Few organisations today are unaware of the social phenomenon cutting a swathe through the traditional business landscape. Awareness and engagement though, are very different beasts. Deloitte has just published its latest report, in conjunction with MIT, investigating just how seriously UK organisations are taking social business - not just how they view it intellectually, but what they are actually doing to make use of new socially-oriented tools, technologies and principles. Download the full report: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_GB/uk/services/audit/enterprise-risk-services/services/digital-risk/social-business/index.htm

1. THE STATE OF PLAY: SOCIAL BUSINESS IN UK PLC
Social business is creeping onto the radar within most UK organisations, but progress remains slow.
Many companies remain unconvinced of its immediate value, and today, its use is largely confined to mainstream
applications such as marketing. But there are positive signs of change, with crowdsourcing in particular showing
strong signs of growth.
Timelines for
business
Fastest-growing uses of social business within UK plc in the last
12 months
2013
33%
OF BUSINESSES BELIEVE
THAT SOCIAL BUSINESS
IS IMPORTANT TODAY
2016
74%
OF ORGANISATIONS BELIEVE
SOCIAL BUSINESS WILL BE
IMPORTANT IN 2016
39%
35% 35%
CROWDSOURCING
DRIVING BRAND
AFFINITY
MANAGING REPUTATION
How often do you use social business to support day-to-day decision-making?
25%
40%
NEVER OR RARELY
26% 9%
OCCASIONALLY
OFTEN
EVERY DAY
MAKING THE CASE FOR SOCIAL BUSINESS
UK organisations are not yet fully confident in making solid business cases for social business initiatives. Several
significant barriers remain, and perceived benefits are often marginal for anything but mainstream usage.
Success metrics are still very basic, and expectations for positive results are generally low.
Primary perceived
operational benefits
of social business
Top three barriers to adoption of social business
GOBBLEDY
GOOK!
37%
TOO MANY COMPETING
PRIORITIES
35% 28%
LACK OF OVERALL
STRATEGY
35%
BREAKING DOWN SILOS
LACK OF MANAGEMENT
UNDERSTANDING
Primary perceived strategic benefits of social business
30%
IMPROVING EMPLOYEE
MORALE AND MOTIVATION
30%
ACCESS TO
MARKETING DATA
30% 28%
INCREASED
COMPETITIVENESS
ENHANCED CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION
25%
FASTER TIME TO INNOVATE
SOCIAL BUSINESS AT WORK – WHO’S USING IT?
Unsurprisingly some departments make better and more extensive use of social business than others. While
conventional applications such as sales and marketing are relatively widespread, organisations are not yet seeing
the value for talent management, finance and product development. Data from social initiatives is often ignored
when developing strategy or understanding market shifts.
Departments making extensive use
of social business
Top 3 departmental
uses of social
business
21% 33%
40%
MARKETING
SALES
20%
CUSTOMER SERVICE
11%
HUMAN RESOURCES
18%
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
ENGAGING KEY
STAKEHOLDERS
30%
CROWDSOURCING
10% 26%
RISK MANAGEMENT
On a scale of 1 to 10,
how close is your
organisation to an
idealised, fully
integrated social
business?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
DRIVING BRAND AFFINITY
16%
18%
4%
0%
BALANCING THE RISK
To many respondents, social business is a risk – a barrier to its widespread adoption. Others, though, see it more
positively as a way to actually manage organisational risk more proactively. Perhaps the greatest risk of all, though, is
indifference, more than half of organisations believe that social business is just another communications tool, rather
than an opportunity to fundamentally improve the way they do business.
Organisational perception of
future social business impact
57%
Risk perception of social business
44%
JUST ANOTHER
COMMUNICATIONS TOOL
34%
AN OPPORTUNITY TO
FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE
THE WAY WE WORK
6%
A RISKY MEDIUM
WE ARE FORCED
TO CONFRONT
OF ORGANISATIONS
SAY THAT SOCIAL
BUSINESS IS IMPORTANT
FOR MANAGING BRAND
AND REPUTATIONAL RISK
10%
11%
OF ORGANISATIONS
CITE SECURITY RISK
AS A SERIOUS BARRIER
TO ADOPTION OF
SOCIAL BUSINESS
OF ORGANISATIONS MAKE EXTENSIVE
USE OF SOCIAL BUSINESS FOR RISK
MANAGEMENT