So what exactly is “Social Business”?

2013

As the term “Social Business” become more prevalent, there is naturally some confusion about what the term exactly means. In my opinion, the term only has a temporary meaning, since business in my opinion has always been and always will be ‘social’. However, we are now at a juncture where there are some interesting innovations happening in the Enterprise, in Business Value Models and in the way we design functional processes using ‘social’ concepts, that are further accentuated by developments in technology.

There are a number of interpretations of the descriptor “Social Business” in current practice. There is the one that puts emphasis on the ‘social’ aspect of business, as in one whose main aim or purpose is to serve some ‘social’, and perhaps ‘non-commercial’ objective.

There is another context in which the term is also used quite often – that is in the context of for-profit businesses and enterprises. That usage has to do with leveraging the ‘social’ dimensions of an enterprise in order to further its purpose.

The ‘social’ dimension of an enterprise, as the term suggests, recognizes that enterprises are constituted of humans and therefore are social in nature, just as the customers they serve are members of society and therefore social too.

Recognizing the human and social characteristics of the enterprise ecosystem, allow us to better understand customers and the way they behave, are influenced, make decisions, and can act in concert and learn together. These aspects have a bearing on how an enterprise can get their message across by leveraging social networks, use the power of crowds to make better decisions, create a community that is loyal to its brand, etc.

Recognizing the human and social aspects of the members of the enterprise, enables enterprises to engage their employees better, thus enabling them to become more collaborative and therefore in turn enable better sharing and flow of intangible assets and knowledge. Such enterprises can also respond to situations by creating flexible structures rapidly and therefore become more agile.

When enterprise leverage such concepts to create more value for their customers or to become agile and smart, they are using ‘social business’ concepts. Since these are not ideas that are used in isolation, it is hard to say, that an organization that leverages these ideas is ‘social’, since it could also be more ‘digital’ for example.

There are now a number information technologies, that enable the ‘socialization’ of the enterprise. The term ‘social media’ is loosely used as an umbrella term to describe these tools and applications. Enterprises that use those technologies might be referred to as ‘social businesses’.

In any case, the practices I describe above, that leverage the understanding of “social physics” inside and outside the enterprise, whether commercial or non-commercial are also termed “social business”