Category Archives: Social Media

Will Twitter Be the Downfall of the Western World?

I can’t help but notice that as GDP growth in the BRIC rises, the growth of Twitter usage in BRIC countries, and the continents they belong to, slows (in comparison) while GDP growth in the US, Canada, and Western Europe falls as the relative growth of Twitter increases rapidly.

If you don’t believe me, check out this visual map of the world in tweets by Eric Fischer.

Some Great Ideas to Revitalize the Innovation Engine, Part I

A recent article over on Chief Executive that reviewed Henry Nothhaft’s recent book Great Again summarized some great advice on How to Revitalize our Innovation Engine. Tackling the link between innovation and prosperity that is diffused throughout society, Henry is worried that there are numerous forces that are severing this link. These forces include:

  • the divorce of innovation from production
    that has allowed other countries to advance, and become leaders in, technologies that were first developed (and patented) in the US, such as solar power (AT&T Bell Labs, 1957)
  • the lack of jobs in today’s web-based (social media) firms
    While Facebook has 500 M users and a market cap of up to 100B, it employs a mere 1,400 people while Sony (27 employs 170,000, Disney (75 employs 144,000, and Boeing (55 employs 157,000 people. Even Google had only 11,000 people at a comparable stage.
  • a lack of sustainable business(es) models
    since companies that are here today and gone tomorrow don’t have long to innovate

The first three suggestions he offers are the following.

  • Liberate Entrepreneurs from Start-up Killing Tax and Regulations
    Not only did a 2008 World Bank study find that a 10 percent increase in the effective tax rate reduces the investment-to-GDP ratio by 2.2 percent and foreign direct investment by 2.3 percent, indicating that lowering the effective tax rates for start-ups would likely have very positive results, but start-ups are expensive and taxes on necessary hardware and headcount are stifling. If a manufacturing start-up needs 10M of equipment, and the taxes on that equipment are 10%, that’s an extra 1M out of its pocket. While nothing to an established multi-million manufacturer, an extra 1M can sometimes break a start-up.
  • Fix the VC Engine
    In the 1990s, when most VC firms were staffed with executives with operational experience, firms were trying to build companies for the long-term. Today, most VC firms are led by financial types who want to “flip” companies for a quick return like PE firms do. They don’t want to invest unless you already have a product, beta customers, and the headcount to get the job done. At that point, a company could almost self-fund growth with customer partnerships and debt. It’s getting to that point that companies need money.
  • End the indifference to domestic manufacturing
    Most countries understand that manufacturing strengthens an economy and sustains a middle class like no other form of commercial activity. As Henry notes, decades of outsourcing have left the U.S. without the means to invent the next generation of high-tech products. Plus, R&D depends upon close contact with manufacturing for success. A design must be able to be manufactured efficiently and cost-effectively to be a success. R&D cannot be completely disconnected from manufacturing.

And they are all great. Tomorrow we will discuss his fourth suggestion and what your Supply Management operation should do to help revitalize the innovation engine.

Collaboration: Three Views from the Harvard Business Review, Part II

In part I, we discussed how true collaboration grows the pie while false collaboration just splits it and how the Harvard Business Review recently ran a special series of articles and posts on Making Collaboration Work. Some of these articles were quite insightful and a good read for any Supply Management professional looking to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of her supply chain. In this post, we are going to address the insights from two recent HBR posts that capture some key insights.

In collaboration as an intangible asset, the authors state that the most important intangible asset an organization has is the ability to collaborate. This is because it’s the willingness on the part of people to work together to solve problems when they could just as easily pass them along to someone else that usually means the difference between “good enough” and “outstanding” and differentiates an average organization from one that is constantly innovating. And given the price-earnings multiple fetched by companies like Amazon or Apple, it’s easy to see why “ability to innovate” and “brand management skill”, which is a product of great collaboration, is important to any company that wants to become a Global 3000 leader.

As a result, the authors argue that it is important to monitor and manage collaboration, and one way to do that is through social network analysis (SNA). SNA allows an analyst to see the patterns of interaction — information sharing, problem-solving, coaching, and mentoring — that make up the less visible, often informal side of an organization. This makes it possible to depict the networks that underlie or exist in parallel to the formal organization charts and process diagrams and, in turn, assess whether reogranizations or other efforts to improve collaboration are likely to have the desired impact. In addition, it can uncover the existence of parallel innovation efforts. This allows the organization to combine teams, and efforts, and get the most bang for their buck by minimizing effort in a way that maximizes the chances of success.

Finally, in quantity vs. quality in collaborations, the author addressed the potential of the web for crowd-sourcing innovation, as Innocentive does. Not only does crowd-sourcing bring more ideas, but it brings more opportunities for collaboration, which, in turn, creates more ideas and increases the chance that a great idea may knock on your door. And it also increases the chance you’ll find a great collaborator who can help you to better interpret this wealth of insights, to recognize the value of ideas that is not often visible at first, especially when it comes to radical change, and to identify a novel strategic direction. And that just might be the key to your collaborative success.

Good Networking Tips from the CPO Agenda

A recent article over on the CPO Agenda on how to get in with the in crowd had some great tips on networking, especially for those new to the on-line networking scene. Diving right in, they were:

Start Social
Social networking platforms allow you to reach out to people you haven’t seen or spoken to in a while that you used to work with. It’s often easiest to start networking with people you already know.

Choose Your Platforms Carefully
The article points out that LinkedIn is the most effective and valuable site for professionals, not Facebook, which is great for friends and family, but not business. SI agrees and is quite happy to see that there are experts who know the difference. It also gets Twitter right. Use it to follow companies to get information on changes to the business, best practice, or new legislation but don’t expect much more from it.

Systemize Your Contacts Strategy
Start by making a list of people you have not connected with in a while who have been helpful to you or who you have respect for and create a plan to keep in touch with them regularly.

Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone to Meet New People
Start by offering to do projects that are outside of your normal scope of work that will help you meet new people and suppliers, but for which you will have support from your team, who can often make the initial introductions.

Only Attend Events You are Interested In
Not only are many events a waste of time, but many don’t draw the crowd they advertise. Plus, even if the event draws a decent mix of professionals, if the event holds no interest to you, people will sense it and may assume that they have no interest to you, which will destroy any chances you have for good networking. Also, try to select an event where people you know typically go as well and arrange to meet up with them while there. Not only will it insure that the event is not a total waste of time, but your connections can introduce you to new people.

And, when using LinkedIn:

Have a Good Profile
It’s important to have a strong and authentic profile that allows people to see how you have developed throughout your career. And don’t forget the picture.

Connect Wisely
Although you want a strong network of at least 100 people, don’t connect with this anybody and everybody. First of all, you can only maintain real relationships with so many people. (British anthropologist Robin Dunbar puts the upper limit at 150 friends based on our brain size.) Secondly, you don’t want to look like a connection whore, err, super networker. In-depth network analyses show that they are not the source of online conversations. They are the sink hole where everything ends up.

Remember Online Etiquette
Simply put, it’s not okay to send direct messages or ask for favours from people you don’t know and haven’t met. You should be introduced first.

It is Better to Give than Receive
Build a reputation as a giver to a community. However, don’t just share interesting articles that are relevant to your network. Also take the time to explain why and add to the conversation.