Do not want to be too much off track…..

Graduation is coming at the lightning speed and some very scary thoughts keep jumping in to my head about what I should do after graduation. I know one thing for sure; I am definitely going home to see my friends and family that I have not seen in two years. I already know that I am going to experience a cultural shock and I know that after couple of weeks everything will be moving at the same pace as it was 7 years ago (I came to US 7 years ago). After sitting around and enjoying the comfort of my home, the time will come when I will have to search for a job.

I already have some ideas about what I want to do, due to the connections that I made in the United States. People that I made connections with and created mutual friendships with have already been gone; most of them are back at home in Lithuania. They brought their knowledge, skill, and experience to Lithuania which has enabled them to open up their own very successful companies.

Coming back home is very exciting for me, for many reasons, but one reason in particular; I can not wait to start working and applying my knowledge about what I have learned in the past years at American University. As scary as it seems of not knowing what is going to happen next, the fact that you hold your own destiny in your hands, is not as scary a thought. Each summer when I go home I try to pay close attention to the way companies are operating, and stuff as simple as looking at the way companies treat their customers. Able to sit aside, observe and compare the way customers are treated back home and in the United States gives me some valuable insight about the way it should be done.

Some people back home have not even heard of blogs, so the first thing I will try to do is to convince the company to start blogging. After reading my own blogs and other people’s blogs in the class, I not only get information, but I also will be able to apply that information into real life situations. Blogging in United States is very big right now, but it is also at the decline. But it is not going to be at the decline in Lithuania, blogs are there, but only a few companies have it. More and more people will be buying computer and connecting to the internet service and that’s were the power of blogging will capture their mind.

Second Life, what's next ?

Second Life is a virtual world, where anyone with an internet access can log in and become a resident of this computerized world. Virtual world was created by Linden Labs and it is recently becoming a massive advertisement portal. The majority of the companies are opening stores and offices in Second Life. The main reason for the companies to go to a Virtual World is to promote their brand and products. While people perambulate in a Second Life, they can always go to any of the company’s office or stores, where they can find information about company’s products and prices, and also links to their official sites. Instead for companies coming to you and giving you all that information that you are so sick of hearing, you are going to the companies, when it is convenient to you. (www.silicon.com)

I really wanted to know how far second life could go, in terms of innovations. My prediction is that some day in the Second Life people will be able to try out their product. People can do that right know, but I want to know if they can really feel the features the products has to offer. Nissan gave people opportunity to choose and to test-drive their cars. But I really doubt if people on the Second Life could really feel the sense of comfort, acceleration, and engine of the car. (www.silicon.com)

In the near future, we going to be able to see and feel these features. One company after another will open up their stores or even car dealerships, where people will test-drive their cars and compare one brand to another, giving people a better sense about each product.

Dell joins Chinese Blogosphere

As I mentioned before, blogs are becoming the main source of communication between employees and customers. After long days of searching through the internet, I accidentally stopped by the Dell’s news room. Dell announced the launch of Direct2Dell Chinese, which simply means that Dell is going to open a corporate blog in Chinese. Mr. Dell mentions a good point, saying that by listening directly to Chinese customers through digital-community tools and networks, we can deliver better, more customized products and a superior experience. He also mentions that 1/5 of the population in the world speak Chinese, following up on that thought he said it would be very wise to hear what Chinese have to say about their products. Mr. Dell intentions are to acquire some valued information and feedback from their customers.

While Dell is the first computer system to open a corporate blog in Chinese, on this article alone I could predict that other companies will follow the same strategy. It is a good way to strengthen market position in a different country. I think it will be interesting to see Dell’s market share grow in the near future in China. I’m wondering how much effect it will have on the people and how other companies will react, not only the ones that are in technology sectors, but in other sectors as well.

Problems with social networking outside the organization

My last blog post was about initiating relationships amongst employees. Throughout this blog I want to talk a little bit more about the problems that appear in a process of initiating relationships and collaboration across Organizational Boundaries.
We all know that well established companies eventually move abroad sending some of their executives and managers to operate some place else. While company scatter through different parts of the world, it gets even harder and harder to collaborate with one another, especially when companies hire other nationality workers into their staff. All of the managers that operate in scattered companies are in need of a strong social network. Specific expertise of the employee is highly valued, but to connect and encourage collaboration amongst them becomes extremely difficult. To strengthen the link between employees outside the organizational boundaries, we first have to analyze the network and find the problems that initiated the separation between people.
Most of the managers are using collaborative technologies, such as virtual problem-solving spaces and online resumes that help employees find colleagues with specific expertise (The Hidden Powers of Social Networks). Most importantly managers cannot escape the problems they face trying to bridge the physical distance across organizational boundaries.
The book Hidden Powers of Social Networks does a great job pointing out that the lack of trust is extremely missing in the organizations; most of the workers are willing to share their expertise only with their long term colleagues or friends. The other problems that organizations face are cultural.
“People in different countries preferred to interact with others of the same nationality. And, as often occurs in technical work, a “not-invented-here” mentality contributed substantially to the isolation of subgroups.” (The Hidden Powers of Social Networks)
Organization leaders have to ascertain, and really find out what is their identity, position and level of connectivity with other employees, excluding other executives outside the company. Most of the executives tend to collaborate with other executives, leaving other employees outside of their own created social network barrier. Based on this characteristic and through their actions, they insensibly encourage other people to collaborate the same way; with people with the same shared expertise in particular field. People end up talking about common things, which is not very functional, because the lack of different point of views from different experts could not really guide to any innovations or to a complete improvement of the organization’s operations.