Changing Organizational Culture

I enjoyed reading Hapa's web poster and I agree with the concepts presented. The research, recent and classic, is well structured and well presented. It is true that changing culture is extremely difficult and the bigger the organization, the harder it is to change its culture. Yet, in order to become and remain competitive, organizations must reinvent themselves and sometimes this means changing the culture.
It is obvious that nobody knows exactly how to change a culture. There is not a single formula that will work each time for all organizations but I believe that it is safe to say that at a minimum a good communication strategy and patience are essential in order to successfully change culture.

Creating Transparency within an Organization

I really enjoyed reading the poster about creating transparency. The topic has been very important in the organization where I work lately. Letting people know what you are doing help create partnerships, trust and better business relationships. If you have nothing to hide then it means that you are a great person to work with. Often people do not have anything to hide but just do not know how to communicate what they are doing or do not have time to communicate. The internet, as Zamoradesign states, has played an important role. It is so much easier today to know about organizations that if an organization is trying to hide something, people will know immediately. I agree with Zamoradesign, transparency is essential and should be mandatary for every business.

An Analysis of Global Virtual Teams: Conflict & Leadership (PinkLady's web poster)

I really enjoyed reading about global virtual teams. I have had to work with many different teams around the world lately and some experiences have been better than others. As stated, misunderstandings tend to be more frequent because of the lack of visual cues. What I found helped me a lot is making sure my communication was very clear so people would not be confused about my message and my goals. The more I explained what I was trying to do the more successful the collaboration was. It is inevitable that in today's global economy people have to work virtually with team around the world. The better one person learns to be aware of the differences between virtual teamwork and physical teamwork, the more successful this person is going to be.

Cross-cultural Communication (Kartik)

Today's bay area knowledge workers come from all the over the world and many people come from India. Understanding cultural differences is indeed crucial if one wants to have productive working relationships. I have been working with people from India for many years and I slowly learned about what is appropriate and what is not, like the example given with the handshake. I am sad to know that I have made some mistakes in the process but I eventually learned thanks to the patience of many people from India who eventually became my mentors and friends.
Learning and being culturally educated seems to become more important everyday and I am not surprised to know, based the research, that people that are better cross-culture communicators are paid more.

The Effect of Gender on Verbal and Non-Verbal Communications in the Work Place

I always figured there were differences between the verbal and the non-verbal communication between males and females but I did not what these differences were. Reading this poster has helped me understand how to better communicate when I communicate with my colleagues and my manager.

For example, you wrote that Allen and Griffith’s study suggests that “female employees send less information to their supervisors than male employees”. When I think about it I see that this is true for me. I do not send as much information to my supervisor as my male colleague. Now, I can see that this can be perceived as me interacting less with my supervisor than my colleague.

This is just one example. Reading your web poster made me more aware of how my communication verbal and non-verbal can be more efficient in the work place.

Concise versus Lengthy Communication

Most teachers ask students to write concisely. The objective is to learn to say what we mean to say in fewer words.
Yet, when I observe people communicating at work, it seems that the opposite is true and better perceived. People who communicate more are the ones getting noticed and eventually promoted. It seems that someone who does excellent work but keeps a lower profile does not get noticed as much as the person always talking... intelligently or not. It is almost as if the longer a person speaks the higher the chances of that person influencing others are. This influence seems to be more based on people just wanting the speaker to stop talking and therefore agreeing with him or her than on logic or data. Why is there a contradiction between what we learn in school and the corporate world?

People who only hear what they want to

When I met my new manager six months ago for the first time I thought that it would take a little time for him to come up to speed. I now realize that it is not a matter of time. He is not willing to understand our department current processes so he wants to change them all. While I agree that some changes are necessary, others are worth keeping. When I explain him the reasons why we should keep these processes, he does not listen. He only wants me to say what he wants to hear. This attitude puts me in a difficult position. If I tell him what he wants to hear, I am not thinking about what's best for the company. If I don't, then I risk losing my job. I really like the company I work for. How does one communicate with someone who refuses to listen? Or is it me who has not found the correct way to communicate? I have tried various methods such as emails, one on one meetings or talking to his manager. It is a very difficult juggling act. My next move is to try to talk to my mentor.

Not communicating as the most effective way of communicating

One of my colleagues always wants to know about everything all the time. She wants to be copied on every email. She currently has over 6000 emails in her inbox. We go to meeting and she will ask questions about everything and interrupt everyone to give her opinion. While we all appreciate her input we feel that our meetings with her are not productive. So we all started sharing information about what she really needed to know and inviting her less to meetings. Some people just seem hungry for information yet they never "digest" it. Some people make the correct assumptions with the little amount of information provided to them. When communicating, one should always remember who she or he is talking to and remember that sometimes too much information is worse than silence.

Emotions as a communication enabler or stopper

As I continue to think about what affects my communication skills and the reasons why I am not as good of a communicator as I should be, I realize that the effectiveness of my communications is heavily based on how I feel at a particular moment. If I have plenty of energy and if my day has gone well, I make more of an effort to communicate well. However if I am tired and it's close to the end of the day, then I tend to not communicate well if at all. Along the same line, if I am in a great mood and things are going well, I will make more of an effort to be more engaged. I know what I should say and how but sometimes I just chose not to, for reasons that I nothing to do with my communication skills. I guess it is better to not do the right thing and know about it than not do the right thing and not have a clue.

As I read about each chapter and learn more about organizational communication, I realize that many of the concepts do make sense yet I wonder why they are not followed by the majority of people in organizations. People who do not have the opportunity to take this class or any communication class should still be able to use their common sense to decide what to communicate, how and to whom. Throughout the postings from the students I read about so many situations where that has not happened. We all have been in situations where someone did not communicate or did but inappropriately. And, we'll also all been in situations where we did not communicate appropriately either. When I only focus on reasons why I haven't communicated at all or well enough, I realize that it is not easy. It seems that life goes by so fast and doing the right thing all the time is almost impossible. My management expects me to get things done, deadlines are aggressive and communication is often the part I must leave out.

Communication is central to the implementation of planned change (Ch 11)

I agree with the authors that “once a change has been decided upon, it must be communicated to others”. Many times, I found out about up coming changes through the grapevine, most information was actually correct. However, each time, I was very frustrated by the silence of our managers. It did not matter who would communicate with me and how the information would circulate, what mattered to me what that someone would somehow communicate. When changes are imminent and communication does not happen, employees spend hours speculating about the details or just about whether the rumors are true or not. The lack of communication affects employee morale and eventually productivity. Awkward communication is therefore better than silence.

Box 11.1 Identifying Your Beliefs About Change (Ch 11)

I believe that change is difficult, complex but possible. People and organization do change. Based on my experience, it seems that people might agree with the goals an organization is trying to achieve but not with how the organization wants to reach these goals. In other words, employees might agree with the “what” but not the “how”. At my last company, our executive team thought that the only way back to profitability was to lay people off. While most employees agreed that we needed to get back to profitability they did not agree that the only was to lay people off. Many people thought about lowering our expenses, or cutting down on bonuses or business travel. It seems that the executive team wanted to find a short term, easy solution.

Stress versus Burnout (Ch 10)

The definition of stress on page 299 and the fact that it can be positive are interesting. I have always used the words stress and burnout interchangeably. It seem that people always complain about stress. The word is often used with a negative connotation. But I now can appreciate the difference. A few months ago, my Director, gave me a “challenge assignment”. It was an new opportunity for me that was both important and had a high level of uncertainty. I was both excited and stressed. Excited because I had been given an opportunity to show my skills and stressed because I might not be able to do what was expected of me. I can see how “stress” can be positive but I still believe that there is a fine line between stress as a positive force and stress as a negative force.

Styles of Conflict (Ch 10)

The diagram on page 290 showing various styles is very interesting. If I think about where I would position myself, I face a dilemma. For example, with my friends or socially I always place myself in the "collaborate" category. At work, in class or in more formal environment, I would place myself in the "accommodate" category but at home, I am definitely in the "compete" category. It is interesting to think about the different styles I might adopt based on situations in my life. The authors emphasize that all five styles are fine but to me they are based on specific situations. In my case, these styles are based on life “categories” not situations. I am always accommodating at work when in some situation maybe I should not be. This understanding is very consistent with what my manager wrote in my last review. He suggested that I work on becoming more assertive.

“Natural Competition” of the Market (Ch 10)

I understand how encouraging competition can benefit an organization. By trying to perform better than others, people increase their productivity and it helps the bottom line. While the short-term benefit for the company are obvious, I am not so sure about long-term benefits. A few years ago, one of my previous manager could not make up his mind about who to promote. He hesitated between me and my co-worker. So he decided to spit up our group of 6 people in two identical groups of 3 people. My co-worker managed one of the group and I managed the other. This was one of the worse decision I have seen. My co-worker and I started competing for the management of the entire group and the competition became very ugly. She, of course, never played fair. I remember about her spreading lies about me or taking credit for my ideas or always interrupting me when I was speaking at meeting to repeat exactly what I was saying. Eventually I decided to leave. My work environment has become to unhealthy for me. I was spending all my energy fighting her or defending myself. Neither one of us, nor our manager, was really thinking about what was best for the company. At the end, the company lost productivity and motivation and a great employee.

Gatekeepers and Power (Ch 9)

Five years ago, I decided that I no longer wanted to have a TV in my house. The main reason was that I realized that while people on TV did not tell me what to think, they definitely told me what to think about. This is an important distinction. I realized how information was manipulated to force me to think about certain topics. Sure, I was free to agree with X or Y, but I was not free to decided no to think about it. I know TV programs are evolving and with Tivo once has more freedom in what to think about. Yet, I don’t think we are at a point where I can completely customize the type of information I decide I want to receive.

Authority in Bureaucratic Organization (Ch 9)

Starting a new job is so fascinating for so many reasons. When I join a new team, I have a new way of looking at things. Sometimes this “new way” is encouraged, sometimes not. Questioning existing processes is often not encouraged. When I started my last job, my manager asked me to run a couple of reports once a month. I asked him who read the information and in what way the information provided helped in making decision. He could not answer. All he told me was that needed to do it because the person before me did it and that was the end of the conversation.

The "Who" of Power (Ch 9)

When I start a new job, I am usually introduced to the management within the first few days. However, the people in management are not always the one making decisions. The challenge, when starting a new job, is to find who is really in power and who decides what and when. This takes longer to find out. Once I find out where the real power resides then it becomes easier for me to do what I need to do to be successful. Then I know who I need to influence if I need a specific piece of equipment or collaboration from another team.

Defining Participation (Ch 8)

I never stopped and really thought of democratic participation at work and what it meant for me. I suppose that my definition would be something like taking into consideration everyone’s input. If I asked myself is this something that really happens in the work place? I would probably say that it depends on the level at which decisions are made. My perception is that democratic participation happens more towards the top of the organization, not in lower levels. My manager often asks for my option but has never, once, done what I suggested. So now, I only tell him what he wants to hear. Some organization promote being democratic but are not really.

The Ever Demanding Employers (Ch 8)

I agree with the statement “employees are required to participate more fully in their jobs than was true in the past”. I noticed that in my own career. When my manager hired me two years ago, he explained what was expected of me. Now, two years later, the same tasks are expected however, he slowly added more and more tasks expecting me to continue doing what I was hired for but also pick up new things along the way. It seems to me that management is never satisfied with continuation, they always try to push employees to do more. But at the end of the day, there is only so much one can do.

Situational Leadership (Ch 7)

I agree with the concepts described on page 191 in box 7.7. It is true that leaders should evaluate the situation they are in and choose a style that would work best with their audience or followers. I believe this is relatively easy to do when dealing with a few people or an homogenous group of people. However, the reality is very different. As the work environment evolves, small group of people are rarely homogenous. Groups might be composed by people from different countries, cultures, gender and age group. Some people might be new to the group while others might have worked for a specific department for many years. Therefore finding the right style for a group of people becomes more difficult.

The confusion about leadership (ch 7)

Last week, I received my review. One of the criteria my manager used to measure my performance was ‘leadership’. I thought about it and I was confused about what it really meant. My understanding on leadership was different than his. In my mind, I was not a great leader but in his I was. Reading about leadership helps me understand why we did not define leadership the same way. It seems that there is an academia definition of leadership and a business definition. As the authors state, people often tends to use interchangeably the terms “leaders” and “managers”. My manager was defining leadership as management. I was defining it more as an “influential person”. In order words, for him I was “doing things right” while I thought that I was not “doing the right thing”.

Synthetic Personalization of Communication (Ch 6)

The paragraph on page 155 is really interesting. I had never heard of the concept of “synthetic personalization of communication” or “technologizing of relational encounters”. It is true that when I emotionally connect with a representative, whoever this person is, from a company I tend to view the company in a more positive light. I would consequently go back to this company and continue to buy the product or the service. For example, it is necessary for me to connect with my hairdresser. If I do, then I’ll keep going back. Thinking about how these relationships may affect society is really scary to me. I had noticed more superficial relationship around me and I attributed the cause to the increased usage of computers. I never imagined that the cause might also come from the synthetic personalization of communication.

Personal Relationship with coworkers (Ch 6)

A few months ago, I received a chain email. It displayed a series of silly sentences intended to make me laugh. One I recall said something about only keeping in touch with people who have an email address. At first I laugh but then I stopped because I realized that it was true. I was shocked. I had been ignoring my friends who did not have an email address, I even lost touch with some of them. It really make me sad. For some strange reason picking up the phone was not really something I would thing of. In parallel, as the authors of the book state, I noticed that my social and personal relationships with coworkers were increasing (page 143). I was becoming more friends with people I worked with and less friends with people that I did not work with or people that I could not connect with via email. I tried to reverse this trend but eventually I accepted it. I guess it was easier.

Relationships and Productivity (Ch 6)

Reading about relationships and productivity on page 141 reminds me of my ex-manager. She was the perfect manager, the one you don’t even know can exist. Of all the manager’s I have had, she was the best. As an example, one day I was sick at home and she knew I was too sick to eat, so she decided to bring me lunch. She genuinely cared about me as a person and as a friend. She also showed me that my work mattered. She listened and addressed my concerns. In return I cared about her too and because of our relationship I was very productive. I worked long hours and weekends because I wanted her to look good. The nicer she was to me the more productive I was. Our relationship was a real partnership, based on trust. Unfortunately, this is very rare and only few people really understand and implement what she understood.

Struggling to be heard (Ch 5)

It is true that we encounter an enormous number of corporate messages daily through various media such as TV, radio, internet or junk mail. I understand the need for companies to be heard and to send a clear message to potential customers. However, as a customer, I often feel overwhelmed by messages and by choices. Some companies even go too far in how they send their message. I remember a specific instance where a company send me a weekly letter for me to apply to their credit card. They send me letters weekly for over a year. I finally had to reply to the company and tell them that I was considering these letters as “harassment”. They stopped sending me the letters. Finding the right message and the right amount of communication is difficult and a constant struggle for companies. Very few achieve success without over communicating.

Organizational Identification (Ch 5)

While I was an undergrad student, I worked part-time for a non-profit organization. I wanted to contribute somehow to a good cause. I cared about certain things and I defined myself by where I worked. I initially completely identified and embraced my organization’s identity. However, as time went by, I saw things that made me uneasy and heard about decisions that I was not completely agreeing with. For example, the way we functioned, like most non-profit organizations, was based on donations. As we expanded and received more donations, the need for hiring more people became obvious and as consequence we needed to find a bigger location. I agreed with the principle but I did not agree with the specific location chosen. My management decided to go with a very fancy office location that, to me, looked more like a small business than a small non-profit organization. A lot of money was spent in decoration and fancy offices. Eventually, I stopped identifying with the organizational identity and left to find another place to work.

Building a Strong Individual-Organization Relationship (Ch 4)

I found the concepts presented in box page 101 very interesting. I can relate to the first stages listed. When I joined my last company, my interviewers painted a great realistic image of the environment. My “entry” was successful and so was my “learning” stage. I was able to quickly find my role in the company. In the “negotiation” stage, my manager gave me excellent feedback on my performance however things started heading in the wrong direction when I reached the “mutuality” stage. By that point I had another manager who did not quite see things the same way I did. The opportunities presented to me did not allow me to continue my growth. I think that is a difficult phase to be in for both companies and employees. Economic downturns and company difficulties do not allow for managers to focus on employees growth, during these times most managers focus on getting work done and survival.

What makes a group distinct? (Ch 4)

When I moved to California and the Bay Area I was fascinated by the Bay Area people. I was able to distinguish how people are different here than anywhere else. I thought that people dressed with more casual and comfortable clothes and that was also reflected in the way in their thinking. People seems to be less judgmental than what I was used to. Most people I first met were very friendly and welcoming. Nothing seemed to be a big deal and every situation could be worked out. I also noticed that people seemed to be open and curious towards other cultures and therefore more accepting. A lot of people cared about the environment and just being healthy. The outdoor activities were and still are very popular. So, I agree with the authors, dress codes, hobbies, world views are all elements that define a culture.

Taking Communication for Granted (Ch 4)

I have always been working for high tech companies. So, it is difficult for me to detach myself enough to analyze the environment in which I am working. However, when I invite a friend to visit me at work I always manage to get a glimpse of my environment though their eyes. Their comments and the things they notice are very interesting to me and clearly reveal what I have been taking for granted. For example, a few months ago, one of my friend who is a lawyer visited my office and what surprise to see all the electronics I had in my office such as a large monitor, a couple of laptops and a printer and the lack of books. I realize then that these objects are considered “normal” objects in a high tech environment in law firm offices.

Other thoughts about the research project (#2)

I have witnessed, like most people working, many organizational changes in my career. Some examples of changes are layoffs, management changes and the cancellation of projects I had been managing. Many times, the way my management communicated to me about these changes made me feel very uncomfortable, surprised and disappointed. Most of the time, these major changes were communicated over short emails or 5-minute conversation. Either way, I rarely had the opportunity to bring up questions or concerns. In addition, as soon as the change was communicated, my managers would consider the topic taboo. So it was clear that I should not bring it up anymore. I'd like to do more research on this topic and learn about the best way to communicate negative changes or bad news. I am sure I will be faced with this situation in my career and I'd like to handle it the best possible way.

Thoughts about the research project (#1)

One topic that stands out more than others is "intercultural communication" and "globalization". Since I moved to the Bay Area in 1994, I have been exposed to multiple cultures, first at school and then at work. One time during class, I remember my Finance professor listing the different countries represented in the classroom and finding out that there were 39 countries represented among 43 students. That moment was an eye opening moment for me and I realized what the word "global" really meant. Today, the trend continues and I work with people from many different countries and many different cultures. I'd like to better understand how my communication style impacts various culture and how I should adapt or change the way I communicate when addressing people from various culture. 

Data Gathering (Ch 15)

As the authors discussed, there are several ways people can gather data. I would like to add one thing, specifically in the case of surveys or interviews. In order to get valid, accurate and complete data, the person taking the survey or being interviewed must be willing to share information. In my career I have noticed, too often I'm afraid, that data gathering is a way for upper management to say "we care about what you think" but in reality they don't. Most of the times, I never heard anything about the surveys, the actions taken or lesson that were learned. It was as if the survey never happened. So slowly these exercises became worthless and as a consequences the employees less willing to provide accurate and complete data when going through a survey or being interviewed. 

Key messages and world views (Ch 15)

The authors asked the question of how many messages that shaped my worldview can I isolate or remember. These last few years, the media has been sending repetitive messages about the environment, informing people about global warming, future gas shortage, endangered species and so on. These messages have changed the way I view the world and the way I live. I recycle as much as I can and I use public transportation as often as possible. I turn off lights, changed all the bulbs in my house and walk more to the grocery stores. One message that does stand out is the message from the movie "an inconvenience truth" by Al Gore. The move gave specific recommendations on what to do to minimize our impact on the environment. The movie also open my eyes on the gravity of the issue.

Inconsistent messages (Ch 15)

The authors emphasize how important it is to not focus on one single message when trying to understand organization communication. It is true that we all get exposed to multiple messages and it is almost up to us to figure out what the real message is. I noticed however that the higher the number of messages the more inconsistent the messages are. Inconsistent messages make it more difficult for the recipient to "decode" and understand that is really being communicated. For example, I receive many messages from my direct manager and more often than not his messages are not consistent or aligned with the messages I receive from his management. As the recipient of both messages, it is not easy to figure out what I should really do. One specific situations occurred not long ago when my direct manager wanted me to focus on a specific projects and gave me a deadline and his management sent a memo asking us (me included) to work on project that would allow a specific team to be "more scalable". In other words, my direct manager wanted me to be reactive and his management wanted me to be proactive. When I asked for clarification, I received a very vague answer.

Information Acquisition and Information Use (Ch 3)

It seems to me that each manager usually wants to see a specific set of data in one or several reports. The data might be useful at first but then the business evolves and and the data provided does not always. Slowly the information looses its "informational usefulness". I agree with the authors when they point out that in some situations "processing information" does not automatically contribute to decisions. When the manager moves on, often the type of information requested still has to be provided to the new manager. But the new manager will also want a different set of data in addition to what was originally provided. Employees can end up wasting hours working on reports that are at best glanced at.

Efficiency for who? (Ch 3)

The authors make an interesting point about what is considered "efficient". On page 48, they talk about visits to the doctor. Let's take a look at what it means to go to the doctor today in the US, other countries have different processes. From the patient perspective, going to the doctor is not efficient at all: first, the patient has to sign in, pay for the visit and wait. Wait varies from a few minutes to one hour. If it is the first time the patient is seeing a particular doctor then paperwork has to be completed. Then the patient has to tell the nurse the reason for the visit and wait again. And again wait varies, I have been in situation where I seriously wondered if I had been forgotten. Then the doctor's visit can start, and of course the doctor asks the reason for the visit. This is a very inefficient process with a lot of wasted time and redundancy. From the doctor's perspective, of course, the process is very efficient. But isn't this process upside down? Here the patient is sick so why society has built a process to make it even worse for the patient? It should be the other way around.

How structure can damper enthusiasm (Ch 2)

I completely agree with this statement as I experienced it first hand when I worked at my previous job. When I started I was very eager to contribute to the company's success. I had just finished college and I had just gotten hired by a corporation, making more money than I did before. My motivation and dedication was very high. Then I learned about their structure and my enthusiasm started to diminish. The structure was very rigid and there was little room for creativity. It was almost as if the structure was specifically designed to repress any motivation people might have had. I still stayed 6 years but eventually I had to leave because I thought that in the end I was not a good fit for the organization and vice versa.

Why Bad News Has Trouble Going Up the Ladder (Ch 2)

I really relate to the article on why bad news has trouble going up the ladder. When I first started working for a corporation, my manager told me "perception is everything". In order words, it did not matter how hard I worked if people had the impression that I did not work. If I wanted to be successful, I would have to carefully think about how to manage my image and reputation. For example, coming to work before my manager would automatically contribute to "positive" perception even if I did not really do any work the rest of the day. Coming early was what counted. So I am not surprised that bad news have trouble going up the ladder because they give the wrong impression, that maybe the manager in charge is not performing well. In a way, I understand that we all have perceptions right or wrong, but at the same time, it really saddens me to see that often people do not take the time and make the effort to really look at a situation, face the problems and have open and honest conversations. In the end, it would be better for the company.

Enabling and Constraining Structures (Ch 2)

I had always been either enabled or constrained by the structure of where I worked at. I really never stopped to thing about it. In my previous job, the structure was very much rigid, traditional and constraining. I did not immediately realized that when I was hired but slowly I became aware that the extension of the creative and flexibility of what I was asked to to was extremely limited. In other words, the people I worked with had a specific way of doing things and even if I came up with a better way, it did not matter because it was how the people had been working for years. Eventually the company had to be sold, it was having a lot of financial difficulties and I moved on to a less structured organization where initiatives, critical thinking and creativity was more encouraged.

Communication Technology enabling or constraining the Organization? (Ch 12)

The authors bring an interesting point when they talk about communication technology and how it is both enabling and constraining at the same time. The focus from the authors is on web sites and the Internet, but the same can be said about phone trees. I am sure many people have experienced frustration when trying to reach a representative from a company by phone. People have to go through so many steps that something I wonder if the objective is to convince people to hung up. Obviously, as the authors state, the same can be said about FAQ. A few months ago I wanted to contact Yahoo customer service and could not find the link to send them an email. I eventually did but it is interesting to think how technology has both allowed and limited communication at the same time.

Failing Communication Technologies (Ch 12)

As a system analyst, I see this all the time. The systems I work with (internal systems) often are designed to do too much. As the authors point out on page 361, managers are always trying to add one more feature to an existing systems. The problem is every manager wants to add his or her flavor to the system. Then, these managers leave the company and other users have to leave with a system that they do not often understand and as they should they will try to change it too. After years of development, systems do not have any solid and logical structure, they have just evolved in some kind of inefficient system that does half, if it is a good system, of what the users expect.

What does "relentlessly connected" really mean? (Ch 12)

The Carnegie Mellon study reveals some interesting facts, on one hand Internet users feel "more connected with family, friends and colleagues" and on the other end Internet users feel "relentlessly connected". 

It might have been interesting to get a break down of these results. For example, I am very happy about the fact that I am connected to my family and friends. It is great to be able to video chat for hours and catch up with my cousins who live in different countries. However, I do not want to be connected to my colleagues more than I am today and I think that's where the element of stress might come in. My manager sends me email anytime of day and night, my colleagues see me on instant message and start talking to me about a work issue when I am on my "own" time. I know there are ways to make myself available only when I want to and to certain people only but my point is work hours are no longer "office hours" so it is easy to end up working 12 hours per day which would stress anyone. Rules about "being connected to work" should be better defined.

Interpreting the Effects of Organizational Communication Technologies (Ch 12)

One concept presented in chapter 12 caught my attention, the concept that "electronic media filter out nonverbal cues". While it is true that a written message would never convey emotions as well as a face to face interactions would, I still think that people have found a way to convey emotions nevertheless to a certain degree. For example, when I chat with my friends I use a lot of emoticons to express my emotions. If I am very surprised (WOW), happy (YEAH) or angry (!) I might use capital letters with appropriate punctuation. It seems that most people pick on these nonverbal cues and are able to deduct my mood. When I type an email it is more difficult to write down my emotions, not because I cannot insert emoticons, but because by the time the recipient reads the email, my mood might have changed so the email would have a the same tone as let's say a regular letter. 

Features of Communication Technologies (Ch 12)

I agree with the authors when they say that 'our notion of time' has changed but our notion of time is not the only one that has changed. Our expectations have also changed with time. Years ago if I contacted a business partner, let's say by fax I did not expect a response within the same day but now when I use email, even though I do not expect an instant response I do expect an answer within hours. Because people can now communicate so easily, there are more expectation on faster response time. While technology has certainly made communication easier, it has not provide a way to deal with increase quantity of communication. I can easily respond to one email but I cannot easily respond to 200 emails.

Ethics as an Issue for Organizations (Ch 14)

I agree with the authors when they state that "the nature of corporate legitimacy has changed dramatically in the past three decades". I have noticed a bigger focus on ethical organization behavior lately especially when it comes to the environment. Whether it is purely a PR campaign or a real concern about their impact on the environment, it seems that every company is trying to say 'look at what I am doing for the environment'. Customers with the same concerns might be more inclined to buy from an environmentally and socially responsible companies than from a company who's objective is purely to make a profit.

Coming to Terms with Ethics (Ch 14)

About a month ago, the company where I work (I will purposely not mention the name) gave all the employee a mini online training on "ethics". The whole exercise lasted approximately one hour. It consisted of five major parts on how to do business, treat customers and things you can do an not do. Each part has a "theory" section and a "question" section. Grades were not recorded, the only that was recorded is that you completed the training by the deadline. Basically the company was interested in exposing employees to ethical concepts. 

Before I took the training I did not think of it much, it was just one more thing to do but once I took it, it really helped clarify what was acceptable to do and what was not. Most of the time, common sense can be used but many other time, knowledge has to be used. One thing I learned is that we could call a number to ask about ethical behavior if we were in doubt. 

This training changed my behavior and made me realize that sometimes not knowing does not always mean that a person has no ethics.

Critics of Globalization (Ch 13)

One other interesting idea in Chapter 13 is about globalization being a "threat to communities and the environment". Also that global organizations are "undemocratic and detrimental to both local communities and the local environment". It would have been very interesting to evaluate the criteria the people who criticized globalization used. Aren't most business detrimental to either local communities or the environment also? I would imagine that whether global or local usually the goal of a business is to increase the wealth for the owner(s). So global businesses are no different than local businesses, the only difference lays in the fact that they are bigger.

Also, corporations do have a lot of power and certainly have influenced local businesses but ultimately it is the customer that makes a business successful or not. As long as people will continue to buy burgers, it will mean that there is a "need" for burgers. I remember reading an article about McDonald's being bombed, one way a group of French people decided to fight globalism. What perplexed me is that if everyone was agreeing with this group of French people, there would have been no need to bomb the place. People should just have stopped going there. If the location was not profitable, McDonald's would have left. My point is that it seems that the people that fight globalism are trying to impose their ideas on the majority of people that enjoy and benefit from globalism. 

 

Forces of Convergence (Ch 13)

The paragraph about "US cultural imperialism' and how the French complain that US exported culture received more instant recognition than do ideas or images from Paris is very interesting to me.

I travel to France on a regular basis and during my most recent trips I noticed just this fact: US culture was everywhere. This shocked me. Every store I entered played US music. All the movie theaters I walked by played US movies. The news were all about what was happening in the US. The US culture was definitely dominant. I wondered if this was good or bad. I came to the conclusion that this was probably both good and bad. Good because it exposed the French people to something different and bad because the French culture was not as dominant, at least in the media.  

Confronting and Defining Globalization (Ch 13)

I completely agree with the authors when they state that one factor that contributed to globalization is of course the use of communication technologies (mainly computers and internet). But as the authors also states, many people, the not so 'well-off members of the global society' do not have access to these technologies. Some of these people might not even be aware of that fact. The disconnection is a scary thought when I think of all the implications this has for people who do not have access to communication technologies. What does this really mean for them and their future and the future of their children? Does this mean that for these people 'catching up is and will be more and more difficult if not impossible? It certainly seems that way. And if one group does not 'catch up' what does this mean for everyone else?

Popular Prescriptions

The first chapter also makes an interesting point about 'popular prescriptions' and how organizations jump on a 'bandwagon'. This is also true within an organization. I have noticed that if one department starts using a new tool, all the other department start using it too regardless of whether it makes sense or not. Do the people making the decision to use such tools feel that they must adopt other people's ways? Maybe they believe that if they don't, it would somehow reflect badly on them when in reality determining which tools are more appropriate for their department should be the right approach.

This first chapter offers a fascinating context for this class and allowed me to think and observe changes around me. The concept of 'making the invisible visible' and reflecting on how I have been taking all the tools I use daily for granted caught my attention. I have been using the internet for 15 years. It is such an important part of my life that I do not know how I functioned before. The internet does become 'visible' when I do not have access to it. When that happens I reflect on all the 'technology tools' I have at my disposal to function in this world. The list is long and at then end I wonder if my life is better for that or not. 

My First Blog

The pressure of blogging has been getting stronger and stronger. Friends want to know what I have been up to without necessarily receiving emails or giving calls. Not sure how I feel about that. 

So here I am starting my own blog... let's see where this goes.