Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
Issue link: http://elmezine.epubxp.com/i/133739
socialtechnologies Improved communication and collaboration through social technologies could rais the productivity of the interaction workers by 20 to 25 percent. % of average workweek Interaction workers' tasks Ready and answering e-mail Increased value-added time 28 Searching and gathering informaiton Productivity improvement 7.0-8.0 19 Communicating and collaborating internally 25-30 5.5-6.0 14 30-35 3.5-5.0 25-35 Role-specific tasks 39 4.0-6.0 10-15 Total 100 20-25 20-25 Source: International Data Corporation (IDC); McKinsey Global Institute analysis Social technologies promise to unlock value in major sectors of the economy and across a range of functional areas. Potential benefit from improved productivity, % of revenue <0.5 0.5-1.0 1.0-2.0 Operations, Product development distribution >2.0 Sales and marketing Customer service Business support functions Total value at stake (approximate) Insurance– P&C1; 3-6 Insurance– life 3-4 Retail banking 4-7 Consumer packaged goods 5-6 Financial services Professional services N/A2 8-11 Semiconductors Automotive 4-6 Aerospace and defense Advanced manufacturing 5-7 2-3 1 Property and casualty. The activities associated with providing direct services to customers are captured under "Operations, distribution." Source: McKinsey Global Institute analysis 2 40 April / May 2013 Elearning! and complex subsystems. Pre- and postsales customer support in these industries ofen involves ecosystems where information can be exchanged among knowledgeable customers and company personnel, and collaboration tools can facilitate this sharing. Texas Instruments, for example, uses social platforms to share design information with engineers at client companies, tailoring products to their needs while avoiding costly over-design. Automotive is a somewhat special case of advanced manufacturing, in that the end customers for fnished products are consumers. Consequently, companies have a signifcant opportunity to use social technologies for marketing and for deriving consumer insights. Kia Motors, for example, designed more comfortable seats and increased the space of the cabin in one of its models afer learning that consumers in social forums found the cabin cramped and uncomfortable. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Interactions with colleagues and clients lie at the heart of how professional-service frms, such as advertising, accounting, engineering, and consulting businesses, create value. Productivity gains from the efective use of social technologies could be correspondingly signifcant, principally by reforming internal work fows and by providing meaningful real-time interactions with customers. Management resistance and legitimate fears of breaching client confdentiality are factors limiting the potential of social technologies, executives say. Of course, this resistance comes at a cost: service providers risk failing to satisfy the rising demands of clients, some of which could be further along the social-leaning curve than they are. Innovations are emerging, however. Some entrepreneurial frms are experimenting with social networks to co-create new services with their clients, speeding up knowledge access and implementation. One London engineering frm uses social platforms to manage project communications with road contractors. Disruptive new business models are appearing as well. At Choosa, a global design frm, clients post requests for proposals on a company social platform. Te work is crowd-sourced to contractors, who submit competing design proposals.