The Changing Organizational Landscape of Business Communications in the Age of Information Technology
One of the most vital factors that influence an improving anddynamically developing organizational system in the business sector isbusiness communications. The emergence of business communication as anessential factor in improving and organizing the activities of peopleeveryday resulted to the integration of communication as an element thatmust be considered in promoting effective organizational management. Moreimportantly, business communications via the Internet (technological) mediaare considered the most flexible and effective forms of communication,making it easier for organizations to communicate and constantly interactwith its members. Information dissemination and exchange among and withinorganizations also improves with the proliferation of e-mailing and
The author critically looks at the role that informationtechnology plays in organizational communication and performance,especially among its members. However, dysfunctions within the cyberspaceculture proliferate, such as the spreading of viruses that either annoysthe user or seriously damages the performance of computer systems. In effect, organizations that cultivate within its culture highlevels of information technology through communications, there is a greaterchance that there will also be an increase in employee/member performance. " Recognition for cyberspace as an important organization thatmust have its own sets of rules, norms, members/users, and artifacts-thatis, cyberspace culture, security measures to assure that users of computertechnology are not prevented from performing everyday activities due tosystem errors and dysfunctions caused by viruses and other computerglitches. Thus, the growing community of Internet technology users especiallyin the business sector increases the usefulness and value of technologycommunications at present. Jennifer Barrett, in a special report from Newsweek, addresses the issue of'cyber security' in the growing community/organization that is called,"cyberspace. In what was called "organization capital," IWPCenumerates corporate knowledge and its values and culture as factors thatlead to better employee performance. Establishing a cyber security program is indeed a vital step thatsociety and the government must take, as illustrated in Steve Lohr'sanalysis in the article, "Technology and Worker Efficiency. This analysis by Lohr illustrates the growing need for changes withinbusiness organizational cultures, which show that computer technologies,especially when applied to communications of organization members, canyield to better performance and interaction, further improving the ever-changing culture of business organizations. This is manifested in the establishment of the National CyberSecurity Division of the government's Department of Homeland Security,spearheading the program called, "National Cyber Alert System," whichmonitors offenders within cyberspace to protects users from its annoyingand, sometimes, dangerous effects. Thus, there is an affective andpositive relationship between the level of information technology andcommunication in organizations, and the increased performance of itsmembers. According to Lohr, in a convention conductedby the Information Work Productivity Control (IWPC), information technologydirectly affects and influences the structure and dynamics oforganizational culture. " In thisarticle from The New York Times, Lohr discusses the relationship betweeninformation technology and productivity and competitiveness in the businesssetting.
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