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"Can Indian Companies Ever be Ready to Embrace Web 2.0?" from "WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India" Can Indian Companies Ever be Ready to Embrace Web 2.0?Since the time I have got to know blogging beyond being a log of my life I have been fascinated with the concept of neo web. I didn’t see it as a revolutionary concept rather I just found it to make a lot more sense in the way business can scale and grow using the Internet medium. It rounded up the entire marketing cycle from research to sales to feedback, and compounded multiple layers of communication together to not only drive business but also to make products and services genuinely better. On the face of it I saw no reason why people wouldn’t buy and adopt the web 2.0 concept and the cases that were showcased further cemented the logic and feasibility of the idea. However, nearly 5 years since the social revolution of the web very few Indian companies seem to have caught on with web 2.0, and even among those who have jumped aboard, their 2.0 baptism has lacked the real intent needed for successful social media campaigns. This prompted the question in my mind, on whether Indian companies the wide majority of them can embrace web 2.0 the way it is meant to be?Web 2.0 from its technical definitions of making the Internet a platform and carrying the Schmidt slogan of ‘don’t fight the Internet’ has grown beyond and to my mind in its truest essence is a set of unwritten rules of interaction between users. These rules like the neo web is in perennial beta and are constantly changing based on the expectations of the customers of businesses. In essence, it calls for businesses to be transparent, to be patient, to be accountable and above all to listen. In management parlance it somewhat nearly translates to corporate governance however it is also a question on the attitude that companies carry towards interactions with their customers or broadly their stakeholders. Leaving aside the new media and new management (techniques not board members) driven organizations which in itself forms a very humble minority most Indian companies shudder opening up both internally and to external stakeholders. Being transparent is not built in the DNA or values of the Indian conglomerate. This is so because the corporate hierarchy in India is built on the foundation of control and power. Transparency is the death knell for control. It will require companies to go with the flow rather than dictate terms the way they are used to. How can they learn to lose something as important as control on a media like the Internet? On a business system that runs quarter to quarter and results measured purely in numbers, forget being a virtue patience is in fact considered a fallacy among managers. The easy way out therefore to break the glass walls for most decision makers is to presume it doesn’t exist. Social media specifically and web 2.0 generally is not about numbers. This is not to say it is not result driven, on the contrary defining goals is the first step in any web 2.0 escapade. However, one of the primary tools for success in the new age of the Internet is to be patient and to be generous. Give without expecting anything in return is a maxim followed by many successful social web enthusiasts in their early days, but can firms which are accountable for every move they make have the courage to pursue such an idea? Accountability is perhaps the biggest dysfunction existing in corporate hierarchy in India. Many a consumer has faced the brunt products that don’t meet expectations and more importantly leave them in a lurch in terms of setting the the wrong right. Accountability towards ones product is perhaps the root cause of the lack of transparency as well. Opening up new lines of communication, participating in an environment where they and their customers are equals can cringe the hearts of many decision makers. It is an idea that just doesn’t resonate with the existing perception of how companies and consumers are to behave with each other. And why would anyone want to change it? And to listen is an exercise harder than hitting 500 crunches on the go for most humankind, forget Indian marketers. Blogging, social networking, participation, engagement, transparency, accountability and the likes of these are nuances that call for not just technical adaptation of concepts but a marked shift in business attitudes and values. In an economy still hanging in the informality and flexibility of family driven management where values are inherited rather than being created, can such a paradigm shift truly take place? It might happen in bits and pieces but the new order of the web is something to be embraced in whole and choosing bits and pieces is an option that can do more harm than not. There is the opportunity, there is the need to participate, there is the system in place to do it wisely, but do we have the vision to take the steps? Related PostsAlso Check Out: More Recent Articles
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