Discussion Forum #6 - Building Skills for Career Success

Social Media Exercise - Related to Chapter 10, Motivating and Satisfying Employees and Teams

Infosys is a successful software company with more than 200,000 employees. Social media is integral to its strategy and communications approach. The company uses social media to engage younger employees in these processes and to empower them. In order to do this, the company created STRAP Surround as a social platform to engage employees and allow executives to teach. It contains blogs, discussion forums, an in-house version of YouTube for video sharing, and a range of physical activities and games. The system has provided a mountain of data on its workforce for executives to process.

Here is one example. Employees participated in a series of live events related to a strategy execution topic. These events resulted in tens of thousands of ideas shared via social media. Through these events, management discovered some new things about the effectiveness of different communications media. For example, social media was most effective for structured questions, such as those asking about technologies for future growth, digital consumer behavior, and health care. Moderators made sure to thank participants, and the information gathered was passed along to managers. Some employees who provided particularly useful answers were chosen to become team members.

1. Do you think social media is an effective way to engage employees who are in large organizations?  Why or why not?
2. Do you think social media would work well in smaller companies? Why or why not?
3. Do you think that using social media changes the corporate culture and the way in which teams communicate for the better or worse? Explain your answer.

4. How does this article relate to Chapter 10?

5. Comment on two posts from classmates.

   Your answers will need to demonstrate that:

   1. You have reviewed/read the textbook.
   2. You have processed the information and applied it to your own critical thinking process.

   Critical thinking involves incorporating your personal experiences with new information to analyze a situation. In other words, you will not receive credit for simply repeating or rewording the textbook, nor will you receive credit for simply stating your opinion without any research or facts to support that opinion. At the same time, you answer must show me that you have read the text material.

   Neatness, grammar, formatting and punctuation count. This is not an English class. However, as business professionals, you will be expected to produce professionally crafted written communication all the time. You may as well get used to doing so now.

   • Return to the discussion forum over the next few days and read what your fellow students are posting and provide comments and feedback to at least two of them per discussion question.

   Again, your response to my question is due on Wednesday. Your response to at least two other students, per discussion question, is due by Sunday. Your responses to other students must be substantive and go beyond a mere ‘good job’ or ‘I agree’. Most of the time,  Think of the discussion forum as a classroom discussion.