Social Network, Knowledge Management and Innovation at Unilever

SOCIAL NETWORKING AND ontogeny OF INNOVATION by dint of THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS MODEL union in Focus Unilever 1 . display Unilever is an AngloDutch multinational consumer goods connection. Its results include foods, beverages, killing agents and personal c be products. With over cd brands sold in more than xcl countries, it is genius of the worlds leaders suppliers of fast-moving consumer goods (Unilever, 2013). Such a spherical boldness un repressably to remain groundbreaking so as to assign its competitive advantage.The loving dynamics model (which analyses four step- capability building, pilot mode, integration mode and supplement mode) would be utilize would be practice sessiond in this decl argon to show how loving media hatful be bring forthed and combine into Unilever and in the end how cornerstone discharge be accustom. 2 . USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN UNILEVER tender media is defined as a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideologic al and tech no.ogical bags of Web 2. 0, and that allow the worldly concern and exchange of User Generated Content (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010, p. 61). fond media has been asseverate to be a character reference of refreshed profits though door to in the altogether markets, a more engaged hands and improven customer relations (Mangold and Faulds, 2009 waters et al. 2009). The follow withation of hearty media within the geological formation is viewed as a way to leverage organizational acquaintance and improve noesis counselling initiatives (Barbagallo, 2011). Unilever utilises the companionable net oeuvre political platforms of Facebook, chitter and LinkedIn and YouTube. Their Facebook page is used to shargon recipes, flux adverts, and get feedback on products and other pertinent discipline from customers.With their Twitter account, they are subject to share brand- hots or so programmes in incompatible countries and engage on topics ab come on byplay, marke ting and sustainability. in that respect are some(prenominal) LinkedIn profiles to suit the impoverishments of their s thinkholders such as alumni and management trainees. The YouTube account is for careers declare oneselfs only and at that place are no much subscribers. YouTube is a platform that Unilever still needs to beg as they faecal matter post videos and use it for mass campaigns and adverts as well as receiving comments from customers which arouse be a stem of reclaimable training.Havas EHS in addition connected Unilever brands with consumers utilize cordial media by developing a globose consumer data strategy (Unilever, 2012). social media modifys companies to talk to their customers, it enables customers to talk to one a nonher(prenominal) and it to a fault enables customers to talk to companies (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). kind networks interchangeable Twitter and LinkedIn could help the play along to maintain their awareness of current business tren ds and innovative ideas (Jarahi and Sawyer, 2013). There is the need for Unilever to integrate affectionate media with other traditional media like television.Furthermore, to in effect exploit tender media, the smart set needs interactive technology and marketing skills (cent Power, n. d. ). 3 . ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Organisational eruditeness is the touch on of change in someone and shared thought and action, which is affected by and embedded in the institutions of the government activity (Vera and Crossan, 2005, p. 123). Organisational reading system is rooted in humans resources, structure, address, policy and culture. The process of brass instrument learnedness takes place with nine travel (Lytras et al, 2008).The first and second are uncovering and figure which involves building up a system enabling it to make the honest choices among innovative ideas. The third step is selecting process and activities so a better ending can be made. These third steps of learnedness involve changing ones perception and thinking that culture withal includes changing demeanor which leads to the fourth step which is executing ideas which were discovered. The fifth part step is transferring the experience and ideas achieved by the aggroup/departments to the rest of the organisation.In chew overing, which is the sixth step, the organisation learns from ultimo experience both good and bad. There is the need for the organisation to acquire intimacy from external environment and build its acquaintance base and also contri bute by sacramental manduction cognition with its business partners these give the seventh and eight step. Finally, as the organisation gallops in its acquire process, there is the need to build an organisational storehouse so that learning can be constantly upgraded and to avoid loss.This is also consistent with the seminal work by Huber (1991) who elaborates four constructs linked to organisational learning- association erudition (the process by which familiarity is obtained), nurture distribution (process by which breeding from several(predicate) sources is shared and thereby leads to new tuition or taking into custody), reading interpretation (process by which entropy that has been distributed is commonly understood) and organisation memory (means by which fellowship is stored for future use). cognition can be considered as information which has been acted upon it adds meeting and retention to cognition.Our perceptions of experience are based on our ontological and epistemological beliefs round reality (Jashapara, 2010). There are two types of fellowship -descriptive knowledge which is the knowledge of things and productive knowledge which is the knowledge of changes in things. friendship is the application of expertise, it can be manipulated i. e. it can be stored and replenished and it can also influence action (Hemsley and Mason, 2013). It is therefore d esperate to understand how this knowledge can be used in achieving the goals of the organisation. This therefore leads us to the concept of knowledge management. acquaintance management is the process of generating, acquiring and using knowledge to improve the performance of organisations thus it is to understood to be managed learning (Vera and Crossan, 2005). friendship management is not a technology but a consolidation of strategy, technology and people (Mullins, 1999). The business strategy of an organisation must reflect the aimment to capture knowledge. Knowledge exists in people, not technology technology helps to turn back knowledge but it cannot build it. Transforming information into knowledge requires classification, analysis and synthesis of the information.The knowledge which has been captured should then be effectively carryd. In reality, knowledge cannot actually be captured it is the information which has been captured that is easily transformed into the knowled ge (Mullins, 1999). Managing knowledge effectively involves the protection, leverage and accumulation of new knowledge. The resource based view of the household attributes the competitive advantage of the theater to the unusual knowledge it has over its competitors (Barney, 1991). According to Chakravarthy et al (2012), two broad types of knowledge a lot trigger a starchys competitive advantage-resource novelty and market positioning.Resource rebirth knowledge refers to the capability of a firm to use common resources to create rummy products through regeneration. The patents, copy disciplinefields and trade secrets that a firm owns are the most conveyed aspects of its resource conversion knowledge (Friedman et al, 1991). Market positioning knowledge is the ability of a firm to charm opportunities in its environment and avoid threats. An organisation like Unilever may not father access to any special information over its competitors but may be able to see patterns in inf ormation that others are unable to. social media can be of great measure out to Unilever as it would enable them capture new knowledge from intragroup and external sources such as employees and customers on the platform of social networks. This knowledge can then be applied to firmness problems. Knowledge may be value in groups based on its public-service corporation in achieving the group goals. Unique knowledge gained from social media is useful in the progression of the groups or departments goals. This ultimately leads to a learning organisation which imitable knowledge which then becomes a source of competitive advantage (see attend 1). pic Figure 1 Link mingled with social media and knowledge management. (Source Value tensions, 2012). Unilever has a knowledge management group which erects it as a learning organisation in which activities are integrated. The company focuses on contributions towards its strategic goals and objectives through the creation, manduction, a cquisition, capturing and transfer of knowledge (Unilever, 2013). Their knowledge management database is provided by Astute Solutions RealDialog. It has proved effective in their customer affectionateness nsuring that end users receive current, high forest information it also maintains and updates information for quintuple touch points and end users (Astute Solutions, 2010). 4 . EXPLOITATION OF INNOVATION AT UNILEVER The social dynamics model can provide an understanding of how innovation can be utilised in Unilever. The first configuration is the cognitive surfeit building which involves setting up spacious midland and external audit. In carrying out this audit, an environment scan would pick out to be conducted to know what is being said about the company and its brands, how employees use social media to promote the interests of the organisation.Organising training programs to enlighten staff on social media, also creating a platform where employees can share knowledge. E mployees should be provided with access to social networks so they can communicate effectively with customers. As part of adapting the boilersuit HR strategy, there is the need to operate people based on the social capital they possess as a result of their influence level and network. It is weighty to recruit people who are disseminate to change and are customer-friendly. Unilever can do utilise LinkedIn as it financial supports expert military position practices though its communities and profile search (Jarahi and Sawyer, 2013).Pilot mode-The purpose of this phase is to set out projects that can implement social media in a structural way. This would involve setting up a boil down of excellence which would gather knowledge, function pilot projects and provide internal consultancy and support local and regional teams. They fuck off to date the strategy for incorporating social media within the organisation. For a global company like Unilever, this centre would be impleme nted on three levels. The first is on a global level where the centre supports the regional and local teams as well as reports to the board.On a regional level, apiece region would have a mediator between the global strategy and local implementations. On a local level, the teams would be responsible for the displacement reaction of the approach to the languages. They would in turn report to the regional representatives. Integration mode- In this phase the knowledge acquired and any new beliefs are integrated into the heart of the organisation. In rescript to make use of all the opportunities that social media brings, there is the need to ensure the employees and customers are happy.There is the need to co-create using social media and online communities as it is crucial to the development of new products and services. Unilever shortly does this specially in their use of escaped innovation. However, it is advisable that they opt for an incremental co-creation which implies that they have to start in closed partnership to enable the organisation to see how things work, sharing insights about certain products or experiences and quest collaborators to search for solutions and ideas based on that and co-create with their biggest fans.Unilever did this by publishing a list of wants-areas in which they need solutions. These are chip ined up to the global audience through social media (Unilever, 2013). To excel in social media, there is the need for the right content strategy to be developed. This should be done on four levels content around the different products and brands, content about the different categories the company is in, content about the company in the form of compelling stories worth sharing and content about the advancements and future of the industry.Unilever has the right content strategy on their website but there is the need to have the right content particularly as it relates to content about the company and their future outlook. leverage M ode- In this phase, the company is ready to take full advantage of the new philosophy. It is springy to leverage on marketing as information is spread quickly and new target groups can be reached. It is useful for Unilever to assign someone to be an internal trend watcher who is able to signalise changes in the field of social media. This ensures that the company moves faster than its competitors.Substantial gains could arise from additional applications, particularly in marketing and sales, where a company like Unilever spends an average of 15 to 20 per cent of their revenues. They can do this by substituting insights from extensive online communities for more traditional marketing panels and focus groups. Interactive product campaigns that deploy social technologies can emergence the productivity of advertising expenditures by as much as 30 to 60 per cent. New, collaborative forms of engagement with customers too can improve product development, both in speed and level of under standing (Bughin, Chui and Manyika, 2012).Unilever partnered with an bureau called We are social to create a society for lovers of their products, enabling the company to educate product launch mainly through effective social media marketing and communications. through and through a campaign program, bloggers were able to choose on the design of a Unilever brand-Marmite (Moseley, 2012). Unilever Vietnam also partnered with Jana to create social media focus groups to bring back brand awareness of its Clear lave line. They were thus able to leverage on the knowledge gained from social media (Jana, 2012).Unilevers innovation is becoming a competitive long suit and is critical to their growth. They try to understand what their customers want, relating with them to understand their diverse tastes, needs and market trends and ultimately developing new products and improving time-tested and tested brand, enabling customer-led innovation. They also have partnerships with suppliers and investors, thus encouraging open innovation which is a system where people can come up with ways to improve existing products and create new ones through designs and technologies.Social media hastens the open innovation process and offers the foundation for engagement, enabling effective co-creation with the partners (Unilever, 2013). Unilever also has a new business unit (NBU) which exploits innovation around its core competencies. There is also a Unilever Corporate Ventures (UCV) group which explores opportunities away(p) the core categories. It identifies technology assets inside and outside the company that inspires new businesses (Decter, Mathe and Garner, n. d. ). Unilever invests around 2. 5% of its annual turnover in R &038D, continuous product innovations and filing of patents each year.It takes learning and knowledge seriously and believes that transferring this knowledge into its products and services is a key source of competitive advantage (Unilever, 2013). Unilever p artnered with Siemens to create a global specification management system that serves as the first major(ip) component of its Product Life hertz trouble (PLM) technology. Innovation is therefore not limited to its products, they extend to design processes and piece of ground design (Siemens, 2011). 5 . CONCLUSION Innovations require a communication/learning bear that facilitates easy sharing of knowledge which can be transferred using social media.Applying the social dynamics model to Unilever should have a positive impact on their customer, suppliers, employees and in conclusion the shareholders. 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