Technological Processes in Organizations, presentation prepared by instructor Wanda J. Barreto for the course OS210 Organizational Communication in Goodwin College

1. Chapter 13

2. Objective
By the end of the class you will be able to…
Examine communication technology in the
workplace and how it has shifted the way people
work and think about work.

3. 100
Workplace Changes
years
Technology has been part
of our lives

4. New Forms of
Communication Technology

5. New Forms of
Communication Technology

6. New Forms of
Communication Technology

7. New Forms of
Communication Technology

8. New Forms of
Communication Technology

9. Types of Technology
 The electronic mail
has changed our
personal and
organizational life in
the last 20 years

10. Types of Technology
 The World Wide Web (www)
radically changed the way
organizations operate
 Workers have access to
relevant technical or policy
information and news
 Serves to promote a
desired image,
communicate with
customers and do business
 Drains organizational
productivity (shopping,
social networks)

11. New vs. Traditional
Technology
 Fax, voice mail, videoconferencing,
management information systems
 Allow faster message transmission
 Allow communication among
geographically dispersed participants
 Allow communication at different points
in time

12. New vs. Traditional
Technology
 Electronic bulleting boards, networks,
forums and chat rooms
 Provides more memory, storage and
retrieval features
 Allow communication with unknown
groups interested in particular topics
 Anonymity can serve as a shield for
criminal and unethical activities

13. New vs. Traditional
Technology
 The new technology differs in terms of
cues that are available
 Phone conference – unable to assess
nonverbal communication
 Less face to face
 Text messages written with a very specific
code

14. New vs. Traditional
Technology
 Users can enhance
the content of their
messages through
codes like emoticons

15. New vs. Traditional
Technology
 New communication technologies offer
employees interaction and decision-making
options that traditional ways of working
don’t provide.

16. Theories of Media
Usage
 Once a company introduce new
communication technology, not all users
embrace it

17. Theories of Media
Usage
 There’s still
resistance to use
computers or to
create a personal
Web page
 There is privacy
concern

18. Theories of Media
Usage
 There are others who adopt new
technology with great enthusiasm
Early adopters

19. Theories of Media
Usage
 Different positions and approaches
 Technology won’t be widely embraced until
critical mass of individuals use it (Markus,
1990)
 Managers are more effective if choose media
that match the ambiguity of a task (Daft,
Lengel & Trevino, 1987)
 Rich media (face to face interaction) – for
highly ambiguous tasks
 Lean media (memo, flyer) – for message low
in ambiguity

20. The Social Information
Processing Model
 Fulk (1987)
 Adoption of technologies can be more
fully explained by looking at social
environment
 Communication between coworkers,
supervisors, customers, and others
affects media usage

21. The Social Information
Processing Model
 Example
 I heard that Web instruction is difficult to
set-up and maintain (Bb)
 On the Discussion Board, I read comments
on bad experiences that students had with
Bb
 This social information may influence my
perception about designing and teaching
courses in Bb
 I might not choose Bb for teaching my
courses

22. The Social Information
Processing Model
 Channel expansion
theory
 Technology
adoption depends
on
 The opinion of
others
 The personal
experience with a
specific medium
(Bb)

23. Additional Models of
Media Usage
 Choice of communication
media depends on
 How technology is
used
 Communication about
that use is positive
 Richness of the
medium

24. Additional Models of
Media Usage
 Ambiguity of the task
 Symbolic value of the medium
 The coordination required
 Social information

25. Effects of Technology
 Effects of
technology
depend on its
features and how
people use those
features
 Effects of
technology can
take many years

26. Effects of Technology
 Surf the Internet
 Music  Make and receive
 Video phone calls
 Get directions
 Take pictures

27. Effects on Content
 Messages are not clear
 Electronic media inhibits communication
of social and emotional content
 Face-to-face and nonverbal
communication are unavailable
 Users develop codes
 OMG
 LOL

28. Effects on Content
 Users are less inhibited in their
communication of socio-emotional
messages
 Name calling
 Sarcasm
 Obscene language
 Cyberbullying

29. Effects on Patterns
 New technologies improve existing
technologies rather than replace them.
 Increase in the amount of communication.
 Drowning in data (emails, junk mail,
Nigerian scams, pagers, cell phones, Web,
faxes).
 Communication contacts more diverse.

30. Effects on Patterns
 Electronic message systems increase
prevalence of upward communication.
 Greater equality.
 Increased prominence of individuals’
knowledgeable about technology.
 Interaction and trust become important.

31. Effects on Patterns
 Social networks (Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn) are changing organizational
communication
 Negative –job seekers should be careful
of information they post online.
 Positive - sites provide important ways
to make contact about work-related
issues.

32. Effects on Patterns
 Social networks have moved beyond
individual use as organizations, advocacy
groups, regional associations.
 Businesses such as IBM and Microsoft have
begun to develop software to help workers
find the right colleague or “friend” to help
them complete a task, boost productivity
and reduce redundancy.
 Increased concerns about privacy.

33. Effects on Structure
 Technology can change the way we
structure work and design organizations.
 It is often not necessary for workers to
work together at the same time and in the
same place.
 Telework
 Flextime
 Virtual organizations

34. Effects on Structure
 Virtual work can
involve working at
home
 Work can take place
anywhere: hotel,
airport, car or
restaurant
 Virtual
teams/Geographically
dispersed teams

35. Effects on Structure
 Advantages of  Environmental
virtual work: benefits
 Reduced  Increased
expenses productivity
 Access to global  Improved
markets customer service
 Enhanced profits

36. Effects on Structure
 Challenges of virtual work:
 Setup and maintenance costs
 Losses of cost-efficiencies
 No social interaction
 Workers feel isolated and cut off from
the culture of the organization

37. Effects on Structure
Pearlson and Saunders – paradoxes of
telework and virtual organizations:
 Paradox 1  Paradox 2
 Increased  Greater
flexibility and individuality and
increased more teamwork
structure  Paradox 3
 More
responsibility and
less control

38. Effects on Structure
 Better track of schedule and meetings
 Requires a lot of coordination
 Workers are out of the sight
 Teleworkers fear that if they are out of the
sight, they will be less considered for
promotions

39. Effects on Structure
 Some scholars argue that technology
 Allow top managers to exercise greater
power.
 Help to decentralize decision making and
power
 Lower-level employees have greater
access to information