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Homework answers / question archive / Organizational Behaviour: September – November 2020 Major Assignment #1   Chapter 11: Communication   SMART PHONES: PROMOTING COMMUNICATION CONNECTEDNESS OR DISCONNECTEDNESS?   In early 2007, Anjali Athavaley, writing in The Wall Street Journal, observed that “[w]ireless email devices used to be largely the domain of harried executives and professionals

Organizational Behaviour: September – November 2020 Major Assignment #1   Chapter 11: Communication   SMART PHONES: PROMOTING COMMUNICATION CONNECTEDNESS OR DISCONNECTEDNESS?   In early 2007, Anjali Athavaley, writing in The Wall Street Journal, observed that “[w]ireless email devices used to be largely the domain of harried executives and professionals

Management

Organizational Behaviour: September – November 2020

Major Assignment #1

 

Chapter 11: Communication

 

SMART PHONES: PROMOTING COMMUNICATION CONNECTEDNESS OR DISCONNECTEDNESS?

 

In early 2007, Anjali Athavaley, writing in The Wall Street Journal, observed that “[w]ireless email devices used to be largely the domain of harried executives and professionals. Now, the so-called CrackBerry effect is beginning to afflict the masses. The BlackBerry has become ingrained in daily life, much like the cellphone and computer.”[1] Indeed, since this observation was penned, Smart Phones, like the BlackBerry, have become ubiquitous in the general population. Increasingly, people from all walks of life, young and old, all socio-economic strata, etc. have embraced the potential of Smart Phones for communicating with others, searching for information, doing work, playing games, and a myriad other applications. “[E]veryone from stay-at- home parents to college students is depending on BlackBerrys or similar ¼ devices for basic daily tasks, such as checking sports scores, finding directions, emailing the children’s baseball coach and keeping in up-to-the-minute touch with friends.”[2] “They are talking on mobile phones, checking email on handheld computers or integrated communicators, or getting an instant or a text message on either device. Some are listening to music and playing games on personal game consoles, while others are checking sports scores, watching replays, or even making dinner reservations. No matter age, gender, national identity, or socio-economic status, broad mobile device adoption seems to know no bounds.”[3]       

There are numerous potential applications for Smart Phones like the BlackBerry. Nick Wingfield, writing in The Wall Street Journal, notes that “mobile workers have been ditching their desktop computers for laptops that they can take wherever they go. Now road warriors are starting to realize that they can get even more portability ¾ and lots of computing punch ¾ from [S]mart [P]hones.”[4] Many business “travelers are now using [S]mart [P]hones the way they once used laptops ¾ and laptops the way they once used desktop computers,” and some traveling business people are even “ditching their laptops entirely and doing all their mobile work from [S]mart [P]hones.”[5]

Interestingly, with the increased popularity of Smart Phones and all they can do to facilitate communications, they have also undermined verbal communication and promoted incivility in the communications process. “[F]riends hardly call each other. People resist protocols that call for verbal communication¼ . People don’t like using their phones to make calls or listen to voice mails.”[6] Texting seems to be the preferred mode, especially for younger people, when communicating with others.

Among college students, texting is a dominant form of communication ¾ and as most college students know, texting goes on at inappropriate times. For instance, texting during class ¾ even when it’s not allowed ¾ is an all-too-common occurrence. “In a survey of 1,043 college students at the University of New Hampshire, almost half said they feel guilty about texting during class when it’s not allowed. Even so, texting is quite common: 65 percent said they send at least one text message during a typical class.”[7]

“People calling, texting and responding to e-mails at inappropriate times and places have become an issue in both a professional and business context.”[8] Joseph De Avila, reporting for The Wall Street Journal, notes there is a pervasive expectation that people have instant access to email, and rapid replies to one’s messages are also expected.[9]

Incivility in interpersonal communication also is manifested in the level of empathy that people display toward each other. “Recent research has shown a marked decline in empathy¼ . A new University of Michigan study finds that empathy among college students has declined 40% in the past two decades. Researchers say one factor may be our reliance on social media. We’re more apt to be empathetic when we communicate face to face.”[10]

Yet there is some backlash to the pull of technological connectivity. “In an increasingly connected world, some CEOs prefer to kick it old school, avoiding the short attention span that comes with being plugged in. They have assistants that handle all their communication, prefer reading printed out e-mails, and don’t dip their toes in any social media. That level of isolation is unrealistic for most executives, but learning when to connect and when to disconnect is essential in today’s business culture.”[11]

As people in all walks of life are becoming more connected technologically, are they becoming increasingly disconnected interpersonally?

 

 

 

SOURCE: This case was written by Michael K. McCuddy, The Louis S. and Mary L. Morgal Chair of Christian Business Ethics and Professor of Management, College of Business Administration, Valparaiso University.

 

 

 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

 

  1. Can the basic interpersonal communication process be used as an aid in understanding the impact of Smart Phone usage? If so, how?                                                                    /4

 

  1. How have Smart Phones transformed the way in which businesspeople communicate with regard to fulfilling their job responsibilities?                                                                  /4

 

  1. How have Smart Phones transformed the way in which college students communicate? /4

 

  1. Do you think that as people become more connected technologically they become less connected interpersonally? Why or why not?                                                                         /4

 

 

QUIZ QUESTIONS

 

True/False                                                                                                                              /4

 

_____1. A Smart Phone texting interaction has a higher level of communication richness than a telephone conversation.

 

_____2. Reflective listening is not possible in a texting interaction.

 

_____3. Texting involves one-way communication.

 

_____4. Smart Phone texting could be a tool in an organizational grapevine.

 

 

 

Multiple Choice                                                                                                                     /5

 

  1. Applying the basic interpersonal communication model to communication via texting, which of the following is true?
    1. Feedback is not possible.
    2. A perceptual screen may affect both the communicator and the receiver.
    3. Message content will focus only on thoughts, not feelings.
    4. Voice is considered the medium.

 

  1. The case reports that the use of technology has led to a decline in empathy. Which of the following important aspect of communication would be negatively affected by this decline?
    1. Reflective listening
    2. Informativeness
    3. Expressiveness
    4. Persuasion

 

 

 

  1. What does research suggest is the impact of computer mediation of communication on the communication interaction?
  1. Communication tends to be blunter and less tactful.
  2. Communication tends to be slower and less precise.
  3. Communication tends to have a higher emotional content.
  4. Communication tends to be less creative.

 

  1. The use of technology like Smart Phones encourages more than one activity. What does this mean?
  1. Greater performance speed
  2. Group collaboration
  3. Multitasking
  4. Insincerity

 

  1. How does communication via technologies tend to influence group interaction?
    1. It promotes faster decision making and an easier time reaching consensus.
    2. It makes gender differences in communication more obvious.
    3. It emphasizes power and status differences.
    4. It tends to equalize participation.

 

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