Sree Vijaykumar is founder of TradeBriefs, which provides curated news, insight and jobs to over 400,000 Indian professionals, including over 25,000 CXOs. TradeBriefs is a 500 Startups company and based in Mumbai. Sree has spent over 9 years in corporate America, helping large and small companies with supply chain management problems.
Digital Vidya: Does the advent of Social Media change the hierarchies in organizations that contribute to old-fashioned top-down change management?
Sree: We are a startup so our structure is fairly flat. However, I believe there is a need for a lot more cross-pollination between departments because of social media. A product/service problem might become a social media rant (Customer Service), might turn into a positive PR opportunity if handled properly (marketing), might lead to a much bigger sales opportunity (Top Management/Sales).
Digital Vidya: As companies try to get employees to participate in social media, what lessons should they learn as to how to go about that organizational change?
Sree: I think a lot of emphasis has to be placed on being transparent, yet professional. Departments have to be nimble in setting the agenda as well as reacting to social media. In some companies, there might be the need for a chief social media officer, who reports directly to the CEO, and mobilizes various departments to work together to take advantage of social media.
Digital Vidya: What do you see coming next for this whole space in the industry in the long run?
Sree: I think “the social media team” consisting of people from marketing, operations, product and other teams will set the agenda for several company-level initiatives.
Digital Vidya: For readers who don’t know much about your organization, how would you describe it? Why do you think it has been successful?
Sree: Our team is lean, our focus clear and we occupy a highly valuable niche – B2B content/email/newsletter marketing. This has given us a clear brand positioning and an advantage to the market place that is difficult to replicate.
Digital Vidya: What do you see coming next for your organization?
Sree: We are building the largest business audience online. We are already at 625,000 subscribers in India and growing. In time, we will extend our reach to other countries as well and become a global player in the media industry.
