“Enterprise 2.0 is not anymore a buzz word : it is becoming a reality in a growing number of firms, says Stuart McIntyre. Today, collaboration, knowledge sharing practices via new internet tools (a.o. social softwares) are helping companies to improve their productivity and, above all, their innovation capabilities, in their day to day live”.

“However, Enterprise 2.0 is not only a matter of using online social tools, underlines the consultant, who was speaking at Blug 2010, a IBM Lotus conference in Brussels. Enterprise 2.0 needs a cultural shift, new behaviour and the support of the leaders at the top of the organisation. Involve the leaders is critical in order to turn a traditional firm into a true enterprise 2.0. It is a managerial challenge”.

If Enterprise 2.0 can drive innovation up, it won’t erase the R&D department, though.

“Nevertheless, a company should evaluate the cost of not tapping into the ideas of the people working in other departments within the organisation, either be it the marketing, sales, HR or finance units...”

Colin Hensley, Corporate Affairs and Planning General Manager of Toyota Europe, explains the motivations of Toyota in this video interview, recorded at an event organised by the IABC and ZN in Brussels.

“We were looking at different ways to engage with our stakeholders, with our customers, says Colin Hensley. We thought it was a good time to start with social medias”.

“Our colleagues in North America had quite a positive experience already on Twitter (…) The experience was positive because, via the followers and the followings, we could see who is interested by what we are saying”.

Journalist and NGO’s are on Twitter

So far, those people interested are (mostly) journalists and NGO’s, underlines to Colin Hensley. Sure, due to the tiny cost of communication, NGO’s are actively using social networks to get their message out.

“Another advantage of Twitter is that it is very quick. And we have to be very succinct. It’s a very good process to go through”.

In the future, there will be a growing demand for ressources to be dedicated to the engagement process on social networks, predicts the corporate affairs manager of Toyota Europe.

The process is “time consuming” as it goes with one to one engagement. But the cost can be balanced with less paper and more online content, adds Colin Hensley.

The message on the corporate blog becomes a bit different

Besides, Toyota Europe is also actively blogging. The message is not always the same as in other official forms of communication.

“We are making it more personal”, says Colin Hensley

For more information about corporations and web 2.0, here a link to download a new free eBook regarding communication on social media: “Your online journey starts here”, by Philip Weiss