Today’s article continues our discussion of Ardent Partners’ new report that takes a forward-looking view of the top social networking platforms in the context of the work environment and highlights the social networking capabilities that have the greatest chance to reshape Supply Management operations in the years ahead. The report is sponsored by Basware and is available for download here (registration required).
Media Facts:
- It took radio broadcasters 38 years to reach an audience of 50 million.
- It took television broadcasters 13 years to reach that same audience.
- The Internet reached 50 million users in four years.
- Facebook had 50 million users less than two years after it launched. Today, more than 750 million users spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on the site. Half log in every day.
The Social Network/Media Gap
While it is true that some businesses are utilizing various social media and networks for a variety of reasons (and to varying degrees of success), the primary efforts today are focused on engaging consumers, not other businesses and trading partners. Beyond the direct use of the social networks, themselves, to advance their agendas, businesses have generally been unable to borrow or leverage most of the underlying capabilities and drivers that are behind the most successful social networks. The result is an extraordinary gap between the way consumers communicate, collaborate, and share information and the way that businesses do these things with other businesses. Consider the following examples:
- While businesses today rely on email as a primary mode of communication, there is a new generation of college students who do not have email accounts and will use content-rich social media to connect with friends, classmates, and professors.
- While many businesses regularly struggle to evaluate and gain visibility into their suppliers’ and partners’ performance, some parents are using online ratings services to provide direct feedback that will help new parents choose their pediatricians or decide where to stay and what to do on their next trip to Disney.
- While businesses invest significant time and resources trying to identify new, innovative sources of supply, “crowdsourcing” websites can help users identify high-quality goods and services at unbelievable prices.
The underlying capabilities and drivers behind the most successful social networks can and should have the same impact in business communication and performance.
Next time a look at how Supply Management (or P2P) leaders could or may begin to put current social networking capabilities to great use.
Click to download the report – How Social Networking Will Reshape the P2P Value Chain.