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A Strategic Communication Plan: Communicating Organizational Change In A Franchise System
No full textA concrete communication plan, aligned with business strategy, is crucial to the success of instituting any new change in a business. The purpose of this project was to create a strategic communication plan, for the Good Foods franchise chain, in order to deliver their strategic plan to increase brand recognition, sales, and profitability, through multi-unit growth for both the franchisee and franchisor. This research first identifies the current and preferred methods of communication between the two parties (franchisee and franchisor) and also the frequency of connection between the franchise community and the senior leadership team. In addition, this study also provides an analysis of the franchisee/franchisor relationship, utilizing the model of Anthony Giddens’ theory of structuration as a basis for this plan. The literature review goes into great detail by comparing and contrasting the theory of structuration to that of structuralism, so as to ascertain additional context and rationale for the utilization of Giddens’ theory as the model for this communication plan. Both strengths and challenges of the model are highlighted and addressed in the final plan to ensure a cohesive, thorough, accountable and aligned plan for company adoption. Research methods included a combination of surveys, telephone interviews and field observations with the senior leadership team and elected franchisee group. The results of the final data and analysis was used to construct an overall communication plan for Good Foods which is aligned with the overall company strategy and includes strategic messaging, channels and timing for the dissemination of the message
Part One: An Instructional Module Template For Orientation To The Situated Practice Of Oral Communication Online In The Community College
Get PDFThe community college serves a diverse student population with numerous programs and degrees designed to complete general education requirements and prepare students for job placement. As these students enter their anticipated occupation, most are unprepared for the oral skill requirements of their new job. They lack confidence to navigate any number of scenarios demanding interpersonal poise, teamwork, conflict resolution, presentation skills, and other occupation-specific speaking tasks. Since many of these degrees and certificates are offered partially or completely online, this Project presents a practical means of introducing speaking skills into the coursework of the growing online learning environment. The research examined the ethos of the community college and the impact of oral proficiency on the academic, personal, and occupational lives of students. Expanding on the core required speaking course, the study and resultant project informed by a genre study, presented genre-specific oral skill activities in online coursework integrating the application of multimedia tools. Constructivist learning theory was foundational to the experiential and dialogical instructional design. Interviews and ethnographic studies in online and live courses informed the teaching and assessment rubrics integrated into the Project. Reducing perceived transactional distance in online learning is critical to student success and a relational approach to teaching engenders favorable student responses
Social Media In Higher Education: Networked Tools In A Traditional Strategy Organization
Get PDFThis study examined (a) how the traditional organizational communication strategy in place at a university impacts the utilization and effectiveness of social media as a university communication tool, (b) to what extent and how effectively have relational and networked approaches been incorporated into the traditional structure of communication at a university, and (c) how the flow of communication and the social media strategy on campus are impacted by the traditional structure of the university, identifying any potential communication bottlenecks and workarounds. The literature review examined the theoretical underpinnings behind traditional strategy organizations and the communication challenges that can arise in that environment. Fourteen open-ended interviews were conducted with communication professionals at a large, American university. The participants ranged from college and department level social media or communication professionals up to administrators tasked with creating and enforcing university communication policy. The study suggests how the organization, and central administration organized in traditional terms, can overcome bottlenecks when it delegates, trusts, and empowers communication and social media professionals to develop innovative, networked and relational approaches to implementing social media strategies. However, resources are allocated to support the traditional structure of communication and social media and emergent communication structures are underfunded. This important complication suggests how the traditional structure hinders the development of social media and networked strategies, even when central administration organized in traditional terms, promotes alternatives method and means of organizational communication
Miscommunication In Cross-Cultural Technology Teams
Get PDFThis study explored communication dissonance found within globally distributed software development teams. The literature review investigated the theoretical foundation for the causes of intercultural dissonance that affects globally distributed software development teams. An online survey, and unobtrusive participant observation methods were used to capture as many data points as possible. Qualitative analysis leveraging data triangulation was the basis for the study. Participants in the study exhibited behaviors consistent with anticipated results. Suffering from a lack of understanding of dynamics found when interacting across high/lowcontext cultures, the study participants exhibited varying levels of intercultural communication dissonance. Teams that had been together longer appear to be more interculturally competent and effective. Additional research areas are identified to further understand the impacts of intercultural communication dissonance as well as to make recommendations for overcoming/minimizing this organizational challenge
The Tell-Tale Tatt: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of How Tattoos Impact Impression Formation During The Hiring Process
Get PDFAs tattoos have increased in popularity in recent years, the number of tattooed people applying for jobs in professional workplaces also has increased. This thesis explored how tattoos affect the impressions formed by potential employers during the hiring process. Symbolic Interactionism theory, based on the writings and concepts of George Mead, provides the basic theoretical framework for this study. The literature review examines several topics, including: how impressions are created; how conscious thought and unconscious thought impact impression formation; the importance of communication through visual messages; and how tattoos have evolved in recent society. Data for this study was gathered through eight interviews with individuals who work or have worked in a human resource or hiring position. Results of the study were analyzed using a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach, where emergent themes were pulled from the data and examined further. Themes included: the importance of conscious choice of physical appearance by the wearer; parental influence on impression formation of tattooed people; and acknowledgment of existing stereotypes of tattooed people. The study concluded that tattoos do impact impression formation during the hiring process and that most people have an extreme view of tattoos as being either perfectly acceptable or stereotypically having a negative connotation. The study also established that previous interactions with tattoos or tattooed people (positive or negative) play an important part in how impressions are created during future encounters with tattooed people. Further research should evaluate the ways in which other aspects of physical appearance impact impression formation and the role physical appearance has on the outcome of the hiring process
The 21St Century Educator: An Exploration Of The Communication Practices Of An \u27Architect Of Learning\u27
Get PDFThe 21st century has driven many changes in the classroom and to the teacher of yesterday. Existing teacher identities are in limbo as educational systems morph from dominant beliefs and ideologies to meet the new demands of a knowledge economy. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions of their communication practices as 21st century educators. In particular, research focuses on teachers’ views of the province of Alberta’s vision of “teacher” as an architect of learning, and is explored via semi-structured personal interviews and classroom observations. Although there is ample research on teacher identity and issues related to teacher identity, there is little information to date examining new metaphors for teachers in the 21st century. The symbolic interactionist frame perspective offers a lens on how teachers use language, meaning, thought, and performance in current and future identity construction. The results indicate that teachers do not share common perceptions of the architect of learning metaphor, which in turn has implications for future development and performance of the new role. Continued dialogue on the issue is recommended
Does Patient-Centered Care Mean Something Different To Patients And Physicians?
No full textThis study explored the similarities and differences in what physicians and patients perceive to be patient-centered care and how this impacts that patient’s overall satisfaction with the care that they receive. The study included a literature review with theoretical approaches to communication and previous research studies conducted between patients and health care providers during the patient’s office visit interactions with their provider; over the continuum of ongoing care with their provider; and how the development of relationship or lack of relationship impacts the patients’ overall sense of trust with their provider. Specifically this study applied the social penetration and communication accommodation theories to better understand how interactions between the provider and patient may predict how the relationship between the two parties moves forward over time. The research was completed through convening two focus groups, one comprised of a group of individuals to obtain their perspective and experiences as patients, and the other group comprised of primary care providers in which they provided their unique perspective as a medical provider in health care. The research concluded that patients and providers share some similarities, but that there are often differences in the expectations that patients and providers have during their interactions. This generally represented each party having separate expectations during their visit together, and in the absence of open communication and inquiry, there can be a sense of patients in particular feeling that their needs are not being met which then leads to dissatisfaction with their health provider
Sororities, Interpersonal Relationships, And A Dialogical Perspective
Get PDFThis study focuses on interpersonal relationships and skills gained through sorority membership. The purpose of this research sought to develop the understanding of potential developmental outcomes, in which a sorority can provide to its members. Research methods used: online surveys and follow-up interviews. The dialogical perspective by Martin Buber helped develop an understanding of the I-thou relationship, whereas, each person within conversation is fully valued for what they have to say. In general, sororities are known as social organizations and the use of dialogue is important when communing or working with others. Alumnae who participated provided enough feedback to determine that a sorority does have potential for developing interpersonal communication skills that have organizational implications
Gendered Divisions of Fertility Work: Socioeconomic Predictors of Female versus Male Sterilization
Get PDFDomestic labor researchers have examined a multitude of duties disproportionately performed by women, yet the responsibility associated with navigating a couple\u27s fertility—fertility work—has been overlooked. Using data from the 2006–2010 National Survey of Family Growth (N = 1,415), the author examined how racial and socioeconomic factors affect the division of contraceptive fertility work among married and cohabiting women who rely on either their partners\u27 vasectomies or their own sterilizations. Drawing theoretical connections between fertility work and housework, resource- and gender-based perspectives were used to assess whether women\u27s or their partners\u27 characteristics are stronger predictors of sterilization type, and whether women\u27s absolute or relative education level has a greater impact. Findings suggest that White and socioeconomically privileged women are more likely to have vasectomized partners than disadvantaged women. Male partners\u27 characteristics were more closely associated with sterilization type than women\u27s characteristics, lending greater support for the gender-based hypotheses
NOW 2013-02 February
No full textCorpus of News on the Web data for February 2013.
The TAR folder contains linguistic data in three formats: Database: This is the format allows for the most robust searches and allows for powerful JOINs across corpus, lexicon, and source tables but requires knowledge of SQL. See Full-text corpus data for more information on how to use the database format. Linear Text: This format provides a textID for each text, and then the entire text on the same line. In this format, words are not annotated for part of speech or lemma. In addition, contracted words like can\u27t are separated into two parts (ca n\u27t) and punctuation is separated from words (eye level . As her). Word, Lemma, Part of Speech: Texts are separated by a line with ## and the textID