October 25, 1999

Culture Change:
Come Together: The Idea Behind Collaboration Rooms

By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee

Culture Change:

An Alternative Culture: Reflect.com's Unique Approach Come Together: The Idea Behind Collaboration Rooms Supply-Side Economics: P&G's Ultimate Supply System The Big Picture: P&G's SourceOne Global Data Warehouse

rocter & Gamble has always relied on collaborative technology--executives say the company was one of the first to implement an enterprise E-mail system. As part of its Organization 2005 mission, P&G is counting on collaborative technology not only to help introduce and ship new products around the world faster, but to have its various product groups and their mix of multifunctional employees develop ideas for products more quickly.

That's why P&G is increasing its use of collaborative technologies such as E-mail, intranets, and desktop videoconferencing. For example, the company is replacing a hodgepodge of E-mail systems by standardizing on Lotus Notes, which was was rolled out to more than 93,000 P&G users earlier this year.

One example of how collaborative technologies are helping improve decision-making processes was the company's launch this summer of MarketingNet, an online library that lets P&G managers, marketing groups, and executives view their proposed advertising copy and videos--as well as their competitors' ads and market news--over the Internet. In the past, P&G employees would need to view videotapes that were shipped from office to office. "This is the new world of brand marketing," says CIO Todd Garrett. Not only does MarketingNet allow for quicker input from P&G's ad and marketing people, but it also helps new hires "get up to speed in learning about the company faster," he says.

Another example of how P&G is using technology to foster interaction is through "collaboration rooms," which started as a pilot last year with the company's hair-care products group. Desktop videoconferencing technology and intranet knowledge-sharing and brainstorming sessions provide a platform for virtual teams. This lets members of product teams in different locations meet electronically--the next-best thing to face-to-face meetings, says David Worth, P&G's associate director of IT in beauty care.

The result of the hair-care pilot, Worth says, was a 50% reduction in new-product concept development time, better sharing of tacit knowledge, quicker business decisions, and reduced travel expenses.

go on to the next story, "Supply-Side Economics: P&G's Ultimate Supply System ."

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