DailyPost 374
NETWORKING
Quite alien to the concept of network the IT professionals are familiar with, is supposedly the concept & business model of networking. It’s continued presence as a business parlance validates it’s worth, though no empirical studies have been conducted in this regard. As an organisational value & culture it is there to stay. The business fraternity is convinced of the fact that not only networking matters but that it matters in a big way.
Business cards are the first tool in this direction, certainly an effort to minor formalisation of an acquaintance with the seeds of networking. Taking this story a few notches further is an effort to talk about likely common contacts, which can help facilitate the first step to networking. It also helps in building some amount of trust, however nascent it might be. BNI type organisations take business to business networking to a professional level, the results of which is quite conspicuous.
At a different level, Conferences & Seminars have been created as another lethal tool in the world of networking. With conferences & conferences delivering nothing much worthwhile and yet keep on maintaining the attraction, the likely glue can only be networking . That is route the sponsorship money takes. It’s quantum is directly proportional to the potential of networking at an event. Dinner have been formally been rechristened as Networking Dinner. The ambience & the atmosphere created makes it a fertile ground for networking.
As one of the MNCs proclaims that everything is a human network. So it be. Business relations to some extent can be driven by interpersonal relations, more so if it’s proven. Networking as a professional tool, mostly in lieu of a product is certainly not a healthy trend. It can at best be a minimal value add. The product & the company at the end of the day have to speak for themselves.
Only an objective empirical research can validate or negate this tool as it is practiced today.
NETWORKING LEADING TO BUSINESS DEALS IS AGAINST BUSINESS ETHICS.
Sanjay Sahay