Communications is inherent of human behavior, and no matter how frequently this word is use, get to a particular conception that exactly defined it is quite a hard job. Then, in the social field, Communication is defined as an important key of the social structure. Many scholars take communication as the “act of transmitting information from one person to another” and see it as a working definition. Due to the human evolution and the development of technological tools, the communication has to be seen from 2 dimensions: 1. The Interpersonal communication, and 2. The Technological communication. Being the first one a society core, since it help o the building and the maintenance of relationships. The dynamic of communication is structured by 4 key elements: 1. The Communicator, 2. The perceiver, 3. The perceptual screens and 3. The message, all those elements are continuously intervening in the interpersonal communication process. Other important elements to have in account are the channels of communication, the fields of experience of the communicating parts, the noise, and the feedback. There is other kind of classification, important in matter of analyzing the exercise of communication: defining if we are talking of Verbal Communication or Non Verbal Communication. One concerning issue in the studies of this field is the communicators and the perceivers’ backgrounds, that determines the dynamic, the quality and the effectiveness of this process. The interpretation that the communicator gives to the receiver’s feedback or response is also an important element to have in consideration when determining the communication process.
The Communication, as being important part of human behavior, it is also for the organizations by default. Some defined communication attitudes can show features of the type of communicator or listener that people are. If the person is open, empathetic with others, persuasive, or if he is able to keep people around informed. Communication, being a natural process, is sensible of subjectivity and therefore, creation of barriers and preconceptions, so, there are concepts that define how the process can be effective and successful, such as clarity when communicating, understanding and having feedback.
Due to the Technology advances, there is another important dimension in communication: Technological. This one appears one technologic tools show the benefits of their use, like reduction of cost, no barriers in space, saving time, among others. A very good example to show this dynamic that came up with globalization and an outrageous development in the human world is Virtual Teams concept. This tendency was born in the mid 90’s, when the team work models are exported and there is a clear need of avoiding bureaucracy, reduce time and improving service. A Virtual Team is a “group of geographically and/or organizationally dispersed coworkers assembled using a combination of information and communication technologies for accomplishing and organizational task” (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009), and it is known for improving productivity, reduce cost, flexible working hours, and having a cross-cultural character. But what sounds like benefits also can turn in a drawback, that is why, some experts advice to mix some face-to-face characteristics, like meet before start working, and then mitigating the negative effects of VTs and take a real advantage of this model.
If InterContinental were a sound…what would it be?
Positioning a brand through sound, an ambitious project from InterContinental present more challenges than advantages and disadvantages itself. First implication: Totally new proposal of how to create a bond with the client. This brings several issues to the scenario, being a global brand with 160 properties worldwide; the main concerning is their diverse audience, the level of subjectivity that may create preconceptions that InterContinental will have to face (cultural issues, values, believes, backgrounds that determine perception) and how to tell the same story to all of them, touching the adequate senses. And the last one, comes with another serious implication, how to manage a sensorial experience that stimulate the right memories? One that makes every listener to remember InterContinental?. Dealing with the emotional impact that a soundtrack can cause, more difficult, due to the little research made for supporting studies of how music is actually processed in the brain.
Another important implication is the process of creating the sound itself. The coordination of managers, employees and all kind of shareholders was a total challenge for the companies involved in the project. Putting together the ideas of which are the core values of InterContinental and allowing every individual of the company make part of the process, is a first exhausting task, but as was showed in the case, with real positive outcomes, since it help to know how employees and other companies working with InterContinental actually perceive the company.
How to measure the effectiveness of the strategy, and make it quantifiable data? Even if it is perceived as an intangible asset, getting the feedback and the results of the impact is an important challenge too.
Finally, making the strategy fits with the global requirements of differentiation in order to remain in time and in the clients mind, and recognizing that the project is not isolated from the external influences.
VT, new field, fresh ideas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbOu5PJ66P4
Perceptions! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEPjpHfL4Y0&feature=related
References:
Communications: Process and Leadership, Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University
A. Winbow, International Seminar on Maritime English, 20 to 22 March 2002, The importance of effective communication Maritime Faculty, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
Jeffrey Froyd, Effective Interpersonal/Intrateam Communication
Merrill E. Warkentin, Lutfus Sayeed, Ross Hightower, 1997, Virtual Teams versus Face-to-Face Teams:An Exploratory Study of a Web-based Conference System
Politha R. Kuruppuarachchi, 2009, Virtual Team Concepts in Projects: A Case Study, Project Management Journal, Vol 40, No. 2, 19-23
Mohammed Shahedul Quader , A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS: A CASE STUDY BASED ON THE BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATION, Journal of Services Research, Volume 8, Number 2 (October 2008-March 2009)
Richard D. Arvey, Ph.D. “Why Face-to-Face Business Meetings Matter” Business School, National University of Singapore
Gergana Todorova, WORKING ALONE OR TOGETHER? INDIVIDUAL MOTIVATION, GROUP IDENTIFICATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF TMS Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
Anne Powell, Gabriele Piccoli, Blake Ives, Virtual Teams: A Review of Current Literature and
Directions for Future Research, The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems - Winter 2004 (Vol. 35, No. 1)
Steve W.J. Kozlowski and Daniel R. Ilgen, 2006, Enhancing the Effectiveness of Work Groups and Teams, Michigan State University
Luis L. Martins, Lucy L. Gilson and M. Travis Maynard, 2004, Virtual Teams: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go From Here? Journal of Management
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