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Communication 3nine2
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Caught in the Intranet
Jensen Chung
Case Overview
After a fictitious, multinational, high-tech corporation sets up an intranet, employees gain much greater access to corporate information. As a result, they become more vocal and less docile. A group of engineers in Templo’s Asia-Pacific branch, mainly locals, skip the chain of command and complain directly to the branch president regarding the management style of the head of the engineering department. To pacify the engineers, the branch president sends an e-mail to them, apologizing for having wrongly hired the department head. He inadvertently includes the department head in his recipient list. A conflict arises. Instead of solving the conflict through effective communication, the corporate Machiavelli’s wheeling and dealing results in distrust, which, in turn, fuels office politicking.
Learning Objective
The case illustrates the latent pitfalls of computer-mediated communication and the danger of overlooking “rich media” in intranet communication—especially when involving East Asian cultures.
Key Words and Definitions
Intranet—the use of Internet technology within the organization, allowing members to transcend geographical dispersion in order to facilitate communicate and the sharing of information; also called “the internet within.”
Internet—a system of telecommunication linkages of major computer facilities worldwide.
Chat groups—groups formed in computer mediated social conversations, including those on the Internet and through IM (instant messaging).
JAVA—a computer language developed for animation and action within Web sites.
Key Case Concepts
Media choice—choice of channels or media to communicate. Four theories can explain the advantages and disadvantages of making a decision in this case: social presence theory, media richness theory, social information processing theory, and preventive communication cost theory.
Preventive communication cost—the investment, with a communicative emphasis on rule learning, long-term interaction, personal contact, and education, which reduces potential organizational communication problems and communication costs.
Discussion Questions
1. What are the organizational communication problems you can identify in the Asian-Pacific branch of Tempflo?
2. What communication benefits and problems has the intranet brought to the branch?
3. How could Jean have avoided the disgruntlement of browser engineers?
4. How could Jean have resolved the conflict more effectively?
5. How could Scott have avoided losing a self-assumed ally?
6. Why did Jean decline Scott’s invitation to lunch to talk about the e-mail gaffe?
7. Why did Jean stop bringing a mug with her when going to Scott’s office?
8. If the intranet were not installed, how could this situation have evolved?
9. Which episodes in this case illustrate social presence theory?
10. How are the weaknesses of CMC (computer-mediated communication) reflected by the nonverbal complexities depicted in this case?
11. What nonverbal communication theory is illustrated by the episode of Jean’s insisting to talk at Scott’s office, going to Scott’s office empty-handed, and Scott’s not asking her to talk in his private room?
12. How does the above episode illustrate or challenge equilibrium theory?
13. Did Jean and Scott employ “compensation” or “reciprocating” when balancing nonverbal cues to maintain a comfortable level of intimacy?
14. Which of the following theories can explain the success and failure of Jean and Scott’s communication: social presence theory, media richness theory, social information processing theory, and preventive communication cost theory?
References and Resources
Argyle, M. & Dean, J. (1965). Eye contact, distance, and affiliation. Sociometry, 28 (3), 289–304.
Chen, G. & Chung, J. (1997). The “five Asian Dragons:” Management behaviors and organizational communication. In L. Samovar & R. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural communication. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. (pp. 317–328).
Daft, R. & Lengel, R. (1984). Information richness: A new approach to managerial information processing and organizational design. In B. Stw & L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior. (Vol. 6, pp. 191–233). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Daft, R. & Lengel, R. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32, 554–571.
Kodhler, J., Dupper, T., Scaff, M., Reitberger, F. & Paxon, P. (1998). The human side of intranets: Content, style & politics. Boca Raton, FL: St. Lucie Press.
Lai, V. (2001, July). Intraorganizational communication with intranets. Communications of the ACM, 22, (7), 95–100.
Patterson, M. (1983). Nonverbal behavior: A functional perspective. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Short, J. Williams, E. & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. New York: Wiley.
Chen, G. & Chung, J. (1994). The impact of Confucianism on organizational communication. Communication Quarterly, 42 (2), 93–105.
Santoro, G. M. (1994). The Internet: An overview. Communication Education, 43, 73–86.