HBRs 10 Must Reads On Collaboration
Date
2013-05-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW PRESS Boston, Massachusetts
Abstract
WATCHING HIS EMPLOYEES use a new social technology, Marc
Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce.com, had an epiphany. His
company had developed Chatter, a Facebook-inspired
application for companies that allows users to keep track of their
colleagues and customers and share information and ideas. The
employees had been trying it out internally, not just within their
own work groups but across the entire organization. As Benioff
read the Chatter posts, he realized that many of the people who
had critical customer knowledge and were adding the most
value were not even known to the management team.
The view into top management from the rank and file was just
as obscure, Benioff knew. For instance, the company’s annual
management off-site was coming up, and he could tell from
talking to employees that they wondered about what went on
behind closed doors at that gathering. “They imagined we were
dressing up in robes and chanting,” he says.