For this assignment you are required to respond to the following:

Eric Stone, CEO of Star Enterprises is perplexed after listening to his management team about the issues they were experiencing. Eric is a great proponent of technology. Last year with an IT expert friend, he introduced a suite of new information and communication technology (ICT) and social media platforms to improve communication among the 300 staff that worked in the company. Instant messaging, email, group/team Facebook pages and Twitter were available as various communication platforms for employees to use. All staff members had received a one day training that focused on the technical aspects and use of the technologies. While there had been some people who had been unhappy with the change, most employees had welcomed this technological advancement. Given this, Eric cannot believe that George, the HR Manager, has just been talking about this huge conflict that has developed between two team members over a minor misunderstanding that emerged from comments made on the HR team Facebook page. Carla, the Marketing Manager, has spoken of a rise in absenteeism in her team sensing an increase in stress among some of her workers. Eric himself has just been talking to an important customer who was complaining about the lack of communication from Star Enterprises regarding their
project. Eric is puzzled about why the introduction of technology had led to so many problems and is questioning his own judgement about the advantages of the use of such technologies in workplaces.

You as a consultant have been asked to help Eric understand the situation by writing a research report so that he has a better understanding of media choice, what factors need to be kept in mind when choosing media as well as a better understanding of the positive/negative implications of the use of ICTs on employees and organisations. Finally, he needs to be provided with some concrete recommendations that he can put in place now and for the future to address some of the issues that you have identified in your analysis.

In answering this question:

• Discuss the communication media choice models and explain the implications of each on media choice.

• Discuss the positive/negative implications of ICTs on management, employees and organisations.

• Provide examples to support your analysis and application of the theory/research.

• Provide recommendations for what can be done to address the potential issues you have identified and critically evaluate your recommendations.

• Show that you have an in-depth and critical understanding of relevant theories and research on implications of ICTs