Intercultural Communication

I never thought much about how doing business in different countries depended not only on understanding their language, but also their culture. Originally, my thinking was that the problem with communicating with someone from a different country would be the difference in our language. This project really opened my eyes to what all needs to be taken into consideration when dealing with foreigners. Some of the problems that one might face is that in some countries it is impolite for them to disagree with you. You may make a presentation and think everyone is in agreement because they are shaking their heads up and down. However, in some cultures this just means that they understand, not that they agree with what you are saying. It is also important to know what time companies typically conduct business and if you should or shouldn't present a gift. Should you introduce yourself or should you wait for someone else do the introductions? Where do you sit when you come to the table for a meeting? Do you shake someones hand or not? What should you wear? Do you make small talk or get down to business? All these questions were answered with the panel in class. I found it very interesting that in the United Arab Emirates you do not give as gifts, statues or stuffed animals such as dogs. In India, people stand when a person of authority enters the room. In Germany, business meetings are very organized and matter of fact. They are there to get the job done. In South Korea, you can't even do business unless someone else has introduced you. You just can't walk into a company and speak to someone. In Japan, you cannot be offended if no one asks a question. To them this would be rude to interrupt. Then you have France, where you may get into a heated discussion, which is acceptable. Every country has their do's and don'ts so before you visit one or even when speaking with foreign students here in the U.S.A. you need to know what to do so you are not offensive.

Personal Experience

While doing the group projects, I had the opportunity to interact with students from different countries. I saw how they tried to please us and how polite and considerate they are. They didn't start the discussion, but would add to it and help develop the project. At times it was difficult to understand a couple of the students. I found myself really straining to try and listen to what they were saying. I am sure they were doing the same with me. Now after doing the project in class, I feel I am better able to communicate with the students and I now understand some things I can do on my part to help.

References

Here are a few web sites to visit:

http://www.immi.se/intercultural/

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles-intercultural.html

http://www.stephweb.com/capstone/

Consulting Case

In the consulting case, we saw how knowing your constituents can help you determine how to communicate and what channel to use. If the company you work for wants to provide information to its employees, you must determine the best way to deliver that information. You need to determine if a meeting, an email, a web site or a newsletter would be the best way to deliver the message. You would need to know how many people you need to speak to and if your employees are older or younger, also their educational backgrounds would be helpful. For an older employee you may not want to use computer technology because this may not be the best source. You may also need to use many sources. When you look at the message, you also need to determine how to structure it and what approach to use. You must take into account the constituencies, communication, channel, structure, and approach when you send your message.


Personal Experience
I am a Girl Scout leader for a Brownie troop in my area. I need to communicate with the parents of these kids after every meeting. I was finding that the parents would come in, get their children so they could get home or to their next destination. They didn't have time to wait for me to talk with them after the meeting. I needed to let these parents know what we did at brownies and what else was going to be happening. They needed to know fund raising information and field trip information. One year I created a newsletter that I sent home with the children after the meeting. I was still finding out that some of the kids would leave the newsletter in their neighbors car or it would get stuck in their back pack and Mom and Dad never saw it. The following year I continued to send the newsletter home with the kids, however, I also emailed them the newsletter with any other information I wanted them to be aware of. This seemed to work well. Those without email addresses, I would then call and make sure they had the information. I only had to call maybe 1 or 2 children. The internet was the best channel for me to use. It was fast since I only needed to type up the information once and send it to about 14 parents all at the same time. If I would have had to call all the parents after or before every meeting it would have taken me a great deal of time. By emailing this information, the parents all received it on a timely manner and they had a hard copy to look back to if necessary.

References
Here is a web site concerning different types of business communication methods

http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/features/commopts/comopt02.htm http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/absence_communication/

Here is a site for communication structure:

http://cnx.org/content/m0002/latest/

Corporate Communication Relevance

The relevance of communication keeps growing and growing. If you can't communicate with another person than you are lost. How does someone know what you expect of them or if you are pleased with them or not if you cannot communicate appropriately? There are many different forms of communication that I had the experience to use during this class and were able to determine the relevance of each:

An on-line class Having the opportunity to do the class whenever I wanted to was very convenient. Answering questions, and not having to sit in class to submit the answers but sending them over Web CT was a new experience. It saved me a trip to school.

Chat Room When we did the chat room that was the first experience I ever had with talking to someone on line at the same time. I have emailed people and gotten their responses, but by actually sending a message and them getting back to me at the same time was a new experience. I did find it difficult to use this method with more than one person. I didn't know how long it would take to type my answer and then someone else would think I wasn't responding so they would type. It did get confusing until we all got onto the same page. It was still frustrating for me to wait for a response. I much rather call and speak to someone directly or on conference call than to use a Chat room. However, I can see where younger people would really enjoy using this form of communication. Possibly if I got more comfortable with it, I would not mind using it in business.

"30 Seconds of Fame" This is an interesting concept. What can you get across to someone in a short period of time so they want to contact you or your company again? I can see this being very useful for everyone. With today's busy schedules, people may only have the time they are walking from their car to the building to discuss a concept. Learning how to get someones attention and get your point across is very challenging to do in a few seconds.

Power Point Presentation When the 21st Century Trends were presented on power point this was a great way to communicate to the class. The different ways you can create the power points to keep your audience interested was also useful and fun to watch. I know I had no idea what power point was capable of producing until watching the other presentations in class.

Blog Getting on line to produce this blog was also a learning experience and throughout the course I can see how helpful blogs and the internet can be in the communication process. In the book, Mistaken Identity, the sister kept a blog so family and friends could check on "Laura's" progress throughout her recovery. This was quite easier for the family to keep everyone who was interested in Laura's progress up to date.

All the above methods are helpful in communicating. If you can't get your point across to your constituents than you won't be successful. If you don't communicate with others, there is no way for them to know what your expectations or dreams are and there is no way that those expectations and dreams can be met.

Most companies may think that if they can communicate with their employees that is sufficient, however, a company needs to know if they are successful with communicating with other companies, vendors and customers.

Personal Experience
The company I am employed by is very small. There are currently 15 employees within the company. At one time there were only 6 of us and at one time there were about 23 of us. One may think that in a company so small that communication would not be an issue. WRONG!! Within the company there are 5 different manufacturing departments (Machining, Grinding, Wire, RAM, & Inspection). When an order is received, the part may need to go to each department, or it may only need to go to one, two, or three of the departments. This is where communication is so important within the company. If the wire department doesn't know that the part needs to go to grinding when they are done with it, it could be shipped without all the work being completed. Therefore, we created what we call "Travelers" that are attached to each blue print that we receive. On the traveler, each department that needs to do work on the part is listed. It is also listed in the order it should be completed. This has helped the flow of communication significantly within the company. At one time the travelers did not exist. Of course at that time, we didn't have as many departments as we currently have, however, as the company grew, we saw the need to make sure everyone that had their hand on the part knew what was to be done to it before it left the company.

References
http://www.relevantcommunications.com/
http://www.it-director.com/enterprise/content.php?cid=10030
http://www.feld.com/blog/archives/2005/02/signs_of_increa.html

Crisis Communication

We saw how crisis communication can effect companies thru the case study on Coco Cola and also how Tylenol handled the cyanide incident. It is quite important how a company communicates with the public when a crisis occurs. A crisis can be human induced like the Tylenol incident or a natural disaster as many businesses experienced on September 11, 2001. In either incident companies need to have some kind of plan. They need to know who will be the spokes person and what steps they will need to take to keep the reputation of the company intact. Tylenol did an excellent job of keeping their reputation. They knew they needed to pull all the Tylenol off the shelves to make consumers aware that they cared what was happening and that they were going to do whatever it took to ensure that their product could not be tampered with in the future. Their efforts proved highly successful. A company needs to own up to its errors. They need to be straight forward with the public and let everyone know what is going on. If they don't have an answer they need to say that.

Personal Experience

Companies are not the only ones that need to consider communication in a crisis. When the attacks came on 9/11 the world watched New York. We saw how the first plane hit one of World Trade Center towers and then we watched while a second plane came in and hit the second tower. The world was watching this while the people in those towers didn't know what was going on. The emergency crews that entered the building couldn't communicate with each other. Some of the emergency workers were in the second tower and did not know a plane had it the building. It seemed as though people watching television knew more about what was going on, than the emergency workers that were on the scene. Hopefully, we have all learned from this situation and emergency personnel have made sure that they are able to communicate between each other so if there is another situation that arises, we are better able to communicate with each other.

References
Here is a web site to get you started on a Crisis Communication plan:
http://www3.niu.edu/newsplace/crisis.html

Here are a couple more links on Crisis Communication:
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/pressoffice/crisis.htm
http://www.e911.com/monos/A001.html

This is an example of a University's Crisis Communication plan:

http://www.wku.edu/ur/crisis.html

Consensus

The importance of team work and working toward a consensus is very important in the work place. Off hand it really doesn't seem like a difficult task. However, when we did the activity in class it was really amazing to see how different our ideas were when we got together as a group. We had a couple people that just seemed to think they were right and we found ourselves wanting to negotiate instead of coming to a consensus on the issues. It is so important for you to listen to everyone and receive all the input before making a decision. Also on the other side of the coin, everyone needs to vocalize their reasoning as to why they think their decision is the best. If someone just tells you they want the decision to be made this way and they don't have any information to back up their decision, it is hard to be persuaded to do so even if that would be the better choice.


Personal Experience
In my every day life I see how my husband and I come to a consensus on different issues with our children all the time. My oldest daughter wanted to go to a friends (Andrew) house. There would be a couple other classmates there who my husband and I did not approve of. We also did not approve of Andrew and did not trust him. After my husband and I talked it over we came to a consensus that we would let our daughter go to Andrew's home. We were both hoping that if there was anything going on at Andrew's that we did not approve of, our daughter would call us to come pick her up. We told her she could go to his house and that we wanted her to remember what we expected of her and also reminded her about how her own decisions could affect her. We expected her to call us if there was anything going on that was inappropriate or she was uncomfortable with. We would not ask questions. This conversation happened about a month and a half ago. She has yet to go to this boys house. She decided on her own that she didn't want to go. My husband had wanted to just tell her "no", absolutely not. I really wasn't sure how to handle it. We are both glad we listened to each other and our daughter made the right choice.


References

Here is a site that may help you better understand "consensus":

http://www.ic.org/nica/Process/Consensusbasics.htm

http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/consens.htm

http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/consensus_building/

Internal Communications

Watching the video "Tactical to Strategic Communication" showed the difference in how communication is perceived in the work place at this time. At one time companies didn't put a lot of value in communication. Now companies are starting to realize how much communication influences their work place. It was suggested to do a time study to see how much time was devoted to doing certain tasks. In most cases you'll find that companies spend more time on writing and rewriting memos than people reading them. Internal communications is an essential role in today's workplace. In the video a company that was merging was able to use the internet to help with it's internal communications. They knew a lot of questions would be asked, so the company created a site to allow employees to post their questions. The questions were answered within a few days and anyone logging onto the site could read the questions and answers. This helped to keep everyone informed about the merger. It was so well received that after the merger took place the company kept the site to help with communications.


Personal Experience
The internal communication where I work is very poor. How do you change it when it starts at the top? We have three students on co-op in our company. Recently, we had a light week so in order to give these students their hours, the owner asked them to help clean the machines and the registers in the building. Needless to say, the registers were not cleaned to the owners satisfaction. Instead of taking the co-op students and showing them what he expected, he thought if you cleaned them himself in front of the students they would get the message. He was not happy with their work, but I am quite confident that seeing him clean the registers made no difference to these kids. I am positive he did not get his message across to them.

Here is another example of failed internal communication:
Months ago two employees (Joe and Bob) were put in charge of hiring another grinder. They were told not to hire from a specific tool and die company in the area. On Tuesday a fellow came in the back doors of the company. We saw him speaking to the Joe & Bob. On Thursday this person showed up again. Joe called the owner's wife to his room and told her he needed the paper work for this new employee. She was put on the spot, she had not been told that someone had been hired, the paper work that needed to be completed had to be put together. She asked if they provided the new employee with a policy manual, the answer was "No". She asked what we were going to pay this employee. They didn't know that either. She asked if the benefits were explained to the new employee. This hadn't been done either. There was a lot of missed communication between Joe & Bob, the new employee and the owners. She also asked the new employee where he had been employed. The answer was, the tool and die company that Joe and Bob were told not to hire from! Joe and Bob said the new hire quit at that company on Tuesday so therefore, he was unemployed! I know that the message not to hire from that specific company did not get communicated properly to Joe and Bob.

References

Here are some interesting links on internal communication:

http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/org_cmm.htm

http://www.movabletype.com/solutions/intranets.html

http://psbpr.com/page/Advance-Engagement.jsp?gclid=CMHt0ajV9JICFQGsGgod8Bpv4Q

Media Relations

It is very important to have contacts with the media. Michele Fryling came into our class and spoke about the importance of having one person speak to the media and the importance of one person being the contact for all communications in the organization. There are times when another person may need to speak, however for the most part an organization needs to have someone that knows they are in charge of the communication. This way everyone in the organization knows who that person is. All communication can be routed to this person. This also gives the organization a chance to form a relationship with the media. The media always knows who to talk to and the organization always has a contact in the media if it's necessary to get some information out to the public. This is beneficial both to the organization and also to the media, they both can help each other. Michele mentioned that when the paper needs someone to speak to concerning a certain subject, they contact her for suggestions and names. In this way Michele can control what is put into the paper and the kind of attention IUP can receive from this person. By acquiring a relationship with the media this can be a huge asset to a company.

We also saw how the media can affect a company thru the Coors Case. Breaking down the case and seeing how Coors handled the media to benefit the company was very interesting. This situation with Coors could have gone either way. The attention Coors was going to receive thru 60 Minutes could help or hurt them according to how they handled the situation. By doing their homework and grooming the Coors brothers, they were successful. Part of their success was determining the right spokespeople to be interviewed, which was the Coors brothers. This case showed how important the media are. By the end of the segment, most people thought David Sickler had a vendetta against Coors.

Personal Experience

My husband is a police officer in our area, because of his job he has met many news and media personalities and has developed a relationship with them. A few years ago my husband's grandfather lost his home to a fire. The news reporters kept making inquiries, after my husband approached them and mentioned that this was his grandfather's home, the media left the family alone. My husband's grandfather lost his home, thank goodness he didn't lose his life in the fire. This incident showed how having a relationship with the media kept the incident more private. The media respected our wishes and gave us our privacy.


References

Here's a link that can help you get the media's attention
http://www.aboutpublicrelations.net/ucdavid1.htm
http://www.mediarelationsblog.com/
http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/howto/courses/howtomedia.html

Here is a site that can help you develop media relations:
http://aboutpublicrelations.net/mediarel.htm

21st Century Communication Trends

There are five trends that Stephen P. Borgatti identifies. There are both positive and negative effects the trends have on businesses. Looking at the organizational trends; globalization, diversity, flexibility, flat, and networked, they all have different qualities that can be brought into a company.



When a company has chosen to go global, the choice of the company to have diversity among it's employees can benefit the organization. As technology has developed, it has become easier for companies to become global. More companies are 24/7 with the help of technology. At one time a company may have thought they would just provide merchandise, or services to the U.S.A. However, with the technology that we have, and as it continues to advance, it is more likely that companies that once thought U.S.A. were going to be there customers are finding out that they can provide merchandise and services around the world.

Since more companies have become global it just makes sense for them also to become more diversified. Diversity not only pertains to people from different countries, but also people who have different religious beliefs, different sexes and differences individually. It is important for a global company to make sure they have ideas from all over the world, from different cultures, and people with different values. These employees can bring different ideas to projects, therefore, coming up with better products or solutions.

As organizations continue to grow and develop, it is becoming more important for them to be flexible. As the new generation enters the work force these students have been exposed to technology all their lives. They have grown up with instant messaging, ipods, the internet and cell phones. Companies are going to have to become more flexible with how employees want to schedule their work hours, letting employees work from home if possible, providing different opportunities to these employees that we haven't seen before. After listening to Jay Conger in a Wall Street Journal interview it is more apparent how companies are going to have to be flexible in order to recruit and retain employees in the future.

With companies being networked, it is a possibility for companies to feed off of each other. Instead of being competitors, the companies form an alliance to help each other. In this way, they can provide services for more companies. They are similar to a puzzle, by working together they can create a bigger picture.

You will probably see more and more flat trends in organizations. Giving decision making power to more employees. Instead of having to go thru a lengthy chain of command to receive an answer, an employee may be able to make that decision or they may need to go to one person. There are fewer managers or bosses to report to. This in turn may make employees feel more responsible for their work, possibly giving them more pride in their work.

Personal Experiences
Working with the on-line recruitment project has provided me with the opportunity to work in a diverse setting. With so many students in the class being from foreign countries, it's interesting to hear their points of view. While working on the on-line assignment we were able to have the opportunity to use a chat room. This was my first experience with this technology. It gave me an opportunity to see how I can use this to communicate back and forth with someone with out having to wait for email etc...

I am very fortunate to work for a company that does believe in flexibility. When I started working for this company, my hours were 7:00-4:00. With the industry I work in, there were many times I would be at work until 6:00 p.m. to get parts shipped out the door. I would also drop parts off on my way home at other businesses or take packages to UPS or FedEx. When my oldest daughter started school, I wanted either myself or my husband to put her on and off the bus. My husband works shifts, so depending on what my husband worked, this determined how I worked. One of us is always there to put the kids on the bus and one is always there to get them off the bus. As the years have gone by, I have managed to cut back on my hours. In the summer, I now work 6:00-1:00p.m. Monday-Thursday with Friday's off so I can spend extra time with my children. The company knows that if there is work that needs done, I will stay late when necessary to get it completed. Since I decided to go back to school, I let them know how I want to work to accommodate my class schedule. They have been very flexible, not only with me, but also with others. I work with a lot of fellows that like to hunt, so when the season is in, they work different schedules so they can hunt for awhile, come in a little later, get the work done. Some of the employees even come in to check on machines late in the evening to make sure they are running. What the company expects is that the lead employees know how everyone is working so the jobs get done.

I have also experienced networking in our company. I work for a tool and die company. There are many companies in the Alle-Kiski Valley that are leaders in this field of industry. The companies feed off of each other. Our company specializes in wire-cutting, however, we do provide machining, heat treating, and grinding services. Other companies in the area provide the same services, however, when a company gets over loaded with work, instead of turning it down, we help each other out. One company will contact another and see if they can fit the job into their schedule. This way the work stays in the Valley and keeps everyone working.

References
Following are some interesting web sites to take a look at with the trends:
http://www.leighbureau.com/speaker.asp?id=186
http://familiesandwork.org/3w/tips/downloads/companies.pdf
http://www.law.georgetown.edu/workplaceflexibility2010/index.cfm

Corporate Advertising

A corporation has to decide how to advertise. Do they want to advertise a product or the corporation? In many cases by advertising the corporation, the company will see an increase in sales. The ad may enhance the company's reputation, attract investors or influence opinions. During the war advertisers kept advertising their products and company even if they weren't making products so the public would remember them when the war was over. Therefore, the company could get back to business without losing customers.

By advertising the companies values, this makes the company more reputable. People may be more willing to purchase a product from a company they know values environmental issues compared to a company they don't have any knowledge about. This is a reason why it is hard to see how Corporate advertising effects sales. The advertising can also help with recruiting and retaining employees.

It was interesting looking at the different brands of vehicles and the different comments made by the class. When Ford's logo was shown, students thoughts were "junk", "unreliable" etc.... this is the reputation customers associate with the logo. When we saw McDonald's, everyone knew the golden arches. It's amazing how companies have developed a symbol that stands for the company and everyone recognizes that symbol. Another example would be Target. When people see the bulls eye they associate it with Target.

Personal Experience
I can see how corporate advertising can influence you to purchase items from that company. Seeing the Target, Walmart, and Kmart commercials you can see how it can be beneficial to a company. If it is done properly the company will benefit. However, not all corporate advertising is effective. Kmart tried to boost it's image thru corporate advertising and they did not succeed. They ended up being purchased by Sears. So just because you choose to corporate advertise does not mean the company will be successful.

References

For more information on Corporate advertising you can click on the following links:
http://ageofengage.com/?gclid=CLXq3LOm1pICFQurPAod6ksrnA
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1D8173CF93BA25752C0A963958260
Here is an example of corporate advertising:
http://www.xlcapital.com/xlc/xlc/about_sub.jsp?sublobbyname=ad

Identity, Image, Reputation

Corporations have to decide how to advertise, who their constituencies are and what kind of message they want to send. They first need to have an identity. This is created by the company and displayed thru their logos, stationary, building etc... They also need to know what their image is. This is created from the viewpoint of the constituencies. When their image and identity are aligned they end up with a solid reputation. In class when Ford's logo was displayed on the screen comments such as "junk", "unreliable" where made. I'm sure this is not the image Ford wanted it's constituencies to have when they saw it's logo. In order for companies to achieve a good image and reputation, they need to first start with their employees. If the employees don't buy into the image of the company, their is no way that the constituents will. Companies need to determine what their image and reputation are. They may assume it is one thing, but after asking constituents and employees, they may find out it is actually something else. In some cases the company may switch it's identity. An example of this would be FedEx. Years ago the company was name Federal Express but after finding out how many constituents referred to the company as FedEx the company decided to change its logo and go with the identity that the constituents had created.







Personal Experience
Not only do companies have an identity, image, and reputation, but so do people. When I was in high school I had an identity based on my image and reputation. I was involved in many activities such as chorus, county chorus, band, county band, newspaper, art club, yearbook staff, drama club, and a majorette. I also worked as a lifeguard in the summer time and taught swimming lessons. With those activities a certain image is portrayed. When I went off to college, I found a new identity, image and reputation. No one knew who I was. I started over. My high school was very small, so when someone said my name, pretty much everyone knew who I was. Now that I was in College, no one cared what you did or didn't do in high school. It was a new start and I could decide what kind of image, identity and reputation I wanted these students to have of me. I could decide to be in activities or put my emphasis on my school work. By joining a sorority, that also helped to develop a new identity.


References
Here are some websites that can help you understand the importance of Identity, Image and the Reputation of a company:
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Co-Di/Corporate-Image.html
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Con-Cos/Corporate-Identity.html
http://www.mbs.ac.uk/research/corporatereputation/reputation-chain.aspx

Communication Technologies

When communicating, you must determine what if any technology should be used. In some cases email may be the best method to communicate with another employee. This all depends on the size of the company and when and where you each work. This of course would not make sense if you are in the next cubicle to the person you wish to speak with. Stand up and carry on the conversation! However, there are instances that communicating via email may be beneficial within the company or even instant messaging. Even cell phones have become an important form of communication. When someone leaves the company, you can still reach that person if necessary.

Thru our class we have had the opportunity to use many forms of communication. We were able to chat on line. This would be helpful if you want to speak with a couple different people at the same time and you are all able to get on line at the same time but may not all be able to meet face to face. Chat rooms are also helpful if you want to ask questions while using a demo on line or while listening and participating in a Webinar. The Webinar was another form of technology we had the opportunity to experience. Instead of taking time from your day and driving to a central location to listen to a power point presentation, it can be given right over the internet and all you need to do is log on. No travel time involved! This is a quick and convenient seminar.

Getting the opportunity to create the power point presentations were also very helpful. All of us have sat thru many classes and seminars with power point presentations. In many cases they are very boring and you feel like someone is standing there reading the screen to you. In our presentations we had the opportunity to use the power points with pictures and even some students were able to create power points with sound and movement. I had never done an actual power point presentation, so I learned a great deal from the other students on what power point can offer to make presentations more interesting. While creating our power point, our group also was able to use the web site "gotomeeting.com". This was another piece of technology we had the chance to use. Everyone in our group had different schedules, for us to get together was very difficult so we were able to get on the website and the phone and see each others computers thru this site. There is just so much out there, and everything is changing daily! We need to keep up with all the new technology or we will be lost.


Personal Experience
When I started to work years ago, I would go into a room and pull a disk off a hanging shelf . The disk weighed about 10 pounds and was bigger than a record album. That disk held the information for the company that I was working on. If you dropped that disk, everything would be lost. After I was done working on that company's books, I''d have to save the information, remove that disk from the computer and put the next company disk in, then presume my work. Now when I go into work, I sit down at my computer and I can pull files off my bosses computer, off the programmers computer, off of four other computers without leaving my seat. I send messages thru email to customers and vendors. I have also been reviewing job shop software packages. During this process I have been logging onto my computer, calling a salesperson in California and that person is conducting a sales pitch to me over the internet. She is showing me their software package and what it is capable of doing on my computer. This is how quickly technology is advancing and just a few ways it has effected my life.

Even when we did the power point presentation in class. The people in my group were able to use "gotomeeting.com" in order to go over our presentation. This saved all of us a lot of time traveling and we could spend more time on the presentation than in the vehicles getting to a central location.

References
You can go to the following web sites to find out more on communication technology:
http://www.querycat.com/faq/04f6b6ff8b7d7c1bd13ba9f5d96c4b4e
http://www.ftpress.com/articles/article.aspx?p=30356
http://www.tfi.com/pubs/ctu/cturedev.html

Communication Theories

It's amazing how the communication theories have evolved over time. There are different models of communication which we discussed in class. Following are some that were discussed:

Lasswell Model

Harold Lasswell developed the model in 1948. He focused on verbal messages, "Who says what to whom in what channel with what effect?"

Shannon & Weaver Model

Shannon was the Father of Information Theory. Focused on research, concept of information and started academic field of communication. This model is a linear model and it doesn't deal with content, but how to get your message from point A to point B.

Schramm's Model

A founder of communication studies. Schramm developed three different models. The first model elaborated on Shannon's model. He introdued commonality between the source and the receiver. The source is encoded and transmitted in form of a signal, the signal is then transmitted and decoded to the receiver.

In his second model he added the field experience that helps in determining whether the message is received the way the source wanted it to be received.

In his third model he added feed back. Noise has become a part of the communication process. There is a possibility that the message can become distorted before being recieved. This is the reason for feedback. Ask a question, get an answer, ask another question. Feedback clarifies the message and now communication has become a process. Communication has now become circular as both sender and receiver has taken on both roles in the communication process.

Katz & Lazarsfeld Model

Katz & Lazarsfeld included the mass media in its linear model. Your message is more effective if presented by an Opinon Leader. It is believed that well known people that are respected can influence others. An example of this is when a movie speaks about political views. They are not an expert in the field, but if an actor that is highly respected voices his/her opinion it could sway many people into believing the same view.

Westley-MacLean Model

In this model communication begins with a potential message or event.

Kincaids Model

Kincaid sees communication as a process not an event. Create information to reach a mutual understanding. In a group the task is completed when a mutual understanding is reached.

The different models give us a guideline. If you know the perameters, you can be a more effective communicator.

Personal Experience
While I was participating in a group project, I realized we were using Kinciad's theory. While we were all contributing to the project and voicing our concerns, questions, and solutions, we had to come to an understanding together on what our answers were and what we would use for our project. Every day we use at least one of the models if not more.

References

You can find more information on different communication theroies at http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theorieenoverzicht/
http://www.employee-communication.com/downward.html?gclid=CL3F4P6f3ZECFSOsGgodxUl0ew
and http://uva.ulb.ac.be/cit_courseware/research/theories.htm

Communicating Strategically

Everyone communicates in some way!!! Businesses are no different. They must develop communication strategies based on objectives, resources and the organizations reputation. Each situation is different. If your constituents are your employees and you must tell them you need to lay people off, you must determine how to do this in a positive way. How can you make sure the employees you lay off understand the circumstances, and the employees that you still have aren't concerned they will be next? The size of the company will have a lot to do with the method of communication.

When considering the constituent you must be aware of what knowledge they have of the organization, their attitude and their age. All this needs to be taken into consideration to determine what method of communication should be used. Depending on the method being used, will also determine the structure of your message. When delivering a message verbally your tone and facial expressions help you communicate. If you're emailing your message, you must be sure your message is coming across correctly.

Personal Experience
I work for a small tool & die company. Before September 11th hit the employees were used to working 50-70 hours per week. After September 11th, hours went to 40 per week. This was a drastic change for many people in this business. At one point, business was so slow people were going to be laid off. The owner spoke to the employees about the situation. The employees decided among themselves who would take the lay off. This decision had to be made around hunting season in Pennsylvania. Many of the guys in the company would take vacation time to hunt. The owner knew this, so this was a good time for a couple employees to collect unemployment and get to hunt. They would be able to come back to work in about 6 weeks to their jobs. This worked out for both the employees and the company. This situation was presented in a positive way so it was highly accepted.


References
I came across the following sites that help with determining a strategic plan:
http://www.chass.ncsu.edu/ccstm/scmh/model.html

These two websites are companies that can help with communication needs of a company:
http://www.strategiccommunication.com/
http://www.strategiccomm.com/main.html

The Changing Environment of Business

Over the years the perception people have had of businesses has changed. It has gone from one of trust to one of deceit. This change has taken place due to the actions of large corporations fraudulent activities and also how business people are portrayed in television and the movies.

We have to be aware that our environment is changing continuously, and that we must change but not compromise our beliefs and values. The way business communicates will determine their success. If businesses chose not to address a situation in the public eye, people will make assumptions and therefore not receive the right information.

Managers need to realize and recognize that the environment is constantly evolving, the company needs to adapt to the changing environment with or without changing what the company stands for. As long as companies keep in mind that things can only get worse, the company will be better off in today's environment. The company has to make sure it's communication is linked to its vision and strategy. The company has to determine what communication channels should be utilized in order to get its message across. Each situation is different so the form of communication may also be different depending on the circumstances involved.

Personal Experience
The company I work for would figure 16% of our wages and put that into a pension for each employee. The pension grew quickly and it was decided to change the plan to allow employees to make contributions. The company continued to put 16% of our wages into the pension. After a year, not many employees contributed to the plan on their own. The employer called a meeting and said the pension again was going to change. If we, as employees, wanted to contribute to the plan, we could. If we didn't want to contribute, than why should the company bother? The way this was presented to the employees was like a slap in the face. Many of us had been working for the company between 10-28 years and we had not had a raise in over 5 years. None of us expected the 16% every year, however, we did greatly appreciate this benefit. The employer would also mention this benefit as the most important one offered when hiring someone into the organization. Sort of a way of saying, the company may not pay as much as another company in hourly wages BUT this company will give you 16% toward your pension every year. The owner thought since he didn't see us contributing ourselves, than we must not care, so why should he? Many of us just could not afford to take 10-16% out of what we were making and put it into the pension. After all, gas prices along with everything has been rising over the years, but not our paychecks. This left a sour taste in our mouths. It was the way the employer communicated the information to us that bothered us the most! This created many hard feelings in the company and did nothing for moral!! A month later their was another company meeting. At this meeting it was told again, if you contribute, the company will contribute, however at the end of the year the company may decide to put additional money in the pension if it is available. I can honestly say, this information could have been presented in a way as to not upset anyone. The attitude in the company is definitely different today than what it was two years ago!!

References

Her are some websites to help better understand the business environment and communication: http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/new_economy_transition.html
http://www.humorwithapurpose.com/html/survival_in_today_s_changing_b.html

http://www-au.computershare.com/content/download.asp?docId=%7B24421CA3-72B8-46C7-B373-A986AD2A1CF6%7D&cc=AU&lang=en&bhjs=1&fla=1&theme=cpu