Aspen Institute Report Cites SAP® Community Network as Social Media Forerunner

A new report by The Aspen Institute, titled “Leveraging the Talent-Driven Organization,” offers insight into how a number of firms are using social networking tools to open up communication, collaboration and learning across boundaries, and utilizing these tools to develop new products and real-time solutions for customers. Featuring commentary by thought leaders from high-profile companies, including Mark Yolton, senior vice president at SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), the report cites SAP® Community Network as illustrating perhaps the most extensive use to date of social media by a corporation.

The report highlights the benefits that SAP Community Network provides: “One of the most valuable is its power to give employees at all levels of the company real-time insights into customer needs, interests and problems. And the prominence of SAP Community Network has had a positive impact on the perception of SAP as a company that is open and collaborative. Customers generally are happy when a supplier will really listen to them, a process that is inherent in the structure of SAP Community Network.”

Based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, The Aspen Institute focuses on fostering values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and in providing a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues.

The Aspen Institute report is available for free download and can also be purchased in booklet form.

For more information on SAP communities for customers, partners and developers, see www.sap.com/ecosystem, or visit the SAP Community Network site at scn.sap.com.