2014 Research report lately released by Deloitte and MIT Sloan Management Review reveals that nearly two thirds of surveyed companies globally find social business initiatives —including social media, social software and social networks—are positively impacting their business outcomes.
Based on a global survey of more than 4,800 business executives across 109 countries and 26 industries, the report, “Moving Beyond Marketing: Generating Social Business Value Across the Enterprise”, found that the level of social business value companies achieve is related to their social business “maturity.” Nearly 80 percent of the surveyed companies analyze social data, and 67 percent integrate it into systems and processes to improve business decisions.
“Maturing organizations in the Middle East are led by executives who believe in the potential of social business, agreeing that social business represents an opportunity to fundamentally change the way their organization works, and leave a positive impact on business outcomes,” explains Rana Ghandour Salhab, Talent and Communication Partner at Deloitte Middle East.
The Deloitte MIT Sloan Management Review report finds that respondents who rated their companies further along the social maturity scale were more likely to report their companies practice the following:
- Employ a leadership vision that social business can bring about fundamental changes: More than 90 percent of respondents say their leaders believe it can create powerful and positive change.
- Infuse social business into multiple functions across the enterprise: A total of 87 percent use social business to spur innovation.
Other study findings include: - Social business is perceived as important both today and in the future. Seventy three percent of this year’s survey respondents say social business is important or somewhat important today. Nearly 90 percent see its importance on a three-year horizon.
- Social business is not just a B-to-C phenomenon. Nearly 60 percent of B-to-B companies agree or strongly agree that social business initiatives are positively impacting business outcomes. Among B-to-C respondents, the percentage is 68.
“It is important to note that employees want to work for companies that excel at social business,” adds Salhab. “This is evidenced by the fact that more than half of the respondents answered that social business sophistication is at least somewhat important in their choice of employer.”
