“We Do It,but They Don't”: Multiple Categorizations and Work Team Communication

The present study adopted an intergroup approach to information sharing and ratings of work team communication in a public hospital (N?=?142) undergoing large-scale restructuring. Consistent with predictions, ratings of communication followed a double ingroup serving bias: while team members reported sending about the same levels of information to double ingroup members (same work team/same occupational group) as they did to partial ingroup members (same work team/different occupational group), they reported receiving less information from partial ingroup members than from double ingroup members and rated the communication that they received from partial ingroup members as less effective. We discuss the implication of these results for the management of information sharing and organizational communication.     

在线知识协作行为研究:团队成员亲密度及协作倾向的影响

[目的/意义]帮助学者深入了解团队成员亲密度、协作倾向对小规模在线知识协作行为的影响,以及小规模用尸在线知识协作的行为模式.研究成果可以应用于在线教育、科研协作等领域,为在线知识协作工具、平台功能改进提供参考.[方法/过程]通过用户实验,对小型团队的任务规划、信息检索、信息共享、信息使用和沟通交流5种类型行为进行分析,...     

Interdisciplinary Health Care Teamwork in the Clinic Backstage

A long-term ethnography of an interdisciplinary geriatric oncology team at a regional cancer center revealed the existence and importance of backstage communication that occurred outside of team meetings to the enactment of teamwork. Seven inductively derived categories describe the communication involved in backstage teamwork in the clinic: informal impression and information sharing; checking clinic progress; relationship building; space management; training students; handling interruptions; and formal reporting. The centrality of backstage communication to caring for patients is explored, and a view of embedded teamwork is proposed, extending upon the bona fide group construct. The study provides a valuable complement to controlled studies of group decision-making through its focus on dynamic communication outside of meetings among dyads and triads of team members in a web-like organization and extends bona fide group theory.     

Interdisciplinary Health Care Teamwork in the Clinic Backstage

A long-term ethnography of an interdisciplinary geriatric oncology team at a regional cancer center revealed the existence and importance of backstage communication that occurred outside of team meetings to the enactment of teamwork. Seven inductively derived categories describe the communication involved in backstage teamwork in the clinic: informal impression and information sharing; checking clinic progress; relationship building; space management; training students; handling interruptions; and formal reporting. The centrality of backstage communication to caring for patients is explored, and a view of embedded teamwork is proposed, extending upon the bona fide group construct. The study provides a valuable complement to controlled studies of group decision-making through its focus on dynamic communication outside of meetings among dyads and triads of team members in a web-like organization and extends bona fide group theory.     

Contradictions in surgical work teams

Teamwork and communication are essential to effective work groups in health care. This project investigated how an impending technology change spurred the staff in an ophthalmological surgical department to improve their teamwork and communication processes. Data were gathered using focus groups, key informant interviews, and workplace observations involving 56 employees. Qualitative, interpretive analysis indicated that lack of communication impacted team processes and job satisfaction. Participants indicated that sharing knowledge and developing policy knowledge were problematic, especially as those processes concerned job duties. Results were interpreted using structurating activity theory. Analysis identified system-level and structural-level contradictions that hindered activity accomplishment. Several practical implications of findings are offered, including using the experience of work team contradictions as opportunities to transform practices, implementing ongoing inter-professional training for work teams, and providing opportunities for work team members to be reflective about their team experiences. Future research suggestions are offered for extending findings.     

Producers,Directors, and Horizontal Communication in Television News Production

This study examines the horizontal communication between producers and directors as they put together a television newscast. Results of the Internet survey show that producers tend to be younger and less experienced than the directors they work with, that producers and directors don't communicate often or effectively in the process of putting together a daily newscast, and that they don't believe their counterpart contributes the information they need in order to best perform their jobs. Correlations between the amount of information relayed between producers and directors and ratings performance indicate a link between internal communication and market profitability.     

科研团队学术交流与学科服务设计

以研究所科研用户为调查对象,通过问卷调查了解科研团队内学术交流现状、存在的问题、影响因素和需求。调查结果显示,目前科研用户均有强烈的交流意愿,能利用网络工具有效地获取信息,使用多种交流工具,但是团队交流仍然是采用比较传统的组会和面对面的方式,在信息共享和存储上较少利用有效的网络工具。学科馆员可以在团队许可下,介入科研团体的学术交流,发挥信息服务的优势,担当信息中介人,帮助构建科研信息环境平台,有针对性地提供各类科研资讯,从而促进团队科研交流的深化。     

面向科研人员的个人学术信息管理工具研究

[目的/意义]探索科研人员个人学术信息管理工具使用意愿影响因素,构建相关理论模型,为开发设计有效的个人学术信息管理工具,提高信息利用率和科研工作效率提供理论指导和建议。[方法/过程]基于扎根理论的研究方法,采用理论饱和抽样的方法对17名科研人员进行面对面的包含开放性问题的半结构化访谈,通过编码分析归纳科研人员个人学术信息管理工具使用意愿影响因素,包括感知有用性、感知易用性、个体因素和情境因素,构建相应的理论模型。同时按照本研究对科研人员需求调查分析选取常用的8种学术信息管理工具进行比较分析,从信息分类获取、存储管理、组织和交流共享等方面进行对比。[结果/结论]面向科研人员的个人学术信息管理工具构建需要考虑到用户界面、信息组织结构、弥补用户认知局限、解决信息同步共享、保障学术信息安全、符合用户使用习惯、支持语义整合和推送并进行团队科研信息共享。     

社会网络分析在团体知识共享中的应用

从某科研团队出发,通过问卷调查得出成员间的知识交流矩阵,利用社会网络分析法的相关可视化工具绘制出团队成员间的知识交流图。然后从整体结构、节点中心度、小团体等角度来分析该科研团队的知识交流共享状况,发现团队中的关键人物、知识流动的瓶颈和孤立点。这些信息有助于发现组织的知识共享问题与特点,可以作为组织改善知识共享的客观依据。     

A rejoinder

Triandis' (1986) refined conceptualization of individualism‐collectivism suggests that this dimension of culture influences individuals’ behavior with members of their ingroups and outgroups. Drawing on his analysis, predictions were made regarding the influence of individualism‐collectivism on the degree of personalization, synchronization, and difficulty that occurs in ingroup and outgroup relationships. The predictions were tested using data on perceptions of communication in relationships with strangers (outgroup) and classmates (ingroup) in Japan, Korea, and the United States. The results indicated that individualism‐collectivism was related systematically to perceptions of communication in ingroup relationships, but its relationship to perceptions of communication in outgroup relationships was more complicated. To explain the link between individualism‐collectivism and perceptions of personalization, synchronization and difficulty in communication with members of outgroups, it appears that it is necessary to draw a distinction between contextual and simple collectivism.     

Virtually Working: Communicative and Structural Predictors of Media Use and Key Outcomes in Virtual Work Teams1 A previous version of this work was presented as a Top 3 Paper in the Organizational Communication Division at the International Communication Association Annual Conference,New Orleans,LA (May 2004).

Organizational trends toward team-based structures, globalization, and reliance on communication technology have spurred research addressing the communication processes of virtual teams. However, much of the extant research focuses on the ways virtual teams differ from conventional, face-to-face teams and fails to examine variations in virtual team characteristics that may impact team communication behaviors and experiences. The study reported here identifies two categories of virtual team characteristics (communicative and structural) and uses these to explore their relationships to team communication technology use and team outcomes. Analysis of data from 98 virtual teams reveals that structural features primarily relate to media use, whereas communication considerations are associated with team outcomes. Additional analyses indicate that various communicative predictors moderate the relationships between technology use and outcomes. These results point to theoretical and practical implications for researchers, team members, managers, and organizations related to virtual team design and communication processes.     

高校图书馆在展览服务中的馆际合作研究——以上海高校图书馆展览资源共建共享联盟为例

[目的/意义]针对当前我国高校图书馆展览服务需求与资源之间的矛盾,调研上海高校图书馆展览资源共建共享联盟成员之间进行合作的动因、方式及可持续发展策略,对其实践进行总结和展望,为其他馆提供借鉴。[方法/过程]对该联盟10所成员馆展览业务负责人进行问卷调查,对调查所获资料进行分析总结,辅以文献调研加以梳理。[结果/结论]高校图书馆在展览服务中有着展览资源短缺、拥有共同目标、展览特色互补等合作动因,存在分享展览信息、互换展览资源、抱团对外谈判、共同制作展览等合作和利益共享策略;认为还可从扩宽展览主题和深度、利用和学习其他外部机构资源和经验、联合培训工作人员、运用科学方法进行效果跟踪和评价等方式开展进一步合作。     

Occupational Stereotypes,Perceived Status Differences,and Intercultural Communication in Global Organizations

This paper offers a novel perspective on why individuals in global organizations make culturally based attributions of their colleagues that impede effective working relations. Drawing on observational and interview data from an ethnographic study of product development work at a global automaker's engineering centers in Mexico, the United States, and India, we show the important role that occupational stereotypes and perceived status differentials play in global workplace interaction. The findings demonstrate that individuals who consider themselves to be “low-status” attempt to increase their status by leading high-status individuals to believe that they work in ways that reflect dominant occupational stereotypes. However, because these stereotypes are often inaccurate, members of the high-status culture assume that the stereotype-imitating behaviors of low-status individuals represent deficiencies in how they work. These findings have important implications for intercultural interaction in the global workplace and for theories of communication in multinational organizations.     

Aggressive communication in the coach‐athlete relationship

This study concerned how coaches’ efforts to solicit better performance from athletes related to male athletes’ perceptions of their coaches’ communication and to athletes’ self‐reports of satisfaction and performance. Data were collected from 192 former male high‐school athletes. Results indicated that when male athletes perceived that their coaches used more aggressive tactics athletes evaluated their coaches communication unfavorably and that when male athletes evaluated their coaches’ communication unfavorably they reported less satisfaction with their coaches, less team success in terms of win‐loss percentage, and less sportsmanship.     

Scrum: Enhancing Student Team Organization and Collaboration

Courses: Any communication course requiring a semester-long team project.

Objectives: After using the Scrum approach to plan and manage a group project, students will have increased awareness of collaborative needs, improved skills for sharing information in non-evaluative ways, improved time management skills, and enhanced ability to assess their group dynamic constructively.     

Assessing the Role of Peer Relationships in the Small Group Communication Course

Based on the typology posited by Kram and Isabella (1985) that identifies three peer relationships present in organizations (i.e., information, collegial, and special), this assessment examined the association between students' perceptions of their in-class group members and six group outcomes (i.e., grouphate, cohesion, relational satisfaction, consensus, affective learning, and cognitive learning). Participants included 248 undergraduate students enrolled in two sections of an introductory small group communication course. Results revealed that students who rated group members to be information peers, rather than collegial peers or special peers, reported higher levels of grouphate and lower levels of cohesion, relational satisfaction, consensus, and cognitive learning.     

Perceived communication skill needs for work groups

The purpose of this paper is to identify communication skills recognized as essential for success in work group contexts. Results from interviews and a survey conducted with a sample of personnel managers identified communication skills considered important for success in work group settings, the most critical of which was effective listening. The abilities to receive information and later transmit that information to fellow group members, and to give effective informative presentations in a group setting were characterized as the least crucial of the skills identified. Implications for group research and pedagogy are discussed.     

论文写作讲师团在提高编辑质量中的作用——中华护理杂志社的经验谈

为了进一步提高编辑工作质量,编辑部成立了以中青年编辑为主要成员的讲师团,深入临床一线,在为广大的护理工作者普及论文写作知识的同时,做了以下几方面的工作,取得了很好的社会效益：拉近编读距离,赢得更多读者;当面修改稿件,提高稿件质量;深入临床一线,掌握前沿信息;与编委沟通,提高审稿质量;拜访相关期刊,交流编辑经验。     

大学生信息行为与影响因素探究——以大学生数学建模团队为例

[目的/意义] 基于实证调查分析,探究大学生数学建模团队信息行为特征、信息行为模型及其影响因素,为提高大学生数学建模团队信息素养和创新能力提供科学参考。[方法/过程] 以大学生数学建模团队为研究单元,通过对数学建模团队信息行为的参与式观察和深度访谈获取个案数据,主要采用话语分析法和归纳性内容分析法对数据进行挖掘分析。[结果/结论] 大学生数学建模团队以电子信息需求为主,信息查寻以专业数据库为主、搜索引擎为辅;主要通过全文或关键词检索方式来进行文献检索;通过结果分享模式实现团队合作信息查寻;偶遇信息利用对问题解决和数学模型质量起重要作用;大学生数学建模团队信息行为有其一般行为模型。     

The Electronic Resources Group: using the cross-functional team approach to the challenge of acquiring electronic resources

The acquisition of electronic resources presented many new issues for staff at the Texas Tech University Library. Traditional communication pathways between acquisitions and other departments were inadequate to address the increasingly complex questions that were raised in the process of acquiring the electronic resources that were increasingly in demand by the university community. While it was possible to handle decision making for electronic resources through the library’s departmental structure, the process was hampered by a lack of speed and focus. To resolve this problem, six library staff members were brought together to form an electronic resources group (ERG). This cross-functional team is composed of library staff from four different departments, each of whom had experience with different aspects of acquiring electronic resources. Members continue to work within their departments and report to their functional managers, but they also report to the ERG project manager and are expected to contribute substantially to the accomplishment of group goals. This paper describes how Texas Tech has successfully used the cross-functional team approach for managing the acquisition of materials in electronic formats.