Communication Technology

COMS 245

Agenda

Technology in Organizations Current Events Facilitation Questions about Organizational

Culture Paper

Technology

Definition: application of a specific logic of a technique to a domain of human activity

Anthropological perspective: a body of knowledge available to a civilization to manipulate the world around us

Etymology: the nonnatural actualization of possibilities inherent in the physical world

Hypothetical Organization You work for a 500-person company that

manufactures cell phone batteries. Parts are sourced from rural communities in Africa and made in hi-tech factory in Asia.

They are sold after-market for phones such as iPhone, Blackberry, Droid, etc., and known for their extended battery life. The company is based in Indianapolis, with offices in San Francisco & Boston and a plant in Singapore.

Discourse & Dislocation

Discourse of new technologies

Dislocation of new technologies

What is the discourse surrounding your technology?

In what ways does your technology dislocate information?

Communication Technology Features

Generally, how a technology is oriented toward time and space

Enhance the speed of communication

Facilitate immediate access to information

Enable complex information exchanges across different geographical locations

Comm. Technology Features (cont’d)

Asynchronous vs. synchronous communication

What are the respective benefits of a/synchronicity?

Which one is your technology?

Comm. Technology Features (cont’d)

Monitoring and surveillance You are in charge of writing a monitoring

and surveillance policy for the use of your technology in the organization.

Be sure to address: What type of monitoring/surveillance should be

used; Who should/not be using the technology; In what ways the technology should/should be

used; The consequences of violating the policy.

Comm. Technology Features (cont’d)

Interactivity—the extent to which communication reflects back on itself by reacting and responding to past messages

In what ways does your technology have the possibility to be interactive?

How can your technology be used for internal and external interactivity?

Theories of Comm. Technology Critical mass theory Examines the adoption of a medium as a

function of the size of the community of users There is a “tipping point” at which

organizational users sustain the technology

What is the number/percentage of people needed to make this technology useful to your organization?

Does it matter which organizational members adopt the technology?

Theories of Comm. Technology

Media richness theory Examines how organizational actors

make media choices Usually, managers choose a

communication medium suitable for the ambiguity of the task

What type of organizational activities is your technology well-suited for?

First-level Effects

The anticipated technical and practical effects used to justify the adoption of a technology; instrumental and task-related

What are the first-level effects of your technology in the organization?

Second-level effects

How people act and react to the new technology, including:

paying attention to new and different things

organizing and interpreting relationships differently

expecting different outcomes from their actions

What are the second-level effects of your technology in the organization?

Hyperpersonal Communication

The ability to communicate in ways that highlight and present certain personal characteristics and downplay others

How does your technology facilitate hyperpersonal communication?

How can your technology be used strategically by your organization?