In any organization, formal and informal face-to-face meetings make up a profound part in the daily life of its members. Meetings are played out continuously, some formal, such as a management board meeting, an information meeting, or a project meeting. The formal meetings people “attend to”, “participate in”, or “are in charge of” depending on a person’s position within them. Other meetings are less formal, such as a desk-side discussion, a chat in the hallway, or a private conversation between two colleagues. The latter often just appear, seemingly by chance. This dissertation examines meetings, as a way of observing the organizing process of complex product development projects. More specifically, organizations engaging in complex product development can be viewed as tension systems, where the dominant tension is between innovation and control. From this perspective, a critical challenge for a product development project becomes one of managing a balancing act between individual action and creativity, on one hand, and collaboration and control, on the other, ensuring that ideas and knowledge retrieved by their parts can be pooled into an integrated whole. By studying the interplay between different types of face-to-face meetings that took place in two projects developing telecommunication systems, this thesis engages in an inquiry of how this balancing act was played out in practice. The findings of the study suggest that the informal meetings comprised occasions that facilitated the perception of complex and ambiguous issues and gave rise to innovative interpretations of how to deal with them. When issues have been defined and interpreted, formal meetings were used to “elevate” and “enter” them into a formal existence. Then, formal claims for action could be established in which people in the projects were organized around the task of solving a specific and recognized problem.  Thus, formal meetings served as a controlling and structuring function. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2002</p>

This thesis examines the role of face-to-face interactions on individual choice. In particular, I explore the effect of face-to-face requests (compared to other forms of requests) on compliance. I propose that individuals expect facial feedback from their interactive partner in response to their decisions and behaviors in face-to-face interactions. In an effort to avoid anticipated negative feedback, people comply with the request. Drawing from literature on compliance, the face, face-to-face interactions, empathy, and anticipation, I develop and test this proposed theoretical account in five experiments. 1) Experiment 1 demonstrates the effect of face-to-face interactions on compliance with requests relative to other forms of making the requests and rules out some alternative explanations. 2) Experiment 2 replicates the effect in a real world setting, and shows that the effect can be moderated by sensitizing individuals to the face. 3) Experiment 3 shows that the effect can be moderated by facial expressiveness and sensitivity to face. Experiment 3 also shows that anticipation of feedback (rather than actual feedback) drives the effect. 4) Experiment 4 shows that the effect can be moderated by the expressiveness, timeliness, and consistency of facial feedback. It provides further evidence for the role of anticipated facial feedback. 5) Experiment 5 shows that individuals strategically choose different modes of interaction (i.e., face-to-face or impersonal) as a function of the feedback they expect to receive. Theoretically, this thesis provides a new understanding of how face-to-face interactions and facial expressiveness impact individual choice. In contrast to previous research, I examine the feedback mechanism that such interactions create, and the role of facial expressiveness. By providing an account in which the anticipation of feedback plays a role, this research provides a way of extending the effect of face-to-face interactions on individual compliance to faceless transactions. Moreover, I identify and test the effect of three dimensions of facial expressiveness on individual choice, thereby adding to marketing literature, compliance literature, and communication literature. The current research has managerial implications in personal selling, customer service, employee training, and online transactions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate two Handelsbanken offices and how they work in similar ways when dealing with internal communication. The goal is to answer if and in what way the managers` and the employes perceive their internal communication at the two bank officies. By a comparation between the two decentralisized officies the aim is also to study what differences and/or similarities that exists in internal communications? Are managers and employees satisfied with the communication that flows in the organization? I find it interesting to investigate in wheather there exist a similarity in the internal communication between the managers and the employees since it is a decentralized organization. I have made five semi-structured interviews with two managers at two different Handelsbanken offices. Additionally two interviews with two employes at one of the offices and also one interview at the other Handelsbanken office. By the study I have found that all respondents have a positive impression according the internal communication. Both managers and employees in the offices have an effective cooperation, and also promotes an open environment where they have a good communication between each other all the time.

Face-to-face interaction has been studied both within sociology and linguistics, as well as withinother disciplines. Often has the perspective been too narrow, something which is not compatiblewith the diverse and dynamic nature of this type of interaction. This narrow view prevents fullunderstanding of interaction. Within this theoretical paper it is suggested that face-to-faceinteraction has to be studied with a broad perspective; when studying face-to-face interaction itis necessary to acknowledge its dynamic nature and therefore it is necessary to combineknowledge from different disciplines. Within this paper, I combine theories from linguistics andsociology in order to gain a broader perspective upon interaction. What has been missing fromearlier research upon face-to-face interaction and upon the competence needed to participatein such interaction is not the knowledge of the different features of interaction but a will toconnect them all. Existing concepts for describing the competence needed in order to be ableto interact have often failed to describe the dynamic, multi-faceted nature of interaction; therehas been a tendency to try to explain everything with just one factor. Within this paper, amore covering concept of the competence needed of an interactant within face-to-faceinteraction is proposed and sketched; a concept which I name Interaction Competence. Thiscompetence is the knowledge and abilities needed of an interactant in order to be able tointeract with others. This concept, which can be a valuable analytical tool for analyzing faceto-face interaction, has Dell Hymes’ concept of Communicative Competence and ErvingGoffman’s and Ann Warfield Rawls’ concept of Interaction Order as building-blocks andconsists of four main areas of competence: Control Body, Command Language, HandleSocio-cultural Knowledge and Understand Interaction Order. Within this paper also the affectof two interactant-external factors: the context and acceptability. Both are found to be highlyrelevant for the Interaction Competence of an interactant, thus the need for acknowledging therole of sufficient and acceptable Interaction Competence is seen. / <p>Presenterades (utöver uppsatsseminariet) inom ramen för Sociologiska Institutionens IMER (Internationella Migration Etniska Relationer)-seminarium</p>

Books and paper prints are the most common learning medium we used to have. However, content knowledge represented in books and paper prints is static, which limits the manifestation of complex and abstract concepts. Integrating smartphone with books makes it possible to incorporate varieties of digital materials fetched from the Internet to complement the content of books and paper prints and enrich the learning activities. Collaborative learning has been recognized as an effective instructional strategy. Individual learners learn through continuous conversation with group peers for knowledge sharing and knowledge construction. However, it has also been reported that the lack of proper procedural facilitation may undermine the learning performance of collaboration. To ensure that every learner in a group can best contribute to peer collaboration, a procedural scaffold was designed and implemented. The scaffolded procedure consists of four stages in peer collaboration, including individual learning, individual problem solving, group discussion, and group decision-making, in which the stage of individual problem solving was a critical step but was often ignored. In this study, a new paper-based learning system integrated with digital materials was designed and implemented for enhancing face-to-face collaborative learning. The procedural scaffold was implemented using a smartphone. The results showed that the facilitation of the procedural scaffolding enabled groups to perform significantly better in resolving ill-structured problems, promoted higher-level discourse in group discussions, and fostered individuals¡¦ deep understanding. Relevant issues about student learning using the new system were discussed, and future research to improve this study was suggested.

In the current study, it was aimed to explore young adults&rsquo / communication technology preferences in friendships. With this aim, two survey studies were conducted on university students. In the first study 178 students and in the second study 343 students were surveyed. The findings of both studies demonstrated that (a) face-to-face communication was the most preferred communication,(b) preference for face-to-face communication was positively associated to preference for auditory communication, and negatively associated to preference for written communication, (c) several individual difference variables contributed to relative preferences for face-to-face over mediated communication in negative situations. General &lsquo / ndividual difference variables in relation to Relative Preferences were found to fit into a two-factor higher-order structure. The higher order constructs were Social Openness (the factors tapping to individuals&rsquo / motivation to engage in interpersonal interactions even when those interactions are challenging) and Individuated Functioning (the factors tapping to individuals&rsquo / motivation for personal growth). Relative Preference increased with increases in Social Openness and in Individuated Functioning. Communicaiton-specific individual difference factors underling the associations among Social Openness, Individauted Functioning and Relative Preferences were explored. Results suggested that Social Openness &ndash / but not Individuated Functioning- was indirectly linked to Relative Preferences via Perceived Difficulty of Communication Situations (Study1) / Social Openness was indirectly, and Individuated Functioning was both directly and indirectly linked to Relative Preferences via Difficulty in Handling Negative Situations (Study 2). Theoretical and practical implications of studies were discussed considering the previous literature.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an Instructor Effectiveness Course designed specifically to retain adjunct faculty and improve their overall success in teaching. The study also investigated the "online" and "face-to-face" groups of the Instructor Effectiveness Course and compared faculty who take this course to those who do not in order to detect any significant differences. Differences were measured through students' class grade point averages, (GPA's), and course completion rates for the three groups of faculty, as well as through the faculty performance on student evaluations. This mixed method, causal/comparative study looked at the adjunct faculty members who have taken the Instructor Effectiveness Course at a large southern community college compared to those who have not taken the course. This large southern community college employs approximately 1,400 adjunct faculty members. Four hundred of these adjunct faculty members have completed the Instructor Effectiveness Course offered at the college. For the past couple of years, the course has been offered both face-to-face and online. These adjunct faculty members teach both in the associate of arts (A.A.) programs, as well as the associate of science (A.S.) programs. The adjunct faculty members were divided into four groups: by those with less than one year of teaching experience, those with one year of teaching experience, those with two years of teaching experience, and those with three years of teaching experience. The adjunct faculty members were also divided by those teaching A.S. courses and those teaching A.A. courses, and by those teaching night and day classes. The adjunct faculty members with prior teaching experience who have been exempted from taking the course were not included in the study. The adjunct faculty members who had never taken the Instructor Effectiveness Course had significantly higher class GPA's than those who had taken the course onlin e or face-to-face. Student evaluations showed that adjunct faculty members who had completed the online version of the Instructor Effectiveness Course had a higher weighted average for all questions than those who had not taken the course. This study had three major objectives. The first was to investigate adjunct faculty members' retention rates. The second was to investigate students' success as measured by GPA and course completion. The third was to investigate adjunct faculty members' success as measured by students' evaluations. The research questions, hypotheses, participants, instrumentation, data collection, and data analysis have been provided in this chapter. The participants have been identified, and the rationale for their selection was described. The community college used as the research institution has been identified.

Knowledge is the critical success factor for organizations to compete in the contemporary business world. Organizations that can make full use of their collective expertise and knowledge are likely to be more innovative, efficient and effective in the marketplace. With the development of advanced information and communication technology, organizations are undertaking various knowledge management initiatives to augment traditional ways of knowledge transfer. This dissertation intended to understand how various factors influence knowledge workers' knowledge sourcing behavior in the multimodal knowledge network. More specifically, our research question is: How do task characteristics, knowledge characteristics and individual characteristics influence knowledge workers' channel preferences during their knowledge sourcing activities?We built a knowledge sourcing preference model which predicts knowledge workers' preferences among various knowledge channels. We identified eight important antecedents from a wide spectrum of task characteristics, knowledge characteristics, and individual characteristics. We also identified three representative knowledge sourcing channels: face-to-face communication with colleagues, knowledge repositories, and discussion forums. We developed eight hypotheses on how each of the antecedent influence channel preferences.We tested our hypotheses through a survey we conducted in an international information technology company. Out of the eight hypotheses, the hypotheses on the influences from knowledge codifiability, knowledge volatility, extroversion/introversion dimension of the personality, and reciprocation wariness are supported. The hypotheses on the influences from task interdependency and task urgency are partially supported. The hypotheses on the influences from task routineness and expertise are not supported.This study furthers our understanding of knowledge workers' knowledge sourcing behavior in a multimodal knowledge network. The results of this study help organizations understand the advantages and disadvantages of various sourcing channels under certain circumstance of tasks, knowledge, and individuals. With this understanding, organizations will be able to have reasonable expectations on the utilization of knowledge transfer approaches, and to improve the effectiveness of the knowledge transfer initiatives. This will enable the organizations to cultivate environments or design systems to develop the types of channels to accommodate the preferences of knowledge workers with various combinations of tasks, knowledge and individual characteristics.

No description available.

The purpose of this investigation is to further an understanding of the spiral of silence theory as it functions within both face-to-face (FtF) and computer-mediated contexts. Computer-mediated communication (CMC is often touted for being an empowering medium as it affords its users anonymity. This finding could have an impact on whether the spiral of silence occurs within CMC. Previous studies have relied upon hypothetical scenarios and have established weak support for the theory. Despite this study’s utilization of a within-subjects experimental design, however, no significant differences in minority opinion holders’ fear of isolation were found. Similarly, no significant relationship was found between minority opinion holders’ attention paid to news and fear of isolation. In regards to both majority and minority opinion holders, no significant differences in perceptions of opinions expressed in either condition were found. Reasons for such unexpected findings, as well as strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.