Research Paper on "Business Communication & Technology Barnes, Cynthia"

Research Paper 25 pages (7132 words) Sources: 25

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Business Communication & Technology

Barnes, Cynthia, and Cavaliere, Frank. (2009). To Teach or Not to Teach: The Ethics of Metadata. Education, 129(4), 788-792.

Metadata has been causing problems over the past several years due to the fact that word processing and other well-known and often-used computer software programs become "more receptive to" collaboration (Barnes, 2009, p. 788). That is the viewpoint of this article. What is metadata? It is the personal information about a person, that is contained in computer-generated documents, and is accidentally sent to others, Barnes explains. This is a potentially scary situation, not because some personal information is being transmitted to others, but because computer uses don't realize what is happening. This article reviews the problems associated with metadata, and provides research that is eye opening.

To wit, a survey of 100,000-Word documents that were reviewed from Web sites the world over, "half the documents had up to 50 hidden words, one-third up to 500 words hidden, and 10% had more than 500 words concealed" (Barnes, p. 789). The information contained in those documents include social security numbers and other key personal data. The conclusion by Barnes is simply that people need to be educated about metadata.

Basole, Rhul C. (2008). Enterprise mobility: Researching a new paradigm. Information Knowledge Systems Management. Vol. 7, 1-7.

Typical of many scholars and journalists writing in journals about technology, Basole asserts that the literature on his particular topic is "relatively sparse." This is always the incentive of researchers, to fill in the gaps where others have failed to do so. In this paper, Basole delves into the potentiality of hand-held technologies such as laptops, smart phones, and other mobile technologies to deliver "tangible" business benefits (p. 1). He explains that mobile ICT was not embraced by organizations in the beginning of this particular technology advance, but today "much is changed," he asserts on page 1. Mobile DNA (devices, networks and infrastructure and applications) are coming of age and companies are realizing they the devices can deliver: a) efficiencies; b) cost savings; c) new competitive advantages; and d) core competencies.

Basole even insists that if used properly and pragmatically, these mobile devices can transform existing organizational, business model and strategy paradigms" (p. 1).

As to just how these mobile devices can transform a company into a more streamlined organization, and help overall, one can simply imagine a project manager in the field with a client, examining a building that is to be updated and upgraded. The company iPhone he works with digitally records the interview with the on-site foreman and the client; the video component of his iPhone records the places in the building that need most attention; then he uses the online capabilities of the iPhone to email subcontractors who will be part of the project.

Basole references Judith Gebauer's research into how mobile professionals work; after in-depth research, Gebauer concludes that: a) technology maturity explains and predicts mobile technology use; b) good functionality is a "critical factor" in the communication components of a mobile device' and c) job performance can be greatly enhance with mobile technology (Basole, p 4).

Briggle, Adam, and Mitcham, Carl. (2009). From the Philosophy of Information to the Philosophy of Information Culture. The Information Society, Vol. 25, 169-174.

In this article, Adam Briggle spends a great deal of narrative energy on the relationship between information and culture. Briggle posits that the communities of information and culture could benefit from some collaboration. Briggle argues that information more than technology, or information technology "more than simply technology," is the "distinctive feature of the contemporary world." In other words, it is not solely about technology; it's about the information that travels on technology. Therefore, the communities of culture could be used to interpret information or information to interpret culture.

A reader can become confused with Briggle's strategy of interchanging the concepts of "culture" and "information" -- as he seems mesmerized by the juxtaposition of the two. The bottom line in this piece is that yes, information and the technologies that transmit information "shape culture rather than just convey it" (p. 171). And much of the rest of the six pages of this scholarship bounces philosophical questions back and forth like a tennis ball on a concrete court. His conclusion suggests that he is only beginning his research: the linkage of culture and information in the piece are just an "outline" he says "are no more than indicators of work we hope to undertake more fully in future research…" (p. 173).

Byron, Kristin. (2008). Carrying Too Heavy a Load? The Communication and Miscommunication of Emotion by Email. Academy of Management Review, 33(2),

309-327.

Byron reviews the issue of emails in a very thorough way. She points out that many employees do not have the proper degree of sophistication or the education -- or just plain common sense -- to known how to craft just the right amount of emotion into their emails. In fact because of this lack of talent when crafting emails, business relationships can be (and often are) harmed. Unless the writer is an experienced person at the use of written narrative, communicating exactly what one wants to communicate can be difficult.

Conveying emotion through an email is tricky, the author insists. Emotion is a good thing, of course, when it carefully and professionally conveys information that helps strengthen group identity and relate company policy. However, employees that "inaccurately interpret others' emotions" are often failing to make "adequately informed decisions" as to what kind of response is required from any particular email (p. 310).

So in this article Byron references a number of scholarly studies that break down the facts of communicating emotions the correct way. She mentions (p. 311) Berlo's Source-Message-Channel-Receiver Model as her favorite model to present. Berlo's four factors may seem rather obvious, but they are nonetheless important in the framework and context of writing better emails in corporate environments. To wit, Berlo offers four factors that determine the effectiveness of communication attempts: a) the "source," or "sender" (S); b), the "message" itself (M); c) the "channel" (C); and d), the "receiver (R). This is a simple model, but Byron asserts that it is the perfect beginning place to examine where the process worked and where it failed. Was the "message" incomplete or too filled with emotion? Or did the receiver totally misunderstand the message because of a lack of knowledge about the sender and the message?

Chernatony, Leslie De, Cottam, Susan, and Segal-Horn, Susan. (2006). Communicating

Services Brands' Values Internally and Externally. The Service Industries Journal,

26(8), 819-836.

Chernatony and colleagues argue that companies need to do a better job educating their employees / staff as to the value of their own corporate brand (also called "service brand"). The authors go on to explain that the old way of simply advertising a company's services and products through the promotion of the brand is not sufficient anymore. What needs to be done in addition to traditional branding, marketing and advertising of the brand to the public, is to have the company communicate the brand values to the staff.

The brand pitch needs to be "accepted and internalized by staff," Chernatony explains (p. 820). And in fact, companies need to be sure that their employees are fully on board with the brand that they work under and for. The focus of this scholarly article relates to how the company can communicate the values of the brand to employees without insisting on "brand commitment" from their workers. Indeed, the research Chernatony and colleagues have conducted (Burmann and Zeplin, 2005: 284) shows that "the extend of psychological attachment of employees to the brand" has an enormous influence over the employees' willingness "to exert extra effort towards reaching the brand goals" (Chernatony, P. 821).

How best to engender the psychological attachment that the authors believe is important makes up a goodly share of this piece. First of all, when HR is hiring new staff, there should be a sense that the newly hired employee believes in the product, albeit new employees "may still hold some incongruent values," Chernatony writes on page 822. For those employees (and others) the authors suggest -- that besides good organizational communication -- the company should sponsor an "intensive, residential training course." This might be considered propaganda but unless every employee is extolling the values of the brand, the company is losing out on an opportunity to fully present its worth to the consumers and stakeholders.

The authors take several pages to discuss how brands are marketed and raised to high levels of visibility, but the key in this article is getting employees to commit to totally getting behind the values of the brand.

Choi, Sue Young, Lee, Heesok, and Yoo, Youngjin. (2010). The Impact of Information

Technology and Transactive Memory Systems on Knowledge Sharing, Application, and Team Performance: A Field Study. MIS Quarterly, 34(4), 855-870.

As other writers have done, this trio posits that they have done the research for this article because "little… READ MORE

How to Reference "Business Communication and Technology Barnes, Cynthia" Research Paper in a Bibliography

Related Research Papers:

Business Communication Trends Essay

Business Communications Today

The area of business communications has necessarily received increased attention in the years following the advent of the Internet, which has revolutionized communication in all aspects of… read more

Essay 3 pages (817 words) Sources: 2 Style: APA Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

Business Communication Trends Research Paper

Business Communication Trends

Locker-Kienzler (2008) points out that effective communication in both speaking and writing is vital in today's business environment. To successfully function in a high-level job such as… read more

Research Paper 2 pages (611 words) Sources: 2 Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

Business Communication the Business Environment Is Analyzed Literature Review

Business Communication

The business environment is analyzed by numerous research studies that intend to understand the rules that determine business behavior, its factors of influence, and some of the most… read more

Literature Review 12 pages (3383 words) Sources: 30 Topic: Communication / Speech

---

Business Communications the Company Essay

Business Communications

The company is currently considering an expansion of its operations into the global arena. As a result of the organization specific features, initial emphasis was placed on China,… read more

Essay 4 pages (1245 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

Business Plan for Organic Fertilizer Business Plan

Business Plan for Organic Fertilizer

Business Plan for an Organic Fertilizer Company

A company in this day and age should be environmentally aware and take steps to protect the planet.… read more

Business Plan 8 pages (3068 words) Sources: 8 Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>