Week 9: Blog Activity #7

This week I will talk about an example of an organisation that has accidently or deliberately ‘misused’ social technology. This can be from an ethical, legal or strategic point of view and can be across either or both the internal and external organisational perspectives.

About (AMR)

American Medical Response (AMR) is an ambulance and medical services provider in United States. And it is the nation’s leading manager and provider of medical transportation. AMR provides emergency response and dispatch services, non-emergency transport services, air ambulance services, event medical services, managed transportation services and paramedic and EMT training. AMR is locally operated in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

 As the nation’s largest private provider of medical transportation services, AMR offers opportunities for growth and advancement in a variety of career paths.

Outline the reported ‘misuse’ of social technology

The Company had to face a legal issue regarding its social media policy when a female employee of the company was fired because she posted angry and defamatory comments on Facebook about his immediate supervisor. She clearly violated the company’s policy regarding social media which prohibit the employees to avoid posting prejudiced, defamatory and disparaging comments when discussing the company, managers, colleagues or competitors over social media (Dail, 2014).

The matter may seems okay if we look at the policy but National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against the company and according to NLRB the firing was illegal as it is the right of the employees to discuss their working conditions anywhere ant it doesn’t matter that they are doing so on a lunch table or on Facebook.

Worth

In order to avoid such issues, companies need to use the protective language, understand the employees’ rights and policy should be reviewed after each 2 years.


Further information "Here"

References

American Medical Response. Retrieved from http://www.linkedin.com/company/american-medical-response-1?trk=company_logo

Dail, H. G. (2014, 9 21). SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES: IMPACT OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE CASE. Retrieved from The HR Group Inc.: http://www.thehrgroupinc.net/social-media-policies-impact-of-the-american-medical-response-case/

 

Week 8: Blog Activity #6

Brief Overview of Project

A return on investment analysis conducted for Ingenix in 2011. The company exhibited improved productivity, reduced information technology costs, and a reduction in operating expenses by “$284, 000” through its product known as CareTracker. CareTracker is a web-based electronic application that facilitates better operational functions in medicine and better recording of medical records (“Ingenix,” 2011).

ROI for the Project

Available at: http://www.casestudyforum.com/csr/H3889R.pdf

ROI     = Future value of benefits/present value of costs

            = 284251/380953

            =0.7461576625

            =75%

Benefits of the Project

Benefits included boost in productivity by 33%, Accounts receivables were reduced from forty five to twenty nine, denial rates were cut down from twenty five percent to ten percent, and cumulative five year benefits were set as $284, 251.Additionally, down times were reduced (“Ingenix,” 2011)..

Strengths and Weaknesses

ROI calculation approach is able to capture both tangible and intangible benefits.

Reference

            http://www.casestudyforum.com/csr/H3889R.pdf

The use of social technology by Macquarie Bank,Week 7: Blog Activity #5

The blog activity for this week requires you to select an organization from the Retail Sector and discuss their use of social technology.

Macquarie Bank belongs to a group of companies operating under the financial sector in a number of countries across the globe including the USA, Australia and Netherlands. The Macquarie Bank Group provides advisory, banking, investments and funds management and financial services under four categories namely adviser, business, personal and corporate, institutions and government. The functional areas of the bank explored in this blog are product development and operations and distribution as identified by McKinsey (2012).

Under these organisational functions, the Macquarie Bank have social technologies for smooth operations. However, it can also embrace others for enhanced efficiency. The bank currently used applications including Mobile Apps and Sybase whereas potential social technologies include the Radian6.

The Sybase tool helps in integrating employees in working, hence promoting teamwork since the employees keep in touch with each other (Cassidy & Cassidy, 2010). This tool will enhance productivity of the employees. Mobile Apps and Radian6 will help the bank interact and collect information about current and potential customers, hence giving it an opportunity to incorporate the customers’ preferences into newly developed products and/or services (Barclay, Dann and Holroyd, 2010).

References

Barclay, I., Dann, Z., and Holroyd, P. (2010). New product development. Woburn: Routledge.

Cassidy, A., & Cassidy, D. (2010). A practical guide to reducing IT costs. Ft. Lauderdale: J. Ross Pub.