Enterprise 2.0 - French Touch (white paper)

When we think of about "Enterprise 2.0" since 2006, the year that Andrew McAfee coined the term, we see that there has been considerable experience feedback in France in 2010. The term is certainly employed more on the Web than it is by companies, but whatever the term, the results cannot be ignored—there are a large and growing number of these types of projects. It seemed beneficial to address the subject through a variety of lenses, supported by consultants, operational staff, and editors.

All too often the idea of Enterprise 2.0 is reduced to a set of tools that are applied through a collaborative platform or an enterprise social network (ESN) and with a uniquely internal focus. That is to say, the implementation of collaborative processes surrounding these tools and the affect they can have on organization and governance. I wanted to address each aspect of Enterprise 2.0 that make it an all-encompassing enterprise I believe to be made up of 3 elements.

The first and most common element is the creation of a business network, often a community, in order for employees to work collaboratively. It is not a pilot project or an extra layer added onto other processes, but rather the backbone of an organization around which are organized all of the businesses processes.

The second element, has to do with managing external stakeholders, such as partners or clients in community management way. Unlike managing a social media presence, this means the complete administration of a “personal” environment  (not a Facebook page), where one is free to establish their own rules and manage the community. It’s from this community that you’ll generally find your ambassadors. Once again, a collaborative working approach with stakeholders is needed in order to benefit everyone involved, perhaps resulting in co-creation.

The third element has to do with engaging the business in social media.  Business is not self sufficient, "no one is an island"; it is connected to the rest of the world, especially by social media. This engagement begins with monitoring, in preparation to interact—whether it be to find an idea, to increase your exposure, to find clients, to respond to criticisms etc. You need to create value for your business, not only through the use of a conversation manager, but with each and every colleague in the business.

In closing I'd like to thank two people who helped me with the practical details of this project: Frédéric Domon for the layout and the graphics and Tarik Lebtahi for his help in obtaining such a prestigious preface author. Of course I'd also like to thank all those who contributed to make this project possible.

Happy reading

Download the white paper "Enterprise 2.0 - French Touch"

This translation was made possible by a partnership with the company LinguaSpirit, who carried out the work for us. We would like to thank them for it.