Has technology changed organisational working practices? What exactly are Virtual Teams?

Technology has completely changed the way that we work! 

Organisations have increasingly utilized Information Technology, which has in turn allowed them to evolve and adapt to ever changing client needs and requirements. Employees needs have completely been at the forefront of organisations in order to ensure that their workforce and talent are so motivated as possible. In turn, technology and the way that employees want to work has ultimately lead to vast increases in virtual working and has positioned virtual teams to the forefront and crux of organisations. (Davidow and Malone, 1992.) 

These flexible working practices that employees ask for, can be defined as flexi-time, home working, part-time and job sharing. DWP (2008) estimate that 91% of employees within the UK have access to at least one flexible working provision, with 24% of employees being able to work virtually. Employees have increasingly desired to work in a company that offers flexible working and is often seen as a main factor in deciding which company to work for, increasingly since the rise in Maternity and Paternity leave. (CIPD, 2012) For organisations and human resources teams, this has meant that flexible working is an important area for employers to focus upon in order to identify ways to fully ensure that virtual teams can work productively to make positive contributions to their outcomes and to their clients. Regus (2012) found that 72 percent of global businesses report that increased productivity is a direct result of flexible working practices.

What are virtual teams?
According to Nemiro (2001), virtual teams are ‘groups of geographically dispersed organizational members who communicate and carry out their activities through information technology.’ Although this definition is clear, a narrower definition is provided by Maznevski & Chudoba (2002) ‘virtual teams are internationally distributed people, with an organisational mandate to make or implement decisions…typically assigned tasks that are strategically important and highly complex…rarely meeting in person and almost all of their interaction is through using communications technology.’’ The vital determinant of a virtual team according to Dube & Robey (2008) is when all members coordinate their working activities predominately by utilizing different forms of communication technologies. A real world example of virtual teams in practice is within global technology companies such as IBM; multinational companies with multiple clients all require their leading employees to working on specific projects but whom work in different locations across the globe, who can all interact as a team using information technologies such as email, instant messaging, conference calls and video conferencing software. Statistics report a 20% increase in productivity, IBM (2013) 

Virtual Teams can provide many benefits to employers such as saving financially, they can help grow companies globally, they can ensure that the best skilled employees are working on projects remotely and directly can result in greater productivity when virtual teams are successful. Although barriers can present themselves when companies and employees engage in virtual work such as cultural issues and communication issues, but with clear aims of organizational structure and awareness of challenges that can present; virtual teams can be effective and can ensure productivity for both companies and employees.

Please view two informative videos on virtual teams below. The first one is a 28 minute video which details how you can have success in virtual teams.
The second video highlights in a 2 minute short video how you can develop effective, efficient and cohesive virtual teams.





The following links are so important in understanding what virtual teams really are:

• http://www.forbes.com/sites/unify/2013/12/10/how-technology-has-changed-workplace-communication
• http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4113
• http://yq8bm2zc4p.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Group-to-Individual+Problem-Solving+Transfer&rft.jtitle=Group+Processes+%26+Intergroup+Relations&rft.au=Carey%2C+Harold+R&rft.au=Laughlin%2C+Patrick+R&rft.au=Kerr%2C+Norbert+L&rft.date=2008-07-01&rft.pub=SAGE+Publications&rft.issn=1368-4302&rft.volume=11&rft.issue=3&rft.spage=319&rft.epage=330&rft_id=info:doi/10.1177%2F1368430208090645&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=10.1177%2F1368430208090645&paramdict=en-US
• http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/science/article/pii/0030507382902483
• http://www.thehrdirector.com/business-news/employment_law/right-to-request-flexible-working-becomes-law/

Why are teams so important in general and what can teams provide? 

Teams are a central part of all organisations, with companies utilizing them to achieve efficient performance. Blau, (2002, cited in Torrington et al) emphasizes how ‘the team is now the norm at work,’ with teams being set up to solve specific issues and disbanded once complete or the creation of relatively permanent teams which are fixed together for long periods of times that often spans throughout decades.

Early research taken by Faust (1959) highlighted how groups were shown to have superior solutions when compared with individuals. 

Further information for UK businesses relating to new flexible working practices in UK

UK Gov (2014) announced that on the 30 June 2014, the Flexible Working Regulations in the UK will be amended. This means that the right to request flexible working will be extended to cover all employees after 26 weeks' service, rather than only those with children under the age of 17.
If you are a UK employer, please see the new regulations and ensure that your working practices are adjusted accordingly. 

In conclusion, virtual teams coordinate their working activities predominately by utilizing different forms of communication technologies. Increases in requiring flexible working and technology improving has directly correlated to the positive increase in the use of virtual teams throughout the world. Virtual teams are part of many multinational and small sme's companies. Technology has completely revolutionised organisational structures and working practices. The working practices that used to happen 20 years ago has completely changed and now technology and virtuality is at the crux of all organisations.

References:

• CIPD (2012) Training [Online] <http://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/5790%20Flexible%20Working%20SR%20(WEB2).pdf> [Accessed 5 May 2014]
• Davidow, W & Malone, M. (1992) ‘Virtual Corporation’
• Dube, L. & Robey, D. (2008) ‘Surviving the paradoxes of virtual teamwork’ Info Systems Journal [Online] Vol 19 Issue 3 Available at <https://intranet.cs.aau.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/Education/Courses/2009/SOL/Dube___Robey_2009_-_Surviving_the_paradoxes_of_virtual_teamwork.pdf> [Accessed 20 February 2014]

• Forbes [Online] Supp.Supplement Available at < http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/docview/194988508> [Accessed 20 February 2014]
• Faust, W. (1959) ‘Group versus individual problem-solving.’ The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology [Online] Vol 59 (No 1) Available at < http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/abn/59/1/68/> [Accessed 5 May 2014]
• IBM (2013) Technology [Online] <http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/en/it-services/workplace-services/flexible-workplace/> [Accessed 20 February 2014]
• Nemiro (2001) Creativity in Virtual Teams: Key Components for Success. San Francisco:Pfeiffer
• Regus (2012) ‘A Regus study into the link between flexible working practices and increased revenues/productivity’
• <http://www.regus.com/images/Flexibility%20Drives%20Productivity_tcm8-49367.pdf> [Accessed 4 April 2014]
• Torrington, D., Hall, L. & Taylor, S. (2005) Human Resource Management London:Pearson

The .London Domain - What does it mean for UK organisations?

The Digital Journal (2014) notes how the United Domains Group is now accepting pre orders for the .LONDON domain name. Over 200,000 SMEs have already expressed an interest in the regional domain.

This blog post seeks to look at what domain names are, what they signify for businesses and to look at how their use has evolved throughout the years.

What Are Domain Names?
Domain names are the part of a network address which identifies it as belonging to a particular domain. Premium names are shorter, more valuable and memorable than other domains of their kind, so the registry offers them at a higher price than the standard registration fee.

Casalicchio et al, (2013) discuss how the domain name system constitutes the hidden backbone of the Internet. Without it's services almost all the applications making use of the public network would not be able to operate in an efficient manner. This is the main advantage from an infrastructure point of view. 

The importance of domain names has tended to be up and down in a cyclical trend with a study in the Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal (2001) stating that domains were in great demand throughout the booming technology market of the late 1990's, sadly they were no longer fetching the prices that were estimated in the 2000's. A decline in value of domain names was thought to represent a permanent state of affairs, yet this decade and the introduction of region specific domains and the popularity that they have gathered shows how it is changed again. 

How Can Domain Names Be Utilised?
Financial Times (2003) discuss the advantages of using specific domain names for companies. Sita proposed airlines to register all of their flight numbers as individual internet sites. Advantages of this would be that air travellers can have direct access to their flights too individually register and book and make changes. The more positives that the company can give to their customers and more direct access the better. 

Companies that are based in London could use the new domain name as a marketing tool almost. For instance www.TheShard.London could be quite effective for Shard. There would be a problem though for large corporations that are in other cities such as www.Mcdonalds.London - considering London is one of the first cities to have this premium domain name it may be quite a tall order for companies and for registrars to give every single city their own domain name and it would take away the premium. 

Shockingly, over a third of UK SMEs still do not have a website, and just a third are selling goods and services online. Is 4 Profit (2014) Even more alarmingly, only half of businesses and charities in the UK have an online portal.  This showcases the fact that although domain names are out there, some companies do not even have a website let alone are concerned about the website they can go too. 

Are you a company without a domain name and website?
If you are a company looking to buy a domain name and create a website for your business then a website to buy domain names including the new .London domain is: https://www.123-reg.co.uk/domain-names/ 


References

 Bray, R. (2003) 'Airlines adopt domain name' Financial Times 17th June 2003 [Online] <http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/docview/249500550> [Accessed 2 May 2014]

Cambridge, M (2014) 'LONDON Now Available at United Domains' Digital Journal 14th May 2014 [Online] <http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1916147> [Accessed 2 May 2014]

Casalicchio, E., Caselli, M & Coletta, A. (2013), 'Measuring the Global Domain Name System' [Online] Vol 27 (Issue 1) Available at <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/xpl/abstractAuthors.jsp?arnumber=6423188&tag=1>  [Accessed 1 June 2014]

Is4Profit (2014) Business <http://www.is4profit.com/get-britain-growing/go-on-uk.html> [Accessed 1 June 2014] 

Does Cloud Computing offer more benefits than disadvantages to businesses?

Main aims of business

All businesses want to deploy technologies rapidly and easily!

All businesses want to innovate rapidly!

All businesses want to reduce the need for hyperextended IT resources and upfront infrastructure investments!

How can organisations achieve all of the above?

By using a cloud provider!

About the Cloud
Cloud technologies are also faster to implement, easier to maintain and offer increased flexibility and therefore, increased ROI, which is essential to marketing budgets. Over one third of digital content in the world is estimated to be stored in the cloud by 2016. Since IBM initially proposed the idea of cloud computing, 4 other top technology companies have been trying to get to the forefront of the cloud technology and get into . 
 Despite all of the value adding benefits, there are disadvantages that come with the Cloud service.

Nanavati et al (2014) comments on the lack of transparency throughout cloud systems and how users find it hard to trust them. It is difficult for cloud providers to earn customers trusts when handling their personal and sensitive data. Mere claims such as 'trust me,' and 'cloud' do not help consumers trust the providers unless sufficient information is presented with the services.Muchahari & Singha (2013)
Khan & Malluhi (2013) further annotate the following image which is all about diminishing control and transparency and evaluates the technology that can address such issues. 

PWC (2014) states 'Agile companies are seizing opportunities around the cloud to create innovative new services and business models that decrease time to market, create operational efficiencies and engage customers in new ways. Cloud services like Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SasS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Business Process-as-a-Service (BPaaS) are more than technology delivery paradigms.'

Digital Marketing Clouds Providers Necessities

There are at least 4 components that every digital marketing cloud should be offering:

1)      Multi-channel marketing automation – For publishing and promoting content that helps marketers engage customers across several different channels, particularly mobile and social. It also needs automation for the intelligent algorithms that sequence how that engagement happens.

2)      Content management tools – To create and manage the content and engagement tools that can be deployed across different channels.

3)      Social media tools – For listening to and engaging with social media networks to tap into consumer conversations, responding with custom content, or social media advertising.

4)      Analytics platform – To create profiles of consumers based on their online behavior, and evaluate which marketing campaigns are working and which are not. 


Ultimately, the cloud can be used to achieve new levels of the “Connected Experience” across customer, supplier, partner and employee relationships. The cloud impacts the entire enterprise—spanning corporate strategy, finance, operations, governance, culture and technology. The study of cloud computing was so interesting as it really has so many benefits and is being utilised as a means of improving organisational effectiveness in an increasing number of organisations.

If you would like to read more about cloud computing then please go to the following links:

• http://www.itproportal.com/2014/06/02/cloud-adoption-influenced-business-needs-and-data-security-not-cost-reduction-and-revenues/ - This article is all about business how clouds influenced business needs, and cost reduction is not the main reason.
• http://cloudtweaks.com/2014/06/cloud-computing-education/ - An interesting article educating you about the cloud.
• http://www.itproportal.com/2014/05/26/how-much-does-it-cost-to-move-your-business-to-the-cloud/ - How much does it really cost you to move your business to the cloud?

References

Muchahari & Singha (2013), 'A survey on web services and trust in cloud computing environments' Academic Education Research [Online], Vol 1 (Issue 2) Available at <http://www.academia.edu/4447042/A_Survey_on_Web_Services_and_Trust_in_Cloud_Computing_Environment> [Accessed 2 May 2014]

Khan & Malluhi (2013), 'Establishing Trust in Cloud Computing' , Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal [Online], Vol 2, (Issue 3) Available at  <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5593036> [Accessed 2 May 2014]

Nanavati, M., Colp, P., Aiello, B, & Warfield, A. (2014) 'Users’ trust in cloud systems is undermined by the lack of transparency in existing security policies.' Communications of the ACM [Online], Vol 57 (Issue 5) Available at <http://delivery.acm.org.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/10.1145/2600000/2593686/p70-nanavati.pdf?ip=194.81.203.94&id=2593686&acc=OPEN&key=BF07A2EE685417C5%2E7748C8603FAAB869%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E7BDEF374746A56FB&CFID=470853652&CFTOKEN=22927727&__acm__=1401797392_8822787bd0b026978fd2fcd7db9fbaee> [Accessed 2 May 2014]

PWC (2014) Technology [Online] <http://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory/customer-impact/digital-marketing-cloud.jhtml> [Accessed 4 May 2014]

What impact does an event such as The Met Gala have on a companies' digital marketing and social presence?

The Annual Met Gala happened last night in New York City!

What is it?
This glamorous, fashionable and enchanting event seems to be getting bigger and bigger year on year. It is the fashion industries hottest ticket throughout the world. Anyone who is anyone is at the event!

How do you get an invite?

Celebrities pay $25000 per ticket for the event with proceeds going to charity. It makes you wonder why do they have to go to an event to give money to charity? Why can't they just sit at home and watch Sport Relief or Children in Need and donate like the rest of us???
The main reasons for this is for publicity for the celebrity and brand endorsements for the fashion designers and fashion houses. 

Social media networks are awash with what designer each celebrity is wearing and this has been found to be beneficial for both parties.
Research by Friedman and Friedman (1979) found that celebrities are more effective than other types of endorsers. 
Seno & Lucas (2005) look into how celebrity product endorsement creates equity for both the endorsed product-brand and the endorsing celebrity. 

Take Beyonce for example - she used Facebook as a way of showing her 60,458,873 likes which designer she is wearing. She posted this whilst she was at the Gala on the red carpet! 

Post by Beyoncé.

Just last week, she posted a reminder of who she wore to the Event in 2011. See the Facebook post below. 
This is continued publicity on the digital networks and gives the designer instant recognition again and again... You just have to look at the amount of likes and shares that the picture has to see its importance.

Post by Beyoncé.

Stella McCartney showcased her designs in person at the Met Gala plus by being photographed with 3 of the most current famous women in showbusiness all in her designs. This photo has been retweeted over 3000 times and the photo been covered by almost every digital news outlet! 

How is the MetGala Measured on Social Media/Digital Media Channels? 

The following media news links show just how important celebrities social media feeds are to the public from the night of the Met Gala: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/06/best-met-gala-instagrams-2014-_n_5272121.html
http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/met-gala-costume-institute-ball-2014/stars-flood-social-media-met-gala-moments-1134321
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2621131/2014-Met-Gala-Beyonc-s-husband-Jay-Z-comes-rescue-loses-jewel-red-carpet.html

Digital Marketing Relevance

24 hours on and the most popular hashtag on twitter worldwide is #MetGala - This shows the true significance and the amount of tweets that #MetGala has gained. 
The most popular Instagram hashtag is #MetGala. Photos of celebrities say who they are and who the designer is that they are wearing. Even from only looking at two of the top social media channels, the above statements showcase the importance in publicity that events that these can have for marketing and how they reach out to a wide range of potential consumers.

The impact that an event like the Met Gala has on a companies digital marketing is vast and beyond words. Images are out there for the world to see and are documented forever.

Digital channels such as E Entertainment have programmes live streaming on the red carpet and channels dedicated to showcasing celebrities and the designers of their dresses for every large award ceremony in the USA. 

Kuang-Ying Loo & Hackley (2013) discuss how fashion brands visit key themes when it comes to building their brand through digital media. They also address how brands who are showcased within the right media circles can present fantastic increases in growth! 
To brands this is an important article to read, that they should be showcased within media circles - typically events such as these, Baftas, Oscars etc as these events are the areas that will increase growth due to the amount of social media coverage the celebrities get on these evenings!

References: 

Friedman, H. & Friedman, L. (1979), 'Endorser Effectiveness by Product Type'.  Journal of  Advertising Research [Online], Vol 19 (Issue 5) Available at <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1976.10672647 [Accessed 1st May 2014] 

Kuang-Ying Loo, B. & Hackley, C. (2013), 'Internationalisation strategy of iconic Malaysian high fashion brands' Qualitative Market Research [Online], Vol 16 (Issue 4) Available at <http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/journals.htm?articleid=17095531> [Accessed 1st May 2014] 

Seno, D. & Lucas, B. (2005), 'The equity effect of product endorsement by celebrities' European Journal of Marketing' [Online], Vol 41 (Issue 1/2) Available at <http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/docview/237048270/fulltextPDF?accountid=9727> [Accessed 1st May 2014] 

Potential Future Digital Marketing Strategies - Relating to Case Study of Burberry.

Analysis of Burberry's digital marketing strategy within 2013

Throughout my next 12 blog posts, I will be analysing companies existing digital marketing strategies. First of all, I begin to analyse Britain's Luxury Fashion House - Burberry.

Post 1

Burberry completely overhauled their digital marketing strategy and in turn has boosted their profits by 17% from £883 million in 2012, to £1,031 million in 2013. Burberry (2013) 
A collaboration between Burberry and Google, resulted in a digital marketing campaign named 'Burberry Kisses.' This campaign allows users to capture a print of their kiss on a smartphone or webcam and send it in a digital letter to the object of their affection. visually immersive and interactive experience that allows users to send letters sealed with a virtual kiss to friends and loved ones across the globe.

This campaign alone resulted in Burberry's name being transposed all throughout social media with promoted adverts, the social word of mouth; virtual kisses could be shared via email, or Twitter and Google+, whilst doing so increasing awareness via these different channels to multitude of potential consumers and audiences. Throughout 2013, Burberry cleverly ignited consumer interests by introducing festive holiday inspired kisses to increase users to send them over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, therefore continuing to capture the target audience. 

The Guardian (2013) view the campaign as a 'clever and charming example of humanising technology in order to interact with the consumer.' 
Many people who used this visually immersive and interactive experience may not be current customers of Burberry, but the company are hopeful that this entry point will stick in potential consumers minds, with Burberry certainly hopeful that they make a long lasting impression.
Ryan & Jones (2012) believe that innovative ways typical of campaigns such as Burberrys, will be five fold over the next 5 years, with majority of companies using emerging technology to connect with their target audiences. 

This is the start of many interesting innovative digital marketing strategies that will be in the public's view over the coming years!! 

Further Burberry Digital Marketing Strategy Analysis to follow in my next blog post!

How the use of personalization in emails can help companies engage consumers and increase revenue

How the use of personalization in emails can help companies engage consumers and increase revenue

How much nicer are emails that come through with a personalised message, a friendly tone and seem as if they have been written with a smile?

I frequently visit a Tapas restaurant called 'Bar Estilo' in Birmingham Mailbox and I LOVE the emails that I get from them.

The personalisation really is intertwined throughout the email. This poses this question: Does personalisation within emails increase revenue?

'Hi Lauren, How are you? Good we hope.' Each message they send has a friendly undertone asking if you have anything special that you are celebrating and offering you 20% off.!

It offers a voucher to gain 20% off by eating at the establishment and recognises that I regulary eat there when I am in Birmingham.

I am more likely to open these emails when I know that it is from a company that is friendly. The main critique that I would have for the company is to incorporate the personalisation into the Subject Line. Currently the subject line is '20% off...etc.' but I would continue the personalisation by suggesting the subject line to be 'Lauren, how about 20% off?'
Murphy, Schegg &Olaru (2007) undertook a study upon the personalisation within emails and understand how it can make consumers more likely to read emails and communicate with the company, whether that be by buying services or talking about the emails to friends.


Funnily enough - I am thinking of visiting Birmingham this week for the wonderful Christmas Markets. After being in the freezing cold drinking hot chocolates, I am sure I'll be hungry for Tapas! See you Saturday evening Bar Estilo!!!

**Important Update*** 

- Since this blog post went live in November 2013, I sent the blog post to Bar Estilo head office, and they have incorporated my critiques into their digital marketing strategy.

All of their emails to customers now use first name personalisation in their subject line at least 3-4 times a week.

The positivity that the company has had from this is overwhelming with increases in custom in the restaurant, which positively correlated to the subject line personalisation.

I am so happy that my digital marketing blogpost has actually helped a real life business and the strategy and academic and practitioner findings have actually been taken on board by them. I almost feel like a consultant! 

Thanks Asher again for the opportunity to learn so much in this Digital Marketing module. 

References:

Murphy, J., Schegg, R. & Olaru, D. (2007) 

'Quality clusters: Dimensions of email responses by luxury hotels' International Journal of Hospitality Management [Online] Vol 26 (Issue 3) Available at <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278431906000867> [Accessed 2 November 2014] 

How to monitor how many family members view your blog!!!!

Unfortunately, my Aunty and Uncle both live out in Vancouver, Canada. I only get to see them once or twice a year and I really do miss them!!!

(Us at the Baseball in Vegas, August 2013!)

They email me monthly asking me how my university course is and wondering how I am doing!
Now that I have this blog for my university module course, advanced segmentation can help show me how often they are checking my blog for new posts!!!

I imagine that the majority of my views will be from Brighton and the surrounding areas, so I have used Google Analytics to create an advanced segment called 'Aunty.'  It will allow me to analyse the data of how often my page is viewed in Vancouver!

The link that helped me create my advanced segments is below.
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/62528-how-to-use-google-analytics-advanced-segments-a-guide-for-beginners


Currently they have viewed the page 4 times!! I'm hoping that they continue to check it every few days to show their interest in my university course! :)