scholarly journals The Role, Status and Style of Workplace Email: a Study of Two New Zealand Workplaces

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Joan Waldvogel
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Workplace Culture ◽  
Manufacturing Plant ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Email Communication ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Communication Time ◽  
The Way

<p>This thesis discusses ethnographic research carried out in two very different workplaces, one a manufacturing plant, the other an educational organisation, to explore the relationship between the organisational or workplace culture and the role, status and style of email. The research was concerned with looking at the specific functions of email alongside other means of communicating at work and how it was perceived by its users and receivers compared to these other means of communication. It also investigated when and why email was the preferred medium of workplace communication and some of its distinctive stylistic features. In addition to relating these latter to the workplace culture, the effect on email style of sociolinguistic variables was also explored. Pragmatic theories provided the framework for analysing the data which was interpreted from a social interactionist, social constructionist perspective. A combined corpora of 515 email messages provided the primary linguistic data. This was supplemented by quantitative survey data and qualitative data from observations, two diaries of reflective practice, interviews, and recordings of four people's communicative interactions over one workday. The messages were coded initially for communicative function and then, in order to explore the affective aspect of email communication, for mitigational and boosting elements. In addition to the above, a qualitative analysis of a thread of email messages was undertaken to demonstrate how email communication is used in knowledge creation. The study found that there was little difference between the two organisations in the communicative functions for which email is used. In both, the transmission and seeking of information is its predominant use followed by the making of requests. However, the two workplaces differed considerably in the use made of email which is shown to be essentially a whitecollar mode of communication. But even in the educational organisation where email is used extensively, face-to-face remains the preferred form of communication and dominates communication time. The type of organisation also seems to affect the way in which email messages are written. Email messages from the manufacturing plant displayed more features of solidarity than those from the educational organisation. There was a much higher use of greetings in these messages and more direct language forms. The messages were also longer. There was also a difference between the two workplaces in male and female style. Women in the educational organisation wrote longer messages and used more affective features in their emails than their male counterparts. The converse was true in the manufacturing plant. Stylistically, email directives were seen, in general, to lie midway between the mainly direct forms of spoken communication and the mainly indirect forms of other types of written communication. The study also found that as part of its communicative functions, email plays an important role in organisational knowledge creation, and that in addition to being a useful communication tool assisting in the functional work of an organisation, it does considerable relational work. This has implications for the way in which email messages are written.</p>

scholarly journals The Role, Status and Style of Workplace Email: a Study of Two New Zealand Workplaces

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Joan Waldvogel
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Workplace Culture ◽  
Manufacturing Plant ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Email Communication ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Communication Time ◽  
The Way

<p>This thesis discusses ethnographic research carried out in two very different workplaces, one a manufacturing plant, the other an educational organisation, to explore the relationship between the organisational or workplace culture and the role, status and style of email. The research was concerned with looking at the specific functions of email alongside other means of communicating at work and how it was perceived by its users and receivers compared to these other means of communication. It also investigated when and why email was the preferred medium of workplace communication and some of its distinctive stylistic features. In addition to relating these latter to the workplace culture, the effect on email style of sociolinguistic variables was also explored. Pragmatic theories provided the framework for analysing the data which was interpreted from a social interactionist, social constructionist perspective. A combined corpora of 515 email messages provided the primary linguistic data. This was supplemented by quantitative survey data and qualitative data from observations, two diaries of reflective practice, interviews, and recordings of four people's communicative interactions over one workday. The messages were coded initially for communicative function and then, in order to explore the affective aspect of email communication, for mitigational and boosting elements. In addition to the above, a qualitative analysis of a thread of email messages was undertaken to demonstrate how email communication is used in knowledge creation. The study found that there was little difference between the two organisations in the communicative functions for which email is used. In both, the transmission and seeking of information is its predominant use followed by the making of requests. However, the two workplaces differed considerably in the use made of email which is shown to be essentially a whitecollar mode of communication. But even in the educational organisation where email is used extensively, face-to-face remains the preferred form of communication and dominates communication time. The type of organisation also seems to affect the way in which email messages are written. Email messages from the manufacturing plant displayed more features of solidarity than those from the educational organisation. There was a much higher use of greetings in these messages and more direct language forms. The messages were also longer. There was also a difference between the two workplaces in male and female style. Women in the educational organisation wrote longer messages and used more affective features in their emails than their male counterparts. The converse was true in the manufacturing plant. Stylistically, email directives were seen, in general, to lie midway between the mainly direct forms of spoken communication and the mainly indirect forms of other types of written communication. The study also found that as part of its communicative functions, email plays an important role in organisational knowledge creation, and that in addition to being a useful communication tool assisting in the functional work of an organisation, it does considerable relational work. This has implications for the way in which email messages are written.</p>

POLA PEMENUHAN HAK DAN KEWAJIBAN SUAMI ISTRI LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP (LDR) DI DESA BATUJAYA, KARAWANG

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-178
Author(s):  
Reza Umami Zakiyah ◽  
Eneng Nuraeni
Keyword(s):  
Married Couple ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Biological Aspect ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Distance Relationship ◽  
Husband And Wife ◽  
The Way

Ideally, a married couple lives together to carry out their respective duties and obligations. However, because the demands of work cause some of them must be far apart and live the life of Long Distance Relationship (LDR) as happened in Batujaya Village, Kec. Batujaya, Kab. Karawang. The problem that arises is how the pattern of fulfilling the rights and obligations of husband and wife in Batujaya Village, Kec. Batujaya, Kab. Karawang. How to communicate on LDR and how to overcome the difficulties that arise between the two. Through research using descriptive analysis method, the results of the study show that: (1) The pattern of fulfilling the rights and obligations of a husband and wife who are on a LDR at Batujaya Village, Kec. Batujaya, Kab. Karawang can be understood in three aspects, namely the Financial/material aspect is done by meeting in person/transferring money through Alfamart/ATM/POS. The biological aspect when far apart is by interacting by telephone, occupying with homework. Psychological aspects, namely by giving attention over the phone or when meeting by serving all their needs. (2) The way of LDR husband and wife communication via telephone, massage, whatsapp, and video call, but for those who do not use the telephone as a communication tool, the communication is carried out directly when meeting. (3) The way to overcome the difficulties that arise between the two is to maintain mutual trust, understanding, commitment, intensive communication, mutual attitude. The difficulties faced are financial, trust, communication, cooperation and sexual needs.Idealnya pasangan  suami istri hidup bersama dalam satu  rumah untuk melaksanakan tugas dan kewajiban masing-masing. Namun, karena tuntutan pekerjaan menyebabkan sebagian dari mereka harus berjauhan dan menjalani kehidupan Long Distance Relationship (LDR) seperti yang terjadi di Desa Batujaya, Kec. Batujaya, Kab. Karawang. Masalah  yang timbul yaitu bagaimana pola pemenuhan hak dan kewajiban suami istri di Desa Batujaya, Kec. Batujaya, Kab. Karawang. Bagaimana cara komunkasi suami istri LDR dan bagaimana cara mengatasi kesulitan yang timbul diantara keduanya. Melalui penelitian yang menggunakan metode deskriptif analisis ini, hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa: (1) Pola pemenuhan hak dan kewajiban suami istri Long Distance Relationship (LDR) di Desa Batujaya, Kec. Batujaya. Kab. Karawang dipahami dalam tiga aspek yaitu Aspek Finansial/materi dilakukan dengan pola bertemu langsung/mentransfer uang melalui Alfamart/ATM/POS. Aspek biologis ketika berjauhan yaitu dengan berinteraksi melalui telepon, menyibukan diri dengan pekerjaan rumah. Aspek psikologis yaitu dengan memberikan perhatian lewat telepon ataupun saat bertemu secara langsung dengan melayani segala kebutuhan masing-masing. (2) Cara komunikasi suami istri LDR melalui telephone, sms, whatshap, dan Video call, tetapi untuk mereka yang tidak menggunakan telepon sebagai alat komunikasi, maka komunikasinya dilakukan secara langsung pada saat bertemu. (3) Cara mengatasi kesulitan yang timbul diantara keduanya yaitu saling menjaga kepercayaan, pengertian, komitmen, komunikasi intensif, sikap saling terbuka. Adapun kesulitan yang dihadapi yaitu masalah keuangan, kepercayaan, komunikasi, kerjasama dan kebutuhan seksual.

Supporting Knowledge Creation

2011 ◽  
pp. 217-224
Author(s):  
I. T. Hawryszkiewycz
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Computer Support ◽  
The Way

The chapter identifies the three major components of knowledge sharing and creation within enterprises as a combination of place, community and process. The way these are combined will depend on the particular goal and enterprise structure. The chapter then claims that computer support systems must provide user driven methods to easily integrate these components to fit in with organizational culture and knowledge goal. It then describes a way to provide this kind of environment.

Right Answers, Wrong Reasons: Revisiting the Deletion of Homosexuality from the DSM

1997 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Greenberg
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Scientific Authority ◽  
Psychotherapeutic Practice ◽  
Contemporary Psychotherapy ◽  
The Way

The deletion of homosexuality from DSM–II and subsequent diagnostic manuals is generally seen as a triumph of science over prejudice and oppression. An examination of actual circumstances of the deletion and of the changes that it engendered shows that this view overlooks crucial points. Specifically, the received version conceals the way that deletion served a nonscientific vision of justice, as well as that postdeletion practice regarding homosexuality is inescapably political and moral. These concealments help to maintain the mental health professions' claim to scientific authority, a claim that has little basis in fact. Furthermore, the deletion represented an inadvertent application of social constructionist principles to psychotherapeutic practice, one that makes clear the pragmatic value of postmodern psychologies to contemporary psychotherapy.

Strategic Knowledge Creation in Multinational Enterprises

2020 ◽  
pp. 108-132
Author(s):  
Lars Håkanson ◽  
Philip Kappen ◽  
Ivo Zander
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Nature Management ◽  
Strategic Knowledge ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
International Expansion ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Geographical Patterns ◽  
The Way

Unique knowledge and proprietary innovations are key to the competitive advantages on which most multinational enterprises (MNEs) are expected to base their initial international expansion. Moreover, their subsequent fortunes and survival typically depend on MNEs’ continued ability to upgrade and renew these advantages, as competition, imitation, and environmental change erode the value of existing ones. This chapter reviews key literatures around the nature, management, and effects of knowledge creation in MNEs. The chapter centers on the processes through which geographical patterns of international R&D have evolved, along with the structures, systems, and procedures through which MNEs have sought to govern and coordinate these activities. Finally, the chapter offers a summary and critique of the way that much of the inherited literature has portrayed and interpreted the strategic knowledge creation process in MNEs.

scholarly journals Ready for the Homeland

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Katarina Damcevic ◽  
Filip Rodik
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
The Other ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Revisionism ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
The World ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
The Way

The article analyzes nationalistically motivated online hate speech on selected right-wing public Facebook pages in Croatia. The rise of historical revisionism and populism paved the way for the growing presence of hate speech, with the most salient example being the resurfacing of the World War II fascist salute Za dom spremni (“Ready for the Homeland”) across different communicative situations. We account for the online dynamic of Za dom spremni as well as for the most frequent expressions of xenophobia that accompany the salute by presenting data gathered between 2012 – 2017 using Facebook Graph API. From the total of 4.5 million postings published by readers, those containing Za dom spremni and its variations were filtered and followed by the frequency and prevalence of the accompanying notions. By relying on cultural semiotics, we highlight the socio-communicative functions of hate speech on two levels. Firstly, the notion of the semiosphere helps us illustrate how hate speech is used to reproduce the idea of Croatianness as the dominant self-description. Secondly, we examine how the dominant self-description maintains the boundary between us and the other by merging diverse textual fragments and how their perseverance depends on the communicative situations they enter online.

scholarly journals Generations and Generational Differences: Debunking Myths in Organizational Science and Practice and Paving New Paths Forward

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cort Rudolph ◽  
Rachel Sisu Rauvola ◽  
David Costanza ◽  
Hannes Zacher
Keyword(s):  
Generational Differences ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Lifespan Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
Organizational Science ◽  
Development Perspective ◽  
The Way

Talk about generations is everywhere and particularly so in organizational science and practice. Recognizing and exploring the ubiquity of generations is important, especially because evidence for their existence is, at best, scant. In this article, we aim to achieve two goals that are targeted at answering the broad question: “What accounts for the ubiquity of generations despite a lack of evidence for their existence and impact?” First, we explore and “bust” ten common myths about the science and practice of generations and generational differences. Second, with these debunked myths as a backdrop, we focus on two alternative and complementary frameworks— the social constructionist perspective and the lifespan development perspective—with promise for changing the way we think about age, aging, and generations at work. We argue that the social constructionist perspective offers important opportunities for understanding the persistence and pervasiveness of generations, and that, as an alternative to studying generations, the lifespan perspective represents a better model for understanding how age operates and development unfolds at work. Overall, we urge stakeholders in organizational science and practice (e.g., students, researchers, consultants, managers) to adopt more nuanced perspectives grounded in these models, rather than a generational perspective, to understand the influence of age and aging at work.

scholarly journals Workplace email communication in New Zealand and Malaysia: Three case studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jackie Lay Kean Yeoh
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
Workplace Culture ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Email Communication ◽  
Communicative Function ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Contrastive Study ◽  
Linguistic Strategies

<p>This thesis is an analysis of authentic communication between professionals at work in three workplaces (Company NZ1, NZ2 and M). The research involves a contrastive study of internal emails in two different countries (New Zealand and Malaysia) with very distinct cultures. In addition to the email corpus comprising 1745 emails, the analysis is supported by data collected using a mixed-methods approach: fieldwork observations, a questionnaire and interviews.  The analysis suggests that workplace culture influences people’s linguistic and non-linguistic behaviours. A Community of Practice (CofP) approach provided insights into characteristics of workplace culture such as the participants' behaviours, language, values and beliefs. This approach also facilitated analysis of how these behaviours were negotiated among the staff members, and how practices were established to signify membership of communities of practice.  Using an adapted version of Speech Act Theory, the email messages were coded initially for their main communicative function. The next layer of analysis involved exploring the interpersonal and power dimensions of the communicative function of making requests. To this end, Spencer-Oatey's Rapport Theory was applied as the primary theoretical framework and Halliday's three metafunctions were also used to interpret the emails.  The analysis indicated that all three workplaces use email for the same communicative functions, but the proportions of usage differed. In the New Zealand workplaces, providing information is the predominant function, followed by making requests. By contrast, making requests dominates the use of email in the Malaysian workplace.  The analysis demonstrates that rapport is managed differently in the three communities of practice. The greater use of informal greetings and closings and various linguistic strategies such as modalised interrogatives and mitigating devices in one New Zealand workplace suggests that participants are attending to rapport, and that they are aware of the importance of maintaining harmonious collegial relationships when making requests of their work colleagues. On the other hand, a greater use of formal greetings and closings, bare imperatives and boosting devices in the Malaysian workplace suggests the converse.  Furthermore, the analysis indicates that rapport is managed quite differently even when participants are from the same country (New Zealand) which practises an egalitarian culture.  The analysis also demonstrates how superiors and subordinates 'do' power and construct authority through the use of various linguistic strategies, such as imperative mood, use of the personal pronoun ‘I’, and boosting devices. The greater use of these linguistic strategies in the other New Zealand workplace and the Malaysian workplace suggests that more importance was placed on getting the job done than on maintaining rapport. In addition, the analysis identifies different attitudes towards the manifestation of power. In New Zealand where egalitarianism is highly valued, an overt display of power could damage work relationships. By contrast, in Malaysia, inequality in power is accepted as normal. People do not question superiors' authority, rights and entitlement to privileges. Recognising such culturally different values proved important in interpreting the data.  To conclude, this research illustrates how the use of a rapport management framework can provide new insights in relation to online workplace communication. Email not only 'does' power and performs transactional work, it also accomplishes relational work. Furthermore, the CofP approach provides insights concerning how each workplace establishes different linguistic and non-linguistic practices which form the basis of a distinct workplace culture. Finally, the analysis makes a contribution to the field of email communication from a cross-cultural perspective.</p>

scholarly journals Business Ethics as an Ethical Self-Promotion? How Advertising Executives Promote their Activity

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Léa Porée
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Marketing Strategy ◽  
Discourse Ethics ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Social Critique ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Advertising Agency ◽  
The Way

In this paper, I suggest that we untangle the business ethics of a French advertising agency as a social critique of the advertising field. I attempt to analyse the display and promotion of values used in order to enhance the agency’s activity. Is the agency’s business ethics simply a form of commodification and a marketing strategy? Or is it an attempt to introduce morality into a business that is supposedly not moral? I also intend to highlight the way that employees understand and negotiate this entrepreneurial discourse. Ethics has multiple purposes: it is a communication tool that promotes the agency itself, and it serves as a guarantee for good advertising practice. The study of business ethics in the agency emphasizes how the firm reconciles its entrepreneurial logic with the moral values it claims.

Islamization of Knowledge

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqi
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Moral Vision ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Human Situation ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Degree Of Certainty ◽  
Use Of Knowledge ◽  
Creativity And Innovation ◽  
The Way

The assumptions on which the Islamization of knowledge project was linked to the movement for restoration of Islam to a position of leadership and dominance in contemporary society may not have all been correct. Knowledge creation and beneficial use of new knowledge are two distinct though complementary processes. Each has its own requirement. Morality rooted in spirituality is decisive in ensuring that new knowledge is used beneficially. But creation of new knowledge requires freedoms of thought and discussion, encouragement of creativity and innovation, and toleration of dissent and diversity. It requires a mindset that can entertain ambiguity, one that does not hasten to discard potential spoilers of legacies long established as sacred ‒ requirements which the sponsors of the Islamization of knowledge project might have failed to give due weight. The project can be revived only by recognizing the primacy of expanding knowledge over the necessity of ensuring proper use of knowledge. It is in the nature of the first, expansion of knowledge (by creating new knowledge) that is universal. Differences of faith or moral vision, so important in the context of the second stage (putting knowledge to good use) need not stand in the way of cooperation and collaboration in the first stage. Have the sponsors of the Islamization project neglected this truth? What could be worse: have they abdicated the first step in their eagerness to do justice to the second? This paper concludes by inviting Islamization enthusiasts to join the rest of humanity in expanding knowledge, while simultaneously working for creating universal awareness of what makes use of knowledge beneficial and prevents the fatal error of allowing laissez-faire in the use of knowledge. I also argue that conceiving of knowledge as a tool for power and hegemony can be frustrating if not outright destructive. Last but not the least, we cannot know all that needs be known and, no less important, not everything is known with the same degree of certainty. Humility requires we recognize our limits. Ambiguity and a degree of uncertainty is built into the human situation. It cannot be wished away. Having adopted a humble stance, the way forward is to share the quest of knowledge and its proper use with all and everyone.

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