December 2015

Addressed to David White

1

Group 8

Saba Zainab W18873

Jin Kai Lim W11284

Alexandru Clapa W15239

Emma Lacourrege W08127

Selina Garnier W18873

Mihnea Bradu W18361

Federica Guarneri W04921

Conor Leow W20559

Table of Contents

December 2015

Executive Summar y

Introduction

Research Question

Methodology

Pr imar y Data

Secondar y Data

Findings

Discussion

Limitations

Conclusion

Appendix

pg 3

pg 4

pg 5

pg 6

pg 7

pg 14

pg 15

pg 15

pg 19

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Executive Summary

December 2015

Communication has always been an integral par t of the workplace, as good

communication is prerequisi te for success in the business wor ld. Advances in

technology have seen new forms of communication ar ise, w i th oppor tuni ties for

businesses to uti l ise them. This r epor t examines the changes in communication

technology over the years, and how they have in turn impacted interaction in the

working environment. The study was targeted at working professionals holding a

manager ial role or higher, as they are l ikely to have been in a company for a longer

per iod of time to w itness these changes, and therefore are better placed to answer

our questions. A r ange of r elevant ar ticles and repor ts also provided information

which was then compared against our pr imar y sources to see i f any simi lar i ties or

di f ferences could be found. Final ly, this paper argues that electronic communication

has become more common in workplaces, and that i ts advantages more often than

not outweighs the disadvantages.

3

Introduction

December 2015

The way we communicate has changed drastical ly over the past 30 years, due to

the advances in technology. Tradi tional forms of communication mainly take

the form of analogue mediums. Examples of these include newspaper, letter s

and telephone conversations. In contrast, newer forms of communication make

use of digi tal mediums such as emai ls and video conferencing.

The r ise of electronic forms of communication has offered new oppor tuni ties.

Companies both large and small can take advantage of these oppor tuni ties in

order to boost productivi ty amongst their employees and save costs, potential ly

leading to greater prof i ts. However, electronic communication has i ts dow nsides

as some cr i tics have argued that i t is unable to r epl icate ful ly benefi ts of more

tr adi tional forms of communication, and can also lead to a decrease in

eff iciency.

4

RESEARCH QUESTIONSOur group was assigned the fol low ing topic:

" How has the r i se of elect r on i c com m u-

nicat i on (em ai l , social networ k ing,

Skype, etc.) af fected the way staf f and

m anager s com m unicate w i th each other ?

What oppor tun i t i es ex i st to m ax im ise

the oppor tun i t i es that m ay ar i se f r om

new m edia? What pr oblem s do or ganisa-

t i ons ex per ience?"

We then broke dow n our topic into the fol-

low ing three questions to better dir ect our

r esearch:

1.   How has the rise of electronic communi-

cation impacted communication in the

workplace?

2.   How have companies made use of new

media technologies in their workplaces and

what are their benefits?

3. What issues do companies face when us-

ing new media technologies?

December 2015

5

Primary Research

December 2015

Each group member conducted an inter view w ith a fami ly member to gain an

insight as to whether there has been an increased use in electronic communication

in the workplace, and how this has affected interaction between employees. Some

of our fami ly members have been working in a business for a long time or are

managers of their ow n f i rm, therefore they were per fect inter viewees. A copy of

the questionnair e we used as a fr amework for our inter views as well as the prof i le

of these inter viewees can be found in Appendix A.

Secondary Research A range of ar ticles and papers were selected to enable us to fur ther r esearch on

how electronic communication has affected the workplace environment as well as

i ts advantages and disadvantages. We then compared the two to look for both

simi lar i ties and di f ferences.

6

December 2015

FINDINGS : PRIMARY RESEARCHAll r espondents agreed that communica-

tion w ithin workplaces has defini tely

changed. Snai l mai l and f ix landlines

have seen declines in use, and are today

r eplaced by emai ls, texting and mobi le

phones. How ever, not al l forms of com-

munication are now digi tal. Many com-

panies sti l l prefer hard copies when i t

comes to si tuations l ike the draw ing up

of contracts and face to face meetings

when impor tant decisions are to be

made.

The respondents were also unanimous

when i t came to agreeing that productiv-

i ty increased as a r esult of technological

advances. The examples given by the in-

ter viewees usually showed how easy i t

was to communicate w ith their other co-

workers r egardless of location. In con-

tr ast, meetings between teams from di f-

ferent nations previously meant having

to spend money on air fare and accom-

modation. Teleconferencing has low ered

costs by enabling these meetings to be

held in the comfor t of the par ticipants?

home countr ies.

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December 2015

The main disadvantage brought up by

r espondents was that electronic commu-

nication blur r ed the l ines between work

and personal l i fe. Where in the past

work ended once employees left the of-

f ice, communication technology al lows

them to be contactable even after off ice

hours, through the use of emai ls and text

messaging. This has led to sometimes

unrealistic expectations that employees

must r egular ly check their phones and

reply to emai ls, even after off ice hours.

Another issue raised is that interaction

between employees has become less

personal. Rather than taking the time to

walk across the off ice for a quick chat,

employees tend to send emai ls instead.

Some respondents also r aised the prob-

lem of information over load, due to the

ease of sending emai ls. Sometimes, the

sender may decide to copy i r r elevant

people, leading to a f looding of inboxes

and making i t di f f icult to discern what is

actually impor tant.

8

December 2015

Finally, r espondents were asked to com-

pare the usage of new technologies and

how they stood up to more tr adi tional

forms of communication. I t was overal l

agreed that nothing can beat a face-to-

face conversation w ith another par ty, as

i t al lows for many physical cues such as

body language or voice intonation that

can be lost when communicating over

emai ls.

While video conferencing technology

helps to save costs, companies sti l l pre-

fer having al l members physical ly pre-

sent in one location when i t comes to the

discussion of mergers, or when closing

an impor tant deal. Like al l technologies,

video conferencing has i ts f laws. There-

fore i t can be di f f icult to understand the

other par ty, especial ly i f the connection

is weak.

9

December 2015

SECONDARY RESEARCH

The r ise of electronic communication

and the Internet has had signi f icant im-

pact on the working wor ld. According to

McGrath, ?the business wor ld has r evo-

lutionized almost beyond recognition in

the past few decade? (McGrath 2008).

Communication is the main method

through which managers form relation-

ships w ith their employees. This al lows

them to provide suppor t and encour -

agement, and when done well , leads to

a good working environment. This is

impor tant, as good communication w ith

managers w i l l lead to employee satis-

faction and therefore a better quali ty of

work. Tradi tionally, managers have re-

l ied on face-to-face interaction to culti -

vate such relationships.

Nowadays, i t is more common to f ind

managers using a mix between face-to-

face interaction and electronic forms of

communication. (Lanneborn and Löf-

gren 2013).

The introduction of emai l and other

forms of electronic communication has

accounted for much of the changes in

communication in workplaces. Emai l is

considered to be the most prevalent

form of computer -mediated communi-

cation that occurs in the workplace

(Derks and Bakker 2010).

10

December 2015

This is suppor ted by an online sur vey

conducted by Pew Research on inter -

net users and the role of digi tal tech-

nology in their work l ives. The sur vey

found that 61% of workers today

deemed emai ls to be the most impor -

tant communication tool in business

(Purcell and Rainie 2014).

Another benefi t of electronic commu-

nication is that i t al lows for ?geograph-

ical ly displaced managers and employ-

ees, to work together, to communicate

and interact? (Lanneborn and Löfgren

2013). Workers from the same com-

pany are no longer prevented from

working together in teams because

they are located in di f ferent countr ies.

This has the benefi t of increasing pro-

ductivi ty as teams can work faster than

they would be able to i f they had to

meet up face-to-face. (Schreiber 2015)

Workplace communication previously

r el ied upon face-to-face interaction. As

Phi l Jones once w rote, ?If someone was

out of the off ice, they were effectively

out of contact? (Jones 2013). Electronic

communication, together w ith mobi le

technology has diminished the need

for physical proximity in interaction.

Almost ever ybody is equipped w ith a

mobi le phone that al lows them to ac-

cess their emai l or the Internet r egard-

less of whether they are in the off ice or

not (McGrath 2008).

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December 2015

An increase in productivi ty w i l l lead to

an increase in business and therefore

more r evenue (McGrath 2008). To this

end, electronic communication has def-

ini tely al lowed for greater productivi ty

in the workplace. Results of the Pew Re-

search sur vey showed that 46% of r e-

spondents felt that they were more pro-

ductive as a r esult of electronic commu-

nication, compared to 7% who said they

were less productive (Purcell and Rainie

2014).

Working patterns for cer tain organisa-

tions have also changed w ith the in-

crease in use of electronic communica-

tion. Technologies such as emai l, video

conferencing software, instant messag-

ing and other r elated technologies have

grow n in prominence. I t is now more

common for employees to f ind them-

selves working from home (Dudovskiy

2012). Working from home has been as-

sociated w ith a host of benefi ts, includ-

ing lesser costs for both employees and

employer and a better work-l i fe balance

(Snell and Bohlander 2012).

How ever, for al l i ts posi tive points, elec-

tronic communication also comes w ith

i ts ow n set of di f f iculties and disadvan-

tages. As emai l has grow n in promi-

nence, so has the problem of having be-

ing f looded w ith i r r elevant mai l. This

can contr ibute negatively to str ess levels

and is detr imental to the employee

(Derks and Bakker 2010).

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December 2015

Always being avai lable has i ts disad-

vantages too. Derks and Bakker make

the case that by always being avai lable,

the employee is more susceptible to in-

ter r uptions in his work that can come in

at any time or place whi le he may be

tr ying to focus on something else (Derks

and Bakker 2010). Just the ver y act of

r eading or even acknow ledging the

emai l is alr eady a form of distr action

from the task at hand. (Fr iedman 2014)

Another disadvantage is that w ith an

increasing in usage of electronic com-

munication comes a cor responding de-

crease in the amount of face-to-face in-

teraction w ithin the workplace. This

decrease in face-to-face interaction has

been identi f ied as a potential problem

as i t makes i t di f f icult for managers to

form meaningful r elationships w ith

their teams, as they cannot physical ly

see what their employees are doing.

Most managers prefer to have regular

face-to-face interaction w ith their em-

ployees. (Lanneborn and Löfgren 2013).

Some cr i tics of electronic communica-

tion have also made the case that i t can

lead to a decrease in productivi ty as i t is

easier for an individual to be distr acted

w ith the plethora of content on the In-

ternet today. 84% of r espondents in a

sur vey admitted to sending non-work

r elated emai ls dur ing off ice hours

(Muhl 2003).

Mobi le phones account for higher pro-

ductivi ty by al low ing an employee to

constantly r eceive and reply to emai ls.

How ever, this is done at the expense of

the balance between workplace and

personal l i fe. The blur r ing of l ines be-

tween work and personal space has

been associated w ith a number of nega-

tive effects, including higher str ess lev-

els and lower employee satisfaction

(Derks and Bakker 2010).

13

DISCUSSIONBoth the pr imar y r esearch and secondar y r esearch concur red that the use of elec-

tronic communication is more prevalent in the workplace now, whi le i t has i ts dis-

advantages, they are outweighed by the advantages.

Both sources agreed that productivi ty has improved as a r esult of electronic com-

munication. Common examples ci ted include being able to work from home and not

being hampered by geographical boundar ies. Working from home has al lowed a

greater work-l i fe balance and in turn has promoted higher employee satisfaction.

For some, the blur r ing of l ines between work and personal space is also a concern.

Unattainable expectations of constant avai labi l i ty can lead to increased levels of

str ess and fatigue. This is something that both employees and employer must learn

to adjust and adapt to prevent burnout amongst employees.

Face-to-face communication is ver y much sti l l prefer red over electronic communi-

cation. Our secondar y r esearch emphasized on the need for managers to develop a

good working r elationship w ith their employees that can be formal or informal

when needed. The latter is much more di f f icult to develop w ithout r egular face-to-

face communication and can pose problems for managers. Respondents from our

pr imar y r esearch highl ighted this need when tr ying to close impor tant business

deals. As electronic communication is the norm nowadays, i t is a challenge for busi-

nesses to adapt their practices to ensure that managers and employees can commu-

nicate eff iciently when needed.

December 2015

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LIMITATIONSOne area on which this r epor t can be fur ther improved on is to sur vey employ-

ees of al l levels and status in organisations. Most of the r espondents inter viewed

were in manager ial posi tions, and as such may hold di f fer ing views to those who

work under them.

Targeting di f ferent forms of organisations and distinguishing between them

may also be helpful when f inding out the effect of electronic communication in

the workplace.

The needs of a multi -national company can di f fer greatly from a small indepen-

dent local f i rm and as such so can the prevalence of electronic communication.

Fur thermore, even the sor t of business a f i rm engages in may determine how

much an effect the r ise in electronic communication has on them.

December 2015

15

ConclusionIn conclusion, the r ise of electronic communication has brought a myr iad of

changes in the nature of communication in the workplace. Messages can now

be sent and replied to at a r apid speed, al low ing employees to be potential ly

more productive in their workload. In addition, companies have the option to

give f lexible work hours for their employees by al low ing them to work from

home. It was previously necessar y for teams from di f ferent countr ies to tr avel

in order to have meetings, incur r ing costs for accommodation and air fare.

Now, companies can cut costs by holding these meetings using video confer -

encing technology, al low ing teams to work together from their home off ices.

How ever, along w ith these advantages also come some r isks such as an in-

crease in str ess and a severe blur r ing of l ines between work and personal

space. Employees must learn to cope w ith increased expectations of avai labi l-

i ty and be able to separate work and personal time for the benefi t of their ow n

well-being. At the same time, decreased face-to-face interactions in the work-

place mean that the onus is even greater on managers to ensure that commu-

nication between them and their employees is better than ever . This w i l l help

to ensure that their employees are working to the best of their abi l i t ies. I f

companies are able to adapt their working styles in order to incorporate the

best that electronic communication has to offer and minimise the disadvan-

tages, then there is no question that they w i l l be well placed to succeed.

December 2015

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APPENDIX A : BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Der ks, Daant je, and Ar nold B. Bakker . ?The Impact of E-mail Communica-

tion on Organizational Life .? Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Re-

search on Cyberspace 4, no. 1 (2010).

- Dudovsk iy, John. Impact of communication technology on businesses . 10

August 2012. http://research-methodology.net/impact-of-communication-

technology-on-businesses/ (accessed November 7, 2015).

- Fr iedm an, Ron. The Cost of Continously Checking Emai l. 4 July 2014.

https://hbr.org/2014/07/the-cost-of-continuously-checking-email/ (accessed No-

vember 25, 2015).

- Jones, Phi l . How evolving technology w i l l change the business wor ld . 11

September 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/technology/business-

technology/10298682/future-workplace-technology.html (accessed November 14,

2015).

- Lannebor n, Katar ina, and Mi r i am Löfgr en . The relationship between man-

agers and employees in a vir tual context . Örebro, 18 Januar y 2013.

December 2015

17

- McGr ath, Jane. How has technology changed the way we conduct business?

11 June 2008. http://money.howstuffworks.com/technology-changed-

business.htm (accessed November 9, 2015).

- Muhl , Char les J. ?Workplace e-mail and Internet use: employees and employ-

ers beware.? Monthly Labour Review, Februar y 2003: 36-45.

- Pur cel l , Kr i sten, and Lee Rain ie. Technology's Impact on Workers. 30 De-

cember 2014. http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/12/30/technologys-impact-on-

workers/ (accessed November 9 2015).

- Schr eiber , Danny. ?How to Work Faster in a Remote Team.? In The Ultimate

Guide To Remote Work, by Wade Foster, 106-125. 2015.

- Snel l , Scot t , and Geor ge Bohlander . Managing Human Resources. Cengage

Learning, 2012.

December 2015

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APPENDIX B

Quest ions Used To Guide Inter v iew

1) Over your 25 years in the organisation, how has communication w ithin the work-

place changed w ith the r ise of technology?

2) Has this use of electronic communications inf luenced your way of working or

communicating w ith your col leagues?

3) What are some advantages of increased electronic communication use, would you

say productivi ty has increased?

4) In contrast, what are the disadvantages to always being connected?

5) Has electronic communication str engthened communication between you and

your co-workers or weakened i t?

6) Have technologies affected your social l i fe in the workplace and relationship w ith

co-workers?

7) If there are big decisions such as mergers, or expansions, what is the company

protocol? Do they hold such meetings over electronic methods of communication or

face to face? Why and which do you prefer?

December 2015

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APPENDIX CProfi le of Inter viewees

December 2015

Name of Inter viewee Company Years Worked Position

Lok Kheng Ling Chevron 23 Regional Manager

Ion Clapa CloudSoft (Romania) 5 CEO and Ow ner

Jabir Jabbar Prestige Graphics     

(UAE)

8 Director

Alain Garnier Saint-Gobain 10 Director Sales & Business Development

Francesco Guarner i GUBER SPA 25 Co-Founder and General Administr ator

Elena Pagani GUBER SPA 20 Accounting & Accountabi l i ty

Madalina Bradu Quasar antiques (Romania)

10 CEO and Ow ner

Ian Rathmell Ciena Limited 10 Account Dir ector

20

APPENDIX D

Answers from Inter view :

December 2015

"There is a loss of

pr ivate time, because

ever yone expects an

immediate r eply to their

emai ls, whether you are at

work or not."

"I f ind myself more

connected to work, in that

I do check my emai l

through my phone even

though I?m not at work.

Communication has

become almost a l i ttle

impersonal . "

"You need to be ver y discipl ined and you need to

be careful. The problem w ith working from home, is

that a lot of people w i l l see their time between

personal and work blur r ed. They w i l l work from

8am to 11pm. They never qui te stop, i t?s not

healthy."

"Whether productivi ty has increased or not is up

for debate. Whi le i t has al lowed us to communicate

for eff iciently, advances in technology has also meant

that new distr actions l ike social media, or even just

texting on the phone are now a problem. "

"Clear ly, the amount of exchanges has

increased exponential ly. The amount of

information/data that one receives is

tr emendous. But the quali ty may be

lacking. As I can send huge amount of

data almost instantly to a large number

of per sons, there is a r isk to distr ibute a

lot of i r r elevant information ."

"Most impor tant business decisions

are sti l l discussed/negotiated

face-to-face in off ices. Electronic media

al low ver y fast exchanges of

information and a lot can be found on

the web, but the human interactions are

sti l l ver y impor tant in key business

decisions ."

21

APPENDIX EScreen shots of our prezi

December 2015

22

APPENDIX FScreen shots of our Facebook group

December 2015

23

24

December 2015

Reflecting on these past weeks...

We felt that the group project went ver y well overal l . This was our f i r st time

working in such a big group for an academic project. We star ted working on i t

from a ver y ear ly stage, and i t has helped us tr emendously as we can work at a

manageable pace, r ather than having to r ush i t al l in the space of 2-3 weeks.

We had a great team spir i t, spl i tting the work well and general ly contr ibuting

dur ing meetings. We al l used our acting talents in the movie cl ip and had a

great time f i lming. In the end, the project brought us together and

str engthened our r elationship. The greatest thing about this group would be

i t 's diver si ty. We al l have di f ferent cultural backgrounds (Romania, I taly, India,

Singapore, France, UAE and Malaysia) and this al lowed us to have many

di f ferent per spectives on how to work effectively. As a r esult we've al l become

good fr iends and hope to work again together in the future.

APPENDIX G

Published on 10/11/2015 ©