Does Your Organization Suffer From Anti-Social Business Disorder – OR – HEY! Isn’t That The Opposite Of How A Socialized Business Behaves

Most organizations struggle valiantly and increasingly are being rewarded with some successes in the Social Biosphere. So how do you spot a business headed in the absolute wrong BUTT-BACKWARD direction?

You might think it would be easy; look for legacy industries, old business models and older companies run by old guys, like me. You might think this but, you wouldn’t be right, in fact the age or industry, business model and management have little to do with how various organizations embrace new technology and business processes in general and our Social Biosphere in particular. As the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than rhetoric and corporate media kits.”

Harley Davidson, began operating in the Social Biosphere, within its own Social Ecosystems 25 years ago and has been doing so ever since.  Interestingly enough the timing just happens to coincide with Harley’s huge resurgence in popularity, revenue and profit, quality assurance and everything else businesses strive to attain. Hmmm, perhaps there is something to this Social Biosphere model after all. 

Apple has been behaving and conducting business as a social entity since the “Think Different,” days and the return of Saint Jobs. And despite being counted out by industry experts year after year, Apple leads and thrives within the Social Biosphere by focusing on its key social ecosystems.

Ford Motor Company is another example of a mature (and boy that is putting it more than kindly) business model, management philosophy, and management team.  Scott Monty, head of social media for Ford proves every day that an old dog (the company, not Scott) has a lot of new tricks at least within the Social Biosphere.  Well done Scott!

So how do we find who’s missing the social media social business boat and more importantly why should any of us care?

The why care part is simple; eventually, and the consequences will only multiply over time,  organizations that maintain a willfully anti-social business policy will lose capitalization, customers  and credibility within their market ecosystems first and later within the Social Biosphere as a whole.

I call this the THREE DEADLY C’S, again it’s Capitalization, Customers and Credibility.

Capitalization means as a shareholder, your investment is already as good as gone, it’s only a question of how long you want to watch it shrink, dwindle and die before you take your capital somewhere, well more capital.

Customers cannot ever rely on these businesses to remain in business; in fact, anti-social businesses are all having a “going out of business sale,” even if management doesn’t realize it. 

And finally any organization so willfully opposed to embracing business processes, technologies and most importantly, unable to acknowledge the reality of the marketplace they participate in cannot possibly be taken seriously by anyone. How can these businesses retain credibility?

So who are these corporate culprits who seem determined to destroy our capital, screw their loyal customers and become the next great networking event keynote “Bad Example?” 

Unfortunately the number is legion; fortunately it’s shrinking daily, as more businesses wake-up from their digital commas and realize the Social Biosphere is not merely a reality but THE reality and most importantly THEIR reality.

Here’s a clue; if you encounter a business or organization (political parties and politicians come to mind here on the organization side) that uses technology to separate itself from its stakeholders in any way whatsoever; you may have a business suffering Anti-Social Business Disorder. 

Now you may simply be the victims of an obtuse, unknowledgeable  BIG PR budget and / or group of agency social media experts.  Check your PR budgets and this should give you an indication which you’re dealing with here.

If you think you’ve found an Anti-Social Business, you need to RUN FAR and FAST from these idiots, do not work for them, do not buy their stock or financial products and most certainly do NOT support them as a customer.

Think of businesses you deal with that use technology to ensure you’ll never get close to anyone with any responsibility or accountability within the organization.  And ask yourself does this seem social, healthy, and modern while embracing the technology capable of bringing customers and companies together or does this seem the exact opposite of all these things?

I’ll give you one example from a recent case study I presented in a lecture to SMB leaders recently.

Express Scripts, an online mail-order pharmacy and poster child for Anti-Social Business.  Everything about their business processes leverages technology to ensure customers and stakeholders are kept at arms length from any real decision making power structures within the organization.  And the harder one pushes for contact the harder Express Scripts processes; model, culture and staff push stakeholders away.

Is there hope for companies like Express Scripts, of course.  Given proper treatment and a willingness to both accept and embrace reality, anti-social companies like Express Scripts can be saved. However, it’s not likely given their current senior management who seem intent on destroying not just Express Scripts but having a real good whack at an entire ecosystem marketplace.