LinkedIn, success story of a professional social network from business and technology perspectives

Résumé du document

LinkedIn, briefly: LinkedIn is an online professional social network based in the United States and available worldwide. The company is primarily a virtual organization (pure player) but also works on the field. It was founded in 2002 and launched six months later. It enables users that are registered to maintain a profile of them, including their résumé, skills, personality, full job history and other complementary information.

A powerful tool: It is one of the most powerful business tools that currently exist thanks to its expertise in data analytics and algorithms, and the world's largest professional network, even if it was not always like that. Indeed, the social network was considered a long time as a repository for digital résumés. Nowadays, it counts 225 million registered members who progressively build their business portfolios, which put forward their professional achievements, from job positions to publications to even PowerPoint or Pdf presentations.

The main purposes of this professional network is to communicate with or between professionals, help them staying connected with each other, see profiles of employer or employee, find a job, communicate about or promote an industry or a company for example. The website features job listings with advanced searching options, answers, news, description of companies, interest groups, network updates...that allows its members to access to insights and knowledge.

A worldwide competitive sector: The company developed itself in a worldwide competitive environment where professional online networks such as Plaxo in The United States, Viadeo in France, Xing in Germany or Jobssip in Spain are also implemented.
In terms of competition, LinkedIn also struggle against Careerbuilder, Indeed.com, Monster HotJobs as online recruiters, Taleo as talent management firm, and also traditional recruiting corporations. New firms in the recruiting industry are competing as well, such as BranchOut, which is a Facebook application for finding working positions and recruiting employees.

Extraits

[...] The professional social network is translated in 19 languages, and only 36% of its users are from the United States. People from outside the United States add more professional information, and so the website becomes more exhaustive. Members rely on the increasing range of LinkedIn applications, such as CardMunch that allows them to scan their business cards in order to add their contact details, or LinkedIn Today, which enables them to keep in touch at anytime with the current news from uncountable sources, including LinkedIn Influencers Supply chain management (SCM) The main partners of the corporation are its content providers and Equinix for the data center facilities. [...]

[...] A special promotional offer for a group of employee from the same company (depending on the size of the company) would be an interesting idea to implement. References Hempel, Jessi (July 1st, 2013). LinkedIn: How It's Changing Business (And How to Make It Work for You). Fortune International (Europe) Vol Issue 1. http://web.ebscohost.com Perez, Juan Carlos (March 25th, 2013). LinkedIn sharpens search engine feature. CIO Australia Group (13284045). p22-22. 1p. http://web.ebscohost.com Unknown Author (May 14th, 2012). Why B2b Publishers Should Fear Linkedin Part The Challenge. [...]

[...] Indeed, the social network was considered a long time as a repository for digital résumés. Nowadays, it counts 225 million registered members who progressively build their business portfolios, which put forward their professional achievements, from job positions to publications to even PowerPoint or Pdf presentations What's aimed The main purposes of this professional network is to communicate with or between professionals, help them staying connected with each other, see profiles of employer or employee, find a job, communicate about or promote an industry or a company for example. [...]

[...] An Efficient Social Network & Membership E-Business Model 1. Customers & Customers' value proposition The customer segments that targets LinkedIn are the following: Internet users Recruiters Advertisers and marketers Developers For them, the company offers 4 different customers' value proposition Manage professional identity and build professional network, thanks to the tools Profile, Profile Stats, LinkedIn Connections, Invitations and Introductions. Identify and reach the right talent Reach the target audience Ubiquitous Access to LinkedIn database content via Mobile, API's and Widgets that drive integrations and implement a business-as-a-service platform. [...]

[...] It is also the largest job support on the social network with more than 3 million jobs on it. Should LinkedIn be worried about it? In parallel, old indirect competitors such as Google, Facebook or Yahoo are getting stronger and bigger. But the main challenge of LinkedIn is currently about security and trust issues about customers' privacy: the company leaked millions of passwords recently. At this level, users want to trust and be sure that a company of this renown can handle their personal data. [...]