Summary

Exploring the communication breakdown in global virtual teams, by Tugrul U. Daim and his research assistants, focuses on how developers communicate with each other when they are spread out across the globe. It also analyzes multiple causes of communication failure among these developers. Previous research has shown that teams of developers working in the same region tend to be more effective than teams spread across the globe. By sharing his findings, Daim hopes to educate others on how to avoid communication breakdown.

            Daim and his research assistants studied five criteria that they found to be the main causes of communication breakdown: cultural differences, interpersonal relations, leadership, technology and trust. Each of these causes can single-handedly cause communication breakdown and thus are equally important. Technology contributes to many of the issues because technology is behind every type of communication whether it is e-mail, video-conferencing or social media. People of different cultures also have different expectations, values and behaviors. This makes it hard to build interpersonal relations among team members, which can lead to an overall lack of trust. Team members that work in the same office have a lot more in common than members from different cultures and because of this members are less likely to share ideas with each other. The last major criterion discussed by Daim is leadership. Daim says that the team leader needs to be enthusiastic about the work and also be in constant contact with every member of the team. This ensures that everyone is on the same track and workings towards a common goal. The leader is also in charge of making sure each member of the team has an effective relationship with each of the other members.

            After laying out these five criteria, Daim mentions many complaints brought up my members of global virtual teams. These complaints vary depending on if the team communicates in real-time virtually or if they communicate through e-mail and face-to-face. With teams that communicate by e-mail and face-to-face many people complain that e-mail is a waste of time and ineffective in trying to get an idea across. They also argue that there are a lot of meetings and not many decisions being made. When they do make decisions at these meetings it is hard to keep track of the decisions being made because there is no record of it. Because of these reasons and also the challenge and cost of bringing everyone together face-to-face, many teams choose to meet in real time virtually. However, many people find that meeting in real-time virtually consumes a lot of time and invades on their personal life. These meetings are generally US dominated and are not usually very productive because they either happen at the beginning or end of the day. One of the biggest difficulties is remaining productive and continuing to communicate when not meeting in real-time. Daim used in-house software developed at Portland University to combine answers to all the questions interviewees were asked and also weigh each answer in importance. Daim found that across all of the professionals interviewed responses remained consistent, which shows the accuracy of his findings.

            In conclusion, Daim offers a few ways to combat these issues since global virtual teams are necessary in today’s global market and cannot be eliminated. Firstly, building and integrating company culture into teams helps members relate to each other faster. Secondly, learning how to effectively use the forms of communication offered will make team members more eager to communicate with one another. Lastly, ensure the leader of the group has a good, positive attitude that will foster good relations among the team members.

           

Visual Rhetorical Analysis

            The image above came from the website of a company called ServoGlobe Inc. They provide asset monitoring and protection to businesses in order to make managing assets easier, faster and more secure. The image is on the company’s “About Us” page and is intended to show potential customers how their business operates. This visual is related to management information systems because ServoGlobe employs people in my career.

            In order to break down this visual and analyze it I approached it from many different angles. First, I analyzed color and why they chose blue as the main color. Then I looked at all the different shapes and objects involved; the people, the Earth in the background, all the lines streaked across the visual, the squares stemming from the center of the visual, the circles that seem to ripple out from the globe and lastly the different pages overlapping each other behind the people. I also observed that the entire visual is a graphic design, which means it is a digital image that was created with a computer.

            After I divided the image into all the different parts I was able to look at why each aspect was included and the affect that it has in conveying its message to the audience. Color is a big aspect in any visual whether it is a graphic, art or a photograph. If they had used red it would have given off the impression that their business is very intense and stressful. Blue represents calmness and ease. ServoGlobe wants to make people’s lives easier and save companies money by decreasing the amount of time spent managing assets. The other main color used is white which represents peace and happiness. This makes the audience feel good about ServoGlobe and curious as to how they make things easier and simpler. Shape is also important, especially for artists and graphic designers because shapes are what make a visual interesting but also help focus the audience’s attention towards certain aspects of the visual. The visual has a lot of people communicating with one another. They are also spread out across the entire visual, which connects with the globe behind them because ServoGlobe is a global company with many people communicating from across the world. Some of them are carrying briefcases, which implies they are traveling, others are talking on cell phones and many are communicating face to face with other people. On the far right of the visual is one person running which makes me feel like the company will do anything to get things done in a short amount of time to make their customers happy and keep their businesses running smoothly. Adding to the idea that ServoGlobe works at a fast pace is the streaks across the visual. Usually lines are used to show movement and fast speeds. After noticing this I realized one of the main purposes of this visual is to influence businesses to think that their company gets things done quickly. Then there are all the squares and circles surrounding the globe. I think they are meant to represent communication across the world. The circles represent a signal being sent out and all the squares are like a grid that divides up all the different areas. ServoGlobe operates worldwide so they will work with businesses across the world. Communicating with these businesses and staying in contact is important in order to meet all their needs as the economy changes and businesses adapt and evolve. The last two aspects, the overlapping images and the visual being a graphic image, required more analysis and thought as to why they were chosen. I think the overlapping images show that ServoGlobe is capable of working on many projects at once and is capable of maintaining relationships with many companies. It is a subtle addition to the image because otherwise it would be overwhelming and distract the audience from the focal points of the image, which are the globe and the people. Lastly, while they could have included photographs in the visual since ServoGlobe is a technological company that develops software and applications it makes sense for it to be digital.

            Overall, the image gives off the idea of worldwide communication and a company that does not waste time getting the job done. I think the image is very effective at achieving this goal because it has many aspects yet it is simple enough that it is not overwhelming to the viewer. All of the things discussed that ServoGlobe is trying to convey with this visual are very important to management information systems. A career in MIS means communicating with companies and people to find out what they need and then tell the developers how to accommodate their desires in the best way possible.

Works Cited

“About Us.” ServoGlobe Inc. 2014. N.p, n.d. Web. 9 Feb 2014.

Rhetorical Analysis By Surprise

When I meet someone for the first time I always look at his or her appearance and make an assumption about his or her character. After that I pay attention to mannerisms, facial expressions and speech. But then I talk to him or her and find out a lot more about them, which is fair because I wouldn’t want anyone to judge me based on my appearance. However, when I judge someone based on his or her appearance I am using rhetorical analysis because I am using my surroundings and the information I am given to make an assumption. My assumptions are usually pretty close to the truth however I would not know that unless I talk to them. In rhetorical analysis we may never find out whether are assumptions were correct or not for various reasons. The author of the piece of writing or art may be inaccessible or have been dead for many years.

            One instance in particular where this happened was with my roommate right now. We actually went to the same high school so I have known him for three years. But I graduated with just under 700 people so as you can imagine it was hard to be friends with everyone. I had a few classes with him but didn’t know much about him other than he was in band. I usually saw him with lots of people though so I assumed he was a very social person and that he had lots of friends. I have always been an introvert and usually only have a couple friends that I hang out with so when I heard he was coming to Iowa State I asked if he wanted to be roommates because he could help me meet people. I should also mention that I am a weird person and I like doing goofy things and being silly and he seemed more serious and into sports. Now that we have been roommates for 6 months I’ve come to realize that my assumptions were very wrong. He turned out to be a lot like me; a goofy introvert. He actually thinks of me as the more social person and it is because of me that we have most of the friends that we have now. It turned out really well for both of us because we have become really good friends since the start of the year. I would argue he is even goofier than I am but I guess it depends on the day. We do a lot of crazy stuff and have lots of prank wars too. My favorite prank so far was putting caution tape all over someone’s door. Unfortunately this resulted in a well-planned counter-attack. They switched out one of our room keys for a bathroom key, came into our room in the middle of the night and turned everything upside down. After that I never let me keys leave my sight again.