EDGE SURVEY: SOCIAL SOFTWARE for BUSINESS PERFORMANCE - A CALL for CASES

[EXTENDED TILL MAY 21, 2010]

Do you use social software at your company?

We are currently conducting research on social software for business performance and would love to hear your story. We invite you to participate in our call for cases by submitting your case below >>

Our goal is to attract passionate people who share our desire to prove the business value of social software. Are you from the US? Great. China? Excellent. Let’s talk.

There are many anecdotes describing the value of social software. We want to move beyond anecdotal evidence to real, tangible examples of impact. We'll evaluate your proposals against our criteria (see if you qualify) and contact you to discuss further if we believe you are a match. We want to collaborate with you to build a strong case study and help you think about how to quantify the value social software is providing if you have not done so already.

NOTE: The cases we develop will be highlighted in a publicly available, eminent research paper published later this year. Cases may also appear in some of our other publications (like our Harvard Business Review blog). All your information will be treated as highly confidential, and we will not share it without your approval.

We define social software as collaborative tools used internally such as wikis, discussion boards, blogs, microblogs, idea trading/prediction markets and social networks that enable employees to communicate across boundaries, identify expertise, and access institutional memory. Using social tools for Social CRM and other marketing efforts externally is not in scope for this research.

Please take 5 minutes and fill out the form below no later than midnight PST, May 21, 2010. We will respond to you by May 26, 2010.

Thanks for your time,

John Hagel III
John Seely Brown

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SUBMIT your proposal
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us >>

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Participation Criteria

Timing
You have used social software for at least 6 months

Data
Your company tracks performance metrics for the business functions using social software and you are willing/able to share that data with us as needed (see suggestions below for business functions social software could impact).  It is not a requirement that you know which performance measures are being impacted by the social software.  As part of our collaboration, we will help you think about potential metrics that have been impacted and quantify the impact for you.  Examples of key metrics include product launch rate, sales cycle time, inventory turns, etc. [Ideally, we would like to see data for ~1 year prior to the social software installation, and for duration of the social software installation.]

• Sales Customer
• Service
• Product Development
• Operations
• HR / Talent
• Marketing

Provide data on tool usage, such as:

• Number of users over time
• Time spent on tool
• Number of connections made
• Usage types

Access
You are able to provide introductions to individuals in your organization for us to interview (as needed)

Size
Your organization has ~75 or more people using the tool, or the majority of a business function / department using the tool

Again, If you meet the above criteria, please take 5 minutes and fill out the form above no later than midnight PST, May 14, 2010. We will respond to you by May 19, 2010.