The USC Marshall Ethics Team - Chuong Nguyen, Stephanie Crim and Fiona Torrance - headed by Dr. Sandra Chrystal - compete on Thursday, February 22 in the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl National Championship Competition in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics.
USC Marshall Ethics Team are one of 32 national teams selected to compete in legal, financial, and ethical analysis of 15 cases: http://ethics.iit.edu/eb/Nationalcases20071.pdf. Collectively, students try and find solutions to these vexing modern-day dilemmas by drawing on interdisciplinary learning and the wisdom of philosophers/ethicists.
Dr. Sandra Chrystal is one of the first professors at USC's Marshall School of Business to ever lead business students into this collaborative and interdisciplinary approach of learning applied ethics to business and corporate governance. Information on her classes are available through USC's Marshall School of Buisness Center of Management Communication - http://www.marshall.usc.edu/buco/.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Is Social Computing Sustainable?
RW -- http://luddites-or-laggards.blogspot.com/2007/02/social-computing-is-it-sustainable.html -- posted a comment on my site posing the question:
Is Social Computing Sustainable?
In the article above, RW raises three further questions:
1. Will we be able to distinguish between true consumer generated content and organisational content in the future?
2. Will consumer content become lost amongst a battle ground for organisations and brands to gain share of voice?
3. Will Governments around the world hinder the chance of social computing to grow to its full potential?
Here are my thoughts on the topic and welcome yours:
Hi RW
Thank you for visiting bizblogreview.com and directing me to your site. You raise three complex questions -- here are some thoughts on each:
1. In attempting to distinguish between organizational content and consumer generated content, we need to look at the source of the content, the platform hosting the content and its "filters"/"moderation" and as you've mentioned - regulation too.
Some organizations are genuinely soliciting and publishing all types of consumer generated content/feedback to improve product innovation and sales. There are cases though, such as sites with guest hotel reviews where subjective filtering is occuring and this raises ethical questions when customers make choices based on reviews. I think it will become harder to distinguish between what is consumer vs. organizationally-driven content, and that there will be criteria eventually to evaluate this.
2. The battle ground is in gaining visibility and attracting the DESIRED consumer to generate the DESIRED content for your site. Organizations will specialize in targeting certain consumers to contribute specific kinds of content. I think, in terms of marketing, it's just a different playground and those organizations with the best techniques will succeed.
3. A country like China (or any other) with its regulation cannot alone hinder the social computing evolution that's occurring. I don't personally think regulation and jurisdiction issues can keep up with the pace of technology.
Is Social Computing Sustainable?
In the article above, RW raises three further questions:
1. Will we be able to distinguish between true consumer generated content and organisational content in the future?
2. Will consumer content become lost amongst a battle ground for organisations and brands to gain share of voice?
3. Will Governments around the world hinder the chance of social computing to grow to its full potential?
Here are my thoughts on the topic and welcome yours:
Hi RW
Thank you for visiting bizblogreview.com and directing me to your site. You raise three complex questions -- here are some thoughts on each:
1. In attempting to distinguish between organizational content and consumer generated content, we need to look at the source of the content, the platform hosting the content and its "filters"/"moderation" and as you've mentioned - regulation too.
Some organizations are genuinely soliciting and publishing all types of consumer generated content/feedback to improve product innovation and sales. There are cases though, such as sites with guest hotel reviews where subjective filtering is occuring and this raises ethical questions when customers make choices based on reviews. I think it will become harder to distinguish between what is consumer vs. organizationally-driven content, and that there will be criteria eventually to evaluate this.
2. The battle ground is in gaining visibility and attracting the DESIRED consumer to generate the DESIRED content for your site. Organizations will specialize in targeting certain consumers to contribute specific kinds of content. I think, in terms of marketing, it's just a different playground and those organizations with the best techniques will succeed.
3. A country like China (or any other) with its regulation cannot alone hinder the social computing evolution that's occurring. I don't personally think regulation and jurisdiction issues can keep up with the pace of technology.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
SOUTHWEST Spreads the LUV!
Today, Southwest are celebrating employees with blog post -- "Our Valentine's Day Heroes."
http://www.blogsouthwest.com/2007/02/13/our-valentines-day-heroes/
Past recipients of the Heroes of the Heart award are listed in this entry, representing a "deserving group or department that works behind-the-scenes at Southwest without direct contact with our External Customers."
It's interesting that Southwest have selected to link the Valentine's Day celebration with employee motivation.
How will other corporate bloggers seize the day?
Wells Fargo's Officers are still stuck in pursuit...
http://blog.wellsfargo.com/GuidedByHistory/
http://www.blogsouthwest.com/2007/02/13/our-valentines-day-heroes/
Past recipients of the Heroes of the Heart award are listed in this entry, representing a "deserving group or department that works behind-the-scenes at Southwest without direct contact with our External Customers."
It's interesting that Southwest have selected to link the Valentine's Day celebration with employee motivation.
How will other corporate bloggers seize the day?
Wells Fargo's Officers are still stuck in pursuit...
http://blog.wellsfargo.com/GuidedByHistory/
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Corporate Blog Monitoring Focus 2007
As the blogosphere becomes saturated with discussion about corporate blogs and strategies, I thought (from a monitoring perspective) that Cymfony's Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Jim Nail -- http://www.cymfony.com/abt_mgt.asp#jn -- effectively summed up the focus for 2007 -- http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10798.asp:
"2007 is shaping up to be the year that the fast followers will kickstart corporate blogging. This wave will spur greater experimentation with topics, audiences and formats, leading more companies to jump into the blogosphere."
"The blogosphere thrives on diversity of voices. But this time next year [Aug 14, 2006] the voice of business, currently almost absent from the dialogue, will have a more prominent presence."
Some Questions:
1. Who were the early adopters (IBM, HP...)? How did they experiment with topics, audiences, and formats?
2. Who are the fast followers (Wells Fargo, Southwest Airlines...)? How are/will they experiment with topics, audiences and formats?
3. How and what is the comparison effect on business/business communication measured between a single CEO voice on a company blog and a diverse collection of employee voices on a company blog? The business voice vs. the CEO voice...
4. What strategies are companies using to gain visibility to their corporate blogs (since external corporate blogs build networks)? Blog Tag -- a fun means of gaining visibility and networking?
5. What universities/colleges/companies are offering training programs in corporate blogging and what are the topics under study and practice? How are these programs evolving?
6. What surveys and studies on corporate blogging are being conducted and by which companies? What are the findings and how do they compare with previous surveys and studies?
7. What aspects of content management systems are internal blogs overlapping/replacing?
"2007 is shaping up to be the year that the fast followers will kickstart corporate blogging. This wave will spur greater experimentation with topics, audiences and formats, leading more companies to jump into the blogosphere."
"The blogosphere thrives on diversity of voices. But this time next year [Aug 14, 2006] the voice of business, currently almost absent from the dialogue, will have a more prominent presence."
Some Questions:
1. Who were the early adopters (IBM, HP...)? How did they experiment with topics, audiences, and formats?
2. Who are the fast followers (Wells Fargo, Southwest Airlines...)? How are/will they experiment with topics, audiences and formats?
3. How and what is the comparison effect on business/business communication measured between a single CEO voice on a company blog and a diverse collection of employee voices on a company blog? The business voice vs. the CEO voice...
4. What strategies are companies using to gain visibility to their corporate blogs (since external corporate blogs build networks)? Blog Tag -- a fun means of gaining visibility and networking?
5. What universities/colleges/companies are offering training programs in corporate blogging and what are the topics under study and practice? How are these programs evolving?
6. What surveys and studies on corporate blogging are being conducted and by which companies? What are the findings and how do they compare with previous surveys and studies?
7. What aspects of content management systems are internal blogs overlapping/replacing?
---------------------------
As I think of more questions, I'll add to them. Please add your thoughts too.
Corporate Blog Talk 2007
I've researched some articles and blog posts discussing the future of corporate blogs. Here are the links and I'll add to this post as I discover more topics of interest (please add your interests too if you read this post):
"The Outlook of Corporate Blogs" by Jim Nail, Cymfony's Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10798.asp
"Corporate Blogging & Podcasting" - SocialMedia2007
http://socialmedia2007.blogspot.com/
Plexis 2007 - http://www.plexus2007.com/
"Corporate Blog Owners Report Success, But Differences in Resources Devoted to Blogs" - Cymfony and Porter Novelli Corporate Blog Survey
http://www.porternovelli.com/site/pressrelease.aspx?pressrelease_id=123&pgName=news
"TALKING FROM THE INSIDE OUT: The Rise of Employee Bloggers" by Edelman and Intelliseek - Fall 2005
http://edelman.com/image/insights/content/Edelman-Intelliseek%20Employee%20Blogging%20White%20Paper.pdf
"Corporate Podcasting Strategies for 2007" - Web Strategy by Jeremiah Blog
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2007/01/18/corporate-podcasting
-strategies-for-the-fortune-1000/
"Reports: Online Activities & Pursuits" - Pew Internet & American Life Project
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/201/report_display.asp
"Internet Annual Report 2007 - Dictatorships Get to Grips with Web 2.0" - Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20839
"Corporate Blogging Pays for GM" by Thomas Claburn, InformationWeek
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid
=3ZZ55K5KPSMUCQSNDLQSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=197001026
"Calculating the ROI of Blogging is Easier than it Looks" by Stephen Turcotte, SCOUT of Backbone Media, Inc.
http://www.scoutblogging.com/2007/01/calculating
_roi_of_blolgging_i.html
"The Impact of Organic Google Search on Social Media - My Favorite Posts" by Eric Kintz, HP's Marketing Excellence Blog
http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/kintz/archive/2007/01/22/2262.html
"Is a Blog-Tag Virtual Game Too Non-Corporate" by Eric Kintz, HP's Marketing Excellence Blog http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/kintz/archive/2006/12/20/2110.html
"Web 2.0 Policy Lacking in Corporate Communication Departments in US and UK" - Sally Falkow's Proactive Blog
http://falkow.blogsite.com/public/item/151484
"The Outlook of Corporate Blogs" by Jim Nail, Cymfony's Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/10798.asp
"Corporate Blogging & Podcasting" - SocialMedia2007
http://socialmedia2007.blogspot.com/
Plexis 2007 - http://www.plexus2007.com/
"Corporate Blog Owners Report Success, But Differences in Resources Devoted to Blogs" - Cymfony and Porter Novelli Corporate Blog Survey
http://www.porternovelli.com/site/pressrelease.aspx?pressrelease_id=123&pgName=news
"TALKING FROM THE INSIDE OUT: The Rise of Employee Bloggers" by Edelman and Intelliseek - Fall 2005
http://edelman.com/image/insights/content/Edelman-Intelliseek%20Employee%20Blogging%20White%20Paper.pdf
"Corporate Podcasting Strategies for 2007" - Web Strategy by Jeremiah Blog
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2007/01/18/corporate-podcasting
-strategies-for-the-fortune-1000/
"Reports: Online Activities & Pursuits" - Pew Internet & American Life Project
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/201/report_display.asp
"Internet Annual Report 2007 - Dictatorships Get to Grips with Web 2.0" - Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20839
"Corporate Blogging Pays for GM" by Thomas Claburn, InformationWeek
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid
=3ZZ55K5KPSMUCQSNDLQSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=197001026
"Calculating the ROI of Blogging is Easier than it Looks" by Stephen Turcotte, SCOUT of Backbone Media, Inc.
http://www.scoutblogging.com/2007/01/calculating
_roi_of_blolgging_i.html
"The Impact of Organic Google Search on Social Media - My Favorite Posts" by Eric Kintz, HP's Marketing Excellence Blog
http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/kintz/archive/2007/01/22/2262.html
"Is a Blog-Tag Virtual Game Too Non-Corporate" by Eric Kintz, HP's Marketing Excellence Blog http://h20325.www2.hp.com/blogs/kintz/archive/2006/12/20/2110.html
"Web 2.0 Policy Lacking in Corporate Communication Departments in US and UK" - Sally Falkow's Proactive Blog
http://falkow.blogsite.com/public/item/151484
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