Week 3.3 Telecommuting & Communication

Page 362 in Chapter 12 talks about the first-level and second-level effects of telecommuting.

The general consensus in a lot of studies today is that people who telecommute full time or on a part time basis are more productive than if they work at office. It also has a positive impact on the environment and gives people time to spend quality time with family by not wasting time in commuting.

From my personal experience, i think telecommuting also improves communication between peers or between employees and managers. At my work place,our group director now works from a remote location and visits office once every fours months for a week. He makes sure that we have a face to face meeting with him each time he visits. This was not the case when he was working from office full time, we hardly ever had any conversation with him. Some of my friends working in other companies also feel that they or their managers normally spend more time communicating with remote teams in different location or countries than people working in the same office, as they feel it is important to communicate with them as they are in present in person all the time and they do not take the issue with same seriousness with people working locally.

Also, I feel people socialize more with people working remotely when they meet in person than with people who work with them in person as they feel they are the host for people working in some other location and visiting.

Week 3.2 Communication & Information Overload

Chapter 12 talks about different types of media. While reading that, I started thinking about how many types of communication mediums I use everyday and its different types.

I normally use e-mail, internet, 3 different types of messengers, cell phone, desk phone, email on cell phone, internet on cell phone. Recently the new additions to this list is a soft phone on the computer that dials using the desk phone from my computer anywhere (VoIP). Companies introduce new things everyday using terms like Unified Communications etc.,. But its very difficult to get rid of the existing tools as people are used to them.

The definition of communication overload is different for different people. In my opinion the more different types of communication tools we use the more distractions there are at work. I know a lot of people would say we have to efficient in using them but individual efficiency in itself might not help most of the times.

These tools even effect our personal life's in a certain way. I do not think many people check their work e-mail at home if they have to log in to work and check if they are not expecting anything important. As we get email on blackberry's etc., we get addicted to using them just because we have them.

Week 3.1 Synchronous & Asynchronous Communication

In Chapter 12, the authors talk about Synchronous and Asynchronous communication. Telephone, cell phone which provide immediate feedback are treated as Synchronous communication and e-mail, voice mail etc., are treated as Asynchronous.

I agree to some extent with the authors in that Asynchronous communication might save time and make it possible for communications to proceed interactively, outside of "real time". But this in my opinion also has some ill effects. A common work place issue today is too much e-mail, so it is very difficult to assume that if something important needs to be communicated e-mail is the best medium due to the volume of e-mail people get. Trying to reach them by phone might have a better success rate in such situations.

Also, due to the ease of sending an e-mail people start using it and send messages that are not needed and some that can be easily misunderstood as some people spend very little time in composing them. Due to lack of attention messages might not always come out properly, leaving the possibility of misunderstanding and confusion leading to more wastage of time. In those situations in person or telephone conversations might be better.

I think both types have their advantages, but proper usage of them determines their success and productivity from them.

Week 2.5 Organizational Culture and Ethics

Recently my organization started a new ethical reporting system that provides employees a way to report issues either online or through a ethics hot line. Ethics Reporting System provides avenues for you to report ethics violations, fraud, abuse or misconduct.

Companies make employees sign the Business and Ethics standard when they join the organization and they have to clear a yearly certification. Great Cultures create Great Organizations. In Organizations that are serious about Ethics standards we will clearly see they are not doing things just for the sake of it and are serious about it. Organization provide training to its employees and manager about the ethics and how to help maintain them etc.,

The text book notes some important things about the ethics code. 1. they unite a community of professionals, 2. they offer a basis for making important distinctions, 4. they are used to sanction violators; and 4. they offer standards for ethical excellence.

Employees should also take responsibility in maintaining ethical standards along with employers. Employees should make sure that they are up to the standards and they report anything that is not in order.

Week 2.4 Communication & Ethics

When reading the What about Communication? section in Chapter 14 I remembered a conversation I had with my friend in which he was talking about how one of his friends was let go by his company and there was no hint of that happening or no severance package provided. He was of the opinion that this is very common in US and companies do not show any responsibility towards their employees.

This I think is not true, most companies in US do follow reasonable procedures in handling these situations by providing some severance, helping them in finding other jobs, providing references etc., Here the roles of values of the company plays a big role in their determination of whether their behavior is ethical or not. Even though there are no rules binding them to follow a particular process, its the values of the company that determines their response.

In some situations even when Organizations want to be Socially responsible etc., they might not be able completely achieve that because of various financial and market constraints that they might be facing.

Week 2.3 Ethics and Why do we need them?

The textbooks make an important statement about the importance of ethics " It is the clash of different ethical principles or duties that make many moral decisions difficult."

The ethical principles of a particular society or a person i think are dependent on their culture. I feel that Ethics are learned from the society and people around you by observing them and treating what others treat as acceptable to be ethical. The textbook listed some practical reasons for ethics like ethics help us get together, ethics help us to get along with each other, ethics gives us hope for betterment, ethics keep things going and ethics puts ideals into practice.

Ethics should be about doing the right thing are not some rules that people need to follow. We see a lot multinational organizations do things that they never do in one country but do them in others, as that culture might not respond to their behavior in same way. I think its very difficult to understand whether people or companies are "really being ethical" or just doing so to look like that.

Week 2.2 Global & Local

This Section of the chapter talks about how growing number of global organizations are seeking to adapt their products and strategies to local markets. The term "glocal" comes from blending the terms "global" and "local".
It is very interesting to note things like how in US we associate McDonald's and Big mac, but in India most of the McDonald's does not even serve Big Mac, as Cows are considered sacred in India. This shows how organizations are adapting today globally to make them receptive in the local cultures.
Also companies should be very careful in how they communicate in different cultures. We should never assume what works or considered correct in one culture works in others. There are multiple examples for big blunders like this. One classic example is the slogan used by Vacuum cleaner company Electrolux in UK "Nothing Sucks like Electrolux". But sucks has a completely different usage in US and it was a big blunder.
Global Companies should do their research about local cultures before making any decisions, planning mass communications, launching new campaigns etc., as taking incorrect decisions there might create irreparable damage.