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CHAPTER 4 1
Imparting the Organizational Culture

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Innovation Communication Ethics
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Change Boundary Spanning Performance Feedback
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Culture includes the entire symbolic environment. Culture defines reality: what is, what should be, what can be. It provides focus and meaning. It selects out of the myriad of events and interactions in the world those we pay attention to. Culture tells us what is important; what causes what, how events beyond our lives relate to us. Culture gives us values and standards of value. What we may distinguish analytically (and at our peril) as fact, value, and goal is existentially integrated in culturein identifications, expectations, and demands of individual persons. Jeane Kirkpatrick
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78SECTION 1: FOUNDATION
he technical cause of the tragedy was easy enough to figure out. It was a piece of foam that hit the vehicle at the wrong time and place. But the Accident Investigation Board believes that the organizational culture and structure had as much to do with this accident as the foam.1 The safety culture, over time, slowly and unintenCH A PTE R 4 : BY T H E NU M BE R S tionally, became reactive, complacent, and domi38% nated by unjustified optimism.2 The investigators noted that the following traits were at the core of the of employees dont feel committed organizational culture: to their organization 1 of 4 Corporate culture is 1 of 4 business fundamentals that high-performing companies must master 39% of employees are cynical about organizational life #2 ranked characteristic of top employers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry is having work and personal values that are aligned 20% lower turnover rate is experienced by companies that communicate effectively versus companies that dont communicate effectively
reliance on past successes as a substitute for sound engineering practices (such as testing to understand why systems were not performing in accordance with requirements); organizational barriers that prevented effective communication of critical safety information and stifled professional differences of opinion; lack of integrated management across program elements and decision-making processes that operated outside the organizations rules.3
How could an organizational culture devolve into this state? How might organizational culture structure our view of reality in destructive ways? How can leaders and managers cultivate a more desirable culture? And how can we use organizational culture to prevent future disasters like the one that destroyed the space shuttle Columbia and claimed the lives of seven astronauts? These are the issues discussed in this chapter.
JULIETTE GORDON LOW

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It was 1911, and Juliette Gordon Low had just celebrated her 50th birthday. If Juliette, or Daisy as friends and family called her, looked back on her life at that point, she might have evaluated it in terms of a checklist. In column one, she might have listed successes: Become a skilled wood and metal worker. Check. Travel the world. Check. Go on a big game hunt. Check.
Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture79
In an age when women of her stature were not supposed to do manual labor, travel unescorted, and hunt, she had done them all. She even built a large iron gate for her Downton Abbeylike estate located in Warwickshire. And Daisy had even shot and killed a tiger on a big game hunt in India. Thats a fairly impressive resume for a young woman raised in the ashes of Savannah, Georgia, after the Civil War. In the adjacent column of the checklist, she might have listed the following unchecked entries: Successfully treat a hearing loss suffered early in life. (In fact, the physician treating her probably made her hearing worse by using a wrong concentration of the drug. Years later, her difficulties were compounded by a kernel of rice that became lodged in her ear during her wedding celebration.) Emulate the loving marriage of my parents. (For 9 years, she endured the gambling, womanizing, and drinking habits of the wealthy English rogue she had married. Before the final divorce decree, he died, leaving most of his considerable estate to his mistress.) Raise children in a loving home. (In fact, Daisy was childless, which at the time carried an onerous social stigma.) The question facing Daisy at 50 was What now? A childless widow with ample funds like Daisy clearly could have idled away her remaining years attending social events and hosting tea parties. She chose a decidedly different path. And women like Sally Ride, Condoleezza Rice, Mariah Carey, Sandra Day OConnor, and Hillary Clinton are glad she did. In 1911, by chance, Daisy met one of the most famous English generals of the era, Robert Baden-Powell, who was also the founder of the Boy Scouts. Almost immediately, Daisy and the general hit it off. He was fascinated by this woman, who was maddeningly erratic but brilliantly eccentric. And she was equally captivated by this man of military glory and gentlemanly charms. But over time, their common bond became scouting and its female counterpart, the Girl Guides. Returning home to Savannah, Daisy assembled her first troop of Girl Guides (later to become Girl Scouts) on March 12, 1912. The core idea was simple: build the girls character, confidence, and courage in order to make the world a better place. The girls learned to hike, camp, play basketball, administer first aid, and serve the community. But not all noble dreams result in an enduring, 100-year-old organization with over 3 million members. How did Daisy grow the Girl Scouts into the most important organization for girls in the history of the nation?4 After all, she had no formal leadership and management training. Yet somehow she learned to cultivate values in these young girls that have endured for ages. To be sure, she had remarkable storytelling and persuasion skills. She also had some simple and sustainable precepts cleverly captured in the Girl Scout Promise and Law that she passionately shared with all who would listen. And, like all great communicators
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(Continued) of culture, she knew how to use the scouting values to inspire others through an ever-widening array of fun activities. Near the end of her life, Daisy might have looked on her checklists and discovered two key insights: Her successes gave her the confidence to gleefully break the social norms of the day, and her disappointments fostered the fortitude needed to happily persevere through lifes challenges. Similar insights could guide leaders who seek to craft enduring and ennobling organizational cultures.
What Is Culture?
The word culture has agricultural overtones, as in the word cultivation. Historically, culture meant to prepare the ground or to till the soil in order to foster a particular kind of growth. To the early Christians, culture involved a kind of worship.5 Culture still encompasses both definitions. Organizational cultures foster certain types of growth, provide fertile ground for particular kinds of enterprises, and weed out other types of behaviors. Cultivation of the organizational soil encourages the germination of compatible and beneficial behaviors, practices, and policies. And in many companies, a kind of religious zeal permeates the organizational culture. Wal-Mart associates, for instance, may start the day with a ritualistic cheer or chant (Give me a W, give me an A....Whats that spell? Wal-Mart. Whose Wal-Mart is it? My Wal-Mart. Whos number one? The Customer! Always!). Culture can be thought of as both a process and a condition. An organizations culture is simultaneously somewhat stable but constantly evolving as new challenges are encountered. Implicit or explicit decisions are made to encourage some values and discourage others. A 20th-century Renaissance man, Jacob Bronowski, said, For the values rest at bottom on acts of judgment. And every act of judgment is a division of the field of experience into what matters and what does not.6 These choices or ways of being become so thoroughly ingrained that other ways of doing things are precluded. Organizations, like countries, have styles of action and typical patterns of thought that evolve. If there is an American way, then we can also say there is the Google way. Corporate culture, then, is the underlying belief and value structure of an organization collectively shared by the employees and symbolically expressed in a variety of overt and subtle ways. A host of individual practices morph and interlock to create a distinctive way-we-do-things-around-here predisposition.7 Faced with the frenetic pace of corporate life, few managers take the time to contemplate what the organization has become and is becoming. Although they may not be able to clearly articulate the values, they certainly function by them.
Culture for an organization is like music for dancers. To provide perspective, lets examine the impact of music on humans. Psychologists tell us that 2-year-old infants will move toward consonant music and shy away from dissonant sounds. As we age, music engages multiple parts of our brains and actually alters the neural structure, causing us to react strongly to sounds that become important to us.8 Over time, music regulates our social behavior, shapes our experiences, and promotes bonding.9 Organizational culture acts in much the same way, altering the way we process stimuli, shifting what commands our attention, and subtly regulating our day-to-day activities. Effective cultures induce us to devote our time to tasks that our organization values and ignore the rest. They promote bonding to the values that the organization advocates. Just ask any member of the armed forces. The communication practices of leaders shape the harmonies and rhythms of an organization. Just as music can express discord, confusion, turmoil, or even randomness, so too can an organizations culture. Strict adherence to a rhythmic structure might appeal more to an Arrow manager, whereas a Circuit manager might focus more on form than on substance. The Dance manager seeks to harmoniously and creatively blend rhythm and melody.
Does Culture Matter?

Corporate culture influences the organization in a variety of ways. This section highlights four of the more notable consequences.
Culture Affects the Bottom Line

James Kotter has devoted much of his scholarly life to investigating the habits of visionary and value-oriented cultures. In a study of 207 companies over an 11-year period, he found that the companies that lived by their stated values experienced four times more growth in revenues than did their counterparts.10 Another groundbreaking study of 160 companies over a 10-year period revealed that culture was one of four business fundamentals that high-performing companies must master. As the researchers note,
Our study made it clear that building the right culture is imperative...one that champions high-level performance and ethical behavior. In winning companies, everyone works at the highest levels. These organizations design and support a culture that encourages outstanding individual and team contributions, one that holds employeesnot just managersresponsible for success.11
These findings should not be surprising. The right culture coupled with the correct strategy and structure provides employees with focus, purpose, and motivation. In a sense, a strong culture allows employees to almost read the minds of executives, efficiently coordinating actions. The result: less waste, more innovation, higher productivity, and, ultimately, higher profits.
Culture Influences How an Organization Analyzes and Solves Problems

Few business characteristics have more significance on the profit-and-loss statement than do the ways in which decisions are made and carried out. Paul Bate, a noted scholar from the University of Bath, England, wrote in a thought-provoking article,
People in organizations evolve in their daily interactions with one another a system of shared perspectives or collectively held and sanctioned definitions of the situation which make up the culture of these organizations. The culture, once established, prescribes for its creators and inheritors certain ways of believing, thinking, and acting which in some circumstances can prevent meaningful interaction and induce a condition of learned helplessnessthat is, a psychological state in which people are unable to conceptualize their problems in such a way as to be able to resolve them. In short, attempts at problem solving may become culture-bound.12
Bates research confirms that culture deeply influences decision making. Meaningful alternatives are not explored because thats not how things are done around here. For instance, one small but growing company had several problems with how various departments interrelated. The normal procedure was to forward all such problems to the president and let him resolve the issues. After all, such procedures worked well in the past, and the president, a corporate hero, was legendary for his ability to equitably solve problems. However, as the firm grew, it became increasingly difficult for the president to know the necessary facts to make appropriate decisions. A simple and obvious solution was to have middle managers meeting to solve many of the problems and coordinate activities. Strangely, no one in the company had thought of this idea. Why? Because of the way-things-are-done-around-here. In essence, respecting the chain of command precluded even thinking about such a solution. The culture blinded the entire management team to such an obvious solution. The consultant who suggested the change was not constrained by these blinders and was widely praised for this revolutionary idea. Once the meetings began to take place, many of the problems were quickly and easily resolved.
Culture Influences How the Company Will Respond to Change

Culture can actively encourage quick and decisive change when conditions demand it. Consider Amazon.com, run by the disarmingly understated Jeff Bezos. His goal is universal selection, the earths biggest river, earths biggest selection. Some of Amazon.coms innovations, like one-click ordering, are legendary. Others are complete failures. No matter. Few traditional companies would take such risky, costly, and bold steps. Yet this is exactly what the culture demands of employees. Conversely, the organizational culture can impede necessary change. Universities are almost legendary for such resistance. If the need arises to develop a program that crosses departmental boundaries, the budgetary and bureaucratic obstacles are
almost overwhelming. Why? In a word, tradition. The entire system conspires to maintain the traditional departmental structure, and it underscores a belief that knowledge should be compartmentalized. Hence, most universities develop barriers to ensure that no one fundamentally challenges this belief. In some ways, such barriers to change may be beneficial, but the benefits should be weighed against the costs. Then the question becomes Does the culture foster the necessary degree of change? An organizations long-term survival may hinge on the answer.
Culture Affects Employee Motivation and Customer Satisfaction

There can be no greater motivation for employees than when they believe in what they are doing, what the company does, and what the company stands for. The culture of excellent companies motivates because it provides a unique point of identity and commonality for all employees. It distinguishes employees from those in other companies; its like an exclusive club with all the requisite symbols of distinction and powers of inspiration. For example, Disney World has a legendary culture of customer service. Rick Johnson, who has conducted seminars about the Disney culture, explained,
You cant force people to smile. Each guest at Disney World sees an average of 73 employees per visit, and we would have to supervise them continually. Of course, we cant do that, so instead we try to get employees to buy into the corporate culture.13
Then employees are expected to behave according to these general principles as unique situations occur. Employees usually prefer to work with a manager who has a set of values rather than a set of rules, who challenges others to share values instead of enforcing regulations, and who believes in people over procedures. Conversely, when a company espouses one philosophy but practices another, employees become unmotivated, disheartened, and disillusioned. Who would be motivated by a company that says that all employees should be treated with respect but does not respond to their inquiries? This kind of disconnect between word and deed breaks an implicit social contract. Likewise, who would offer a spirited defense of a company that promises a fair pricing system to its customers and then regularly deceives clients as to the actual price of goods and services? Hypocrisy has its price. George Gilder, in his classic book Wealth and Poverty, summarized it best:
Matters of management, motivation, and spiritand their effects on willingness to innovate and seek new knowledgedwarf all measurable inputs in accounting for productive efficiency, both for individuals and groups and for management and labor. A key difference is always the willingness to transform vague information or hypotheses into working knowledge; willingness, in Tolstoys terms, transferred from the martial to the productive arts, to fight and face danger, to exert efforts and take risks.14
How Can We Discover the Culture?

Anyone trying to detect cultural values should remember the old adage Fish were the last creatures to discover water. Detecting culture requires a degree of detachment and insightqualities difficult to master when we are immersed in an organizational culture. Think, for instance, about how much you learn about your own national culture when you travel abroad. Another difficulty faces the cultural detectivenamely, distinguishing between the stated and actual cultural values. The stated culture is what the organization aspires to be, whereas the actual culture represents the way the organization truly behaves. The cultural detective needs to understand both to have a firm grasp of potential organizational difficulties.15 A good place to start is to gather 100 facts about the organization, sort them into categories, and ask the kind of questions reviewed in Table 4.1. Some of the more revealing methods are highlighted in this section.
Examine the Corporate Slogans, Philosophies, and Value Statements

Click on the Web sites of almost any of the worlds most admired companies, and you will find a clear statement of their corporate values and slogans. Wal-Mart, for instance, routinely ranks in the top 10 on this list.16 The company website boldly asserts, Our success will always be attributed to our culture. It elaborates by outlining three basic Wal-Mart beliefs: 1) respect for the individual, 2) service to our customers, and 3) strive for excellence.17 Statements like these provide a brief and concise view of how the organization views itself and its missiona sort of corporate self-image. Publicizing the cultural values to both employees and customers creates internal and external pressures to act in concert with the values. Their ability to use their core values to guide behaviors and make decisions may explain why more than 80% of U.S. households purchase something at Wal-Mart each year.18 Researchers have confirmed that thoughtful mission statements significantly improve the odds of practicing what you preach. In one study of more than 40 publicly traded financial services firms, researchers found that the mission statement of firms recognized for their work-life initiatives were more likely than those of competitors to emphasize the value of employees and less likely to stress shareholder value.19 One note of caution: Creating catchy value statements, of course, does not guarantee organizational success of the magnitude of Wal-Mart. Just look at a few story headlines about Toyota during 2010: The Humbling of Toyota and How Toyota Lost Its Way.20 The companys once highly touted quality culture took some big hits during this time, even though no one rewrote the quality value statement. In short, official organizational rhetoric often provides the cultural detective with a clear understanding of leaders aspirations for the company (the stated culture), not necessarily the actual cultural values. The cultural detective looks for other, more subtle clues to discover the actual culture. We discuss two of the more important ones next.
TABLE 4.1 Discovering an Organizations Cultural Values
Signs Physical design Buildings Parking lots Office design Symbols Logos Dress codes Philosophy statements Taboos Totems Slogans Heroes/villains Conversations Jokes/anecdotes Stories Naming conventions
Potential Questions
Where are they located? Why? Where do customers park? Executives? What activities are encouraged? Discouraged?
What values are highlighted? Where are logos displayed? Whose needs are underscored? What concepts are emphasized? What actions are prohibited? Why? What objects are revered? Why? What actions or thoughts are highlighted? Who are the good guys and bad guys? Why?
What jokes/anecdotes are considered funny? Why? What stories are repeated? What is the moral of the story? How are employees routinely referred to? What nicknames are used? What do titles represent about the organization?
Policies and activities Financial rewards Personnel policies Rituals Ceremonies What activities get rewarded? Ignored? What kinds of people succeed? Fail? Why? What routine activities take place in the organization? Why? What events get commemorated? Why?
Reflect on the Type of People in the Organization

Employees, particularly those at the highest levels, are at once creators, carriers, and consequences of culture. The people hired, and their backgrounds, biases, prejudices, and styles, shape the corporate culture. In turn, these employees carry
and embody the culture. The daily rituals, the inside jokes, and the taken-forgranteds are all reflections of the values. The entire past, present, and future of the company are reflected in the employees, just as a broken corner of a hologram reflects the imagery of the entire picture.21 Employees are also consequences of the culture because even as they are shaping the culture, they are being shaped by it. To be more specific, by questioning, probing, and observing the behavior of others, the cultural detective can discern the hidden cultural values. Why are certain individuals hired, fired, or promoted? What makes a person successful in the organization? Unsuccessful? What does top management value in an employee? How are decisions made? Why? The why questions are the most difficult and revealing because the answers disclose the underlying thought patterns, beliefs, and values of the organization. More often than not, the whys are unstated and unconscious. For instance, why do most organizations go through the ritual of asking for more information than they can possibly use? The practice often reflects an underlying commitment to making informed decisions. Or why would a company take the time to interview a number of people it has little likelihood of hiring? A silly practice? Perhaps. But it may reflect a corporate value of giving everyone a fair chance.
Study Symbols and Heroes

Organizational heroes frequently provide a rich source of information on organizational values. For example, during one seminar with bank employees, the discussion turned to some typical difficulties tellers had in dealing with uncooperative customers. In the middle of the discussion, the bank president stood up and told a story. In a rather lengthy soliloquy, he told how he had handled a similar situation when he was a teller and went on to explain with great relish how he had become president from his modest beginnings. Even though I was a bit surprised, the employees were not. Later, I found out that such an event was not without precedent. Edward, as the president liked to be called, was one of the corporate heroes, and those stories were common knowledge among the employees. What purpose did Edwards story serve? Fundamentally, the message reiterated the value that top management was employee centered and that anyone can make it. The president, whom they all knew on a first-name basis, was a coworker who understood their difficulties and troubles. Most of all, he cared. He communicated, consciously or unconsciously, the secret of this organizations success. Many employees, no doubt, shrugged off the incident. After all, it was common knowledge. Yet the wise leader understands the deeper meaning of the commonplace and finds significance in everyday events. Symbolic clues provide numerous insights into corporate values. Some are more explicit, such as corporate heroes, slogans, and philosophies. Others are more implicit, such as parking lots, graphic designs, and company newsletters (see Table 4.1). But culture does not exist in the symbols themselves; they are really the manifestations of culture. Culture evolves as employees come to understand, react, and relate to the symbols. Note that this fluid process implies that organizations
often have various subcultures that compete to create the dominant culture. Through this dynamic interplay, a culture emerges that may or may not be appropriate. We now turn to this difficult issue.
How Can We Evaluate the Culture?

Wise leaders often find the roots of fundamental problems buried deep within the culture. The following three tests can reveal the underlying concerns with culture.
Does the Organization Seek to Close the Gap Between the Stated Culture and Actual Culture?
No one, not even ministers, can entirely practice what they preach. The stated culture always differs from the unstated one. The important question revolves around the nature of the gap between the two. Large gaps promote cynicism, discouragement, and poor performance. Consider the following situation. A small university prided itself on its commitment to teaching. Prospective students were told about the stellar teaching qualities of the faculty. Even new faculty recruits were indoctrinated into the importance of quality teaching. Then one day, a new dean became enamored with seeking a special certification for one of the largest departments on campus. This particular certification required that the departments professors have the highest degrees. The only problem was that some of the best and most experienced teachers in the program had masters degrees, not PhDs. What to do? Here was a real test of values. If teaching really mattered, then the leadership would either seek a way around the certification requirements or abandon the quest. But that did not happen. The dean decided to terminate the contracts of those with masters degrees, one by one, as their contracts expired. He also terminated any pretense that teaching really mattered. Image was all that counted. Even that was tarnished, as it became clear years later that the certification would never materialize. As many predicted, the initiative failed for lack of resources and commitment. Student complaints about the quality of teaching increased dramatically for a while but abated when they realized they just had to jump through the hoops to get the degree. Cynicism, apathy, and pretense prevailed because the chasm between the stated and actual culture was too wide to bridge.
Is the Actual Culture Suited for the Organizational Challenges?

A strong culture can actually be a bad thing for an organization because it can create resistance to other ways of doing things. The culture needs to be consistent with organizational strategy and the demands of the marketplace.22 Consider, for example, the scandal ostensibly precipitated by the notorious Jayson Blair at the The New York Times. One of the worlds greatest newspapers was forced to admit that it published dozens of Mr. Blairs stories that were either fabricated or plagiarized.23
On the surface, it may appear that Mr. Blair was solely responsible for these misdeeds. But Warren Bennis, an esteemed management theorist at the University of Southern California, argues that the problem really resides in the culture:
For all of Rainess [NYT executive editor] liberal politics and Southern gentility, he was an ego-driven autocrat who ruled by fear, played favorites, had an idiosyncratic news judgment . . . and loathed hearing unwanted truths. Again and again, he gave Blair plum assignments despite warnings from other editors that the hyperactive, erratic rookie reporter was a disaster in the making.24
In essence, the executive editor failed to produce a culture of candor, which is vital to maintaining and augmenting the credibility of a newspaper. In short, the newsroom culture was not in sync with the demands of the business for accurate and honest reporting. The subsequent firing of Mr. Blair and resignations of senior editors helped readjust the culture.
Does the Actual Culture Fit the Employees Beliefs and Values?
Most company mergers and acquisitions fail to live up to their promise. In fact, researchers have consistently found a 50% to 60% failure rate.25 This makes perfect sense because employees from one company often do not share the values of the other company. After all, they were hired, trained, and assimilated by only one of the organizations. In one instance, a large regional financial firm acquired a local banking chain that prided itself on its unique culture. The local chain offered highly personalized customer service, even serving tea to customers as they entered the bank. When the regional firm took over, the tea parties stopped. So did the personalized service. They were replaced by standardized procedures and formalized relationships. The result: Employee turnover soared, while customer satisfaction plummeted. No wonder mergers rarely live up to their promise. Few employees quickly or gleefully assimilate a new culture.
How Can Leaders Effectively Impart the Culture?

The effective leader teaches employees (1) what the corporation values, (2) why it is valued, and (3) how to transform values into action. Employees, like students, do not always see the value of what they are doing until after they have done it. They may tire, get discouraged, or even resist. Yet thoughtful leaders overcome these hindrances while deepening commitment to organizational values and inspiring employees to enact them. They view the values as DNA that should be replicated throughout the organization. Ultimately, the values must move from objective statements to subjective realities. In other words, employees must transform corporate rhetoric into personal commitments and experiences. How can managers facilitate this process? In a word, through communication.
Most organizations construct their culture through an unplanned and haphazard trial-and-error process. Effective organizations with healthy cultures contemplate, plan, and manage their corporate values. Still, as John Kotter notes, culture is not like Silly Putty in the wrong shape and you have to make it in the right shape.26 Therefore, thoughtful leaders consciously but subtly construct cultural cues for their employees. This section reviews 10 useful strategies for communicating values.
Craft Actionable Cultural Statements

Organizational value, mission, and purpose statements are inherently ambiguous, and with good reason. A bit of equivocation can inspire innovative yet focused behaviors, procedures, and decision making. Effective leaders fashion statements in the actionable zoneones that are neither overly ambiguous nor overly narrow. If the statements are too ambiguous, they unleash employees, inspiring the disruptive elements. If the cultural statements are too narrow, they straitjacket employees, inspiring only the automatons. Consider the following statements: We are in the business of serving customers. Our employees are our number one resource. Our mission is to make the best damn product we can. They may sound nice, but a proper employee discussion would quickly expose their banality and insipidness. For example, how well should customers be served? Resources can be bought, sold, and bartered. What about employees? And what if customers do not want the best damn product the company makes because of the cost? In short, the statements do not motivate, inspire, or compel the right action. Overly ambiguous statements dominate the organizational landscape. Why? Probably because writing purposeful, value-based mission statements, no doubt, has become fashionable. Companies can even purchase fill-in-the-blanks, tailormade mission statementsguaranteed to inspire even the indolent. Such practices boggle the mind, conveying the authenticity of a plagiarized speech. Cultural statements should be carefully contemplated. Ideally, get as many people as feasible involved in crafting and even wordsmithing the statements. Indeed, neuroscientists confirm what behavioral economists have known for years: We respond quite differently to similar choices depending on the word choices. Which package of ground beef will most consumers select: one labeled 80% lean or one labeled 20% fat? Its no contest; most people will pick up the one labeled lean, even though the numbers reflect the same information.27 (Note: This is known as the framing effect.) Debating and crafting the actual words provides a robust, beefy understanding of the nuances and implications. A group of consultants specializing in these issues expressed it this way:
It pays to spend more time in the planning and gathering and discussing of the analysis, mission and vision, because the buy-in will be substantially stronger and the implementation phase will just be a continuation of the process, rather than a disjointed hand-off from planners to doers.28
Consider the experience of our consulting team with one dairy plant. We spent hours discussing the implications of one value statement, Purpose-Directed Energy. We discussed what it meant and, more important, what it did not mean. We also developed a secondary list of statements designed to clarify the value (see Figure 4.1). Milking the statement for all it was worth, we even created a PDE index for meetings directly linking the cultural value to a measure (e.g., On a 010 scale, how much of our energy in the meeting was purpose directed?).
FIGURE 4.1 Actionable Value Statement
Purpose-Directed Energy
What we do is directed at set targets. Everyone has a clear picture of the plants objectives. Our time and efforts are directed at things that matter. Everyone understands why we do what we do. All employees meet defined expectations.
Appropriately Socialize Employees

From the moment new employees enter the organization, they start snapping mental pictures of the corporate values.29 The manner in which they are treated, the way employees talk to one another, the office design, and even the hiring process are all part of the mosaic. After being hired, the training procedures, daily rituals, and practices further reinforce what this company is all about. So the socialization occurs as the employees piece together images to form a more complete picture of the organizations value structure. Through this process, managers can actively encourage the appropriate values. Who does the hiring and interviewing, for example, can send equally powerful messages. Admiral Hyman Rickover, the founder of the nuclear Navy, was notorious for his rigorous interviews of all cadets who wished to serve on the submarines. In fact, the title of President Jimmy Carters book Why Not the Best? came from a comment by Rickover during one of those interviews.30 Here was one of the most powerful men in the world interviewing a cadet and asking him if he always did his best. Rickover, thus, set in motion the standard of excellence he expected from all those in his charge. In fact, his legendary commitment to quality was so great that his programs were usually considered untouchable during defense budget cutting days.31 Research indicates that the initial weeks of employment are a critical period for the manager to exert influence.32 Supervisors, to some extent, lose their power to shape the values, beliefs, and behaviors of employees after the first month or so.
This makes the initial training period extremely important, for managers are teaching not only specific skills but also the corporate philosophy. Detailed discussions of corporate history, successes, and failures help instill corporate values in employees. Some companies, like IBM, go through extensive discussions of corporate valuesnot just the whats but also the whys of policy. One IBM employee remarked, After youre done with their training, you know what they believe, why they believe it, and you end up believing it. Employees need not only to think about values but also to feel them. It is silly to recite over and over again a fact such as The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Once is enough. Yet repeating a slogan or value statement can act as an organizational mantra, reiterating words that weave a magic incantation.33 We do, in fact, listen to the same music over and over again. It replenishes our strength, focuses our spirit, and energizes us, just as Why not the best? did for a former U.S. president.
Develop Symbolic Reminders of the Core Values

Employees should live in a symbolic environment dominated by the organizations core stated values, reinforcing and reminding everyone what the organization stands for. The creative energy of many managers would be well spent in thinking of simple and novel methods to symbolize critical corporate values. Consider the ideas of the following organizations: Appleton: This producer of specialty-coated paper does more than paper the walls with its core value of CFQ, which stands for Customer-Focused Quality. Customers park in specifically designated CFQ spots close to the office buildings and plants. The company compensated employees for purchasing designer license plates that contain the CFQ acronym. On the streets in town, you cannot help but notice CFQ license plates with gems like IM4 CFQ and FORE CFQ. One almost senses a religious sect casting a magic spell. In fact, one citizen wrote to the local newspaper inquiring about the CFQ cult. Appletons prayers were certainly answered with publicity like that. Imperial LLC: This national distributor of quality maintenance supplies used an intriguing rhetorical device to reinforce the value of customer service. As seen in Figure 4.2, the company organizational chart is upside down, with the customer at the top as the chairman of the board. A church: The minister believed that church members should volunteer for church responsibilities instead of the usual practice in which various members are begged to serve. Not only did he preach that God calls people to serve from the pulpit, but he also signaled the value through a simple rhetorical device. Instead of a nominating committee that sought volunteers for various church functions, he reversed the spelling to coin the term ETANIMON Committee, to which members applied to serve the church. Here, in this deceptively simple act, he reversed the nominating process in both spelling and deed.
FIGURE 4.2 Imperial LLC: Organizational Chart
Customer
Account Development
Regional Accounts
National Accounts
Corporate Accounts
Marketing
Distribution
Administration
EDP
Purchasing
Executive Management
Board of Directors
Slogans and other symbolic acts may appear to be simpleminded and trivial. Yet the farsighted manager never underestimates the power and elegance of the simple. These symbolic acts provide meaning, purpose, and a unique point of identity and commonality for employees in these organizations.
Link Values With Specific Behaviors

Values are necessarily abstract concepts. Hence, there are countless specific behaviors that could spring from one value. Wise managers not only encourage certain behaviors but also link those behaviors to a specific value. Thus, the value becomes the focal point, which in turn encourages other novel behaviors that also express the value. One classic example occurred during the 1984 Olympic trials for the U.S. basketball team. Leon Wood, a standout offensive player at Cal State Fullerton, was a leader in scoring and assists but was not known for his defense. That was bound to change when Mr. Wood met Coach Bobby Knight, who was known for producing tenacious defenders. Not one to disappoint, Coach Knight gave Mr. Wood a lot of personalized instruction on how to play defense. At one point, Leon reported, Coach Knight came over to me and said, Leon, you took a charge, didnt you? Thats your first one in camp, isnt it? I said it was, and so he told me to go to the spot on the floor where I took the charge and sign the court.34 The coach linked the person (Wood) to
the value (defense) to a specific action (taking a charge). There must have been times when Leon was racing down the court that he looked over to that place on the floor and remembered the incident, which was indelibly etched in his mind. Moving from the hardwood to the office floor, we can find other compelling examples: Home Depot: The company enacts its value of giving back to the community by giving millions of dollars in grants to local charities and setting up teams of volunteers to complete community projects. For example, they have helped finance and organize projects to build affordable housing and playgrounds in numerous communities.35 Wal-Mart: Associates are encouraged to abide by the 10-foot rule to better serve customers. Sam Walton asked employees to pledge to promise that whenever you come within 10 feet of a customer, you will look him in the eye, greet him, and ask him if you can help him.36 Simple in design but powerful in effect, these acts symbolize and reinforce the core values of the organizations.
Filter Information Through the Values

Employees can pay attention to an infinite array of information, ranging from listening to the latest rumors to reading an ever-expanding stream of electronic communication. Effective organizations use the values to structure information to provide a focused reminder. Focus emerges by highlighting the most critical information while de-emphasizing less salient issues. Structuring information this way also provides a reminder to employees that the values permeate everything the organization does. Consider how one task force restructured a plants monthly production report. The original version of the 30-plus page report (organized by departments) consisted of a mass of statistics wrapped in a morass of tangled and jumbled commentary. All too often, employees read only about their own unit. The committee sliced through this thicket of information by reorganizing the report around the core values, disposing of pages of data, and slashing the report by 20 pages. For instance, all the safety data from various departments were grouped together in an easy to read chart designed to highlight the progress from month to month on the safety value. Below the statistical data was a summary of the months safety incidents and issues. Focus groups revealed that employees liked the new format and were more inclined to read the entire report. Executives were particularly pleased by the emphasis on plantwide issues. For example, when an employee sustained a peculiar injury in one department, employees in other departments would learn about the incident in the report. This kind of cross-departmental learning rarely happened with the old report format.
Tell the Right Stories and Create Opportunities to Originate Stories

As the insightful scholar George Gerbner said, The control of any culture is dependent on those who control the stories that are told.37 In fact, psychologists discovered a very strong correlation between the stories we tell about ourselves and the type of life we lead. Repeat stories about your luck to others. Bingo! Even when faced with a setback, you tend to lead a lucky life.38 The wise leader seizes the power of the story and uses it as a tool to regularly communicate the core values. What happens if a manager cannot think of a good story that illustrates a critical organizational value? Nothing at all. Employees will not understand the values, much less try to abide by them. Roger Schank leads a team of scholars trying to teach computers to tell the right stories. This daunting task goes to the very core of human experience: We are the stories we tell. We not only express our vision of the world, we also shape our memory by the stories we tell.39 The storytellers simple tale diverts our attention from their power and complexity. As Roger Schank put it, If we all share the same stories, we feel part of a common group. Moreover, when we believe that our most intimate stories are shared by our listeners, communication feels most intense.40 Good stories have a moral that we remember and act on. In fact, in a wonderfully titled book, Managing by Storying Around, David Armstrong describes how his company uses stories:
We have found stories to be so effective; theyve replaced our policy manual. ...Storytelling is a much simpler and more effective way to manage. I dont have to make thousands of individual decisionsIs it okay to have a drink during (a company) dinner? How about charging an in-room movie to the hotel room (during a company trip)?...The story gives people our guidelines, and then it is up to them. Storytelling promotes self-management.41
The stories provide the mechanism to move the values from stale statements written on a piece of paper to a fresh testament written in the hearts and minds of employees. As the esteemed screenwriter Robert McKee put it, stories fulfill a profound human need to grasp patterns of livingnot merely as an intellectual exercise, but within a very personal, emotional experience.42 Shrewd leaders are more than storytellers; they also create opportunities for others to develop meaningful stories. Ginger Graham, a group chairman for a medical technology firm, held a mock funeral to mark the demise of her old firm and the birth of a new one. The tale continued:
Someone dressed up as the Grim Reaper. Tombstone-shaped nameplates, with an executives name on each, graced every place at the table. We each wrote our own epitaphs describing our roles in the demise of the company. Mine was slow decision-making. . . . The funeral experience reinforced a sense of immediacy that made the epitaph exercises stick in our minds long afterward.43
Clearly, vivid memories can mark the point where values started to change and provide us a sense of future direction. One thoughtful writer may have summed it up best:
Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture95 We all bend our lives to fit the templates with which myths and archetypes provide us. We all tell ourselves stories and bring our futures into line with those stories, however much we cherish the sense of newness, of originality, about our lives.44
Use Rewards as Powerful Reminders

If you want to know what an organization really values, watch how it invests its resources. There are a variety of ways, large and small, to use rewards to reinforce values: Institute employee stock ownership plans. Link pay to performance on key value indicators. Provide special rewards (monetary and nonmonetary) to individuals and teams who practice values in action. Investing resources in the values usually pays off. As Carol Bernick, former president of Alberto-Culver North America, wrote, If you want something to grow, pour champagne on it.45
Manage Conflict Through the Values, Not the Hierarchy

Groucho Marx once quipped, Those are my principles; if you dont like them I have others. Managers in a healthy culture may chuckle at this wisecrack, but they would never alter their values to deal with a difficult situation. Consider this incident that occurred at Appleton, Inc. An hourly employee was arguing with a midlevel manager about how to pack a semitrailer with a paper product. The hourly worker invoked CFQ: This is the way the customer wants us to pack it. I thought we believed in focusing on the customer. Result: That was all the employee had to say; the trailer was loaded the way the customer wanted. The story quickly spread throughout the plant. On the surface, the story circulated by the employee may appear to highlight the victory of the union worker over one of the suits. After all, in many companies, the hourly worker would quickly acquiesce to those in authority. But on a deeper level, it signals that Appleton walks the talk. Incidents like this more powerfully communicate the values than a thousand pep talks. Unfortunately, all organizational conflicts are not resolved as easily. Organizational conflicts often arise because of clashes between competing values. There are innumerable practical manifestations of one simple value. Practices that are congruent with one value may be incongruent with another one. Wise managers learn to reconcile the inevitable conflicts between values and seek a balance. Taken to the extreme, an employee might believe that customer service means providing an excessively costly service to clients. Of course, such practices need to be balanced with the profit motive. The employee might retort, I was only trying to serve the customers needs. After all, that is what our company stands for. Is it wrong to serve the customer? The effective manager then has a unique opportunity to guide the
employee into an understanding of how the values balance one another. Indeed, values that seem to be at odds philosophically may, in practice, actually augment and strengthen one another. This discussion may sound something like the incantations of a Zen master, but successful managers artfully reconcile these tensions.
Routinely Evaluate Progress on the Core Values

Employee focus groups and surveys can provide insight into progress on core values. One medical clinic uses this process to reinvigorate a commitment, clarify the meaning of the core values, and develop specific action plans. Once a year, they close the clinic for an afternoon to ponder the clinic value statements. All the employees and physicians rate the clinic on its seven core values using a 0 (low) to 10 (high) scale. After the ratings are compiled, everyone starts to discuss the reasons for their ratings. Sometimes the physicians ratings differ greatly from the staff s. Sharing perceptions, for instance, on what convenient patient care actually means often proves revealing. In one instance, a physician who was notoriously late in completing follow-up reports learned that his patients often complained about not getting back test results in a timely manner. One month later, after getting rid of the backlog, the problem was resolved. The collective scrutiny of the group was just the right prescription. The yearly meeting ends with a decision about the projects most likely to improve the ratings for the following year. This organizational ritual provides a safe haven for conflict resolution while symbolizing the importance of the clinics values. After all, the clinic never closes for any other reason. In short, a routine checkup on the culture provides an assessment of the organization as well as a source of renewal.
Assist in the Evolution of the Meaning of the Values

A temporary clash between the stated values and the practiced ones can be healthy. Not practicing what one preaches becomes unhealthy if there is not some movement toward greater congruity. Many corporations espouse the wellness value, which embraces advice such as Eat right, Exercise, et cetera. The et cetera is the tough part. How far should a company go? How fast? For example, in the late 1970s, J&J initiated the Live for Life program, in which employees completed a comprehensive questionnaire about health risks. On the basis of the results, each employee was counseled by a nurse practitioner about appropriate lifestyle changes. Employees were encouraged to eat right, quit smoking, and exercise in the company-provided gym. But it was only in 1990 that the corporate headquarters became totally smoke-free. In other words, it took almost 15 years to fully integrate policies compatible with the wellness values. The wise manager recognizes the inevitable struggle between word and deed while searching for specific ways to bridge the chasm.
Anticipating and shaping cultural changes can be beneficial in building employee commitment to the values. Typically, the corporate culture changes slowly, as it takes time for employees to fully embrace the values. But there are benefits in incrementally increasing employee commitment to organizational values. For example, programs like J&Js, which have grown out of a commitment to the wellness value, have greatly reduced the health care costs of many organizations.46 Indeed, a culture that fails to adapt and continually renew its values can become stagnant and unhealthy. Thats why the thoughtful manager encourages resonant restatements of the cultural values. Its all about mindful reverberations, not mindless repetition. The great economist and philosopher F. A. Hayek summed it up best:
If old truths are to retain their hold on mens minds, they must be restated in the language and concepts of successive generations. What at one time are their most effective expressions gradually become so worn with use that they cease to carry any definite meaning. The underlying ideas may be as valid as ever, but the words, even when they refer to problems that are still with us, no longer convey the same conviction; the arguments do not move in a context familiar to us; and they rarely give us direct answers to the questions we are asking. This may be inevitable because no statement of an ideal that is likely to sway mens minds can be complete; it must be adapted to a given climate of opinion.47
CONCLUSION
I remember, as a youngster, watching an old black-and-white movie about a World War II naval battle. An American ship was dropping depth charges on a German submarine. Inside the sub, the results were devastating. Water was flooding one chamber after another, equipment was failing, and the crew faced what they thought was certain death. To make matters worse, the German crew had been instructed to maintain strict silence so that the American ships could not pinpoint their location. Morale was steadily eroding, which prevented the necessary repairs from being made and the appropriate offensive tactics from being engaged in. The crew was demoralized, exhausted, and terrified. Then, in a flash of brilliant insight and in direct violation of military procedure, the captain ordered that the German national anthem be played over the speaker system. Because of the silence code, the captains officers were stunned. At first, they refused. Then, with some gentle urging, one weary sailor placed the old, scratch-laden record on the record player. At first, one by one, then two by two, and finally the whole crew joined in the singing. And with each measure, the strength, the determination, and even the courage of the crew returned, as if resurrecting a corpse. They still faced the grim task at hand, but they were emboldened by their anthem, their music. And in the end, they triumphed over their peril. Likewise, many managers need to know when employee morale trumps procedure, how values can provide inspiration, and why courage triumphs over all. They need to know when to play the music.48
KEY CONCEPTS
Actual culture84 Core values84 Corporate culture80 Framing effect89 Stated culture84 Stories86
DRILL DOWN EXERCISES

1. Select a particular organization that you are familiar with. Identify three specific signs that point to core values deeply held by the organization (recall Table 4.1). 2. Select two companies that produce the same products or provide a similar service. How do their cultures vary? What difference does it make? 3. Think about two companies considering a merger. They want to know the degree of compatibility between the cultures. Develop a short, 10-item test that could help make that judgment. Provide your rationale.
ANCILLARIES
Visit the student study site at www.sagepub.com/clampitt5e to access these additional study materials: Video Resources Web Resources eFlashcards Web Quizzes Study Questions
NOTES
1. Columbia Accident Investigation Board, Columbia Accident Investigation Report Volume 1. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2003, 77. 2. Ibid., 180. 3. Ibid., 9. 4. S. Cordery, Juilette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts. New York: Penguin, 2012, 16 (e-book). 5. J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner, Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1989. 6. J. Bronowski, The Common Sense of Science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978, 132. 7. T. E. Deal and A. A. Kennedy, Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life. Cambridge, MA: Perseus, 2000, 4.
Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture99 8. N. Weinberger, Music and the Brain. Scientific American, November (2004): 8995; see especially p. 95. 9. J. Glausiusz, The Genetic Mystery of Music. Discover, August 2001, 7075. See also S. E. Trehub, The Developmental Origins of Musicality. Nature Neuroscience 6 (2003): 66973; R. Kotulak, Rhythm, Melody, Life: Human Hearts Have Always Warmed to the Rhythm of Music. Chicago Tribune, September 21, 2003 (sec. 2), 1, 3. 10. J. P. Kotter and J. L. Heskett, Corporate Culture and Performance. New York: Free Press, 1992. See also J. Collins and J. Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. New York: Harper Business, 1994, 87. 11. N. Nohria, W. Joyce, and B. Roberson, What Really Works. Harvard Business Review 81, no. 7 (2003): 4252; see especially p. 4. 12. P. Bate, The Impact of Organizational Culture on Approaches to Organizational Problem-Solving. Organization Studies 5 (1984): 4366; see especially p. 44. 13. D. C. McGill, A Mickey Mouse ClassFor Real. New York Times, August 27, 1989, 4f. 14. G. Gilder, Wealth and Poverty. New York: Basic Books, 1981, 26. 15. See the following for an excellent resource about all the methods the cultural detective could use to gather data: G. Driskill and A. Brenton, Organizational Culture in Action: A Cultural Analysis Workbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2011. 16. P. Hjelt, The Worlds Most Admired Companies. Fortune, March 3, 2003, 82. 17. http://www.walmartstores.com. Accessed October 5, 2003. 18. A. Bianco and W. Zellner, Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful? Business Week, October 6, 2003, 10110; see especially p. 102. 19. M. Blair-Loy, A. Wharton, and J. Goodstein, Exploring the Relationship between Mission Statements and Work-Life Practices in Organizations. Organizational Studies 32, no. 3 (2011): 42750; see especially p. 427. 20. A. Ohnsman, J. Green, and K. Inoue, The Humbling of Toyota. Bloomberg Businessweek, March 22 and 29, 2010, 3335; A. Taylor, How Toyota Lost Its Way. Fortune, July 26, 2010, 10818. 21. K. K. Smith and V. M. Simmons, A Rumpelstiltskin Organization: Metaphors on Metaphors in Field Research. Administrative Science Quarterly 28 (1983): 37792. 22. T. Richman, The Culture Wars. Inc., May 15, 1999, 1078; see especially p. 108. 23. http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/20030910-blair.book_x.htm. Accessed September 18, 2003. 24. W. Bennis, News Analysis: Its the Culture. Fast Company, August 2003, 3435; see especially p. 34. 25. S. Cartwright and C. L. Cooper, The Role of Culture Compatibility in Successful Organizational Marriage. Academy of Management Executive 7, no. 2 (1993): 5770; see especially p. 57. See also J. Reed, Reflections on a Culture Clash. Fortune, March 20, 2000, 28. 26. J. Kotter, Hearts and Minds. CIO Insight, March 2004, 26. 27. B. Martino, D. Kumaran, B. Seymour, and R. Dolan, Frames, Biases, and Rational Decision-Making in the Human Brain. Science, August 4, 2006, 68487. 28. C. Scott, D. Jaffe, and G. Tobe, Organizational Vision, Values, and Mission. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications, 1993, 13. 29. F. M. Jablin, Organizational Entry, Assimilation, and Exit, in Handbook of Organizational Communication, ed. F. M. Jablin, L. L. Putnam, K. H. Roberts, and L. W. Porter. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1987, 679725. 30. J. Carter, Why Not the Best? New York: Bantam, 1976.
100SECTION 1: FOUNDATION 31. N. Polmar and T. B. Allen, Rickover: Controversy and Genius. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982. 32. P. G. Clampitt and C. Downs, Employee Perceptions of the Relationship between Communication and Productivity. Journal of Business Communication 30 (1993): 528. See also F. M. Jablin, Organizational Entry, Assimilation, and Disengagement/Exit, in The New Handbook of Organizational Communication, ed. F. M. Jablin and L. L. Putman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001, 732818. 33. H. Broms and H. Gahmberg, Communication to Self in Organizations and Cultures. Administrative Science Quarterly 28 (1983): 48295. 34. Wood Shows Signs of Defensive Ability. USA Today, August 1, 1984, 2C. 35. W. Joyce, N. Nohria, and B. Roberson, What Really Works. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. 36. http://www.walmartstores.com. Accessed November 1, 2003. 37. G. Gerbner, personal communication, 1990. 38. B. Carey, This Is Your Life and How You Tell It. New York Times, May 23, 2007, D1, D6. 39. R. Schank, Tell Me a Story: A New Look at Real and Artificial Memory. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications, 1990, 170. 40. Ibid., 194. 41. D. Armstrong, Managing by Storying Around: A New Method of Leadership. New York: Doubleday/Currency, 1992, 11. 42. R. McKee, Storytelling That Moves People: A Conversation with Screenwriting Coach Robert McKee. Harvard Business Review 81, no. 6 (2003): 5155; see especially p. 52. See also R. McKee, Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting. New York: HarperCollins, 1997. 43. G. L. Graham, If You Want Honesty, Break Some Rules. Harvard Business Review 80, no. 4 (2002): 4246; see especially p. 45. 44. R. Macfarlane, Mountains of the Mind. New York: Pantheon, 2003, 271. 45. C. L. Bernick, When Your Culture Needs a Makeover. Harvard Business Review 79, no. 6 (2001): 5359; see especially p. 57. 46. S. Simpson, Good for Employees, Good for Business. Occupational Health and Safety, September 30, 2003. 47. F. A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011; see especially p. 47. 48. An interesting sidelight to this story is that the U.S. Army had for years lost international military contests that simulated small-scale skirmishes. In 1987, they won two of the most prestigious contests, and in part, they cited the use of rock-and-roll music in the training sessions. The songs played included the theme music for the movie Top Gun and Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen. See, for example, J. J. Fialka, U.S. Army Units Win Battle Contests for the First Time. Wall Street Journal, July 6, 1987, 24.
SECTION 2
Communication Challenges
CHAPTER 5 1
Selecting and Using Communication Technologies

e
l ria
Effec
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Innovation Communication Corporate Culture Ethics Change Boundary Spanning
Data, Information, Knowledge, Action
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Performance Feedback
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Organizations have swallowed technology, but now they have heartburn. Harold J. Leavitt Media choice is not the simple, intuitively obvious process it may appear to be at first glance. Appropriate media choice can make the difference between effective and ineffective communication. And media choice mistakes can seriously impede successful communicationin some cases with disastrous consequences. Linda Klebe Trevino, Richard L. Daft, and Robert H. Lengel
103
104SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES
Why is a virtually unknown person, Tsai Lun, considered one of the most influential people in history? What caused grandma to suddenly discover the joy of text? How did a powerful U.S. congressman lose his job with the mere tap of his finger? A simple equation can answer questions such as these. Its an equation that helps us understand the channel choices we make on a daily basis. Its an equation that explains how organizations should make their communication technology choices.1 Yet it is an equation that befuddles the minds of the most brilliant technocrat. And its an equation that entices with its simplicity even as it challenges us with its implications. What is this illuminating, almost magical, equation? Answer: B-C=V Benefits - Costs = Value Lets consider the first question: Who is Tsai Lun? And why does one expert consider him more influential than Aristotle, Marx, da Vinci, Einstein, Moses, Luther, and even Adolf Hitler? CH A PT E R 5 : BY T H E NU M BE R S Michael H. Hart, a physicist and astronomer, reveals the answer in a fascinating book titled The 100: A 74% Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History.2 of business technology professionals Hart ranks Tsai Lun, the seventh most influential consider improving employee person in history. Few Westerners have even heard the collaboration as the #1 goal of name before. Tsai Lun, an official in the Chinese unifying communication technologies imperial court around 105 CE, developed the basic process for creating paper, which is still in use today. 45% Before the advent of paper, communication was conof BlackBerry users check their e-mail strained by space and time. Communication typically before getting dressed occurred when two individuals occupied the same 59% physical space and interacted in synchronous time periods. Paper changed all that and, along with of meeting planners reported that Gutenbergs press (ranked the eighth most influenteleconferencing was substituting for tial), profoundly altered the course of history. some meetings Think about the benefits and costs of paper. In 105 62% CE the benefits of easily creating, storing, transporting, of highly effective companies have a and disseminating important records, laws, and words documented intranet/Internet of wisdom were almost beyond calculation. Moses, no communication strategy doubt, would have been grateful for some paper and a printing press. Instead, he had to lug the stone tablets of 40% the Ten Commandments down the mountaintwice. of computer conferencing users do The benefits of paper far exceeded the costs, creating a not know the gender of the other value far exceeding the existing stone tablets, clay tabparticipant(s) lets, animal parchments, and other items used to record written communications. In short, Tsai Luns invention
Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies105
created a product valued by almost everyone down through the ages. And despite predictions of the imminent demise of this communication channel, there are still 10,000 sheets of paper used by the average worker every year.3 So much for the first question. Answering the other questions requires a deeper look into the BC equation. And thats exactly what we will discuss next.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
17061790
If the Nobel Committee gave prizes for physics, peace, self-help, and entrepreneurship in the 1700s, Ben Franklin could have won all four.4 He is most famous for snatching lightning from the sky and revealing to the world one of the many mysteries of electricity. That discovery, along with his writings on the subject, would have impressed the Nobel committee deciding on a laureate for the physics prize. His deft touch in working with the French and British governments on behalf of the American colonies and, eventually, the young republic, would have certainly merited consideration for a Nobel Peace Prize. While the Nobel Committee doesnt award prizes in the category of self-help and entrepreneurship, Ben Franklin would have been a shoo-in for the prizes. After all, his quips and aphorisms in Poor Richards Almanaclike A penny saved is a penny earned, A place for everything, everything in its place, and A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one are still used by self-help gurus like Stephen Covey.5 Finally, his inventions, such as bifocals, the lightning rod, and the Franklin stove, would place him in the upper tier of any list of successful entrepreneurs. Ben Franklins achievements in any one of these areas would be noteworthy, but coming to grips with the entire scope of his record simply boggles the mind. Almost everyone can look back in amazement at Ben Franklins life and career. Its far more difficult, of course, to glean any secrets to his success from his biographical details. We might, however, just catch a glimpse of the forces shaping his career by noting several key life events and a few revealing musings. Franklin grew up in a working-class family with a father who thought Ben should go into the ministry. But young Ben had other ideas and eventually wound up in Philadelphia as a newspaper editor and printer. He became enormously successful in the newspaper business and used the funds as a springboard to support his cutting-edge scientific and civic pursuits. Ben, for instance, established the first library in Philadelphia as well as Americas first volunteer fire department. He was a voracious reader, taking to books as some men take to drink.6 As a young man, he wrestled with the How shall I live my life? question that every young person faces. His answer? Try to live a life governed by 13 virtues: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility.7 While young Ben was more successful with some virtues than with others, he at least cultivated sensibilities that served him
(Continued)
(Continued) well. At the core, Ben Franklin taught himself to be a shrewd judge of value. I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things was how he put it.8 He was particularly attuned to the relative values of speech and silence as he noted in the following aphorism: Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place but, far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.9 Likewise, he cultivated a sensitivity to the inherent costs and benefits of the dominant communication channels of the day. He intuitively sensed, for instance, when to deal with matters face-to-face and when an anonymous letter to the editor of his own newspaper might better serve his purposes. While most of Ben Franklins biographers stand in awe of his persona, few underscore his extraordinary ability to make the right judgments about the underlying value of a scientific observation, political alliance, new invention, or communication channel. Perhaps if we more fully understood this dimension of Benjamin Franklin, we could all live a more virtuous life and occasionally be struck by a bolt of genius.
The BC Model: A Deeper Look

Lets start with the ABCs, where A represents attributes; B, benefits; and C, costs.
Attributes
All technologies or channels have certain attributes or distinguishing qualities, characteristics, or features. Table 5.1 categorizes attributes that could be associated with a particular channel or technology. The list is illustrative but not exhaustive. While the basic categories remain relatively stable over time, the list of channel attributes may change. New functionalities, for example, emerge over time that may never have been envisioned by the creators, or even futurists. Tsai Lun probably never thought that his invention would lead to paper airplane contests (physical attribute: foldability). The creators of social media probably never thought that tweets and postings could launch political or social revolutions. But they have.10 Significant implications flow from specific channel attributes. Consider the first category, physical attributes. The first mobile phones using cell technology weighed about the same as a large brick and had a similar feel and aesthetic appeal. Not a big seller. Zoom forward a decade, and the mobile phone is almost ubiquitous; we calculate its weight in ounces not pounds, and we follow styling trends as closely as the latest fashion news. The changes in the physical attributes profoundly shifted the perceived value of the technology. On the other hand, a cultural attribute of a technology might dramatically alter its acceptance. Googles search tool fits well with Western values of individual freedom but not so well with Eastern values of centralized control. The result: the widespread acceptance of Google technology in the
TABLE 5.1 Channel Attributes
Attributes Physical
Examples Size Weight Appearance Micromessaging capability (e.g., texting) Real-time interactive capacity (e.g., phone) Visual display capability (e.g., iPad) Costs of buying, maintaining, and upgrading the product/ service Expense of training users Charges for disposing of product/service Anonymity protection (e.g., virtual worlds) Memory augmentation (e.g., paper and pen) Capacity to correctly read emotional cues (e.g., face-to-face) Accessibility to select groups (e.g., LinkedIn) Capacity to signal status differences (e.g., latest of a phone) Ability to quickly inform large groups (e.g., Twitter) Compatibility with existing customs (e.g., government censorship) Adaptability to other technologies in system (e.g., Apple Eco System)
Functional
Financial
Psychological
Social
Cultural
West and the pushback from China.11 In short, we need to be mindful of how channel attributes translate into benefits, costs, and value.
Benefits
The attributes of communication channels generate benefits or advantages in a wide variety of ways. The mobile phone, for example, allows people to communicate while on the go. Facebook lets people more easily stay in touch with a wide array of friends and even unfriend someone quicker than the queen could say, Off with his head! Social media allow people to easily establish, strengthen, and even terminate relationships.12 And even a taken-for-granted communication tool like the pencil offers some powerful and indispensible advantages, such as the capability to erase, doodle, sketch, and visualize.13 No wonder a deeply thoughtful writer who inspired generations of naturalists, environmentalists, and civil dissenters devoted much of his career to the manufacturing of a better pencil. Countless engineers, scholars, and even toddlers owe a debt of gratitude to Henry David Thoreau for far more than his reflections on Walden Pond.14
While there are many ways to categorize benefits, classifying them in terms of short-term and long-term benefits can be helpful in producing a broader understanding of the impact of technology. Short-term benefits are usually hyped by the information technology creators. For example, the use of instant replay for sporting events was originally introduced to enhance entertainment value by highlighting stunning athletic feats and failures. From a long-term perspective, instant replay has been integrated into the officiating process and has actually improved the quality of the calls on the playing field.15
Costs
Costs are losses incurred in securing the benefits. The losses can take many forms, some obvious, others not so much. When you buy a new smartphone, you obviously must purchase the phone and service. Whats not so obvious is that you also buy a learning curve, or the expenditure of time and effort to learn how to use the smartphone. The phone may be smart, but its not clever enough to inject the instruction manual directly into your neural network. Learning costs can be so prohibitive that they act as barriers to purchase. Thats why some people want a mobile phone that doesnt do too much; the learning costs are simply too high. Another less obvious category involves opportunity costs, or costs incurred because making one choice eliminates another choice. Choosing to sustain relationships via Facebook reduces your ability to maintain relationships through phone calls, gatherings, and so on. One commentator worries about the impact of a personal life stitched together by Facebook: What sort of loyalty is there in the age of Facebook, when friendship is [an almost] costless transaction, a business of flip reciprocity (Ill go on your list of friends if youll go on my list)?16 Even if you think this commentator goes a bit far, he does encourage us to ponder the opportunities missed by allowing one channel to dominate. Too often, leaders only look at the financial costs, failing to think of costs in a broader sense. Table 5.2 provides a partial list of costs often overlooked. For instance, in face-to-face channels we unconsciously transmit chemical signals to one another, indicating our moods and stress levels.17 Such visceral information may prove critical when making difficult decisions, such as selecting when to roll out a new initiative. Mediated communications block these signals and consequently represent opportunity costs. Likewise, we often ignore the coordination costs engendered by all our electronic gizmos. To be sure, e-mail, texting, and microblogging help us establish and maintain our personal networks. But at what cost? One thoughtful scholar put it this way:
Maintaining a personal network requires significant effort when compared to hierarchical or formal organizational relationships, which are pre-determined and role-based . . . While the use of electronic communication makes it easier to engage in communication regardless of location, the complexity of work relationships and communication practices is increasing.18
TABLE 5.2 Channel Costs
Type Learning costs Opportunity costs Coordination costs Switching costs
Explanation Time and energy invested in learning how to effectively and efficiently use the channel Potential benefits that could have been received by selecting an alternate channel Time and energy spent synchronizing people and systems using the channel Energy and effort required when moving from one communication technology to another
Switching costs present another concern experienced by anyone who has ever switched mobile phone carriers; it takes energy and effort to do so. Such costs tempt everyone to prematurely lock in to a communication technology that may not be serving the intended purpose. Bottom line: Calculating the actual costs of channel choices may not be as straightforward as some other bottom line fiscal computations.
Value
Value represents the benefits minus the costs. More benefits and fewer costs results in greater value. Fewer benefits and more costs results in less value. A simple, straightforward calculation. Right? Wrong. The gremlin lurking in the formula, ramping up the complexity at Internet speed, is that a benefit can be transformed into a cost with a tap of a finger (and vice versa). Just ask former Congressman Anthony Weiner, who was forced to resign his position because of a sexting scandal. By mistake, he sent thousands of Twitter followers a photo of dubious propriety that he intended to send to a female college student.19 Being a skillful debater, he could have easily denied an illicit phone conversation with a woman, but not with thousands of Twitter followers. If it was an allegation made on a talk show, he could have dismissed it with one of his patented sharp rhetorical flourishes, cleverly bundling indignation and aggression into caustic retort. In the old days, you could literally or figuratively kill the messenger. Weiner didnt have that option. Unfortunately, there was a permanent and widely shared record of his indiscretion. And his political fortunes came crashing down because of a channel he adroitly used one moment and clumsily touched the next. Thats the reason for inserting the arrow between B and C in Figure 5.1. This unfortunate event also provides a natural transition to our discussion about the role of perspective in evaluating value.
FIGURE 5.1 The Emergence of Channel Benefits and Costs
Attributes
Benefits
Costs
How Perspective Affects Value

Your perspective greatly influences whether an attribute will be deemed a benefit or a cost and when it might switch roles. A perspective is a particular viewpoint that shapes what we consider to be an important technology attribute, molding our perceptions of cost and benefits. For example, the texting capability (physical attribute) of a smartphone may be very important to one user, but another person may prefer the joys of snapping pictures of gourmet meals and sending them to fellow foodies. The user perspective represents just one of several important viewpoints discussed below.
User Perspective
Clearly, different users may value channel attributes differently. For most people, the financial costs of a personal website far outweigh the benefits. Others, like Oprah, create and maintain dynamic websites because it is part of their branding strategy (ditto for politicians, actors, musicians, and thought leaders). In short, some people use this channel to transmit information; others choose not to do so. On the other hand, different users may place similar value on certain channel attributes, resulting in a community of users. Millions of Facebook users, for example, eagerly update their every thought and experience on their Wall, giving little thought to the privacy forfeited and time devoted to such an enterprise. Many people willingly absorb these costs in a swap for the benefits of easily connecting with friends and meeting new ones, particularly of the opposite sex.20 This insight sheds even more light on why the theme of audience analysis assumes such a central role in this book. Wise communicators learn about the channels valued and used by their audiences. Ignoring the user dynamics of channels undermines
communication effectiveness. For instance, some managers assume that written communication is compatible with their receivers abilities and preferences. It may not be so. In one case, a man who was recently promoted to a job as shipping foreman had to shelve special orders until he could discreetly ask for help reading the instructions.21 The social stigma attached to his illiteracy often made it difficult to ask for help. On the other hand, Jen Bilik, founder of Knock Knock, an edgy stationery and gift company, prefers e-mail and hates the phone. She explains, Why would you ever call me when you could e-mail me? Why would you subject us both to phone tag? God invented e-mail. Go away.22 Bottom line: Any guidelines about channel use, even the ones in Table 5.3, need to be tempered by audience analysis.
TABLE 5.3 Effective Use of Channels
Channel Telephone
Most Effective Use Sending short, simple messages Sending confidential messages Providing feedback Providing quick turn-around time Sending informal messages Seeing visual display of information Providing a hard copy
Examples Negotiating a meeting time and place Discussing a work problem Viewing a copy of a brochure Providing directions to a meeting
Fax
E-mail
Sending impersonal, brief messages Conducting an in-house survey Keeping employees updated on routine matters Confirming a meeting time Efficiently gathering routine information Sending short, simple messages Sharing routine information Informing others when feedback isnt needed Sharing potentially emotional, complex information Persuading, negotiating, and managing conflict Providing feedback Reading nonverbal communication Sharing knowledge Sending short, simple messages Distributing to numerous receivers Informing others when feedback isnt needed Providing scannable information Sending a message needing a personal touch Conveying formality Providing detailed information Providing a written record Communicating noncontroversial, nonconfidential, general information Efficiently sharing routine information with large audiences Responding to an information request Holding a performance appraisal Promoting/firing an employee
Voicemail
One-on-one (face-to-face)
Memo
Communicating a routine update Confirming a policy change Expressing appreciation, condolences Writing a complaint letter Summarizing companys expertise, career opportunities Responding to frequently asked questions (Continued)
Letter
Webpage
TABLE 5.3 (Continued)
Channel Videoconference
Most Effective Use Connecting emotionally with large audiences Sending noncomplex, unambiguous messages
Examples Updating company performance Outlining a major organizational initiative Refining plans, ideas, and proposals
Wikis
Collaborating with experts separated in space and time Sharing information and knowledge
Time Perspective
Because costs and benefits often shift over time, so does value. Thats how we can explain grandmas surprising discovery of the joy of text. Lets assume that your widowed grandmother never had much use for the so-called smartphones. Why? Because she preferred the real phones, the ones with a landline, keypad, and mobility, since she didnt need a cord attached to the receiver. What could suddenly change her mind? A new man: one who in short order morphed from somebody in the neighborhood to a gentlemen friend, to a buddy, to my new boyfriend. It so happened that as the relationship matured, she discovered the joy of texting because her new boyfriend loved to text updates and sweet nothings to special people. She was missing out. Now she had a reason to buy a smartphone and someone to teach her about the joy of text. Over time, her perspective on the costs and benefits of smartphones dramatically shifted because she saw enhanced personal benefits and decreased costs, particularly the learning costs. Such a metamorphosis can also explain why some organizations abandon old communication tools and adopt new ones. Years ago, elaborately designed multicolored annual and quarterly reports were a staple of Fortune 500 companies. Today, many have chosen other tools such as jump drives or websites to deliver much the same information. While these new channels often cost less than their predecessors, they also offer new benefits, such as providing investors with more timely information, video interviews with the CEO, and video clips of new products or services. Moreover, these new channels may be more compatible with the information consumption habits of a new generation of investors. Amazingly, even the U.S. Congress scrapped a 200-year old communication channel when it eliminated the House Page Program, saving taxpayers more than $5 million a year.23 Using human pages to deliver notes to members of Congress might have made sense prior to e-mail and text messages. But no longer. And so these human pages have been sent to the channel graveyard. Are the pages made of wood pulp far behind? The executives at Encyclopedia Britannica certainly think so. In 2012, they decided to focus on digitized versions and end the print edition of the intellectual heavyweight, which tipped the scales at 129 pounds in 32 volumes. New technologies significantly shifted the BC calculations of even the most erudite reader; it was clearly time to end the glorious 244-year history of the print edition, which was a staple in households across the globe (mine included).24
Micro/Macro Perspectives
Economics 101 tells us there is no such thing as a free lunch. But what about free TV, e-mail accounts, video posts, social networking? On the surface, users appear to pay next to nothing to use these free services, other than willingly offering up their time to master a simple learning curve. But a prominent weblogger, Andrew Lewis, perceptively noted, If you are not paying for it, youre not the customer; youre the product being sold.25 Translation: Free TV is paid for by advertisers, who are paying for your eyeballs to watch a sales pitch, which you, in turn, pay for should you decide to purchase that product. Easy enough. From your perspective, or microlevel, the entertainment benefits are great, while the costs are minimal. From the advertisers perspective, or macrolevel, the costs can be fairly high (a 60-second spot during the Super Bowl costs more than it did to build the original Los Angeles Coliseum), but the benefits of millions of eyeballs watching the sales pitch may be well worth it. What about free e-mail accounts, video postings, and social networking? Clearly, advertising is part of the equation, but not all of it. In addition, when you e-mail or microblog, you generate a stream of data points. A single data point may not be worth much, but when combined with lots of other data points, a dynamic database emerges. So what? This database can be used to detect trends that have enormous value, such as deciding where to invest money for a hedge fund or designing the messaging for a political campaign. An individual tweet (microlevel) may not mean much, but if it garners enough attention quickly enough to create a trend (macrolevel), it could prove decisive. Tweet spikes, for instance, have warned of impending earthquake shock waves more quickly than the U.S. Geological Surveys seismometers.26 This means that the value gleaned at one level often dramatically differs from the value gleaned at another. From the users perspective, free TV entertains us, free e-mail links us, and free social networking connects us. From the providers perspective, not-so-free TV garners lots of eyeballs, not-so-free e-mail hooks us into a network, and not-so-free social networking generates overflowing cascades of data to exploit. The same principle holds when looking at different levels of an organization. That is one of the strategic implications explored in the next section.
What to Do?
Consider all the ways a typical employee can communicate today: memo, fax, pager, e-mail, blogs, phone call, microblog, text message, bulletin board, websites, voice mail, and PowerPoint, to name the most familiar. With this bewildering array of options, many managers are tempted to just spin the wheel and select a channel. In fact, the senders personal convenience guides most channel selections. Further compounding the challenge is the fact that as a communication technologys ease of use increases (e.g., lower costs), so does the likelihood of use, enticing us into making thoughtless choices. Few employees consider how their channel selections generate unique benefits and costs. The channel or technology necessarily alters the messages, just as the composition of an electrical wire affects the flow of electricity. Some scholars, for example,
claim that the phonograph changed classical musicians technique and that MP3 players have ruined pop music.27 French intellectuals grouse that text messaging has corrupted their language.28 In short, channels accentuate certain attributes of the message, while de-emphasizing others. Channels shape, contort, and distort messages even as they imperceptibly transform senders and receivers. Of course, recognizing that channels alter messages in important ways does not equate with knowing how to select the right strategies to achieve organizational goals. The strategies discussed next bridge that gap.
Promote a Robust Mind-Set of the Benefits and Costs of Communication Channels and Technologies
Most people look at costs and benefits too narrowly. Consider PowerPoint, which has become the technology of choice for many business presentations. Edward Tufte, whom The New York Times dubbed the Leonardo da Vinci of data, argues that PowerPoint templates have reduced the analytical quality of presentations and usually weaken verbal and spatial reasoning, and almost always corrupt statistical analysis.29 He concludes his indictment by noting, PowerPoint templates may improve 10% to 20% of all presentations by organizing inept, extremely disorganized speakers, at a cost of detectable intellectual damage to 80%. For statistical data, the damage levels approach dementia.30 In fact, the British Medical Journal notes that the number of slides you can show in your allotted time is inversely proportional to the number of awkward (e.g., tough) questions that can be asked at the end.31 So PowerPoint may not be as powerful as the name might suggest.32 Few business leaders acknowledge the costs associated with the diminished quality of organizational thinking and analytical insight. One exception: Lou Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM, who essentially eliminated formal PowerPoint presentations as part of his successful effort to turn around the company.33 Every channel or technology has limitations or costs that may compromise the communicators objective. Note that these costs are not necessarily inherent to the physical attributes of the channel; many emerge from the cultural conventions of the organization. In fact, the creators of PowerPoint are a bit befuddled by the abuses because that was not their intention (see Table 5.4). The tactics below provide action items to build a more robust viewpoint of our channel choices. Sync the senders needs, message attributes, and receiver attributes with the channel choices. Table 5.5 presents a variation of the traditional sender (S), message (M), channel/technology (C), receiver (R) communication model (SMCR model). Selecting the appropriate channel resembles hitting a row of cherries on a Las Vegas slot machine. The goal should be to align four elements: The objectives of the sender The attributes of the message The attributes of the channel The characteristics of the receivers
TABLE 5.4 Potential Benefits and Costs of PowerPoint
Sender Benefits Eases content dissemination Organizes thoughts Shifts focus away from the speaker to the slides Inhibits debates Costs Creates illusion of clarity and formality Decreases spontaneous addition of information Increases the temptation to overload slides with content
Message Organizes content Eliminates messy handwriting Integrates multiple sources of information
Receiver Provides documentation of oral remarks Facilitates note taking Allows review and later reference point
Implies false sense of linearity and hierarchy Discourages idea development Encourages data dumps Highlights style over content
Inhibits debate Extends meetings longer than necessary Discourages question asking Truncates explanations
TABLE 5.5 SMCR Model
Sender Objectives Educate Get attention Motivate Flatter Persuade Compliment Confuse Equivocate Ridicule Deceive Inform Express empathy Deny Impress Ingratiate Honor Entertain Shift focus
Message Choices Terminology Theme Metaphor Nonverbals Stories Facts and figures Arguments Evidence Tone Emotionality Length Complexity Professionalism Formality Timing Sequencing
Channel/Technology Options Fax E-mail Phone Face-to-face Computer Conference Bulletin boards Group meetings Formal presentations Webpage Hotlines Audio- and videotapes Voice mail Videoconference Teleconference Pager PowerPoint Blogs Text messages Podcast
Receiver Characteristics Channel access Personality profile Beliefs Values Age Gender Education level Socioeconomic background Occupation Religious orientation Interest level Location Race
Unlike a one-armed bandit, the alignment of these four communication variables should be a product of skill and insight rather than chance. To provide some perspective on the enormity of the task, suppose that for each of these four variables, there were only five possible alternatives. Senders could have one of five possible purposes for communicating a message (e.g., entertain, inform, educate, persuade, or motivate). Likewise, they could choose among five possible channels: e-mail, computer conference, group meeting, telephone, or face-to-face. There are many more, but if we limited each variable to only five, then there would be 625 different combinations! This illustrates the wide range of choice facing communicators. The randomized odds of correctly aligning each variable are exceedingly small. Yet prudent managers, unlike gamblers, improve the odds of winning by using this model to intuitively guide their technology choices. They seek to align the columns by identifying congruencies between the senders objectives, message characteristics, channel attributes, and receivers sensibilities. In other chapters, we have implicitly reviewed how senders can align their intentions with their messages (S-M test) and why audience analysis helps align messages with receivers characteristics (M-R test). The examples that follow highlight the challenges of aligning the S, M, and R elements with the channels. S-C Congruency Test. A young entrepreneur who owned a successful limousine business took this S-C test to heart in an unusual way. He used the telephone almost exclusively as his communication tool. Why? Because many people he met face-to-faceclients as well as employeesdid not take this teenaged entrepreneur seriously. With the telephone, the problems disappeared.34 The lack of visual cues produced a major benefit; the channel was congruent with his purpose. C-R Test. Written messages typically imbue a sense of certainty, finality, and formality to receivers. Thats why most brides and grooms prefer written wedding invitations. M-C Test. Should a political candidate attempt to explain his or her economic plan in a 30-second spot when pressed by a reporter on a cable news show? When William F. Buckley Jr. was running for mayor of New York City, he refused. He told the host that his plan was too complex to be explained in a cursory fashion within the time constraints. In essence, Buckley deemed the message ill-suited for the channel (M-C test). Abiding by the congruency tests above may seem simple on the surface. Not always. Why? Because senders and receivers often evaluate the benefits and costs of channel choices in different ways. For example, what channel should managers use to discuss an employees performance problem? That depends on whose perspective you adopt and how you evaluate effectiveness. Usually, employees prefer faceto-face meetings, allowing them to ask timely questions, discuss details, and more accurately judge the severity of the issue (C-R test). They want a dynamic and rich channel. Managers may not prefer face-to-face meetings for the very same reasons (S-C test). They dont want to answer questions, provide further details, or create a potentially emotional scene.
I interviewed several managers about this issue. One manager, known by his employees as Stealth, never left his office during the day. He bombarded his employees with e-mails. I asked him, face-to-face, about his peculiar interface with his employees. With a quiver in his voice he anxiously whispered, They get too emotional and I cant handle it. I get my point across another way. His employees got a point, as wellthat he doesnt care about us. They rarely got the point he intended. Stealth would have rarely communicated without e-mail. In fact, these less dynamic channels may be the only way some managers feel comfortable confronting conflict. Understandable? Perhaps. Justifiable? Probably not. As Swiss playwright Max Frisch sadly observed, some people have the knack of so arranging the world that [they] need not experience it.35 Stealth will never be an effective manager (although he thinks he is), but at least his channel choice allows issues to surface that he would normally avoid. Ideally, managers would use the guidelines outlined in Table 5.3. But it may not always be possible to sync the channel with the needs of senders and receivers. Stealths story illustrates a clash between an S-C congruency and C-R congruency. In this case, the manager made a trade-off and only focused on the S-C congruency, reaping both the benefits (no emotional employee moments) and the costs (little employee commitment). So what? As senders, we should recognize when our personal needs may compromise the efficacy of our communication. And as receivers, we should be aware of how our colleagues limitations alter their communications. An effective communicator, like a composer, seeks to choose the proper instrument to convey a particular theme or mood. To wisely select the proper instrument requires a complete knowledge of the possibilities and the complexities of the entire process. Then, the message becomes something more than mere notes on a score sheet. Search for hidden benefits and costs. Advertisers, along with their willing accomplices in the tech press, hype the benefits of new channels or technologies in glowing terms designed more to entice than to educate.36 Nevertheless, the hype, at least some of it, may lead to real benefits for users and society. The inventors of the telegraph, for instance, believed it could be used to transmit stock prices, send orders to troops to quell disturbances, and quickly bring distant relatives to the bedside of a sick loved one. And it did! But the telegraph never united humanity, as some hoped. In fact, it cultivated an entirely new breed of deceivers, swindlers, and thieves. These are the latent and unanticipated costs of a revolutionary technology, an eerie echo of todays Internet. Tom Standage signaled the wisdom we need to evaluate any new technology in his wonderful little book about the telegraph, the Victorian Internet:
The hype, skepticism, and bewilderment associated with the Internetconcerns about new forms of crime, adjustments in social mores, and redefinition of business practicesmirror the hopes, fears, and misunderstandings inspired by the telegraph. Indeed, they are only to be expected. They are a direct consequence of human nature, rather than technology.37
Teasing out the latent costs and benefits of a channel opens a floodgate of debates overflowing with differences driven by the clashing perspectives identified above. The
costs and benefits vary with different users, fluctuate over time, and shift from the micro- to the macro-perspective. For example, in a provocatively titled collection of essays Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?, one commentator noted,
The medium does matter. It matters greatly. The experience of reading words on a networked computer, whether its a PC, an iPhone, or a Kindle, is very different from the experience of reading those same words in a book. As a technology, a book focuses our attention, isolates us from the myriad distractions that fill our everyday lives. A networked computer does precisely the opposite. It is designed to scatter our attention. It doesnt shield us from environmental distractions; it adds to them...Even as Ive become more adept at navigating the rapids of the Net, I have experienced a steady decay in my ability to sustain attention . . . concentration and...contemplation.38
Another commentator worries about The Death of Friendship: If we have 768 friends, (on Facebook) in what sense do we have any?...the new social-networking sites have falsified our understanding of intimacy itself, and with it, our understanding of ourselves.39 Other thought leaders disagree, arguing that
with perhaps the exception of teens, we are seeing that online interactions tend to support rather than replace offline rapport, strengthening relationships you already have and laying the groundwork for future relationships you might not otherwise have enough context and capacity to pursue.40
Researchers have also entered the fray and gone beyond personal speculation. In a cleverly designed study, researchers found that people are using the Internet as a personal memory bank: the so-called Google effect.41 Long ago, Plato argued that writing itself erodes the human capacity to memorize. (Ironically, we know this because his musings were recorded in a written form.42) Today, most thought leaders believe we are more efficiently remembering things by off-loading some memory tasks to tablets, books, and electronic devices. In short, the debate about the latent costs and benefits of technology has been going on for a very long time. This clash of opinions, personal experiences, and research studies is healthy. It builds a more vigorous understanding of how to effectively use certain communication channels. Just ask Judy Wall, who has over 1,500 Twitter followers. Yet when she really wants to connect with one of them, she picks out a piece of stationery and picks up her pen.43 Writing out notes longhand wasnt really part of her communicative repertoire until she realized the connective power of old-fashioned paper and pen. In fact, some stationery makers have created an entire line of cards for digitally active bloggers and social media fans, featuring quips like Youre more awesome than inbox zero.44 Identify benefits and costs at different organizational levels (e.g., employee, workgroup, and organization). Employees and organizations usually assess the value of technology in different ways because benefits and costs are unequally distributed across levels. Consider someone we will call DW, who is a member of the Stupid Forever Hall of Fame. DW routinely updated her Facebook friends about her frustrations about working at ACME, often berating the company in vivid and
caustic specificity. Who were the friends? Fellow workers, ACME customers, competitors, and even the boss. One friend responded to a particularly vicious posting about ACME by writing, If you are so unhappy, why dont you work somewhere else? DWs response: I dont want the pay cut. Examine this situation from DWs and ACMEs perspective. DW benefits by cathartically expressing her views to friends in relatively short emotional outbursts, with apparently little concern about engaging in any serious discussion about the concerns. DWs costs are minimal because ACME, unlike other businesses, doesnt fire people for such outbursts, even when they occur at work. Does ACME benefit from DWs free expression of thought? Hardly. In fact, the costs to ACMEs brand and reputation might be quite significant. Who wants to buy a product or service from a company of disgruntled employees? Moreover, ACME faces the potential cost of opinion amplification, which occurs when like-minded people interact with one another. Instead of moderating each others opinions, interaction may actually sharpen and intensify those opinions, augmenting biases and minimizing counterevidence.45 ACME risks everyone jumping on the bandwagon of negativity. In this situation, the benefits enjoyed at this employees level are extracted at a cost at the organizational level. The reverse can be true as well. Consider the practice of requiring salaried employees to attend meetings that some have no need to attend. They wont learn anything new, reconcile conflicting views, or influence the decision making (all reasonable goals for a meeting). Most of the costs are borne by the employees, who are still required to meet their performance goals regardless of how much time they waste in meetings.46 What benefits does the organization get out of such foolishness? The leaders can claim that everyone was fully informed or had a chance to voice their opinion. Its a ruse, of course, but a valuable one to those at a higher level, because they created a facade of buy-in. In reality, they often want to include people in the decision-making process without letting them affect it. Remember, benefits can be ephemeral as well as real.
Consciously Decide on the Appropriate CostBenefit Trade-Offs

We all have a tendency to overuse channels that best suit our skills and comfort levels. This may not always be a wise choice. Why? Two major reasons. First, it may do a disservice to others less attuned to our channel choices. Extroverts may be most comfortable with face-to-face channels, but that choice often minimizes the contributions of introverts. Those with introvert tendencies prefer to have time to think about their responses and shy away from more spontaneous channels with rapid give-and-take. Therefore, they are less likely to offer their often thoughtful ideas through such channels. Second, the overuse of one channel may do a disservice to the organization. An excessive use of channels that encourage rapid giveand-take may not provide the kind of thoughtfulness required to properly assess complex situations, solve a vexing problem, or develop a deep insight. In contrast, writing facilitates clear thinking. Sometimes ideas that make perfect sense in conversation turn to mush when you try to write them down. Why? Writing forces us to think in a more linear fashion. The rigors of writing often
demand a greater precision of thought than speech. The insightful author Annie Dillard elaborated on the special quality of the written word:
When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is a miners pick, a woodcarvers gouge, a surgeons probe. You wield it, and it digs a path you follow. Soon you find yourself deep in new territory...The writing has changed, in your hands, and in a twinkling, from an expression of your notions to an epistemological tool.47
This, of course, does not mean writing is the only tool that organizations should employ. Rather, it is one that should be an important part of the channel mix. The following guidelines can help you fine-tune the channel mix and select the appropriate channel for particular messages. Diversify your portfolio of channels. Any competent financial planner advises families to diversify their investment portfolio. Translation: Dont put all your eggs in one basket. Why? Something might happen to your basket. By spreading the risks to various investment baskets, you will be able to protect your portfolio as the market gyrates through the inevitable ups and downs. Its a way to effectively manage costs and benefits as they vary over time. A similar philosophy should guide a managers selection of channels. Why? Two reasons. First, channels filter and shape the messages that managers send. For instance, communicative nuances get lost in e-mails and text messages. In particular, receivers often misinterpret the emotional cues carried in the messages. Sarcasm, for instance, may be misinterpreted as a personal insult. Effective leaders connect with employees through a variety of channels because of a simple fact of organizational life: Using an array of channel choices increases the probability of tapping into the full potential of employees who have an exceedingly wide range of technical, communication, and intellectual abilities. Second, from the receivers point of view, overreliance on one channel tends to distort the view of organizational events. A young child taught this lesson to his mother in a charmingly profound way. While driving home from a family outing, she told her son that when she was growing up, television only transmitted blackand-white images. The puzzled child inquired, Was everything just black or white back then? We may chuckle at the childs query, but it should remind us that technologies filter and shape our view of the world out there. Leaders cannot expect that one channelno matter how colorless or colorfulaccurately reflects the state of the world out there. Wise managers compensate for these potential cost and benefits just like a good financial planner. Using multiple channels helps managers hedge their bets and compensate for the deficiencies of one channel with another. For example, when professors assign a paper, they routinely distribute the assignment in written form and then verbally discuss the document with their students. The documentation provides a concrete and formal point of reference. The discussion emphasizes key points and clarifies potential misunderstandings. Thats how wise managers make use of multiple channels when in the sending mode.
In the receiving mode, wise managers gather information from an array of channels. Doing so usually provides a more robust, realistic, and complex view of the actual situation. Consider, for example, how Best Buy taps into frontline employee knowledge. First, some background: Many organizations rely on chain-of-command type of reports to assess employee reactions to plans, programs, and initiatives. The problem is that the reports sent through this channel often filter out bad news. Best Buy still uses chain-ofcommand reports but augments those with other channels, such as monitoring the companys internal electronic bulletin board, where employees can post reactions to company policies and pose questions to one another. When the company decided to reduce the employee discount, the board lit up with vehement complaints. Executives monitoring the board reversed the policy within days.48 Any leader who taps into channels beyond the traditional ones develops a more nuanced, complexand usually more accurateview of the organizational landscape. Advocating a diverse portfolio of channels does not equate with recommending that leaders roll the dice when selecting channels. Indeed, the next three recommendations focus on properly matching up the senders objectives, message characteristics, and channel choices. Use rich channels for persuading others, analyzing ambiguous information, managing conflict, and resolving complex issues. Rich channels provide rapid feedback, establish a personal focus, and communicate multiple information cues. For instance, communicating face-to-face provides us with instant access to a wide variety of personal cues, such as vocal tone, body movements, and even smell. Almost unrestricted access to these signals can allow us to sense the subtle distinctions necessary to understand complex issues. Moreover, the communicators, not a cameraperson, determine what cues to attend to. Lean media lack one or more of these features. One can think of rich and lean channels on a continuum, with rich mediasuch as face-to-face discussionson one end and lean mediasuch as impersonal flyers or computer pop-up adson the other end. In between fall the telephone, e-mail, videoconferences, texting, and others. The scholars who developed these notions in the Media Richness Model made this argument:
Face-to-face (communication) conveys emotion and strength of feeling through facial expressions, gestures, and eye contact. It is as important for a manager to know that participants are satisfied, angry, cooperative, or resistant, as it is to have accurate production data....Memos and other written directives convey a predefined, literal description that can hide important issues and convey a false sense that everyone understands and agrees.49
No wonder teaching, training, managing conflict, and analyzing difficult problems are best handled in a face-to-face channel. No other channel permits communicators to send and receive messages of such an interpersonal nature, on the one hand, and cognitive complexity, on the other. Leaner media such as e-mails, text messages, and webpages are effective tools for sharing information, but they are poorly suited for sharing knowledge (see Table 5.6).
TABLE 5.6 Sample Situations of Media Choice
Situation 1 A midsize construction firm wants to announce a new employee benefit program. Poor choice: Memo Better choice: Small-group meetings Rationale: The memo does not offer the feedback potential necessary to explain what may be seen as arcane information. Moreover, some employees might have a literacy problem. A group meeting will provide an oral explanation and will allow participants to easily ask questions about any of the complex material. Situation 2 A manager wishes to confirm a meeting time with 10 employees. Poor choice: Phone Better choice: E-mail, voice mail, or text message Rationale: For a simple message like this, there is no need to use rich and synchronous (sender and receiver simultaneously communicating) media when a lean and asynchronous one will do the job. Situation 3 A midsize insurance company wants to garner support for a program that encourages employees from different departments to work on the same project teams. Poor choice: E-mail, voice mail Better choice: Face-to-face, telephone Rationale: Persuasive situations demand that the sender be able to quickly adapt the message to the receiver in order to counter objections. This is not a feature of either e-mail or voice mail. Face-toface communication offers the sender the greatest flexibility. The phone is the next best alternative. Situation 4 A group of geographically dispersed engineers want to exchange design ideas with one another. Poor choice: Teleconference Better choice: Wiki, computer conference Rationale: A teleconference may overly accentuate the status and personality differences between the engineers. Wiki or computer conferencing would allow the quality of the ideas to be the central focus of interaction. Moreover, quick feedback is still possible in these media. Situation 5 A company needs to describe a straightforward, but somewhat detailed, updated version of a sales promotion campaign to 1,000 geographically dispersed employees. Poor choice: Newsletter Better choice: Videoconference Rationale: Face-to-face would underscore the importance of the promotional campaign, but a videoconference provides enough richness to be motivational while saving the company time and money. A newsletter does not shine the light brightly enough on the event and may not provide the appropriate level of detail.
Even a teleconference does not effectively simulate the richness of a face-to-face meeting. One company holds a teleconference every Friday morning with up to 100 employees in five different locations to keep everyone informed of upcoming events. Although this provides a useful tool for information sharing, it limits knowledge sharing. Why? Employees tend to avoid secondary conversations because a single phone line transmits the communication (see Figure 5.2).50 They rarely ask questions
FIGURE 5.2 Comparison of Teleconference and Face-to-Face Meetings
Face-to-Face Meeting
In the typical face-to-face meeting, participants can break into smaller groups for discussion without interrupting the primary conversation because all the communication lines are available. Teleconference Meeting
Telephone Line
In a teleconference meeting, any person can talk to any other personbut the conversation occurs on a common communication line, unlike in a typical face-to-face meeting.
that they might ask in a face-to-face meeting.51 Moreover, the lack of visual communication filters out many subtle cues necessary for conflict management and knowledge sharing. Because knowledge is more complex and subtle than information, it requires a richer channel. In short, a teleconference offers an efficient alternative to many face-to-face group conferences, but it cannot completely simulate one. Select who channels to highlight the relationship, what channels to highlight the task. The RichLean Model provides one way to classify channels, but the WhoWhat Model can also help in selecting the proper channel. What channels focus attention on the message, whereas who channels focus attention on the communicators. What channels, such as e-mail, webpages, electronic bulletin boards, and computer conferencing, tend to emphasize information and idea sharing.52 What channels allow the who to fade into the background. For example, one study of computer conference participants indicated that 40% of the users did not know the gender of the senders and 32% had no idea of the senders position in the hierarchy.53 Some employees who feel physically unattractive report being more confident
and participative in a computer conference than in a face-to-face interaction. The playing field differs in a chat room or computer conference; employees engage in a battle of wits and not of power. Because of the channel characteristics, the group processes less person-centered information. These channels muffle many cues, such as frowns, verbal hesitations, and seating arrangements that signal status and role differences.54 This may sound desirable, but the lack of social cues may actually lead to a false sense of consensus and inhibit implementation of decisions.55 Note that signaling status, an attribute, may be a cost or benefit depending on your goals. Who channels underscore the relational elements inherent in any communicative event, often accentuating status and hierarchical differences. They are high in social presence, increasing the likelihood of forming personal relationships. Group meetings, formal presentations, social networking, and videoconferences tend to highlight person-centered messages. Consider one experts counsel about conducting videoconferences:
Video teleconferencing is a...medium where, in a sense, you become the visual aid. And just as you are not born with the ability to communicate brilliantly, so you are not born knowing how best to utilize video communicating. You must learn to make the medium work for you rather than the other way around.56
The experts liberal use of the you pronoun signals the importance of personal presence. Television often tests ones ability at verbal ping-pong and imagery rather than the mental rigor of deep thought. The benefit? Who channels clarify relational ambiguities. The cost? Who channels might actually inhibit certain employees from voicing concerns or sharing better ideas. A gentle reminder: Rich media can be a wise choice or a poor one. Ditto for lean media, who and what. The strategic objectives should guide all channel trade-offs. For example, an executive team was deciding how best to distribute communications to its unionized employees during a bitter contract negotiation. The executives determined that a key strategic communication goal was to encourage thoughtful discussion of the issues, while discouraging the displays of raw emotions; engage minds, not passions. The team recognized the utility of using a feedback channel to respond to questions and clarify misunderstandings. The question arose about what was the proper channel for the feedback. Considerable debate ensued about the relative benefits and costs associated with telephone hotlines, blogs, and e-mail. One person made a strong pitch for a telephone hotline because we have it in the budget and have used it in the past. True, but totally irrelevant. The key issue: Which channel would do the best job of encouraging respondents to carefully consider how they express their thoughts (engage minds)? In fact, a telephone hotline would subtly promote ranting not thinking. So any channel that forced the users to write down their thoughts would offer the most benefits to the executive team. People, of course, can rant on paper, but the probabilities are skewed toward asking more thoughtful questions. So the team decided to encourage employees to e-mail their questions to either their union representatives or the HR director. This decision supported the strategic communication plan and was one reason why the contract was ratified even in a highly contentious atmosphere.
Amplify your message by selecting channels that send the proper symbolic cues. Several years ago, a tale circulated about a techie who broke up with his girlfriend. He decided to e-mail her the news because he thought faxing was too impersonal. Ugh! Well, at least he had the right sentiments. The moral of the story: Our choice of channels also sends a message by shaping the tone and quality of our message. For example, memos and letters imbue a sense of formality and credibility, allowing recipients a document as a reference point. In general, written communication signifies authority, legitimacy, and finality. After all, judges issue a written, not an oral, court decision. Face-to-face conversations often lack these qualities. Several researchers found that managers use face-to-face communication to signal a desire for teamwork; build trust and goodwill; or to convey informality.57 Miss Manners, no doubt, intuitively knew what scholars discovered when she wrote this useful rule-ofthumb: The more emotional the content, the more cumbersome should be the means of conveying it. Highly emotional communications are best made in person, where the effect can be assessed and the message tempered to the reaction.58 In short, the symbolic overtones of the communication technology influence social relationships. Even the frequency of channel use sends powerful symbolic messages that greatly influence how messages are interpreted. Some organizations rarely use certain channels, such as all-division meetings. When the company does use this channel, it signals that something big is going to happen. One executive aptly described the consequences of such symbolic messages:
Employees know that the organization only gathers for weddings and funerals. So once the big meeting is announced, everyone starts speculating about who died. In other words, the rumor mill starts cranking out stories about which division will be downsized.59
In essence, the symbolic significance of the meeting may unintentionally override the actual messages shared in the meeting.
Detect and Respond to Patterns That Develop With Technology Usage

Who would embrace a new technology that promises to bring exotic viruses into your home, annoy you with unsolicited advertisements, and expose your confidential information to potential criminals? Nevertheless, millions of Internet users willingly accept these potential costs every day.60 As we use technologies, unexpected problems, conventions, and norms emerge. For instance, many mobile phone users were originally sold on the technology because it provided them greater safety and security. Few people immediately went home and disconnected their landline phones. But as their comfort grew, they realized that the technology could be used in more ways, some of which were originally unintended. So we see this step-by-step progression from use only in emergencies to use for business travel to use all the time, any place, regardless of whether you have something important to say.
New technologies, like fads, come and go. So wise leaders experiment and thoughtfully analyze the investment before fully embracing a new technology. They do so by using the tactics discussed below. Estimate how the cost/benefit ratio will shift over time. Many thought leaders believe that the book The Diffusion of Innovations by Everett Rogers is one of the most important books ever written about the role of communication in our culture. I agree. Before we plunge into Rogers core argument, we need a little context. Empirical studies suggest that a just the facts approach only marginally influences the adoption rates of new technologies.61 To be sure, facts related to the relative advantages, lower complexity, and trailability of the technology coupled with logical arguments about the compatibility of the technology with existing systems and observability of the benefits may prove helpful.62 They are not, however, determinative. Rather, social and network factors trump the facts: who outpaces what when it comes to new channel adoption. As Rogers states The rate of adoption is relative to the speed with which an innovation is adopted by members of the social system.63 It all starts with the innovators, who represent 2.5% of the population in a particular community of users (see Figure 5.3). They tend to be venturesome, seeking out opportunities to experience something new. Consequently, they willingly pay the financial, learning, and aggravation costs associated with any new technology to experience the joys of being a pioneer. If the innovators give it the thumbs up, then the early adopters pick it up (13.5%), who may in turn pass it on to the early majority (34%). Then, we near
FIGURE 5.3 Diffusion of Technology in Organizations
- Adopted category recommends - Adopted category does Not recommend Cumulative Number of Adopters - Adopted process ceases Late Majority 34%
Laggards 16%
Innovators
Early Adopters 13.5%
Early Majority 34%
2.5%
Time
Illustrated by Mike Groe
SOURCE: E. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 4th ed. New York: The Free Press, 1995.
the tipping point, and the technology will eventually be embraced by the late majority (34%) and perhaps the laggards (16%).64 Each group perceives the costs and benefits in fundamentally different ways. The innovators tolerate high costs and technical glitches to benefit from being first. The late majority, on the other hand, clearly enjoys substantially lower financial costs; just ask the innovators about how much they paid for their first flat screen TV! Members of the late majority also experience much lower learning costs because they can ask for assistance from their friends in the early adopter or majority categories, who are the main arbiters of their technology choices. Organizational technology architects should take this curve into account. First, it suggests that if the innovators and early adopters in the organization fail to get on board with a new technology, the likelihood of successful deployment throughout the organization is almost nil. Second, it suggests that architects can reasonably assume that many costs will decrease (particularly learning costs) over time as others jump on board to enjoy the benefits. Third, it shows how direct experiences with the technology or channel can dramatically shift the costbenefit calculation. It takes time to build confidence in the technology, adapt to the new possibilities, and exploit the advantages.65 Certain technologies and the related competencies need to be in place before taking the next step.66 Consumers, for example, did not recognize the need for high-speed Internet service until they experienced the limitations of dial-up service and fantasized about the possibilities of enhanced service. Without these experiences, there cannot be a critical mass of users to ignite further interest and sustain the technology. Wise managers provide these critical learning experiences and build on them. To be more specific, take a long, hard look at incentives created by the technology. Pondering incentives can help estimate shifts in the costbenefit ratio over time. Economist Thomas Sowell put it this way:
While critics of various programs [technologies] often point out unintended consequences that did more harm than good, many of these consequences were predictable from the outset if people had looked at the incentives created, rather than the goals proclaimed.67
Consider e-mail, often hailed as a way to improve the quality and efficiency of communication within the organization. Partially true, but e-mail also spawned numerous challenges from spies, spammers, and hackers. Lowering the cost of lean communication incentivized certain people to interact who were not able to do so before. We shouldnt be surprised then that scholars have determined that the widespread use of e-mail has increased lateral communication (coworker-to-coworker).68 Indeed, one study reported that 60% of the messages sent via e-mail would never have been sent through another channel.69 Or consider how a speedy tool like text messaging changes the communicative incentives. We asked 60 heavy users, At what communicative tasks does text messaging excel? The word cloud in Figure 5.4 provides a revealing glimpse into the subtle impact of pace-enhancing communicative tools. The larger the word, the more frequently it was mentioned. On the positive side, such tools help people update and coordinate. No surprise there. On the other side of the coin, the respondents reported
that text messaging also excels at allowing users to confuse and lie. We dont see any advertisements touting these qualities of text messages. And thats exactly why we need to study the impact of incentives and not merely rely on vendor reports.
FIGURE 5.4 At What Tasks Does Text Messaging Excel?
Prescient managers take note of emerging technology patterns while soberly gauging the intended and unintended consequences of the trends. Television, for instance, enriches the lives of millions. But there is a cost. George F. Kennan, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and former U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, warned about the danger of a society dominated by television, noting that a mental world dominated by fragmentary images . . . can hardly be a thoughtful one.70 Likewise, the mobile phone, the Swiss Army knife of personal technology, brings blessings as well as curses.71 The mobility means you can work for hours at your local bistro while sipping on your favorite latte. It also means a disintegration of traditional worklife boundaries. So effective managers neither fully embrace new technology nor push it aside. Instead, they observe, assess, and only act when the odds favor successful introduction of a new technology. Reshape expectations about power relationships. Many people squirm with discomfort when the conversation turns to power. Yet power is one of the perksor perhaps burdensof those in leadership roles. Leaders who have attained a level of power have expectationsoften unrecognizedabout how they should be treated by others. But technology choices may unintentionally alter those power relationships, incurring a hidden cost that few people forthrightly discuss. One commentator put it this way: Hyperconnectivity exaggerates some of the most destabilizing trends in
the modern workplace: the decline of certainty (as organizations abandon bureaucracy in favor of adhocracy), the rise of global supply chains, and the general cult of flexibility.72 The former chairman of Citicorp, Walter Wriston, once commented, The most basic fact about the world we live and work in is this: Information is a virus that carries freedom.73 He might have added that communication technologies provide the delivery system. Compared to years ago, a far wider range of people now gather, filter, and distribute news, information, and opinions.74 This fundamentally changes the job of leadership. Leaders can no longer control the flow of information through their organizations; instead, they must learn to shape the employees interpretations of news, rumors, and opinions. Executives and managers often find this state of affairs challenging. Why? First, their traditional bureaucratic levers of power no longer exist. For instance, issuing orders and edicts may no longer produce the desired results. Second, they dont know how to exert influence under the new rules of the game. In one organization, the computer conferencing system led to such internal revolts and lack of concern with traditional power/status issues that top management felt threatened and dismantled the entire system.75 Thats an extreme but instructive example. Yet the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina, claims that because of the Internet, information no longer constitutes power since everyone has it.76 Clearly, employees power to shape the communication climate has been enhanced in recent years. In fact, some commentators forcefully argue that Internet-based technology will democratize the workplace.77 Maybe they took the argument too far. After all, the rise of adhocracies preserves the power of those who design the business strategies, protocols, and standards. Power and status differences still prevail, but they are tempered by information technologies.78 Some executives may feel threatened by new technology; successful ones shift their expectations, alter their messages, and learn new methods of influencing others. Match the tempo of communication with the needs of the organization. Leaders committed to effective communication often feel tugged in two different directions. Information technology yanks the manager toward increasing the speed of communication, but a desire to fully explain events pulls the manager toward a slower, more deliberate form of communication. Indeed, many formal communication systems make frequent use of channels designed more for thoroughness than for speed. For example, some companies make extensive use of quarterly employee meetings designed to provide thorough briefings on the bigpicture items. Unfortunately, in our era, the big picture often changes more quickly than every quarter. The problem: The responsiveness of the communication system often does not match the pace of organizational events. What should a manager do? Some reason, Why not wait until all our ducks are in a row before informing employees? However, because managers exercise little control over grapevines, the ducks start quacking long before managers can line them up. An employee may hear something from a vendor or a competitor and pass it along. Arthur Shulman, an international consultant and researcher, put it this way:
130SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES There is little evidence that information technology can act as a substitute for human communication, let alone do it better...the major consequence of the introduction of new information technologies within organizations has not been better communication, only faster misunderstandings.79
As a result, employees misconceptions, apprehensions, and resistance points often surface prior to any formal announcement. Consequently, building support and consensus proves more difficult. Increasing the tempo of information sharing helps mitigate these problems. Yet increased speed exacts a cost because it sacrifices the completeness of the story. Consequently, executives must acknowledge uncertainties, contingencies, and knowledge gapsall of which may appear to undermine their credibility.80 Yet we do not expect the meteorologist to predict next months weather, except in the most general of terms. We do, however, watch the daily forecast. It provides timely, but necessarily partial, information. Meteorologists allow the big picture to emerge over time by constantly focusing on well-understood metrics such as temperature and humidity. Their credibility emerges from their speed more than from long-range accuracy. The environment imposes this constraint on both meteorologists and organizational communicators. The chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, put it this way: The fastest learner always wins.81 By routinely reporting on a limited number of key indicators, leaders can create a deep understanding of the performance drivers. They create a no data dump zone by providing an opportunity for everyone to analyze a few critical results and address the concerns. Some companies, such as the Progressive Corporation, have taken the idea to a new level by providing their investors with a monthlyas opposed to quarterly report on key problems and the metrics used in managing the company. Instead of increasing stock volatility (as many expected), it has dampened it. Instead of decreasing company credibility, the frequent and revealing report actually enhances it.82 In days past, a more deliberate communication system (channel) may have met receivers needs (the C-R test). But no longer; the costs of more deliberative communications may well exceed the benefits. Bottom line: Effective managers, like musical maestros, are predisposed toward using speed to shape employee understanding of certain issues but slow the tempo for others. For example, The Boldt Company makes use of social media and other speed-sensitive channels, but once a year, the executives slow down the pace to encourage long-term, big-picture thinking at a 3-day, off-site strategic planning session.
Embrace the Promise of Social Media While Managing Its Risks

Social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn are rapidly reshaping relationships, branding, and the cognitive landscape. Consequently, this chapter concludes with a special discussion about the promise and risks of this gamechanging communication technology. For instance, over 120 million people have logged into and created professional profiles about their careers and areas of expertise on LinkedIn (Facebook for Grownups). Fortune magazine notes that
Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies131 A cadre of happily employed people use (LinkedIn) to research clients before sales calls, ask their connections for advice, and read up on where former colleagues are landing gigs. In this environment, job seekers can do their networking without looking as if theyre shopping themselves around.83
Clearly, this tool shifts the ways companies recruit and retain quality employees. Such channels may prove to be promising or perilous depending on how leaders respond. Likewise, branding becomes more challenging. A single YouTube posting of Dominos Pizza employees contaminating a pizza by placing cheese strips in their nasal passages instantly sent the company into damage control and the stock plummeting by 10%.84 The company took days to respond to the image threat because they never seriously thought about the possibility of social media being used in this way. The brand suffered immediate damage among core customers who make heavy use of YouTube. At an even deeper level, social media shift the way people think about issues. For example, heavy users of social media often value speed of communication over the quality of communication. Does the speed inhibit thoughtful decisions? Does the speed place too much emphasis on the here-and-now versus the future? Does the speed inhibit identification of longer-term patterns? Formal studies have not yet answered those questions, but these are clearly possible unintended negative consequences of these technologies resulting from an entirely new set of communicative incentives for employees, employers, and customers. The tactics below suggest specific ways to appropriately balance the costs and benefits in order to increase the odds of extracting the most value from social media. Develop a policy statement about how social media will be integrated into the business strategy. The policy statement should guide the process and answer questions such as the following: Why do we make use of social media? How do we select social media to use? Not use? What criteria will be used to judge the success or failure of socially mediated communications? An organizations business strategy should drive the policy statement. That means grappling with tough questions about likely outcomes. For example, one study found that about 50% of knowledge management projects (e.g., sharing best practices with coworkers) fail or simply dwindle into disuse.85 Will social media improve the odds? Another policy issue involves jointly developing a social media use policy for employees. Experts suggest that the policy should (a) underscore the importance of protecting proprietary information, (b) support the brand, and (c) remind employees that their electronic communications may be intercepted, analyzed, and archived by the company.86 Since most policies prove to have limited utility without the support of key employees, they should be heavily involved in the development and deployment of such policies.
Determine the role of social media. Old channels rarely die; they often find a new niche. AM radio did not die when FM came along, although many predicted it would. Talk radio thrives on AM stations. As technologies compete for employee and consumer attention, they take on specific functions. We dont expect that company websites will disappear anytime soon because a company has a Facebook wall. However, websites will probably assume a different role. They will probably become the repository or library for company information, while new media such as Twitter will direct people to information on the company website. Social media might be used to replaceor at least augmentcertain communication tools currently employed by organizations. Thats exactly what Laura Hollingsworth, the president and publisher of the Des Moines Register, decided to do when challenged with re-inventing local journalism in her newspaper. She envisions a mix of channels, each answering different user questions and serving different functions: Whats happening now? (Smartphone and social media delivery) What does the news mean? (Web delivery) Why does the news matter? (Print delivery)87 Likewise, the various communication channels in the organization should relate to one another in strategic and meaningful ways. Some will have a predominant role. For example, the CEOs annual company address may become the kickoff for other niche-type communications via YouTube excerpts or other web-based highlights. Identify experts within the organization to teach others about social media conventions and protocols. Social media reached the tipping point by shifting the way people used their free time. In these nonwork hours, a great number of people built up their expertise in various social media. They have assimilated tacit knowledge that may prove quite valuable. In particular, these early users intrinsically know the unique conventions that govern a particular technology. They recognize the upside and downside of a particular social media that could help their businesses avoid rookie mistakes and seize unique opportunities. Using their skills could help the organization quickly establish credibility within a particular channel and answer these questions: Is it concept driven? (e.g., Wikipedia) Is it speed driven? (e.g., Twitter) Is it interaction driven? (e.g., Facebook) As these questions are answered, it will become clear how to use different social media. For instance, recent surveys show that most businesses use Facebook and Twitter to connect externally with customers, while they use Wikis for internal audiences.88 Experienced users within the organization should also help identify the unstated success rules and develop related protocols for the organization. For example, they
should confirm what researchers have discovered that Twitter may be better for building brands than for building markets for new offerings.89 The experts should also confirm the corresponding communication conventions, such as recognizing that Tweets that pose questions or contain hashtags dont improve the odds of going viral. However, tweeting shorter messages (70 characters or less), offering deals, and providing news you can use does improve the odds of retweeting.90 In short, the home-grown experts should recognize that importing strategies from other digital environments (e.g., webpages) by broadcasting commercial messages or seeking customer feedback rarely works in the social media ecosystem.91 Why? Customers reject such overtures because their main goal on the (social media) platforms is to connect with other people, not with companies.92 Actively assess the utility of your social media strategy. Social media companies often provide seemingly revealing metrics describing the number of users, unique hits, and so on. These numbers supply helpful but not definitive data to make judgments about the utility of the strategy. The data are helpful because we can make judgments about the potential reach of a particular social media. For example, moments before a Green Bay Packer game began at Lambeau Field, Ashton Kutcher tweeted that he was at the game. Given the size of his Twitter audience, it should come as no surprise that this tidbit of information almost instantaneously circulated around the stadium. Nice to know, but how does this tweet or any other actually translate into business? (Ashtons business manager probably wants to know if the tweets result in more movie sales.) And thats where some standard measurements fall short. To make a more definitive judgment, we need more robust methods that may include targeted surveys and focus groups. Consider, for example, that Dunkin Donuts has 80% fewer Facebook and Twitter followers than Starbucks. Yet, these donut fans are 35% more likely to recommend the brand.93 Such findings point out the importance of thoughtfully exploring social media strategy. Bottom line: The most easily gathered data may not be all that informative. A more robust assessment should take into consideration the entire customer or employee experience. For example, we need to consider how direct competitors make use of social media. It is useful, for instance, to know that Starbucks spends its (social media) energy telegraphing its superiority, while Dunkin Donuts fuels its social media with fun and entertaining events.94 That does not mean that all social media strategies must be fun and entertaining. After all, the business-to-consumer (B2C) market differs in significant ways from the business-to-business (B2B) market. The critical point, though, is that part of the assessment should involve examining the social media strategy in light of the users frame of reference and subsequent behaviors. For instance, social media strategists might ponder recent studies indicating that 66% of small-business owners believe social media are important to their business but only 7.5% of Facebook fans read the company status updates on a daily basis.95 Analyze the potential costs of social media. Regardless of the strategy employed, social media pose unique potential costs or threats to organizations; threats that often get lost amidst the hullabaloo surrounding the possibilities. A more sober analysis of social media suggests five major issues worthy of further scrutiny.
Misappropriation. Misappropriation occurs when someone makes use of a channel in a way not intended or sanctioned. We asked a group of 60 heavy social media users to identify the three greatest concerns organizations should have about using social media. The word cloud in Figure 5.5 provides their answer. The predominance of words like privacy, confidentially, and security reflect a fundamental concern about the release of confidential or private information. Clearly, if certain information was misappropriated and fell into the hands of competitors or the press, it could damage the organizations reputation or undermine its competitiveness. Just ask famed conductor Leonard Slatkin. He learned a powerful lesson about blabbering and blogging. After a particularly frustrating practice session, he blogged about his relative inexperience with the score. Music reviews used those very comments to bolster their damning reviews of the orchestras subsequent performance. If the conductor had kept his frustrations private, he might not have suffered at the hands of the critics.96
FIGURE 5.5 Concerns Organizations Should Have About Social Media
Tools exist to monitor social media communications sanctioned by the organization. For example, FaceTime USG 530 is a unified security gateway that monitors, logs and blocks web use, social networking and IM.97 It provides an option to control content posted on blogs and social media sites. Yet such technological fixes only provide protection from content shared by employees on company-controlled social media sites. In fact, the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, sent shivers up the spine of many executives when he asserted that the age of privacy is over.98 One observer noted,
It is very easy to be frustrated at work and hop on Twitter to complain. An excited salesperson has a good meeting with a prospect and tweets about it, and the competition reads the tweet and moves in to undersell. Or maybe an employee leaves a meeting with hot insider news and cant wait to update his Facebook status with it.99
The list of scenarios could go on and on. But the issue of misappropriation, whether through the inadvertent release of confidential information or inevitable engagement in time-wasting activity, looms large in a social-mediated world.100 Misinformation. Misappropriation problems are compounded because of ease of retransmission of the message through retweeting, for instance. On the plus side, this can create positive buzz. On the flip side, unsubstantiated rumors can quickly take on a life of their own. As one commentator put it, Part of the problem is that people who conceal their names seem to feel free to say things they never would if their identities were known.101 In short, misinformation travels at the speed of light and may well undermine legitimate communications. Misunderstanding. Statistician Persi Diaconis noted, If you look at a big enough population long enough, then almost any damn thing will happen. 102 Mathematicians refer to this phenomenon as the law of large numbers. Communication scholars have applied the law to messages sent over mass or social media.103 More specifically, any message sent to enough people could be interpreted in almost any conceivable way. In fact, we should expect wacky interpretations from at least a few people. The word cloud in Figure 5.5 reaffirms this theoretical threat by giving prominence to words like misinterpretation. Memory. Most people would not expect to find the word memory in a list of social media threats. In fact, we often hear about the benefits of easily saving data, images, and correspondence. But there is a downside as well. In a fascinating book, Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting the Digital Age, Professor Mayer-Schnberger notes that
since the beginning of time, for us humans, forgetting has been the norm and remembering the exception...Today with the help of widespread technology, forgetting has become the exception, and remembering the default . . . [yet] forgetting is not an annoying flaw but a life-saving advantage. As we forget, we regain freedom to generalize, conceptualize, and most importantly, to act.104
Are these fears about the persistence of cyber memory merely the thoughtful musings of a former Harvard University professor? Or are they a real potential business threat? To answer these queries, consider the issue on two levels. First, do individual employees feel compelled to save every e-mail, image, and document that crosses the desk? If so, what are the costs associated with that enterprise? Think about the costs of the mental energy spent on sorting, filing, retrieving, synthesizing, and even recollecting the context of e-mail exchanges years ago. Second, what costs are associated with the rising expectation that organizations save every scrap of data and correspondence? The Economist speculated that
regulators could require large companies to undergo an annual information security audit by an accredited third party, similar to financial audits for listed companies...In [the] future it is more likely that companies will be required to retain all digital files, and ensure their accuracy, than to delete them.105
Given these personal management and government trends, it would be wise to think about the direct as well as subtle costs of the improved memory gleaned from social media. Manipulation. Mischievous social media mavens can also manipulate opinions and perceptions. Consider one rather benign example aptly titled the Revenge of the Nerds. It started with Mattel asking young girls who visited the Barbie.com website to vote on the dolls next career move. Within weeks, this novel idea reaped pleasing, if predictable, results: more than 600,000 votes and a strong preference for Barbie to move into the anchorwoman position. So far so good. But as the voting continued, the voting trend dramatically shifted toward computer engineer. Why? It seems that a self-identified geek posted news of the vote on her blog and encouraged her readers to help Barbie get her geek on. She did. Happily, Mattel embraced this rather gentle type of manipulation and decided to release two new career paths for Barbie. While this story may amuse us, it also points out the ease of manipulation in our cyber world. In fact, some people might have a vested interest in undermining a product, brand, or organization. On the flip side, some people might have a vested interested in singing the praises of a product or brand. Consider, for example, that the average rating for things online is about 4.3 stars out of five.106 We might well wonder how many of those ratings are driven by a desire to manipulate the poll. In short, whether the news is positive or negative, we need to carefully scrutinize information gleaned in any mediated sites. Clearly, the 5Ms existed long before social media came on the scene (see Figure 5.6). The difference is that over time, organizations have developed robust ways to manage these problems. Most organizations are still playing catch-up when it comes to managing these conventional problems in the ever-changing world of social media.
FIGURE 5.6 Social Media Threats
Misappropriation
Misinformation Threats
Misinterpretation
Manipulation
Memory
CONCLUSION
Communication channels and technologies shape how we gather news, conduct commerce, form communities, think about problems, communicate with one another, and even alter our physical landscape. As one commentator noted, Without the telephone, buildings would have had wider stairways and fewer floors in order to accommodate the large number of runners needed to convey messages between departments.107 We ignore the influences of communication technology at our peril. Learning to effectively manage communication technologies presents a major intellectual challenge. But that does not mean all our energy should be spent on managing the ever-increasing array of channel choices. Former presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan observed that this is the problem of the world now: Big mic, no message. If you have nothing to say, does it matter that you have endless venues in which to say it?108 The B-C model helps us avoid this trap by efficiently and effectively structuring our thinking in ways that will maximize value, whether we are pondering the latest technical gizmo or something as old as Tsai Luns paper.
KEY CONCEPTS
BC model = V model106 Channel attributes106 Coordination costs108 Costs104 C-R test116 Early adopters126 Early majority126 Innovators126 Laggards126 Late majority126 Lean channel121 Learning costs108 M-C test116 M-R test115 Misappropriation134 Opinion amplification119 Opportunity costs108 Rich channel121 SMCR model114 S-M test115 Social media106 Social media threats (5-Ms)135 Switching costs109 Value104 What channel122 Who channel123 Wikis132
DRILL DOWN EXERCISES

1. Describe two situations in which a manager selected the (a) proper channel(s) to communicate an important message and (b) improper channel(s) to communicate an important message. How does the B-C model help explain both situations?
2. Describe three unintended consequences of introducing a new communication technology into an organization. 3. Construct a chart with two columns. In Column 1, indicate three major reasons why a managers channel portfolio would be composed almost entirely of lean channels. In Column 2, provide counterarguments to each reason. Construct a similar two-column chart focused on a managerial portfolio composed almost entirely of rich channels.
ANCILLARIES
Visit the student study site at www.sagepub.com/clampitt5e to access these additional study materials: Video Resources Web Resources eFlashcards Web Quizzes Study Questions
NOTES
1. In this chapter, I am broadly defining communication technology and using it interchangeably with the term channel. 2. M. H. Hart, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. New York: A & W Visual Library, 1978. 3. A. Shafer, Crunching the Numbers. Inc., September 2011, 34. 4. The first Nobel Prize was awarded on December 10, 1901. 5. http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_wit_franklin.html. Accessed May 1, 2012. 6. R. Clark, Ben Franklin: A Biography. New York: Random House, 1983, 15. 7. W. Isaacson, Ben Franklin: An American Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003, 8990. 8. http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/289513.Benjamin_Franklin?page=2. Accessed May 1, 2012. 9. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/difficult.html. Accesssed May 1, 2012. 10. J. Bartholet, Young, Angry, and Wired. National Geographic, July 2011, 1027. 11. Banyan, Against the Tide. The Economist, August 27, 2011, 38. 12. M. Piskorksi, Social Strategies That Work. Harvard Business Review, November 2011, 11722. 13. H. Petroski, The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance. New York: Knopf, 1992, 339. 14. Ibid. 15. Personal interview with Mark Murphy, Green Bay Packers President and CEO, March 10, 2010.
Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies139 16. E. Felten, Loyalty: The Vexing Virtue. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011, 2D3D. 17. D. Blum, The Scent of Your Thoughts.Scientific American, October 2011, 5457. 18. M. Watson-Manheim, Exploring the Use of Social Network Sites in the Workplace, in A Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites, ed. Z. Papacharissi. New York: Routledge, 2011, 16982; see especially p. 173. 19. D. Barrett, Democrats Push Weiner to Go. Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2011, A4. 20. B. Mezrich, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal. New York: Doubleday, 2009. 21. L. Mikulecky, Basic Skill Impediments to Communication between Management and Hourly Employees. Management Communication Quarterly 3 (1990): 45273. 22. J. Bilik, as quoted in L. Welch, The Way I Work: Jen Bilik of Knock Knock. Inc., October, 2011, 11416, see especially p. 116. 23. House Page Program Scrapped after 200 Years. USA Today, August 10, 2011, 7A. 24. S. Ramchandran, Death of the Salesman. Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2012, B9. 25. A. Lewis, http://www.metafilter.com/user/15556. Accessed November 15, 2011. 26. R. Hotz, Decoding Our Chatter.Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2011, C1, C2. 27. A. Ross, The Record Effect. New Yorker, June 6, 2005, 94100; L. Gomes, Are Technology Limits in MP3s and iPods Ruining Pop Music? Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2007, B1. 28. Txt msgng in Frnc: Parlez-vous SMS? The Economist, May 24, 2008, 70. 29. E. R. Tufte, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press, 2003, 3. 30. Ibid., 23. 31. D. Isaacs, S. Isaacs, and D. Fitzgerald, A Day in the Life of a Doctor: The PowerPoint Presentation. British Medical Journal 335 (2007): 1292. 32. For a further discussion on the limited power of PowerPoint, see P. Clampitt and R. J. DeKoch, Embracing Uncertainty: The Essence of Leadership. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2001. 33. C. Arnst, An Exclusive Account of Lou Gerstners First Six Months. Business Week, October 4, 1993, 8794. 34. M. Robichaux, Teens in Business Discover Credibility Is Hard to Earn. Wall Street Journal, June 9, 1989, B1B2. 35. Frisch, P. as quoted in OKane, O. Hargie, and D. Tourish, Communication without Frontiers: The Impact of Technology upon Organizations, in Key Issues in Organizational Communication, ed. D. Tourish and O. Hargie. London: Routledge, 2004, 7495; see especially p. 89. 36. J. Fenn and M. Raskino, Mastering the Hype Cycle: How to Choose the Right Innovation at the Right Time. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2008. 37. T. Standage, The Victorian Internet. New York: Berkley Books, 1999, 212. 38. N. Carr, The Bookless Library, in Is the Internet Changing the Way You Think? ed. J. Brockman. New York: Harper, 2011, 23. 39. W. Deresiewicz, The Death of Friendship. Boston: New Word City, 2011, 7, 31 (e-book). (I read this book in its entirety on my iPad, flipping to other distractions about every 15 minutes.) 40. C. Shih, The Facebook Era. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2009, 51. 41. J. Bohannon, Searching for the Google Effect on Peoples Memory. Science, July 15, 2011, 277. 42. Plato, Plato in Twelve Volumes, vol. 9, trans. Harold Fowler. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925, 274e275a. 43. K. Rosman, P.S. Fancy Stationary Returns. Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2011, D1.
140SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES 44. Ibid. 45. The concept of opinion amplification in the technology arena emerged from studies about political biases known as ideological amplification. See N. Carr, The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008. 46. For some excellent ideas on how to run a meeting, see J. Tropman, Making Meetings Work: Achieving High Quality Group Decisions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003. 47. A. Dillard, The Writing Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1989, 3. 48. P. Dvorak, Best Buy Taps Prediction Market. Wall Street Journal, September 16, 2008, B1, B8. 49. L. K. Trevino, R. L. Daft, and R. H. Lengel, Understanding Managers Media Choices: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective, in Organizations and Communication Technology, ed. J. Fulk and C. Steinfield. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1990, 7194; see especially p. 88. 50. F. Williams, Technology and Communication Behavior. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1987. 51. Researchers have determined that dyadic exchanges constitute close to 50% of the conversation in six-person, face-to-face decision-making groups, and many occur simultaneously. Many of these side conversations simply do not occur in a teleconference or videoconference. See G. Stasser and L. A. Taylor, Speaking Turns in Face-to-Face Discussions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 60 (1991): 67584. 52. J. Short, E. Williams, and B. Christie, The Social Psychology of Telecommunications. London: John Wiley, 1976. See also P. OKane, O. Hargie, and D. Tourish, Communication without Frontiers: The Impact of Technology upon Organizations, in Key Issues in Organizational Communication, ed. D. Tourish and O. Hargie. London: Routledge, 2004, 7495. 53. L. Sproull and S. Kiesler, Reducing Social Context Cues: The Case of Electronic Mail. Management Science 32 (1986): 1492512. 54. L. Garton and B. S. Wellman, Social Impacts of Electronic Mail in Organizations: A Review of the Research Literature, in Communication Yearbook 18, ed. B. Burleson, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995, 43453; see especially p. 442. 55. C. Cornelius and M. Boos, Enhancing Mutual Understanding in Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication by Training. Communication Research 30 (2003): 14776. See also S. Craig and J. C. Fontenot, Multiple Identifications during Team Meetings: A Comparison of Conventional and Computer-Supported Interactions. Communication Reports 12, no. 2 (1999): 9197; see especially p. 88, p. 96. 56. M. O. Frank, How to Run a Successful Meeting in Half the Time. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989, 142. 57. Trevino et al., Understanding Managers Media Choices, 86. 58. J. Martin, Miss Manners Basic Training: Communication. New York: Crown, 1997, 22. 59. B. Journey, personal communication, March 5, 2002. 60. M. Specter, Damn Spam. New Yorker, August 6, 2007, 3641. 61. J. Druckman and T. Bolsen, Framing, Motivated Reasoning, and Opinions about Emergent Technologies. Journal of Communication 61 (2011): 65988; P. Leonardi, Why Do People Reject New Technologies and Stymie Organizational Changes of Which They Are in Favor? Human Communication Research, 35, no. 3 (2009): 40741. 62. Ive highlighted the key attributes of innovations according to E. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations (4th ed.). New York: The Free Press, 1995. 63. Ibid., 22.
Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies141 64. Ibid., 262. 65. J. Gourville, Eager Sellers and Stony Buyers: Understanding the Psychology of New-Product Adoption. Harvard Business Review 84, no. 6 (2006): 98107. 66. D. Farrell, The Real New Economy. Harvard Business Review 81, no. 10 (2003): 10412. 67. T. Sowell, Basic Economics: A Citizens Guide to the Economy. New York: Basic Books, 2000, 345. 68. C. Conrad and M. S. Poole, Strategic Organizational Communication: Into the Twenty-first Century. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace, 1998. 69. R. E. Rice and U. E. Gattiker, New Media and Organizational Structuring, in The New Handbook of Organizational Communication, ed. F. M. Jablin and L. L. Putman. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001, 54481; see especially p. 565. 70. G. Kennan, Around the Cragged Hill. New York: W. W. Norton, 1993, 177. 71. S. Kleinman, Anytime, Anyplace, in Displacing Place: Mobile Communication in the Twenty-first Century, ed. S. Kleinman. New York: Peter Lang, 2007, 22534. 72. J. Schumpeter, Slaves to the Smartphone. The Economist, March 10, 2012, 80. 73. W. B. Wriston, The State of American Management. Harvard Business Review 68, no. 1 (1990): 7883; see especially p. 83. 74. Bulletins from the Future: Special Report the News Industry. The Economist, July 9, 2011. 75. S. Zuboff, In the Age of the Smart Machine. New York: Basic Books, 1984. 76. C. Fiorina, Speech to the National Governors Association, Washington, DC, February 27, 2000. 77. J. Brown and P. Duguid, The Social Life of Information. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000. 78. Garton and Wellman, Social Impacts, 4401. 79. Shulman, Putting Group Information, 367. 80. P. Clampitt and R. DeKoch, Embracing Uncertainty: The Essence of Leadership. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2001; P. Clampitt and R. DeKoch, Transforming Leaders into Progress Makers: Leadership in the 21st Century. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2011. 81. E. Schmidt, Speech to the National Governors Association, Washington, DC, February 27, 2000. 82. J. S. Lublin, The Naked Truth: To Counter Investor Skepticism, Some CEOs Are Making Public What Was Once Considered Private. Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2003, R12. 83. J. Hempel, How LinkedIn Will Fire Up Your Career. Fortune, April 12, 2010, 7482; see especially p. 76. 84. D. Kirkpatrick, Techonomy: Social Power and the Coming Corporate Revolution. Forbes, September 26, 2011, 7281; see especially p. 76. 85. T. Griffith, Tapping into Social-Media Smarts. Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2011, R6. 86. K. Simonson, Four Ways to Manage the Risks of Social Media. Baseline, December 2009, 11. 87. L. Hollingsworth, Speech at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, March 13, 2012. 88. Social Media Arent All the Same. Oracle Magazine, May/June 2012, 14. 89. A. Malhotra, C. Malhotra, and A. See, How to Get Your Message Retweeted. Sloan Management Review, Winter 2012, 6166; see especially p. 62. 90. Ibid.
142SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES 91. M. Piskorski, Social Strategies That Work. Harvard Business Review, November 2011, 11722; see especially p. 118. 92. Ibid. 93. B. Payner, Five Steps to Social Currency. Fast Company, May 2010, 4447; see especially p. 45. 94. Ibid. 95. A. Shafer, Crunching the Numbers. Inc., October 2011, 26. 96. E. Felton, A Blog Too Far: How the Maestro Made Them Mad. Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2010, W11. 97. M. Sarrel, Managing Employee Communications. eWeek, March 15, 2010, 3940; see especially p. 39. 98. M. Zuckerberg, as quoted in M. Sarrel, Stay Safe, Productive on Social Networks. eWeek, April 5, 2010, 1216; see especially p. 12. 99. M. Sarrel, Stay Safe, Productive on Social Networks. eWeek, April 5, 2010, 1216; see especially p. 12. 100. S. Baker, Beware Social Media Snake Oil. Business Week, December 14, 2009, 4851. 101. G. Crovitz, Is Internet Civility an Oxymoron? Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2010, A17. 102. Persi Diaconis, as quoted in J. A. Paulos, Once Upon a Number: The Hidden Mathematical Logic of Stories. New York: Basic Books, 1998, p. 162. 103. See Chapter 1. 104. V. Mayer-Schnberger, Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009, 2, 118. 105. M. Giles, Data, Data Everywhere: A Special Report on Managing Information. The Economist, February 27, 2010, 118; see especially p. 16. 106. G. Fowler and J. DeAvila, On the Internet, Everyones a Critic but Theyre Not Very Critical. Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2009, A1, A6; see especially p. A1. 107. A. D. Shulman,Putting Group Information Technology in Its Place: Communication and Good Work Group Performance, in Handbook of Organizational Studies, ed. S. R. Clegg, C. Hardy, and W. R. Nord. London: Sage, 2001, 35774; see especially p. 362. 108. P. Noonan, A Bush League President. Wall Street Journal, April 2829, 2012, A15.

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CHAPTER 4 1

Imparting the Organizational Culture

Innovation Communication Ethics

Data, Information, Knowledge, Action

JULIETTE GORDON LOW

Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture79

Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture81

Does Culture Matter?

Culture Affects the Bottom Line

Culture Influences How an Organization Analyzes and Solves Problems

Culture Influences How the Company Will Respond to Change

Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture83

Culture Affects Employee Motivation and Customer Satisfaction

How Can We Discover the Culture?

Examine the Corporate Slogans, Philosophies, and Value Statements

Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture85

TABLE 4.1 Discovering an Organizations Cultural Values

Reflect on the Type of People in the Organization

Study Symbols and Heroes

Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture87

How Can We Evaluate the Culture?

Is the Actual Culture Suited for the Organizational Challenges?

How Can Leaders Effectively Impart the Culture?

Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture89

Craft Actionable Cultural Statements

FIGURE 4.1 Actionable Value Statement

Appropriately Socialize Employees

Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture91

Develop Symbolic Reminders of the Core Values

FIGURE 4.2 Imperial LLC: Organizational Chart

Link Values With Specific Behaviors

Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture93

Filter Information Through the Values

Tell the Right Stories and Create Opportunities to Originate Stories

Use Rewards as Powerful Reminders

Manage Conflict Through the Values, Not the Hierarchy

Routinely Evaluate Progress on the Core Values

Assist in the Evolution of the Meaning of the Values

Chapter 4: Imparting the Organizational Culture97

DRILL DOWN EXERCISES

Selecting and Using Communication Technologies

Innovation Communication Corporate Culture Ethics Change Boundary Spanning

Data, Information, Knowledge, Action

104SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies105

106SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

The BC Model: A Deeper Look

Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies107

TABLE 5.1 Channel Attributes

108SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies109

TABLE 5.2 Channel Costs

Type Learning costs Opportunity costs Coordination costs Switching costs

110SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

FIGURE 5.1 The Emergence of Channel Benefits and Costs

How Perspective Affects Value

Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies111

112SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

TABLE 5.3 (Continued)

Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies113

114SECTION 2: COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

Chapter 5: Selecting and Using Communication Technologies115