In December, I participated in a panel discussion hosted by Ogilvy and IBM in London’s Canary Wharf. The purpose of the panel discussion series is to promote the concept that IBM has termed, “Social Business”. This is not to be confused with social enterprises, which are companies that are set up to do social good at a profit. Social business as IBM intend it is a new form of business that takes into account all the various technologies that are available to allow connections, interactions, collaboration and ‘the wisdom and energy of the crowd’ to be maximised.
The headline technologies are obviously in the social media space, with instant messaging, social networks and similar technologies changing the way we communicate and connect. But there are many other forms that social business will take, and many other ways in which a social mindset will change business.
And IBM want to take a leading role in defining the future shape of social business. See the introduction they provide at their Smarter Planet site – it’s excellent.
Our team has been working with IBM in South Africa on this concept, and now have started getting involved in the UK as well. We were invited to contribute to a panel discussion on the impact of social business in the HR, talent management and employee engagement space. The idea was to get a few key thinkers and practitioners in this field into a room and see what happened when they started chatting. The results are indeed interesting. No real final statements or specific outcomes, but an interesting video to watch.
The short version is just 7 minutes and available on YouTube, or below:
The full panel discussion is 41 minutes, and available on YouTube, or below: