Social business organization models and practices

Social Business

Owyang (2010) proposes five ways that companies organize for social business. These are organic, centralized, coordinated, dandelion and honeycomb. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, so the best one will be different across different organizations, depending on the strategic needs of that organization. The organic model has a network of connections of different sizes and directions. This system arises organically, and there is no central focal point. It can be very difficult to execute this model effectively, because there is no centralized control mechanism that makes it easier to implement strategy. WL Gore is a company that uses this model to great success, however.

The centralized model is hierarchical in nature. Communication flows through a central unit, and the different sub-units have no mechanism for communicating with each other. Compared with the coordinated structure, the centralized implies that there is not likely to be much communication between groups at all, even through the central node. A company like FedEx is a good example of this structure. The sub-units rarely have any contact, and communication typically flows from the head office to the branches.

The coordinated structure has distinct groups that lack communication mechanisms between them, and all of the communication is intermediated through the central node. But in contrast with the centralized model, the coordinated model implies that there is communication between the different groups, but that this communication is intermediated (coordinated) through the central node.

Where the coordinated structure is basically a hub-and-spoke model, the dandelion is a multiple hub-and-spoke. There is still a central hub in this model, but at the end of each spoke is another hub. Socially, if we think about how most social networks function, this is the model, where each person is a flower. At the organizational level, the principle is applied to a coordinating body like a head office, that links all of the different areas of the company.

The last model is the honeycomb model works on the principle of each person being socially enabled, but within the organization. The social enabling occurs on the basis of fairly consistent interactions between the individuals, in such a way that each individual is relatively equal. The honeycomb contrasts with the organic model, where the links between individuals arise organically and therefore have differing degrees of intensity; in the honeycomb, the intensity of communications is typically common to all employees. This might be the case in something like a fire department, where a high degree of communication exists, but equally, and without the need for a central node.