Despite being a McKinsey subscriber, I had three separate people send this report to me via email (one was my dad). By that measure it is definitely good viral marketing. The report was created from a survey of roughly 2,000 executives.

The chart that caught my attention appears below. I think it is important because it points to some deeper truths about Web 2.0 and the enterprise: (1) Web 2.0 is about more than how marketing creates new-media advertising and (2) it is having a direct impact on corporate structure. (Note: I am focused on the stats from the right-hand column, in purple, which isolate responses from satisfied Web 2.0 adopters):

The first wave of business interest in Web 2.0 came from marketing – “how do I use this stuff to reach customers?” and It is still gaining momentum there. What was relatively unexplored was how these tools could be put in service of talent management within the organization. That is why I was surprised with the second number below:

26% report that “it has changed the way we communicate with customers and suppliers”

27% report that “it has changed the way we hire and retain talent“

Given what I have seen within HR (relative ignorance of Web 2.0 and Social Media) this number was much higher than I would have expected. The other relatively unexplored area was any study of the effects that these tools (and deeper trends) would have on corporate structure. The next set of stats provides insight into how Web 2.0 is, in fact, changing corporate structure:

33% report that “it has created major new roles inside the organization”
33% report that “it has changed organizational structure”

Punchline: Web 2.0 is not just a productivity/efficiency/more-margin story. Web 2.0 is a technology revolution that will radically alter business. The impact will be “external” – how we relate to our customers, partners and stakeholders – as well as internal – how we conduct talent management – finding, hiring and retaining top talent. As businesses successfully adopt these technologies they will find themselves restructuring (team size, divisions, reporting structure etc.) and modifying how they compensate to encourage positive behavior in a 2.0 model. My guess is that innovation, participation, customer service will see a lift in compensation – as opposed to straight, traditional measures of operational efficiency or sales.