Development of a Coherent Social Business Strategy Utilizing an

Adapted Conceptual Framework:

The Case Study of Coldwell Banker Spain

MA e-Marketing and Social Media Professional Practice Project by Cássia Colling

About the author

Cássia CollingStudent of MA e-Marketing and Social Media - Middlesex University London

http://www.linkedin.com/in/cassiacolling

1. Summary of the project: what was done

2. Research methodology: sources of information

3. Insights for the framework building

3.1. Study of the Company’s context

3.2. Frameworks study

4. The general methodology

5. The adapted framework and its benefits

6. Insights for the strategy building

6.1. Business calibration

6.2. Macro plans definition

6.3. Activities’ priorization

6.4. Project timeline

7. Evaluation

Outline

The Professional Practice Project aimed to build a coherent social business strategy for Coldwell Banker Spain through the development of an adapted framework for its formulation. The Company was not considering social media as a significant part of the current business plan, which led it to related problems such as brand image inconsistency, absent measurement of returns and derangement among stakeholders. Additionally, the small Company recently joined the international network Coldwell Banker and because of that, it is inserted in an ambitious growth environment, where the organisational structure will necessarily change and improve in the next years, providing a complex and unique scenario for a social business strategy planning.

Multiple sources of evidence were used for the theme deep understanding and for the research in the Company situation, which includes review and criticism of the available literature and face-to-face semi-structured interview. The major findings indicate that the Company size, its social media inexperience and its growth scenario lead to the necessity of a social business framework adaptation in order to build a coherent strategy.

Subsequently, the real life case is applied to the adapted framework, creating a more flexible strategy in comparison to the existing models, offering also a more independent execution due to the Company resources and budget limitation.

Summary of the project

Interview with social business’ experts

Interview with Coldwell Banker Spain’ decision-makers

Literature review for the impact of SM in the society, especially

/customer/employee/businesses

Literature review for existing SB frameworks

/Sandy Carter - IBM/ Michael Brito

/ Forrester Research/ Altimeter Group/ Edelman Digital

How

to create a coherent social

business strategy?

Research Methodology

Insights for the framework building

• Study of the Company's context

• Study of the existing frameworks

After collecting the information by multiple sources, a critical analysis of the 2 main sides was made

Through these studies it was concluded or pointed the following

Study of the company's context

New brand: governance adapted to local

Social media maturity level: novice

Entrepreneurial structure: spider-web Segments: B2B and B2C/ different goals

Growth plan: 10x bigger

Global

Local

Framework's study/ deconstruction analysis

For this reason, a deconstruction analysis was made in order to have a clear vision about their differences and similiarities.

/Sandy Carter - IBM

/ Michael Brito

/ Forrester Research

/ Altimeter Group

/ Edelman Digital

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Even by considering a similar meaning for the SB concept, there are different framework proposals, where all of them indicate a process that involves a few steps or group of elements to be implemented. However, the core element involved in each step varies according to each framework, having dissimilar combination of activities that are considered in different levels of priorities for the strategy implementation.

Framework's study/ 9 macro plans

In result, the more frequent activities and elements were grouping by similiarity, forming 9 macro plans: technological plan, governance plan, organisational plan, content plan, risk control plan, user experience plan, employee experience plan, educational plan and measurement plan

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/Sandy Carter - IBM

/ Michael Brito

/ Forrester Research

/ Altimeter Group

/ Edelman Digital

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Framework's study/ 9 macro plans

Example of the activities’ list for each one of the 9 plans

Framework's study/ 4 pillars

organisational structure

valuesresources

goals

By analysing all the activities, it was possible to identify 4 main pillars that guide the plan’s constitution. They can be considered pillars due to their fundamental influence in the plans architecture, considering the fact that all plans depend on at least one of the 4 pillars.

The goals help the company to focus on the actions for the results that it is trying to achieve

The values show how much of the ‘social business DNA’ the company already has, the possible cultural barriers to be faced and which values should be inserted in the company culture

The human and technological resources provide a realistic situation mapping, which indicates what and who should be acquired to build a more coherent strategy

The organisational structure indicates the positive and negative results from the existing entrepreneurial and social media processes that should be maintained or solved by the strategy

Framework's study/ values and premises

Through the framework analysis it is possible to see a few common values or premises that are intrinsic in the majority of them, which might mean that are principles for the ‘social business DNA’.

• Innovation

• Collaboration

• Empowerment

• Constructive criticism

• Integration

• Engagement

• Transparency

• Customer-centricity

• Employees voice (quality work environment)

• Expertise

• Measurement philosophy

The general process for a SB

TEST: a test period for tools and processes internally1

VERIFY:to measure acceptance and impact2

INCORPORATION:if positive, it’s officially incorporated in the workflow3

MEASURE:analyse metrics of return and identify eventual mistakes

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ADJUST: make corrections in the processes or product and incorporate the enhanced version5

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Following the social business values of innovation, constructive criticism and measurement philosophy, the general methodology was defined for the activities execution processes

The adapted framework

Business Calibration - 4 pillars(1) goals, (2) values, (3) organisational structure, (4) resources

Macro plans definition - 9 plans(1) technology, (2) governance, (3) organisational, (4) content, (5) measurement, (6) education, (7) customer experience, (8)

employees experience, (9) risk control

Activities’ priorization - timelineBased on: (1) its impact in the business context

(2) resources limitation(3) its dependency relation

Benefits of the adapted framework

• Flexibility for the strategy creation: This benefit is especially concerning to the activities order of execution once a few of the existing frameworks have rigid rules, which are not applicable for some organisations.

• Alternative for implementing isolated plans: By considering a small business reality with low budget to invest but with urgent needs at the same time, it might be necessary to execute only a few plans in an isolated way. Even though it is not recommended, it might be necessary for other objectives beyond to become a social business. In this case, the company can invest in one isolated plan and try to build the complete social business strategy slowly.

• Resources Optimization: The plans list and their relative activities make possible to separate the strategy planning from their elements execution, becoming clearer for the company the human capital investments based on permanent or temporary skills and seniority levels. In addition, there are activities, which are basically the same but for different objectives, being considered in more than one plan. By identifying clearly those activities that involve more than one plan and their final objective, it is possible to plan a more effective response, avoiding work redundancy later.

Insights for the strategy building

1. Business calibration

2. Macro plans definition

3. Activities priorization

The Company’s context was applied into the adapted framework in order to build an unique strategy for Social Business, developing each one of the 3 stages:

Business calibration/ goals

Social business goals Administration: improvement of communication/ decision-making processes, more efficient

human capital utilization, enhancing of information accuraracy; B2B: better client service and effective social platform;

B2C: brand exposure, influence and engagement

Departmental goals Administration: intelligent organisational model for supporting growth;

B2B: effective strategy for affiliate’s support and interaction; B2C: generate brand awareness

Business goals(1) establish a new organisational structure, (2) make the Company expand 10x more,

(3) make the brand be recognised

Through the analysis below, where the business goals are transformed into social business goals, it is possible to build a more coherent measurement framework to guide the SB strategy once the type of metrics to be analysed are more evident.

Business calibration/ organisational structure

The organisational structure’s analysis was made by investigating 2 main classes that influence the final model of organisation, which are: entrepreneurship and social business. By considering these classes from the both point of views, Coldwell Banker Spain’ executives and business experts, it was possible to define the most coherent organisational model specific for the company and/or those distinctiveness for organising its structure in short, medium and long terms.

Current structure: small and noviceorganic, flexible, informal

descentralised

spider-web

Future structure: large and advanced companyorganic, flexible, formal

organic model

multiple hub and spoke

By matching the current structures and the ideal future structures according to the growth stages and social business organisational models, it is possible to conclude that the company should keep its culture of flexibility and adaptability as key elements of the Social Business strategy. However, its current informality is not recommended for the future model, indicating that a plan for formalising the structure should be implemented while keeping flexibility and adaptability.

Current structure: small and noviceorganic, flexible, informal

descentralised

spider-web

Future structure: large and advanced companyorganic, flexible, formal

organic model

multiple hub and spoke

Business calibration/ organisational structure

Business calibration/ SB values

• Innovation √

• Collaboration

• Empowerment

• Constructive criticism √

• Integration

• Engagement

• Transparency √

• Customer-centricity √

• Employees voice √

• Expertise √

• Measurement philosophy √

TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE EDUCATIONAL PLANAS A PRIORITY:collaborationempowermentintegrationengagement

An analysis of the Company’s principles and the social business core was made in order to understand the possible cultural barriers to be faced during the adoption process. Even the Company already has a certain level of social business core values, it is not considering other relevant principles of social business that should be inserted in the strategy.

Business calibration/ resources

HUMAN RESOURCES/ SKILLSsocial business leadership + social media senior management + community management + social media tools coaching + content strategy management + content producing + performance analysis for digital and social data + IT senior management + IT support analysis

TECHNOLOGICAL RESOURCEScontent management system + social listening tool + social media management tool + enterprise social software + social CRM

HR

TR

Human capital is an essential element for interfering in the company cultural evolution and also can leads to a need of new positions during the implementation process. However, it is essential to evaluate the gaps between the needs and current skills in order to make a decision of hiring or training. According to experts, training by coaching, feedback and information resources can be seen as a less expensive solution. For this reason, the analysis was based on skills to be acquired rather than new position needs.

Macro plans definitionDistinctiveness of each plan according to the interview process

Technological Plan: due to the budget limitation and systems administration inexperience, the Company can try free/ more basic tools before invest in a better option.

Governance Plan: it has a local set of rules, policies and procedures due to its cultural aspects. This plan is flexible, but not conflicting to the international brand.

Organisational Plan: it must conserve its organic and flexible characteristics, which might make the organisational transformation easier. However, its informality might be a threat.

Content Plan: it’s the most important plan to the Company, with different focuses for B2B and B2C. Brand influencers may be an obstacle for implementation.

Risk Control Plan: This is the last priority among the plans. First, a its necessary to build a solid presence in SM channels and generating brand awareness.

Macro plans definitionDistinctiveness of each plan according to the interview process

User Experience Plan: It’s a strength of the current offline channels. However, budget to

invest in systems for influencers partnership program might be a barrier.

Employee Experience Plan: implementation of internal communication tools is a priority for this plan. One possible cultural barrier to overcome is the process to learn from mistakes.

Educational Plan: the employees and executive coach for SM is the Company’s priority. The values to be better explored are: collaboration, empowerment, engagement and integration.

Measurement Plan: the plan must achieve the goals defined, which are: exposure, influence and engagement (B2C), better client service and effective platform (B2B) and improvement of communication and processes, more efficient human capital utilization and enhancing of information accuracy (administration).

Activities' priorization

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How to define the activities’ priority?

The activity level of impact into the Company’s context, that means to define which is the most urgent need considering the overall business goals

The activity’ relative resources limitations, in other words, what can be done in the planned structure

The activity’s dependency relation for execution, in other words, which activities depend of previous definition or execution

The result of the activities priorization can be seen in the following slides

Project timeline

Project timeline

EvaluationThe evaluation stage measures the developed strategy, being analysed separately in what refers to its main elements: the 4 pillars for the ‘business calibration step’, the 9 plans of a strategy formulation, and the final project containing the activities and investments priorities.

The 4 pillars: this topic analyses the coherence of developing the strategy based on each one of the 4 pillars. The result shows that, at least for Coldwell Banker Spain, this approach is immensely consistent.

Evaluation

The 9 plans: this topic analyses the coherence of each one of the 9 plans for the Company context in the next 3 years. By considering the executive’s point of view, the majority of the plans are ‘somewhat coherent’, while the technological and customer experience plans are considered ‘very coherent’.

EvaluationThis topic was specifically focused on the activities and investments priorities

• Utility: Refers to the utility of the information provided during the process, which, as a completely new topic for the Company was considered ‘somewhat useful’.

• Customisation: Refers to the strategy focus in the Company’s needs and limitations, which was one of the PPP objectives established at the beginning and which proves to achieve it successfully.

• Effectiveness I: refers to the probability of some tactics implementation that was indicated as ‘somewhat probable’ of being implemented.

• Effectiveness II: refers to the probability of the entire strategy’ implementation, which was obviously indicated as less probable then only a few activities’ execution.

• Happiness: refers to the general satisfaction with the final strategy presented, which was considered ‘neutral’.

I’d love to hear your opinion!

uk.linkedin.com/in/cassiacolling

@cassiacolling