Friday, April 27, 2012

IBM pushes 'social business'

IBM pushes 'social business' | GMA News Online | The Go-To Site for Filipinos EverywhereGMA News OnlineVideosPhotosRadio24 OrasSaksiSONAYouScoopPublic AffairsNews TVContact UsFacebookTwitterRSSJob ClassifiedsBETA VERSIONApril 27, 2012 | 11:50pm PHL TimeGMA Network ?EntertainmentArtist CenterCommunityInternationalRadioFilmsRecordsKapuso FoundationCorporateHomeNewsUlat FilipinoSportsEconomySciTechPinoy AbroadShowbizLifestyleOpinionHumorGMA News OnlineSciTech » Technology IBM pushes 'social business'April 25, 2012 5:58pmCiting the rapid adoption of social networking in business, IBM is pushing efforts to use social business for organizations to gain a competitive advantage. IBM held a "Business Gets Social 2012" in Makati City to help local organizations develop and deepen such skills to accelerate business opportunities. “We Filipinos are inherently social. Being good-natured, good-humored, and witty are key to our being resilient.  And this is why we have taken to Social very naturally – and more importantly, we should harness and take advantage of these strengths by taking these same dynamics into business and making it work for us,” said Ferdinand Macatangay, Channels Manager of IBM Philippines' Software Group. But he said social business goes beyond doing marketing on Facebook or Twitter. Rather, he said it is "taking on social dynamics and applying them on business processes - like HR, Marketing, and Compliance." "To become a Social Business, companies are encouraged to adopt a Social Business Agenda - which encompasses having a digital strategy, having policies in place for risk and reputation management and gleaning insight by use of social analytics,” he said. IBM Asia Pacific Messaging & Collaboration Business Unit Executive Chris Haylock added dramatic shifts are taking place as the global network of people becomes more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent. "The ways in which people interact, relationships form, decisions are made, work is accomplished and goods are purchased are fundamentally changing,” said Haylock. IBM, as the largest consumer of social technologies, is a case study for this transformation into a social business. As a company, IBM uses social networking to develop products and services, enable sellers to find and stay connected with clients, train the next generation of leaders, and build awareness of Smarter Planet among clients, influencers and other communities. For 15 years, IBM said its employees have used social software to foster collaboration among our dispersed 400,000 person team, "long before Generation Y became fixated with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace." It noted that in 1997, it recommended that its employees get out onto the Internet, at a time when many companies were seeking to restrict their employees’ Internet access. In 2005, the company made a strategic decision to embrace the blogosphere and to encourage IBMers to participate. In 2007, IBM launched Lotus Conenctions, its own social networking software for the enterprise. In early 2008, IBM introduced social computing guidelines to encompass virtual worlds and sharing of rich media. Also in 2008, it opened its IBM Center for Social Software to help IBM's global network of Researchers collaborate with corporate residents, university students and faculty, creating the industry's premier incubator for the research, development and testing of social software that is "fit for business." Social media morphing IBM said social media may be morphing into a key requirement for "social business," including:organizational productivity and culture changeengaging with diverse constituencies of clients and expertsspurring revenue growth and innovation for our global workforce.    It presently has one of the largest corporate-wide communities on social media sites. On the other hand, IBM said its social media activity dates back to the 1970s when its mainframe programmers started online discussion forums on the System 370 consoles. Today, IBM views itself as one of the most prolific users of social networking in the industry.      Some examples of IBM’s internal social media footprint today include;  17,000 individual blogs 1 million daily page views of internal wikis, internal information storing websites 400,000 employee profiles on IBM Connections, IBM's initial social networking initiative that alllows employees to share status updates, collaborate on wikis, blogs and activity, share files. 15,000,000 downloads of employee-generated videos/podcasts  In the first half of 2010, IBM employees participated in more than 126 million minutes of LotusLive meetings, IBM's software for conducting online meetings.  More than 400,000 Sametime instant messaging users send 40 to 50 million instant messages per day. "Our social business initiatives have had a profound impact on IBM's business processes and transformation," it added. Among its initatives are: Online Jams: IBM has conducted 50 Jams over the past 10 years. In 2003, IBM held its ValuesJam to develop IBM values. In 2006, its InnovationJam identified business opportunities that preceded Smarter Planet agenda.  IBM Legal conducted LawJam in 2007 in support of global functional transformation.  Human Resources: social media was used for tech-enabled recruiting, employee education, sales training and leadership development.    Leadership Development from an employee's first day on the job. Also, IBM's recent study of 700 Global Chief Human Resource Officers found that financial outperformers are 57 percent more likely than underperformers to use collaborative and social networking tools to enable global teams to work more effectively together and 21 percent of companies have recently increased the amount they invest in the collaboration tools and analytics despite the economic downturn. For global collaboration and development, IBM's Generation Open  was built around social business tools, processes and management systems. GenO creates instant communities of global teams to collaborate on projects and products. Project managers, team leaders, consultants and IT architects post projects; people who are in-between assignments or have free time opt into these projects to add their talents and expand their skills. "Today, more than 130 communities of IBM professionals around the globe are collaborating virtually.   This has reduced the time it would have taken to complete projects by 30 percent, increased re-use of 'software assets' by 50 percent, and cut component costs by 33 percent," it said. IBM also said it is helping small and medium businesses embrace social media. "Savvy businesses know that creating an online presence can heighten awareness and ultimately bring in new business. What’s often ignored, however, is that without a clear plan and direction in place before a company begins using social media, it can easily fail," it said. It said it has programs to help non-profits and our business partners, who at 100,000 strong are traditionally small businesses, embrace social media. Citing an example, it said it hosts full day workshops, grants, provides toolkits and incentives and free education for business partners on establishing and rolling out effective social media business plans. — TJD, GMA NewsWe welcome healthy discussions and friendly debate! Please click Flag to alert us of a comment that may be abusive or threatening. Read our full comment policy here.Comments Powered by DisqusadvertisementRelated StoriesFacebook allies with security vendors vs malware, attacksNew email scams spoof Pinterest, LinkedIn, other social networking sitesInstagram nears 50 million downloadsFriendster's new niche: 'social discovery and gaming'Facebook to buy AOL patents from MicrosoftInstagram cracks down on suicidal, self-harm postsSocial media blurring home-office line, workers caught in the middle  New Twitter spam leads to fake antivirus attacksSocial media is gold for Olympics advertisers'Click and Save' the sea turtles on Facebook!Related VideosDating social networking site na Friendster, isang gaming portal na ngayonLarawan ng mga nahuling pating at dolphin, kumalat sa internetIlang turistang nag-pose na tila pinagkatuwaan ang krus, umaani ng batikosLarawan ng butanding na sinakyan na parang surfboard, umaani ng batikosadvertisementadvertisementExplore  GMA News OnlineAbout GMA News OnlineAbout UsContact UsAdvertise with UsCareersOn TVGMA-7 ShowsGMA News TV ShowsTV ScheduleYouScoopNewsNewsUlat FilipinoPinoy AbroadSportsOpinionShowbizEconomySciTechLifestyleHumorCommunity Bulletin BoardMultimediaVideosPhotosRadio--DZBBStay ConnectedRSS FeedMobileToolsSearchArchivesJobs ClassifiedsGMANetwork.comEntertainmentArtist CenterCommunityInternationalRadioFilmsRecordsKapuso FoundationCorporateAll Rights Reserved 2011 © GMA Network Inc.

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Business Opportunities in Event Videography

Opportunities are growing in Event Videography. Learn how to plan for success. We also have an essential tip sheet for videographers here. http://www.videomaker.com/store/product.php?productid=675&cat=31&page=4 Which is free if you sign up for enews here http://www.videomaker.com/enews/


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Europe Could Receive Renewable Energy From Iceland via Submarine Cable - msnbc.com

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND — The Icelandic energy provider, Landsvirkjun, one of Europe's leading renewable energy companies, may help supply Continental Europe with renewable energy via a North Atlantic submarine power cable.

Iceland currently holds a unique position amongst European nations in its potential to increase reliable electric energy production from renewable energy resources. This increased energy production could be used to conduct business through an interconnector -- a submarine cable to Europe across the North Atlantic seabed.

Hörður Arnarson, CEO of Landsvirkjun, stated, "Providing sustainable energy to Europe through a submarine power cable offers an interesting business opportunity for the nation of Iceland and at the same time presents a partial solution to Europe where they are looking for an increased supply of renewable energy. Numerous countries in Europe have already expressed interest in the possibility to connect with Iceland's clean energy resources."

Laying a submarine cable will be a well suited addition to the ongoing industrial development of the country. Arnarson went on to emphasise that Landsvirkjun will continue to support further growth of its current customers, as well as new greenfield Data Centers and industrial customers.

Landsvirkjun proposed additional analysis and research over the next few years into the potential impact on social, environmental, legal, and technical issues which will be undertaken in cooperation with interested parties including the Icelandic authorities, universities, interest groups, and energy and transmission companies.

Oddný Harðardóttir, the Icelandic Minister of Finance, announced that a working group will be appointed to research the feasibility of laying a submarine cable between Iceland and the British Isles and or mainland Europe.

Visit www.landsvirkjun.com to learn more about renewable energy in Iceland.

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HUMAN Healthy Vending Reviews: Los Angeles California

http://www.healthyvending.com/ HUMAN Healthy Vending reviews in Los Angeles California. This is a case study of a HUMAN Healthy Vending team member who operates a HUMAN machine in LA. He covers "a day in the life" including all the details about his healthy vending machines, healthy vending business, and healthy vending route. Full HUMAN Healthy Vending testimonial in the video.


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Ariba Continues to Simplify Business Commerce - Yahoo Finance

Fri, Apr 27, 2012, 11:54 AM EDT - U.S. Markets close in 4 hrs 6 mins

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Using Business to Help At-Risk Middle Schoolers - New York Times

April 26, 2012, 10:39 a.m.

Feeling engaged in school can often make the difference between dropping out and graduating, and educators know middle school is a key time to hold students’ attention.

The group Citizen Schools is targeting six middle schools in the city with an after-school enrichment program that brings in business mentors and extra teachers. It started more than a decade ago in Boston, where evaluators found it boosted attendance and academic achievement.

At the Bronx Writing Academy, a sixth grader, Jaela Simon Banks, is planning the budget for an imaginary soccer franchise with a volunteer from the private-equity firm Carlyle Group. She says she chose soccer over basketball or baseball — because the players are cheaper.

“Most players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, they were high payers and they’re paid like in the thousands or millions,” she said.

Her classmate, Baruch Rogers Mayo, agrees this strategy can make their franchise more profitable.

“It’s like you spend less, you make more. Makes you happy, makes me happy, makes all of us happy,” he said.

The students are paired with volunteers who know about budgeting and marketing. They meet after school twice a week, for 10 weeks, and are guided by full-time staffers and paid teaching fellows from Americorps. Later this spring, they will make final presentations to their mentors and teachers. The after-school program also offers homework help and tutoring.

Nitzan Pelman, executive director of Citizen Schools New York, says the goal is to give kids from low-income communities the same opportunities as students in wealthy ones.

“Think about what are kids doing at 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon? They’re at yearbook, they’re in model U.N., or learning how to play the piano. They’re playing a sport,” she said. “They’re in productive learning environments for 10, 12, 14 hours every single day. And that’s what it takes.”

Just 17 percent of the students at Bronx Writing Academy were proficient on last year’s English Language Arts exams, and a little more than a third were proficient in math.

The principal, Kamar Samuels, said it’s too soon to know if the new program is paying off academically, since it only started in September, but he’s pleased to see higher attendance, especially among kids with learning disabilities.

“They’re working on real work,” he said. “They’re working on authentic math and they’re struggling through it but you know what? They need to work, they need to prepare.”

Beth Fertig is a senior reporter at WNYC. Follow her on Twitter @bethfertig


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