McKinsey on how your company can use social media

In this month’s McKinsey’s Quarterly Newsletter, we aim to sharpen your thinking about blogs, wikis, mobile apps, Web forums, and the like.

“Demystifying social media” shows how executives can shape the consumer’s purchase decision by harnessing these new platforms.

Several consumers share their experiences, and three McKinsey partners provide advice on how companies can draw on social media to build brand loyalty, in the video “Making sense of social media,” on mckinsey.com.

“A social journey” interactively demonstrates why marketers should use such techniques at every stage of the consumer’s purchase process. “Understanding social media in China” shows that despite vast differences between this market and those of the West, the ingredients of a winning strategy are familiar.

Finally, review the results of the recent live Twitter conversation hosted by McKinsey partners David Edelman and Hugo Sarrazin on using social media to shape consumer decision making (available on Storify).

March 8th_International Women’s Day: 20 Best Marketing And Social Media Blogs By Women

I had this topic in my drafts since Jan, today seems like the right day to post it. Congratulations to all marketing and social media ladies. You are a source of inspiration.

by Coree Silvera on Forbes.com

Over the last year I have learned a great deal from women in the field of marketing, social media, branding and entrepreneurship. While there are many female thought leaders in the marketing industry that I may have missed, this list contains the women that have made a difference in my life or my viewpoint and continue to lead the way for women in business.

It’s up to each of us to find online content we find valuable to our growth and business needs, and then to consume and put into action the advice and tips from the experts. This list is full of women that I have found to be leaders, women who are consistently providing relevant and useful information to the marketing and social media industry. I appreciate each and every one of them and recommend these ladies as the Chicks Pick Best in Blog–Marketing and Social Media.

Conversation Agent, Valeria Maltoni, @ConversationAge–Valeria helps businesses understand how customers and communities have changed marketing, PR and communications–and how to bring value in this new environment. She also hosts the #kaizenblog Twitter chat on Fridays where other professional and aspiring conversationalists share their best tips.

Lipsticking, Yvonne DiVita, @Lipsticking–Yvonne heads up a very talented group of women bloggers including Lena West, Donna DeClemente, Mary Schmidt and Robbi Hess. These ladies bring a powerful female voice to the marketing world assisting many brands, agencies and not-for-profits in their marketing to women strategies. You’re sure to appreciate the honest and outspoken articles found on Lipsticking.

WonderBranding, Michele Miller, @MicheleMiller–Wonder Branding brings you the latest news and views on marketing to women. Michele keeps us up to date on how brands are responding to the female customer. You can read the interviewwith Michele Miller that I conducted earlier this year here.

She Takes On The World, Natalie MacNeil,@NatalieMacneil–Women entrepreneurs will come to find She Takes on the World a necessary add to their RSS reader. Natalie offers excellent articles focusing on building your business from the ground up and often brings in other female experts for her “In Her Heels” interviews.

Women On Business, Susan Gunelius, @SusanGunelius–Find news and information you need to be successful in the business world from this network of female thought leaders. Articles focus on leadership, market trends and entrepreneurship.

V3 Integrated Marketing, Shelly Kramer, @ShellyKramer–Shelly and Laura Lakes run the Kansas City based marketing company V3 and offer their best tips here on their blog in areas such as social media, blog marketing, public relations and traditional marketing for businesses. Shelly is a firecracker that has a knack for engaging with her community and immediately putting a smile on your face. A must follow on Twitter as well as her informative blog.

Client Magnet, Bernadette Doyle, @BernadetteDoyle–an amazing Web site that teaches how to attract Clients Like a Magnet, Bernadette teaches how to use attraction marketing to change your mindset to begin having clients seek you rather than you grasping after them. A very positive blog that is sure to have an impact on your business and your life.

Women Grow Business, Jill Foster, @JillFoster–As editor for Women Grow Business, Jill brings together a network of female entrepreneurs to discuss leadership, marketing, operations (especially in tough economic times), benefits of social cause partnership, talent retention, online presence, entrepreneurship, social technology, mentorship, failure and success. You will want to come back often.

Sheconomy, Stephanie Holland, @Sheconomy–Stephanie takes pride in being able to reach a guy’s mind on marketing to women. Sheconomy is a great resource to come back to for statistics on women in the marketplace as well as getting a clearer perspective on WHY brands should be marketing to women.

ClickNewz, Lynn Terry, @LynnTerry–Lynn has been in Internet marketing for years and knows how to give you the step by step process on how to recreate her success for yourself. You’ll find tips from article marketing to search engine optimization and everything in between. Lynn also has a forum community that is a great tool for getting quick answers.

Startup Princess, Kelly King Anderson, @StartupPrincess–Kelly operates Startup Princess, an organization for women entrepreneurs everywhere to network, learn, share and mentor one another. Kelly and her Fairy Godmothers are always willing to help you grow your business.

ConnieBensen.com, Connie Bensen, @cbensen–Connie Bensen is a leading authority on cultivating online communities. Her blog is an excellent resource to find mentorship and inspiration for others pursing a career in Community Management or for brands seeking to improve their community engagement strategies.

Beth’s Blog, Beth Kanter, @Kanter–Beth is the leading expert on cause marketing and using social media for nonprofits. A place to capture and share ideas, experiment with and exchange links and resources about the adoption challenges, strategy and ROI of nonprofits and social media.

Gwen Bell, Gwen Bell, @GwenBell–Gwen knows social media and is the example of what a networker does to create connections across the world with seemingly no effort at all. Her posts will cause you to stop and think, not just hand feed you information. Perky, smart and a must read for those interested in anything Web 2.0.

HorsePigCow, Tara Hunt, @MissRogue–specializes in community marketing–delighting and enchanting the people in the communities a company serves through product, communication and experience.

MarketingProfs, Ann Handley, @MarketingProfs–For anyone interested in successful marketing of their business, Marketing Profs is not just a blog to follow, but a necessary tool in your marketing toolbox. You will find useful reports, statistics and viewpoints from many experts of both genders, but Ann and Beth Harte are the female voices behind Marketing Profs.

Outspoken Media, Rae Hoffman, @sugarrae–Rae is the CEO and cofounder of Outspoken Media along with Rhea Drysdale, and Lisa Barone, and these ladies don’t mess around. If you’re looking for advice in marketing, reputation management, SEO, link mapping and beyond, you’ll find a no-holds-barred approach with these exceptionally talented group. Outspoken indeed. If it hadn’t been for Rae’s outspoken self promo we may have missed this great resource, and you don’t want to do that.

Altitude Branding, Amber Naslund, @AmberCadabra–Amber is an upbeat breath of fresh air in the social media world. You’ll find a thought-provoking viewpoint that focuses on elevating brands through social media and communication.

IttyBiz, Naomi Dunford, @IttyBiz–IttyBiz is a place to get tips, advice, motivation and support for your very small business. Naomi is a kick in the pants that shares her marketing expertise in a style only she can, loaded with wisdom, wit and an occasional F-bomb. A fun place to learn.

Diva Marketing Blog, Toby Bloomberg, @TobyDiva–Toby has an accomplishment list a mile long from speaking at major new media conferences to sitting on the board for the American Marketing Association. On her blog she brings all her experience and offers it to us in a fun and bold voice that’s sure to bring you back for more.

Coree Silvera is thought leader in community management and social media marketing.

Share Your Favorites: Got a name or names you’d like to see on this list? We invite you to add your picks in our Comments section below.

Le dirigeant de demain? Tout le contraire de celui d’aujourd’hui!

A travers le regard de plus de 4 000 diplômés “grandes écoles”, une étude publiée par le réseau Grandes Ecoles au Féminin dresse un portrait robot de ce que sera le dirigeant de demain. Un chef d’entreprise humaniste, exemplaire, visionnaire… et féminin.

Par Sébastien Pommier pour L’Entreprise.com

 

A quoi ressemblera le dirigeant de demain ? Probablement à Shiva, personnage contradictoire, à la fois dieu destructeur mais créateur d’un monde nouveau. Et dans l’esprit de beaucoup, représentant le multitasking.
“Has been”. En interrogeant 4 200 diplômés de grandes écoles, ” Grandes Ecoles au Féminin ” (GEF) dresse une photographie inédite et surprenante. Le chef d’entreprise loué aujourd’hui pour sa capacité à entretenir un réseau (54%), séducteur et bon orateur (41%), sans renier un certain côté dur pour atteindre ses objectifs (44%), est-il déjà has been ? Oui, à en croire l’étude, puisque dans les qualités attendues du dirigeant de demain, figurent désormais la capacité à savoir piloter et préserver l’intérêt de l’entreprise à long terme (61%), un aspect visionnaire (46%), et une capacité à créer l’innovation (33%) tout en préservant un comportement exemplaire, en interne comme en externe (42%). Bref, le dirigeant de demain serait le reflet inversé du dirigeant actuel…

 

Extrait de l’étude Grandes Ecoles au Féminin

Sociovision / GEF 5ème étude

 

Clônage. Pour en finir avec les clichés, ce sont les hommes (81%) et non les femmes (69%) qui placent leur vie privée avant tout. Les femmes sont ainsi davantage enclines à quitter leur entreprise pour progresser dans leur carrière (40% contre 34% pour les hommes). Conséquence, pour 84% des sondés, hommes et femmes donc, ” promouvoir des femmes à des postes de direction serait un bon moyen de faire évoluer dans le bon sens le management “, voire même pour 77% ” d’en finir avec un certains clonage des dirigeants “. Et si l’avenir c’était elles ?

Humanisme. La crise économique, persistante et perturbante, s’est muée en une crise des valeurs. Souvent décrié pour son immobilisme, son conservatisme et son manque d’humanisme, le management se retrouve en première ligne. ” On peut être frappé par l’importance que revêt aujourd’hui la notion de réseau dans le business, reconnait Karine Sanouillet, directrice de la fidélisation au Groupe Casino, et membre du réseau GEF. Et pourtant, c’est la composition même du réseau personnel du dirigeant qui est en évolution. Fini le côté ” grandes écoles corporatistes “, avec Internet le réseau s’humanise. On a envie de se mobiliser pour des causes, des valeurs “, explique cette ancienne HEC de 44 ans. Paradoxe de la crise des valeurs, on ” humanise ” les échanges en se coupant du lien direct. Et on affirme désormais ses positions sur la toile. L’e-réputation comme image du réel.

Mixité. Les sondés demandent donc plus de sens, et une vision à long terme, alors que la crise, stressante, changeante, pousse le dirigeant à une remise en cause quotidienne. Toujours militantes pour une plus grande mixité, notamment dans le top management, les femmes du réseau ” Grandes Ecoles au Féminin ” souhaitaient dans cette étude ” prendre du recul par rapport à la question de la mixité, pour se poser la question de l’accession au pouvoir “, indique Karine Sanouillet. Même si cette question reste leur fer de lance, dans un pays comme la France qui ne compte aucune ” patronne ” dans le CAC 40, il semble qu’il faille en passer par le cadre législatif pour atteindre un équilibre. Les principales intéressées y sont naturellement très favorables, et militent pour l’accélération de la mixité aux postes de top management (88% vs 62% hommes). Priorité numéro une des dirigeantes donc. Et des politiques ?

The ideal global HR Manager in 2020: Are you like her?

· That 75 % is female and females make up a total of 46.3% of the total workforce; by 2020 it will be 3 to 1 ratio female to male total workforce;
· Her title is HR Director or HR Manager normally; will probably stay the same
· She normally reports to the President/CEO directly; this will remain the case in 2020;
· She has an influential seat in the inner circle of strategic planning within the organization; will have a stronger role in 2020
· She wears multiple hats which consist of only HR related duties 45% of the time; ethics/compliance issues 34%; and internal communications and other duties after that; by 2012 she will have a project team working on these items.
· She does outsource some functions such as Backgrounds and Reference Checks 34% of the time; Payroll 24%; but she will also keep these things in house; in 2020 it’s automated, information is instantly available, may have a hiring team that works on this.
· She may have a department of 2 to 75 people she is in charge of; she may have that many team projects at the same time, globally
· She may or may not currently have a degree in HR most likely she will not have a degree at all; OJT Degree; this is changing
· She uses web sites 91% of the time to stay current in her job; seminars are second; audio conferences are third; and webcasts seem to be climbing in popularity; in 2020 it will be waiting on her because her “bot” has found the information for her.
· She posts 75% + of her job positions online; in 2020 she will have pools of dedicated teams and networks that she can throw projects too.
· She finds the best information about the applicant from the in person interviews 71% of the time; application 9%; references 7%; resume 5%; Background Checks 5%; Information will flow faster; interviewing will remain the same or higher
· It takes her about one to four weeks to normally fill a position; this should not be an issue in 2020 as she is global.

Gender diversity as performance driver: read the last Mc Kinsey report and get your priorities right

http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/paris/home/womenmatter.asp

The 2010 Women Matter report confirms that women are still underrepresented in boards of corporations, although improvements have been seen in this area in some countries. At the same time, gender diversity within executive committees remains very low.

And yet gender diversity in the top management of corporations remains a key topic: three years after the first Women Matter study, the link between the presence of women in executive committees and better financial performance is still valid.

The 2010 Women Matter study provides a focused analysis on how to achieve gender diversity at top management level. Its findings are partly based on a survey we conducted in September 2010 of about 1,500 business leaders worldwide across all industries, from middle managers to CEOs. The survey concretely reveals that a majority of leaders, both men and women, now recognize gender diversity as a performance driver, while also showing that actual implementation of gender-diversity measures in corporations remains limited.

This is not surprising as the achievement of gender diversity is not at the top of – nor even on – companies’ strategic agenda: only 28 percent of respondents identified this as a top-10 priority in their company. This is a concern, as the new McKinsey study shows a link between having gender diversity as a top priority and achieving women representation in C-level positions (CEO, COO, CFO, etc.). Moreover, the companies that have placed this topic high on their strategic agenda implement on average more gender-diversity measures.

The study finally identifies those measures that tend to be more effective in increasing women representation, highlighting in particular the impact of CEO commitment and women’s individual development programs.

Looking forward therefore, the findings of the 2010 Women Matter study should help clarify priorities for those companies that want to achieve gender diversity in their top management.