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Chapter 8 Social Media Information Systems
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Social Media and Customer Service
Product users are amazingly willing to help each other solve problems. Even more, they will do so
without pay; in fact, payment can warp and ruin the support experience as customers fight with
one another. SAP, for example, learned that it was better to reward its SAP Developer Network
with donations on their behalf to charitable organizations than to give them personal rewards.
Not surprisingly, organizations whose business strategy involves selling to or through devel-
oper networks have been the earliest and most successful at SM-based customer support. In
addition to SAP, Microsoft has long sold through its network of partners. Its MVP (Most Valuable
Professional) program is a classic example of giving praise and glory in exchange for customer-
provided customer assistance (http://mvp.support.microsoft.com). Of course, the developers in
these networks have a business incentive to participate because that activity helps them sell
services to the communities in which they participate.
However, users with no financial incentive are also willing to help others. For instance,
Amazon.com supports a program called Vine by which customers can be selected to give prere-
7
lease and new product reviews to the buyer community. You’ll need your psychology course to
explain what drives people to strive for such recognition. MIS just provides the platform!
The primary risk of peer-to-peer support is loss of control. Businesses may not be able to
control peer-to-peer content. Negative comments about cherished products and recommenda-
tions for competitor’s products are a real possibility. We address these risks in Q8-7.

Social Media and Inbound and Outbound Logistics

Companies whose profitability depends on the efficiency of their supply chain have long used infor-
mation systems to improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of structured supply chain processes.
Because supply chains are tightly integrated into structured manufacturing processes, there is less
tolerance for the unpredictability of dynamic, adaptive processes. Solving problems is an exception;
social media can be used to provide numerous solution ideas and rapid evaluation of them. The
Japanese earthquake in the spring of 2011 created havoc in the automotive supply chain when major
Japanese manufacturers lacked power and, in some cases, facilities to operate. Social media was used
to dispense news, allay fears of radioactive products, and address ever-changing needs and problems.
SM communities may provide better and faster problem solutions to complex supply chain
problems. Social media is designed to foster content creation and feedback among networks of
users, and that characteristic facilitates the iteration and feedback needed for problem solving, as
described in Chapter 2.
Loss of privacy is, however, a significant risk. Problem solving requires the open discussion of
problem definitions, causes, and solution constraints. Because suppliers and shippers work with
many companies, supply chain problem solving via social media may be problem solving in front
of your competitors.

Social Media and Manufacturing and Operations
Operations and manufacturing activities are dominated by structured processes. The flexibility
and adaptive nature of social media would result in chaos if applied to the manufacturing line or
to the warehouse. However, social media does play a role in designing products, developing sup-
plier relationships, and improving operational efficiencies.
Crowdsourcing is the dynamic social media process of employing users to participate in
product design or product redesign. eBay often solicits customers to provide feedback on their eBay
experience. As its site says, “There’s no better group of advisors than our customers.” User-guided
design has been used to create video games, shoes, and many other products.
Social media has been widely used in businesses-to-consumer (B2C) relationships to
market products to end users. Now manufacturers are starting to use social media to become
industry leaders, promote brand awareness, and generate new business-to-business (B2B)
leads to retailers. Manufacturers can use social media by starting a blog that discusses the latest