Current And Emerging Communication Technology

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

List three (3) internal stakeholders of Micro-Ware Ltd and give:

Their personal agenda

The Influence they are currently having on the organization

Ralph Yung- He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He is interested in profits and he would like to impress the chairman for positive quarterly reports. He entrusts the General Manager (Manu) for the day to day management of the company. Moreover, He has a good record over the 10 years with the company. Furthermore, he is not a big fan of team meetings and rather prefers to have a quiet word with the relevant team leader and let them convey the message to the staff.

Rob-He is the pioneer serving member of the technologists. He is worried about Jeff’s misguided direction to the company. He questioned Jeff’s credibility to run the production team as well as his position as a General Manager. Moreover, Rob wants to show of how things have been going under Jeff’s leadership but at the same time he tries to impress the CEO so he can suggest that a team leader needs to be appointed for the production department.

Jeff- is the young ambitious marketing graduate who has big ideas for the company and interested in two new large budget clients recently. The CEO is quite impressed by Jeff and sees him as a potential star in the software company.

He took over Manu’s role as a General Manager of Micro-ware Ltd. and he wants to change the guidelines of the organization database to make it meet better marketing standards. However, this has caused stress and tension among the staff who feel they should be focused on completing the project rather than being distracted by irrelevant marketing stuff and the performance levels have dropped.

b) Outline the business demographics of the three (3) key teams and the three (3) individuals; Jeff, Ralph and Sally in the software company.

The three key teams are the following:

Marketing Team- Jeff leads the marketing team. His people are sociable and they are very familiar with electronic communication and social networking. They communicate with their respective groups using different networks.

Production Team- They are led by a well-respected general manager Manu, who has been with the company since it started. They prefer to use technology as means of communication. Its team comprises of young technologists who work together with a loose team with significant autonomy to complete their own particular aspects of the current project/s.

Administrative team-is led by Sally. Her team consists of a number of older women and one man who is near retirement age. Most have been with the company for over 8 years.

The business demographics of the following individuals:

Ralph- He is the CEO of Micro-ware Ltd .He is in his early 40’s and has a good record over the 10 years he has been with the company.

Jeff- A young marketing graduate who took over Manu’s role as a General Manager.. The CEO is quite impressed and sees him as a potential star because he has big ideas for the company.

Sally- She is in her late 30’s and has been with company for some years. Her team comprises a number of older woman and one man who is near retirement age. She belongs to administration department. Ralph relies on her for maintaining the communication lines in the company.

c) The meeting Ralph called was not very successful. . Outline a structured four (4) part procedure for organising and managing meetings that Micro-ware Ltd can adopt.

The four (4) structured part procedure for organizing and managing meetings

that micro-Ware Ltd can adopt are the following:

purpose of the meeting should be identified- Regardless of the purpose, it should have clarity and communicated clearly

Choose the time and the facility-It is suggested that the productive time to conduct a meeting is in the morning session. Seating plan like arrangement of chairs and tables should take into account as well as the ambiance of the place.

Writing the notice of the meeting- It should be an advance notice in order for the staff to be prepared. Details of the meeting should be announced.

Set the agenda- Ensure that participants are prepared so they can contribute in the meeting. Distributing a carefully prepared agenda in advance is highly advisable in order to have a successful meeting.

d) Explain six (6) ways in which the principles of group dynamics could be used to help solve the problems within the software company.

Cohesiveness- they will have positive interactions with one another if they are bonded. The feeling of togetherness in the group motivates members to achieve the desired goal and their efforts increase.

Norms- are the rules or expectations about the behaviour of group. The group should establish a clear set of rules that are constructive and make every member of the staff to agree on the rules.

Roles- Each member should determine his/her functions in the group. Each role comes with certain expectations about behavior in the group.

Conformity- It is the agreement of ideas, rules or principles set by the other member.

Groupthink-

Advocacy- presenting competing views on a controversial issue, identifying alternative positions. Groups can be open- minded when there is an advocacy. They will welcome all the possibilities and would take all the hurdles as a challenge.

Conflict- It is part of the essence of group interaction. There should be conflict of issues and not of personalities.

e) Outline three (3) ways a comprehensive intranet could improve internal communications at the software company.

Intranet offer improve teamwork through which teamwork is enabled and all certified users can get access to information

Intranets offering workforce productivity which can help user to find and observe information very fast. User may also use applications according to their roles and tasks. Intranet also increase the ability of employee’s by performing their job confidently very fast, and accurately

Intranets offering workforce productivity which can help user to find and observe information very fast. User may also use applications according to their roles and tasks. Intranet also increase the ability of employee’s by performing their job confidently very fast, and accurately.

Organisational goals and policies

Identify six (6) ways in which any company can be deflected from its goals by communication problems.

Physical barriers- such as impairment/disability can block proper communication.

Technical barriers: electronic devices are always open to disturbances, faults, and failure.

Emotional barriers: be aware of negative feelings (e.g. anger, grief).

Semantic barriers- Improper usage of grammar, vocabulary and tone can lead to misunderstanding or misinterpret the message.

Cultural- it affects the way they communicate.

Gender- men and women communicate in different ways. It is important not to make assumptions and recognize the strengths apparent in each way of communication.

Outline two (2) ways in which Jeff may be deflecting Micro-ware from its goals through his choice of communication methods and mediums

He focuses too much on marketing side

He prefers only one communication method that he likes such as team meetings. He is taking up a lot of employees’ valuable time with regular staff meetings, which they find it irrelevant marketing stuff.

Explain two (2) things he could do to refocus and get everyone working on achieving the key goals.

Jeff should be a good team player. He needs to have an ability to manage and delegate to others and take on responsibility. It's about building positive working relationships that help everyone to achieve positive goals and business objectives.

He should have a good leadership. He should motivate teams and other colleagues that may work for him. It's about assigning and delegating tasks well, setting deadlines and leading by good example.

Organisational culture and ethics

From the case study outline how any three (3) different aspects of Micro-ware Ltd’s organisational culture(s) and ethical behaviours (e.g. range of cultures within the company, rituals and routine, power structures, stories) impact on effective communication and its management?

Marketing Department- They are social people and they are very familiar with electronic communication as well as social networking. They communicate with their respective groups using different networks.

Administrative Department- They are not comfortable using technology as means of communication. They prefer traditional style such as face to face or over the phone.

Production Department- they are the technologists who prefer to use electronic communication like e-mail and also social networking. In addition, they communicate with their respective groups using different networks.

There aharingre two (2) breaches of privacy determined in this case study.

Soma had a personal conflict with Margaret. She sent email to everyone with the message "Margaret’s New Affair". The photograph was taken by Soma without the permission of Margaret.

Rob downloaded a copy of sally’s report regarding the staff notes with complete names onto his flash drive. He sent the draft anonymously to the board of directors and he printed a copy of the draft on company letterhead and posted it through snail mail to the chairman of the board.

Beyond the case study , there are two (2) other possible ways in which privacy can be breached in a business environment:

Giving out personal details to the press

Giving information to competitors

What copyright infringements can you determine from the information in the case study?

The copyright infringement in this case study is that Jeff made detailed information to be used in an exciting new promotion specifically aimed at some really big companies. The information he sent to Ralph was copyrighted to a powerful USA company and he had the intention to use it without seeking permission because he thinks that it was very unlikely they would ever find out.

What are the possible implications of these infringements for the company?

Micro-ware Ltd will lose its reputation as well as loyalty from their clients. Moreover, the company will face some legal issues.

Current and emerging communication technology

a) The five (5) types of mediated and /or face-to-face organisation communication strategies used in this case study are the following:

Face-to-face meeting

Phone

Lecture/ Report

Electronic communication

Snail mail

b) The following are the purpose of each strategy:

Face-to-face meeting - The best way to communicate between people because we can see verbal and non-verbal communication easily, and collection of feedback is faster.

Phone- It is fastest way for clarification because you can talk to the person to have clarity.

Lecture/ Report- The information is detailed on lecture. It is easy to comprehend with the help of visual aids. It also provides informed basis for decision making of the manager.

Electronic communication- It engages audiences in active, two-way communications. It is fastest way to communicate with the other party. It has the ability to transmit and receive large amounts of information quickly to and from individuals and workgroups around the world

Snail-mail- It is a valuable system. It is more formal way to convey a message.

Examples of how each type strategy is used

Face-to-face – the verbal and non-verbal communication can be seen. The reactions can be recorded. Jeff always call for regular staff meetings

Phone- Ralph receives an urgent call and learns he has to be in Wellington in 2 hours so he must leave immediately. Another example, Sally received a call from internet security officer who informed her that Jennifer has been downloading X rated images from the internet and her computer contains stolen software downloads.

Lecture/ Report- Raplh ask sally to make a report and send email to him.

Electronic Communication- Ralph checked his email on his laptop whilst he awaits his boarding call at the airport. He received an email regarding Jeff’s report.

Snail mail- Rob printed a copy of the draft on company letterhead and posted it to the chairman of the board

d.) Four (4) examples of emerging communication technologies the software company could use to improve their internal and external communication are the following:

Video conferencing such as skype- It provides businesses with the ability to meet and to work with others over a distance. It can speed up decision making. It also enables top management in to quickly and effectively communicate with employees sitting in multiple locations.

Internal Website- only company employees can have access to the site so the company’s information is more secured.

Microsoft outlook- is the standard task management and communication software found in most business settings. Co-workers can share contacts, calendars and personal messages through the software.

Instant Messenger such as yahoo messenger- fastest way to communicate with the staff