McKinsey Study Highlights: How Companies are Benefiting from Web 2.0
A week or so ago, McKinsey & Company released findings from a study on how companies are benefiting from the use of Web 2.0 tools. The study complied responses from 1,695 responses from executives across industries, regions and functional responsibilities.
Among the findings:
• Sixty-nine percent of respondents report that their companies have gained measurable business benefits by deploying Web 2.0 tools. Benefits include:
1. More innovative products and services
2. More effective marketing
3. Better access to knowledge
4. Lower cost of doing business
5. Higher revenues
• Successful companies not only tightly integrate Web 2.0 technologies with the work flows of their employees but also create a “networked company” linking themselves with customers and suppliers through the use of these tools
• Median level of gains derived from internal Web 2.0 use ranged from a 10 percent improvement in operational costs to a 30 percent increase in the speed at which employees are able to tap outside experts
• The more heavily used technologies are blogs wikis and podcasts
• An organizational structure that’s more porous and networked may make companies more resilient and adaptive, sharpening their ability to access knowledge and thus innovate more effectively
• Three aspects of management were particularly critical to superior performance:
1. A lack of internal barriers to Web 2.0
2. A culture favoring open collaboration
3. Early adoption of Web 2.0 technologies
• Among respondents whose companies have gained measurable business benefits from Web 2.0, the current downturn has increased interest in the technologies, presumably because companies count on extending their gains
I was pleased to see this report for a couple of reasons.
First, as we tell our clients, you have to take a strategic approach to Web 2.0. This is not just about putting up a Facebook page or sending out a couple of Tweets. It’s also not just about communicating with end users. Companies need to take a broad 30,000 look at the way they communicate outside the firewall with customers, inside the firewall with employees and through it with suppliers and then decide what they want to accomplish in social media. This integrated approach is more complicated but as the study shows, it pays off.
Second, is the holy grail of ROI. The cacophony around whether or not social media can be measured is deafening. As the study shows however, measurable gains can be found by executing customer, employee and supplier social media strategies.
In addition to the survey report, McKinsey also has this nifty little interactive tool that shows, among other measures, key Web 2.0 tools, who the users are, expected future investment and satisfaction levels. Very cool.
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