Saturday, May 23, 2020
Social networking Free Essay Example, 2000 words
Social networking site such as Facebook has attracted the attention of millions of users all over the world. Survey reveals that 200 million users are active on Facebook. Study reveals that people are more tend to share as much information as possible rather than hiding behind the layers. The revelation of information updated on online connections can create different effect on personal life of an individual. The amount of information that are being updated every can create flaw and it helps someone to exploit the flaws which leads to identity privacy issue. Some avenues that help to gain access of the private information are features of participation of users such as photos, messages and platform application. ââ¬Å"Researchers in the field of this subject found out that the third party game application can give the power to the developers to attain the access of all personal information such as address, interests and personal pictures of an individualâ⬠(Turkle 23). Some of t he third part application creates devastating hole which allows for easy theft. The problems of reducing the privacy issue can be attained successfully if people are more aware and use careful approach to share information or pictures. We will write a custom essay sample on Social networking or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now The privacy control of social media site around is in the hand of the user (Turkle 28). It depends on the user to share and disclose information as per as their choice. The level of risk is determined by the content of information that is shared by user. Sometime users underestimate the issues that can occur. The negative impact on user depends upon the way people present themselves in the social media sites. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. , has become interwoven in to the life of daily user as it has helped people to communicate between each other easily. Some common social networking sites are Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and VKuontakte. Thousands of millions of people are now active on social media sites. Facebook alone has more than 1.15 active users monthly. Users also use mobile Facebook application which is more than 819 million users. Every user on Facebook has an average 137 friends and share more than 89 contents every month. These social networking sites have many drawbacks and users are unaware of the security risks. Some security issues are malware, privacy issue, identity theft, fake profiles and sexual harassment. ââ¬Å"According to several reports, social media users used to expose their details quite easilyâ⬠(Waters and Lester 246).
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Biography of Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (1887 to 1975), also known as Generalissimo, was a Chinese political and military leader who served as head of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1949. After being forced from power and exiled by Chinese Communists after World War II, he continued to serve as president of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Fast Facts: Chiang Kai-shek Also Known As: GeneralissimoKnown For: Chinese military and political leader from 1928 to 1975Born: October 31, 1887 in Xikou, Zhejiang Province, ChinaDied: April 5, 1975 in Taipei, TaiwanParents: Jiang Zhaocong (father) and Wang Caiyu (mother)Education: Baoding Military Academy, Imperial Japanese Army Academy Preparatory SchoolKey Accomplishments: Along with Sun Yat-sen, founded the Kuomintang (KMT) political party. In exile, Director General of the Kuomintang government on TaiwanMajor Awards and Honors: Recognized as one of the Big Four allied victors of WWIISpouses: Mao Fumei, Yao Yecheng, Chen Jieru, Soong Mei-lingChildren: Chiang Ching-kuo (son), Chiang Wei-kuo (adopted son)Notable Quote: ââ¬Å"There are three essential factors in all human activity: spirit, materials, and action.â⬠In 1925, Chiang succeeded Sun Yat-sen as leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party, known as the Kuomintang, or KMT. As head of the KMT, Chiang expelled the communist arm of the party and succeeded in unifying China. Under Chiang, the KMT focused on preventing the spread of Communism in China and fighting increasing Japanese aggression. When the United States declared war on Japan in 1941, Chiang and China swore their allegiance and assistance to the Allies. In 1946, Communist forces led by Mao Zedong, a.k.a. Chairman Mao, overthrew Chiang and created the Peopleââ¬â¢s Republic of China. From 1949 until his death in 1975, the exiled Chiang continued to lead the KMT government in Taiwan, recognized by the United Nations as the legitimate government of China. Early Life: Chinese Revolutionary Chiang Kai-shek was born on October 31, 1887, in Xikou, a town now in the Zhejiang province of the Peopleââ¬â¢s Republic of China, to a well-off family of merchants and farmers. In 1906, at age 19, he began his preparations for a military career at the Paoting Military Academy in North China, later serving in the Japanese army from 1909 to 1911, where he adopted the Spartan ideals of the Japanese Samurai warriors. In Tokyo, Chiang fell in with a group of young revolutionaries plotting to overthrow Chinaââ¬â¢s Qing dynasty ruled over by the Manchu clan. Chinese political and military leader Chiang Kai-shek (1887 - 1975), circa 1910. FPG / Getty Images When the Qing Revolution of 1911 broke out, Chiang returned to China where he took part in fighting that succeeded in overthrowing the Manchus in 1912. With the fall of Chinaââ¬â¢s last dynastic order, Chiang joined with other republican revolutionaries to oppose former Qing dynasty general Yuan Shikai, Chinaââ¬â¢s new president, and eventual emperor. Association With Sun Yat-sen After an attempt to overthrow Yuan Shikai failed in 1913, Chiang helped found the Kuomintang (KMT) party. Largely withdrawing from public life from 1916 to 1917, he lived in Shanghai where he reportedly belonged to an organized financial crime syndicate known as Qing Bang, or Green Gang.à Returning to public life in 1918, Chiang began a close political association with influential KMT leader Sun Yat-sen. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek speaking at meeting of Chinese National Assembly. A picture of the father of Chinese Democracy, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, behind him. The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images / Getty Images Attempting to reorganize the KMT along communist lines, Sun Yat-sen sent Chiang to the Soviet Union in 1923 to study the policies and tactics of its Red Army. After returning to China, he was appointed as commandant of Whampoa Military Academy near Canton. As Soviet military advisers streamed into Canton to teach at Whampoa, Chinese communists were admitted into the KMT for the first time. Anti-Communist Leader of the KMT When Sun Yat-sen died in 1925, Chiang inherited leadership of the KMT and began trying to stem the rapidly growing influence of the Chinese communists within the party without losing the support of the Soviet government and military. He succeeded until 1927, when in a violent coup, he expelled the communists from the KMT and quashed the Chinese labor unions they had created. Hoping his communist purge would please U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, Chiang succeeded in establishing closer relations between China and the U.S. government.à Chiang now continued to reunify China. As supreme commander of the Nationalist revolutionary army, he directed massive attacks against northern tribal warlords in 1926. In 1928, his armies occupied the capital in Beijing and established a new Nationalist central government in Nanking headed by Chiang. The Xian Incident and World War II In 1935, even as the Empire of Japan threatened to occupy Northeast China, Chiang and his KMT continued to focus on fighting Communists within China rather than the external threat of the Japanese. In December 1936, Chiang was seized by two of his own generals and held hostage in Chinaââ¬â¢s Xian Province in an attempt to force the KMT to change its policies regarding Japan. Held captive for two weeks, Chiang was released after agreeing to actively prepare his armies for war with Japan and to form an at least temporary alliance with the Chinese communists to help fight the Japanese invaders. With the horrific Japanese Rape of Nanking massacre in 1937, all-out war between the two countries erupted. Chiang and his armies defended China alone until 1941, when the U.S. and other Allies declared war on Japan. Post-World War II and Taiwan While China held an honored place among the Big Four allied victors of WWII, Chiangââ¬â¢s government began to decay as it resumed its pre-war struggle against internal communists. In 1946, the civil war resumed and by 1949, the communists had taken control of continental China and established the Peopleââ¬â¢s Republic of China. 1943-Cairo, Egypt: President Roosevelt seated outside during the Cairo Conference with Mr. and Mrs. Chiang Kai Shek, and Winston Churchill. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images Exiled to the province of Taiwan, Chiang, along with his remaining Nationalist forces established a weak dictatorship on the island. Over the next two decades, Chiang reformed his Nationalist Party, and with ample American aid began Taiwanââ¬â¢s transition to a modern and successful economy. In 1955, the U.S. agreed to defend Chiangââ¬â¢s Nationalist government on Taiwan against future communist threats. However, the pact was weakened in the early 1970s by improving relationships between the U.S and the Peopleââ¬â¢s Republic of China. In 1979, four years after Chiangââ¬â¢s death, the U.S. finally broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan in order to establish full relations with the Peopleââ¬â¢s Republic of China. Personal Life Chiang had four wives during his lifetime: Mao Fumei, Yao Yecheng, Chen Jieru, and Soong Mei-ling. Chiang had two sons: Chiang Ching-Kuo with Mao Fumei, and Chiang Wei-Kuo, whom he adopted along with Yao Yecheng. Both sons went on to hold important political and military positions in the Kuomintang government in Taiwan. Born and raised a Buddhist, Chiang converted to Christianity when he married his fourth wife, Soong Mei-ling, popularly called ââ¬Å"Madam Chiangâ⬠in 1927. He spent the rest of his life as a devout Methodist. Death Months after suffering a heart attack and pneumonia, Chiang died of cardiac malfunction and renal failure on April 5, 1975, in Taipei at the age of 87. While he was mourned for over a month on Taiwan, Communist state-run newspapers in mainland China briefly noted his death with the simple headline ââ¬Å"Chiang Kai-shek Has Died.â⬠Today, Chiang Kai-shek is buried along with his son Chiang Ching-Kuo at Wuzhi Mountain Military Cemetery in Xizhi, Taipei City. Sources Fenby, Jonathan (2005). Chiang Kai Shek: Chinas Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost. Carroll Graf Publisher. P. 205. ISBN 0-7867-1484-0.Watkins, Thayer. The Guomindang (Kuomintang), the Nationalist Party of China. San Jose State University.Coppa, Frank J. (2006). ââ¬Å"Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present.â⬠Peter Lang. ISBN 0-8204-5010-3.Van de Ven, Hans (2003). War and Nationalism in China: 1925-1945. Studies in the Modern History of Asia, London: RoutledgeCurzon, ISBN 978-0415145718.Teon, Aris. The Green Gang, Chiang Kai-shek, and the Republic of China. Greater China Journal (2018).
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Occupy Wall Street Movement Free Essays
Krystal Graham ââ¬Å"Occupy Wall Streetâ⬠Business Ethics Professor: Steven Curry ââ¬Å"Occupy Wall Streetâ⬠The ââ¬Å"Occupy Wall Streetâ⬠movement has become a big deal since it began in the fall of 2011. This movement was inspired by international protests, with thousands arriving in New York City answering the call, soon spreading to well over 500 cities. I would like to discuss more of the details of the movement, the moral and economic implications, as well as the different ethics theories to see which theory best applies to the movement. We will write a custom essay sample on Occupy Wall Street Movement or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Arab Springs protest on February 11, 2011 was the most notable inspiration of the Occupy Wall Street movement. According to the website occupy together, the occupy movement is an international movement driven by individuals. They are organized in over 100 cities in the United States, and they aim to fight back against the system that has allowed the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. All of us have many different backgrounds and political beliefs but feel that, since we can no longer trust our elected officials to represent anyone other than their wealthiest donors, we need real people to create real change from the bottom upâ⬠¦ We no longer want the wealthiest to hold all the power, to write the rules governing an unbalanced and inequitable global economy, and thus foreclosing on our future. The movement works to achieve their goals by resist, In the spirit and tradition of civil disobedience #occupy takes to the streets to protest corporate greed, abuse of power , and growing economic disparity; Restructure, #occupy empowers individuals to lead others into action by gathering in the commons as engaged citizens to demonstrate a culture based on community and mutual aid. We will be the change we are seeking in the world; and finally, Remix work to make fundamental changes in the system. Now that we know a little more about the movement itself, let us look at some of the moral and economic implications of this movement. In the Constitution, the Fourteenth Amendment requires that the government provide ââ¬Å"equal protection of the lawsâ⬠to all citizens. The moral implications of the Occupy Wall Street movement reach far beyond the passing sensation it has created. The movement seems to be acquiring immunity from the laws the rest of us are expected to obey by calling themselves representatives of the 99 percent against the 1 percent. If 99 percent of the people in the country were like the Occupy mobs we would have anarchy, not a country. Democracy means majority rule, not mob rule, and if Occupy or any other mob movement actually represents the majority, they would have enough votes to legally achieve what they are trying to accomplish by illegal means. In problems of collective action, individuals who work solely for their own selfish interests can bring about tragic consequences for society as a whole. The only way for collective action problems to be solved is to create coordinated collaborations that unite social and individual interests. The ââ¬Å"collectiveâ⬠element is paramount because even one ââ¬Å"defectorâ⬠(someone who acts selfishly, like those who stand accused of criminal acts at Occupy Wall Street camps) has the power to run everything by leading others to defect as well. I found an example of the Occupy movement being about the law on the national review website. ââ¬Å"When trespassers blocking other people at the University of California-Davis refused to disperse and locked their arms with one another to prevent the police from being able to physically remove them, police finally resorted to pepper spray to break up this human logjam. The result? The police have been strongly criticized for enforcing the law. Apparently pepper spray is unpleasant, and people who break the law are not supposed to have unpleasant things done to them. Which is to say, we need to take the ââ¬Å"enforcementâ⬠out of ââ¬Å"law enforcement. â⬠The police are the last line of defense against barbarism, but they are equipped only to handle that minority who are not stopped by the first line of defense, moral principles. If everyone takes the path of least resistance, then the moral infrastructure will corrode and crumble. The moral infrastructure is one of the intangibles without which the tangibles donââ¬â¢t work. Like the physical infrastructure, its neglect in the short run invites disaster in the long run. Examples of real, measurable Occupy inspired change in the political sphere are hard to come by, though a band of millionaires did storm Capital Hill on Wednesday November 16, according to an article by the Associated Press to urge Congress to tax them more, claiming they are not paying their ââ¬Å"fair share. The financial crisis caused a deep recession in our economy, and there are many individuals who are struggling to make ends meet and to get a job and to live their lives given the economic difficulties. I think there is an understandable frustration with the difficult economic circumstances that many families are experiencing now and a desire for change. There is one cost associated with Occupy Wall Street that is readily available, and that is the cost incurred by police as they patro lled the movement, originally in a watchdog status, and eventually as they cleared protestors from parks throughout the country. According to the Associated Press, as of November 24, taxpayers had paid at least $13 million in police overtime and municipal services. This includes $7 million in New York and $2. 4 million in Oakland, which faces a budget gap of $58 million this year. Utilitarianism is the moral doctrine that we should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions. The interests of the community are simply the sum of the interest of its members. An action promotes the interests of an individual when it adds to the individualââ¬â¢s pleasure or diminishes the personââ¬â¢s pain. There are six points that need to be considered about utilitarianism. First, when deciding which action will produce the greatest happiness, we must consider unhappiness or pain as well happiness. Second, actions affect people to different degrees. Third, because utilitarians evaluate actions according to their consequences and because actions produce different results in different circumstances, almost anything might in principle, be morally right in some particular situation. Fourth, utilitarians wish to maximize happiness not simply immediately but in the long run as well. Fifth, utilitarians acknowledge that we often do not know with certainty what the future consequences of our actions will be. Finally, when choosing among possible actions, utilitarianism does not require us to disregard our own pleasure, nor should we give it added weight. Immanuel Kant sought moral principles that do not rest on contingencies and that define actions as inherently right or wrong apart from any particular circumstances. He believed that moral rules can, in principle, be known as a result of reason lone and are not based on observation. Kantian theory uses the categorical imperative which says that we can will the maxim of our action to become a universal law. By maxim, Kant meant the subjective principle of an action, the principle that people in effect formulate in determining their conduct. Another way of looking at the categorical imperative is universal acceptability. Each person, through his or her own acts of will, legislates the moral law. Because reason is th e same for all rational beings, we all give ourselves the same moral law. In other words, when you answer the question ââ¬Å"What should I do? â⬠you must consider what all rational beings should do. You can embrace something as a moral law only if all other rational beings can also embrace it. It must have universal acceptability. In addition to the principle of universal acceptability, Kant explicitly offered another, very famous way of formulating the core idea of his categorical imperative. According to this formulation, as rational creatures we should always treat other rational creatures as ends in themselves and never as only means to our ends. Virtue ethics is identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach which emphasizes duties or rules or that which emphasizes the consequences of actions. Out of the theories, utilitarian, Kantian, and virtue ethics, I believe the Occupy Wall Street movement tries to follow the utilitarian theory. The movement is attempting to end the relationship built on money and donations between our elected officials and corporate interests. They want a system that operates in the interest of the people and to empower people to be a part of the process. They say they represent the 99 percent, and trying to make a change to have equal distribution of wealth for the country, which is what they feel is the best interest of the country as a whole. The income inequality and unequal wealth distribution in the United States is something that has been building over time and is not really any one person or companies fault. Many of the wealthy have earned the money by working hard to get to where they are now. There are many issues involved in the wealth distribution in our country, including that many of the poor have gotten poorer due to the lack of jobs as well as the fact that many of the mortgage companies allowed people to get into more debt by handing out home loans to people who wanted to purchase homes way out of their price ranges. This is also the fault of the people who got themselves into those positions. I am not sure if there is an equitable outcome from this movement, but I am sure this movement will continue, and if not, there will be another movement similar to this one. How to cite Occupy Wall Street Movement, Essay examples
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Importance of Internal Communications free essay sample
Importance of Internal Communications for a company and two case studies. Internal communications is considered a vital tool for connecting people within the company. It does not refer only to those few ââ¬Å"officialâ⬠channels of communication in a company, it is also the strategic management of information flows to ensure the optima level of employee engagement. (Civicus, 2001) This business context of communication is a dual listening process. It is a top-down, bottom-up, side-to-side communication harnessed as a means of delivering messages, listening to concerns and motivating staff. Maintaining a good internal communications within a company could reinforce the vision, values and culture among employees, who can then communicate it to internal and external audiences. Internal communications aims to ensure that employees in the company work together towards the same goal, know what they should be doing and by when. Internal communication has evolved various ways of communicating internally. Traditionally, it started off with informal and formal one-to-one and one-to-many meetings where usually the ââ¬Ëthe bossââ¬â¢ would communicate in a highly one-way fashion with employees. Lee, 2006) In this case the message is mostly communicated in one way, it does not include feedback from the message recipients. When print materials were introduced, it was then involved for formal, top-down transmission, for instance, company annual report. Internal communication then evolved to the digital era where Internet was highly used as a communication tool. When email was introduced into the business settings and with it the nature of communication has radically changed. Lee, 2006) As the digital technology advances, internal communication has evolved to the point where not only can employees and employers freely email each other, forward messages without any editing (showing the whole conversational trail), and forward those messages outside of the corporate walls, but also employees and employers can use these emails to bring about grievance procedures, litigation and dismissal. (Lee, 2006) It is seen that internal communication has undergone deliberately change and wil l continue growing. Todayââ¬â¢s internal communication practitioner is focused on challenging and stimulating employees, managing change and gaining employee engagement and commitment. (Chalmers, 2008) The aim has moved from controlling and directing people, through providing information, making announcements and supporting industrial relations, to supporting the development of a flexible work environment which adapts to change, seeks improvement, shares knowledge and know-how, generates ideas and involves people in achieving strategic goals. Chalmers, 2008) Most of the people understand the significance of internal communication but very few could manage it efficiently. Many people think that internal communication is one of the functions that they think they can do well. In fact, when it comes to real situation on handling employees, certain strategies and techniques are needed to communicate and tackle. In talking to many individuals at very different levels in very disparate sectors, what has come across as crucial is the need for internal communication to be championed at the very top of the organization and also for senior management and the boardroom to respect the expertise of the specialist tasked to deliver, be they internally or externally placed. Smith, 2008) A large number of studies by both professional management groups and professional communications bodies consistently find that ââ¬Ëcommunicating with employeesââ¬â¢ is a useful and powerful way of engendering greater ââ¬Ëengagementââ¬â¢ ââ¬â the propensity of the employee to want to come to work and want to contribute to the success of the company. (Lee, 2006) Gauri Deshmukh, head of HR at SAS India states that internal communication is important for a company as it provides information and encourages sharing by driving and supporting the organisationââ¬â¢s short-term and long-term goals and objectiv es. In addition, Deshmukh also mentions that with effective internal communications, it ensures that knowledge-sharing and communication processes are part of the daily workflow across all functions of the business. By having good internal communication, a company ensures that in between employers and employees they are constantly updated with information. In fact, a good internal communications not only affects organizational and operational success, but it has a considerable impact on external functions such as marketing, community and government relations, nd investor relations. (Brown, 2002) Internal communication is significant in any company because it is the building block of the organisational culture. (Civicus, 2001) Furthermore, internal communication is important so that employees become advocates for company. It is important to create a ââ¬Ëcommon purposeââ¬â¢ across the company ââ¬â creating the sense of a team where everyone feels ownership in their roles and in a chieving the companyââ¬â¢s goals. (WK, 2010) In this way employees feel accepted and being part of the company. Likewise, internal communication is one of the key ââ¬Ëintangibleââ¬â¢ factors leading to high performance. (WK, 2010) For instance, if communication in a company is managed well employees are more confident and clear with the company mission and vision thus makes excellent financial as well as business. Not only that, having good internal communication helps build out companyââ¬â¢s brand internally as employees are the best ambassadors, and internal perceptions should mirror what the company is telling the world. Trout, 2012) When the company is communicating effectively with its internal stakeholders, be it employees, management or volunteers, programmes and departments share more resources and information resulting in less duplication of work and stronger impact as a whole company. (Civicus, 2001) Without an effective internal communications, a company allows others to determine what information (or disinformation) is communicated to employees about their company. Brown, 2002) Smart employers realize that in environments where employees are able to move from one employer to another with relative ease, it is in the companyââ¬â¢s best interests to retain the smarter and more productive employees; doing all they can to communicate with them, inform them, influence them and enter into some sort of psychological contract with them is a wise move. Lee, 2006) Besides, without effective internal communications, the crisis of confidence in businesses and corporate leadership could hurt sincere efforts to build a positive corporate culture and to enhance employee morale and productivity, and devastate the overall image of an organization. (Brown, 2002) Case Study I: Nokia is one of the top mobile phone manufacturer favoured by many people. In order to compete with other mobile phone manufacturer Nokia is constantly improvising and upgrading their gadgets to serve people needs these days. The reason Nokia has been so successful is no doubt its creation on mobile phones, as well as the strong team in the company that has made where it stands today. In a technologically savvy company like Nokia, itââ¬â¢s no surprise that theyââ¬â¢ve been successfully implementing social media into their internal communications. (Kass, 2012) Nokiaââ¬â¢s motto is connecting people and exploring ways to enhance communication. (Kass, 2012) In order to realize that vision, Nokia uses a number of different vehicles for two-way and push or pull communications; social media plays a big part with fitting into that strategy. Nokiaââ¬â¢s Social Media Communications team was established in early 2008, aimed to improve inter-company communications and engaging employees. The objective of the team is to: encourage the use of social media internally to bring out the companyââ¬â¢s unique authentic voice and to engage in social media externally on behalf of Nokia, and contributing to product and service announcements by opening up a dialogue and driving online engagement. (Kass, 2012) Nokia has 125,000 employees around the world. It is the companyââ¬â¢s utmost important task to engage all employees in order to achieve company business goal. There are a few platforms in Nokia allowing employees from global to connect as if they work in a small company together. According to Molly Schonthal who worked on the companys Social Media team in North America, the BlogHub is Nokiaââ¬â¢s most powerful and effective social media tool that is used internally. It has been said that BlogHub lowers the barriers for employees to find conversations relevant to them. In terms of interaction, employees are allowed to communicate freely via BlogHub. They could make comment on posts, share ideas and knowledge on issues that have been mentioned. In addition, BlogHub serves as a useful search engine for employees to seek out information relevant to them. From a management point of view, through BlogHub feedback on various issues are gained quickly and track the conversations that are happening inside the company. Voting and ratings on posts are enabled as well for employees to be part of the decision team. Nokia has also introduced Nokia Conversations blog where latest Nokia product news would be posted. Through this blog employees could find a big overview of all the topics going on in Nokia. Similar to any other company that is engaged on social media, Nokia has its very own YouTube and Twitter account. Other than that, VideoHub has grown increasingly popular with employees allowing for postings to be updated on a daily basis. Besides, Nokiaââ¬â¢s Infopedia wiki allows employees to share knowledge inside the company. If someone needs to quickly check a piece of information, Nokiaââ¬â¢s effective internal communication channel, Instant Messaging (IM) is available for employees. It claims to remove the barrier of more formalized communication in between employees. For global company like Nokia, in order to save cost and time, Nokia has itââ¬â¢s own video conference channel where annual communication meetings and real time conversations could be held. Considering people do not check their mailboxes as much anymore Nokia has slowly cut down prints publications in an effort to become more environmentally aware. In fact Nokia in North America has completely eliminated print publications. Newsletters are now kept to an electronic HTML format, which is e-mail so it is more easily distributed. Similar to every other company Nokia uses intranet communications as well. It is the center of where people go to get information on benefits or organization charts. Furthermore, to reach more employees, Nokia regularly posts relevant company announcements on plasma screens around regional offices, usually in cafeterias and breakout rooms, with its promise on going environmental friendly. At North America, leadership also encourages employees to speak directly with their line managers to better understand organizational strategy and what role they can play in that strategy. For all of Nokiaââ¬â¢s Web 2. 0 tools, Schonthal is quick to point out that ââ¬Å"social media is never a replacement for high touch engagement. â⬠(Kass, 2012) Instead, it can contribute to various company events and other in-person initiatives. ââ¬Å"Social media complements these things but doesnââ¬â¢t take away from the ability to internally engage and share ideas,â⬠she further explains. Nokia provides many platforms for employees to stay engaged, all for one clear identified goal ââ¬â connect all the people in the company. For such global company I believe Nokia in different countries or branches could decide on which channel they prefer but I believe as a whole, all the employees in Nokia stay connected via BlogHub. After reviewing how Nokia strives to engage the employees I could see that the management team work hard on receiving feedback as well. They listen to their employees. They make changes. All these actions give employees feel accepted and belonged to the company. The end result is the employees are clear with the goals, mission and procedures of the company, which can result increase their work effort and efficiency and boost business. Case Study II: ââ¬Å"We were driven to connect the organization with itself, and realized enterprise social networking was the solution. I can truly say after more than two years that we have achieved an official internal communications channel. Socialcast lifted the boundaries and made our organization transparent. We connect daily with people from India, China, the US, and Brazil. Without Socialcast it would not be possible,â⬠says Dennis Agusi, Global Internal Communications Officer, Royal Philips Electronics. Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving peopleââ¬â¢s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of ââ¬Å"sense and simplicityâ⬠. Philips Case Study 2012) In 2010, Philips began to explore how the company should help its employees spread around the globe to feel engaged, work like a small team driven by shared goals. On the way of researching, the Corporate Communications and IT department discovered that approximately 1,600 employees were actively using a free tool they had found on the Internet to communicate and collab orate. Knowing two platforms for collaboration would not be a great idea so the team took initiative to introduce a new platform to these early users. These early users provided positive and valuable feedback and recommendations on how to improve the enterprise social experience the best it could be. Then it led to a successful launch of an enterprise social network. The company adopted ââ¬Å"Connect Usâ⬠and the network was launched with wide support. On launch day, Connect Us had 400 members. Within two months, 7,000 employees had joined the community. Through Connect Us they allow employee-to-employee exchanges as well as management-to-employee communications. Employees are allowed to post freely, share knowledge to make work easier. Connect Us helps to remove barriers between departments as well. Through Socialcast Reach, employees are allowed to share information and data in between departments resulting a more seamless flow of work. In addition, a new idea can be communicated more broadly, increasing sense of connectedness and engagement across the company. From management perspective, through Connect Us, the Communications and IT team could monitor whatââ¬â¢s happening in the company, check trending topics or people, at real time. According to report, Connect Us has enabled new and sometimes unexpected forms of employee engagement. All Employee Jamâ⬠was a crowdsourcing project designed to bring to life the companyââ¬â¢s new, refreshed Mission and Vision statement through dialogue, discussion and debate. This exercise has successfully drawn employees who had not yet joined the social community into Connect Us. According to feedback, employees who participated in this exercise were found to be far m ore aware of and aligned with the Philips Mission and Vision than those employees who did not participate. This resulted Philips truly believes that enterprise social networks help companies increase employee engagement and retention. I liked the idea of how Philips tries to maintain the communication channel as one, which is Connect Us. I believe there are other platforms available for instance intranet but Connect Us is actively used by people in the company. From not knowing employees are using free online tool to communicate to introducing socialcast network, Philips has come a long way into realizing the importance of internal communication. The All Employee Jam has definitely demonstrated the power of enterprised social networking. It encouraged the employees to share knowledge, to stay connected which resulted in a greater identity with the company. In this two case studies, both companies Nokia and Philips selected appropriate channels for communication according to its needs. Nokia has different communication platforms serving different purposes. For instance, BlogHub allows employees to find information they need and Instant Messaging is a tool for quick and easy communication. On the other hand, Philips focus mainly on Connect Us, from searching information to accelerating ideas to sharing data it is all done on Connect Us. However, on my opinion, Nokia has too many platforms it might be tough to engage all the employees in one platform, as the users are free to choose which platforms they get information from. Whereas Philips uses Connect Us, most of the employees are part of the community and anything they need require can be found on Connect Us. I think this is one of the advantages of having a focused channel. Likewise, the tools and tactics, both companies chose to be focus more on information technology. In terms of interactivity, both companies engage their employees as well as welcoming their feedbacks. The employees are encouraged to utilise these channels to feel more accepted and being part of the company. For instance, Philips Connect Us not only allows employees-to-employees exchange, as well as management-to-employees communication. In this case it removes barriers between management and employees so work can be done easier. As for Nokia, feedbacks are valued through voting and ratings on posts and comments, allowing management to understand the employees better. Besides, both case studies reviewed the importance of evaluation on internal communication. In order to improve, the management team has to constantly measure the effectiveness of the communication tools and find ways to improve. Nokia and Philips monitor their employees through these platforms to find out what is really happening in the company. This way they could make sure the employees are on par with companyââ¬â¢s goals. In conclusion, internal communication has never been so important. Many people know what internal communication is and they think they know how to function this but they might not know the true meaning behind it. Effective internal communication does not mean to have a lot of communication platforms, spending big budget on this function but utilizing the appropriate communication tool for employees get involved. If you want to build brand for your company first you have to build your brand internally. After all employees are the representatives of your company, they are the brand. Internal communication comes a long way to build, it might need more time and effort to achieve the effective result as desired but the end result is always proven satisfaction, that I am sure. A combination of strong communication, teamwork and camaraderie framed within trusting relationships will help achieve remarkable results in times of large-scale change and uncertainty, writes University of Nottingham chief executive Peter Homa. And finally, in my own words, you cant communicate with your audience until your internal message is crystal clear.
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