Case Study: Apple's Electronic Message System

MME 101 CSUBS Sample Assignment 1 – Case Study & Report
By Chris Notsis Unit Co-ordinator, MIBT

The following document was created to act as guide for students. The content is not on the set topic. The aim here is for students look at the logic, structure and layout and understand the principles of report writing and their application. This document is in two parts: an actual Case Study followed by a discussion using a report format. This Case Study is a direct quotation. The corresponding report is entirely this author’s work except where indicated.

Case Study Apple’s Electronic Message System
(Source: Robbins, S.P, Millett, B., Cacioppe, R. and Waters-Marsh, T. 1998, Organisational nd Behaviour: Leading and Managing in Australia and New Zealand, 2 Edition, Prentice-Hall, Australia, p.389).

Electronic mail is a way of life at Apple Computer Inc., the maker of the famous Macintosh computer. Not only do managers use it for saving information, and marketing directors for facilitating product introductions, but e-mail also provides a lifeline for seven groups of Apple employees. These are the so-called affinity groups – gays and lesbians, Latinos, Asians, AfricanAmericans, women, Vietnamese, and devotees of Jewish culture – that use Apple’s Applelink electronic message system to spread the word about meetings, seminars and community events. This is all done with the complete approval and support of Apple’s top management. Apple Computer isn’t the only company to utilize its e-mail system to strengthen ties among affinity groups. Pacific Gas and Electric, Lotus Development, Levi Strauss and Pacific Bell also encourage employees who are members of affinity groups use e-mail as a communication tool. There are no objective statistics on how widespread the use of e-mail by affinity groups is. However, worldwide, e-mail practitioners number at least 45 million. Approximately twothirds of these practitioners have Internet access which enables them to reach beyond their immediate circle of colleagues, thus making e-mail an effective way for people with similar interests to maintain links across companies and national borders. On the plus side, the use of e-mail by affinity groups facilitates communication, strengthens social contacts and promotes workplace diversity. However, it can also build animosity among out-group members. Anti-gay employees at Pacific Gas and Electric, for instance, have used their system to communicate offensive messages to their gay and lesbian colleagues.

This case study is to be used for the hypothetical topic: The Communication Process and the Living Message Please Note: this is NOT the topic for Assignment 1. The report here is also substantially longer than the assignment requires. 1

(Sample title page)

A Report: The Communication Process and the Living Message

Chris Notsis ID: 27424X MME 101 CSUBS Lecturer: Jules Verne MIBT Assignment 1 Due: June 18, 2017

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A Report: The Communication Process and the Living Message
By Chris Notsis

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of this report is to explore a range of issues that relate to the Communication Process and the relationship it has to the fact that a message can take on a life of its own, so to speak. As a result, the message can affect the entire communication process in ways that could otherwise not be imagined. This exploration will follow concepts and notions presented in the given case study, titled ‘Apple’s Electronic Message System’ (Robbins et al. 1998, p. 389). These have clear implications that will be considered in the light of various communication theories and models.

This report has found that several significant theories have been longstanding, but a more recent aspect is that of Computer-Mediated Communication. As such, this form will be examined and it will be shown that it has growing importance within the scheme of all communication theories, because it confirms how both the communication process, in general, and the message involved, in particular, deeply affect each other.

It can be concluded that since any message will both influence and be influenced by whatever context in which it will exist, not every factor can be controlled so as to ensure that a given message will be understood as it was originally intended. It is therefore recommended that there is no point in exercising total control of a communication process simply because it cannot be controlled.

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Table of Contents

1.0

Introduction 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Case Study The Communication Process The Living message

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2.0

Theories and Models 2.1 2.2 The Transmission View The Relational View

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3.0

The Living Message 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 The Internet The Case Study The Living Message The Affinity Group and the Living Message

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4.0 5.0 6.0

Solutions Recommendations References

14 15 16

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1.0

INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Case Study

1.1.1 Although the given account describes an event involving Apple Computer Inc., it mentions the names of several organizations. This is intended to create a relative context for the reader.

1.1.2 The example of Apple is intended to show how an organization can strive to be inclusive of its employees with the hope of reducing barriers and conflict. Unforeseen consequences appear that are difficult to avoid. The case study does not present any solutions sought by Apple, but it could be expected that the company would take the matter towards a suitable resolution. This is to be assumed but it is realistic to do so, since Apple introduced the ‘lifeline’ (Robbins et al. 1998, p.389) in the first place! 1.1.3 The case study suggests that one element that is difficult to control is the Human Factor, wherein despite the best intentions of attaining an ideal, people can be driven by their fears and prejudices and so sabotage such processes. 1.1.4 It can be assumed that the management of Apple Computer Inc. and the other organisation mentioned, created ‘a message’ (the need to allow for affinity groups such as those named) but had not reckoned that this ‘message’ (and its medium of transmission) would develop in the way it did once it was released into the internal environment of the organization, thus becoming open to interpretation, manipulation and mis-use. 5

1.2 The Communication Process

1.2.1 The communication process will be examined by looking at two well-established schools of thought and their respective sub-sets.

1.2.2 The focus on these will then lead to a consideration of the Computer-Mediated Communication model.

1.3 The Living Message  One of the schools of thought (hereafter known as views) holds that messages are created and used and that both of these processes, together with other specific factors, construct meaning that in itself is fluid and changing, showing that a message, like actual life, has no real limits. Life ends, from a biological perspective, but a person continues to ‘live’ in the artefacts of that person’s life and in the memories of others. It would seem that this logic is applied to the communication process and has some validity.

2.0 THEORIES AND MODELS

It is commonly held that there are two major perspectives in approaching a study of communication principles. These are known as the Transmission view of Communication and the Relational view of communication. A brief explanation of the characteristics of each of these views will be given.

2.1 The Transmission View 2.1.1 This view holds that one needs to understand how information is conveyed or exchanged. Thus, a functional approach is taken Here, the word ‘functional’ implies the role a process has and how this process

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affects

meaning.

As

such,

communication

is

an

interactive process. 2.1.2 One model presented and driven by Dwyer (2003) shows that this interaction takes place as a two-way process:

Environment
(Noise, distractions etc)

Sender
(encoder)

Channel/Medium & Message

Receiver
(decoder)

Feedback

Figure 1: Two Way Communication Model (Dwyer 2003, p.8)

2.1.3 Although Figure 1 is an adaptation of Dwyer’s model, it shows that each component is linked and related. The notion is that the environment, where communication takes place, can have a positive or negative effect on the process and its outcome. Dwyer (2003) thus argues that this fairly linear, interactive process clearly shows how information is conveyed and any shortcomings will promote barriers to and conflict in it. 2.1.4 Shannon and Weaver (Doyle 2002) also present an interaction model that is similar to Dwyer’s. Again, it is the transmission process of messages that determines meaning and effectiveness (See Figure 2).

Shannon and Weaver 's Model of Communication
Information Source ========> ========> Message Transmitter Signal Sent Sent Sources of Noise ========> Signal Received Receiver ========> Message Destination Received

Figure 2: Shannon & Weaver’s Model of Communication (Fournier 2003)

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2.1.5 Models such as these tend to indicate that ‘even the simplest communications can be misunderstood.

Transmitting a signal across additional media only adds to the complexity of the communication and increases the chance for distortion’ (Fournier 2003).

The Transmission view thus encompasses, as demonstrated by Dwyer and Shannon and Weaver, the notion that a range of variable factors contribute to effectiveness of communication.

2.2 The Relational View 2.2.1 This quite complex approach explains that meaning is constructed by communicators who use symbolic codes to create meaning. A symbolic code is a representation of something tangible or intangible, such as an arrow sign representing direction, but which derives from a weapon.

Meaning that is created and affected by several factors:      Identity Roles Culture Rules and expectations These factors are determined by situations (Doyle 2002). 2.2.2 The most significant attribute of this view is that ‘the medium is the message’ (McLuhan 2001). McLuhan (2001) went on to argue that it is the ‘medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action.’ McLuhan is attributed to developing the phrase ‘the global village’. Therein lies the principle held by Relationists who have followed McLuhan, that despite the size of our world, we are intrinsically melded by the ways in which we 8

communicate, thus reducing our world to that of a

village. McLuhan essentially argued that our technology has simultaneously extended and contracted our ability to communicate. He once claimed that the printing press, as an example, not only freed us by increasing access to information and to each other, but allowed us to withdraw within ourselves during private, solitary reading (Regent University 1995).

In many ways, the Relationist view makes sense in terms of how the message itself can come to mean many things.

3.0

THE LIVING MESSAGE

3.1 The Internet

3.1.1 The advent of the Internet has allowed mass access opportunities to many communication that is understood to be uncensored and multi-directional, giving

unprecedented people.

3.1.2 The Internet, including e-mail, has evolved from a tool initially used by the military and academics to one that allows almost universal access on numerous levels to many people.

3.1.3 Business, in particular, has embraced the Internet and spawned multitudes of E-prefixed terms and practices, such as e-mail, e-commerce, et cetera. The Internet has allowed communication channels to be created,

expanded and altered.

3.1.4 The Internet has also allowed the propagation of many negative attributes and characteristics, such as security issues (including hacking, viruses and Trojan horses, as well as identity theft and ‘cyber terrorism’) and social deviations such as paedophilia. 9

3.2

The Case Study 3.2.1 ‘Affinity’, as used in the Apple case study, implies a relationship. As such, an affinity group is a formation of people who share common ideals, concepts or

behaviours, that may or may not be cohesive as a group, in terms of an ‘organisation’.

3.2.2 In the case of the Apple case study, these affinity groups within Apple included people who shared common behaviours, attitudes, religious belief and ethnicity. 3.2.3 The case study identifies these people as being a part of seven affinity groups. Apple saw fit to extend the organisation’s internal messaging service by allowing internal community messages to be shared among these groups. Although it is not stated, it can be assumed that Apple may have intended this extension to enhance morale within the work-place, which would ultimately contribute to improved productivity. It can be further assumed that Apple viewed these groups as

experiencing various types of exclusion from the mainstream organizational culture. By extending the messaging service, it would be hoped that these affinity groups would more likely be included, if not totally, then to a fair degree, within the mainstream of the organisation. 3.2.4 As an unintended consequence, ground is laid for a negative response to these affinity groups. The case study notes that:
…the use of e-mail by affinity groups facilitates communication, strengthens social contacts and promotes workplace diversity. However, it can also build animosity among out-group members (Robbins et al. 1998, p.389).

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The case study goes on to mention that ‘offensive messages’ were sent to gay members of Pacific Gas and Electric by anti-gays within the organisation. Although the study makes no mention of such activity at Apple, it could be assumed that it did occur.

3.3 The Living Message

3.3.1 The Relational View of communication posits that meaning is constructed by communicators and this meaning is created by a range of factors already mentioned in Section 2.2.

3.3.2 It can be argued that a message gains a life of its own, beyond the vision or imagination of those (the primary senders) who initially create it. In the case of Apple and others cited in the study, top management, perhaps possessing an altruistic vision of humanitarianism and business success, envisioned that by giving extended email service to its affinity groups, it would be of ultimate benefit to all participants in the organisation. It would certainly not have done so with self-destruction in mind! 3.3.3 Given the animosity of one group towards an affinity group, namely gays, in the example of Pacific Gas and Electric, it can be seen how a message, in this case one encouraging affinity groups to extend the use of an internal e-mail service, can have its original meaning affected. The term ‘meaning’ here is the initial intention and motives of management in extending the e-mail services. If the intention was to increase employee inclusion, then this is noble in itself. The nature of the Internet and its related form, intranets, allows freedom of choice in their use. Freedom of choice not only lies in the range of communication an intranet provides, but it also

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allows freedom in the range of meanings that these choices provide. 3.3.4 Thus, this freedom of choice in meaning that information and the methods of transmission of this information provide, allows users in an organisation, such as Apple and Pacific Gas and Electric, to construct their own sense of things and react or respond accordingly. The difference here is that affinity groups in an organisation, such as gays and Vietnamese, use the technology medium available to them to exchange messages that are relevant to them and to the organisation. On the other hand, groups and individuals who have personal reactions to these affinity groups because of possible perceived stereotypes or grudges, also use the same technology to express their feelings. Therefore, one can see that an initial ‘meaning’ evolves several divergent, often conflicting meanings. If management says: ‘Use this e-mail service to communicate with one another’ and creates processes to encourage the practice, then various groups, individuals and sub-cultures within the organisation will actually do so, but in their own ways. 3.3.5 E-mail provides instant communication between senders and receivers. It is commonly held that with any new technology, it takes time to develop a tradition and culture in its use. In time, it happens. ComputerMediated Communication (CMC) has propagated many solutions and problems. E-mail can be anonymous, vicious or impersonal. As such, these negative attributes go hand in hand with the positives. If an Apple employee chooses to send an anonymous, vicious e-mail to members of an affinity group, then the process allows this. Certainly the source of an e-mail can be logged, but nothing prevents an employee from using someone else’s terminal to send an offensive message. 12

3.3.6 CMC in itself is a recent phenomenon in the history of communication theory, since it has evolved with the Internet. It has become apparent that people establish relationships using this communication technology that have been intimate, personal and emotional. A corollary of this evolution has been the rise of pornographic websites, match-making facilities, as well as the extension of existing systems as introduced by Apple and Pacific Gas and Light for their respective affinity groups. For these affinity groups, the attributes that link their members would allow CMC to occur at a level that extends communication beyond the work-place context. CMC thus contributes to the life of the message and confirms McLuhan’s belief that the medium is in fact the message. For Strangelove (1994) ‘The Internet is a community of chronic communicators’. This notion of a chronic condition suggests that, at times perhaps, these ‘sufferers’ have no control over what they do; the medium of choice (the Internet) absorbs them for many reasons, such as the anonymity it can provide. This suggests issues of empowerment and a sense that the sender can manipulate the receiver (or vice versa) which stems from an ability to apply technology in new ways. The medium affects the message that ultimately affects the meaning conveyed.

3.4 The Affinity Group and the Living Message

3.4.1 If the Relational view is applied to the Apple case study, one can see that a particular context has been created which demonstrates the life a message can have. As shown, a message can alter in many ways and can occur through its use and exchange, when handled and transferred by others. 3.4.2 The Living Message notion can be extended beyond the organisation’s Intranet, for instance. Consider this 13

scenario: Apple allows affinity groups to extend its internal e-mail service. Others in the organisation attack these groups using the same service. Information of these exchanges is released to the wider community via the Internet and other mass media. Groups, cohesive or not, respond according to their own interests

(determined by the factors shown in Section 2.2). The original management ‘message’ may, by this stage, have changed form and meaning. One consequence of this scenario could be that Apple shares in the stock market fall. Or that government scrutiny may increase. Perhaps class action law suits may be initiated. Claims of defamation, slander and violation of constitutional rights may become rife. In effect, these possibilities are as infinite as human capacity to apply meaning to information (be it in the form of events or concepts based on interpretation). Perhaps the analogy of a snowball rolling down a hill may be apt!

4.0

SOLUTIONS 4.1 Certainly, organisations design and apply policies and ethics that aim to control the use by employees of the means of internal and external communication.

Governments do the same from a legislative and community level. In a sense, these efforts are as effective as users choose to want them to be. Thus, the notion of ‘freedom of choice’ returns. Such choices exist, irrespective of any particular social or political system that applies. Consequently, McLuhan’s view that the ‘medium is the message’ has a basis of truth, since users will assign meaning as they see fit and that any particular medium will not only be a reflection of the given moment, but the medium will also be a reflection of how people wish to communicate, which in itself will affect both meaning and the message.

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5.0

RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 In effect, there are no viable solutions, because there is really no problem per se. In the scheme of things, solutions lead to problems that lead to more solutions. The ‘human factor’ is part of this process. Humans create and affect both meanings and messages. This has been the case; it is certain to remain so. Because humans have enormous creative capacity in many areas, communication is a lifelong process that compels us to deal with situations accordingly; we do so because it is our nature. The Relational view of communication confirms this to be the case.

(Word Count: 2,789)

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6.0

REFERENCES

Doyle, T A 2002, ‘Concepts of Communication’, viewed 15/5/07, www.novaline.nv.cc.va.us. Dwyer, J 2003, The Business Communication Handbook, 6th Edition, Prentice Hall, Australia. Fournier, S 2002, ‘Communication’, viewed 15/5/07,http://stevefournier01.tripod.com. McLuhan, M 2001, ‘McLuhan’, viewed 19/6/07, www.mcluhan.ca. Regent University 1995, ‘Marshall McLuhan’, accessed 18/6/07, www.regent.edu.

Robbins, SP, Millett, B, Cacioppe, R and Waters-Marsh, T 1998, Organisational Behaviour: Leading and Managing in Australia and New Zealand, 2nd Edition, Prentice-Hall, Australia Strangelove, M 1994, ‘The Internet and the rise of the uncensored self’, Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine, Vol. 1, p.5.

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References: Figure 2: Shannon & Weaver’s Model of Communication (Fournier 2003) 7 Transmitting a signal across additional media only adds to the complexity of the communication and increases the chance for distortion’ (Fournier 2003).