Organizations are everywhere. Each of us is affected by and, in turn, affect organizations. As such, we are all "stake holders" in the complex, goal-directed, social systems we call organizations.
According to wikipedia:
Communication can be defined as "the transfer of meanings between persons and groups." The purpose of communication may range from completing a task or mission to creating and maintaining satisfying relationships.
In organizational communication, information can flow in several directions. Mainly downward communication, upward communication and horizontal communication. An organization is highly dependant on communication and it is built on a foundation of human commuication. As such, we can see how important and vital effective communication is.
Many companies have found out that knowing the personality of a person during the interview or prior to recruitment can help in overall communication when they join the company or avoid unnecessary friction due to miscommunication.
The following clip is a real test given by Human Relations Department at many of the major corporations today. It helps them get better insight concerning their employees and prospetive employees.
Do you finds this test amazingly accurate? Or do you just get to know yourself better?
In my opinion, I think that such a personality acessment can help an organization to make better decisions in the filtering process for prospective employees. It can eliminate a lot of unncessary internal friction and conflict due to personality clashes which can affect the growth of an organization very negatively. Overall, I think that it is a very wise approach in the recruitment process. What do you think of such an approach in respect to organizational communication? What are some of the drawbacks and flaws of such an approach? =)
Friday, March 13, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
wEEk 8: CMC and Cyber Dating
CMC stands for Computer Mediated Communication.
It refers to any form of communication using computers and computer networks, including emails, electronic conferences, messaging etc.
Let's take a closer look on Computer Mediated Communication through the short clip below:
Interesting issin't it? Does CMC has more pros or cons? The prescence of CMC has also affected personal identity and lifestyle. It enables a person to have multiple identities. It may be advantageous to those who have not been able to find acceptance because of their physical appearance or characteristics in real life to be themselves online. This results in the coexistence of two extremes: deception and self-revelation.
One common application of CMC is cyber dating. Let's have a preview of it:
This is one humorous aspect of CMC. CMC has given birth to cyber-dating which is very prevalent nowadays. But it does have its flaws compared to transactional communication, when we see the other party face to face and know exacly how the person looks like, the vibes that he or she gives and such. What are your views of CMC on cyber dating? Is it a blessing or a curse?
It refers to any form of communication using computers and computer networks, including emails, electronic conferences, messaging etc.
Let's take a closer look on Computer Mediated Communication through the short clip below:
Interesting issin't it? Does CMC has more pros or cons? The prescence of CMC has also affected personal identity and lifestyle. It enables a person to have multiple identities. It may be advantageous to those who have not been able to find acceptance because of their physical appearance or characteristics in real life to be themselves online. This results in the coexistence of two extremes: deception and self-revelation.
One common application of CMC is cyber dating. Let's have a preview of it:
This is one humorous aspect of CMC. CMC has given birth to cyber-dating which is very prevalent nowadays. But it does have its flaws compared to transactional communication, when we see the other party face to face and know exacly how the person looks like, the vibes that he or she gives and such. What are your views of CMC on cyber dating? Is it a blessing or a curse?
Sunday, March 1, 2009
wEEk 7: Cultural Imperialism
What is cultural imperialism?
It is the one way flow of international messages or media products, especially news and television flows, from a few metropolises.
According to wikipedia, cultural imperialism is defined as the practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating or artificially injecting the culture or language of one culture into another. It is usually the case that the former belongs to a large, economically or militarily powerful nation and the latter belongs to a smaller less important one.
Before you get bored on definitions, let's look at a very humorous film that illustrates cultural imperialism gorgeously yet very entertaining.
Jamie Uys's humorous yet moving film The Gods Must Be Crazy narrates the story of what happens when a pilot flying across the Kalahari Desert of Botswana drops a Coca-Cola bottle into the midst of a tribal group. The confused aboriginals explain the object as a gift from the gods. But the bottle challenges and destroys the traditions and social mores of their world. To defy the object's destructive influence, the tribe sends out one of its members to toss the evil thing over the edge of the earth, a distance the clan believes is some twenty days' walk away. Uys's movie was so popular on the international market that its producers created a sequel. The Gods Must Be Crazy offered a conspicuous sample of American consumer imperialism and its victimization of the Third World. Released in 1981, the film struck a vital chord in the middle of what has come to be known as "The Grand Debate": Have Americans become cultural imperialists? Do manufacturers, policymakers, and other interest groups attempt to conquer and corrupt the rest of the world by flooding it with consumer products made in the United States of America?
Have Americans become cultural imperialist? What do you think? =)
It is the one way flow of international messages or media products, especially news and television flows, from a few metropolises.
According to wikipedia, cultural imperialism is defined as the practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating or artificially injecting the culture or language of one culture into another. It is usually the case that the former belongs to a large, economically or militarily powerful nation and the latter belongs to a smaller less important one.
Before you get bored on definitions, let's look at a very humorous film that illustrates cultural imperialism gorgeously yet very entertaining.
Jamie Uys's humorous yet moving film The Gods Must Be Crazy narrates the story of what happens when a pilot flying across the Kalahari Desert of Botswana drops a Coca-Cola bottle into the midst of a tribal group. The confused aboriginals explain the object as a gift from the gods. But the bottle challenges and destroys the traditions and social mores of their world. To defy the object's destructive influence, the tribe sends out one of its members to toss the evil thing over the edge of the earth, a distance the clan believes is some twenty days' walk away. Uys's movie was so popular on the international market that its producers created a sequel. The Gods Must Be Crazy offered a conspicuous sample of American consumer imperialism and its victimization of the Third World. Released in 1981, the film struck a vital chord in the middle of what has come to be known as "The Grand Debate": Have Americans become cultural imperialists? Do manufacturers, policymakers, and other interest groups attempt to conquer and corrupt the rest of the world by flooding it with consumer products made in the United States of America?
Have Americans become cultural imperialist? What do you think? =)
Friday, February 20, 2009
wEEk6 : MASS COMMUNICATION
We often hear the term Mass communication. What exactly is it? Mass communication is a form of communication through which instituitional sources address large, diverse audiences whose members are physically separated from one another. It is a powerful and pervasive mode of communication, and in modern societies, the media are important social instituitions that reflect and affect the values and behaviours of large segments of population.
PETA (People for the ethical treatment of animals) is the largest animal rights organization in the world. Below is a campaign poster by PETA, featuring Jonna Krupa posing nude to show that she rather go naked than to wear fur.
This is one of the mass media that PETA uses in its campaign against the fur industry, where animals are unethically and ruthlessly killed. Do you think it is effective ? How powerful are such mass media approaches to inform the masses? What are your thoughts after seeing this poster?
Saturday, February 14, 2009
wEEk5 : Interpersonal and Group Communication
What is interpersonal communication?
In all sense, all communication is interpersonal, because all communication occurs betweeen people. The term interpersonal communication, however, is generally reserved for two-person, face-to-face interaction and is often used interchangeably with the term dyadic communication. Interpersonal communication has several unique characteristics. It is direct, personal, immediate, spontaneous and informal.
Group communication on the other hand is communication between a collection of individuals who, as a result of interacting with one another over time, become interdependent, developing shared patterns of behaviour and a collective identity.
Have you heard of virtual reality? Let's catch a glimpse of virtual reality in the short cartoon clip below:
Hope you enjoyed the cartoon above and have a better idea of virtual reality.
A real life application of virtual reality is the virtual classroom. YES! the virtual classroom, let's take a look at the following video clip:
Woww... cool issin't it ? Now we do not have to wake up super early to go school, to beat the morning peak period traffic for morning classes. We don't need to dress up, we can save on transportation time and money. And last but not the least, we stay in the comfort of our own room. But what impacts and consequences does a virtual classroom have on interpersonal and group communication? If the virtual classroom is to replace the traditional classroom, I forsee that alot of communication problems will arise in the workforce in future, where face-to-face interaction is mandatory. Do you think the virtual classroom is a good idea? And what consequences will it have on the interpersonal and group communication skills and development of a person? Do let me know your views... ... =)
In all sense, all communication is interpersonal, because all communication occurs betweeen people. The term interpersonal communication, however, is generally reserved for two-person, face-to-face interaction and is often used interchangeably with the term dyadic communication. Interpersonal communication has several unique characteristics. It is direct, personal, immediate, spontaneous and informal.
Group communication on the other hand is communication between a collection of individuals who, as a result of interacting with one another over time, become interdependent, developing shared patterns of behaviour and a collective identity.
Have you heard of virtual reality? Let's catch a glimpse of virtual reality in the short cartoon clip below:
Hope you enjoyed the cartoon above and have a better idea of virtual reality.
A real life application of virtual reality is the virtual classroom. YES! the virtual classroom, let's take a look at the following video clip:
Woww... cool issin't it ? Now we do not have to wake up super early to go school, to beat the morning peak period traffic for morning classes. We don't need to dress up, we can save on transportation time and money. And last but not the least, we stay in the comfort of our own room. But what impacts and consequences does a virtual classroom have on interpersonal and group communication? If the virtual classroom is to replace the traditional classroom, I forsee that alot of communication problems will arise in the workforce in future, where face-to-face interaction is mandatory. Do you think the virtual classroom is a good idea? And what consequences will it have on the interpersonal and group communication skills and development of a person? Do let me know your views... ... =)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
wEEk tHrEE- fOUr (haha... Chinese New Year!)
This week we learn about the other part of unit 2 on verbal and non-verbal communication.
Notice any difference? YOu will notice that in this trailer, hardly any narrative is given compared to "Marley And Me." Like a Chinese saying that goes: "A picture speaks a thousand words." This is so true especially in nonverbal communication. A brief introduction is given and the rest of the scenes convey the rest of the messages nonverbally. How is this possible, it is possible as nonverbal communication is both uiversal and cultural. Also codes like kinesics (body movement and gestures), facial expression and eye behaviour, chronemics (time) and physical appearance and object language is used. Do you think the verbal method of communicating to the audience, in the movie Marley And Me, or the nonverbal method in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is more effective? And why? Do hope to hear from you and look forward to your comments. =)
VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Under Verbal communication, there are four subsystems of the language system. Which are phonemes (sound), syntatics (structure), semantics (meaning) and pragmatics. Verbal communication, as its name suggest, simply means communicating verbally through a form of language.
We also learnt about non-verbal communication, which compared to verbal communcation, can sometimes be more subtle. Nonverbal communication is the sudy of communication systems that do not involve words.
Ok, before I bore you crazy, lets's take a look at one of the latest movies MARLEY AND ME. Its about the life of a married couple and how it evolved around a dog. A dog which they keep since its a baby. A dog obviously can't speak and engage in verbal communication right, for the purpose of showing nonverbal communication and for creativity's sake, for now, let's take a preview at one of the latest movie: (remember to look out for the nonverbal cues!)
Marley And Me
wow... cool huh? catch the part where the dog wags its tail with the necklace in its mouth, to communicate to its masters that he wants to play with them. Tat is nonverbal communication in its simplest.
Back to more serious stuff look at another equally popular movie this season:
N/B: While watching please note the difference in the presentation of this movie clip with the previous one!
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Notice any difference? YOu will notice that in this trailer, hardly any narrative is given compared to "Marley And Me." Like a Chinese saying that goes: "A picture speaks a thousand words." This is so true especially in nonverbal communication. A brief introduction is given and the rest of the scenes convey the rest of the messages nonverbally. How is this possible, it is possible as nonverbal communication is both uiversal and cultural. Also codes like kinesics (body movement and gestures), facial expression and eye behaviour, chronemics (time) and physical appearance and object language is used. Do you think the verbal method of communicating to the audience, in the movie Marley And Me, or the nonverbal method in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is more effective? And why? Do hope to hear from you and look forward to your comments. =)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
wEEk tWo (",)
This week we touch on unit two; the foundations of communications.
The human perception process consist of three distinct parts, namely selecting, organising and interpreting.
Selection:
The qualities of selection include frequency, contrast, intensity and novel stimuli.
The influences of selection include individual characteristics, mass media, social network, psychological state and environment.
Selection and perceptual errors include omission, distortion and oversimplification.
Applications
In response to the communication concepts that we had already learnt so far, there is this very intesting video below that is sure to reinforce what we had aleady learnt. Enjoy!
Hey guys please click on the U tube video clip below:
Woww... did you get a shock?
Applying the concepts we had learnt so far, one of the influences of selection includes our psychological state (which includes our priorities and motives). Which in this case is looking out for how many passes the team in white make. Our brain tunes itself to make this selection which may result in perceptual errors, which in this case is Omission. We miss out the bear totally!! In other words we only see what we want to see!!
Hope you enjoyed reading my blog so far.
haha... do post yr comments, share with me your experience with this clip and let me hear from you k ...
YOurs tRUly,
eDDie
Saturday, January 17, 2009
wEEk oNe
Hi Guys, this is the very first week we had our communications lectures. A few new terms are being introduced. Starting with Rhetori; the study of effective speaking and the art of persuasion.
Rhetori consist of logos (logical content of speech) and lexis (style and delivery of speech)
One interesting thing that we had learnt is with regards to persuasion. Persuasion includes:
Logos: appeal to reason
Pathos: appeal to emotion
Ethos: appeal of one's character
let's take a look at this short clip before I continue, while watching, please note how the product is being promoted through logos, pathos or ethos.
If you realised, only the pathos approach is being used. Not much appeal of one's character or reasoning is being used. Do you think this is a good advertisement purely using the pathos approach? Will it work on their target audience? Do comment and let me hear your views. =)
Rhetori consist of logos (logical content of speech) and lexis (style and delivery of speech)
One interesting thing that we had learnt is with regards to persuasion. Persuasion includes:
Logos: appeal to reason
Pathos: appeal to emotion
Ethos: appeal of one's character
let's take a look at this short clip before I continue, while watching, please note how the product is being promoted through logos, pathos or ethos.
If you realised, only the pathos approach is being used. Not much appeal of one's character or reasoning is being used. Do you think this is a good advertisement purely using the pathos approach? Will it work on their target audience? Do comment and let me hear your views. =)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
It is a New Beginning.
I think that it is cool to start off the new year with a new blog. A blog that is dedicated to the subject Communications. In my blog I will be posting a summary of what we have learnt weekly. I will also raise issues and articles related to the communication concepts that are being taught. I hope that it will be great revisions for anyone that had visited my blog. I will try my best to make it as comprehensive and interesting as possible. So do visit my blog frequently and do post your comments k ! =)
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