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