Fujitsu has had mixed success with traditional in-person communities but has recently pushed online communities enabled by an internal social platform. The purpose of communities is to connect people and content, improve collaboration, find and develop expertise, and give people a place to meet and share. Adoption is quicker for "good cause" communities around events like charity initiatives, while existing interest groups form communities soon after. Online communities can provide value when they engage members around a shared topic, but success depends on good facilitators and a focus on clear benefits for members. Early signs show increased engagement and changes to working practices, but widespread adoption will take more time.

1. Corporate
Digital
Communities
Fujitsu’s Experience
Graeme Mackay
Head of Knowledge Management
Fujitsu UK & Ireland

2. Context
UK & Ireland Region
 Mixed experience of traditional f2f
Revenue: £1.8bn communities
 Last 12 months been pushing online
communities - enabled by internal social
platform
 ~11,500 employees
 > 30 main service locations
 Key business is delivery of IT Services
 ‘People intensive ‘ business - dependent on
highly skilled people
 Fast changing & evolving market
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3. Purpose of Communities
Connect People & Content Improve Collaboration
Find & Develop Expertise Give People a place to
Meet & Share
People-centric
Enable Learning & Re-Use Enhance Communication
& Engagement
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4. Adoption Patterns
‘Good cause’ communities flourish quickly & easily…
Children in Need Global Corporate Charity & Community
Challenge initiatives
Existing / natural communities follow soon after…
Learning &
Development Lean
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5. Learning & Benefits
 Online communities have low barriers  Where they work they provide real
to entry and exit value to members
 Success is by no means guaranteed  Lots of examples of unique interactions
 Key dependency - good facilitator(s)  Seeing new models of communication
 Community members must be emerging
engaged on a shared topic  Increased engagement from more
 Must focus on clear benefits for employees
members  In some cases seeing a real sense of
 Existing or natural communities are excitement & enthusiasm
early adopters  Seeing early signs of changes to
 But not always! working practices and behaviours
 Not always easy to predict where
successful communities will come  But there’s a long way to go…
from
 Close down communities that don’t
work
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6. 5 FUJITSU EYES ONLY