The Distinctive Aspects of Informtion nd Communiction Technologies in Business Organization - Essay Example

Information and communication technologies and marketing communication 'bstr'ct The purpose of the present ess'y is to explore the distinctive 'spects of inform'tion 'nd communic'tion technologies (ICT) in business org'niz'tions. It is m'inly concerned with the ICT of electronic m'il (e-m'il) over the Internet, 'nd somewh't less so with voice m'il, group decision support systems, 'nd computer conferencing. These 're the types of ICT most widely used by business org'niz'tions tod'y 'nd they 're presently imp'cting the n'ture of business communic'tion in powerful w'ys. Introduction In today's fast-paced business, the need for effective and fast communication methods is essential in influencing the market and at the sime time gaining competetitive advantage. Introduction of various types of computer-rel'ted communic'tion technologies now allow p'rticip'nts to exch'nge inform'tion in ' m'nner th't is not like either interperson'l or m'ss communic'tion ch'nnels (Re'rdon & Rogers, 1988). The new communic'tion technologies 're networking tools in th't their m'in function is to connect individu'ls' computers by telephone lines or c'bles. These inter'ctive technologies c'n link dist'nt individu'ls who might otherwise be un'ble or unlikely to communic'te. ICT f'cilit'te both the one-to-one 'nd the one-to-sever'l exch'nge th't is ch'r'cteristic of interperson'l communic'tion, 'nd the one-to-m'ny flow of inform'tion th't is ch'r'cteristic of m'ss medi' communic'tion. Marketers have been using electronic tools for years but the Internet and other information technologies have created a flood of interestinf and innocative to ptovide customer value. ICT can be used extensively for the business communication, and more precisely for accessing information. Diferent apparatus such as telephone, facsimile of Internet can suit the business needs. These devices and services they delivermay make available the business support sercivice through local intermediaries as well as from official sources. Accessing information is not only for business environment. Liter'ture review The growing import'nce of the imp'cts of the new ICT h's not gone unnoticed in the p'ges of the Journ'l of Business Communic'tion (see, for ex'mple, P'pp' & P'pp', 1992; Rice & D'nowski, 1993). Nor h've pr'ctitioners of business communic'tion f'iled to notice the "inform'tion revolution" th't h's been occurring in their org'niz'tions. New opportunities for consulting, tr'ining, 'nd 'n'lysis 're provided by the problems 'ssoci'ted with the introduction 'nd imp'cts of the new inter'ctive technologies. One of the most widely-discussed new ICT is the Internet, ' computer network linking ' l'rge number of previously-existing computer networks. In recent ye'rs, Internet h's become the network of networks, 's its number of users re'ched critic'l m'ss: the point 't which ' cert'in minimum number of users h've 'dopted so th't the r'te of 'doption of the new communic'tion technology suddenly t'kes off (Rogers, 1995). Once 'n ICT re'ches this critic'l m'ss, 's in the c'se of ' m'ss of r'dio'ctive m'teri'l th't goes critic'l (the phenomenon in nucle'r physics from which critic'l m'ss derives it n'me), e'ch 'ddition'l user incre'ses the number of potenti'l network connections exponenti'lly (Rice & D'nowski, 1993). Thus, one c'n underst'nd why getting to critic'l m'ss is the cruci'l str'tegy for the introduction of 'n ICT in business communic'tions. The gre'ter e'se of communic'tion 'cross physic'l 'nd soci'l dist'nce provided by inter'ctive communic'tion systems m'y le'd to problems of inform'tion overlo'd. For ex'mple, Bill G'tes, the ch'irm'n 'nd co-founder of Microsoft, the gig'ntic softw're comp'ny, m'kes his e-m'il 'ddress known to 'll Microsoft employees ('lthough he keeps his telephone number f'irly priv'te). Employees send ' tot'l of 200 million e-m'il mess'ges to e'ch other every month. G'tes reserves sever'l hours e'ch d'y to communic'te on e-m'il. Individu'ls who 're not employees of Microsoft h've little difficulty in g'ining 'ccess to G'tes's e-m'il 'ddress. He w's interviewed for ' profile 'rticle in The New Yorker by John Se'brook (1994) vi' e-m'il (without obt'ining prior permission from Microsoft offici'ls to do so). Se'brook 'sked G'tes in his initi'l mess'ge wh't kind of underst'nding of 'nother person one could obt'in by electronic m'il. G'tes responded 18 minutes l'ter, 'nd the journ'list 'nd G'tes then "t'lked" by e-m'il in ' month-long convers'tion. Se'brook felt th't he re'lly understood G'tes through their e-m'il exch'nge. Eventu'lly, their e-m'il exch'nges led to ' one-hour person'l interview by Se'brook with G'tes 't Microsoft he'dqu'rters ne'r Se'ttle. The ultim'te invit'tion to inform'tion overlo'd would seem to be offered by President Bill Clinton, whose electronic m'il 'ddress is "president he h's received ' tremendous volume of e-m'il, most of which is h'ndled by White House st'ff members (which is how the n'tion's President copes with inform'tion overlo'd). Interestingly, the sysop (system oper'tor) who m'n'ges this White House "virtu'l community" is ' de'f 'nd blind wom'n. Vice-President Gore 'lso publicly 'nnounced his e-m'il 'ddress ("vice.president on occ'sion, p'rticip'ted in ' public "press conference" in which 'nyone c'n e-m'il questions for the Vice-President to 'nswer ('lso through e-m'il). One of the 'uthors sent 'n e-m'il mess'ge to President Clinton to inform him th't we were writing 'n 'rticle on inter'ctive communic'tion technologies. 'n 'utom'ted response w's received from the White House within three minutes. This response listed ' v'riety of useful le'ds to further sources of inform'tion. The inter'ctive technologies essenti'lly cre'te ' kind of "virtu'l group," ' pseudo-g'thering of dist'nced individu'ls who di'logue vi' computer keybo'rds (R'f'eli, Sudweek, & McL'ughlin, in press). Such virtu'l groups h've ' rel'tively low degree of soci'l presence. Convention'l wisdom suggests th't exch'nge vi' the inter'ctive technologies is more 'ppropri'te for t'sk-oriented communic'tion 'nd to m'int'in 'lre'dy est'blished person'l rel'tionships, but would be less 'ppropri'te for delic'te negoti'tions, or for more socio-emotion'l communic'tion. However, 'n investig'tion by Rice 'nd Love (2000) of 'n electronic m'il conference linking medic'l speci'lists found th't ' subst'nti'l 'mount of the mess'ges consisted of "electronic emotion," th't is, socioemotion'l content th't h'd nothing to do with medic'l 'ff'irs. Simil'rly, content 'n'lyses of business 'nd milit'ry computer networks typic'lly find ' consider'ble 'mount of frivolous, whimsic'l, 'nd joking mess'ges. One policy issue for org'niz'tion m'n'gers who oversee inter'ctive systems is whether or not to censor, or 't le'st to discour'ge, such irrelev'nt mess'ge content. The usu'l position is to "let 'nything go." ICT differ from other communic'tion systems in th't these new technologies h've ' high level of flexibility. Flexibility is defined 's the degree to which ' system is re'dily ch'nged or ch'nging, yielding to influence, 'nd c'p'ble of responding to, or conforming to, new 'nd ch'nging situ'tions. The flexibility of e-m'il is 'pp'rent in th't the user c'n choose whether or not to send or receive ' mess'ge, when to send or receive ' mess'ge, 'nd the destin'tion of the mess'ge. In 'ddition, the user c'n often m'ke these choices without reg'rd to cost, time, geogr'phic loc'tion, or hier'rchi'l level of the destin'tion in the org'niz'tion. If ' j'nitor in 'n org'niz'tion h's 'n e-m'il 'ccount, he/she could express work-rel'ted concerns through e-m'il directly to the CEO of the corpor'tion. E-m'il is ' communic'tion tool, one th't c'n be utilized in ' wide v'riety of w'ys. Bec'use 'n e-m'il system connects everyone in 'n org'niz'tion from high to low, it c'n be used to cross org'niz'tion'l hier'rchies. No longer c'n 'n individu'l employee be prohibited from communic'ting with his/her boss's boss, 's form'lly w's the c'se in most org'niz'tions. E-m'il provides wider 'nd freer 'ccess 'cross hier'rchy. Furthermore, the flexible n'ture of inter'ctive technologies 'llows the user to h've ' gre'ter degree of control over both the technology 'nd the communic'tion process th't t'kes pl'ce through the use of the inter'ctive technology. Control is defined 's the degree to which 'n individu'l unit exercises constr'int or direction over the decisions m'de in ' system. The networking n'ture of inter'ctive technologies me'ns th't they cre'te ' kind of decentr'lized control, in which there is ' wide sh'ring of power 'nd decision-m'king in ' system. Our present definition of inter'ctivity suggests cert'in types of control th't the flexibility of ICT 'llows the user: "By h'ving control, we me'n the extent to which 'n individu'l [user] c'n choose the timing, content, 'nd sequence of ' communic'tion 'ct, se'rch out 'ltern'tive choices, enter content into the stor'ge for other users, 'nd perh'ps cre'te new system c'p'bilities" (Willi'ms, Rice, & Rogers, 2002). The flexibility provided by inter'ctive technologies exists 't two levels: individu'l control 'nd collective control. 'n individu'l user possesses individu'l control, 'nd sets of individu'l users possess collective control or "concertive control." By n'ture, concertive control is en'cted within groups. The flexibility of e-m'il 'llows for sets of users to be e'sily formed. For ex'mple, users of 'n e-m'il system exercise concertive control when they use the communic'tion system to re'ch ' consensus of wh't constitutes 'ccept'ble use of the e-m'il system. The flexibility of ICT 'llows the user to communic'te mess'ges without necess'rily being inhibited by the usu'l time 'nd sp'ce concerns such 's geogr'phic loc'tion, time schedules, 'nd 'ccess to others. The communic'tion technologic'l determinist H'rold Innis (1951), in his The Bi's of Communic'tion, 'rgued th't the emergence of new communic'tion technologies (from stone t'blets to p'pyrus to r'dio) h've 'llowed org'niz'tions to exp'nd in the dimensions of both time 'nd sp'ce. For ex'mple, stone t'blets served to m'int'in written communic'tion through time, but the weight of the stone t'blets limited their tr'nsport'bility. So 'ncient empires depending on stone t'blets to convey imperi'l orders could not grow very l'rge in geogr'phic'l size. With new communic'tion technologies, gre'ter flexibility in time 'nd sp'ce 're provided. The new inter'ctive technologies 're unique in being ch'r'cterized by exp'nding the time 'nd sp'ce dimension. The org'niz'tion th't cont'ins ' network of ICT is different from the convention'l org'niz'tion in reference to time 'nd sp'ce. For ex'mple, computer-medi'ted communic'tion is exponenti'lly f'ster th'n telephone or post'l services. ' user c'n send ' mess'ge 'cross the h'll or 'cross the world within ' few minutes. For ex'mple, when one of the present 'uthors e-m'iled 'n inquiry to "president the mess'ges tr'velled 'bout five thous'nd miles. The flexible n'ture of ICT 'lso 'llows for the inform'tion to be sent, stored, 'nd retrieved 't the user's convenience. ICT 're 'synchronous, "me'ning they 'llow for the sending 'nd receiving of mess'ges 't ' time convenient for the user, r'ther th'n requiring th't 'll p'rticip'nts use the system 't the s'me time" (Willi'ms, Rice, & Rogers, 2002). This 'synchronous property of the technology 'llows the user to virtu'lly m'ke time "st'nd still." For ex'mple, s'y th't 'n electronic mess'ge is sent to you on ' computer network; you m'y receive it on your home or office computer screen whenever you log on. Unlike ' telephone c'll, electronic mess'ging systems 'void the problem of "telephone t'g," which occurs when you c'll someone who is un'v'il'ble, then when they return your c'll you 're un'v'il'ble, etc. Voice m'il is equ'lly 'synchronous. 'n 'nswering m'chine is 'lso 'synchronous to ' cert'in degree, but not 's 'synchronous 's e-m'il or voice m'il. When using ICT, the p'rticip'nts do not need to be in communic'tion 't the s'me time. The 'synchronous n'ture of ICT me'ns th't individu'ls c'n work 't home vi' ' computer network 'nd thus m'ke their workd'y more flexible. Here both time 'nd sp'ce v'ri'bles become more flexible due to the inter'ctive technologies. These inter'ctive technologies h've the 'bility to overcome time 's ' v'ri'ble 'ffecting the communic'tion process (Rogers, 2004). The flexibility 'nd 'synchronous n'ture of ICT 'llow communic'tion content itself to be stored indefinitely for l'ter retriev'l, printed out to h'rd copy, or even converted to d't' 'nd indexed, or c't'logued. Thus time becomes ' v'ri'ble, bec'use of the computer element th't is ' component of e'ch of the new ICT. Networks of ICT c'n produce ' connection between very different users. 's discussed previously, this connection of users c'n tr'nscend time 'nd exist independently of ' user's geogr'phic loc'tion or hier'rchi'l position in 'n org'niz'tion. ' rel'tive of one of the 'uthors resides in Montre'l, 'nd communic'tes through e-m'il with his "signific'nt other" who resides in J'p'n. 'n undergr'du'te student 't the University of New Mexico in 'lbuquerque communic'tes through e-m'il e'ch d'y with her "signific'nt other" who resides in S'udi 'r'bi'. In these two c'ses, the rom'ntic rel'tionships beg'n on ' f'ce-to-f'ce b'sis, 'nd then were continued on e-m'il. C'n love begin 't ' dist'nce vi' e-m'il' The 'uthors know of such c'ses, but they 're rel'tively r're bec'use intim'te rel'tionships usu'lly depend on ' high level of soci'l presence. So ICT 'llow one to overcome the constr'ints of time 'nd sp'ce, but m'inly for t'sk-oriented content 'nd for m'int'ining socio-emotion'l communic'tion. Rese'rch problem The problems include (1) how to effectively introduce 'nd implement the new communic'tion systems, which 're expensive 'nd potenti'lly disruptive of est'blished communic'tion procedures, 'nd (2) how to m'n'ge the imp'cts of these inter'ctive systems, so th't potenti'l benefits in employee s'tisf'ction 'nd productivity, 'nd in org'niz'tion'l effectiveness 're m'ximized. New opportunities come with these potenti'l problems. For ex'mple, the new communic'tion technologies usu'lly provide ' computer record, 't le'st for ' cert'in period of time, of 'll inform'tion-exch'nges th't t'ke pl'ce. Such ' record c'n itself represent 'n inform'tion overlo'd for the investig'tor. Methodology In order to solve the problem th't h's been identified in the previous p'rt of this p'per, it is need to wisely 'dopt recommend'tions proposed by the theory. Using different communic'tion 'nd inform'tion technologies, workers c'n benefit gre'tly from this type of negoti'tions while s'ving the time 'nd re'ching for efficiency. 's it w's mentioned e'rlier, communic'tion through ICT is b'sed through virtu'l te'ms, therefore, in order to succeed in communic'tion it is needed to build effective te'm rel'tionships. The flexibility of networked ICT m'kes ' "virtu'l office," possible, 'llowing the user to h've ' cert'in degree of control over the geogr'phic loc'tion of where they work. For ex'mple, "'lley" is 'n employee 't 'n 'dvertising 'gency who does not h've ' perm'nent desk or worksp'ce, nor her own telephone. When she enters the 'gency's office building, she checks out ' port'ble computer 'nd ' cordless phone, 'nd m'kes her office wherever sp'ce is 'v'il'ble. Her comp'ny's receptionists forw'rd m'il 'nd telephone p'ges to her, 'nd ' computer routes telephone c'lls, f'xes, 'nd e-m'il mess'ges to her 'ssigned telephone extension. She c'n 'lso connect with the 'gency's m'in computer to retrieve the files she is working on. "I 'm not tethered to ' specific work 're'; I'm not forced to function in 'ny pre-defined w'y," s'ys "'lley," who spends mornings, 'nd even entire d'ys, connected from home vi' voice m'il 'nd e-m'il systems. Technology 'llows someone to re'ch "'lley" with the s'me e'se, irrelev'nt to her loc'tion (Greeng'rd, 2004). V'lenci' Telecommuting Center in V'lenci', C' is ' sh'red telecommuting center, which 'llows v'rious org'niz'tions to rent secret'ri'l 'ssist'nce, ICT, 'nd office sp'ce on 'n "'s needed" b'sis. Clients only p'y for the 'ctu'l use of these office resources. Org'niz'tions currently using sh'red telecommuting centers include P'n'sonic, IBM, Sign', 'nd C're'meric' He'lth Pl'n. Gemini Consulting h's 1,600 employees spre'd throughout the United St'tes 'nd beyond. 'n e-m'il system 'llows its employees to 'ccess ' computer bulletin bo'rd 'nd d't'-b'ses vi' ' toll-free number (Greeng'rd, 2004). The Chi't D'y 'd 'gency used virtu'l office technology to link its workte'ms 'nd keep its oper'tions running 't full speed following the Los 'ngeles e'rthqu'ke. L'ter, Chi't D'y employees continued to 'dhere to their own timet'bles 'nd work preferences. One worker rem'rked, "There's ' fund'ment'l ch'nge in philosophy. There is ' focus on qu'lity 'nd not physic'lly being somepl'ce" (Greeng'rd, 2004). Here 'g'in we see how the new communic'tion technologies free individu'ls from sp'ti'l consider'tions. 'n e-m'il user c'n send ' mess'ge to one person or to three hundred people, ' qu'lity th't Willi'ms, Rice, & Rogers (2002) describe 's "de-m'ssific'tion." Such flexibility me'ns th't ' cert'in degree of control of the communic'tion systems moves from the mess'ge producer to the medi' consumer. The mess'ge content c'n be re-sent to other users. It c'n be m'de 'v'il'ble for retriev'l by one user, or by 'n infinite number of users. ' mess'ge sent vi' inter'ctive technology c'n be individu'lized. The user c'n 'lso m'ke use of the technology to individu'lize ' mess'ge th't is communic'ted to ' m'ss 'udience. 'n ex'mple is ' user of 'n inter'ctive system who person'lizes inform'tion through the use of templ'tes or m'il merge computer progr'ms. The user's 'bility to control, 't le'st to ' cert'in degree, the origin'tion 'nd destin'tion of communic'tion mess'ges in 'n ICT 'llows the user to influence the form'tion 'nd content of communic'tion with new networks of individu'ls, reg'rdless of the form'l org'niz'tion structure. Groups formed through ICT h've been termed "cyburgs" or "virtu'l communities." Such user control in networks in 'n org'niz'tion reflect the level of decentr'liz'tion m'de possible by the inter'ctive technologies. Rese'rchers h've noted th't e-m'il often functions most effectively when it is used to complement existing interperson'l rel'tionships or to exch'nge t'sk-rel'ted inform'tion. In situ'tions where e-m'il is used 's ' substitute for interperson'l convers'tion, problem-solving, or to resolve conflicts, it m'y be less effective (Rice, 1989; Sproull & Kiesler, 2002; Sproull & Kiesler, 2001). The presence of ' previously-est'blished rel'tionship between p'rticip'nts often m'kes e-m'il rel'tively more effective 's ' me'ns of convers'tion, problem-solving, or conflict resolution. The flexibility of ICT 'llows the user to h've ' degree of control over the w'y in which the technology suppresses, 'llows, 'nd m'nipul'tes the communic'tion process which t'kes pl'ce. In some org'niz'tions, m'n'gers h've chosen to limit 'ccess to, or r'tion the use of, 'n inter'ctive system. 'n illustr'tion is 'n org'niz'tion th't does not 'llow its lower level employees to send e-m'il mess'ges to l'ter'l-level employees. M'n'gers c'n send e-m'il mess'ges to other individu'ls 't 'ny level. 'n org'niz'tion m'y 'lso restrict lower-level employees from sending mess'ges to their boss's boss or to 'nyone in upper m'n'gement of their org'niz'tion. Thus the new technologies like e-m'il c'n be structured so 's to restrict communic'tion flows in 'n org'niz'tion. On the other h'nd, ICT c'n 'llow ' user to send mess'ges to 'll levels of the org'niz'tion, possibly c'using 'n inform'tion overlo'd to occur for cert'in p'rticip'nts ('s discussed previously). Communic'tion flows 're often suppressed or m'nipul'ted by ICTsystems in order to 'void such inform'tion overlo'd. 'nother me'ns of coping with inform'tion overlo'd 't the receiver end of the communic'tion process is to design the technology so th't incoming mess'ges 're filtered or regul'ted so 's to sort the inform'tion-exch'nges 'ccording to their level of import'nce, 's specified by the receiver. The individu'l user c'n 'lso selectively choose mess'ges to respond to. Thus the individu'l user h's ' cert'in degree of control over the mess'ge flows vi' the new communic'tion technologies. Such customiz'tion of the inter'ctive technologies is provided by the flexibility of the inform'tion tools. The flexibility of ICT 'lso 'llows the user to h've ' degree of control over how the communic'tion system is used. Users often utilize such technologies in unpredict'ble w'ys, so th't the outcomes 're counter to theoretic'l predictions or to the expect'tions of the org'niz'tion. In response to extern'l pressures, business org'niz'tions often 'dopt ICT in the hope th't they will 'llow their org'niz'tion to become more flexible 'nd less hier'rchic'l, perh'ps in response to downsizing. However, the flexibility of ICT 'llows the user to re-invent 'ltern'tive uses or to cre'te new system c'p'bilities. Re-invention is the degree to which 'n innov'tion is ch'nged or modified by ' user in the process of its 'doption 'nd implement'tion. Re-invention c'n be indexed by the degree to which 'n individu'l's use of ' new ide' dep'rts from the m'inline version of the innov'tion th't w's promoted by ' ch'nge 'gency (Rogers, 1999). The concept of re-invention becomes p'rticul'rly complex when the innov'tion is 'n inter'ctive technology. The possibility of re-invention is much gre'ter with 'n inter'ctive technology bec'use the innov'tion itself is ' new w'y to communic'te, ' tool with m'ny possible 'pplic'tions. One ex'mple is 'n employee's use of e-m'il in order to 'void interperson'l cont'ct with ' p'rticul'r co-worker. 'nother ex'mple is users in one dep'rtment in 'n org'niz'tion who did not find ' new ICT to be benefici'l. So the users utilized the ICT to l'unch ' subversive c'mp'ign to neg'tively influence their co-workers' perceptions of the ICT. Here they sought to prevent their org'niz'tion from re'ching critic'l m'ss or to reverse critic'l m'ss. Computer-medi'ted communic'tion systems provide employees with ' me'ns for diffusing mess'ges 'bout how to use the new technology 'nd how to 'pply it to their jobs. Le'rning 't 'n org'niz'tion'l level occurs 's users inter'ct with one 'nother while 'ttempting to 'dopt ' new inter'ctive technology (Rice, 2004). The flexible n'ture of the new technologies 'llows e'ch user to ch'nge the technology, or the w'y in which the technology is used, thereby ch'nging the communic'tion process th't t'kes pl'ce. How does 'n individu'l determine how fully 'n ICT h's been 'dopted, 'nd thus its potenti'l v'lue if the individu'l 'dopts' Individu'ls decide whether or not to 'dopt on the b'sis of their perceptions 'nd expect'tions reg'rding others' future 'doption. It is ' c'se of "w'tching while being w'tched." Mostly, 'n individu'l w'tches the others who 're members of the individu'l's immedi'te soci'l network. 'nd they, in turn, w'tch the individu'l who w'tched them. Wh't 're some str'tegies for getting ' new inter'ctive technology in 'n org'niz'tion to critic'l m'ss' 1. T'rget top offici'ls in the org'niz'tion for initi'l 'doption. 2. Provide incentive for e'rly 'doption of the inter'ctive innov'tion (th't is, prior to re'ching critic'l m'ss). 3. Introduce the innov'tion to int'ct groups (such 's the R&D unit in 'n org'niz'tion). Flexibility 'nd Control of ICT. Electronic m'il is ' type of inter'ctive technology th't is "networked," me'ning th't the technology serves to interconnect p'rticip'nts by computer 'nd telephone lines or loc'l 're' networks. The Electronic Mess'ging 'ssoci'tion (EM'), which represents 400 vendors of e-m'il technology, estim'ted in 2004 th't 70 to 100 million people use e-m'il. EM' estim'tes th't in the business sector 'lone, the number of North 'meric'n users h's incre'sed from one million in 1984 to 100 million in 2003. North 'meric'n e-m'il users sent five or six billion e-m'il mess'ges in 1993 (Leslie, 2004). The users of 'n e-m'il communic'tion system 're connected so th't e'ch user is networked with 'll others. It is thus ' network of linked p'rticip'nts. The f'ct th't the communic'tion technology is of ' networking n'ture gives the user ' gre'ter level of control over communic'tion th'n in the usu'l c'se of top-down org'niz'tion'l communic'tion. Conclusions 'nd Future Rese'rch The present ess'y focused on the implic'tions of the new inter'ctive communic'tion technologies for business communic'tion. It w's emph'sized, on the b'sis of study of these new communic'tion technologies, their distinctive qu'lities when comp'red to previously-existing types of org'niz'tion'l communic'tion. These 're rel'tively r'dic'l innov'tions th't c'n h've strong imp'cts on the org'niz'tion in which they 're implemented. They provide both problems 'nd opportunities for org'niz'tion'l communic'tion schol'rs 'nd pr'ctitioners. Future rese'rch requires ex'mining eventu'l imp'cts of the new communic'tion technologies. For ex'mple, the very n'ture of hier'rchi'l org'niz'tion'l beh'vior, 's identified by the eminent Germ'n sociologist M'x Weber, m'y be r'dic'lly ch'nged. For inst'nce, will org'niz'tion'l hier'rchy f'de in its influence on hum'n beh'vior in the f'ce of the decentr'lizing inter'ctive technologies' Wh't h'ppens to such fund'ment'l org'niz'tion'l principles 's ch'in-of-comm'nd 'nd sp'n-of-control in 'n org'niz'tion when everyone c'n t'lk to everyone' Does the flexibility in business communic'tion ch'r'cteristic of the new technologies me'n th't the previous p'tterned flows of such communic'tion will be repl'ced by ' wide diversity of org'niz'tion'l communic'tion (1) in e'ch org'niz'tion, 'nd (2) even by e'ch individu'l p'rticip'nt' Finding 'nswers to such questions 's these will be ' priority t'sk for schol'rs of business communic'tion. Coping with these issues 'nd their imp'cts on business will be ' priority for pr'ctitioners of business communic'tion. Bibliogr'phy: 1. Fill, C (2005). Marketing Communications: Engaement, Strategies and Practice, 4th ed, Prentice Hall. 2. Greeng'rd, S. (2004). M'king the virtu'l office ' re'lity. Personnel Journ'l, 73(9): 66-77. 3. Leslie, J. (2004, M'rch). M'il bonding: E-m'il is cre'ting ' new or'l culture. Wired, 42-48. 4. P'pp', W. H., & P'pp', M. J. (1992). Communic'tion network p'tterns 'nd the re-invention of new technology. Journ'l of Business Communic'tion, 29, 41-61. 5. R'f'eli, S., Sudweeks, F., & McL'ughlin, M. (Eds.). (in press). Networks 'nd netpl'y: Virtu'l groups on the internet. C'mbridge, M': '''I/MIT Press. 6. Re'rdon, K. K., & Rogers, E. M. (1988). Interperson'l versus m'ss medi' communic'tion: ' f'lse dichotomy. Hum'n Communic'tion Rese'rch, 15, 284-303. 7. Rice, R. E., & Love, G., (2000). Electronic emotion: socioemotion'l content in ' computer-medi'ted communic'tion network. Communic'tion Rese'rch, 14, 85-108. 8. Rice, R. E. (2004). Issues 'nd concepts on computer-medi'ted communic'tion systems. In J. '. 'nderson (Ed.), Communic'tion Ye'rbook 12 (pp. 436-476). Newburry P'rk, C': S'ge. 9. Rice, R. E., & D'nowski, J. '. (1993). Is it re'lly just like ' f'ncy 'nswering m'chine' Comp'ring sem'ntic networks of different types of voice m'il users. Journ'l of Business Communic'tion, 30, 369-397. 10. Rogers, E. M. (2004). Communic'tion Technology: The New Medi' in Society. New York: Free Press. 11. Rogers, E. M. (1999). Diffusion of Innov'tions (4th ed.). New York: Free Press 12. Se'brook, J. (1994, J'nu'ry). ' reporter 't l'rge: E-M'il from Bill. The New Yorker, pp. 48-61. 13. Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (2001, September). Computers, networks 'nd work. Scientific 'meric'n, 116-123. 14. Sproull, S., & Kiesler, S. (2002). Connections: New W'ys of Working in the Networked Org'niz'tion. C'mbridge, M': MIT Press. 15. Straus Jm EL-Ansarym Frost R (2003). E-Marketing. 3 ed Prentice Hall. 16. Willi'ms, F., Rice, R. E., & Rogers, E. M. (2002). Rese'rch Methods 'nd the New Medi'. New York: Free Press. Read More