How Social Capital Support Innovation Essay Example

problem-solving within multinational corporations.

The impact of social media on promoting innovation and research

One significant distinction between social media sites and traditional websites is the nature of their content.

The former generate their own content through collaborative creation, editing, sharing, tagging, and organizing of information. They also modify the contributions of others and participate in peer-to-peer discussion. These technologies are emergent, meaning that structure, content, and application arise from user needs and activities. According to "The Revolution Will Be" (2011), this dynamic and contemporaneous content is ideal for knowledge sharing exercises.

This feature is also suitable for building social capital within organizations. In forums like these, individuals with diverse backgrounds and opinions can contribute insightful judgments and innovative solutions. Management thinker James Surowiecki argues in his book The Wisdom of Crowds that leveraging the power of social media to create targeted discussion forums can lead to the development of significant social capital.

The management can play a constructive role in this process by establishing appropriate mechanisms to gather and incorporate feedback, inputs, and opinions. Surowiecki’s concept is closely related to 'crowd-sourcing,' which is a growing model of employee participation in the creative processes of business development. Social media platforms have been critical in prominent examples of crowd-sourcing.("The Revolution Will Be," 2011) To excel in innovation, a company must provide employees with an accessible and cost-effective means of communication to freely exchange ideas. Social media fulfills these requirements perfectly since it is not only affordable but also operates in real-time, allowing for virtually instantaneous communication.

Most organizations, excluding those in the high-end IT business, may not have all employees who possess the talent or desire to contribute to innovation. However, there

is a possibility of utilizing social media within specific departments of the organization, such as the Research & Development department. According to an expert in this field, social media aids in meeting the need for affordable and immediate communication among researchers, promoting collaborative and interdisciplinary research. This fosters groundbreaking advancements and allows employees to become part of a global research community.

These new tools make research sharing easier and a more natural part of one’s daily life.” (Brydon, 2010)

The success of Twitter in aiding professional development

The use of Twitter for professional enhancement is well established now. While Twitter is primarily used to reach out to personal social circles, in recent years, managements have successfully built Professional Learning Network (PLN) through this medium. Through a PLN, employees follow other employees who have similar interests. Or they subscribe to set categories of tweets sorted via hash tags. For example, a company in the agricultural sector can identify and separate relevant tweets for its employees by setting appropriate hash tag filters.

A comprehensive platform for building profession specific knowledge and exchanging opinions is provided through the creation of #AgEduChat. #AgEduChat, which takes place on Twitter and/or Facebook, is a weekly discussion aimed at assisting agricultural educators and fostering dialogue on current events and issues related to the profession. This initiative has successfully facilitated networking opportunities for teachers and managers, enabling them to share ideas, opinions, and valuable information to enhance their skills and further their profession (Bender & Genson, 2012). The integration of social media and other IT enabled technologies has shown significant statistical and empirical evidence in supporting the rapid pace of employee development.

A worldwide survey conducted by Palo

Alto Networks, based in California, revealed a significant increase in social networking activity among employees in 2011. The survey, which involved 1,600 multinational companies, reported a 300 percent surge in employee engagement in activities like browser-based file sharing within company intranets. A separate study conducted by the American Society for Training and Development supported these findings. This study was even more extensive, as it included 3,800 participant companies from across the globe.

The findings indicate that 80% of managers aim to enhance these developments and have a "planned strategy to enhance their usage of social media for employee education within the next three years" (Zielinski, 2012). Additionally, these managers recognize that simply providing the technological framework for social media is insufficient. Establishing a culture "that fosters knowledge exchange and employing staff members dedicated to overseeing and promoting these initiatives" are vital in order to prevent organizations from losing momentum when the demands of work overshadow employees' willingness or ability to utilize these tools (Zielinski, 2012).