Communication Technology - Essay Example

Communication Technology Introduction Human beings have always communicated, and have always known that they were communicating. The realm of communications has undergone a series of revolutions already more than a century old, the end of which is yet beyond our vision or prevision. The revolution is due to successive waves of technological innovations each of which alters the capacity for society to inform, amuse, and persuade itself. More importantly, there is a revolutionary discovery that communication is, and always has been, far more central to whatever it means to be a human being than had ever before been supposed. (Barnett,1989:3) Communication The meaning of the word “communication” is at once both clear and obscure. It is clear enough in conventional usage, but obscure when we seek to determine the limits of its application. To illustrate, if someone talks to another and common understanding results (indicated by mutually satisfactory action), we have no qualms about saying that communication has occurred. If, however, misunderstanding results (indicated by mutually unsatisfactory action), we are uncertain whether we should say that there has been poor, or no, communication. (David, Kenneth,1970:15). Definitions of “communication” fall into two broad categories. In one category are those definitions which limit the process of communication to those stimulus-response situations in which one deliberately transmits stimuli to evoke response. In the other category are those definitions that include within the area of communication stimulus-response situations in which there need not be any intention of evoking response in the transmission of the stimuli. The second category obviously overlaps the first. (David, Kenneth,1970:16) Models of Communication Philosophers and writers have devised different communication models. These simple models of communication are: Aristotle Model of Communication: He characterized communication in terms of an a speaker constructing an argument to be presented in a speech to an audience. Mathematical Model of Communication: Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver published a model; the model uses boxes and arrows to represent the communication process. However, the model is little bit complex. Box-and-arrow models of communication: This model breaks the communication stream into components i.e. sender, message, and receiver and the direction of influence. In the diagram below arrows go from left to right, that is, from a sender to a receiver, the idea is that it is the sender who, through messages or speeches, brings about communication influences on the receiver. Group Communication Model: This model emphasizes on communication within an organisation i.e. the flow of messages between two individuals or within a group of people. The figure below describes the layout of the model where each circle is a person. (Models of Communication,2006) Post office model of Communication: The usually unarticulated theory of communication in Western culture focused on an alleged “transfer” of meaning from one mind to another by means of some medium. Communication is erroneously thought to be accomplished by wrapping an idea in words and sending it off to the other person, who unwraps the words and discovers the idea. (Barnett,1989:19) Schemata Model of Intercultural Communication: Generally communication requires the transmission of information from sender to receiver. Commonly, person A encodes an idea and sends it to person B who decodes it. The codes are culturally based, as is the semantic content (the meanings in each communicator’s mind). When communicators come from different cultures, person A may take person B’s culture into account, and encode with certain characteristics of B’s codes and meanings in mind. Similarly, when decoding the message communicator B may take into account certain characteristics of person A’s communication codes and semantic categories. What communicator A knows about Culture B is a mental projection or schema call it B’ projected by communicator A. The term “schema” refers here to a generalized, stereotypical conceptualisation of a culture. So schemata are organised categories and their associations, held in a cognitive framework, possessing affect, and forming values, attitudes, expectations, norms, roles, and un-stated assumptions (Linda,1995:1). The models discussed above, give rise to various forms for communications, which are: Mono cultural communication: In this form of communication, others are treated like natives and resources are not at risk. The name denotes an attitude of acting as if there were only one culture (one’s own, of course). Ethnocentric communication: This form of communication occurs when resources are not at risk, but other persons are divided into two groups: natives and non-natives. At least some persons are treated as if they do not share the resources of the others. This distinction often, but not necessarily or always, translates into patterns of treating others as if they were inferior. Modernistic communication: It occurs when other persons are determinately treated as non-native, and resources are systematically placed at risk. The name derives from “modern society,” a unique set of institutions, values, beliefs, and practices whose characteristics sustain this form of communication. This form of communication is inherently unstable and sharply at odds with the values upheld in other types of societies. Cosmopolitan communication: It requires a particular kind of resources, which simultaneously put themselves perpetually at risk and, because they do, exempt themselves from risk. These resources define others as “all alike” in that we have all been shaped by the particularities of our own culture and of our historical experience, and that this shaping has made us all, to some extent, a unique nexus of multiple social realities, and thus different from everyone else. By stressing coordination rather than coherence, and by developing a distinctive concept of (“social” rather than “rhetorical”) eloquence, cosmopolitan communication derives from a commitment to find ways of coordination even among very dissimilar groups (Barnett,1989:93-94). Communication in Organisation Humans spend their lives in organisations of all sizes and kinds. They include businesses, nonprofits, and governmental agencies. They range in size from a single family to educational institutions and companies with dozens, hundreds, even thousands of employees located around the globe. Our families are groups. Organisations communicate with people outside and inside of them. Organisational networks bring us news from around the globe. People communicate inside of them through conversation and by using professionally prepared documents, such as newsletters. Organisations serve many tangible and intangible needs, but always at a cost. Through organisations people are more efficacious than if they work and play alone. They help us to achieve our goals, but they do so at a cost. Our membership is obtained at the cost of our freedom to act as we chose. To be in an organisation requires that our communication support its efforts so that it in turn helps us achieve tangible and intangible rewards (Jennings,Robert,2000:297). Organisational communication focuses on processes of interaction, means by which members create shared meaning, and strategic coordination of goal-oriented activities. Organisational communication is not something that transpires within a “box” (the organisation) but rather what happens between people who are members of an organisation or outsiders who interact with them. Rather than thinking of an organisation communicating, it is best to think of people communicating within and on behalf of an organisation. This action is not random, but coordinated; it requires that members acquire and share information as well as persuade one another on an array of matters. Actions and statements of individuals bring the organisation to life. Meaning (individual and shared opinions) influences what people do and how they do it. Actions are affected by the “culture” and “climate” of each organisation (Jennings,Robert,2000:298). Early studies of organisational communication featured four key variables: organisational structure, messages, media, and communicators. Advancing beyond these limited origins, organisational communication began to focus on the collective opinions and coordinated actions of organisation members. Researches shown that employees contribute to the shared meaning of the organisation as does management. The desire is to make organisations better places for members, especially employees, to work. If communication is improved, members will have more commitment to the organisation, be more able to achieve their work, and live more enriched lives. Even what appears to be casual communication in organisations can have enormous impact on members’ thoughts and actions. Members of organisations tell stories, foster myths, call one another by code names, and enact elaborate rituals. These forms of communication convey each organisation’s culture and reflect its climate, and thereby help members to coordinate their activities. Depending on the above ideas, two broad competing perspectives have developed: Functionalism and interpretivism. Contrasting these approaches to the study of organisations, that the key to organisational success is the management of meaning. Functionalist theory considers, organisations as ends in themselves and management as the pursuit of efficiency. The interpretive perspective recognizes that managers are enactors of their situations; they often contribute to patterns of action that are unnecessarily limiting. Thus managers informed by the interpretive view would develop reflexivity and consciousness of the ways they create their organisational worlds (Jennings,Robert,200:298-300). Business to Business Communication B2B Term meaning ‘business-to-business’. Not exactly a concept, but an important element of the current architecture of interactive communication. B2B has rapidly matured because of the following reasons: Businesses invested in interactive technologies to a much higher degree than individuals, resulting in a widespread availability of fast, networked systems in many businesses large and small. The ‘new economy’ applications of IT spawned many micro businesses and SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) able to compete with established dinosaur corporations online - the base of business itself broadened (at least temporarily). Digital and broadband infrastructure was slow to roll out in most countries, making household connection to the Internet both slow and expensive. Retail consumers proved reluctant to divulge their personal and credit details online, and may also have had qualms about the extent to which their actions could be tracked and exploited. A 2002 search for b2b on Google yielded 2.2 million sites (Marc,John,2002:16). Today, there are plans to establish thousands of these on-line businesses. New deals many involving some of the world’s biggest companies are announced almost daily. For buyers, B2B marketplaces promise not only to deliver more competitive prices but also to rid the supply chain of a host of inefficiencies. Hopes are so high that money can be made before even a single transaction has been concluded. Moreover, sellers have many opportunities to reduce costs shared with buyers and should aim not only to unlock but also to share those savings. Purchase-order costs will plummet, so to benefit from these process efficiencies, sellers ought to ensure that they are linked into marketplace systems. Big savings can also be achieved by culling inventory levels throughout the supply chain. Several questions arise, that how will buyers behave on-line? What will drive them to try new products or repurchase old ones? No one yet knows. Suppliers will have to start thinking about customer relationship management (CRM) in B2B marketplaces. Not all industry sectors will form on-line marketplaces at the same pace. A review of a dozen or so of the largest industries around the world shows that those most likely to move purchasing on-line quickly share several characteristics. The first is a medium to high level of concentration among buyers, meaning a small number of buyers accounting for a large percentage of purchases from a particular supply market. This makes it easier for buyers to pool their expenditures to increase their bargaining power with suppliers. Second, buyers that aggressively deploy on-line tools (such as reverse auctions and World Wide Web-based catalogs) at an early stage will find suppliers more willing to join a marketplace. These buyers have demonstrated their seriousness about moving their purchasing on-line. The third characteristic of industries that will form on-line marketplaces quickly is a history of adopting technology creatively and rapidly. Some industries, such as high tech, have a good track record in this respect. Finally, industries likely to move purchasing on-line quickly have a high number of supply chain “pain points” for instance, high transaction costs, low inventory turns, or many middlemen and handoffs between the supplier and the end user. The more pain points in an industry, the greater the incentive to get on-line to eliminate them (Glenn,2002:1). B2B in Logistics With the passage of time, Supply Chain sector is becoming more and more important and competitive. For a firm to be a leading contract logistic provider, it is very necessary for the management of the firm to streamline all the operations of the firm. There should be efficient and accurate coordination between various departments of the firm and also between the firm and the customer. As cost of poor coordination can be extremely high. So in order to have accuracy IT must be implemented in every part of the supply chain, right from taking the order from the customer, tracking it, warehousing it, and delivering it to the destination. In the recent years, as computerized solutions are implemented in nearly every business, so the requirement of customers whether a person or a company have risen in these two aspects: An ordinary customer after giving the order wants to track the order through Internet. A manufacturing company after having a contract with a Contract Logistic Provider wants to have Electronic data interchange (EDI) or some kind of communication link (extranet) with the Logistic Provider’s internal computer network system in order to share the tracking information. So to cope up with the requirements, a logistic provider must have to have computer based activities and easy integration with the customers’ computerized systems. “Changes in technology have extreme effects on how a firm manages its supply chain. Specifically, electronic commerce (EC) is extending value within the SCM process. Businesses use EC to integrate their internal functions with the applications of shippers, suppliers, and customers” (Scarborough, Spatarella, 1998:42-44). “Electronic commerce allows shipment status messages to be received instantaneously and provides vendor-managed and continuous replenishment inventory programs” (DeCovny, 1998:38-44). “This new technology decreases inventory risks and maximizes the sale of products with short life cycles by reducing the time it takes to reach the broadest possible market” (Scarborough, Spatarella, 1998:42-44). “EC also promotes competitive advantages by having a more accessible order-entry process, decreased paper handling, and less re-keying of information. Although there are obvious benefits for companies using EC in their supply chain, barriers to this technology also exist. The problem that most often arises is a security breach within the system”. Another difficulty is that many organisations lack the resources to integrate EC with their supply chain, including skilled employees” (DeCovny, 1998:38-44). “Some firms choose to seek help from consultants and advisors before making mistakes with their technology procurement endeavor” (Scarborough & Spatarella, 1998:42-44). This makes the switch to electronic commerce quite a bit easier. (Jack,Kathy,2001:1) Track and trace systems are now vital component of shipping that allows the customer to follow their shipment from beginning to the end of its journey. Managing director of Australia and New Zealand FedEx Express Harry West said, “Transport and logistics thus increasingly become vital components of business success. To remain competitive in this business reality, new approaches must be developed”. According to marketing manager for DHL Oceania Duncan Gates, the technology age has brought about easier ways of tracking information, although the customer service option is still available. Options now include web tracking, where customers can log on to the internet to trace their shipment; or e-track, which involves sending an e-mail asking for details, which will be replied to with the relevant information. m-track is another option similar to e-track, but using text messaging on a mobile phone. Hardware and software is also available for more frequent users of DHL’s services. “By having all those options, we cater to a range of people’s needs it also means they have direct control by having direct access to our network,” said Gates. According to Gary Smith, director of information systems at TNT Express Australia, the investment is significant, as is the importance of using only proven technology. “The issue for us as far as the customer is concerned is that we collect and deliver on time. To do that we have to be reliable and sustainable. We can’t do that by taking risks with technology,” he said. Gates agrees that companies have to be prepared to invest a lot of money in tracking, as the service is of critical value to the customer. “Information can be considered as important as the actual service,” said Gates. “In our business we move time critical goods (eg urgent tenders, documents). Therefore information becomes extremely important. Every step of the way is important.” The process is not without difficulties. Smith says the key issue is maintaining the integrity of data along the way through matching processes at every point of the journey. “There is a very strong service quality aspect to it,” he said. (Tamsyn Smith, 2002:1) Benefits: With a better 24 hours online communication system, a logistic provider can earn the satisfaction of its customers and hence gets the competitive advantage over other logistic providers. Disadvantages: Fewer disadvantages are related with the newer trend. The logistic provider has to spend a considerable portion of its budget in order to get a better on line system and cope up with its ever-updating process. Limitations in B2B Communication The most critical hurdle for the logistics providers in communicating with their customers (other companies) is platform differences. Up to the extent if the customer is happy with the communication done through websites, i.e. request submission, information viewing through browsers and printing then and there, then a B2B website hosted by a logistic provider would be enough and very minute upgradations would be required in future. But now-a-days, every company which is doing business with the logistic providers, also have separate IT system, which are controlling all the day to day transactions of that particular business. Now such companies when doing business with the logistic providers want the information sharing not only through a B2B website but also want that the information presented over there can easily be integrated with their on going systems. The problem arises from the above requirements are that, the information presented on a web page is embedded with in html tags, which can not be retrieved and the other limitation is that the user interface would be same for all the companies who are doing business with the logistics provider. Solutions for the Limitations There might be several solutions, which can be implemented but each one of them is going to consume a considerable budget while development, and definitely needs upgradation with the changing environment. Solution 1: The B2B website must present data in xml format by using xsl. The logistic provider must provide the detail schema or DTD (document type definition) of the xml data to the company and also give them separate tools or educate employees to integrate the xml data with their on going system. As far as the user interface is concerned, if the logistic provider want its users to have user interface of their choice to an extent, then the logistic provider have to build ASP.Net 2.0 based B2B website and use web parts technology for providing personalized user interfaces. Solution 2: The second solution is to use web services. The web service technology is based on SOAP protocol (http + xml) enables two different platforms to communicate easily. The only consideration for the client platform is the ability to understand SOAP protocol. Now the logistic provider has to host web services, either using J2EE or .Net frameworks. The client system will call the functionality of these web services over the internet by using SOAP protocol for information sharing. The only consideration in this overall architecture is the security of the web services, i.e. only desired clients can invoke functionalities of the web services. This could be implemented by using a bit complex and careful design. Solution 3: The third solution is to by pass the B2B website, and directly connect the network of the client company with the network of the logistic providers. As far as the network is concerned, as TCP/IP has become a standard protocol, so network connectivity will work even if the platforms are different. But the information sharing between two different platforms would not be possible with out using CORBA (Common object request broker architecture) servers. These servers act as a bridge between two different platforms (IT Systems). References C. David Mortensen, Kenneth K. 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