This dissertation explores patient trust in their physician and its impact on telemedicine. Telemedicine is using any technology to remotely communicate with a healthcare professional. The first study explores patient trust in their physician by validating the Wake Forest Trust in Physician scale for use in telemedicine research. The original (TIP) scale consists of 10 items and measures four of the five dimensions of trust: Fidelity, Competence, Honesty, and Global Trust. The final validated scale for telemedicine use (T-TIP) consisted of 12 items measuring three subscales: trustworthiness, interpersonal skills, and confidentiality. Study two explores the relationship between patient trust and delivery mode (telemedicine versus traditional interactions). The results from Study 2 indicate that patients trust their physician more in the telemedicine interaction than in the traditional interaction. There was also an effect of location, ethnicity, and frequency of doctor visits on patient trust. Study three delves further into the relationship between patient trust and telemedicine by examining the impact of communication mode on patient trust. Additionally, study three explores the relationship between usability and trust. There was no difference in patient trust scores between text and verbal communication. However, study three did find that as perceived usability of the interface increases, patient trust in their physician also increases. Also, this study found that the text interface had a higher fixation rate and shorter fixation duration than the video interface, indicating that the text interface had less cognitive load. These studies not only provide a tool for measuring patient trust in their telemedicine physician but also demonstrate that there is an impact of patient trust on telemedicine. The fact that patient trust in their physician is higher in telemedicine means that telemedicine could be used to increase patient participation in their own healthcare. Additionally, the relationship between usability and patient trust could be used to increase telemedicine use.

Abstract In knowledge-based economy an increasing amount of work is conducted in projects in dispersed virtual organisational settings. Information is the raw material of virtual knowledge-based project work and therefore an understanding of information processing in virtual NPD (New Product Development) projects is essential. Information processing is particularly crucial for virtual NPD projects, which are typically implemented in demanding, turbulent and complex institutional settings, where they are subject to various challenges caused by cultural, organisational and human factors and where large amounts of information is processed. This multi-disciplinary study combines theories of information processing and trust and knowledge-based view of organisations. Particularly impersonal and interpersonal trust and barriers to information processing are investigated to study organisational capabilities and virtual communication competencies, which can enable information processing in virtual NPD projects. The case organisation was selected for the study because it has a lengthy history of multinational and multisite virtual way of work. Survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were employed to gather research data. Focus group interviews and document review were conducted to evaluate the results. Altogether, 11 leaders and 12 expert teams were interviewed at sites in the USA, Finland, China and Poland as well as 7 members from the operative management in USA and Finland. The results of this study enhance the understanding of organisational virtual capabilities and personal virtual communication competencies in virtual NPD project context. The findings indicate that trust is significant and it is clear that both impersonal and interpersonal trust in supporting information processing in projects, are needed. This study also confirms that each phase in virtual project lifecycle has different needs for information processing. Through recognizing virtual communication capabilities in company level and competencies at the personal level, it would be easier to manage information processing in virtual NPD projects. At the personal level, virtual communication competencies are seen to consist of cultural knowledge and sensitivity, company language skills, listening skills, accountability and credibility, mastery in using ICT and e-mail etiquette. The significance of virtual communication capabilities and competencies as part of knowledge management strategies will grow in the future. This dissertation addresses this challenge by providing new practical and theoretical perspectives to enable planning, measuring, training and rewarding from virtual communication competences, and them to be tested in similar constructions in ICT industry or in other organizations to enhance information processing in virtual projects. / Tiivistelmä Erityisesti yhteiskuntamme tietointensiivisillä aloilla tuotekehitys tapahtuu yhä useammin globaaleissa projekteissa, joissa työskennellään organisatorisesti ja maantieteellisesti hajautuneesti, jolloin suuri osa viestinnästä on virtuaalista. Viestintäprosessissa liikkuu informaatiota, joka on tiedon ja osaamisen raaka-ainetta. Jotta tietoa ja osaamista olisi mahdollista hyödyntää, on tärkeää ymmärtää virtuaalisten tuotekehitysprojektien viestintäprosesseja. Onnistunut viestintä on usein vaikeaa, koska projektit toimivat vaativissa, alati muuttuvissa ja monimutkaisissa ympäristöissä. Tyypillisesti projektin aikana pitää pystyä viestimään suuri määrä tietoa ja välittämään osaamista eri toimijoiden välillä. Tämä monitieteinen tutkimus yhdistelee informaation prosessoinnin teoriaa, tietojohtamista ja luottamustutkimusta globaalien tuotekehitysprojektien viestinnän tarkastelussa. Erityisesti keskitytään luottamuksen eri lajien vaikutukseen ja viestinnän esteiden esille tuomiseen, jotta onnistuneen viestinnän kannalta tärkeimmät organisatoriset ja yksilölliset kyvykkyydet voitaisiin tuoda esiin. Tutkittavalla organisaatiolla on pitkä historia kansainvälisillä markkinoilla virtuaalisena organisaationa toimimisesta. Tutkimus toteutettiin yhdistellen kyselytutkimusta ja laadullisia puolistrukturoituja haastatteluja. Kaikkiaan 11 virtuaalitiimin esimiestä ja 12 asiantuntijatiimiä osallistui haastatteluihin USA:ssa, Suomessa, Kiinassa ja Puolassa sekä operatiivisesta johdosta seitsemän henkilöä Suomesta ja USA:sta. Lopuksi tulokset arvioitiin dokumenttikatselmoinneissa sekä fokusryhmähaastatteluissa tutkittavassa organisaatiossa. Tulokset osoittavat, että organisaatio- ja yksilötason luottamusta tarvitaan ja luottamuksen eri lajeilla on erilainen vaikutus viestintään. Tutkimus nostaa myös esille projektin eri vaiheiden erilaiset viestintätarpeet, jotka huomioimalla voidaan kasvattaa virtuaalisten projektien kyvykkyyttä. Yksilötasolla tarvittavat virtuaaliset viestintätaidot ovat ammatillinen ja riittävä projektissa käytettävä kielitaito, kulttuurien tuntemus ja herkkyys, kuuntelemisen taito, vastuullisuus, vahvat ICT:n käyttö- ja mediataidot sekä e-mail etiketti. Tutkimus on merkittävä, koska virtuaalinen projektiperustainen globaali työ tulee lisääntymään ja lisäksi etätyön tarve tulee kasvamaan. Näin ollen virtuaalisten viestintätaitojen merkitys osana tietojohtamisen strategiaa tulee kasvamaan tulevaisuudessa.

<p>As the world is becoming more and more globalized, business has to take the global marketplace into serious consideration. This is not just about new markets to sell products in, but also where to locate production and where to source resources from. With the launch of new communication technology it has also become easier and easier to cooperate across national borders without having to meet face-to-face. This has led to an increased demand on project managers concerning how to manage the communication within their project teams since they now can have members located in different geographical locations.</p><p>The main purpose of this research was to develop a deeper understanding about how project managers are managing communication within virtual teams. This was firstly done by through a literature review of the present knowledge in the field identifying five sub topics of interest.</p><ul><li>Communication channels<strong></strong></li><li>Skills for effective communication <strong></strong></li><li>Dealing with technology<strong></strong></li><li>Dealing with differences in culture and language<strong></strong></li><li>Managing trust and relationships<strong></strong></li></ul><p>These sub topics were used through the rest of the thesis as the structure of the argumentation. The empirical research consisted of a deductive interview study of four respondents within the ICT sectors in Sweden and Denmark.</p><p>Through the analysis and the conclusions all the topics were discussed in detail, where we got to know more about how they can be used to manage communication in virtual project teams. Something that came up in the analysis was the role of corporate culture in dealing with challenges in virtual communication, which in the end was suggested as a main topic for future research.</p><p>Different communication channels showed to be good for different things, both in terms of the efficiency of the communication but also for things such as facilitating engagement and accountability. There seem to be no clear understanding of what skills are required for efficient work in virtual teams, both in the present knowledge in the field and among the respondents. For managing technology it showed to be important to make sure that the technology works, that the team members know how to use it and why, and to find ways to warm up the media by making it more personal. Differences in culture and language were found to best be dealt with by building trust within the team and creating an understanding of the existing differences. Asynchronous communication showed to be effective for dealing with bigger language problems. The solutions for managing trust and relationships mainly revolved around social communication and getting to know each other better in the beginning, and around regular and predictable communication in the long run.</p>

Authors: Edina Hrustic &amp; Maria Iverbo Title: Facebook – a virtual meetingplace and a gossipcave Level: BA Thesis in Journalism Location: Linnaeus University Language: Swedish Number of pages: 72 Abstract The aim of our study was to examine the meaning of the social media Facebook for young people who are in the age of 16 to 25 years. We wanted to gain an understanding in the youths´ thoughts and beliefs of how Facebook exists and plays a role in their lives. As a result from this research, we discussed how social media might affect the future of journalism. We formed our thesis based on research of the digital network society, social networks, the youth culture, and how the target group; the young people use and experience social media. We made a questionnaire for 36 high school students, and three of these participated in a focusgroup-discussion. We combined and analyzed the response from the questionnaire and the focus group in our final result, and discussed patterns and relations between the youngsters´ answers. Our result shows that Facebook mostly is regarded to be a virtual meetingplace, where these young people can interact and communicate with each other. They mostly communicate with their friends from the real-life, and youths´ use Facebook as a tool when they want to find out what people in their surrounding do. The questionnaire result also shows that Facebook can be seen as an information channel, where the young people can get gossip and offer each other invitations to common events. From this study, we can point out that the social network is practically of great importance in young peoples’ lives. The questionnaire of Facebook and how young people´s habits are affected implies that it is important to use the social network discussion while analysing the convergence between so called; "old" and "new media". Young people steer and direct the use of media, and that is the reason why the understanding about their thoughts of social media is significantly important. One could practically say that youngsters can affect the future of journalism, and the design and development of media. Key words: young people, Facebook, social media, virtual communication, the convergence of media, digital network society, journalism

As the world is becoming more and more globalized, business has to take the global marketplace into serious consideration. This is not just about new markets to sell products in, but also where to locate production and where to source resources from. With the launch of new communication technology it has also become easier and easier to cooperate across national borders without having to meet face-to-face. This has led to an increased demand on project managers concerning how to manage the communication within their project teams since they now can have members located in different geographical locations. The main purpose of this research was to develop a deeper understanding about how project managers are managing communication within virtual teams. This was firstly done by through a literature review of the present knowledge in the field identifying five sub topics of interest. Communication channels Skills for effective communication Dealing with technology Dealing with differences in culture and language Managing trust and relationships These sub topics were used through the rest of the thesis as the structure of the argumentation. The empirical research consisted of a deductive interview study of four respondents within the ICT sectors in Sweden and Denmark. Through the analysis and the conclusions all the topics were discussed in detail, where we got to know more about how they can be used to manage communication in virtual project teams. Something that came up in the analysis was the role of corporate culture in dealing with challenges in virtual communication, which in the end was suggested as a main topic for future research. Different communication channels showed to be good for different things, both in terms of the efficiency of the communication but also for things such as facilitating engagement and accountability. There seem to be no clear understanding of what skills are required for efficient work in virtual teams, both in the present knowledge in the field and among the respondents. For managing technology it showed to be important to make sure that the technology works, that the team members know how to use it and why, and to find ways to warm up the media by making it more personal. Differences in culture and language were found to best be dealt with by building trust within the team and creating an understanding of the existing differences. Asynchronous communication showed to be effective for dealing with bigger language problems. The solutions for managing trust and relationships mainly revolved around social communication and getting to know each other better in the beginning, and around regular and predictable communication in the long run.

This research examines mixed reality meetings, a context where individuals attend to both face-to-face group members while multitasking with technology. In these meetings, members engage simultaneously with those physically present and those outside of the meeting (virtual communication partners). Technology multitasking in meetings has a dual effect: it not only impacts the individual user, it has the potential to transform how collocated groups communicate and work together since attention becomes fragmented across multiple competing tasks. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to investigate mixed reality meetings across four themes: (1) the factors contributing to the likelihood to multitask based on meeting type, polychronicity (one’s preference for multitasking), and cohesion beliefs, (2) behavior during mixed reality assessed by copresence management, (3) attitudes toward technology multitasking, and (4) subjective outcomes measured by perceived productivity and meeting satisfaction. The qualitative data set consists of fieldwork from a global software company and interviews with 8 information workers. The quantitative data are comprised of survey results from the fieldwork site (n=156) and an online panel of information workers (n=110). Results indicate that information workers perceive distinct meeting types that are associated with implicit norms for appropriate technology multitasking. These norms varied based on the relevance of a meeting segment and if a power figure was present. A higher preference score for multitasking (high polychronicity) was significantly correlated with increased technology multitasking and perceived productivity. Members of cohesive teams exhibited the most technology multitasking and perceived their teammates multitasking as appropriate. However, outsiders who exhibited the same behaviors were viewed as rude and distracting. Overall, information workers who multitasked during meetings did so with electronic communication tasks (e-mail and instant messaging) as opposed to other computing tasks (e.g. writing documents, researching information). These findings are discussed in relation to psychological studies on multitasking, computer-supported cooperative work, and social constructionist views of technology use. This dissertation is a contribution to the assessment of technology use in social settings, particularly in organizations where tasks are often interrupted and a reliance on electronic communication tools impacts how people manage and accomplish work. / text

The purpose of this paper is to explore group creative processes in a virtual environment to better understand how virtual communication influences creativity. After reviewing literature, a theoretical foundation in creativity was established and with three common themes derived: Task motivation and task orientation, social environment and participation, and communication. This was coupled with a review of current virtual team interaction theories, demonstrating intersections between them. The method used was a qualitative exploration using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The interviews were conducted via VOIP, with notes and recordings taken for further analysis. Analysis was conducted on the three common creative themes viewing virtualization as the mediator. Trends emerged demonstrating that asynchronous communication had a substantial influence on group creative processes. Conversely, virtual teams employing real-time communication found little influence on the creative process. Other anecdotal trends can be seen regarding motivation and social environment. This paper identifies key areas where virtualization influences the group creative process, and provides a base for future suggested research.

As the technology develops, the communication infrastructure continues to innovate and increase competitiveness. For companies in a country such as Brazil, communicating virtually may be very beneficial in order to become more efficient, as well as more global. Due to today’s technological development and globalization, virtual teamwork has increased. For virtual teamwork to be successful, the importance of virtual leadership needs to be addressed by the organizations. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate leadership in a virtual context with focus on its effect on teamwork in culturally diverse teams. Furthermore, due to its emerging market and economic relevance, this study will examine virtual leaders of multinational companies in Brazil. From our dialogues we found that there is a lack of technological infrastructure, education, and positive attitude for virtual communication and virtual leadership within multinational companies in Brazil. Brazil as a country, as well as companies in Brazil, needs to provide opportunities and possibilities for excellent virtual communication and leadership. For instance, facetual communication and attication are important concepts on the way for companies of becoming virtualized.

<p><p><strong>Authors: Edina Hrustic & Maria Iverbo Title: Facebook – a virtual meetingplace and a gossipcave Level: BA Thesis in Journalism Location: Linnaeus University Language: Swedish Number of pages: 72 </strong></p><p><strong>Abstract </strong></p><p><strong>The aim of our study was to examine the meaning of the social media Facebook for young people who are in the age of 16 to 25 years. We wanted to gain an understanding in the youths´ thoughts and beliefs of how Facebook exists and plays a role in their lives. As a result from this research, we discussed how social media might affect the future of journalism.</strong></p><p><strong>We formed our thesis based on research of the digital network society, social networks, the youth culture, and how the target group; the young people use and experience social media. We made a questionnaire for 36 high school students, and three of these participated in a focusgroup-discussion. We combined and analyzed the response from the questionnaire and the focus group in our final result, and discussed patterns and relations between the youngsters´ answers.</strong></p><p><strong>Our result shows that Facebook mostly is regarded to be a virtual meetingplace, where these young people can interact and communicate with each other. They mostly communicate with their friends from the real-life, and youths´ use Facebook as a tool when they want to find out what people in their surrounding do. The questionnaire result also shows that Facebook can be seen as an information channel, where the young people can get gossip and offer each other invitations to common events.</strong></p><p><strong>From this study, we can point out that the social network is practically of great importance in young peoples’ lives. The questionnaire of Facebook and how young people´s habits are affected implies that it is important to use the social network discussion while analysing the convergence between so called; "old" and "new media". Young people steer and direct the use of media, and that is the reason why the understanding about their thoughts of social media is significantly important. One could practically say that youngsters can affect the future of journalism, and the design and development of media.</strong></p><strong>Key words: young people, Facebook, social media, virtual communication, the convergence of media, digital network society, journalism</strong><p> </p></p>

Research Aim: The aim of this study is to identify specific challenges impeding effective communication in a Global Virtual Team (GVT) operating in the energy sector. Research Method: This study uses a qualitative method, focusing on a single case study at the energy company Uniper. Data was obtained through 21 semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Results: Despite considerable developments in Information Communication Technology (ICT) over the last three decades, GVT still faces multiple communication challenges. Geographically dispersed teams are struggling to create team coherence and team efficiency. GVT needs additional attention from both corporations and academics in order for companies to successfully implement and reap the benefits of their virtual operations. Research limitations: A multiple case study approach which compares several corporations would be of interest. By extending the research scope, communication challenges can be better understood and awareness of how obstacles can be addressed will be improved. Practical implications: The presented findings acknowledge the existing challenges facing teams which operate in a virtual setting. This will allow corporations to be more aware of GVT challenges whilst minimizing or eliminating existing GVT challenges. Originality: This research aims to complement existing research focusing on extending knowledge about still existing GVT communication challenges.