IBM: a social business case study

I’m often asked for case studies of great social businesses, and I must admit that it can be a hard task. Many brands are doing elements of social business well – BestBuy’s customer service, say, or Deloitte’s social recruitment – but very few yet are demonstrating a thoroughgoing commitment to being social from the inside out.

Enter IBM.

These guys are, I believe, pretty much the best example we have right now of a social business. Check out this video from Ted Stanton at the Social Business Summit 2011, charting IBM’s evolution to full social functionality across B2C, B2B and B2E. If you don’t have half an hour to spare, I’ve shared a few key takeouts below…

Ted Stanton, A Journey to Become a Social Business from Bryan Menell on Vimeo.

• Their ‘social intranet’ includes over 30,000 specialist communities (some strategic and top down, some grassroots), 18,000 blogs and 12 million chats every day. Lesson: people really do use it, and employee surveys prove its business value to a range of stakeholders from HR (it makes people happy and improves retention) to sales (they do actual business deals in there)
• The social media guidelines were written by IBMers in a Wiki. Yes, legal and HR then made amends, but at the core it comes from the people it affects, and everyone is encouraged and guided to build personal profiles in social media
• IBM’s Jams, both on the intranet (‘how can we help the Japanese tsunami?) and through external platforms such as developerWorks (‘what will a social business lok like in 10 years time?’), are a brilliant way to gain insight and build relationships between employees but also with competitors, partners, independent consultants, the press and customers
• When it comes to starting with social business, there is no magic bullet, just make sure you: communicate the value to everyone; identify the key stakeholders; define the business value for each stakeholder; and organise governance.

Of course, IBM isn’t a perfect example. There are no doubt many regions or areas of the business that don’t feel ‘social’, and Stanton himself admits that ‘it’s a long journey’.

But the important thing here is that a big, global company, with a lot of organisational complexity and a strong legacy, can make a hell of a difference by taking action, trusting its people and giving them the tools to thrive.

If you’re thinking about starting the journey too, get in touch.

Brought into the world on Friday, July 29th, 2011 and filed under B2B, Case Studies, social business.