New Jive Study Unveils Social Business is Top Executive Strategic Imperative

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jive Software today announced the results of a new study of 902 U.S.-based knowledge workers that was conducted by Penn Schoen Berland and commissioned by Jive. The study revealed that Social Business is increasingly perceived as a strategic executive imperative in the enterprise. Seventy-eight percent of the executives surveyed recognized that having a social strategy is critical to the future success of their businesses.

"Social is now open for business, and Jive is at the center of Social Business," said Tony Zingale, Jive CEO. "Today's executives realize that the New Way to business is here and that they must have a social strategy or risk falling behind. The results of this survey underscore the importance and growth of the Social Business market."

The study, called the Jive Social Business Index 2011, was conducted in May 2011 and surveyed 301 executives, 301 working millennials and 300 general knowledge workers at both large (1000+ employees) and mid-size companies (500 – 999 employees) across various industries.

The Jive Social Business Index 2011 identified three key findings:

• Social Business is a top executive strategic imperative;
• App Stores are gaining traction in the enterprise; and
• Email usage is growing but is not solving communication challenges in the enterprise.

Finding #1: Social Business Is a Top Executive Strategic Imperative

The study showed that Social Business is increasingly becoming a strategic initiative for enterprises, especially among executives and millennials. Over half of the executives interviewed believe that their companies would face moderate to high risk if they failed to adopt a Social Business strategy.

Specific findings include:

• Sixty-six percent of executives believe that social applications for business represent a fundamental shift in how work will get done and how companies will engage with customers;
• Fifty-three percent of executives believe they must adopt Social Business or risk falling behind;
• Sixty-two percent of executives cite the potential to achieve "better customer loyalty and service levels" and 57 percent anticipate "increased revenue or sales" as a result of implementing a Social Business strategy;
• Sixty-two percent of all respondents think that businesses need to leverage social software inside and outside their organizations in order to remain competitive;
• Online communities are an important source of information for making purchase decisions, especially for millennials. Fifty-four percent of millennials said that they are more likely to rely on and make purchase decisions from information shared via personal contacts in online communities versus 33 percent more likely to use information from "official" company sources; and
• Eighty-three percent of executives leverage at least one social network for work use.

Despite the urgency around Social Business, only 17 percent of executives think that their companies are "ahead of the curve" in terms of adequate adoption of a social strategy. A closer look at company sizes included in the survey reveals that executives at mid-size companies are more confident in their social strategies than executives at large companies.

Finding #2: App Stores Are Gaining Traction in the Enterprise

The second key finding revealed that there is a growing interest in the enterprise for an app store that provides access to a broad range of IT-approved business applications. Again, executives lead the charge, with 74 percent indicating interest. While most executives have downloaded at least one web-based app, most do it without seeking or receiving permission from their IT organization.

Specific findings include:

• Seventy percent of executives and 51 percent of millennials have downloaded at least 1 web-based application for work use either on their mobile device or personal computer;
• Ninety-two percent of executives and 82 percent of millennials believe that work-related web-based apps greatly or somewhat increased their productivity; and
• Fifty-eight percent of executives and 58 percent of millennials did not seek or receive permission from a systems administrator or an IT professional before downloading or using apps in the workplace.

Finding #3: Email Usage Is Growing but Is Not Solving Communication Challenge

The survey also uncovered that email usage has grown in the last two years. However, despite the increase in the use of these existing tools and processes, knowledge workers still find communication to be one of the top work challenges. Executives, millennials and general knowledge workers alike are looking for new ways to communicate on social platforms in an effort to increase productivity, change the way people connect and learn at work, and have better engagement with customers and partners. 

Specific findings include:

• Seventy-seven percent of executives, 68 percent of millennials and 61 percent of general knowledge workers indicated that email usage in the workplace has increased in the last two years;
• Eighty-nine percent of executives, 88 percent of millennials and 76 percent of general knowledge workers believe that they and their teams would be more productive if they could dramatically reduce the time spent writing and reading emails; and
• Seventy-three percent of executives, 73 percent of millennials and 64 percent of general knowledge workers agree that social platforms will fundamentally change the way people share, connect and learn at work and with companies.

About the Jive Social Business Index Survey

The Jive Social Business Index is the largest and most comprehensive survey on Social Business adoption that has been conducted to date in the U.S. The survey was conducted online by Penn Schoen Berland on behalf of Jive, between May 11 – 21, 2011. It achieved 902 total responses from knowledge workers (employed individuals working 40 hours or more per week who use a computer for work), composed of 301 executives (Vice President or above title, or manager-level and above title with final say or significant input on Social Business strategy), 301 working millennials (workers between 22 – 34 years old who use a computer as part of their job for at least 20 hours each week) and 300 general knowledge workers, for an overall margin of error of 3.3%, and subgroup margins of error of 5.7%. Further details on the methodology are available upon request. 

The Jive Social Business Index monitors traction and adoption of social technologies and strategies in the enterprise, including Facebook, internal social communities, external social communities, social media technologies and Twitter.

About Social Business

Social Business is the new way to engage employees, customers and the social web. Jive's Social Business software combines the power of community software, collaboration software, social networking software and social media monitoring offerings into an integrated platform. Just as social technologies have changed our personal lives, Social Business is changing how enterprises create competitive advantage.

About Jive – The New Way to Business

Jive is the largest and fastest growing independent Social Business Software company in the world. Jive is funded by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. For more information, visit www.jivesoftware.com.

SOURCE Jive Software