Support and leverage networks as appropriate to sustain them • Identify/map them • Provide means of communication (intranet, meetings) • Allocate semi-official roles in organization • ’ • Communication • Information exchange • Live collaboration (eg, online conferences, whiteboards) • Documents • Document management • Viewing tools • Project management • Basic scheduling • Project planning and control • Workflow assistance tools

42. MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COLLABORATION (I) Toolkit Example Peer Review (I): Questionnaire Sample Peer Review Collaboration Questions • Each individual in the team was evaluated on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) on the following questions • 1. Is respected as a valuable contributor to this team • 2. Makes a valuable contribution to discussion and debate on key issues • 3. Openly shares knowledge and experiences with others • 4. Listens carefully and non-defensively to various points of view whether or not he/she agrees • 5. When conflicts arise is reasonable minded in seeking solutions that will benefit the organization overall • 6. Follows through on commitments made • 7. Maintains group solidarity at all times • 8. Acts with integrity, keeps confidences and does not misuse sensitive information • 9. Demonstrates a preparedness to put the organization’s collective interest in front of personal and divisional interest • 10. Fosters collaboration and teamwork between his/her area and the rest of the organization