Social Business Increases Internal Collaboration For The Better!

The impact of social business is significant and changes the way organizational leadership – especially CIOs and CMOs – problem solve.  While few would disagree with this statement, we have the data to back it up!  In September, Oracle, Leader Networks and Social Media Today started sharing the findings of a two-part study on social business. We shared the highlights in a webinar about a month ago, but now the full paper is available for download (see below for link).

This study examined the perspectives of of 925 Marketing and IT leaders from over 500 organizations around the world in the spring of 2013, gathering insights from over 20 industries and 52 countries. And now, after hours of number crunching and analysis, are able to share Part II of the research;  Socially Driven Collaboration. 

Here are some of the highlights:

Social business is changing how Marketing and IT leaders work:

Social business has spurred more collaboration between IT and Marketing leaders within the organization. In addition, it has raised awareness of the impact of thought leadership, offered an opportunity for more say in management decisions, and enabled better articulation of ROI. Finally, it has highlighted the need to acquire new skills both individually and – through new hires – for the organization as a whole.

While Marketing and IT do collaborate, both organizations report that the level of collaboration is only “adequate”:

Only 36% of Marketing and 26% of IT respondents report collaborating “frequently” with each other on projects or initiatives. In fact, the majority of  respondents report that their  collaboration with each other is (only) “adequate.”  Clearly there is room form improvement as who aspires to adequate!  What we found most interesting, however, was that among those Marketing and IT leaders who report “poor” or “non-existent” collaboration, many recognize the benefits of collaboration but indicate that their company culture doesn’t enable it, nor do their groups make it a priority.

But, Marketing and IT are beginning to collaborate more:

41% of Marketing and 38% of IT leaders report that over the last 12 months they have engaged in “more collaboration,” with the largest firms (over 50,000 employees) most likely to report an increase.

When IT and Marketing do collaborate, great things can happen:

Increasing collaboration has a positive impact on professional effectiveness, and also offers significant operational benefits. Among those who report collaborating more, 74% of Marketing and 71% of IT leaders indicate that they are “more effective.” Other benefits reported by Marketing and IT leaders who collaborate more include stronger/more compelling marketing messages, faster speed to market, greater product/service adoption and fewer defects in products and services.

This is a very exciting study chock full of insights and data including the details about industry and company size differences.  This 59 page study also  includes in depth executive interviews with IT and Marketing leaders from Shell, Whole Foods Market, Chubb and Sons Inc.

Download the complete study here.

Share your experiences – How has Social Business initiatives changed how you work? Do you collaborate more? Does it make a difference?