Cross Cultural Communication

Kartik's Web poster about cross-cultural communication is very relevant in a globalized business world. I liked the fact that the poster used a specific example to illustrate a larger point. I have read about collectivist vs individualistic cultures in text books, but it takes personal experience to know the smaller, more subtle differences that can have significant consequences. Communication literature has many examples of cultural mis-steps by corporations entering new markets. Euro-Disney is one example of poor cultural planning. While initially Disney expected to clone their success in Anaheim, in the French countryside, they soon found out that cultural differences can be financially costly.

Story Coach

The subject of Violet's Web poster is organizational culture. I was interested particularly in the the "Story Coach" diagram, because several years ago, the organization I work for attempted a culture change. As Violet points out, this is not an easy thing to accomplish. Our company spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars on promoting the new vision of the company. The consulting firm that was hired to structure the roll out, had a motivational speaker who told a story from past experience to inspire employees. I did think the story was useful and dramatic, and the company put a lot of effort into this change. After about a year however, the effort seemed to fade out as management no longer seemed to be quite as commited. Although I think it the program did make some positive changes, it was not as successful as the company had hoped.

Communication Climate

Looking at Crives's Web poster about the relationship between communication and job satisfaction reminded me of a related section in our text; job satisfaction does not necessarily translate to organizational effectiveness or success. It seems Crives was on the right track in expanding the "Current" section of his poster to look at job satisfaction and organizational culture. I think job satisfaction would have a definite impact on culture, which is bound to "seep out" to customers or other external constituents. Even a lack of communication can be seen as a manifestation of a company's culture that has far reaching implications for business relationships.

Transparency

I agree with the idea behind ZamoraDesign's Web poster, the public would definitely benefit from greater transparency in GO's and NGO's. I also thought that the challenges were well represented. NGO's get the benefit of being good corporate citizens if they are transparent, but at the same time they have to maintain some degree of confidentiality in a competitive market. Government organizations however should be obligated to be transparent, after all, they are in a position of public trust. I am not sure how it would work to have third party oversite, as Zamora pointed out, who would keep an eye on them, and more importantly, who would foot the bill?

Second Life

I enjoyed Anima's Web poster not only because it was informative, but also because it was a demonstration of the concept of virtual worlds. The idea of a second life holds a lot of promise in different spheres of activity. I can absolutely envision its usefulness in areas such as product development, modeling, and education. I also appreciated the acknowledgment of its limitations outlined in the text. One of my issues about technology was humorously illustrated by a TV ad: the camera pans over a reenactment of a 1950's auto show, and lingers over Jetson style "cars of the future." Meanwhile, the voice over asks: "Where are the cars we were promised?" I think of this ad as the server goes down at work, the Website I was looking for has been taken down, the FAQ's on a Web page don't address my question, and I loose my wireless connection at home computer - all things that have happened to me in the last 2 weeks. My point is that the promise of seamless, integrated technolgy has yet to be delivered in first, or second life. Message to tech companies: promise less, deliver more.

Interactive Frustration

I am well aware of the imperative to save money, especially during the current financial downturn, but would really appreciate some attention to customer service. I would think that when business is slow, companies would pay special attention to differentiating themselves from the competition by being attentive to customers. Apparently that is not the case. I recently received a bill for a purchase made four months ago. When I went on line to pay it, I was not able to access my account due to "Error code 205" - whatever that was. When I tried to contact the company, I became frustrated by endless voice mail options and long hold times. I finally tried to pay on-line one more time only to have the system take my credit card number, but then respond with another error message leaving me to wonder whether my card had been charged or not. Technology needs human support for good customer service.

Technically Speaking

I work for a nationwide company, that has offices in over 60 cities. We all perform almost identical functions, but we use four different platforms and at least that many software systems to accomplish related tasks. I remember the roll-out for one of these systems; managers had to drive to a far away facility to attend an elaborate presentation by the vendor and company executives. When the system went "live" a number of problems began to surface, as the system was sometimes unreliable and did not provide the level of detailed information that is often required. Use of the system was monitored by the corporate office, and I soon received a call asking why our facility was not using the system consistently. I explained the situation, and they responded by sending a team from the vendor to essentially make another sales pitch. I explained what the issues were and provided examples, only to be assured these were temporary issues. Five years later the problems are not entirely resolved, but with a long term contract in place the vendor does not have much incentive to improve. I think the corporate executives who make important purchasing decisions should solicit feed-back from staff member before making expensive, long-term decisions.

To Team or Not To Team

One defining aspect of contemporary organizations is teamwork. Whenever I hear about a team being formed, whether it is at school or at work, the first thing I listen for is wheter the teams will be self-constituted, or by assignment. Teams that emerge because members have a desire to work together can function extremely well - you can almost feel the excitement and energy of a group that's really "working" together. New ideas are generated spontaneously because everyone has a desire to contribute. Conversley, you know the group will not work well if your first thought is about how you are going to do the extra work to cover for the slacker s. Soon everyone in the group begins to feel resentful and begins to take a prioritary stance toward their "own" ideas. I think managers should take more than a passing interes in how assigned groups function, to head off any surprises for projects on a tight deadline.

Spin(ing) Out Of Control

The importance of organizational communication has grown over the years, and it is easy to see why, in and out of this election season. While political speech is often inflammatory to the point of being tuned out by many constituents, subtle strategies require more careful analysis. One humorous radio ad a few years illustrated the point by "deconstructing" celebrity infomercials. While a prototypical ad played in the background, the announcer/narrator provided an alternative interpretation for the hype; "media personality" became "has-been out of work actor" and the "miracle" product became "left over seconds from the Home Shopping Network." A careful reading of today's most common buzzwords: opportunity, choice, challenge, responsibility, to name a few, can provide surprising alternative meanings in alternate contexts.

ID In and Out

In the course of my readings on organizational identity, I noticed a theme: the idea that organizational identities emerge as a result of interaction between internal and external constituents. I agree with this perspective, but not to the degree hypothesized by organizational scholars. At the risk of taking an essentialist stance, I thought about my current work situation. Employees at my facility are anxiously awaiting news about its imminent take over by another company, while management's lack of communication has added fuel to the fire. Many customers have asked questions that employees cannot answer leading to vague speculation on the part of internal and external constituents. These "doubtful" interactions however are limited to personal contact and go unacknowledged on the facility website or external publications. By virtue of the fact the official versions of identity are more widely disseminated, I feel the effect of personal interaction is limited.

Communicating Change

Larkin and Larkins advice about communicating change (p. 331) made alot of sense to me. I thought about a customer service initiative carried out by my company several years ago. I remember the roll out was scheduled in a large hotel banquet room at the Los Angeles airport, 35 miles from where I worked. The room was crowded with about 200 other managers and employees, there to see a pesentation by a motivational speaker who was to change the "culture" of the organization. The long afternoon featured story telling (by th speaker), videos, and a give-away of trinkets with slogans. The roll out was followed by strongly encouraged participation in commitees at each facility, tasked with coming up with ways to incentivize participation. As you can tell by now, implementation was top-down, and enthusiasm was "mandatory." Soon thereafter, the company encountered legal and ethical problems that created large gaps between espoused values and vision. The message of the change initiative was undermined. About a year ago, the division news letter contained an article by the CEO that was prompted by an employee asking: "Are we still doing that?(initiative)." Although he assured everyne that "we never stopped," it was a defense that fell on deaf ears.

Same Old Change

I am an antique car buff and have serveral cars from the 1950's. The section on the dialectic of change and stability reminded me of an adevertising slogan used to promote '58 Chevy's, which had been completely redesigned from the previous year: "New All Over - All Over Again." I think the slogan captures the dialectic of change, as well as its institutionalization. Today, I rarely pay attention when I hear the words "new" or "change" because the novelty of change has worn off, and change has become an expectation. Although necessary if an organization is to have a long term future, some referents to existing systems must be maintained so that organizations do not destabilized to the point of ineffectiveness.

Conflict Management Styles

Following an emplyee "satisfaction" survey issues surfaced about percieved favoritism, and unfair promotional practices. The department manager who had an authoritarian, style that was percieved as cold and efficient, convened a "communication team" to address these issues. Employees were informed that they had been designated to participate by email, but had no input about agenda items, team structure or processes. At the first meeting we were presented with a list of agenda items such as improving the department morale, increasing motivation, and resolving any tensions that inhibit the smooth functioning of the department. The group would have 4 one hour sessions to devise solutions to these problems and plans to implement them. After the manager walked out, there was stunned silence. Needless to say, this dominant conflict management style (p. 291) was not conducive to resolving the overarching and fundamental issues we were tasked with. Because the outcome was a forgone conclusion, the group fell apart in a few weeks, as issued continued to simmer under the surface.

Group Conflict

During the course of my college education I have participated in several group project. Statistics for productive cooperation are about 50/50 in my experience. My first time was a very positive experience, with group members working well together. The other extreme took place a few years later, when we were asked to form teams to present a chapter from our textbook. I teamed up with one other person, and we had begun working on our presentation, when the instructor placed a third student in our group. Although we were unhappy about it, we were being graded as a team, therefore felt we could not complain. The fact that our work was already half done and that the new student had missed many classes did not help matters. On the day of our presentation our third team mate did not show up for class, nor did she attempt to contact us. She later claimed she had had a family emergency. My team mate and I felt used and angry at the other student, as well as the professor.

Conflict In the Workplace

The broad definition of conflict in our text covers a lot of territory: "interaction of interdependent people who perceive incompatible goals and interference from one another" (p. 275). I think line employees experience conflict primarily at the micro level, which can (or cannot) transition to a macro level through the ranks of organizational hierarchy. One mistake that high level stakeholders often make is to assume they can overcome micro level conflict by means of authority and control. Since low level members can seldom challenge authority overtly, conflict is expressed through subversion. One of the articles I am reading talks about the concept of "distancing" - doing no more than what is required to get by. I think of distancing as a form of subversion, in response to unresolved conflict.

Dissent Up - Side - Down

The expression of disagreement is an interesting topic for me to consider in vew of the fact that my facility is up for sale. I think of it as "waiting to exhale" as rumors fly, business declines and employees are look for other jobs, all the while waiting for "the announcement" that another operator will take over - talk about a rich communication environment. Management initially put on an up-beat facade, assuring everyone that another company will quickly step up. Four months, and one financial crisis later, assurances have tapered to quiet anxiety. Most employees blame upper mamnagement for souring the organizational climate for the patient referrals that are the bread and butter of the facility, as well as forcing out a number of dedicated staff members. Upper management are probably wise to direct mediated forms of dissent upward, in hopes of being transferred to other company locations, while line employees can only make their frustration known to each other. A few months ago 9x12 framed color hotographs were hung on the wall of the main corridor. As I walked by I heard one employee say to another..."its the hall of shame."

Organizational Control

Electronic monitoring is one of the insidious ways that organizations monitor employees. It used to be that checking the phone bill was one of the few ways that management could monitor employees - today however the options have increased significantly, with no end in sight. The short list at our facility is: phone bill, e-mail, closed cicuit camera, and key strokes. The other day I went to luch with a coworker, in a seldom used area of the building. On our way back, my coworker noticed a sign that said: "This entrance is monitored by closed circuit camera and voice recorder." I was suprised about the voice recording because I had thought we were in an area where we could have a confidential conversation.

Been There

The film Being There, discussed in the book, is a great example of the unintentional exercise of power. In a sense, you can look at the organization of society as a series of power relationships, where power is exercised deliberately, as well as unintentionally. The line between the two are frequently blurred for example by advertising...did your neighbor buy a Lexus for inferent status (an expression of power), or for quality? While overt power is laid out by the structure of organizations, covert power is often exercised throught chanels of communication (think grapevine). Ultimately, both influence the environment in which they operate.

Participation Paradox

Several paradoxes related to participation (p. 237/238) are present at the organization and government level. For example, the paradox of homogeneity was was evident in the findings by NASA, that the shuttle disaster was attributable in part to "group think," the idea that constructive questioning is tantemount to disloyalty to the group, and therefore silenced by peer pressure. The dialectic of exclusion-participation is also evident, and I think necessary, in all organizations. As Dr Coopman points out in her post, the Comm dept. at SJSU lists democratic participation among its values. The degree to which that plays out in the classroom depends to some extent on the professor, to some extent on the department, and to some extent on the university. Participation is usually not all or nothing but where the organization or team, fall on the scale

Getting a Handle On Power

After being promoted to a supervisory position at a former employer, I had the responsibility of managing two notoriously difficult employees who had previously been my co-workers. Initially I considered turning down the promotion but eventually decided to take on the challenge. In that situation, I had a limited amount of Reward and Legitimate power, but virtually no Coercive, Referent, or Expert power, because both employees had been with the company much longer than I had. I was able to make the situation work by focusing on the cooperative aspect of supervision, while building on the positive social relationships I had previously established. As the book points out, power is continually negotiated throughout changing relationships.