The Global Human Capital Journal

"Practice" Will Highlight Behind the Curtain Enterprise Innovation with Web 2.0

I am pleased to announce the creation of "Practice," an exciting new Category on the Global Human Capital Journal. Practice is the first new category I've created since launch in 2005. It will give you behind-the-scenes insights into the innovation I am conducting with clients in my consultancy, CSRA. For example, the new CSRA Social Network Roadmap is attracting extensive attention from Fortune 1000 executives in many industries: utilities, consultancies and market research firms to name three. We will begin using the roadmap to assess, test and scale their companies' use of social networks and Web 2.0.

Reexamining "Content" in Light of "Conversation"

Web 2.0 is redefining content on the Web, and Duo Consulting's and Content Wrangler's Web Content 2008 Chicago, convened at the UBS Tower on June 17-18, 2008, was a rich opportunity to check in with the Web 1.0-Web 2.0 mashup. Embedded within the legacy concept of "content" (text, pictures, audio, video, etc.) is that few people create it and many people consume it, which is obviously less true with every passing month.

Something else is happening on the way to the forum, too: opinions about content are gaining more attention than the content itself, according to Day One keynote Dick Costolo. If so, where does that leave people who "manage" content? There is a whole ecosystem of professionals and vendors that manage content according to Web 1.0 rules, and many of them were here, sharing their visions and tactics for embracing Web 2.0. Day Two keynote Jerome Nadel provided a clue: a shift in emphasis to design: since "users" are creating the opinion content through their "conversation," I'll hazard that a key part of the concept of "management" will be providing a better whiteboard that enables people to share what and how they want with whomever they want when they want.

Moreover, everyone had control issues. Speakers as a group did not agree whether consumers were in control now or whether content creators still prevailed. Chris Anderson's adage kept flitting across my mind, "We live in an 'and world,' not an 'or world'." The conversation will not replace content; it will play with it. The two will synergize. As usual, I have summarized the remarks of speakers whose sessions I attended, and I'll wrap with my own Analysis and Conclusions.

New Life Sciences Accelerator Leverages Digital Social Network—Inspired by LinkedIn and Facebook

Healthcare systems worldwide are criticized for falling short of expectations, and countries like the U.S. which feature aging populations, are rapidly approaching a crisis. Demand and cost will grow, but the system as currently structured will certainly break down unless radical changes are made. Web 2.0's disruptive potential can be part of the remedy: we need to introduce much more accountability and collaboration into all parts of the system. We need to change the paternalistic attitudes that pervade the system, treat patients as active participants and encourage everyone to be more accountable. This series introduces healthcare Web 2.0 innovators.

Business Drivers

The Hershey Center for Applied Research KnowledgeMesh is a new initiative that unites healthcare- and life sciences-focused commercial, academic and government forces in a digital social network.  It is a cutting edge social networking and scientific mapping online community that will drive R&D in the life sciences and high tech. 

KnowledgeMesh is inspired by Facebook and business executive social network LinkedIn.  It is explicitly designed to create and enhance interactions among industry, government, academie, venture capitalists, intellectual property attorneys and the work force.

U.S. Physicians Learn the Power of Professional Crowdsourcing—Consult Each Other in Digital Social Network

Healthcare systems worldwide are criticized for falling short of expectations, and countries like the U.S. which feature aging populations, are rapidly approaching a crisis. Demand and cost will grow, but the system as currently structured will certainly break down unless radical changes are made. Web 2.0's disruptive potential can be part of the remedy: we need to introduce much more accountability and collaboration into all parts of the system. We need to change the paternalistic attitudes that pervade the system, treat patients as active participants and encourage everyone to be more accountable. This series introduces healthcare Web 2.0 innovators.

Business Drivers

Sermo is a start-up that was founded by a doctor with a passion, to create a professional community in which often-isolated U.S. doctors can advise each other.  Once confirmed as practicing physicians, members create pseudonyms that are attached to their specialties.  No other information about members is required, but they can volunteer other information about themselves.

The Sermo story reflects the limitless applicability of Web 2.0 collaboration, in healthcare and other industries. 

How Blogs and Wikis Add Value in Global Organizations by Supplementing Enterprise IT—Contagious Grassroots Enthusiasm

Healthcare systems worldwide are criticized for falling short of expectations, and countries like the U.S. which feature aging populations, are rapidly approaching a crisis. Demand and cost will grow, but the system as currently structured will certainly break down unless radical changes are made. Web 2.0's disruptive potential can be part of the remedy: we need to introduce much more accountability and collaboration into all parts of the system. We need to change the paternalistic attitudes that pervade the system, treat patients as active participants and encourage everyone to be more accountable. This series introduces healthcare Web 2.0 innovators.

Business Drivers

Pfizer is the world's largest pharmaceutical company by sales, having in its stable numerous bestselling drugs, from Lipitor, Lyrica and Diflucan to Zithromax and Viagra.  It also has the industry's largest R&D budget, a global workforce and a tremendous need for its people to collaborate seamlessly across boundaries.

All pharmaceutical companies are struggling to invent new drugs because much of the "low hanging fruit" has been harvested, and their R&D staffs need to try new things to discover and bring new drugs to market.

In this case, Pfizer's experience suggests the power of applying Web 2.0 tools internally, a practice termed "enterprise 2.0."

Leveraging B2C "Social" Networks for Real Enterprise Advantage—Flashbacks to Web 1.0—People in Bars

Pan in, circa 1998, and enterprises were beginning to doubt the conventional wisdom that had prevailed during the past three years, namely that "the Internet" was a Silicon Valley fad that would blow over with nary a whimper. It was "for kids," it didn't merit adult attention—none of these "businesses" were making money anyway. You can't be serious, how could a money-losing online bookstore affect GM? It looks silly to read these words today, but that's only because we know what happened. Here I will suggest that we are on the cusp of a similar shift with Web 2.0 and social networks, I'll outline an approach you can use to consider your adoption strategy, and I will recommend tactical things you can do right now to leverage LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Del.icio.us and others.

Since 2006, my consulting work has encompassed strategic and tactical sides of Web 2.0 and social networks and, in 2008, I launched a tactically-focused service, the Executive's Guide to LinkedIn, which helps global enterprises to use LinkedIn for process innovation. This has provided the opportunity to deep dive into applying these tools to enterprise processes.

Dennis Howlett, writing in the Irregular Enterprise on 19 March, made the case that enterprise IT just didn't get social networking and start-ups were going to make some serious hay by bypassing IT and selling right into the business. He had also included a YouTube video in which CIOs commented on the question, "Is Enterprise 2.0 hype or happening?" which provided some light-hearted snippets about a profound subject. There was some valuable information in the post, but I found that it was approaching the issue from within the old paradigm ("battle on two fronts"), and therefore largely left money of the table. I'll peel the onion here, so get ready to well up.

Enterprise-class Social Networking Is Closer than You Think—Resetting the Adoption Clocks

Shades of Web 3.0—The Googlization of Knowledge Management

Tuesday IBM announced a new services practice, "Enterprise Adaptability" services, which aims to help global companies realize a quantum leap in workforce agility and collaboration by facilitating their adoption of social networks and Web 2.0. As predicted in the Year in Review—2007, social networks and Web 2.0 are being embraced in the enterprise B2B arena this year, and this announcement shows that adoption is right on ahead of schedule. Enterprise 2.0 is reaching the mainstream, and companies that do not aggressively adopt enterprise 2.0 will experience serious competitive threats within three years.

IBM's announcement validates enterprise social networking, but more significant is their rationale for launching the practice: their clients are struggling with adjusting to the Knowledge Economy, globalization and decreasing margins, and Enterprise Adaptability prescribes collaboration and innovation to cure legendary agility gaps. As explained below, Enterprise Adaptability smells like breakthrough, although it's barely out of the oven. To look behind the curtain, I caught up with Scott Smith, a lead Partner in IBM's Human Capital Management practice as well as Christa Degnan Manning, Research Director, AMR Research and Derek Smith, Research Director, Kennedy Information. After briefing you on the Enterprise Adaptability practice, I will dive deeper into its market significance and consider prospects for success.