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Workplace Contexts
Chapter 10
Shedletsky & Aitken
Human Communication on the Internet
Perspectives of Understanding
Organizational Communication
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Functional Perspective:
– The functionalist is concerned about an
organization that functions efficiently;
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Critical Perspective:
– Concerned with power and control;
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Interpretive Perspective:
– Organizations seen through human
subjectivity;
Revising Traditional Theories About
the Workplace
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Bureaucracy:
– The Internet flies in the face of existing
bureaucracy because the new
communication interactions often have no
written rules, roles are flexible, and certain
individuals may have expertise outside
their traditional roles;
Revising Traditional Theories About
the Workplace
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Scientific Management:
– Concerned about the standardization and
systems of an organization;
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Classical Management:
– The role of managers has become less
authoritarian than earlier on, budgeting,
coordinating, directing, organizing,
planning, reporting, and staffing;
Revising Traditional Theories About
the Workplace
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Human Relations:
– Interpersonal communication-management who could communicate with
their employees--became an essential
element in creating effective organizations;
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Theory X and Theory Y:
– Theory X believes that people are
motivated by material rewards and require
threats;
Revising Traditional Theories About
the Workplace
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Theory X and Theory Y:
– Theory Y believes that people are
motivated by having meaningful and
enjoyable work;
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Participative Decision-Making:
– A concern for people and production; The
most effective managers demonstrate
supportive relationships;
Revising Traditional Theories About
the Workplace
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Symbolic Relationship between People
and Organizations:
– The individual and the organization need
each other, yet there is a fundamental
tension between the two--a tension
between expressing oneself and being
suppressed by the organization;
Revising Traditional Theories About
the Workplace
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Symbolic Relationship between People
and Organizations:
– This theory fits well with Shedletsky and
Aitken’s conceptualization of the Internet-individuals and organizations can use
computer communication to reduce
tensions;
Revising Traditional Theories About
the Workplace
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Contingency Theories:
– Adaptive--prepared to adapt to problems
due to:
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Environmental uncertainty, unrest, evasiveness
Technological systems
Nature and clarity of the task
Interpersonal relationships within the
organization
Conflict
Business Commnication on
the Internet
A powerful influence of the Internet on
the workplace is its ability to act as a
change agent;
 The boundaries of the workplace are
changed;
 Who can access whom,
interdependence, speed, access to
information;
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Communication Patterns
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Internet (computer) communication leads to
flat organization;
Messages tend to be brief;
Employees can be overloaded with
messages;
It can be difficult to differentiate between
essential and non-essential messages;
Normal, interpersonal cues are absent;
Roles & Boundaries
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Online communication can confuse the usual roles of
people in organizations;
The hierarchical lines of organization are often
violated by Internet communication;
Access to information can diffuse power and control;
Meaning is blurred because roles are blurred;
Meaning is blurred because traditional boundaries
are blurred;
Boundaries between work and play are blurred;
Boundaries between business and personal are
blurred;
Tensions

Paradoxes abound regarding the
Internet and organizations;
– Stock market and online business
– Connected workers and feelings of
isolation;
– Changes versus no change;
Table 10.1. Paradoxes of Internet-based Decision-Making (Adapted from Neher, 1997, pp. 277-278)
Fewer restrictions for people in different
geographical regions and time zones.
Sequencing can be confusing or lost
completely.
Freedom and flexibility.
Lost synergy.
“Leaner” form of communication.
Lacks “richness of the variety of
messages. . .available in FtF situations.”
Reduced nonverbal cues “soften status and
authority cues, thereby lessening possible
inhibitions or constraints on members’
contributions.”
Loss of leadership may prompt
“floundering about, without a clear sense
of direction.”
Ideas can be analyzed separately from source, so
there is more independent thinking and
rationality.
Take longer to explain through text.
“Displaying written lists, proposals, vote tallies,
and the like on a screen tends to focus discussion
more on content than on the source.”
Flaming is common because there are no
nonverbal softening cues.
More even contribution by all members. “Quiet”
members may “talk” more effectively.
Can take longer to solve problems.
Ideas and information more readily available.
System may prompt group to use
inappropriate methods.
Culture and Climate
A culture is the mores or traditions, a
persistent, lasting structure and a
pervasive influence on all elements of
the organization;
 Culture influences the way people
communicate, organizational structure,
message behavior, the modes of
acceptable communication, and who
communicates with whom;
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The Culture of a workplace
Includes
Cultural network;
 Heroes;
 Rites and rituals;
 Values;
 Work environment;
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Internet and Organizational
Climate
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Consider how network monitoring might
affect organizational climate;
– The construct of climate is that an
organization has an ongoing social
environment;
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Monitoring can create a climate of fear;
Internet and Organizational
Climate
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Consider these factors of organizational
climate that may be affected by
communication on the Internet:
– Structure and constraint
– Individual responsibility
– Warmth and support
– Reward and punishment
– Conflict and tolerance
Internet and Organizational
Climate
– Performance standards and expectations
– Identity and group loyalty
– Risk
E-business
E-business refers to commerce
conducted via the Internet;
 Since no central authority manages the
Internet, e-businesses have great
flexibility;
 Work groups can easily come and go;
 Many companies are outsourcing jobs;
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E-business
Business can send out targeted e-mails;
 Companies can provide customer
services and human resources online;
 Internet videoconferencing offers a
viable alternative to flying to face-toface meetings;
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Online Business Interaction
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Consumer communication
– Online businesses collect extensive data in
an effort to analyze who you are, what you
want, and what will make you buy;
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Interpersonal communication (1-to-1)
– The quality of work completed through
CMC can be as good or better than when
people work face-to-face;
Online Business Interaction
– Online communication can be used to
replace and enhance other forms of
communication;
– People using email in work contexts need
to be particularly careful regarding the
clarity, appropriateness, and security of
messages;
Online Business Interaction
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Collaborative communication
– One advantage of online collaboration is
the reshaping of time and space
– Groupthink:
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When getting along and going along with others
is more important to the group than debate
– Individual vs. team
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One finding in CMC is that the individual may
be less important than the team
Online Business Interaction
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Communication overload
– One of the serious problems with business
communication is the sheer volume of information
exchanged
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Risky communication
– There is always the potential for risk in
communication
– CMC creates a new type of risk in business
contexts
– When employees and customers depend on
uninterrupted access to critical data, the
consequences of downtime is magnified