Eight-four percent of Fortune Global 100 companies worldwide now utilize at least one social media platform (SMP), indicates a recent study by the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller.

Numerous statistical studies such as this exist, but how do we understand the numbers in terms of the actual impact of SMPs on business?

Despite the growing adoption of SMPs as a business tool, this is still a relatively new and under-studied area of technology—even in Silicon Valley where many SMP innovations originate, says Rafiq Dossani, a senior research scholar at Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC). Dossani defines SMPs as “information and communications technology platforms designed for interaction among participants.” He and other academic and industry experts convened at Stanford on May 25 for a discussion of SMP business trends, especially in the areas of recruitment and business development in Silicon Valley.

Their goal? To begin developing a theoretical framework for the study of SMPs as a tool in today’s global business environment. Findings presented during the conference suggest that SMPs serve as another tool for doing business, but do not supplant existing systems and practices. In addition, a great deal of future research is needed on the subject.

Organized by Shorenstein APARC’s Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE), the conference was the sixth in an annual series dedicated to examining the globalization of business services. Previous conferences have addressed topics including outsourcing, system integrators, international recruitment, and clean technologies.

Opening the first session about social media trends among Silicon Valley employers, Philip Jordan and Stephen Jordan of Green LMI Consulting presented findings from a recent survey they conducted of over three hundred firms, especially of larger and technology-related companies. Their study found that over half of Silicon Valley firms surveyed are utilizing social media for external communication and/or for the recruitment and evaluation of new employees, pointing to the utility for job seekers to maintain a professional-looking online presence. Nonetheless, they emphasized that “real” skills and expertise still matter the most to employers.

Manuel Serapio, faculty director and associate professor of international business at the University of Colorado Denver (UC Denver) moderated the panel discussion that followed. Panelists Rahim Fazal, CEO and co-founder of Involver, and Tuomo Nikulainen, a researcher at ETLA, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, provided commentary during the session.

Dossani led the second session about social media in the workplace with a presentation summarizing a study he conducted on the value of SMPs to business organizations. Surveying employees at twenty Silicon Valley companies, Dossani tested the hypothesis that a SMP has value “only if it improves the reliability of existing information or enables the generation of new information.” SMPs do not automatically generate such information, he stated. Some SMPs are better at generating reliable information (eg., a CEO’s blog) and others enable the generation of new information (eg., a discussion forum). Dossani categorized SMPs in the study by the extent of collaboration they permitted among participants in the creation of new information, as well as the control that was possible over the flow of information. Depending on how the usage of an SMP is organized—who participates and its governance structure—information of potential value to corporates is generated. Dossani noted the difference between individual SMPs, such as Twitter, and websites, such as YouTube, that integrate a number of different social media functions, including video and discussion forums.

In the study, Dossani proposed a theoretical framework for research on SMP business trends, informed by work about strong and weak “ties” conducted by Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter. The survey results indicated that SMPs are found useful for project management (low control/high collaboration SMPs) and building employee and consumer awareness (high control/low collaboration SMPs). While this provided support for the hypothesis, said Dossani, other evidence did not support it, such as the limited use of SMPs for human resource functions and strategic planning. This might be due to the nascency of technologies, lack of diversity of platforms, or limited familiarity with the potential of SMPs—clearly, exciting subjects for future research, he concluded.

Henry S. Rowen, co-director of SPRIE, moderated the panel discussion that accompanied Dossani’s presentation. Panelists included Matt Ceniceros, director of global media relations at Applied Materials; Ankit Jain, a software engineer at Google; Don McCullough, vice president of marketing for IP and broadband at Ericsson; and Saurabh Mittal, head of customer experience practice at Wipro.

Emerging from the conference is the understanding that companies are increasingly embracing SMPs as a tool to enhance their current business practices, but not uniformly. To understand the role of SMPs in business—both in Silicon Valley and worldwide—a theoretical framework, such as Dossani suggested, and further studies are needed.

Papers and slides from the two main presentations are now available online, with full audio from the event to be added soon.

In addition to longtime Globalization of Business Services conference co-sponsors Wipro, UC Denver, and ETLA, Adobe and Ericsson also provided co-sponsorship for this year’s event.

The results of my research [on HIV/AIDS intervention programs in China] have led to improvements in the…programs that were studied, and potentially will lead to broader change as I write up my research for publication. My research experience showed me the rewarding impact of public policy analysis on the quality and scope of health services. As a result, I decided to pursue a master’s in public policy at Stanford.

-Crystal Zheng, MA student, Public Policy Program

As an undergraduate student majoring in East Asian studies, Crystal Zheng spent two summers conducting extensive HIV/AIDS-related field research in China’s Yunnan province and Shenzhen special economic zone. Zheng worked closely with primary thesis advisor Karen Eggleston, director of the Asia Health Policy Program (AHPP) at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC). In the end, the project shaped the direction of her future academic and professional interests as well as contributed to potentially far-reaching program improvements for a key health policy challenge in China.

In the short time since its 2007 founding, AHPP has empowered the research of numerous Stanford University students like Zheng—emerging scholars, researchers, and thought leaders—through its teaching and mentoring activities. The program promotes the comparative study of health and health policy across the Asia-Pacific region, and its work with students closely accords with Shorenstein APARC’s commitment to training the next generation of scholars. In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of scholarship at Shorenstein APARC, students who tap into AHPP’s resources come from a wide variety of academic backgrounds.

The six undergraduate and graduate students profiled here have conducted or are in the process of carrying out timely, innovative research focusing on various aspects of healthcare and health policy in China. Depending on the context of their research, many students—such as Zheng, who received a Chappell Lougee Scholarship and a Major Grant through the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE)—have found Stanford-based funding in the form of research assistantships, grants, and scholarships. Several have also conducted substantial field research in China—even without prior Chinese-language training. In many cases, the research has proved life changing—one student was so inspired that she entirely switched the focus of her graduate studies.

It has been a true privilege to work with these students—their enthusiasm, quick learning, and productive research on their chosen topics make them a pleasure to mentor.”

-Karen Eggleston, Director, AHPP

Amy Chen, a human biology major and a 2011 Newman Civic Fellow Award recipient, will spend the summer surveying and conducting interviews with medical staff and students at Shandong Provincial Hospital to understand hospital worker attitudes about organ donation and transplantation in China. She received a Chappell Lougee Scholarship and a supplementary grant from the Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) in support of her research activities. Eggleston, who is serving as Chen’s advisor for the project, helped connect Chen with colleagues at Shandong University who will work with her throughout the summer. “I came to her [Eggleston] with a passion and a genuine interest in learning more about organ transplantation,” says Chen, “but through her guidance I was really able to narrow down my interests...” Chen hopes to one day establish a workplace-based organ donation education program in China and has already started developing a future action plan for it. 

Overcoming a potentially challenging language barrier, human biology major Monica Jeong successfully conducted diabetes-related research at Shandong Provincial Hospital. A recipient of a Major Grant, Jeong worked closely with her advisor Eggleston. She credits her honors research project with enriching her current work as a clinical research coordinator with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “I feel a lot more at ease interviewing patients,” she notes. “Furthermore, understanding the barriers that patients might face in seeking healthcare has made me a better-informed and more sensitive person when encountering patients at the Stanford Cancer Center.”

While studying the link between improved education enrollment and decreased mortality in Mao-era China as an AHPP research assistant, Jing Li, a former School of Education graduate student, developed a strong interest in health economics and policy analysis. “I am intrigued by the intuitiveness in quantifying relationships in health studies, as well as the crucial role of government in shaping health development using policy tools,” she says. This fall, Li will begin a doctoral program in health services and policy analysis at the University of California, Berkeley, where she plans to focus on health insurance policy, finance mechanisms, and payment systems in China. Li is particularly concerned with issues of inefficiency and inequality in healthcare policy.

Kelvin Bryan Tan, a doctoral student in the Department of Management Science and Engineering, gained a significant understanding of China’s healthcare system through the course “Healthcare in East Asia” taught by Eggleston. It led him to conduct a study to discover the optimal mix of different types of financing in medical savings-based healthcare financing systems, with a focus on Singapore and China. Eggleston worked closely with Tan, providing him with additional theoretical and background information. “This research project is likely to form a substantial part of my dissertation,” states Tan.

Anthony Vasquez, an East Asian studies master’s student, was inspired in a class taught by Eggleston to write a research paper about blindness prevention care in China, especially the role international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play in providing this type of care in rural areas. In his research, Vasquez utilized a combination of academic literature and a study of NGOs currently operating in China. “By conducting this research,” he says, “I became more informed about the challenges that China faces in providing universal healthcare coverage, which is the government’s goal.” Although his MA thesis will focus on a different topic, Vasquez plans to stay closely connected to developments in China’s healthcare system.

Through her thesis research, Rachel Zimet Strick, a joint East Asian studies-business administration master’s student, examined the conditions for producing high-quality pharmaceuticals within China’s current market-based socialist economy. Eggleston served as her primary advisor, providing valuable guidance on her source materials and methodology, which combined economic modeling and theory, challenging field research, and primary and secondary source materials. Zimet, who now works for Abbott Laboratories as a member of its Management Development Program, credits her research with providing her with key skills that she utilizes in her work today. “[It] allowed me to demonstrate to Abbott…my ability to think deeply about the Chinese market…and to identify key market and non-market forces that would affect our business in any international environment,” she states.

AHPP welcomes inquiries from current and prospective students with an interest in issues surrounding healthcare and health policy in the Asia-Pacific region, and looks forward to continuing to help guide and inspire students for many years to come.

“Stanford attracts a diverse group of intellectually engaged students with a passion for research that can inform policy and improve lives,” says Eggleston. “AHPP strives to support those students interested in health and medical care across the Asia-Pacific, from freshmen to advanced grad students across a broad range of disciplines, to create a community of like-minded scholars and push boundaries. Our own research and policy outreach benefit tremendously from the synergies that result.”

More information about undergraduate and graduate research funding opportunities at Stanford is available at the AHPP, VPUE, CEAS, and Global Gateway websites.

Middle class appetites and rising affluence are driving up the price of food in China, home to 1.3 billion people. Growers are faced with rising demand for food just as the rural labor supply dwindles. Yet the changes in food and work preferences aren't all bad, as they reflect the human and economic development taking place in China, says Scott Rozelle, food economist and Helen Farnsworth Senior Fellow at FSI.

The Asia Health Policy Program (AHPP) of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, in conjunction with the Stanford Center for Population Research (SCPR), announces the availability of 2011–2012 pre-doctoral research assistantships in contemporary Asian demography. The research assistantships support pre-doctoral students working within a broad range of topics related to demographic change in Asia while they provide research assistance to Karen Eggleston, faculty director of AHPP, and Shripad Tuljapurkar, faculty director of SCPR.

DESCRIPTION

Research assistantships are available to Stanford University PhD candidates who have completed three quarters of graduate studies at Stanford and have made progress toward defining original research related to population aging, gender imbalance, inter-generational support, migration and health, or other topics related to demographic change in one or more countries of Asia. A minimum of three quarters of residence and participation in AHPP activities is required. AHPP and SCPR invite applications from a broad range of disciplines, including anthropology, biology, economics, demography, history, law, political science, and sociology.

Students on research assistantships (RAs) receive salary and tuition allowance for up to 10 units (depending on the time commitment) in autumn, winter and spring quarters of the 2011–12 academic year. In the summer, tuition allowance for an RA is usually for three units. The RA may choose to work between 10 hours (25% time) and 20 hours (50% time) per week during the quarters in which they are employed. The research assistance will be an extension of research related to the book co-edited by Eggleston and Tuljapurkar: Aging Asia: The Economic and Social Implications of Rapid Demographic Change in China, Japan, and South Korea. Each RA also receives cubicle space at SCPR.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants should send the following materials to the research assistantship coordinator, Lisa Lee:

• CV
• Description of research interests or a detailed dissertation prospectus. The description should be clear and concise, especially to readers outside your discipline, and should not exceed five double-spaced or three single-spaced typewritten pages.
• Description of previous RA experience and relevant skills, including in quantitative and qualitative analysis. This description should be no longer than one page.
• Copy of transcripts. Transcripts should cover all graduate work, including evidence of work recently completed.
• Two letters of recommendation from faculty or advisors, sent directly to AHPP.

Only those applications that contain the complete materials listed above will be considered.

Deadline for receipt of all materials is May 20, 2011.

Please address all materials to:

Lisa Lee, Administrative Associate for AHPP and SEAF
Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall, Room E301
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

llee888@stanford.edu
(650) 725-2429 (voice)
(650) 723-6530 (fax)