Second Life-Yielding results in corporate trainings?

It’s exciting to see the world go digital in different manners and see businesses adopt these new technologies. The most intriguing experience in bringing a whole new dimension to holding meetings was the introduction of teleconferencing. I liked the idea that a medium like TelePresence (by Cisco) could enable you sit in a ‘virtual’ round table and have meetings while viewing other participants in the meeting via a screen. I saw this as a whole new way to cut costs in businesses by having meetings between participants from distant locations on TelePresence.

However, the same feeling doesn’t enfold my perception of Second Life (SL). I feel really skeptical about the effectiveness of this social media tool in the professional world. Having meetings or trainings might not yield the optimum level of results using this communication channel. Though I had heard a bit about Second Life before today, I had never experienced using it so decided to sign up today after reading the article: Fast Talk: Getting a (Second) Life. Not to my surprise, I got a first turn-off while using it when Second Life crashed due to system incompatibilities!
IBM’s decision to make this a training tool raises many questions within me. Knowing well the implications of a delayed training on employees swinging into full actions on their job, has IBM fully weighed the risks of delays due to technical difficulties when using SL in this training? The site connects users via different servers and thus functions like any IT based architecture that is prone to server breakdown, connection issues, etc.

Aside technical difficulties that may be encountered, I also believe the ability to have a physical interaction during training about a company’s culture would be much more effective in building the company culture in new employees rather than just listening to any explanations via an avatar. I see huge risks of passing inaccurate or insufficient information to the new employees in using SL as a training tool. This is consequently critical to their success on the jobs and as such should be carefully analyzed.

SL might be able to prove its worth in other areas I haven’t explored since it has quite a wide variety of applications by its users; However, I feel it shouldn’t be used for delicate and very result-driven circumstances like trainings or business meetings.

Information in a Web 2.0 era!

“But isn’t the difference between the know-nothing and the professional obvious?” -These words caught my attention in Andrew Kern’s article which addresses today’s role of web 2.0 tools in America’s intellectual authority. Describing those without academic degrees and professional degrees as “know-nothings’ might be termed ignorant in itself. Knowledge goes beyond class-room experience and professional degrees. A wide scope of knowledge is gathered from real life experiences; that of which is not bound by professional certifications and academic degrees. Take for instance, today’s IT world, a lot of computer experts might not necessarily be literate but may have much more advice to offer than those with computer degrees have to offer with respect to some issues.

I’ll however say that it might be good to differentiate where to source digital information. The credibility of some information might not be ascertained in totality however some piece of this can be achieved by seeking for some “professional” type of information (as the case may be) from more relevant sources. This is highlighted in Andrew’s suggestion for associations to create blogs targeted at offering specific professional advice. However, still lurking in this suggestion is the authenticity issue. The professional blogs still don’t deal with the “digital Tom Dick and Harrys”. How would verification of professional expertise of proposed members be achieved? I believe authorizing members is based on information these proposed members provide. Will organizations actually go a step further to confirm their claims?? Is this not the same "false information" lurking around the so called “know-nothings”?

So drawing from the broad knowledge or opinion (as the case may be) I have learnt from the internet populace in general, I won’t totally rule out the strength of information from blogs and “random’ social media. There’s quite a whole lot that can be learnt from the “know-nothings”. Tackling authentication issues irrespective of source might be a more interesting issue for the Silicon Valley firms to address …Perhaps via a Web 3.0 initiative ?Uh!!!

Networking- For business or for pleasure?

The power of relationships established through networking has definitely benefited me as an individual. I secured my current internship through a ‘second-degree’ level of contact as LinkedIn would describe it. Having tirelessly searched for internships on Indeed, my Business school career site amongst other job sites, I almost gave up on the job search. However, I got referral from someone I met in a social gathering. Likewise, my pre-MBA job was also secured through referral from a friend.

However, this week, an interesting article - The Savvy Networker caught my attention. On reading the article, I discovered that the article basically highlights mistakes of individuals on perceived connotation of networking from the business/Job search perspective. It tactically eludes the social aspect to networking. This brings up the question in my mind why networking is often perceived only from the professional/ job search perspective.

Drawing from the examples of my pre-MBA job and current internship which were secured through ‘Social networking’ contacts, it is evident that professional networks can be built or established even from social networking. However, many people tend to distinctly differentiate between the two thereby missing the opportunity of achieving professional networking benefits though social networking activities. Making deliberate attempts to build professional contacts might not be enough.... That happy, cheerful and ‘unimportant’ barber you visit twice a month might just be your link to landing you a dream job if the CEO of the prospect firm is his customer. In my opinion, there’s just a grey area between social and professional networking. Think about it!

The Future of Marketing!

I recently read an article, 'Word of Mouse' from the Economist and it dawned on me how much Web2.0 technology has crept into businesses today and created opportunities like never before. Conversational marketing- marketing by establishing a two way communication between businesses and customers is just one of these latest opportunities seized from the Web 2.0 buzz.

Although, some companies have realized that it is more effective to reach out to their customers by engaging in ‘conversations’ to ensure that they are listening to their customers and meeting their demands; many others are still left out of this whole frenzy.

Just like in any regular conversation, a two way communication of speaking and listening proves to be more effective than one-way in creating mutual benefits for both parties. The conversational approach to marketing is helping to integrate that ‘listening’ section lacking in the conventional approach of TV adverts, billboards, etc.

Being an addict fan of Facebook, I have visited so many business pages with some having fans of over 3 million people. The discussion boards not only help to create a personal relationship with the brand but also help me as a consumer to associate better with these many people with similar interests. Also, just like in relationships where we all desire attention, the recognition from businesses for being affiliated with their brands or products creates a strong attachment. Personally, I have derived so much satisfaction from these experiences which often motivate me to further endorse such products to my friends and family- Word-of-mouth marketing.

In the years to come, I see a lot of opportunities amass for companies as they embrace this approach to marketing. Even the most conservative firms might need to recognize the inefficiencies of the conventional marketing channels of placing advertisements on TV, and pasting information on sites, billboards that do not listen to my opinion or acknowledge my 'presence'!:)

Female bosses!

Hey! I'm sure you'll love to read this post by Sarah if you've ever had a female boss!

Social Networking - A justifiable CRM tool for businesses?

With the growing level of competition in today’s business world, the importance of effective customer retention cannot be over-emphasized. A way of achieving retention is by going beyond just maintaining a connection with customers-social networking but also using such connections to channel ways of improving internal business processes and creating new business opportunities-Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

However, having read the article on the relatedness of Social networking and CRM by Denis Prombiant, I quite see reason why some companies may feel reluctant about connecting some of their social networking initiatives to CRM. In the same light, it is not enough to term such CRM initiatives as ‘mere’ social networking. Without careful linkages between the effectiveness of social networking programs and business process and performances, most firms are likely to continue to ignore the importance of social networking in their CRM programs.

By linking social networking and incentives for companies such as increased sales or increased profits, just maybe these companies can better justify investments in CRM from a social networking perspective.

Is online social networking a disaster-in-waiting?

Social networking essentially operates by social capital, the person-to-person social equivalent of credit-worthiness. Social capital is acquired, both in cyberspace and real life, over a period of reliable and trustworthy conduct. Basically, social capital is accumulated trust. In cyberspace, which is notoriously difficult to police, emphasis on social capital is a reasonably effective way of keeping the peace while maintaining freedom of information. This system of online community policing is the method used on sites such as e-bay (where buyers and sellers rate one another, thereby contributing towards their social capital). It is increasing being used on many other sites, for example on you-tube, users are encouraged to report postings that potentially violate copyright laws. Because of its huge potential for minimizing cost while at the same time maximizing information dissemination, social networking is obviously here to stay. It is difficult to envisage a future for business and an increasingly internet-savvy and technology-savvy society without it.

That said, online social networking possesses massive potentials for disaster. The commonest and greatest threat is cyber crime. Identity theft and cyber espionage mean that no individual or organization serious about internet security will be comfortable with conducting sensitive business on a social networking site. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, these sites do not require a validation of identity or in fact any background check of any sort to become a member, and are therefore very easily infiltrated. Thus, in the interest of safety, it is often wise to regard as provisional (at best) the identities of people not known outside of cyberspace. Furthermore, because of the “linked” nature of these sites (i.e, one person is linked to tens, hundreds or thousands of others, with access to many of their personal details), it is extremely feasible that when the security of one member of this linked group is compromised, the rest are endangered. In addition, some of these sites possess an abundance of links to a variety of external applications (online tests, games, quizzes), many of which are created by individuals with no security check, and which demand access to personal details. The “free” nature of these applications makes them a very attractive target for an anonymous cyber criminal to attack ignorant users.

One of the hitherto attractive features of online social networking is the ease of entry and exit. The disadvantages of the ease of entry are well known. The ease of exit (which I will term “cyberfading” for the purpose of this discussion) means that at any time, a user of a networking site could delete their account, together with all of their personal details.

The utility of internet social network can be huge, much more than it already is. However, regardless of all the hype surrounding its usage, would these inherent security issues lead to its collapse in the foreseeable future?