Information and Communication Technologies in Action: Linking Theories and Narratives of Practice

by Larry D. Browning, Alf Steinar Saetre, Keri Stephens, Jan-Oddvar Sornes

Overview

This book combines 20 stories from a variety of organizations with a selection of nine theories, both mainstream and emerging. The stories introduce readers to individuals talking about how they communicate today via information and communication technologies (ICTs) in business or organizational contexts. The theories, presented in accessible language, illuminate the implicit patterns in these stories. This book demonstrates how and why these technologies are used under myriad circumstances.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415965460
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/22/2008
Series:	Routledge Communication Series
Pages:	302
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Larry D. Browning, (Ph.D. Ohio State University) is a professor of organizational communication and the John T. Jones Centennial Fellow in Communication in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include the role of lists and stories in organizations, information and communication technologies (ICTs) and narratives, cooperation and competition in organizations, and grounded theory as a research strategy.

Alf Steinar Sætre (Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin) is an associate professor in the department of industrial economics and technology management at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His research interests include ICTs, organizing, communication, information management, innovation, and new venture creation.

Keri K. Stephens (Ph.D University of Texas at Austin) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on how people use ICTs at work.

Jan-Oddvar Sørnes, (Ph.D. Norwegian University of Science and Technology) is an Associate Professor and Vice Dean at Bodø Graduate School of Business, Norway. Jan’s research focus is on organizational communication, specifically how ICTs are used in organizations.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. Media Choice and ICT Use

2. The Role of Credibility and Trust in ICT Studies

3. Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations

4. A Garbage Can Model of Information Communication Technology Choice

5. Impression Management and ICTs

6. Enactment and Sensemaking in Organizations

7. Giddens’ Structuration Theory and ICTs

8. Complexity Theories and ICTs

9. ICT and Culture

10. The Frustrated Professor

11. Teaching the Good Old Boys New Tricks: Taking ICTs to the Bank

12. From Blunt Talk to Kid Gloves: The Importance of Adaptability Across Culture

13. Slowing Down in the Fast Lane

14. Serving the Customer Locally Without Moving There: How to Use ICTs to Project a Local Presence

15. Overloaded But Not Overwhelmed: Communication in Inter-Organizational Relationships

16. Depending on the Kindness of Strangers: Using Newsgroups for Just-in-Time Learning

17. Building a Medical Community Using Remote Diagnosis:

18. Don’t Get Between Me and My Customer: How Changing Jobs Shifts ICT Use

19. Fighting Uncertainty With Intelligence

20. Close Up . . . From a Distance: Using ICTs for Managing International Manufacturing

21. Over the Hill but on Top of the World: An Atypical Salesperson

22. The Role of ICTs in Maintaining Personal Relationships Across Distance and Cultures

23. One in the Hand is Worth Two on the Web: Relying on Tradition When Selling Financial Services

24. Do What You Do Well and Outsource the Rest

25. Orchestrating Communication: The Process of Selling in the Semiconductor Market

26. Nothing Fishy Going on Here: Tracing the Quality of the Seafood Product

27. From Information to Emotion: The Changing Use of ICTs Following the 9/11 Tragedy

28. Give Me a Cellphone and I’ll Give You Trouble: Technology Usage in a Young Start-Up

29. Information Will Get You to Heaven

Index

About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

"This is the communication technology book I've been waiting for. It combines concise summaries of nine major theories with rich ethnographic descriptions of classic real-world organizational problems that pull the theories down to Earth. The problems cut across the theories and vice-versa, creating lots offlexibility for engaging the material in class. "

-Steven R. Corman, Professor Hugh Downs School ofHuman Communication Arizona State University

"I find this book excellent for teaching students the role ofICTs in organizational communication. The cases provide a wide range ofinteresting, practical experiences for students to discuss, and the conceptual chapters provide readable yet sophisticated introductions to theories that enable students to understand the issues in novel and more complex ways."

-Ted Zorn, Professor ofManagement-Communication University ofWaikato, New Zealand

"Understanding the individual, organizational, technological, social, and cultural complexity ofICTs requires both a wide range of theoretical perspectives, and a wide range of actual situations. This book provides both, through rich personal narratives of applying ICTs in a fascinating array of sites, including Norwegian fish farming, international financial services, rural family histories, media-enhanced courses, individual entrepreneurs, and pathology physicians."

-Ronald E. Rice, Arthur N Rupe Professor ofCommunication University ofCalifornia Santa Barbara

"I have read Information and Communication Technologies in Action and think that it represents a terrific combination oftheory and practice. Plus, it is very readable! Who could ask for more? I congratulate the authors on writing a very important book."

-Everett M. Rogers, Professor ofCommunication andJournalism, University ofNew Mexico In 1996, his book, "DifJitsion ofInnovations," was selected by Inc. Magazine as one ofthe ten classic books in business.

From the Publisher