It’s not just family and friends that Americans are turning to for advice and support to cope with the prolonged recession; many have found a counselor in the Internet.
More than two-thirds of American adults — or 88 percent of U.S. Internet users — went online for help with recession-induced personal economic issues and to gather information on national economic problems, a study released on Wednesday said. [via Reuters]
File this one under: “not surprising in the least.”
Found this great picture while browsing through the Life archives over at Google Images. It’s such an interesting photograph. Were they posing? The suits are wonderfully 1950s: a large lapel, white shirt and a “smart tie.”
The caption reads: Italian-American working as a clerk for International Business Machines Corporation with its motto on desk “THINK.”
I’m afraid I was not aware that employees put the “think” motto on their desks… Do they still do that? In any event, it’s a great snapshot back into the world of yesteryear.
Photographer: Ralph Morse, New York City, March 1953
[via Life Archive: Google Images.]
A recent post to the New York Times Bits blog has a very news-worthy byline. “A new economic index paints a disheartening picture for technophiles — at least the ones inside corporate America” it reads. The article continues to paint a bleak picture for firms that are investing hundred’s of millions of dollars into technology and enterprise systems with the hope that there will be huge returns on their investments.
The Shift Index, developed by the Silicon Valley research unit of the consulting firm Deloitte, tracks a wide range of measures of economic performance, going back to 1965. But two numbers really jump out. The return on assets for United States companies has dropped by 75 percent over that span, while labor productivity has more than doubled.
Return on Investment
I don’t necessarily agree with the assertions of this article. It is true that technology investment is one of the many investments firms can make that are extremely difficult to calculate returns for, but it is not impossible.
There are many reasons for these difficulties since these systems can increase revenue and decrease expenses in intangible ways… Some changes also take place over such large periods of time that they are difficult to track, and with poor data sets on previous systems it can make comparison difficult – or nearly impossible – between the two.
BUT–I would also add–that the main return that is (1) primarily realized, (2) not always calculated, and (3) present in the Shift Index is… the human element. Technology allows labor productivity to increase, allowing people to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently. It can be difficult to calculate a concrete figure on this efficiency bump, but it is clearly present.
Information is Key
The efficiency increase mainly involves the use of information and business intelligence, and this magnification effect allows employees of firms with large technological investments to make better decisions during their daily functions.
The good news, according to John Hagel, co-chairman of Deloitte’s Center for the Edge, is that companies typically have a solid technology foundation. But technology investment, he said, has been overly focused on an industrial-era model. “It’s been all about standardization and automation of business processes,” he said. “Until and unless companies learn how to harness knowledge flows, the impact of the technology will mainly be continuing competitive pressure.”
A part of the answer, Mr. Hagel added, is the smart use of social networks and other online collaboration tools. “There is a completely different set of values that information technology can drive, connecting and communicating with the outside world, both partners and customers, which can translate into competitive advantage,” he said.
Competitive advantage in today’s marketplace will come from information. Social networks, information sharing, analysis, and hyper segmentation will mean the difference between Fortune 500 and top-performing Fortune 100 firms.
Speaking of online collaboration tools, check out the Jam sessions at IBM – a leading competitor of Deloitte.
Forward Looking
I can’t get enough of the concepts behind ‘Jam.’ I think it’s remarkable what IBM was able to accomplish and the “forward looking” nature of the values that were adopted through their online brainstorming sessions… Corporate social responsibility is especially important today, and in my opinion, clearly adds value to the firm’s bottom line.
Being proactive in your corporate policy/governance, which includes being employee focused AND understanding stakeholder relationships (as opposed to shareholder) can mean the difference between the Enrons and Arthur Andersons, and the Apples and the IBMs.
IBM got it right with their three values:
- Dedication to every client’s success
- Innovation that matters, for our company and for the world
- Trust and personal responsibility in all relationships
Evolution rocks
With that being said – check out this post on how Jam organically evolved over 72 hours from an entirely negative social media experience, to something entirely different:
IBM’s values. This really has two parts to it. One of our core values is trust in the employee. This is imperative as we try and encourage every employee to engage in social media. But the experiences in how we created our values is every bit as important as the outcome themselves. Back in 2003, IBM set out to define what we stand for as a company. Rather than having it be created by a few folks at CHQ, we decided to put the task to every IBMer. So we launched ValuesJam in 2003, a massive three-day online brainstorm for all employees. Fine right?
Well, not at first. As soon as the Jam it went live, many employees found a place where they could vent their frustrations. And for the next eight hours, it was overwhelmingly negative. To the point where we were getting calls to pull the plug. We decided to see what happened if we let it run it’s course. And what happened? The conversation organically shifted from being overwhelmingly negative to being overwhelmingly positive. All without any moderation or prodding from the top. It was an eye opener that if we let employees do their thing, in the end, we’ll all gain from it. That experience gave us as a company more confidence that we could give open, free access to employees both internally and externally, which has informed everything we do in the social media context. And perhaps the most important benefit is that employees view the company’s progressive stance on social media as a public example of the values in action. A reinforcing circle, of sorts.
[via Adam Christensen]
Is anyone familiar with any more of this type of goodness on the web today? I imagine that this is able to be communicated because of the values of the company, and more specifically the “trust in the employee” piece.
I can’t say it enough… I think Big Blue is just incredible the more I read about their corporate vision and learn about their ethics and values as a firm.
