eCo
eCommunication: with and within
Project
description
eCo is a
research and development program concerned with contemporary and emerging forms
of electronic and/or digital communication (e-communication) in and between
private and public sector’s organizations and their interest groups in the
networked information society at present and in the future. Due to the immense
penetration of information and communication technology into the society and
business life, we will argue that e-communication is, and will be, a
constitutive element in creating networks
of trust and commitment, both internal and external to an organization.
The internal component to organizational trust and commitment is
concerned with several attitudinal dimensions towards new platforms of
organizational culture (e.g. e-mail, Intranet). The external component to
organizational trust and commitment is reputation, which is created in
communicative activities with external interest groups consolidating
e-communication applications (e.g. Internet, extranets). Various aspects of
mobility and mobile devices combine the two dimensions by creating new forms of
communication practices and communities in and between organizations.
eCo’s theoretical
objective is to understand and elucidate the role of e-communication in the
creation of networks of trust and commitment as the form of intangible capital in organizations. Our
approach to e-communication within the organization is based on the notion of
human communication as a core process in the social construction of reality. In
organization studies this approach can be related to the interpretivist
school of thought, in which the deep structures and communicative actions are
explored as ontological primaries. We are unwilling to resort to “official”
structures and communications as our primary data and instead to dig deeper
into the organizational underbrush, into the properties of the actual
communicative system itself. We understand communication not just as
transmission of messages over space, but more in terms of construction and maintenance of a
community in time.
eCo’s pragmatical
aim is to develop and promote efficient e-communication practices to create,
enhance and capitalize the networks of trust and commitment in the
eCo is
organized in three interdependent subprograms:
1. eClients
|
The premise underlying eClients
subprogram is that the trust and commitment networks possessed by an
organization are closely connected to its reputation. Communicative
activities the various organizational client groups engage in create or
destroy trust and commitment in the experiences that stakeholders have of the
organization. |
|
|
Theme |
Consolidating interest group relations with e-communication
applications. |
|
In focus |
Internet, extranets, world wide web |
|
Key words: |
Reputation, stakeholder relations |
2. eCulture
|
The aim of eCulture
subprogram is to examine attitudes to the internet using qualitative methods.
Attitudes can be thought to express organizational culture. The second
objective of this program is more pragmatic. Since intranets today are
intended to disseminate official information (values, mission, vision), the
aim is to make intranets more interactive. In this action research the
organizational culture perspective is suggested as a theoretical lens for
understanding intranets. |
|
|
Theme |
Attitudinal dimensions of e-communication,
leadership and organizational cultures. |
|
In focus |
Intranet |
|
Key words: |
e-interaction, cultural attitudes and values,
management |
3. eMob
|
The goal of eMob subprogram is to elucidate the role of visual
communication in e-communication, especially when using mobile communication
devices. E-communication is becoming ever more mobile (mobile phones, WLAN etc.). At the same
time new mobile phones and many other mobile devices are equipped with cameras.
Therefore mobile communication and interaction in the future can be thought
to consist increasingly of sending and receiving visual messages. |
|
|
Theme |
Experiencing mobile eCommunication,
visual communication |
|
In focus |
Mobile phones, PDAs |
|
Key words: |
mobile communication, visual-aesthetic dimension of
mobile messaging, photo messages |
eCo program in
coordinated by the
Contact:
Professor
Pekka Aula (project leader)
Department
of Communication
00014
pekka.aula@helsinki.fi
tel: +358-9-191-24918
www.aula.fi
University lecturer Janne Matikainen
Palmenia Centre for Continuing
Education/Lahti Unit
Department
of Communication
janne.matikainen@helsinki.fi
tel: +358-191-24369
University lecturer Mikko Villi
Palmenia Centre for Continuing
Education/Lahti Unit
Department of Communication
mikko.villi@helsinki.fi
tel:
+358-191-24838