donderdag 27 februari 2014

Democracy in the Workplace and the Role of IC

Hi Folks,

Doing some reading, I found another interesting view on internal communication. This time by a guru prophesying about "democracy in the workplace":

"Internal communication lies at a crossroads between being the radio station of the powerful and being a contributor to sustaining a healthy workplace where expression and constructive challenge by employees is encouraged and enabled. (...) I argue that internal communication should try to find a balance between the two roles (the radio station and the enabler of challenge and contribution). Presently it seems that many communication functions are being trammelled into being turbo-charged message boards with a primary focus on channel management. The best internal communicators are in the decision-making circle advising on the consequences of top-level decisions as they are weighed. They also skilfully prioritize and orchestrate communication that engages employees in dialogue (Smythe, 2013, p. 50)."
Keep in touch for more news on IC!

Reference: SMYTHE (John). The Velvet Revolution at Work. The Rise of Employee Engagement, the Fall of Command and Control. Farnham, Gower, 2013, 291 p. 

zondag 23 februari 2014

The walking dead: an interesting piece of convergence culture

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_%28video_game%29), the game "The Walking Dead" has received over eighty "game of the year" awards. These positive reviews drew my attention. Before I knew it, the game was slipping into my xBox360. Expectations ran high. However, nothing could have prepared me for the journey on which I unsuspectingly embarked. For hours I enjoyed the pleasures of playing this brilliant product of convergence culture (Cf. Henry Jenkins).


The Walking Dead: The Game
And then, all of a sudden, this game struck me at a deeper cognitive level. I started to understand that media are all interwoven in our day-to-day social fabric. The storyline of the game transgresses different media boundaries and creates a life of its own. Repeatedly I said to myself that this game shares several characteristics with traditional broadcast media like film and books. For example: each "chapter" in the game (= book element) consists of multiple scenes (= film element) where the gamer must make choices that affect how the story unfolds.

The Walking Dead: Comic Books
The game, inspired by an existing comic book series (written by Robert Kirkman), puts the player in
charge of the storyline. What makes this game so unique and fun to play is its capacity to combine traditional gaming elements (solving riddles) with moral choices that connect to our emotional side. The game challenges you both intellectually and morally. The player can choose to experiment with good and evil in a world where all rules have been thrown overboard.

Even after finishing the game, and let me tell you that I am not a typical fan of zombie stories, I am left hungry for more. We are February 2014 now and rumors have it that a sequel will be revealed early march 2014 (that is only one week from now!). The media universe surrounding the game grows every day. Fan communities of the game are merging with fan communities of the TV series. The series, the comic books, the game: all have a mutually reinforcing effect.

The Walking Dead: TV Series
In this world where we are used to living in media instead of with media (Cf. Mark Deuze) this game succeeds to stand out and grab our attention. For sure, all praise is due to the developers behind the game. Telltale games has succeeded in winning thousands (if not millions) of people in the ongoing battle for eyeballs. Thank you for challenging me as both a gamer and a communication scholar. 

woensdag 5 februari 2014

Macht en Politiek Handelen in Organisaties (cf. M. Hetebrij)

Zeer interessante quote gevonden in een boek dat ik momenteel aan het lezen ben:

"Vakinhoudelijke gerichte mensen lossen intrigerende, complexe problemen bij voorkeur alleen op. Hooguit overleggen ze met gelijkwaardige deskundigen, zolang ze maar geen last hebben van al te complexe discussies. Patroonmatig zoeken ze naar trajecten, waarin ze complex overleg met allerlei partijen tot een minimum kunnen beperken. Inhoudelijke spelers proberen complexheid te reduceren, door bilaterale en multilaterale discussies te vermijden en het denkproces te beperken tot unilaterale trajecten in de eigen geest. Dat gebeurt waarschijnlijk niet bewust. Het ligt eerder in het verlengde van de manier waarop ze al tijdens de vooropleiding hebben geleerd om problemen zelfstandig aan te pakken en op te lossen, en pas het eindresultaat voor te leggen aan anderen (Hetebrij, 2011, p. 48)."