Time? Fear? How About Lack Of Knowledge?
The last couple of days we have seen two different explanations to why a vast majority of (people within) organizations don't blog. Scoble believes it is a question of corporate fear and Debbie Weil claim that time is the main problem.
As to the "time" alternative, if correct, the underlying problem is that blogs haven't proved to be worth the hours it takes. There is always time for something that makes money, more or less direct. Blogs just have to be more promising or potentially profitable than something else the organization is doing, and - voila - there will be time. Basic business administration...
Fear? Why not? All of us are afraid or hesitates when we are going to do something we don't fully understand or have seen done before.
I would suggest that the early adopters are running too fast. We don't have enough facts to support an idea of blogging as a "mass movement" in organizations. I believe time will show the benefits of blogging, and that those starting now will have a huge advantage. But that is a belief - not a statement of known facts.
One major problem is that the companies blogging today aren't especially representative. Think about it, Microsoft and Sun. Why should a CEO or Customer Service Manager in the automotive business, the logistics business, the food and beverage business or the financial business care? They look at these the corporate blogosphere's most profiled companies and say "well, they are talking to techies, our customers wont get it".
My conclusion is that we are talking about a genuine and natural lack of knowledge. When more representative companies like Ford, Butler Sheet Metal or Northfield Construction Company are blogging, time will be available and fear will disappear.