ASSIGNMENT 4

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Explain the role of knowledge in today’s competitive environment.
The competitive environment is really relevant for organizations to consider and there are still
innovations being made. One move ahead, other firms are still looking. For organisations, it is
necessary to consider their own style of management. It is necessary for businesses to pay attention to
the alternatives of their rivals, their manufacturers, and other future competitors. It's indeed important
to pay attention to this because other organizations will accomplish that look, which brings them
ahead of your own business. Another factor why understanding of the business landscape is crucial is
to consider the intellectual capital of rivals, their strategies and their social capital. Social capital can
be recognized as the partnerships within their community of the competitor.
2. Discuss the need for managers to use social capital in leveraging their human capital both
within and across their firm.
In the particular area, social networks are what friendship and partnerships are between each
professional within the organization or outside the organization. Professionals work together much of
the time inside the organization to complete jobs or tasks that build ties and a certain respect for them.
Most of the time, this promotes enthusiasm for the advancement of intellectual resources without the
workers themselves recognizing it. In able to preserve professionals satisfied throughout their certain
place of employment, it is crucial for organizations to keep this in mind. Professionals could not feel
satisfied in their workplace without it. It lets the business recruit and keep its professionals with
strong social capital. This would lead to stronger connections with producers, customers, etc. Overall,
the need for strong social capital inside the company is too critical to keep ahead of its rivals within
and outside the company.
Application questions & exercises
1. Select a firm for which you believe its social capital—both within the firm and among its
suppliers and customers—is vital to its competitive advantage. Support your arguments.

UBER
Since hitting what was then reported to be a $330mm valuation in 2011, just two years after
launching, everything has seemed “up and to the right” for Uber. Its valuation rose to $3.5b
by 2013 then $17b in 2014. In the last 7 months or so, the ascent has continued, reaching what
is now believed to be around $50b. For perspective, that makes Uber — again, a company
that launched in 2009 — larger than 80% of the S&P 500. Uber now operates in 230 cities in
50 countries around the world. As the economic power of this technology-driven firm grows,
there continue to be regulatory and policy skirmishes on every possible front, across cities and
towns spanning the United States, Europe and beyond.
The Economics and Statistics Administration of the U.S. Commerce Department issued a
report in June 2016 that attempts to define and map out the contours of this emerging business
sector, labeling its participants “digital matching firms.” That report defines this sector
through the four following characteristics:
 They use information technology (IT systems), typically available via web-based
platforms, such as mobile “apps” on Internet- enabled devices, to facilitate peer-to-
peer transactions.
 They rely on user-based rating systems for quality control, ensuring a level of trust
between consumers and service providers who have not previously met.
 They offer the workers who provide services via digital matching platforms flexibility
in deciding their typical working hours.
  To the extent that tools and assets are necessary to provide a service, digital matching
firms rely on the workers using their own.
The implications of the sharing economy — part of what has also been termed the “gig
economy” — have of course been hotly debated in the news media, and the research world
has been steadily weighing in with deeper analysis. One central area of argument relates to
whether the sharing economy is simply bringing more wage-earning opportunities to more
people, or whether its net effect is the displacement of traditionally secure jobs and the
creation of a land of part-time, low-paid work.
Social media and mobile technology have enabled the latest expansion of the sharing
economy and turned it into a big business: Airbnb allows individuals to share their homes,
while Lyft and Uber transform private cars into common resources. All these are for-profit
services, but they take only a fraction of the fees levied, passing the rest on to the owners: In
2013 it was estimated that revenues passing through the sharing economy into people’s
wallets exceeded $3.5 billion, up 25% from the previous year. Airbnb has exceeded 10
million guest-stays since its launch and now has more than half a million properties listed.
Meanwhile Uber has said that it is doubling its revenue every six months.
Support sources:
https://medium.com/venture-desktop/uber-the-benefit-of-building-social-capital-
9517152b6259
https://journalistsresource.org/studies/economics/business/airbnb-lyft-uber-bike-share-
sharing-economy-research-roundup/
https://jungleworks.com/uber-business-model-revenue-insights/
2. Using internet, choose a company with which you are familiar.
a. What are some of the ways in which it uses technology to leverage its human capital?
b. What are some of the policies and procedures that it uses to enhance the firm’s human
and social capital?
GOOGLE
Human capital identifies the value of individuals within a workforce. In their current positions,
individuals provide a quantifiable service creating profit for an organization. Humans also have
further potential that can be fostered to increase productivity. Investing in individuals can increase
the overall productivity of the organization if approached in the right way.
Google leverages human capital by providing employees creative time to explore their own. It’s
pretty well documented that Google has a unique culture. It’s not the typical corporate culture. In
fact, just by looking at pictures inside the Googleplex, you can see that it looks more like an adult
playground, not a place for work.
But Google’s success can be attributed to this culture. Google has people whose sole job is to
keep employees happy and maintain productivity. It may sound too controlling to some, but it’s
how this world-changing organization operates. Human resources, or People Operations, is a
science at Google. They’re always testing to find ways to optimize their people, both in terms of
happiness and performance. In fact, almost everything Google does is based off data. So it should
come as no surprise that Google uses all sorts of data to gauge employees and improve their
productivity.
Source: New York Times
https://neilpatel.com/blog/googles-culture-of-success/
https://jcsr.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40991-017-0021-0
https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/whats-the-google-approach-to-human-capital