How does a company transform humdrum ideas into humdingers? For aerospace and manufacturing giant Textron, the answer is social networking.
With 33,000 employees in 25 countries, "the competitive advantage that is available to us by tapping into the knowledge and skills that those employees bring to bear is incredible," said Adele Suddes, vice president of Communications at Textron. "If employees have a venue where they can put an idea out there and have others morph it, that idea can suddenly go from so-so to awesome."
Suddes spoke with the Microsoft Vertical Industries blog about how Textron has transformed its approach to employee engagement, collaboration and communications over the past year. They did so through the use of multiple social tools, including SharePoint 2010, Lync 2010, and proprietary apps powered by Microsoft technologies.
As a result, Textron now can access previously untapped knowledge across the company, Suddes said.
Read the entire Q&A at the Microsoft Vertical Industries blog.
Still curious about enterprise social? Head over to the Microsoft News Center to learn about a survey that highlights growing worker appetite for social tools and to get tips on how to start using social in the office. Then join the conversation on enterprise social that's happening over at the Worldwide Water Cooler.
Jake Siegel
Microsoft News Center Staff