Collaborative Social Networking - Linux - Case Study Example

Collaborative Social Networking Social networking is among the greatest developments of the twenty first century because it has allowed people from diverse cultures and backgrounds to interact. In addition, it has ensured that there have developed online friendships, a trend which is continuing and has revolutionized the meaning of the term friendship to include even those individuals who have never met. The fact that a large number of individuals in the world are subscribers of social networks means that there have developed an avenue for these individuals to share almost every aspect of their lives with one another. This has helped spur the growth of social networks to such an extent that they have gone into other realms such as politics, news, and advertising; a factor which has led to the development of new types of social media almost on a daily basis and challenging the way individuals have interacted for centuries. The ability of social media to influence the lives of people all over the world has ensured that there are new forms of cooperation between people who do not even speak the same language and this has led to the development of cultural understanding, hence world peace. One of the biggest values of social networks, beyond being channels of marketing for a diverse number of companies as well as a means of communication between individuals, is the fact that they have become an avenue for collaboration and innovation among their users across the world. These have become unique points where individuals from all over the world have the opportunity to not only stay in touch, but as a place where companies have realized can be used for engaging their customers as well as recruiting new staff and the creation of new ideas which can be used in their products (Okoro, Hausman & Washington, 2012). This has become an avenue through which companies are currently encouraging their customers as well as other talented individuals to help them to develop ideas for various products. It has been found that a large number of individuals have great ideas, which have, yet to come to public knowledge and because of this, social networks have become the ideal place for these ideas to be found out. It is for this reason that many companies have chosen to not only engage in advertising through these networks, but also to engage with those people who are interested in their products so that they can get feedback concerning the latter. This feedback, as well as ideas developed by consumers concerning the product goes a long way in ensuring that products are improved and developed according to consumer specifications. In this way, the brainpower and energy of individuals are utilized by companies in ensuring that they develop better products than they already have as well as developing a firm customer base through constant interactions with them. Most companies have come to use social networks to communicate with their customers in such a way that they participate in brainstorming on how to become a better company as well as on how to support the various issues which affect communities (Brooks, 2003). In this way, social networks have come to tap into the collaborative mind-set, which has become a part of the modern internet and an example of this has been the development of the Linux operating system. This is an open source operating system which was developed when the company which owned it opened its source-code to the public, and this gave the opportunity to software developers all over the world the opportunity to improve and further develop the products into what it is today (Keys, 2001, p.5). It is because of the collaborative nature of social networks that Linux developed into an operating system of high quality and speed that is based on innovative ideas. The success of Linux through social networking has over the years encouraged other companies to develop similar initiatives where collaborative networks are used to create value for their products (Lohr, 1999). There has developed a realization that ideas do not necessarily have to come from the experts, but that some of the most brilliant ideas can come from anyone and at any time, hence the massive investment that has been put in the creation of collaborative initiatives on social networks. It is for this reason that a number of organizations have chosen to take advantage of the collaborative mind-set and have used it as an advantage to tap into the opportunities that social networks have to offer. An example of this form of collaboration is that of the Canadian company Goldcorp, a firm that mines gold, which attempted a new approach in discovering new gold deposits on its property in Red Lake, Ontario. There was a period when it was believed that the half a century old property had exhausted its mining capabilities and that there were likely no more deposits on it. This created a situation where the company faced many challenges such as potential strikes, labour lawsuits, as well as the possibility of its ending up being bankrupt. It is for this reason that the company’s management became desperate for a solution and it made one of the biggest attempts in history when it chose to use social networks to make it viable again. In this way, the CEO of Goldcorp came up with the aptly named Goldcorp Challenge where all the information about the abovementioned property was placed on the internet with the intention that individuals would be able to download, study, and make recommendations about what the company could to ensure that gold deposits were found (Heinzl, 2005). This proved to have been a very wise decision because over a thousand individuals from more than fifty countries participated in the attempt to find a solution for this company’s problem, with the amazing thing being that a large number of the individuals who participated had no training in geology. This open source network proved to be a valuable asset because it helped the company to identify slightly more than a hundred targets whose value was more than three billion dollars. Because of its decision to provide all of the information concerning its problem to a wide network of individuals online, Goldcorp became a beneficiary of both internal and external knowledge in the achievement of its aims as well as its survival. Another example of collaboration through social networks is the one that developed in IBM when it created an internal social network known as Beehive. This network was designed for ensuring that all of this company’s employees across the globe were connected (Cunningham & Hunt, 2010). This network gained so much momentum that it has in recent years come to support some thirty thousand IBM employees all over the world. Beehive has been designed in such a manner that it allows it users to add a bio page and photos in addition to allowing them to connect with other employees anywhere in the world, making it what can be termed as an internal global social network. This network has been created in a unique way where its employees are able to use it in three distinctive categories. The first way through which employees can use this network is where the latter meet during conferences or when working on interdepartmental projects, which require close collaboration and communication. This has been designed to enable the employees who are working together to stay connected so that they can get to know each other at a personal level as well as gain some knowledge concerning each other’s specialization and skills. This works towards a form of team building where, because of the knowledge of each other’s skills, employees working on a project are able to plan early enough so that they can be able to complete their tasks as swiftly and efficiently as possible. The second use to which Beehive can be put is as a channel for employees to gain support on projects that they are working on as well as getting the opportunity to brainstorm with their colleagues on the best way through which they can be able to successfully complete the projects at hand (Brandel, 2008). The second connection provides employees with the necessary support as well as a means through which they can promote each other’s projects to their colleagues at diverse levels and this allows them to gather ideas and get clarification concerning how best to handle their projects. The third use of Beehive is to ensure that there is an open line of communication between the top executives of the company and employees and this provides employees with the opportunity to interact with their employers in a manner, which would not be possible through traditional channels. Employees get to use this network as a means of sharing ideas concerning the direction that the company can take as well as getting advice concerning their careers in the hope that they will be able to advance their careers. In this way, Beehive has been used by IBM as a means through which there is constant communication between its management and employees as well as a means of ensuring that there is collaboration between diverse teams within this global company. Another example of among the largest collaborative projects in the world is of InnoCentive, which is a web community that was developed for open innovation. This is a community which was designed for bringing companies which has problems together with professionals who were capable of solving these problems (Seewald & Scott, 2002). This is a network, which ensures that there is collaboration between companies and professionals to ensure that problems of diverse origins are analysed and solved. By 2011, a decade after this network was developed; it had more than 250,000 professionals and organizations from different fields across the globe that were available to provide solutions for those companies which needed them (Sansom, 2011). Among the companies, which post their problems on this network are Procter & Gamble and BASF and the problems that they post are normally those, which their own research teams are not able to solve. Those professionals who are able to solve these problems tend to be very handsomely rewarded with these rewards ranging between $10,000 and $100,000 (Sansom, 2011). Because of these companies’ access to external resources based on social networks, these companies are able to sources professionals from diverse fields across the world with the view of ensuring that their projects and product prove to be a success. The absence of networks that help in the development of new ideas and the finding of solutions for the problems that these companies encounter would make life very difficult for them in the competitive globalised markets. However, the presence of networks such as InnoCentive, has ensured that companies that post their problem on its site are able to develop products at a fast enough rate to satisfy the growing demand on the global market. There are currently numerous benefits of collaboration through social networks and these benefits have been found to be limitless. These networks create a situation where companies and individuals can be able to cooperate and co-create products whose effects are far-reaching and might satisfy the demand of markets all over the world (Okoro, Hausman & Washington, 2012). This helps in the development of a culture which is based on shared values and a culture of collaboration which can be very useful in the world ahead where individuals will have to work together in order to find solutions to global problems. This type of collaboration is appealing to the current generation because it has enabled them to develop a state of mind that is based on collaboration and one would suggest that it is a means of ensuring that there develops an understanding between individuals from different backgrounds. Companies have come to take advantage of the talents of the current generation, which is educated, collaborative and interactive, to ensure that some of their most disturbing problems are solved and that they are able to develop those products that are highly appealing to their customers. In this way, it has been found that there is a massive shift in generational thinking and this because while in the past, companies and individuals often worked alone and were tight-lipped concerning their ideas, the current generation is more collaborative; sharing all that they know so that new and better ideas can be developed. The period where companies only developed products on their own without any outside help is now almost gone and the newer form of cooperation between companies and individuals all over the world has been inaugurated (King, 2006). Solutions are no longer found in isolation but are developed through massive collaboration in social networks, which enable companies to spend less in the finding of solutions and more on the development of products. The result is that many companies have come to witness massive returns on their investments despite the fact that they only put a relatively small amount of money in projects. Because of the collaborative networks that have developed and continue to develop all over the world, there is currently more potential for the creation of better products and services for consumption on the global market. In addition, as seen above, companies such as Goldcorp have been able to survive because of some of the ideas that they have gotten from social networks. this has created a situation where it has become difficult for companies to develop to a competitive level without the input of outside individuals; even though some of them are not trained in the fields on which they are commenting. Thus, social networks are no longer just avenues of communication and interaction between friends but have developed into network for the interaction between companies and individuals to achieve the goals of the former through brainstorming and outsourcing of ideas. In conclusion, it has been found that one of the biggest values of social networks is the fact that they have become an avenue for collaboration and innovation among their users across the world. Among the motivators of collaboration through social networks is the success of Linux which has over the years encouraged other companies to develop similar initiatives where collaborative networks are used to create value for their products. It has also been found that IBM created a similar network, known as Beehive, which was designed for ensuring that all of this company’s employees across the globe were connected. Another example that has been discussed is that of InnoCentive, a web community that was developed for open innovation, and was designed for bringing companies, which have problems together with professionals, who were capable of solving these problems. Because of the examples given above and many others that have not been mentioned, there are currently numerous benefits of collaboration through social networks and these benefits have been found to be limitless. These networks create a situation where companies and individuals can be able to cooperate and co-create products whose effects are far-reaching and might satisfy the demand of markets all over the world. The result is that collaborative social networking has become the current phenomenon in the global economy and it is likely that it will remain for many years to come. References Brandel, M. 2008, "SOCIAL NETWORKING GOES CORPORATE", Computerworld, vol. 42, no. 32, pp. 25-27. Brooks, J. 2003, "Linux in the Enterprise: Now What? ; Operating system faces challenges, opportunities from all sides", eWeek, vol. 20, no. 35, pp. 47-48. Cunningham, W.H. & Hunt, J. 2010, "IBMs Delicate Social Media Balancing Act", Risk Management, vol. 57, no. 8, pp. 30. Heinzl, M. 2005, Goldcorp Shareholders Back Takeover Bid for Wheaton, Eastern edition edn, New York, N.Y. Keys, J. 2001, Social Software Engineering: Development and Collaboration with Social Networks. Boca Raton, Florida, CRC Press. King, W.R. 2006, "THE COLLABORATIVE WEB", Information Systems Management, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 88. Lohr, S. 1999, Companies Join to Promote A Linux Operating System, Late Edition (East Coast) edn, New York, N.Y. Okoro, E.A., Hausman, A. & Washington, M.C. 2012, "Social Media And Networking Technologies: An Analysis Of Collaborative Work And Team Communication", Contemporary Issues in Education Research (Online), vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 295. Sansom, C. 2011, "The power of many", Nature biotechnology, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 201-3. Seewald, N. & Scott, A. 2002, "InnoCentive puts firms in touch with online problem solver", Chemical Week, vol. 164, no. 40, pp. 23. Read More