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Chapter 14 - Communicating in the Digital Age
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(c) Linguistic style not only helps explain communication differences
between women and men and across generations, it also influences
our perceptions of others’ confidence, competence, and abilities.
(d) Increased awareness of linguistic styles can enhance your
communication competence.
(2) Gender Differences in Communication
(a) Table 14-4: Communication Differences between Women and Men
illustrates 10 gender-based communication differences. See
Slide 14-32
(b) These tendencies do not apply for all women and men; there are
always exceptions to the rule.
(c) Your linguistic style influences perceptions about your confidence,
competence, and authority.
(3) Toward More Effective Linguistic Styles for Both Women and Men
(a) Author Judith Tingley suggests that women and men should learn to
genderflex.
(b) Genderflex: temporarily using communication behaviors typical of the
other gender.
(c) Deborah Tannen recommends that everyone needs to become aware
of how linguistic styles work and how they influence our perceptions
and judgments.
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(d) Knowledge of linguistic styles helps to ensure that people with valuable
insights or ideas get heard.
III. Organizational Communication
i) Formal Communication Channels: Up, Down, Horizontal, and External
(1) Formal Communication Channels Overview
(a) Formal communication channels: follow the chain of command or
organizational structure.
(b) Messages communicated on formal channels are viewed as official.
(2) Vertical Communication: Communicating Up and Down the
Organization See Slide 14-33
(a) Vertical communication involves the flow of information between
people at different organizational levels.
(b) Upward Communication
(i) Upward communication involves communicating with someone at a
higher organizational level.
(ii) Organizations need vibrant upward communication to foster
organizational fairness and ethical conduct, intrinsic motivation, and
empowerment.
(iii)Employees tend to engage in self-censorship because of a sense
of futility; managers must act on employee input to address feelings
of futility.
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(iv)Managers can encourage upward communication via employee
attitude and opinion surveys, suggestion systems, formal grievance
procedures, open-door policies, informal chats, e-mail and social
media, exit interviews, and town hall meetings.
(c) Downward Communication
(i) Downward communication occurs when someone at a higher level
in the organization conveys information or a message downward to
one or more others.
(ii) Managers generally provide five types of information through
downward communication: strategies/goals, job instructions, job
rationale, organizational policies and practices, and feedback about
performance.
(3) Horizontal Communication: Communicating within and between
Work Units See Slide 14-34
(a) Horizontal communication flows among coworkers and between
different work units, and its main purpose is coordination.
(b) Employees share information and best practices, coordinate work
activities and schedules, solve problems, offer advice and coaching,
and resolve conflicts.
(c) Horizontal communication is facilitated by project meetings,
committees, team building, social gatherings, and matrix structures.
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(d) Horizontal communication is impeded: (1) by specialization that causes
people to work alone; (2) by encouraging competition that reduces
information sharing; and (3) by an organizational culture that does not
promote collaboration and cooperation.
(4) External Communication: Communicating with Others outside the
Organization See Slide 14-34
(a) External communication is a two-way flow of information between
employees and a variety of stakeholders outside the organization.
(b) Employees need to be fully informed about what they should not
communicate to outsiders in everything from casual conversations to
blogs and Tweets.
ii) Informal Communication Channels See Slides 14-35, 4-36
(1) Informal Communication Channels Overview
(a) Informal communication channels: do not follow the chain of
command or organizational structure.
(b) Informal communication channels skip management levels and bypass
lines of authority.
(2) The Grapevine
(a) Grapevine: unofficial communication system of the informal
organization.
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(b) Although the grapevine can be a source of inaccurate or malicious
rumors, it can function positively by facilitating organizational changes,
embedding organizational culture, fostering group cohesiveness, and
gathering employee and customer feedback.
(c) Liaison individuals: those who consistently pass along grapevine
information to others.
(d) Effective managers monitor the pulse of work groups by regularly
communicating with known liaison gossips.
(e) Organizational moles: those who use the grapevine to enhance their
power and status.
(f) Managers are advised to create an open, trusting environment that
discourages mole behavior because moles can destroy teamwork,
create conflict, and impair productivity.
(g) Research indicates that the grapevine is: (1) faster than formal
channels; (2) about 75% accurate; (3) relied upon when people are
insecure, threatened, or faced with organizational changes; and (4) not
an isolated form of communication, but instead embedded into all
organizational sense-making communication.
(h) Managers are encouraged to monitor and influence the grapevine
rather than wasting time trying to extinguish it.
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(3) Management by Walking Around (MBWA)
(a) Management by walking around (MBWA): managers walk around
and informally talk to people from all areas and levels.
(b) The Real World/Real People: Republic Airways’ CEO Goes
Undercover profiles an example of MBWA.
(c) MBWA is an effective way to communicate because employees prefer
to get information directly from their manager.
iii) Choosing Media: A Contingency Perspective
(1) Media Richness
(a) Media richness: capacity of a communication medium to convey
information and promote understanding. See Slide 14-37
(b) Alternative media (telephone, e-mail, voice mail, cell phone, standard
and express mail, text messaging, video, blogs and other social media,
and so forth) can vary from rich to lean.
(c) Media richness is based on feedback, channel, type of communication
and language source.
(d) Face-to-face conversations are the richest form of communication
while static media such as newsletters and reports are the leanest.
(2) Complexity of the Managerial Problem/Situation
(a) Low-complexity situations are routine, predictable, and managed by
using objective or standard procedures.
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(b) Highly complex situations are ambiguous, unpredictable, hard to
analyze, and often emotionally laden.
(c) There are no standard solutions to complex problems or situations.
(3) Contingency Recommendations
(a) Figure 14-2: A Contingency Model for Selecting Communication
Media presents a contingency model for selecting media. See
Slide 14-38
(b) There are three zones of communication effectiveness: overload zone,
zone of effective communication, and oversimplification zone.
(c) Effective communication occurs when the richness of the medium is
matched appropriately with the complexity of the problem or situation.
(d) Media low in richness are better suited for simple problems.
(e) Media high in richness are appropriate for complex problems or
situations.
(4) Research Evidence
(a) Managers used richer sources when confronted with ambiguous and
complicated events, and miscommunication increased when rich
media were used to transmit information that was traditionally
communicated through lean media.
(b) A meta-analysis of more than 40 studies revealed that media usage
was significantly different across organizational levels.
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IV. How Digital Communication Is Impacting Organizational Behavior
i) Digital Communication Overview
(1) The digital communication revolution is affecting organizational behavior,
both positively and negatively.
(2) More and faster digital communication does not necessarily mean better
communication.
(3) The Real World/Real People: How Entrepreneur Rashmi Sinha Deals
with Information Overload profiles how information overload in the
workplace is a challenge.
ii) Strategic Concerns: Security and Privacy
(1) Careless and malicious actions can wreak havoc in terms of costly
downtime and lost or stolen data.
(2) Prevention is the key when it comes to protecting digital communication
systems against hackers, identity theft, and fraud.
(3) Table 14-5: Protecting against Security and Privacy Breaches on the
Internet provides tips for prevention. See Slide 14-39
iii) Here Comes the Huge Internet Generation
(1) The Net Generation grew up with the Internet as a central feature of their
lives and their worldviews are transforming the workplace.
(2) Table 14-6: What Makes the Internet Generation Tick? Eight Norms
summarizes eight Net Gen norms: freedom, customization, scrutiny,
integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed, and innovation.
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iv) The Two Faces of Telecommuting/Teleworking
(1) Telecommuting/Teleworking Overview
(a) Telecommuting/ teleworking: doing work generally performed in the
office at home or in other convenient locations using advanced
communication technologies.
(b) Telecommuting allows the work to travel electronically to and from the
person’s home.
(c) Teleworking allows workers to connect to the office from practically
anywhere.
(d) The employees in different locations and time zones can work
simultaneously (called synchronous communication) and team
members can work on the same project at different times
(asynchronous communication).
(2) Use and Benefits
(a) Among U.S. companies with at least 500 employees, 28% have some
full-time telecommuters and 40% have some part-time telecommuters.
(b) The benefits of telecommuting include that it: (1) increases employee
productivity, (2) increases the attractiveness of the employer, (3)
decreases operating costs, (4) increases operationality during a crisis,
and (5) contributes to green initiatives.
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(3) Problems
(a) Teleworking require self-discipline and may create an “out of sight, out
of mind” challenge for receiving promotions.
(b) Professional isolation negatively impacts job performance.
(c) Teleworking may create work-life balance if the constant availability of
work results in longer work hours.
v) Dealing with Unintended Consequences of the Digital Age
(1) E-mail Overkill
(a) Dealing with more than 100 e-mails a day is commonplace for busy
managers.
(b) An increase in the use of email has lead to a decrease in all other
forms of communication among coworkers—including greetings and
informal conversations.
(c) Emotions often are poorly communicated or miscommunicated via e-
mail messages.
(d) The greater the use of e-mail, the less connected coworkers reportedly
feel.
(e) People are more apt to lie via e-mail versus a pen and paper note.
(f) Table 14-7: Some Practical E-mail Tips provides suggestions for
more effective email use.
(2) Cell Phone Use and Abuse
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(a) Problems created by pervasive cell phone usage range from merely
annoying, to unethical and illegal, to deadly.
(b) Table 14-8: Five Commandments of Cell Phone Etiquette provides
tips that can make for a better digital-age.
(3) Needed: A Policy for Social Media Use in the Workplace
(a) Social media use in the workplace is common, of questionable quality,
and likely out of control.
(b) Companies ultimately face twin challenges with social media: (1) tap
the marketing, reputation-enhancing, team building and training, and
customer and employee empowerment potential of social media and;
(2) respect privacy rights and avoid legal and ethical abuses by
employees.
(c) Table 14-9: Workplace Policy Guidelines for Using Social Media
provides guidelines which can be used to effectively harness the power
of social media.
BACK TO THE CHAPTER-OPENING CASE
1. How does the use of social media give Best Buy a strategic competitive
advantage?
a. Best Buy’s use of social media can give the firm a strategic competitive
Chapter 14 - Communicating in the Digital Age
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2. How should Best Buy’s CEO Brian Dunn make sure he remains in the zone of
effective communication (in Figure 14-2) when using social media?
a. Social media such as Facebook or Twitter are not rich media sources.
They rely on written language sources, they only include visual channels,
3. Putting yourself in Brian Dunn’s position as CEO of Best Buy, what would your
workplace social media policy specify?
a. Experts recommend that firms create a cohesive social media strategy.
Best Buy’s policy should state that company approval is required for
employees who use electronic resources of the company to send “tweets”
To gain further insight and knowledge about Best Buy, visit its website:
http://www.bestbuy.com/ and explore the content under “About Best Buy” in the
“Corporate Information” section.
Chapter 14 - Communicating in the Digital Age
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OB IN ACTION CASE STUDY: Go Ahead, Use Facebook
1. Have you ever been frustrated with out-of-date information technology in the
workplace? If so, explain how it hampered your communication.
a. This question asks students for their opinions and experiences. As such,
responses will vary widely.
2. From a strategic standpoint, what are the arguments against uncontrolled
information technology in the workplace?
a. Companies need to be concerned about how information technology can
create security and/or privacy breaches. Hackers are becoming
increasingly sophisticated in their attacks and are increasingly targeting
3. As a top-level manager, what information technology policies would you put in
place? What would you do to enforce those policies?
a. This question asks students for their opinions and speculations. As such,
responses will vary widely.
4. What is your personal stance on “Technology Populism”? What are the
implications of your position for organizations?
a. Students’ views of “Technology Populism,” the ignoring of corporate
technology policies by employees, will vary. Those students who support
5. What evidence of Net Gen norms (see Table 14-6) can you find in this case?
Are they potentially positive or disruptive to organizational success? Explain.
