Deloitte and MIT Sloan Management Review Launching Year-Long Research into Social Business

Collaboration to explore the practice of combining social media, social software and social networks to drive business outcomes across enterprises

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Deloitte

Nov 28, 2011, 12:01 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --Deloitte announced today a collaboration with MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) to conduct a year-long research effort into "social business," the practice of combining social media, social software and social networks to drive business outcomes across the enterprise.

MIT SMR and Deloitte are working together on an "innovation hub" to investigate the management implications of the rapidly evolving world of social business. This research will provide executives a baseline of the social business landscape today and a framework to help them realize value from their social business investments. Deloitte's role in the innovation hub as sponsor and collaborator allows it to contribute its experience in this emerging field and tap into MIT SMR's content knowledge and network of contacts.

"Achieving the promise of social business is a complicated process, requiring specific skills and capabilities. Managers need a new perspective on orchestrating people, ideas and the flow of information," said Jonathan Copulsky, a principal in Deloitte Consulting LLP's Strategy and Operations practice. "The social business collaboration will help managers at all levels understand and navigate a fundamentally altered landscape, where generational expectations and attitudes have begun to change the rules of the game and the expectations that participants have of their relationships."

The innovation hub will explore the complexities facing managers as they craft and implement social business strategies, specifically examining how social business creates value in different types of enterprises.

SMR created its innovation hubs to focus its research efforts on critical business issues. Innovation hubs include a dedicated, collaborative space on the MIT SMR website for capturing thinking, reporting and scholarly research on the management implications of significant transformations in the business environment. The hubs illuminate major changes in the competitive landscape that managers are hungry to understand.

"MIT Sloan Management Review is delighted to launch its third Innovation Hub. We're looking forward to working with Deloitte to research this fascinating phenomenon and continue to provide our readership with practical advice on how to navigate this evolving landscape," said David Kiron. Executive Editor, Innovation Hubs, at MIT SMR.

Deloitte's support of this innovation hub is through its recently opened Deloitte University and its research and publication platform, Deloitte University Press. A highly experiential and collaborative environment, Deloitte University inspires the organization's professionals to create new perspectives and methods to help clients capitalize on changes in the business landscape.

MIT SMR will publish the research on the website and will feature an article in the magazine. Social business is the third hub that MIT SMR has developed.

Additional information about the innovation hub on social business is available at http://mitsmr.com/SocBizHub .Please visit Deloitte.com for more information about the various research initiatives sponsored by Deloitte.

For more information about Deloitte University, The Leadership Center, please visit www.deloitteuniversity.com.

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

Contact:
Langdon Cook
Public Relations
Deloitte
+1 203-708-4156
[email protected]

SOURCE Deloitte