B-C-D : business communication digitally 9781536138146, 1536138142

Table of contents :
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
‘When to Jump ...?’
Chapter 2
‘Get Creative!’
Chapter 3
‘Same Difference!’
Chapter 4
‘Negotiate!’
Interpersonal Skills
Personal Goal Setting
Managing Feelings
Personal Boundaries
Chapter 5
‘Patience!’
Chapter 6
‘Listen!’
Chapter 7
‘Straight Up!’
Productivity Rationale
Recognition at Work
Peer Recognition Schemes
Recognition and Behavioral Guidance
Doing Recognition – Recognition of ‘Self’ and ‘Other’
Recognition as Social Capital
Chapter 8
‘Should I Trust?’
Economic and Commercial Trust
Interpersonal Trust
Organisational Trust
Chapter 9
‘In the Shadow of the Future!’
Dematerialisation of Money
The Characteristics of Intangibles
Money as a System of Signs
The Economy as a Semiotic System
Chapter 10
‘The Digital You!’
3D Digital Environments
The Creation of Social Presence
Chapter 11
‘A Nous for News’
Conclusion
References
About the Author
Index
Blank Page

Citation preview

BUSINESS ISSUES, COMPETITION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

B-C-D BUSINESS COMMUNICATION DIGITALLY

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BUSINESS ISSUES, COMPETITION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Additional books in this series can be found on Nova’s website under the Series tab.

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BUSINESS ISSUES, COMPETITION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

B-C-D BUSINESS COMMUNICATION DIGITALLY

LUKE STRONGMAN

Copyright © 2018 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. We have partnered with Copyright Clearance Center to make it easy for you to obtain permissions to reuse content from this publication. Simply navigate to this publication’s page on Nova’s website and locate the “Get Permission” button below the title description. This button is linked directly to the title’s permission page on copyright.com. Alternatively, you can visit copyright.com and search by title, ISBN, or ISSN. For further questions about using the service on copyright.com, please contact: Copyright Clearance Center Phone: +1-(978) 750-8400 Fax: +1-(978) 750-4470 E-mail: [email protected].

NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers’ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works. Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN: H%RRN

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York

CONTENTS

Introduction

vii

Chapter 1

‘When to Jump ...?’

Chapter 2

‘Get Creative!’

11

Chapter 3

‘Same Difference!’

25

Chapter 4

‘Negotiate!’

33

Chapter 5

‘Patience!’

43

Chapter 6

‘Listen!’

47

Chapter 7

‘Straight Up!’

55

Chapter 8

‘Should I Trust?’

67

Chapter 9

‘In the Shadow of the Future!’

77

Chapter 10

‘The Digital You!’

91

Chapter 11

‘A Nous for News’

103

1

Conclusion

111

References

115

vi

Contents

About the Author

139

Index

141

INTRODUCTION BCD: Business Communication Digitally, is a book for today’s and tomorrow’s business practitioner and student that is structured into eleven chapters which each deal with topics salient for aspects of business practice in the digital age. The constant need to innovate, to communicate ahead of time, to perform a service or supply a good on the promise of the future transaction, informs much of business practice. After all, what is business acumen based on but the difference between realities and contingencies, the tangible and the intangible? Chapter 1 of BCD discusses the differences between ‘making and taking’ opportunities and opportunism in business thinking. Ask almost anyone and they will tell you that business is about ‘making the most of your opportunities’. All business people make the most of their opportunities or at least try to – they choose, create, transform, and move things from one place to another, distribute, talk, inform, and deliver – here, there, and everywhere. As with anything in life, the way in which all or any of this is done can make all the difference to a successful business. In chapter 2 of BCD we explore notions of creativity in the working world. ‘Get creative!’ Is often stated in the business workplace, when a creative activity is to begin, or a solution to a problem is needed. If it first the problem seems insurmountable it can be brainstormed.

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Chapter 3 of BCD, ‘same difference!’ looks at the different attitudes towards ‘growth’ that are becoming apparent in today’s business thinking for tomorrow’s world. For centuries and perhaps throughout the history of human development, growth attributed to people, society and the economy was thought to be a good thing, a sign of increasing abundance. But increasingly, there are more people to share with, and exuberant growth even when it can be achieved, is no longer thought better than being sustainable for the future. Chapter 4 of BCD discusses a ‘must have’ for all people in the everyday working world – negotiation skills. Negotiation involves five main factors, which are based on a set of concepts in the areas of problem analysis, interpersonal communication, personal goal setting, managing feelings and personal boundaries. These are explored along with the characteristics of the disposition for negotiating with others to get the business done. Chapter 5 of BCD briefly explores the notion of ‘sentience’ of ‘being aware’ and of patience as a disposition for business practice. To some impetuous types, impatience is a virtue. Certainly, there is always a tension between making the most of the opportunities that present themselves and acting in a thoughtful, orderly way to complete the tasks at hand. Sometimes in customer relations, patience is a quality that can be negotiated between the agents of the transaction. Make the deal but when in doubt err on the side of patience in the relationship. Chapter 6 of BCD extols the benefits of being aware and listening. Listening is an essential skill in the workplace. Whatever the workplace setting, sole operator, small business, medium business enterprise, or multi-national corporation not everyone one is conversant with what makes good listening, but listening to others and hearing properly what they say is important. This chapter is about how to listen! Chapter 7 of BCD, ‘Straight Up!’ explores the benefits of being aware and practicing simple recognition tasks. Recognition is essential in human social life. It is also critical in the workplace as one of the central communication activities that provides social cohesion, meaning and direction amongst clients and staff. Without forms of recognition both

Introduction

ix

formal and informal, high-context and low-context, social and structural, from a simple greeting to an affirmation for competent achievement, the workplace and the human behavior in it may become less than optimal and even dysfunctional. Chapter 8 of BCD is about trust – a central ingredient of the business transaction. Trust involves positive expectations that interdependence will not expose either part to inordinate risk or vulnerability. It also involves the notion of reciprocity – that actions performed will be mutually beneficial or at least not mutually detrimental. It is also expressed in the notion that either party to the trusting agreement will not act opportunistically. In situations of uncertainty and personal conflict, trust is paramount. Chapter 9 of BCD, ‘In the Shadow of the Future!’ concerns itself with the tangible and the intangible, recognition of future states, or the drive or impetus of the business world to transform, to take steps for tomorrow today. Furthermore, emotion and intuition exercise more influence in most economic exchanges than abstract or outright knowledge. Most economists might recognise that they can’t assume that: Firstly, everybody behaves in a rational manner, or; secondly, that everyone’s idea of rational behaviour is the same. What sort of risk is involved? Secondly, it looks at the semiotic characteristics of money, and the transition to a dematerialised currency. Chapter 10 of BCD, ‘The Digital You!’ explores the concept of social presence in digitally mediated communication. Digital messaging casts as ‘shadows of the future’ that inform our everyday mediated world. A large proportion of social interaction, particularly in the contemporary e-enabled workplace or in the business world, is not with others who are always immediately physically present. It is with representations of others through the mediums of email, film, internet, blog, online forum, teleconferencing, and other virtual technologies. Chapter 11 of BCD is about having a ‘nous for news,’ distinguishing the true from the distorted and the useful from the tangential in today’s mediated world. With the ubiquitous use of social media technology as one form of mass communication, social presence and media effects

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become relevant to mass communication that are encountered in the business world. In the conclusion we briefly recap on the themes of BCD and reflect on a progression of themes:           

Opportunity Creativity Equality and Sustainability Negotiation Patience Listening Recognition Trust Intangibles Social Presence Digital Media

These are themes that combine to engender a sense of situatedness in a digital world of communication for business.

Chapter 1

‘WHEN TO JUMP ...?’ Chapter 1 of BCD is concerned with opportunity (with taking a chance and making good) and its abuses – opportunism (talking more and leaving no opportunities for others). Taking opportunities in work, in life and in business is very important, and people can become better at it with practice. ‘Seize the day’, ‘there’s no time like the present’, ‘fortune favours the brave’ is the rallying cry of those who advocate putting ‘both feet forward’ at every available opportunity. But people also need to know how best to weigh the risk of advantages and disadvantages in their everyday work as in life. As Jim Carrey put it: “[l]ife opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them.” Making the most of one’s opportunities means engaging in actions and doing business that is fitting and timely, that benefits the business and the client. By contrast being opportune has a negative connotation and it means engaging in actions that ‘sacrifice ethical principles to benefit oneself at the expense of others’ [1]. Opportunism is not generally considered to be what business should be about. No good leader always puts him or herself in front of others; no good negotiator is concerned only with his or her own goals; a salesperson knows not to charge a price that isn’t displayed! There is ‘give and take’ – no one just ‘takes.’ Many leaders lead by delivering choices, allowing people to flourish by giving them

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opportunities to express their abilities. A driving feature of the market is that while you might not always get first choice you are free to ‘choose again’! Without getting too deep about it, opportunism has been explained by what is known as Transaction Cost Theory (TCT) which defines it as ‘self-interest seeking with guile’ [2]. Arguably, self-interest seeking is a part of what people do as they go about their lives. You are you, so it is understandable that upon would want to look after yourself. Your body has learned to do some of this for you automatically. Your heart beats, you breathe in and out, you think, you look, you hear, you touch, you think – sometimes you do all this automatically (unless you are impaired). Your body is designed by evolution to do some things for you, which frees you up to get around your environment, to think, to make friends, and to create. However, the ‘guile’ aspect makes opportunistic behaviour unethical because it can lead to deceit. Hence, opportunism is understood as going beyond what is self-serving to deceive or be dishonest in the way you go about it. Price-gouging (over inflating prices in times of extra need, is one example, of opportunism). Most theories of opportune behaviour attribute to a form of economic cost-benefit calculus [3]. A person decides that the potential benefits of acting with guile outweigh the potential costs if caught (loss of reputation). If the payoff is greater, the benefits of opportunism rise [4]. However, hard bargaining, intense and frequent disagreements, conflictual behaviours do not constitute opportunism [5]. As Ann Landers put it: “[o]pportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognise them.” Opportunism is this been defined as a conscious policy and practice taking advantage of circumstances, with little regard for principles or consequences for others [6]. Putting one’s self-interest before the interest of others at all times, adapting to maximise self-interest, exploiting the opportunities created by the errors of others, or exploiting the weaknesses or the distractions of an opponent to one’s own advantage, such that previously known and shared principles are compromised, reveal a lack of consistency, and a lack of integrity that is involved in opportunism [7]. So beware these behaviours! But the good news is that if you share with

‘When to Jump ...?’

3

others, if you build rapport, you are less likely to engage in opportunistic behaviour that harms you in the long run. In situations where there is more rapport, or more communication between parties, there is a decrease in unethical behaviour, because most people are not want to disadvantage those peoples that they share a positive relationship with [8]. As Jap, Robertson, Rindfleisch and Hamilton (2013), all note: “[r]apport describes a relationship characterised by a high degree of sympathy, accord, and cooperation, and is expected to reduce opportunism by intensifying these relational concerns” [9]. By comparison the moral costs of deviance are higher if you know the personnel well. A second feature of opportunism besides behaviour in the absence of rapport is that it is more likely to emerge in newer relationships than in older ones this is because older or prior relationships may be motivated by ‘a shadow of the past’ that impels the agents to consider joint outcomes [10]. But in fact a lot of business practice is predicated on the ‘shadow of the future’ – a business will perform a service because it wants to continue to do so in the future As Ivan Glasenberg puts it: “[m]any people may say that luck is important, but I think you create your own luck by working hard to ensure you don’t miss opportunities.” The fact is that most ethical reasoning contexts require some kind of cost-benefit reasoning which is integral to evaluation of options [11]. But as Jap et al., (2013) have argued that people tend to behave with a ‘malleable self-concept’ that in some circumstances might allow them to justify opportunistic behaviour [12]. This sometimes arises in high rapport situations, which could lead a person to evaluate the dealing in more than economic terms as part of a larger relationship, which is then discounted, or provides an additional mechanism to evaluate the relationship with [13]. As Les Brown observed: “[i]n every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.” Whether or not you make a positive impact depends in part of good will. But it may be the case that people evaluate their relationships not based on a single encounter but different encounters over times, as such the interactions are ‘averaged’ over time. Rapport can be both positive and

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negative; sometimes people may misbehave as means of bridging ‘equivocal encounters between partners who conflict in core values’ [14] and hence opportunistic behaviour may be seen as a sort of diffuser of conflict. According to social relations theory, interactions follow basic templates, depending on contexts in which occur. The first model is market pricing in which high interactions are driven by cost-benefit ratios, and ‘expected utility’ employers and employees but there are also ‘equality matching’ relationships based on turn taking, reciprocity and settling balances [15]. Foss and Weber (2016) observed that role-based conflict occurs when two parties believe that they own the same part of an exchange. This situation can arise and is more likely to arise when people work on a project in which task responsibilities are not clearly specified [16]. Transaction costs arise because of the role-based conflict because two parties feel justified in laying claim to task because of their perceptions of the role, this can lead one partner to misinterpret another, causing claims of opportunism [17]. As Francis Bacon once claimed: “[a] wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” Knight (2015) identifies that some market-place behaviours are ‘wertrational’ particularly involving strategic decisions to invests or diversify [18]. Wertrational behaviours involve ‘value-orientated rationality’ striving for goals not rational but seen as valuable because of the social value attached on an object, and the extent to which sacrifice economic resources to achieve objective [19]. Wertrational value derived from ethical, religious, or holistic contexts, which held a conscious belief in social value despite ‘economic interest inflating collective uncertainty’ [20]. So it is a form of valuing of status competition through consumption linked to ideas of honour [21]. As Henry Kaiser once said: “[p]roblems are only opportunities in work clothes.” As Das and Rahman (2010) note whether for large corporations and small entrepreneurial firms, strategic alliances becoming more a necessity for maintaining competitive advantage. Inter-firm competition and open innovation, aimed at fulfilling both strategic objectives but sometimes end in failure due to perceptions of opportunistic behaviours – or lack of

‘When to Jump ...?’

5

candour in transactions, or even an excess of self-interest [22]. People can be led by group-think or greed to act in ways that do not benefit themselves or the organisation. Problems can arise due a number of factors which include: breaking promises, not sharing resources, bluffing, lying, misleading, misinterpreting, distorting, cheating, and even misappropriating [23]. Other mal-adaptive and non-co-operative behaviours can include calculated efforts to confuse, mislead, disguise, and sometimes even obfuscate. Depending on the health of the organisational culture, these may be no more or less than are encountered in the normal range of behaviours in the workplace but they shouldn’t occur too often and only in some circumstances or organisational climates [24]. ‘Taking the Michael’ is a common adage for conditions of working in which no-one is particular sure of the sources of authority. The kinds of issues that can arose in partner opportunism belong to three general areas. Firstly economic involving problems with equity, asymmetric alliance and ‘mutual hostages’; secondly relational issues such as those involving cultural diversity, and goal incompatibilities; and thirdly temporal – involving the alliance ‘horizon,’ and the pressure for results [25]. There is the ‘shadow of the future’ in which ongoing custom and good will, the need for innovation informs the likely diminishment of opportunistic behaviours that lead to potential fall-out. As Klaus Schwab noted: “[c]hange can be frightening, and the temptation is often to resist it. But change almost always provides opportunities – to learn new things, to rethink tired processes, and to improve the way we work.” As Malhotra and Gino (2011) suggest, power involves controlling one’s own and other resources. People with power depend less on others and are more likely to satisfy their own goals and sometimes this leads to the opportunism to cut corners. It is often attractive to have an outside option in uncertain strategic environments. Generally, increasing power increases optimism, people like to hedge their gains and stay flexible, but this can have unintended consequences given certain types of alliance [26]. Optimists are more likely to ‘have a heart’ and to ‘share a vision’ than pessimists even though their tactics may be conventional in the face of problem solving and coping strategies in response to business decisions.

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But pessimists are rarely likely to innovate [27]. As Bibi and Karim (2017) noted “optimism is the generalised belief that good rather than bad outcomes will occur in life” [28]. Whereas ‘resilience’ is a driving force in peoples’ behaviour that is a psychological resource that finds strengths in hardships and unity in discontinuous processes and experiences. Relatedly ‘self-esteem’ is a person’s overall evaluation of his or her capabilities, or generalised feelings of self-respect and goodness [29]. Bibi and Karim (2017) note that three personality qualities – optimism, resilience, and self-esteem help people to recover from difficult and stressful situations. They can improve cognitive expectations and act as motivational forces to inspire hope, efficacy and control [30]. An optimist is likely to view a negative situation is caused by external factors and to be specific and temporary, but a pessimist might view the same situation as more permanent [31]. As Sahai and Singh (2017) note the sense of “[b]eing grounded and feeling good as a result of optimism helps to pave the way to vitality and eventually higher subjective well-being” [32]. Optimistic people believe negative events are transitory and limited but degrees of optimism can change on the basis of environmental conditions [33]. Sahai and Singh (2017) discern eight different types of optimism: Firstly, dispositional optimism which involves a global expectation that more desirable than undesirable events will happen in the future. There is also the optimist with attributional style who believes good events are permanent and attributes an internal cause, whereas bad events are external and impermanent, they fade away. There is thirdly, unrealistic optimism, whereby there is a mismatch between expectations of dispositional optimism and the actual probability of events. There is fourthly comparative optimism, which is the expectation of good outcomes for the self, compared with others. Fifthly, there is situational optimism, which is the expectation of good outcomes in a specific context. Sixthly there is strategic optimism, belief that one has control over other events, and seventh there is realistic optimism – maintaining a positive outlook given environmental constraints; eighth there is optimism bias that the way knowledge evaluation is done is predictable and positive [34]. The explanatory narrative given to events can contribute to whether we view it

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as positive or negative. But optimism can play a protective roles in coping with life’s difficult events. Optimists can correlate positively with life satisfaction and self-esteem. Other traits optimists exhibit are, engaging in problem solving when in extreme situation and framing it with humour. But pessimists can counter this with denial [35]. As Diaconu-Gherasim and Mairean (2017) note, people are not objective in their judgments about future, but have tendency to expect it will be better than others [36]. Bias towards positive outcomes, may lead to distortion in judgements. Such dispositional optimism is defined at the “generalised expectations of positive outcomes that determine the differences in how people cope with adversity and how they feel when they are faced with problems” [37]. If you have higher optimism it can lead to higher resilience and resistance to stress and better mental and physical health. As Diaconu-Gherasim and Mairean (2017) note, “... [o]ptimistic people are more likely to expect positive future events to occur” but when a person perceives they have no control over an event, they are less likely to anticipate it happening in future [38]. As Yang and Urminsly (2015) noted, ‘a consumers’ situational future outlook, that is, local optimism or pessimism about an imminent outcome, can systematically affect the sequential consistency of consumer choices” [39]. Thus a consumer’s tendency to choose the usual option or a novel option can be influenced by seemingly a ‘situational future outlook’ – optimism or pessimism about an outcome [40]. When people’s circumstances signal a desirable future outcome they are more likely to stay the course, and to repeat past choices, when those choices have no effect on outcome. But when circumstances bode future disappointment, consumers will change their path. Yang and Urminsky (2015) point out that consumers typically defect 10% to 30% per year [41]. The reasons customers defect include openmindedness, innovativeness, and the need for variety. Fleeting contextual factors can be important. As Yang and Urminsky (2015) point out, “when a consumer is locally optimistic” the preference for self-continuity increases, thus enhancing likelihood of choice consistency. But by comparison, when consumers are locally pessimistic, “the preference for

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self-continuity decreases” and enhances the likelihood of sequential variety seeking [42]. Beliefs about ‘self-continuity’ can impact how connected one feels towards one’s future self and hence how people make decisions for the future [43]. Yang and Urminsky (2015) argue that “people’s motivation to achieve a positive future outcome” makes them contemplate probable future outcomes and form instantaneous situational future outlooks, which may be optimistic or pessimistic. Thus differences in spontaneous preferences for self-continuity, is due to a situational future outlook, which can influence the sequential consistency of consumer choices [44]. As Henry J. Kaiser noted, “[y]ou can’t sit on the lid of progress. If you do, you will be blown to pieces.” As Zardkoohi, Harrison and Josefy (2017) relate the inclination to behave opportunistically may be a three-headed monster. It may involve agents behaving opportunistically against principals, or principals against agents, or it may be that the relationship between agents and principals may upset a third party stakeholder. Ultimately both agents and principals may betray their principles! [45]. If A supplies B with a product but knows that the ultimate result is harmful to A, B and C after a while it may make A and B rethink the consequences of the supply chain or even the product. Arguably, the latter position or circumstances is the problem that we have with issues such as global warming and climate change and excess CO2 and plastic productions. Pollutants are often by-products of useful transactions and functions, particularly pernicious are those that are performed daily. For example, plastics are created both to package conveniently and to be disposable, yet 90% of the plastic ever created still exists! And it lasts for hundreds of years in the environment. Not just environmentalists but the everyday Citizen John and Citizen Jane will be asking why did we ever abandon wax-cartons for handling everyday soluble products for plastic! It simply does not make sense. As Elon Musk stated: “[w]e’re running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere ... can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.”

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To see how it happens we have to envisage a world of business before triple-bottom-line reporting, or reporting that includes the company’s ‘environmental footprint.’ For many decades, the basic view is that of the shareholder in which the responsibility of the firm is to stakeholders and the responsibility of managers is to maximise stakeholder wealth. This has been the conventional business basic rules of society [46]. It relies on belief that markets are competitive, efficient, information symmetric, and that transactions cots are low and by products are at a minimum. But increasingly those with a modicum of environmental awareness or holistic thinking are forced to admit that we don’t live in that world, and that few companies operate under those conditions entry. For many ubiquitous business activities, third-party stakeholders are involved in their consumption of resources which on their own which are acceptable until they are put together, such as excess pollution or CO2 emission from burning fossil fuel products to create energy. Nuclear energy is very expensive and has far more risk to extremely long-term environmental effects than any renewable energy source. As Marianne Williamson put it: “[w]hen it comes to politics today, the devils’ not in the details; the devil’s in the big picture, more often than not hiding in plain sight.” So opportunism may occur just when third-party effects and byproducts are ignored or discounted. Not just physical by-products but realtime working conditions, and worker mistreatment that may be a byproduct of short term gains but themselves signal inefficient allocation of resources, lower productivity, inequalities, and other harms [47]. Under many situations of ‘most gain from least cost’ the costs are simply transferred to others! Ironically, some research has shown that monitoring in its intrusive form may lead to some kinds of opportunistic behaviour [48]. People have a preference in self-determined behaviours but an organisations’ monitoring behaviours in fact increases opportunism [49]. If people become aware of the boundaries of surveillance, they know how to transgress them, if they know the organisation practices surveillance, the rebellious spirit may want to challenge this. But where there is mutual agreement between parties, this constitutes a crucial cognitive foundation

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for monitoring efforts [50]. As Philp K. Dick put it: “There will come a time when it isn’t ‘They’re spying on me through my phone’ anymore. Eventually, it will be ‘My phone is spying on me’.”

Chapter 2

‘GET CREATIVE!’ In chapter 2 of BCD we explore the concept of creativity. Creativity itself is a complex phenomenon that is related to but not fully encompassed by: Originality, imagination, intelligence, and inventive application of thought to a problem. At the broad level, creativity is a process of knowledge invention and accumulation that enables businesses to form, to make new, and to advance. And creativity is a psycholinguistic construct that sets homo sapiens apart from most other species. As Steve Jobs once put it: “You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.” If you know something works and contributes to the ‘good’ then sometimes repetition is beneficial but at other times being different is preferable. Divergent thinking is a characteristic of creativity, whereby novel solutions are drawn from familiar problems, ‘thinking outside the square,’ ‘thinking ahead of the pack’ and so forth, whereas many everyday tasks require convergent thinking, which are forms of group rule following behaviours. The ancient Geeks attributed “creativity” to the intervention of the Muses, and many theoreticians about art have traditionally viewed “creativity” as a mystical, rather than rational, process [51]. However, at the level of behaviour, creativity is considered an important component of

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optimal functioning that is involved in problem-solving, self-expression and adaptability [52]. Whether creativity is a lateralised feature of human neurology is being debated. A long-held view is that the left hemisphere of the human brain is home to the analytic and orderly and the right hemisphere is home to the visual and creative. While there is some evidence for this, creativity involves the neurobiology of both brain hemispheres [53]. Aldous (2006) argues that creative thinking involves the interplay between three cognitive processes:   

Interaction between visual-spatial reasoning and analytical-verbal reasoning Listening to the self And interaction between conscious and non-conscious reasoning [54].

Figure 1. Cultural Values and Creativity Dimensions [57].

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However, as Csikszentmihalyi (1997) states [55]: “It is easier to enhance creativity by changing conditions in the environment than by trying to make people think more creatively. And a genuinely creative accomplishment is almost never the result of a sudden insight, a lightbulb flashing on in the dark, but comes after years of hard work.” Therefore, any creative enterprise may show a continuum between individual inspiration and creating the social, cultural and environmental conditions that make creativity possible. As Kahneman (2011) has recently argued, there seem to be two types of predominant thinking in most situations. Type 1 is fast – intuitive, more emotional, and type 2 is slower, more reasoned and logical [56]. The trick comes from matching the type of information and problem you are dealing with to the type of thinking more likely to produce the better answer. There is such a phenomenon of going on gut instinct when making some types of choices; but for more problematic, multi-factorial problems, slower and more deliberative thinking may be preferable. As Ken Robinson once put it: “[i]f you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” Figure 1 shows the sometimes symbiotic and overlapping roles that cultural values play in understanding conditions for creative expression in people and society. Arguably, although it may be in part served individualistically, creativity is a communal activity that engenders a shared reality [58]. Many different factors may be involved in organisational creativity and creating a suitable climate for creativity. Creativity, whether biological, organisational or technological, is a basic yet rare and highly valued feature of human life. To give definition to creativity within language and life, we must look at a variety of factors. These include the characteristics of a creative person, the creative process, the relationship of the person within an entity or organisation, and the “climate for creativity” [59]. Creativity can be characterised in two ways: Firstly, “big C” creativity locates a creative enterprise as “a complex set of behaviours and ideas exhibited by an individual”; and secondly, second-generation “small c” creativity locates creative enterprise in collaborative processes and products—for example, drivers of a digital economy [60]. Digital media is

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patterned information that is encoded in a machine or electronic device in readable format. It includes computer programs, software and digital imagery. Gardner (1994) also asserts that judgements about creativity are necessarily communal. So, we can think of creativity as a construct that involves new or original ideas which are accepted by experts as being of “scientific, aesthetic, social or technical” value [61]. As Maya Angelou once stated: “[y]ou can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Creativity therefore requires workplace support and involves a threeway interaction between the effects of a proactive personality, job creativity and employee support—a function of individual and situational factors [62]. Creativity is therefore closely related to task outcomes. A person or can be considered creative in their own right, as can an element of language. This is a form of intrinsic creativity, but creativity is most useful when it is involved in generating a certain outcome or finding a solution to a problem. While the stylistic features of creative language (such as metaphor, synonym, and antonym) are well known, less well known is the way that creativity can be fostered in people. Just as in language use, certain factors in educational and organisational behaviour may influence, enhance or inhibit creativity. As Lassk and Sheperd (2013) [63] point out, one such factor is “emotional intelligence.” The relationship between employee creativity and emotional intelligence is somewhat correlational. The reason for this is that “emotionally intelligent leaders create an environment of trust and respect that encourages workers to feel free to propose unconventional and goal-orientated ideas” [64]. Inherent in this concept of organisational creativity is that creativity must be applicable and useful as well as being new or novel. Lassk and Sheperd (2013) [65] identify six “thinking traits” or “cognitive styles” involved with people exhibiting creative behaviours: broad interest; attraction to complexity; intuition; aesthetic sensitivity; toleration of ambiguity; and self-confidence. Kim, Hon and Lee (2010) [66] suggest that employee creativity helps an organisation gain advantages through innovation. Within an organisational context, creativity refers to the creation of valuable, useful products and services, ideas and procedures for individuals

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working in complex systems [67]. However, as Klausen (2010) suggests [68], creativity can involve intangible elements that may not be immediately verifiable as it may of an immaterial type (such as a code or Intellectual Property – IP). Intrinsic motivation is also associated with creativity. If the person is fully engaged and motivated with their work, then they are more likely to stay focused. So emotional intelligence is seen as accounting for variance in how people solve problems (including emotional problems) [69]. However, there are many different states of emotional intelligence and not all them are always pleasant or soothing. In fact, creativity might sometimes involve being ‘out of one’s comfort zone.’ Indeed, as Chiu and Kwan suggest (2010) [70], “existential anxiety could be a powerful driver of extraordinary creativity and path-breaking innovations.” Emotional intelligence is defined as a mix of traits that include “happiness, self-esteem, optimism, and self-management” [71]. The ‘fourbranch’ model involves emotional intelligence as: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Accurately perceiving emotion Using emotions to facilitate thought Understanding emotions Managing emotions.

Specifically, emotional intelligence applies to the ability to generate and respond to emotions that provide substance for thought, motivation and action. Inherent in this concept is that, as Damasio (1994) suggests, intelligent decision-making includes emotion and emotional regulation in communication exchange [72]. According to Zhou and George (2003), emotionally intelligent leaders influence creativity through five methods: identification; information gathering; idea generation; evaluation; and modification [73]. Tsai and Cox (2012) go so far as to say that, in an increasingly globalised society and turbulent educational and business environment, “creativity is a sine qua non [but for, cause] of organizational survival” [74]. The business environment optimum conditions for creativity include those that produce stable competitive markets;

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however, some conditions of extreme urgency and need are also conducive for technological breakthrough because they push people and processes harder than would otherwise be needed [75]. Stuhlfaut and Windels (2012) also suggest that, in the context of creative advertising a creative code may exist that involves shared meanings, values, and “rules of thumb” for what is (and is not) creative [76]. As Pablo Picasso stated: “[l]earn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” Therefore, for conditions of creativity to be made and creative individuals to thrive, expectations and perceptions must be matched in respect of task satisfaction, collaborative achievement, and others’ perceptions of creative efficacy [77]. Florida (2002) discerned the rise of a creative class whose function is to “create new ideas, new technology, and/or new creative content” [78]. As Chichton (2017) notes, it is often useful to reassess ‘frames of reference’ when considering problems involving creativity and learning. Chichton (2017) states: “So herein lies a problem. If we don’t know how we learn, we remain reliant on somebody else to direct us. We depend on verification. We need direction and approval. Our intellect and its growth—arguably the greatest gifts we possess—are sold out to somebody else’s value system, and we are systematically massaged into compliance” [79]. Sometimes, the ‘odd one out’ is the correct choice. Sometimes awkwardness and change are catalysts to innovation. As Henri Matisse noted: “[c]reativity takes Courage”. According to Maslow (1971), people also censor creativity out of fear or weakness. So Maslow identified the necessary characteristics of creative people: courage; stubbornness; independence; self-sufficiency; and strength of character. Being creative requires defiance of certain kinds of group thinking [80]. For Amabile (1983), the creativity of individuals requires three elements: domain-relevant skills (knowledge); creativityrelevant skills (cognitive and working style); and task-motivation (attitude and perception) [81]. In turn, creativity requires six resources: intelligence; knowledge; thinking styles; personality; motivation; and environment [82]. Therefore, creativity involves open-mindedness, quick thinking, critical thinking, risk taking, encouragement and flexibility [83]. To some extent,

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these are everyday activities involved in day-to-day problem solving. All problem solving exists on a continuum from the routine to the highly complex. Haseeb (2011) modifies this formulaic approach to suggest that creativity has five different categories of transformation [84]: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Insight to define a problem A preparation period to discern possible approaches to a solution An incubation stage where concepts and ideas are gestated A period of illumination, which may represent a solution to a problem posed in the creative process 5. A period of verification which includes a demonstration of ideas and a group judgement. The way that creativity is perceived is also complex. Creativity, while perceived as a virtue, may in fact, in and of itself, be amoral – the ends to which it is put being intrinsic to such value assessments. As Mrnarevic (2011) suggests [85], “[m]ost people tend to see … creativity in a rather simple fashion as something positive, but in a modern, globalized society, this ‘angelic’ view can represent a misleading picture of the phenomenon.” All these aspects show that creativity has no single definition. For example, is it an inherent property or value, or something to which a value as assigned, or indeed, a social construct? For most purposes, creativity may be defined as: 1. 2. 3. 4.

The use of the imagination The pursuit of a purpose Originality The assignation of value.

Given the range of definitions, creativity cannot be understood from any single perspective: it merits a variety of viewpoints and perspectives. For example, the economic vision sees creativity being involved in cycles of creation, production and distribution of goods and services, as the result of a series of knowledge-based activities, and potentially generating

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comment, exchange or other kinds of intangible or tangible values. Simonton and Ting (2010) define creativity in social utility terms as [86]: C(reativity) = N(ovelty) x U(sefulness) Brookhart (2013) argues that stimulating creative thinking in education involves the following ten factors [87]: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Brainstorming for ideas Choice in developing solutions A deep knowledge base Openness to new ideas A variety of information sources Organising ideas into categories Trial and error in procedure An assessment of expectations Encouragement in the task Combining elements to make a new concept or entity.

Critical thinking and creative thinking are related. They both involve purposeful thought or action, assessing information affectively, solving problems, making decisions, and finding solutions [88]. Creativity is a process that results in a novelty accepted as tenable, useful or satisfying [89]. For Amabile (1983), an event, circumstance, product, process or language is creative if people say it is creative. This includes the process that people use to judge something is creative [90]. De Sousa., Pellissier, and Monteiro, (2012) view creativity as a form of persuasion [91]. Persuasive communication as creator is a source of an original product message, the audience is a recipient, and the result is a new product or set of circumstances that show exceptional personal influence, involving a process with underlying capacity to shift in roles, to develop dialogue in work, and anticipate reaction. Creativity is connected to what is perceived as new by someone other than the originator. A creative process puts to use an idea in the domain of production, adoption, implementation, diffusion,

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and commercialisation. De Sousa et al., (2012) believe every creative act produces an idea or product; yet a social act is required to promote it [92]. That is why even individual acts of creativity need other people to recognise and promulgate them. Creativity usually involves ‘brainstorming’ through the entire process. The five steps are described by: Firstly, defining the objective by defining the problem, and secondly by finding and analysing the facts, and thirdly by finding the solution, and making the decision, and fourthly by planning the action. De Sousa et al. (2012) [93] refer to this four-step method as “action plan–action– problem–objective.” The five pedagogical principles of creativity are: Firstly, connectivity with diversity; secondly, co-invention or co-creation; thirdly, leading and following; fourthly, enhancement of constraints and removal of inhibitors; leading to fifthly, less explanation and tolerance of error [94]. Csikszentmihalyi (1999) argues that the basic unit of creativity is the community rather than the individual, and its emergence is due to the shared understanding [95]. Further, although certain qualities of creativity (behavioural, intelligence, inquisitiveness) may, to some extent, be inherited, no single gene for creativity exists. As Csikszentmihalyi (1997) explains [96]: ... a new idea or invention is not automatically passed on to the next generation. Instructions for how to use fire, or the wheel, or atomic energy are not built into the nervous system of the children born after such discoveries. Each child has to learn them from the start. The analogy to genes in evolution of culture are memes, or units of information that we must learn if culture is to continue. Languages, numbers, theories, songs, recipes, laws and values are all memes that we pass on to our children so that they will be remembered. It is these memes that a creative person changes, and if enough of the right people see the change as an improvement, it will become part of the culture.

So despite the fact that there may be naturally creative people, or a natural creativity waiting to be uncovered in people, it looks like creativity requires effort and discipline it is learned and nurtured as much as falling out of the sky.

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According to Amabile (1996), the major antecedents of creativity are [97]: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Domain-relevant skills Mental processes of breaking perceptual and habitual sets Task motivation Context—specific situation and social environment.

Although creativity involves divergent thinking, it also has five elements of convergence that form a conceptual basis: insight; idea; problem; solution; and product. As Amabile (1996) notes, this conceptual basis [98]: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Is useful or applicable Is uncommon, rare, or novel Is statistically infrequent Is original Provides a solution or ‘makes sense.’

Metaphor is one of the most compelling linguistic features aligned with creativity. As Cameron states (2011) [99], “[a] ‘conceptual metaphor’ is held to be a structure of thought that does not just connect two disparate ideas but that provides cognitive architecture to link the two together in a way that enables understanding.” Forms of textual creativity include world play, experiments with narrative structure, voice quality (in a spoken context) or the use of emoticons (in a virtual context). Contextualised creativity may involve cultural understandings necessary for joking. Critical creativity can involve a conversational narrative that indicates a moral stance, a comic subversion of authority, and the use of poetical language [100]. Therefore creativity, as a linguistic device, involves multimodality: it provides affordances and constraints to written and verbal expression. Above all, creativity has transformative properties. As Leonardo da Vinci put it: “[t]he painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.”

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Whereas creativity is defined as the production of “novel, useful ideas or problem solutions” and may be a pre-requisite for innovation it is also distinct from it. A creator may create a new innovation that is appointed to the business place or on pathways to market. As Bhattacharya Hsu, Tian, and Xu (2017) relate, innovation is a ‘special form of investment’ in what may be long-term ‘intangible’ assets that generate future profit [101], Innovation generally has a longer investment time horizon and a higher profile of risk than other forms of investment in tangible assets and capital (1870). Asanso (2017) relates “in an era of fast-paced technological change, innovation has become a business imperative” [102]. However, it difficult to integrate controlled experimentation and risk-taking in an organisation’s business practice, this is because managers are motivated to generate quarterly earnings and not to take inordinate risks with expenditure involved in far-horizon innovation and research and development. Yet the pace of change accelerating the business world of today into the future of the twenty-first century and the new technological influences it brings with it are: “artificial intelligence, mobile networks, embedded sensoriums, and big data” [103]. Table 1. Aims and Barriers to Innovation [105] Aims Meet customer demands Acquire new knowledge Reduce time to market Better use internal and external creativity Diversify risk Enlarge social network Reduce costs Enhance technology Set industry standards Enhance communication

Barriers Sustaining commitment over time Lack of internal motivation Cognitive, organisational, cultural differences between collaborators Insufficient knowledge Bureaucratic excesses Lack of resources Free-riding behaviour Division of task Unbalance between innovation and day-to-day tasks Perceived loss of time

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There is a growing body of thought that suggests ‘open innovation’ – a paradigm coined by Chesbrough in 2003 – is a strategy that works well in business contexts. It involves both an ‘openess towards innovation’ and the involvement of external actors and ideas in the innovation process. This may act so as “redefine the boundaries between a firm and its surrounding environment, making it more porous” and embedded in loosely-coupled networks – a pooling of knowledge [104]. As Albert Einstein stated: “[y]ou can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” In essence innovation is in creating an idea, concept or product that meets a customer’s future expectations today. It goes one-step beyond the consumer, to create what they desire before they knew they wanted it. A part of bringing an innovative concept, idea, plan or process to fruition is knowing what businesses environment is the most conducive for its success, much like a wine that is at its best at a certain time. Some of the successes and failures of innovation are due to the political climate of the times. For example, as Bhattacharya et al., (2017) relate the ‘left’ in American prefers to subsidise innovations in energy renewables such as solar and wind, while the right prefers to subside innovations in oil and gas production [106]. In environments that are uncertain, which way the political wind blows is useful knowledge for a company looking at investment options. Sometimes even political uncertainty is more important than government policy under political conditions where there are no clear signals for determining efficacy in innovation promotion [107]. When markets are very uncertain with volatile or unclear market indicators, perceived moral hazards involved in Research and Development and innovative processes may cause managers to avoid investment in innovation, far-horizon projects [108]. Hence project designers will increasing look at end-users and research the ‘professional users’ of its intended products to influence the innovation design process [109]. This is because professional users knowledge of products may help identify new modifications or desirable attributes for product innovation and refinement, and also to avoid oversights. Firms are able to use the information and knowledge to improve product design [110]. Katila,

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Thatchenkery, Christensen, and Zenios (2017) also observe that under certain circumstances business organisation roles can influence the ease with which innovation may be accomplished. Innovation is improved by role variation but diminishes if role emphasises selection over variation [111]. So innovation sometimes improves under loosely coupled rather than tightly defined roles in an organisation. As Margaret Hefferman put it: “[f]or good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate.”

Chapter 3

‘SAME DIFFERENCE!’ Chapter 3 of BCD is concerned with concepts of growth, sustainability and equality. Before the era of triple bottom line reporting, most businesses looked upon growth and surplus as a good thing, if not the only goal in sight in business activity. But increasingly, theorists, laypeople and some business people from many walks of life are beginning to question the value of growth (as in surplus for the sake of surplus) as the bedrock of progress. For this new group, increasingly having enough, having sufficient, and maintaining and preserving the ecosystem are thought to be more advantageous than growth in some, if not many, economic circumstances. A key attribute of sustainability is meeting the needs today, and ensuring that there are resources for those tomorrow. After all, what is the point of working for endless accumulation, if it jeopardises the very ability of the environment to sustain people? The unthinking exploitation of resources and the environment is a threat to a viable future society. As Edward Abbey put it: “[a]n economic system which can only expand or expire must be false to all that is human.” As Harari (2016) states traditionally growth is thought vital by economists and politicians for the following inference chain – when economies produce more, they consume more, and raise the standard of living [112]. So following this line of reasoning, as long as human kind multiplies, then economic growth is needed in order to even maintain the

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current position. So if the population grows, the economy needs to expand by same rate. If this doesn’t happen unemployment may rise, salaries may fall and the average standard of living may decline [113]. If we look back into history, the growth in the European economy and the expansion of capitalism is largely thought to have derived from overseas conquest. Such conquests result in the exchange of knowledge and the supplantation of a dominant system over a less dominant. However, increasingly economies may grow not simply on the acquisition of raw materials and resources but also with science, technology, engineering (art) and mathematics. Growth is not about extraction but creation, not about destruction but civilisation. And we live in a world not just of resources from raw materials but also of energy. These other kinds of ‘raw materials’ are energy and knowledge. It is usually thought that raw materials are exhaustible, the more you use less you have, however, knowledge is growing resource – the more you use the more have [114]. This is no better explained than with the differences between fossil fuels and solar and wind energy. If I take more of the former today I there will be less tomorrow, but the latter are almost inexhaustible in supply – they are renewable, taking more today does not diminish the supply tomorrow. Consequently, Harari (2016) argues that biggest threat to modern economy is ecological collapse – scientific progress and economic growth have brought material gain but resulted in a brittle biosphere. The ‘shock waves’ of pollution and global warming result in a destabilised ecology, ecological meltdown causing economic ruin, political turmoil and fall in living standards and threaten human existence [115]. As Barak Obama put it: “[t]rade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few and not the many.” As Burke (1984) states it is generally accepted that success is not attainable at the corporate level unless a company knows how to succeed at the business level [116]. Burke (1984) argues that there are generally four elements of the environment that will influence managers making market decisions. These are entry barriers, market attractiveness, environmental uncertainty and the relative competitive strength [117]. There are three investment positions – build, hold, and pull back. If a business has a high

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market share in relation to its competitors a business will often need to invest to maintain its share [118]. Attractive markets are growth markets. In any company position hold strategy there are higher levels of investment when market attractiveness is high than when the market is not attractive just in order to keep pace with growth [119]. When a company is in a week position in an attractive market, it commits resources to increase the market share. When a firm perceives its market share to be weak and unattractive, arguably a firm should withdraw, and concentrate on a smaller defensive niche. During a very week competitive position and there are no good investment opportunities the desire is to pull back. As Tom Scholz put it: “[p]eople have been convinced that growth for growth’s sake is a good thing.” Sometimes change but not growth is preferable for sustaining a business. Barriers to entry define boundaries amid rules of competitive arena; the influence of strategic positions, and affect how business performs. Barriers to exit include those factors that enable and hinder participation in industry; high capital intensity, assets particular to company, the amalgam of which makes it impossible for a firm to withdraw from the market. Nevertheless, the perceived influence tempers the impact of uncertainty [120]. As Agrawal and Gupta (2016) relate, “the world belongs to kids. Kids today mean business” [121]. Furthermore, children are a formidable marketing segment, marketers rely on kids to pester parents to buy product, rather than going straight [122]. Parents and indeed markets are susceptible to ‘pester power’ and manufacturers and retailers may go so far as to promote it. As Agrawal and Gupta (2016) observe retailers and manufacturers two sources of new customers, persuade to change from competitors and those not yet entered market [123]. Marketing to kids is not deemed unethical per se by Association of American Psychologists. Rather it should be acknowledged that markets and advertisers have dual responsibility. It behoves advertisers and sellers must understand corporate social responsibility, and its implicit that parents and caregivers guide children with their values. Involving children in purchasing decisions can help so too can school educational programs to improve advertising literacy [124].

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Table 2. The Ansoff Matrix (Ansoff 1958) with Market Factors [131] New product Existing product

Product development Market penetration Existing users/Market

Diversification Market development New Users/Market

As Clark and Douglas (2014) relate, business resources refer to the assets, capabilities, organisational processes, firm attributes, or knowledge controlled by a form m they can be tangible and intangible [125]. Knowledge and skills constitute human capital [126]. Workers’ and managers’ goals, their operational abilities, managerial abilities, and strategic thinking capabilities are important, factors of change as the business grows [127]. There are different modes for running a business. These include lifestyle, moderate growth, and entrepreneurial modes [128]. Business needs include: Access to financial resources, attracting and retaining customers, identifying specific markets, and products and services to operate in network of actors including customers, suppliers, financial institutions, government agencies, local authorities, employees, and other firms [129]. As Verhoeven and Johnson (2017) suggest, most of the time companies operate by leveraging existing knowledge and resource bases, executing a plan whereby innovation is change process incrementally extend range of modified products to known users, without radically altering the value proposition [130]. As Taghizadeh, Rahman, Ahmad, and Ramayah (2016) relate there are many personality factors that contribute to business success. These may include emotional stability, extraversion, openness to experience (being intellectually curious), agreeableness (interpersonal orientation), conscientiousness (persistence, hard work), curiosity, risk taking avoidance, interest and the exploration of new things [132]. But there are also some behavioural barriers to business growth, it seems, including being the boss and not letting go, being cheapskate (not investing); and not adjusting to unforgiving markets [133]. It is salutatory to remember that only 5% of businesses break the one million mark and of those only about

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one in eight reach $10 million in revenue [134]. What gets in the way? Nothing. As Bugador (2015) states, “institutional voids” refer to the constraints that hamper a smooth running market [135]. These can include the absence of reliable institutions, standards and intermediaries which impede efficiency [136]. According to Leibenstein (1968) there are two broad types of entrepreneurial activities both routine and ‘N-entrepreneurship’ (new type) [137]. The former operates in well established markets, the latter where not all market factors exist and entrepreneurs fill in market deficiencies. For Conroy and Weiler (2016) the relationship between entrepreneurship and employment growth is persistent across time and scape [138]. Increasing there are a higher number of women owned firms. Male owned business often predominate in industries with high start-up costs such as construction, manufacturing, and transportation [139]. While, female owned businesses tend to be concentrated in industries with low start-up costs such as retail and services. There are thought to be different reasons among men and women for opening businesses [140] and some evidence women less likely to lay off workers in economic downturn but this is disputable and by no means an industry standard, in fact some data might point to the opposite [141]. As Elon Musk stated: “I don’t create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things done.” In bullish times, when businesses can ‘make hay while the sun shines’ there are also knowledge spill-overs. Indeed, endogenous growth theory argues that entrepreneurship translates into spill-overs into growth [142]. In areas with a high-density firms there tends to be more knowledge spillovers. Advantages arise when businesses collocate their clientele and knowledge. There are known benefits from – labour pooling, sharing suppliers., knowledge sharing. As the density of firms increases there are positive externalities such as industrial expansion and local economic growth and the clustering which produces increased employment, innovation, and productivity [143]. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of The Little Prince put it: “[t]here is no growth except in the fulfillment of obligations.”

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Schumpeter (1949) assigned entrepreneurs the role of adopting innovations, and of taking ideas to the market, but did not believe they themselves were alone responsible for innovating. Rather it is the role of entrepreneurs implementing innovation that is critical for economic progress and business development [144]. Entrepreneurs are part of a multifaceted economy and depending on context, the role of the entrepreneur takes on variety of meanings. These meanings might include a combination of business owner, innovator, manager and risk-taker [145]. Human capital is an important determinant of growth in countries and labour market areas because human resourcing is an enabler of business, you can’t do without the doers [146]. But the doers can’t do without the leaders. And sometimes leaders fail. As Simmons, Wiklund and Levie (2014) explain, in countries where levels of stigma and regulatory conveyance were high, entrepreneurs failed business less likely to renter market [147]. However, stigma stimulus sometimes results in entrepreneurs defying the market-based ‘illegitimacy’ of the failed business and motivates them to seek out and engage in innovative behaviours [148]. Institutional norms, inclusive of formal riles and informal cultural value set the stage for levels of entrepreneurial activity in country and wealth generation [149]. Failure to adhere to normative expectation exposes entrepreneurs to stigma and negative social judgements, economic and social sanctioning of future entrepreneurial activities. The exit from business does not necessarily equate with failure – entrepreneurs can and do depart from financially viable ventures for a number of reasons, including legal problems, partnership dispute, shift in interest, and death [150]. Entrepreneurs may choose to exit from a business when opportunity and switching costs or other non-economic considerations suggest attractive opportunities exist elsewhere [151]. Not much is known about exist due to too much competition, lack of customers or profit, financing or other problems [152]. When businesses (as with other enterprises in life, fail) one accepts any stigma through socialisation process [153]. There are generally thought to be five categories of strategic response institutional pressures: acquiescence, compromise, avoidance, defiance and manipulation. These vary in terms of

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degree of active agency and tactics exerted by organisations [154]. As Street and Meister (2004) in order to grow small businesses evolve their organisation incorporating change to management, operational planning, control and communication process, without impairing firms competitive advantage [155] failures can include stagnation, harm to business, negative growth, loss of customers, and failure to produce new products [156]. As British Economist, E. F. Schumacher stated: “[i]nfinite growth of material consumption in a finite world is an impossibility.”

Chapter 4

‘NEGOTIATE!’ Chapter 4 of BCD is concerned with negotiation. As John F Kennedy stated: “[w]e cannot negotiate with people who say what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is negotiable.” Negotiation is the art and science of compromise. It’s about trading alternatives between the partners of a dispute or transaction. But as John Maynard Keynes put it: “[w]hen the final result is expected to be a compromise, it is often prudent to start from an extreme position.” The negotiation framework is comprised of a variety of factors. These include the problem analysis – deciding on issues confronting parties and the conflict that requires repair or the decision that needs agreement [157]. Hence it is important to determine the interests of the parties, finding common ground, and agreeing to discuss points of disagreement and finding resolution for them. Preparation before meetings is important, establishing a clear position, determining goals and areas for discussion, as well as the practicalities of where, when and how a meeting will take place. One of the most important conditions for good communication and negotiation within meeting is listening skills. Active listening is listening that requires a little more effort than ordinary listening where it’s not so important if you miss one or two details, on the contrary active listening involves more effort and attentive ness of the other person or party. When a person or people

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listening actively, they read body language carefully, looking at the cues of non-verbal communication – is the other person or party open, confident and relaxed, or withdrawn, anxious and closed-off? Listening involves determining the salient points of the other person or party’s perspective and their feelings and attitudes towards it, finding areas of agreement and discussing areas of difference, and determining when and how compromise between each other’s position or needs can be made. What can you give up to agree with the other person or party, and what can the other person or party give up to agree with you? As Elizabeth Suarez noted: “[n]egotiation is not about figuring out who is right or wrong. It is about getting the parties involved to agree to embrace the other party’s perspective” [158]. However, patience and persistence are often needed in negotiating, sometimes very good negotiators can make their opponents anxious on purpose. Anxious people are less confident and less likely to consult others in arriving at decisions. Anxious people in comparison are more likely to be taken advantage of. Good negotiators also keep their anger in check often this anger may be stimulated by seeing negotiations in competitive terms rather than collaborative terms. As Brooks (2015) relates bear in mind that negotiation is an interpersonal process requiring observation and influence on other’s emotions. Building rapport can lessen the chance of negative emotions. Learn how to handle disappointment and regret, and temper any excitement and happiness [159]. Any engagement with others at least when there is a face-to-face encounter or meeting, involves cognitive and emotional considerations. For the most part to reach agreement, then it is better to keep focused on the facts, simply because it will be more helpful and prudent to obtain a better outcome if the main considerations are forefront in the meeting agenda. Be mindful also of what Goffman (1974) called frames, which are templates that we rely on to make sense of our experiences with other people through interacting and observing [160]. People may have different front stage and backstage behaviours. The front stage is what is visible to people and the backstage includes behaviour that isn’t. Backstage behaviours may include thoughts and feelings that aren’t visible front stage [161] . We are all aware that people sometimes put on a front, or ‘front it out’, knowing that this

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may be for the sake of appearances. However, people are not simply objects and conversation has a context. Any human interaction will involve some form of emotion, intuition, or feelings. Emotions and feelings, although not always reliable, nevertheless do give us salient information about ourselves and about others. It is therefore a mistake to discount and disregard all of one’s emotions when negotiating with others. But consideration emotions brings a qualitative depth and dimension to negotiation situations. Context is everything. Ask yourself whether the emotion you are feeling is derived from yourself or is it a reaction to someone else, it is a feeling generated from them or from you about them? How might it enable you to understand them and their motivation better? Keeping to the facts will give you a clear conversational path, but the emotional tones will help you consider how to walk the talk. As Chris Murray put it: “[e]xplain the value and justify the cost – People don’t mind paying; they just don’t like to overpay.” Hence, in many forms of face-to-face or video-conferencing meetings verbal communication and non-verbal communication can be involved in the negotiation framework setting. Prepare to be assertive and put your position, needs, and point of view across and but also be prepared to accept compromise. Collaboration and teamwork does not necessarily involve one side against another and your decision-making ability will come to the fore in determining how and when or to what extent an agreement can be formed. A good working relationship requires interpersonal skills which includes the ability to persuade others of your point of view without manipulating them, of listening well, and attempting to communicate so as to reduce any misunderstanding and diminish any excess ambiguity. This will enable trust to be formed to that rapport may be built and assertiveness and control over a situation or a potential future situation arising from the agreement can be made. Clarifying goals will make everyone aware of their viewpoint. Negotiation will enable you to discuss differences and find common ground [162]. As Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever state: “[f]airness as a principle doesn’t work if applied only in response to demand; it must be safeguarded and promoted even when its beneficiaries don’t realize what they are missing.”

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When the interests of all sides is considered agreement may be reached and a decision made on establishing a mutual position or on implementing a course of action. Failing to agree will involve deciding to meet together to discuss differences. The negotiation can either be conducted formally or informally and at the risk of repetition – key skills are questioning, listening and clarifying between parties. Nabil N. Jamal put it thus: “[i]n a negotiation, we must find a solution that pleases everyone, because no one accepts that they MUST lose and that the other MUST win. ... Both MUST win!”

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS Interpersonal skills are paramount in successful negotiation. Interpersonal skills involve the range of verbal and non-verbal communication behaviours that are involved in mutual exchange of information, thoughts, ideas, concepts, media and feelings between people, either face-to-face, ingroups, out-groups, or across distances. There are many factors involved in clear interpersonal communication [163]. This involves learning to listen. Learning to listen is not just hearing but listening how something is being said or being spoken. It involves clarification and reflection. A key factor is being sympathetic to other peoples’ misfortunes and congratulating them on their positive achievements and consoling them when hard times strike and the possibility for sympathy arises. It is important to empathise. Try to see things from others points of view. The two golden tenets of empathy and attempting not to be judgemental (unfairly judging others without sufficient knowledge) or to bring pre-conceived ideas about another party (without the necessary knowledge about them). It is useful try attempt to see a situation from another person’s point of view. As Eoin Coffer explains: “[t]he trick to negotiation was to hold all the cards going in and, even if you didn’t, to try to look as though you did.” While not all meeting negotiations will require encouraging roles, nevertheless affirming basic values of confidence by encouraging them will make them feel welcomed, valued and wanted. Mindful listening

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involves learning to listen to communicate effectively, don’t say the first thing that comes into your head, rather, take a moment to pay close attention to what the other party is saying and what you say in response. It is important to aim for clarity. Increasing your mutual understanding can result from being as clear as possible in articulating your position. With this in mind it is important to consider how your message might be seen clearly. Humour can sometimes lighten a situation to ‘break the ice’ or to find common ground despite points of difference – laughter brings people together. Laughing triggers endorphins which relive body stress. Above all communicate and deal with people frontally, treat them equally, avoid patronising them. Try not to talk behind people’s’ backs. Always have the aim of resolving conflict. Learn to troubleshoot, to mediate, to encourage and to facilitate. Do your best to be friendly, and maintain a positive attitude. Remember to smile as smiling relieves stress and stress is a barrier to successful communication. If you can’t smile then just stay calm, even when others around you didn’t seem calm, or when you think they are making your stressed. Try to keep focused on the task, and only complain when necessary. Stress passes. The sun will shine again! In discussing negotiating techniques Nifrenberg and Calero (1981) advocate having knowledge of several resolving tactics. These include any of the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Taking a break Recapping on what has occurred Deciding what will be lost Expressing how you feel Changing the subject Attempting to Secure an Agreement-in-Principle Trying to form bridge the issue agreements Discuss what alternatives remain Making a disclosure Asking an hypothetical question Asking for or offering empathy Trying to bring about a quick close

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Some negotiations occur in intervals over periods of time, some are relatively brief, whatever the duration, it’s important to keep an open mind, encouraging honesty and staying positive throughout. As LL Cool J put it: “[s]tay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving toward your goals.”

PERSONAL GOAL SETTING A part of preparation for negotiation either over the long or short term is personal goal setting. Personal goal setting is concerned with the aims of setting objectives, of establishing levels of motivation and of long, medium or short-term vision. Often our personal goals and large and undefined or small and yet still indistinct. Achieving goals depends for a large part on motivation [165]. If your long-term goals seem too large then try to break larger goals into shorter goals. If you goals are financial, set yourself a task of deciding how much you want to earn? What do you need to do to achieve that level? What is the knowledge, ability or skill that you want to acquire? What sort of lifestyle do you prefer? Do you want to be a parent? What sort of partner would you prefer? Do you want a nuclear or extended family. Do you have the skills to cope with either? If motivation is half of the issue of learning how to deal with something, then attitude is another four-tenths. Ask yourself whether you have the necessary resolve. Do you have the right mind-set to achieve what you want? Will your mind-set be understood and potentially shared by others to reach an agreement? Your goals and attitudes might include the general aim of making the world a better place. Can you achieve this everyday or is it a diffuse aim? Ask yourself what might be holding your back, or preventing you form achieving your aims. Try to make a short-term plan, and a medium-term plan and a long-term plan. SMART goals are desirable. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. It is a good idea

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to keep goals realistic and achievable. If your goals are easily achieved then try to make the next goal more difficult [166]. If you goal takes too long then make the next one easier. As Jim Rohn put it: “[d]iscipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”

MANAGING FEELINGS One of the most important considerations in negotiation is managing feelings. The importance of empathy in dealing with others is essential but nevertheless there is a realisation that feeling often go in cycles. One can transition between hurt, sadness and anger and feeling misunderstood is a common experience. Always try to limit and control excess emotions. As Brooks (2015) suggests: “... research shows that feeling or looking anxious results in suboptimal outcomes. Therefore, individuals who prone to anxiety when brokering the deal can take certain steps both to limit their nervousness and to make it less obvious to their negotiation opponent. The same is true for other emotions” [167]. Generally speaking, although emotions and feelings can give us valuable information about ourselves and others at times, emotions and feelings if left unconsidered and unchecked can weaken our ability to solve problems or to handle change and reorganising, understanding and controlling feelings can be difficult. If you know how you feel you can get your feelings under control. It is important to remember that in general, if you cannot make something better, then do not make it worse. If you are too consumed by your own feelings then put yourself in another person’s shoes. Although it is true that emotions are useful and every emotion has a purpose, then put yourself in other person’s shoes. There is power in the ability to manage emotions. Try to be an observer of your own feelings and remember although emotions can be powerful, emotions don’t always equal actions. As Matshona Dhliwayo put it: “[d]on’t burn your bridges until you build better ones.”

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PERSONAL BOUNDARIES Personal boundaries are about knowing where you stand in relation to others and ‘surviving’ as a free-thinking and independent functioning communicator when you are presented with all kinds of information from people. Personal boundaries may be about understanding ambiguity and learning to tolerate conflict, indecision and knowing how to sort out what is valuable to you and what is not while maintaining confidence in another person’s point of view. One of the first maxims of personal boundaries is naming your limits. You can’t focus on an issue or problem unless you are sure of where you stand [168]. Hence you need to know yourself well to know understand and be able to use or control your personal boundaries. It helps to be able to recognise and identify your physical, emotional and mental limits. Often one of the biggest obstacles to communicating with others is perceived or unconscious resentment which might derive from being taken advantage of or for what another person has. This is one of the reasons that corporates and people may frequently talk in metaphors. Maintaining healthy boundaries doesn’t require black and white dialogue and it can be direct (in an instruction or an imperative) or indirect (as in a metaphor, analogy or allegory). Controlling ones emotions from the self in relation to others is one of the hardest tasks required in maintaining healthy boundaries. A key maxim is ‘Give Yourself Permission.’ Fear, guilt and doubt are large potential pitfalls, try to recognise them, put them in perspective and overcome them. In order to do this it is necessary to practice self-awareness. Self-boundaries are about maintaining effective communications and relationships with others, and about respecting the positions and point of view of others [169]. But as Thurgood Marshall cautioned: “[e]ach of you, as an individual, must pick your own goals. Listen to others, but do not become a blind follower.” Large accomplishments can come from small beginnings. Personal boundaries are like water in a vessel; they reach equilibrium but can easily change. Some ordinary boundary sharing may involve considerations of whether one gives of lends things – money, clothes, hospitality and so forth and important physical boundaries are those that pertain to personal space,

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such as the private body and the extent to which it is shared with others or concealed from them. Mental boundaries apply to one’s thoughts, value and opinions, while sexual boundaries involve ideas of privacy and protection and also the autonomy of partners. Spiritual boundaries relate to beliefs and experiences in relation to God, and emotional boundaries involve distinguishing between emotions and the responsibility for them, whether to reward or publish, blame or to accept blame, praise or accept praise. But as Confucius stated: “[w]hen it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” Emotional boundaries may also demarcate an imaginary line that separates you from others. Healthy boundaries also prevent you from giving advice and also protect you from feeling guilty for someone else’s problem. Internal boundaries are about the relationship you may enjoy with yourself, they can be thought of as a form of self-discipline and may change with healthy management. Setting effective boundaries is essential in negotiation. Firstly, prepare, think who can help you, think what the other party want, how much you can give to them and what you require in return. Try to develop relationships and to express a willingness to engage in learning and to develop opportunities to progress and share with others. If necessary, find an experienced mentor. Set those goals! Management also depends on effective communication, although it is rare that the ‘personality’ of the manager can be completely uninfluential on the way in which their management regime is enacted. Secondly, managers need to be mindful that often the operating environment may be ‘neutral,’ that is, people bring emotions to their workplaces but the structural environment itself has no emotional value. Whilst managers may communicate with their staff with a range of techniques, including both literal and figurative language, a fundamental learning goal is that they take responsibility without the ‘control that is necessary to guarantee success’ [170]. As Arnold H. Glasgow, “[a] good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.”

Chapter 5

‘PATIENCE!’ In chapter 5 of BCD we briefly explore the concept of patience in the workplace and in business. As Robert H. Schuller observed: “[n]ever cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.” Take a deep breath, take several and realise that everything has its own time, staying calm and in control under stress or when the task demands are high, is all part of the process of practicing patience in the workplace. As Norling (2009) states “speed in decision making comes from patient preparation” [171]. Both patience and its greedy twin ‘impatience’ may be partners in a process of getting things down, but recognising which is which, and keeping proceedings in order, is essential to complete the business process. Sometimes, when the pressure is on, setting a ‘far horizon’ is useful for keeping things in perspective, as Norling (2009) states a “personal precommitment to ‘distant returns’ requires selfdiscipline” [172]. Feeling ‘rushed’ as you go about the tasks of the day is fairly common, a normal experience, but remind yourself to stay tuned in to your experiences, try to slow down your own internal clock when doing

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things, stay reflective. As Joyce Meyer observed: “[p]atience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.” As Bommarito (2014) states “someone who rushes through a museum lacks the patience to slow down and appreciate the art” [173]. Another good reason try tell yourself to stay calm and slow down your internal clock is to manage temporal anger, impatience is the spark of anger at the perception of time, when events of the day are happening. Ask yourself, Why are you in such a hurry? Will things happen more or less quickly if you do speed up, what is the relationship between the external events and your internal sense of time? Sometimes, in business as in life, these too may be out of realistic proportion. As Bommarito (2014) states: Consider a common scene at airports around the world: passenger with tickets in hand, tickets that give them a right to a specific seat, angrily push each other in order to get to the gate earlier. It’s very likely that the impatient passengers know that will get a particular seat and also know that the plane will not separate until everyone is on board. They know that it makes very little difference if they get on the plane slightly earlier, but still have difficulty keeping things in perspective [174].

The advice in many business contexts is that to get things done business requires “agility, boldness, responsiveness, and speed . . .” [175]. Often it is useful to imagine the ‘worst case’ – asking what is the worst that can happen? Allows you to pre-plan for coping with the fall-out should things go wrong. Break the task into stages allows you to see the connections between the different function points of what is required. Sometimes tasks can be ‘bounded’ and hence become more manageable, indeed managing expectations is important, as Ulrich (2017) notes “impatience comes from false expectations and hopes” [176]. As Leo Tolstoy noted: “[t]he two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” It is useful to bear in mind several important maxims. These include understanding the context, patient leaders try to understand why events unfold in a particular way, or why people behave the way they do in certain circumstances [177]. It is also useful to bear in mind that you ‘control what is within your control’ focussing on uncontrollable

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externalities can be very frustrating [178]. Stay positive! Don’t dwell on past misfortunes but instead remind yourself what you want to get out of the situation. Recognise mistakes, try to learn from them, and forgive yourself for them. As Samuel Johnson noted: “[g]reat works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” Don’t give up, don’t give in too soon. Persevere. I have seen many storms in my life. As Paulo Coelho noted: “[m]ost storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature.” Stay patient with yourself and with the tasks in front of you. Keep going and persists, remind yourself that everything is doable. Remember that ‘patient leaders forgo and sacrifice current dreams in anticipation of future opportunities’ [179].

Chapter 6

‘LISTEN!’ Chapter 6 of BCD explores the concept of listening well. Some of the best advice you may hear throughout your working life is to listen to others! It’s essential for getting by and getting on the working world. But for a workforce that is dependent on good communication skills run efficiently, little is known generally about wat makes good and bad listening skills from a lay perspective. With the proviso, as Roebuck, Bell, Raina and Lee (2015) point out that there is no universal clear understanding about what constitutes effective or ineffective listening – across culture and organisations. Certain basic principles can be discerned that have practical use at all levels of the workplace [180]. These principals arise in contradistinction to known outfalls in listening behaviours. These pitfalls are described by Roebuck et al. (2015) as being distorted perceptions towards listening involving ‘distracted listening’, ‘empathetic listening’, ‘judgment rushing’ an ‘conclusion jumping’ which effect people in various ways, whether they are manager or non-mangers and living in the West or the East [181]. Some of the basic issues involved in listening include the complexity of the message. As Wood (2007) suggested “... more detailed and complicated the message, the more difficult it is to follow and retain it.” [182]. Keep it simple. Secondly, noise can be a basic physical impediment

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‘Should I Trust?’to listening, volume, tone, pitch, and scale. Next it is how we attend to what is being said. If we are too preoccupied, when we are absorbed in our own thoughts and concerns, we can’t focus on what someone is saying. Then there is the timbre and emotional intent of what is said. Some phrases are soothing and pleasant, other phrases may promulgate negative feelings and thoughts for the listener. We may also listen poorly through lack of effort. Sometimes it is hard to focus our attentional because of situational noise, and fight off hunger, fatigue and other physiological conditions. As Wood (2007) suggests, we often need to adapt our listening styles for support or pleasure [183]. Sometimes efforts to listen and digest information can be hampered by our prejudgement, which may occur when we think we already know what is going to be said, and as a consequence we don’t listen carefully enough. Sometimes meaning of what is said can be distorted by emotionally loaded language [184]. Pseudo-listening is pretending to listen without digesting the content [185]. Monopolising is focusing only on ourselves in the interchange, and selective listening involves focusing on only parts of the communication [186]. Defensive listening is perceiving attacks, criticism or hostility in communication [187]. Ambushing is listening carefully for the purpose of attacking a speaker [188]. Literal listening is a form of defensive listening which attends only to content and not the relationship level of meaning [189]. So to be an effective listener be mindful, confront obstacles, ask questions, use aids to recall, understand and remember important information, when speaking be careful of expressing judgments and express support. The manner and efficacy of how well a person pays attention to another, as well as hears and processes what they say, will affect the environment [190]. As Zeno of Citium noted: “[w]e have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.” Listening is a highly desirable skill and it helps organisational clarity, it helps co-workers by providing them with recognition and makes theirs feel valued [191]. Effective listening and its association with leadership emergence in a small group situational which was positively related, leaders are good at listening [192]. Good listening is part of understanding

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one’s own style of communication [193]. As Bernard M. Baruch noted: “[m]ost of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.” Short term listening was a determinant of good or bad service and management [194]. Another study short-term listening was single predictors of upward mobility in the organisation, better listeners held higher level positions ad were promoted more often than those less developed listening [195]. Listening is an important part of assessing coworker’s communication effectiveness. Listening accounts for approximately a third of characteristics that co-workers perceived as necessary a competent communicator. As M. Scott Peck noted: “[y]ou cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time.” But sometimes communication does breakdown because the message gets noisy or there is some interference in the communication process. Coupled to this is almost infinite depths of human psychology and the ways in which the mind can convey meaning and information. We need to sort good information from bad, or information which helps us and information which doesn’t. We do this in order to help ourselves and to help others. Is such a state as perfect human communication? Perhaps not. Sometimes the problems in human communication become acute. Pathological communication patterns are identified by Weakland (1960) as having the following combination of interactions and processes. Firstly, the involvement in an intense relationship were accurate discrimination of message is of vital importance; secondly, the other person two orders or commands, one of which contradicts the others; thirdly, an individual cannot meta-communicate, or react to contradictory messages [196]. Table 4. ‘Noisy’ Communication Nonlistening

Disconfirmation

Absolute literalness

Medium confusion/ mistaking map for territory/ signifier for signified

Insincere meaning or illusional communication Circular reasoning

Denying reality

Real and apparent contradictions

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Table 4 outlines a ‘symptomology’ of pathological communication found in ‘noisy’ environments with multiple communication mediums and sources. Listening is one of the softer aspects of socio-motor competence, such an empathy and listening skills which play role in cognitive behaviours needed in leadership. Listening, managing conflict, and leading people ae example of managerial skills and many of these kills are predicated on nonverbal messages, and managerial performance [197]. There is a cultural context problem of inter-translatability for instance of communication across languages. Research by GLOBE has posited nine cultural dimensions, which capture similarities or differences in norms, beliefs and practices across countries. These are: Table 5. The Nine Cultural Dimensions Power Distance To what extent is power distributed equally among people

Uncertainty Avoidance How do social norms alleviate future anxiety

Gender Egalitarianism To what extent does the collective group minimise gender inequality?

Future Orientation To what extent do individuals engage in planning, delaying, gratification, investing in the future

Humane Orientation Are positive traits such as fairness, altruism, generosity, and caring rewarded Performance Orientation To what extent is the collective encouraged and effectiveness rewarded

Institutional Collectivism Is the even distribution of resources encouraged?

Assertiveness

Status Differences To what extent does cultural difference effect relationship organisation?

Ethnic Egalitarianism To what extent does the collective tolerate ethnic differences, and encourage diversity?

To what extent are relationships effectively negotiated?

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Roebuck et al., (2015) identify four concepts in listening that characterises tendencies that are common among people in the workplace [198]. They are brief descriptions of listening types: Firstly the ‘distracted listener’ – to what extent is the person distracted when listening to others – that is, doing other things at the same time; to what extent is the person an ‘empathetic listener’ – does he or she listen with an open mind? And take into account the thoughts and feeling of others? Does the listener rush to make judgments based on what is being said or on partial information about what is being said? Does the person have a tendency to jump to conclusions? Respond at a ‘gut’ level to what is being said or attend to implicit meanings and observe nonverbal behaviour? As Stephen R. Covey noted: “[m]ost people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” As Canpolat et al., (2015) observe, the quality of peoples’ listening affects their learning in most every situation. People who have an uninterested disposition, tend to learn reluctantly. They want to pass time quickly, or they become passive and only appearing to listen, and won’t use strategies that bring about productive listening and increase learning [199]. By comparison, those who participate by active listening can archive results more effectively and become more productive. As Canpolat et al. (2015) state, listening is one of the first linguistic skills that people acquire. The foetus may hear voices outside the womb as early as fifth months of gestation. There is a variety of definitions of listening. These include the sending (transmission) of a message, hearing a message and making sense of it, cognitively processing it for meaning. Listening does not involve passively watching another but making an effort to receive and interpret messages to communicate. Listening covers a wide spectrum (almost all) human activity, “people make sense of all kinds of sounds that they hear in life and store them in memory as an important part of accumulated experiences” [200]. As Canpolat et al. (2015), point out almost half human activities involve listening, and 45% of time used for communication involve some form of listening [201]. By listening and attending to the nonverbal communication of others, people fulfil cognitive, affective and social requirements – involving such necessary and

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varied tasks as learning (both formal and informal), obtaining nutrition, showing and experiencing emotion, speaking and communicating [202]. Listening involves cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills and can be considered a strategic mode of communication; listeners are not passive receivers who are silent and submissive while information is exchanged but active receivers who presents thoughts and feelings in verbal and nonverbal ways [203]. Other ways in which listeners become active are by physically displaying emotion, cooperating with members as group of listeners, seeking approval and disapproval and exhibiting behaviours directed towards listening, asking questions, seeking and contributing qualifiers, and explanations [204]. Listening strategies include comparing and classifying information minds, making inferences, formalise learning, generating associations, reasoning, taking notes, generalising [205]. It is common that listeners will also engage in expression – facial expressions, gestures, how listeners feel and respond to the environment also impacts what stance they take on what is said. Listeners may sympathise, empathise, and feel excited, being scared and stressed. It carries a full spectrum of activities from learning, thinking, hearing and telling, and other strategies that facilitate understating [206]. As Roy T. Bennett noted: “[d]o more listening than talking; talk more about them than about you.” Cognitive strategies of listening include clearing the mind and intellect, focusing the attention, participating in a group activity such as a class lesson, actively participating, comparing subject being related to one already know, comparing what I know with what I hear, making inferences, comparing what is listened to with previous known information, asking questions, and criticising. The task of the listener is trying to understand the basis of the main ideas talked about and to learn some strategies for remembering some details. Try to discern the logic of the activity, listen affectively strategies. Remain listening is speaker does not speak directly, disengage if the conversation is too indirect and not relevant. Remain clam while listening attentively, try to get nervous or be afraid to ask questions, if the speaker has a stern attitude, people may get nervous. Look at the speaker’s face, take notes, look at their eyes, nod for

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affirmation, attend to facial expressions, tone of voice, pay attention to stresses, use of repetition and tone of voice. Do not make too much noise, sit up straight. Try to process the availability, so listening is multidimensional nonverbal and verbal. As Banana Yoshimoto observed: “[w]hen someone tells you something big, it’s like you’re taking money from them, and there’s no way it will ever go back to being the way it was. You have to take responsibility for listening.” Bradley and Jancewicz (2016) argue that regardless of a specific job, an employee can be a leader [207] by using Active Listening Skills (ALS). Through listening a person gains insight from what is being said and reflecting and can create an empathetic climate through effective listening. Empathy involve relating to the experience of others, promoting trust and collaboration. Bradley and Jancewicz (2016) observed that listening skills have six main factors: paying attention, holding judgment, reflecting, clarifying, summarising, and sharing [208]. Experienced leaders understand that listening involves rapport [209]. Effective pauses create spaces in a conversation that allow another person to keep talking; open ended questions provide an opportunity for leaders to gain information as opposed to having a narrow pint of view. Emotional labelling enables listener to assign a name to emotions, demonstrates the facts and interest in a problem [210]. Leaders allow people to express opinions and forgo judgment of peoples’ actions. Effective leaders gain influence beyond grade they hold, listen to people gain understanding of what is important. Listening confused with hearing, not communication contributes to lack of understanding. Society values leaders who action oriented, charismatic, visionary and directive and expectation they should have answers, failure to listen to concerns of fellow employees contributes to lack of understanding. Koehl et al. (2016) argue that there are four dimensions of customer listening. These are passive, active, adaptive, and assertive listening associated with listening – made up of hearing, processing and responding [211]. In customer-relations effective listening involves, analysing and understanding customer problems, tailoring products and services to meet customer needs and solve their problems [212]. Problems involves

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decreased mutual assistance and information sharing, reckless risk taking, negligence of other work. A listening disposition including patience, concentration, emotional intelligence, warmth, open mindedness goes a long way [213]. Empathy is the main determinant through effective listening, effecting precise internal framework references, and emotional significance. Listening involves sending, interpreting, evaluating and responding. As Fischer-Loou (2016) et al. observe, active listening is shown through signals like reformulations, questions, and facial expressions, imitation of word endings, acts or gestures [214]. Meditators who are asked to resolve conflict often use tactics of rephrasing people’s words, or reformulation. Huring et al. (2016) observed that room acoustic factors can influence listening comprehensions such as background noise and reverberation, which influence speech perception, and comprehension [215]. Acoustic factors more pronounce when distance is large, sound will bounce against wall and ceiling surfaces [216]. Different mechanisms underpin effects of masking and distance on speech perception (process by which sounds understood). Long reverberation affects intelligibility, distance affects sound pressure. Listening positions near a speaker so they receive a sound directly, but at end of apace larger proportion as reflected sound [217]. Reverberation time in classrooms is perceived as being more distorting the greater the distance there is between the speaker and listener [218]. The magnitude of room reverberation varies with listening position within a classroom. Two factors interact. The reverberation tone of the room has a small effect on the quality of speech and the signal reaches the listener earlier when the, distance between the speaker and the listener is shorter but has a larger effect when the distance is greater [219]. An internal factor is language proficiency of the speaker, and whether the spoken message is masked by noise, or by background speech, or is the reverberation time is long [220]. Comprehension is decreased as the distance from the sound source is decreased [221]. As Ernest Hemingway once put it: “[w]hen people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”

Chapter 7

‘STRAIGHT UP!’ In chapter 7 of BCD we explore the concept of practicing recognition in the workplace and in business. This chapter will provide an understanding of recognition in the workplace along several dimensions. It will explain recognition as central to the rationale of productivity, survey its use and prevalence, and discuss recognition as forms of behavioral guidance and social capital, before concluding to emphasize the relevance of recognition to the social and regulative functions of the modern workplace. As Elon Musk stated: “People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.” Businesses advertise to promote their services and to gain clients. Some do so on the basis of the attraction of the goods they offer; others on the skill of the services they provide. To ensure they keep their custom, most business aim to treat their clients politely and with respect. However, sometimes business neglect their staff communication at the expense of their communication with clients. Most companies are focused on providing effective communication for their business dealings with clients; but fewer organizations have a similar emphasis on their communications with internal staff. Those that do have an internal communication culture that is more professionally coordinated which leads to enhanced

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motivation and staff performance. The way in which an organization ‘talks’ to its staff and in which staff are encouraged to talk to one-another can have a large impact on the attitude of the organization [220]. As Arthur Conan Doyle observed: “Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.” Affirmation and social support are essential for the internal communication in an organization and both stem from the same fundamental communication source – recognition. Employees almost always desire to be accepted and everyone likes to be told that they are doing well or doing a good job [223]. However, the inefficient truth is that many organizational cultures (through lack or professional training or engagement) default to ‘deficit’ models of communication, in which employees are more often told what they are doing wrong, rather than what they are doing right. Because of the hectic pace of day-to-day business, or because they are more often than not dealing with problem areas, organizations and managers forget to recognize employees. But as Olson (2008) suggests recognition when it is sincere and appreciative goes a long way to reward employees and to promote organizational cohesion [224]. Positive recognition can take many forms, from a one end of the spectrum, simply acknowledging another person through a facial expression, to being socially consistent, voicing a friendly greeting, giving praise, personal thanks, and for an employer giving job recognition such as a raise. Management is about recognizing those who need help but also about praising those who are excelling. For any employee or colleague, paying attention to another person, elaborating on what did well, taking an interest in families without meddling and respecting privacy are all traits of positive recognition in the workplace that go a long way to enhancing organizational culture and producing optimal performance amongst staff. As Harry Truman noted: “[i]t is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

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PRODUCTIVITY RATIONALE A productivity rationale underpins recognition in the workplace. Molla (2009) suggests that practicing recognition is an expected part of management behavior and if organizations don’t practice recognize recognition then they don’t advance [225]. Organizations work well when achievements are celebrated but most of all when the value of recognition is central to the organization, when it is tied to business objectives, integrated into the organizational plan, is discussed in management meetings, included in written communications, and recognition celebration held frequently, then it is more an integral part of organizational culture – extending a philosophy of the social practice of a ‘pat on the back’. Sandberg and Kubiak (2013) argue that: “[r]ecognition is necessary for self-realisation ... [the] ... use of this term refers to the fundamental formation of self and identity as a person with value and autonomy” [226]. In most organizations recognition is an organizational practice, something that is done, not something constituted by the organization itself. Most organizations can strive to do recognition better [227]. Organizations can create cultures of recognition, and most organizations culture in its simplest form is a way of doing things that is derived from organizational values, and is observed from the practices and behaviors of its members, these are values that are inferred rather than directly seen [228]. There are wide ranges of possible recognition behaviors in an organization, a vital part of which are ‘intangible’ best understood as ideas. These ideas are negotiated between learning opportunities, choices, and increased responsibilities. So recognition is an ascription of value to an activity but most of all a person responsible for the activity and it is optimum when made consistently to high performance, rather than inconsistently to meet short-term targets. As the Viennese philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein noted: “[k]nowledge is in the end based on acknowledgement.” As Nelson (2003) argues many companies talk recognition but a ‘culture of recognition’ is hard to establish. In any organization employees are the most important source. Some believe that recognition is a human

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right and for an organization to work well everyone must believe that recognition has a positive impact on employee morale, tenure, performance and productivity [229]. Unfortunately, many organizations do not ‘do’ recognition well because it is seen as not an intrinsically self-centered activity although it is highly advantageous for organizational purposes. Companies and organizations that do recognize the achievements of their staff well have recognition as an integral part of their culture. As such in large organizations it may be mentioned in value statements, and a part of strategic personnel plans, and an expectation of management – organization have to work continually to keep recognition ‘alive’ in the minds of employees [230]. When a culture of recognition is dysfunctional recognition is perceived of as inequity or favoritism, or worst nepotism. As Suzy Kassem observed: “[b]eware of those who criticize you when you deserve some praise for an achievement, for it is they who secretly desire to be worshiped.”

RECOGNITION AT WORK One way of improving recognition schemes in the workplace is to ask questions about the way in which recognition is measured and managed. What are the business conditions in which recognition schemes are most often used? Is the practice bottom-up or top-down driven? Are recognition schemes values driven and centrally orientated? Are recognition schemes formal or informal, how is meaning shared amongst them. How does an employ know that there is a correlation between recognition, motivation, increased performance and compensation? In the contemporary workplace there is a trend towards variable compensation scheme systems, flexible working arrangements, telecommuting. Most managers agree that recognition of employees enhances performance, that recognition schemes involve staff in providing practical feedback, that it may enable good work to get done, and that some forms of recognition may also enhance personal goals of employees. Most people concur that recognition is most effective when it made soon after the causing event or assessment rather than later

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from it. The incidence of recognition schemes in the workplace is reasonably high but it may not be ingrained in many management practices. As Li, Harris, Zheng, and Liu, (2016) state, recent estimates – 3 out of 4 every four organizations use formal recognition programs [231]. Such systems primarily involve non-financial, symbolic gestures of appreciation, which have incentive types tailored to individual preference [232]. Li, et al., (2016) note that it is possible that “... formally identifying and recognizing a top performer may boost other teammates’ productivity via key social influence processes. . .” [233]. However, competition can sometimes provide negative stimulus for those who are unsuccessful in gaining the reward of recognition. Social influence has a powerful effect on recognition levels within an organization. Both role modelling recognition and social learning of recognition behavioral repertoires and responses can produce a positive spill-over effect in which a performer who is recognized formally may enhance a recipient teammates’ individual and collective performance [234]. When there is an economy of exchange along recognition behavior dimensions within an organization, and formal recognition of individuals and team’s recognition programs may boost performance and morale and also produce positive spill-over effects. Such recognition events are also acknowledgement of organizational values and messages of affirmation and reinforcement [235]. As Dale Carnegie observed: “[p]eople work for money but go the extra mile for praise, recognition, and rewards.” A defining attribute of self-other relations is relatedness which brings people together in behaviors that involve recognition of one-another. As such it seen that recognition occurs both in an ‘intimate sphere’ of individuals and ‘public sphere’ of groups and politics. Although the sense it is employed in most organizations belongs to an individuated sense of a collective identity, as a system of reward it is often focused primarily at individual level, although how national, ethnic groups are viewed or valued becomes a cumulative factor of culturally embedded recognition behaviors [236]. Given that most people within organizations are embedded in complex social systems which have reciprocal influences, incentive in the form of

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recognition may improve positive normalizing functions. In this context it is relevant to note that social influence is seen as a process of information sharing and leaning in which employees selectively determine informational relevance and can assign behavioral utility to others. Recognition schemes may provide strong tangible signals to others in valuing behaviors and conferring legitimating roles on recipients [237]. Recognition is on a spectrum of formality or informality. As Li et al. (2016) note, people constantly make active and passive observation of others, and at times people make vicarious assessments of others as a part of ordinary behavior. Social ties permit or prohibits the observation of others, observations of network patterns, and the proximity of neighbors and in group and out-group behaviors. The centrality of people within the network of workflow amplifies the positive effect of recognition on team performance which also influences those on the periphery [238].

PEER RECOGNITION SCHEMES Of the various recognition methods, peer recognition has a powerful effect on staff morale and motivation. Recognition is meaningful when it comes from colleagues and schemes that are based on the idea that staff can nominate their colleagues for a reward and management can decide from the nominations which is more deserving are not costly in terms of resources and promote good communication and motivation. Such peer recognition schemes promote organizational values and responsibility. If peer recognition schemes are linked to business objectives and avoid being popularity contests they are more effective [239]. Some peer recognition schemes are based on revenue and targets, they are cross-functional and collaborative, and some give employees a choice of reward. Although receiving an award from peer nomination can boost morale, not everyone thrives on being in the limelight [240].

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RECOGNITION AND BEHAVIORAL GUIDANCE Recognition can be both a verbal and a non-verbal communication behavior. As a form of behavioral practice it can have remarkable effects on morale and motivation within organizations. As well as psychological effects there are those that derive from basic affinity as human beings. As Castleman (2016) states, “[h]uman recognition is defined as the extent to which an individual is acknowledged by others to be of inherent value by virtue of being a fellow human being” [241]. Recognition can be either positive by actively acknowledging the value of an individual as being a human being who has something in common with other human beings; or negative, referring to viewing an individual as lacking inherent value as a human being or ignoring or denigrating his or her value [242]. As Castleman (2016) points out, negative human recognition can involve dehumanization and objectification [243]. Dehumanization refers to the deprivation of human or individual qualities, while objectification refers to treating a person as a commodity or product devoid of dignity or personality. In situations where recognition is lacking there is a loss of contingent interaction as the unexpected combination of other’s gaze and unresponsiveness play an important role. The cessation of vocal cues, facial cues, and tactile simulation in social interaction leads to despondency. In comparison, eye contact signals openness to interaction but problems arise in the display contradictory information or in situations where there are mixed signals, for example if a care-giver is communicating hello and goodbye simultaneously. Care-givers and parents are important modulators, and if supportive social interaction is not available than some elements of socializing affinity may be lost. People need positive external regulators to achieve optimal arousal levels, but show disorganization of emotion and behavior if a regulator is not available. These may effect an individual’s state of consciousness. ‘State of Consciousness’ (SOC) is described as an individual’s continuously developing knowledge of the world and his or her relationship to the world. This state is psychobiological as it encompasses a complex

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organization of body, brain, behavior and experience. In a state of consciousness there are usually a spectrum of positive and negative thoughts and behaviors. Recognition of others can be distinguished between the general and the specific. That is recognizing the inherent dignity and shared value of human beings and secondly, valuing an individual because of qualities and skills which he or she possesses. Human recognition may refer both to the valuing of an individual and his or her treatment (although the second factor is contentious because an individual can be treated well but be simultaneously devalued for utilitarian reasons, or an individual can be treated badly but still be highly valued as a human being). An important research finding in the absence of consistent positive recognition modulation by care-givers for infants is the Still-Face-Paradigm (SFP). This was first introduced by Tronick, Als, Adamson, Wise and Brazelton (1978) to test the hypothesis that infants are active contributors to social interaction [244]. Positive emotional recognition stimulates human sharing, warmth, empathy and well-being from an early age. As Aberjhani once stated: “[a]t the different stages of recognition, reflection, and redress, practicing compassion provides potentially world-saving opportunities which otherwise likely would not exist.”

DOING RECOGNITION – RECOGNITION OF ‘SELF’ AND ‘OTHER’ Acknowledgement and sympathy are basic motivations for otherregarding qualities in human behavior beyond an instrumental purpose. Arguably in the modern world it is a service to be observed, to be attended to and to be taken notice of with sympathy [245]. Although recognition of others may set aside instrumental values and belong more to those of ontological harmony, the regard of and from fellow human beings is a fundamental motivation and objective of normal economic behaviors [246]. Sharing values and rewarding effort is a basic part of mutuality and

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information exchange, a fundamental quantum of communication. A persistent factor of non-market exchange is peoples’ pursuit of regard involving a range of positive interactions which might include: acknowledgement, attention, and respect. As such ‘other regarding’ fosters and maintains relationships and reputation – regard is a ‘good in its own right’. Recognition of others has direct psychological benefits that are beyond instrumentalism [247]. A fundamental constant throughout all ethnicities of the world is that membership of the human race is what people have in common. It is a part of their shared identity. For the German enlightenment philosopher, Immanuel Kant, all people have a dignity that generates respect from others and creates equality [248]. Furthermore, aspects of human self-determination theory have a eudemonic conception of well-being that recognizes the integrity of perceiving others as self-like and acknowledging and rewarding the efforts and successes of others. Acceptance of marginalized peoples leads to a greater positive recognition of self and others. Empowerment results from an increase in an individual’s capacity to make choices affecting lives and occurs between individuals [249]. Organizations rely on staff commitment, and one of the largest expenses in an organizational culture is recruitment and staff change, hence promoting a cohesive culture through forms of recognition is an important part of organizational well-being. As Coleman (2010) suggests, recognizing staff performance by reward increases motivation but recognition from peers is more often than not valued more highly, both result in organizational gains from staff loyalty and retention [250]. As Bangambiki Habyarimana put it: “[a]ll you need to be recognized as an authority is to be recognized by a recognized authority.”

RECOGNITION AS SOCIAL CAPITAL Aldrich notes that ‘social capital’ namely the ‘networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit’. As Ross and Carter (2011) explain, “[t]he spontaneous activation of ‘social

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capital’ – bonds within and between social groups – [is] impressive, a solace to those affected, as well as a huge practical and economic benefit.” [251]. ‘Human capital’ is the ability of people to remain co-operative and resilient in communities and to work in a co-ordinated way together on issues in common. Social capital is an enabler of trust and like human recognition is relational, involving interactions among individuals and groups [252]. Dimensions of recognition are both material and psychological and can directly and indirectly influence well-being [253]. In terms of psychological effects, the level and quality of human recognition that is received by a person directly affects their well-being, independently of material outcomes [254]. A person who is acknowledged and recognized by others is more likely to feel ‘in-tune’ with the environment, and more likely to be both connected and harmonized. A person who is ignored is more likely to retreat socially, to be less self-expressive and to feel out of tune with the environment. He or she is less likely to seek reciprocal interaction and may be more prone to self-regulative thoughts. Such psychological effects of recognition or its absence can have real ‘material effects’ on behaviors and actions for example which in turn affect other outcomes such as health, status, income and education. Given that there is a subtle but tangible effect that the level of recognition can have on the cations and behaviors of both the individual providing recognition and the material well-being of the person who receives the recognition, then there is a behavioral causal relationship between other-regarding ‘healthy’ and ‘less healthy’ behaviors [255]. Furthermore, these impacts are sometimes expressed through behavioral access towards opportunities and services. Social recognition may have both individual factors and a shared value horizon and common standard of judgement but nevertheless make individual differences socially visible [256]. Organizations which are attractive or prestigious are more likely to foster seducement to enhance person’s self-esteem but this self-esteem may be derived from an external source [257]. As any form of identity forming process, recognition may produce both enhanced (when positive) and degraded affect (when negative) and often variations between [258]. Sometimes expectations of recognition are met and sometimes they

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are not. Arguably. Highly inviting monetary rewards may be insufficient for producing positive relation to self over time because most involve some sacrifice to some notions of self in process [259]. Establishing ‘ethical moments’ emerging relation-to-self address position in world such as in conferral or withholding of recognition is on a continuum of agonizing and emotional experiences [260]. A way of mitigating this issue is for employees to ensure congenial working conditions and also for improving material development outcomes involving higher levels of recognition. There is a fork of complementarity that results. Individuals who receive higher levels of positive recognition are more likely to provide positive recognition to others; those that receive lower levels of recognition are likely to provide similar levels to others [261]. Honneth (1996) regards recognition as: firstly, positive affirmation of a person’s characteristics; secondly, an attitude realized in concrete action; and thirdly, distinct phenomenon of social world – result of side-effect of an action [262]. However, there are differences between forms of recognition and levels of both affect and perception. For example, ‘love’ may be a form of mutual care and affection and also ‘formalized’ in a relationship of ‘cognitive – rational’ affect between legally equal partners. It may be distinguished from legal recognition, in which subjects are autonomous and morally responsible, and distinguished from rights-based recognitions derived from legal status and charters. As Jennifer Elisabeth stated: “[r]emember, nothing happens before it’s supposed to, so trust that, as you are striving for authenticity and personal excellence, the recognition of your life’s purpose is nearing closer.” Employers and employees are in a relationship of agency and responsibility. As Fassauer and Hartz (2016) argue there are “various instances of agency” which aim to affect institutional order [263]. As Sandberg and Kubiak (2013) relate, in many workplaces recognition is expressed through “tangible affordances of engagement” in participatory practices, work tasks, opportunities for decision making [264]. There are three varieties of misrecognition that occur. Firstly, resistance, either an individual or colleagues do not identify them with recognition, or the available recognition schemes are unaligned with aspirations and personal

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appraisal of learning; secondly marginalization whereby and individual’s aspirations are not recognizable within setting’s participatory opportunities; and, thirdly, rejection whereby, participatory opportunities incompatible with individual’s capabilities, experience of or active mutual rejection of possible anticipation [265]. Recognition is “generally understood as a positive evaluative response to a person’s behaviors, actions, and identities” [266]. Recognition occurs along a dimension of identity-forming social interaction. Recognition impacts behaviors by affecting emotions which result in both changes and maintenance of organizational arrangements [267]. For Ekman (2013) there is an ideological pursuit of social recognition in which relationships between managers and employees satisfy the ‘hunger for validation’ in mutual subjectification and perpetuation of power structures [268]. For Creed et al. (2014) there are ‘sharing attempts’ which are pursued by institutionalized communities. For Fassauer and Hartz (2016) institutional offers of recognition have ‘seductive’ character and are tied to relations of mutual recognition, identity and respect. Identity recognition can give feeling of ‘security’. But organizational recognition, which scrutinizes desires for identity can oppress aspirations towards self-realization [269]. There is an agonizing ‘potential’ or recognition that can be a stimulant for change. Recognition and motivation can also be engaged in forms of institutional work that are apart from rational interest and the satisfaction of rational interests might be significant but not sufficient to engender enduring feelings of self-respect [270]. Struggles for recognition, can produce both social advancement and critical views of organizations. As such, proactive germane self-realization’ calls for mutual recognition, as a general driver of ongoing social development [271]. So try to practice the simple question with your colleagues, ‘How are you today?’ – a simple question but vital for the workplace – you never know where it might lead.

Chapter 8

‘SHOULD I TRUST?’ Chapter 8 of BCD explores the concept of workplace trust. Trust involves ‘give and take’ [272]. Hoe (2007) suggests that there are three kinds of trust that refer to people management within organisations. They are strategic trust, organisational trust and interpersonal trust [273]. Strategic trust is concerned with leadership trust, organisational trust refers to the general level of trust that people have for the organisation is peoples, systems and processes. Interpersonal trust is not only the trust that employees have for their mangers but also for each other in the workplace [274]. Almost universally, any definition of trust involves the willingness or tolerance for vulnerability under “conditions of risk and interdependence” [275]. Trust can only develop when either party is willing to depend on the other party and to take risks. Trust thus involves investment in the other person a willingness for mutual inter-dependence and a willingness to act in beneficial ways to the other person in conditions of uncertainty. Trust is essential to organisations in so much as it requires confidence and commitment in the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge. Knowledge acquisition and change needs to be filtered for possible beneficial or detrimental effects. The higher the level of interpersonal or organisational trust the less ‘checking’ that needs to be done with the knowledge. It is based on repeated actions over time

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between the trustor and the trustee [276]. Cooperation is derived from high personal trust. Trust may work through both formal and informal channels. As Stieg Larsson once put it: “[f]riendship – my definition – is built on two things. Respect and trust. Both elements have to be there. And it has to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don’t have trust, the friendship will crumble.”

ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL TRUST According to Heavey et al., (2011) the three key ingredients of trust in the business context are ability, benevolence and integrity [277]. As Ricketts (2001) suggests “exchange requires trust” – even the simplest form of economic exchange – the barter requires the necessary environment of honest relationships regarding the transaction [278]. From whence does trust arrive? Is it intrinsic to the parties and process of the transaction or is it a factor which is external to the market, produced elsewhere as the result of activities in other spheres such as education or religion which is then ‘consumed’ or even subverted in transacting in the market place? [279]. Ricketts (2001) argues that the way organisations can be structured implies that trust is both a ‘scarce and valuable’ intangible quality. It is perhaps ironic that ‘trust’ itself cannot be traded though it can be acquired through association, “[i]t is a quality which adhered to a particular person or organisation as a result of their past history or their internal structure and cannot be transferred” [280]. Furthermore he points out that both law and ethics – government regulation of markets or organisations” substitutes for private issues and perceptions of trust. Thus, there may always be a tension between interpersonal trust, organisational trust, ethical fair dealing and regulation. If trust is moderate or high, usually lower transaction costs result. There are two problems associated with transaction costs. Firstly, the problem of ‘moral hazard’ describes the way in which surveillance may preserve corporate responsibility, secondly the problem of adverse

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selection describes the situation in which people may pretend to offer higher quality services that they are able to deliver if ‘quality’ can’t be assessed at low cost [281]. There is also another set of exigent transactional circumstances under which conditions of dependency in trust may be negotiated. This is referred to as ‘hold up’ or ‘ex post contractual opportunism’ [282]. A contractual relationship may entail ‘dependency’ in which one group will entice another into making expensive investments of time and then after resources have been committed attempt to renegotiate the contract. Consequently both tangible and intangible resources (capital and knowledge and skills) are frequently more valuable in as much as they are transaction specific. ‘Ex post contractual opportunism’ may be inspired by the ability of individuals and organisations to switch skills and resources at low cost to serve other groups. Consequently ‘dependency tolerance’ is itself an intangible asset that is an economic characteristic of trust [283]. Economic trust is then related to property rights, where contractual terms may be complex parties bargain to maximise their advantage. As Ricketts (2001) point out vertical integration works best when there is a contract between parties for the use of specialised equipment, management and labour inputs in which the labour requirements are non-specific. However, when labour requirements are more specialised, trade across markets rather than integration may be preferable thus preserving asset independence [284]. A further trust factor may be modified by the profit principle. Situations in which consumers may have a weak position for understanding their own interests and seek good advice are reinforced by the assurance that this advice is not tainted by the interests of the provider. Consequently as Ricketts (2001) points out ‘low powered’ incentive may sometimes be more effective than ‘highpowered’ incentives [285].

INTERPERSONAL TRUST If much of organisational communication is about reducing complexity and managing expectations, then as Gilbert (2005) suggests, trust may be

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about ‘skilled intervention by professionals’. It may be guided by personal qualities, education and by applying professional codes of behaviour [286]. Consequently ‘governmentality’ and trust are associated and function so as to reduce complexity. At the same time professionals and those who work in regulated workplaces need to be aware of the political nature of the systems in which they interact. Impersonal trust is based on an ideal or concept that pre-exists the individual and is implicit in the professional systems which characterise the operational environment of professionals. However, it is not a good idea for professionals to rely on these systems always at the expense of their own judgment. As William Shakespeare surmised: “[l]ove all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” Trust, mistrust and distrust are not necessary points on a continuum or opposites, rather they may be held in combination with one another at any one time. However, mistrust is motivational to some degree as it may imply that trust is possible and enable the individual to manage change and diversity which is the result of human unpredictability or further to selfmanagement through feelings of implied insecurity [287]. However, the trust dichotomy may be ruptured by abuse and also partially repaired by hope. However, hope may also in economic terms whilst motivational by interpreted as irrational due to its powerlessness [288]. Conversely trust may also frustrate hope through the management of expectations in professional activities which are constrained by material circumstances, ‘hope’ on the other hand is a disposition of belief in a better future which is not so constrained. As Paulo Coelho observed: “[n]one of us knows what might happen even the next minute, yet still we go forward. Because we trust. Because we have Faith.” Trust is thus a large variable in organisational learning. It is involved in both the knowledge acquisition and dissemination process. Interpersonal trust refers not only to the employee’s ‘positive expectations about the supervisor’s intentions’ in difficult situations but also to the level of compatible and genuine engagement with others in the work place within a framework of equitable disposition [289]. As Abraham Lincoln believed: “[y]ou can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

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Consequently, trust is rarely a matter of the simple perception that one either holds it or doesn’t. Trust is an enabler of successfully interpersonal and organisational behaviours but has different meanings for different people. As Herselman (2003) suggests, ‘social trust’ is associated with the ‘establishment of social capital and cooperation’ and does not necessarily correlate to trust in an organisation or government [290]. It is thus has a psychological influence on peoples’ attitudes, ideas and emotions. Furthermore, trust is far harder to establish than it is to remove. Rarely is trust a matter of ‘intelligence’ rather than that of experience and involves ‘reciprocity and mutual expectations’ [291]. Herselman (2003) describes trust as ‘fragile,’ taking a long time to develop and capable of being lost easily and re-established with difficulty [292]. Distrust may be understood as a form of self-protection, it differs from mistrust in so far as the latter is characterised and active lack of trust and having no confidence in the behaviour of others [293]. As Ernest Hemingway observed: “[t]he best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”

ORGANISATIONAL TRUST Some forms of organisational trust may be due to different sociocultural factors rather than problems inherent in organisational culture itself. This is due to the fact that values and beliefs are frequently enculturated within individuals from an early stages prior to the workplace setting [294]. Recognition is a factor of workplaces that may improve self-confidence and reduce negative dispositions and lessen the extent to what people may waste energy on protecting themselves [295]. Trust is thus a key source of social capital in organisations. Social capital itself inspires interdependence and allows co-workers to function cohesively [296]. It is an important lubricant of a social system [297]. Conversely, if employers or co-workers in positions of authority are seen to ‘violate’ a psychological contract trust may be reduced [298]. As Ohe and Martins (2010) and Macauley and Cook (2011) point out, trust in organisations is

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created by both managerial and personality factors. These are shown in the table below [299]: Table 6. Factors Involving Trust Personality factors involving trust Agreeableness Conscientiousness Resourcefulness Emotional stability Extraversion/introversion Vulnerability Integrity Competence Care/altruism Willingness to listen Freedom to express opinions

Managerial factors involving trust Information sharing Work support Credibility/sincerity Team management Handling of conflict Empowering staff Feedback, praise, recognition Coaching & development Transparency

Upwards, downwards and horizontal communication and trade between supply chains is made easier if there is a useful level of organisational trust. From a public relations perspective trust enhances confidence in organisations and makes it easier for them to do business. The fallout from lack of trust both internally and externally to an organisation is registered both as a negative effect on reputation and in terms of the financial impact [300]. Fahr and Irlenbusch (2008) describe trust as predominantly a property of individuals rather than organisations per se providing the description of trust inspired by individuals as an ability to act as ‘boundary-spanning agents’ [301]. They offer the following definition of trust between organisations, “the willingness of representative A to make herself and other members of her organisation vulnerable to the actions of another representative B based on the expectation that the representative B will perform a particular action important to the members of A’s organisation” [302]. This definition is seen to apply regardless of A’s ability to monitor or control B. At Stephen R. Covey noted: “[t]rust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient

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in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” Wall et al., (2004) highlight the role that trust has in mitigating risk perception in organisations. They define the following five points in which it operates [303]: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Focuses lay public concerns and responses to risk messages Contributes to the unacceptability of activities perceived as risky Stimulates social and political actions to reduce risks Leads to monitoring and questioning of decisions of risk regulators and authorities 5. Promotes the selective use of information sources. Trust enhances commitment which as Heavey et al., (2011) suggest, promotes cohesion and efficiency. Commitment is defines as a force which adheres an individual to a particular course of action. Trust and commitment are also motivational. According to Heavey et al., (2011) the motivational element of trust is characterised by three factors. Firstly, ‘direction’ what a person is trying to do, secondly, ‘effort’ – how hard a person is trying, and ‘persistence’ how long a person may be engaged in a course of action [304]. Furthermore, Heavey et al., (2011) present the following equation for the estimation of workplace performance in relation to trust: Performance = function (aptitude X training X experience X motivation) [305]. As Smith (2010) suggests for groups working collaboratively online more clearly structured situations have clear processes which produce outcomes with low ambiguity [306]. Smith (2010) suggests that ‘unconscious’ trust issues may influence the group which have little to do with actual trust between members [307]. There are two main practical issues which may face group members. Firstly, trusting their own ability to accomplish the task and trusting the knowledge of their peers [308]. However, Smith (2010) implies that ‘online trust’ is a form of paradox, the ability to trust depends on the pre-existence of trust [309]. Mason and Lefrere (2003) suggest that trust and collaboration are enablers of both

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organisational transformation and knowledge management [310]. There are four main factors of facilitating online group work. These are: Networking – exchanging information among group members, cooperation – exchanging information for mutual benefit and a common purpose; collaboration – enhancing the capacity of another to meet a mutual goal [311]. Accountability may enhance but can paradoxically undermine trust. In low-trust organisations with high accountability transparency may remove secrecy but also may limit deception and misinformation [312]. Consequently trust is seen as an important factor of economic intangibility. As both information and knowledge are economic goods (and also intangible assets) it stands to reason that it is a performance enhancer and that high trust organisations should be valued [313]. Trust is thus predicated on consistency – consistency leads to predictability and conversely inconsistency may lead to lower trust environments. As Elizabeth Gilbert noted: “[t]he inability to open up to hope is what blocks trust, and blocked trust is the reason for blighted dreams.” As Gefen, Benbasat, and Pavlou, (2008) suggest, e-commerce has two components – tangible components such as technology, vendors and customers and intangible components such as the background or culture of each customer and the organisational culture in which they are situated [314]. Some uncertainty is needed in order for trust to be established. Trust may consist of two stages an ‘exploratory’ stage and an ‘commitment’ stage. During the ‘exploratory’ stage interaction is based on disposition to trust and the background valency of organisational trust. The commitment stage of trust is characterised by the meeting or otherwise of expectations [315]. Gefen et al., (2008) also suggest there are four stages of trust in information content. Firstly, ‘privacy’ which describes a vendor’s degree of openness, secondly, ‘products and services’ should be transparent, and thirdly, the organisational factor reflects a history, standards, obligation and goodwill, fourthly, ‘security’ applies to the relative completeness or understandability of information as it related to risks and guarantees [316]. Organisational trust requires both ‘structural assurance’ and ‘situational normality’ [317]. The four main factors of overall organisational trust are an assessment of: competence, benevolence,

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integrity, predictability [318]. Calculus based trust refers to the business interaction defined by the customer-vendor relationship, knowledgebased trust refers to the reliability and predictability of information exchanged between parties, relational trust defines the overall ‘ambit’ of the interaction between parties [319]. For any given transaction, as Gefen et al., (2008) states a customer will assess whether a vendor’s website requires ‘too much time, too much effort, or too much money’ [320]. Gefen (2008) points out that in contrast to traditional environments (faceto-face), consumers in online environments are not passive recipients of information but active participants, they may make assessments of vendor integrity based on information without an interpersonal component [321]. Two further factors influencing online trustworthiness include ‘word of mouth’ (WOM) quality and perceived ease of use of the vendor’s website (PEOU) [322]. As the author Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie once put it: “[a]ll the world is made of faith, trust and pixie dust.” As Benamati, Serva, and Fuller (2008) suggests, in (B2C) ‘business-toconsumer’ electronic commerce, ‘[t]rust without distrust results in an overconfident investor who may be exposed to financial risks; distrust without trust results in an overprotective consumer who is unwilling to realise the benefits of online banking’ [323]. Furthermore, Purdue (2001) separates ‘competence trust’ and ‘goodwill trust.’ The former refers to the trust invested in the person or organisation to accomplish the task, and the latter refers to the emotional commitment with the other not to exploit vulnerability [324]. Lim, Ling Sia, Lee, and Benbasat (2006) suggest that there are three ways of measuring the intention to trust – firstly, through a willingness to provide personal information, secondly, through a willingness to engage in a purchase, and thirdly, through a willingness to act on information [325]. As Paul Coehlo put it: “[n]one of us knows what might happen even the next minute, yet still we go forward. Because we trust. Because we have Faith.”

Chapter 9

‘IN THE SHADOW OF THE FUTURE!’ Chapter 9 of BCD explores the concept of intangibles – concepts in the economy and business world that lack materiality but nonetheless figure as contingencies and indeed outcomes of business processes. As Adam Smith once stated: “[i]t is not easy to find an accurate measure either of hardship or ingenuity” [326]. This is because value is always rated against another thing, and values are constantly changing according to supply and demand. To determine value and effort at any given time, often people will do a ‘trade off’ between how hard they have to work for something and how much reward they expect to get from it. How much one gets paid is one of the main motivators in the work place but not the only one. It is one of the ironies of modern life that some leaders are admired simply for how much they get paid, rather than for the actual they do. And sometimes the work actual work they do is measured by the responsibilities they have, rather than how they exercise them. Such are those intangible factors that attribute to the kudos of financial reward. Another example is that both rich and poor may have a high IQ. Sometimes getting paid less for longer works out better than getting paid more for a shorter time. And sometimes it’s vice versa.

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DEMATERIALISATION OF MONEY In terms of physical culture, the recognition of the transformation of monetary forms from the metallic to the fiduciary or scriptural and the digitally coded, marks a dematerialisation of money (as a medium of exchange) that has occurred with late-capitalism which arguably began with the abandonment of the gold standard (where currency value was directly linked to gold). Dematerialised currencies are co-incidental with post-structuralism, as Tratner (2003) [327] explains, “[l]ifting the ‘curse’ on irredeemable monies is tantamount to lifting the curse on signs that operate without reference, a central element of Derrida’s linguistic project” [328]. This is in parallel with the post-Marxist claim that late-capitalism marked a point in history when ‘production was elevated to total abstraction’ resulting in a ‘digital code’ with an abolished referent [329]. However, the elevation of capitalism to ‘total abstraction’ has very real world effects which operate in economic and even social terms regardless of political perspective. In conditions of ‘total abstraction,’ as Elon Musk stated: “[r]eally, the only thing that makes sense is to strive for greater enlightenment.” Simpson (2000) points out that the equations of general equilibrium, which underlie human behavior in the market economy are ‘too general to be tested directly’ but give rise to ‘subsidiary models whose predictive ability tested regularly’ [330]. According to Jeron’s paradox, economic use is equivalent to diminished consumption, new modes of economy lead to an increase of consumption but what happens if those new modes of economy are yet to be seen or understood? The rationale for a focus on IAs (intangible assets) follows from the relative inability of economic forecasts to predict turning points in the behavior of the economy [331]. While this may be due to the infinite complexity of the interaction between the activities (desires, needs and wants) of people in society, environment and economy, it may also be due to the existence of qualities and factors of the market place which remain unmeasured. Furthermore, the weightless economy is co-incidental with both post-structuralist theory and the measurement of intangibles. As Tratner (2003) explains, “[d]efining a

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currency in terms of a basket of other currencies does rather seem like a freeplay of signifiers: searching for the ‘meaning’ of one monetary sign leads only to an infinite sequence of other signs and ultimately circles back to the same sign” [332]. Whilst forecasters can predict movements in stable variables with greater accuracy than naïve forecasts, they are less successful at predicting volatile variables such as interest rates [333]. What determines volatility? Could it not be that the aggregation of unseen measurables play a part in obscuring visible referents of changes and potentials in the market system? Making predictions in economic theory is notoriously difficult. The reason for this is that the market is catallaxic (possess the qualities of spontaneous order created by exchange specialisation) and following Ricardo’s law, exponentially complex (with specialisation among individuals). The results of equilibrium theory (from neoclassical economics that the behavior of supply and demand and prices in the market balances out at equilibrium in contrast to partial equilibrium) have meant that faith-based applications of the financial incentive may apply to many market conditions. Douglas W. Hubbard puts it: “... [y]ou should start thinking about measurements as a multistep chain of thought. Inferences can be made from highly indirect observations Furthermore, intangible assets are in need of definition and understanding as ‘unseen’ constituents of market volatility [334]. Does the power of prediction rest upon being informed about present and future prices according to rational expectations and the movement of those prices? What are the limits of rational expectations in the market place given the myriad forms of interactive human psychology and utility? Is it rational to expect to be able to predict, when constituent factors of the economy are intangible? Indeed is this possible? Whilst equilibrium theorists1 might argue that irrational behavior in the financial markets is not possible, however, buying at high prices and selling at low prices is 1

An example of an equilibrium theorist is Maurice Allais who suggested that market economies are grounded in the concept of surplus, economic dynamism being the search for, realization and distribution of surplus. See Michel Beaud and Gilles Dostaler, (1997), Economic Thought Since Keynes: A History and Dictionary of Major Economists, London & New York: Routledge, 166.

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economically irrational [335]. So does the economy need to be understood as operating rationally despite individual irrationalism’s, indeed is it rational to expect so? As Adam Smith (1776) famously stated, “the chance of gain is often over-valued, and the chance of loss under-valued.” But according to rational expectations theory all investors share rationally formed expectations of future prices and assets [336]. But at a different level to take a more people-centered Schumacheran [337] view, is the purchase based on wants rather than needs itself rational? Isn’t the issue to confuse the personal value with the market value? Is it possible that constant adjustments between real and perceived value, market value and the factors of economic growth may all be predicated on implied absences which actually may have a positive and negative valency as well as on calculation of tangibles? Here we might think of intangibles as closely related to Romer’s [338] point about new growth theory, that they are the latent spill-overs from limited monopolies on ideas, or unaccounted for factors of the possibilities of latent growth. As Baruch Lev put it: “[i]nnovations are created primarily by investment in intangibles. When such investments are commercially successful, and are protected by patents, or first-mover advantages, they are transformed into tangible assets creating corporate value and growth.”

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF INTANGIBLES As John Kay explains: The modern economy has many different kinds of distinctive capabilities and so many different kinds of intangible assets: competitive advantages based on brands or reputations with groups of customers; strategic assets such as patents and copyrights or local monopolies; structures of relationships with suppliers or employees. ‘Our people are our greatest asset’ is a cliché of company reports, and there is a lot in it. All of these factors explain why the value of companies is greater than the value of their tangible assets. [339]

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According to Andriessen, (2003) intangibles are ‘non-rival assets’ which can be deployed at the same time in multiple issues and which are characterized by large fixed costs and minimal marginal costs; consequently they are often characterized by increasing returns of scale instead of decreasing returns; they profit from network effects; ownership is difficult to secure; unknown market [340]. Intangibles are defined as “... assets that one cannot see or touch, such as patents and goodwill, but that become relevant when they are the subjects of a market transaction” [341]. Zambon (2009) offers a further definition: “Intangible assets can be defined as a source of future benefits that is without a physical embodiment.” For example, intellectual property is an intangible asset with legal rights. This definition includes innovation-related intangibles (Research and Development Patents), but also market-related (Brands), human resource (Competencies and Skills, and Training), and organizational intangibles (Internal Structures, Systems, Procedures, Routines, and Processes). A significant distinction can be drawn between ‘hard’ intangibles, which are tradable in the market place, and ‘soft’ intangibles, which cannot be sold or negotiated [342]. As Robert Herjavec: “[w]hat is great about entrepreneurship is that entrepreneurs create the tangible from the intangible.” Intangibles can also be deployed in multiple issues, which means their usefulness is sometimes exponential! Think of the usefulness of a map or a scale. An example which Andriessen (2003) gives is that, ‘[a]lthough an airplane can be used during a time period on one route only, its reservation system can serve, at the same time, a potentially unlimited number of customers’ [343]. As well as profiting from ‘network effects,’ they are frequently characterized by large fixed costs and minimal marginal costs and thus increasing rather than decreasing returns [344]. Lower prices encourage consumption and discourage increasing production (as high prices encourage people to purchase a commodity as it is perceived as being of high quality) however scarcity does not necessarily correspond to price, a commodity can be scarce and worthless – its value must be located elsewhere [345]. As Perelman (2006) suggests, economists have also confused a ‘metaphysical’ value or rather a continuum between religious,

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family and economic values but coterminous with this, the market system tends to devastate anything that has a price label, such as air or water [346]. Perelman (2006) compares the concept of value to that of gravity suggesting that the relationships between firms and households hold the economy in balance, just as physical bodies at a distance hold the planets of the solar system in balance [347]. John Stuart Mill stated, “[a]lmost every speculation respecting the economical interests of a society thus constituted, implies some theory of Value: the smallest error on that subject infects with corresponding error all our other conclusions; and anything vague or misty in our conception of it, creates confusion and uncertainty in everything else” [348]. The more permanent an investment is, the more uncertainty pervades the decision making process, but what if some of this uncertainty resulted from an inability to read or measure intangible benefits? Physical theories built around conservation laws, such as the conservation of matter and the conservation of energy, typically are thought to influence economics, however, as a description of economic relations they have very little explanatory power (rather they can be understood as imitational factors of supply and demand within physical space and time)? [349] Economies operate in something not quite like the Newtonian world because the concept of value can vary wildly. For example economists may use scalar dimensions because in production the lapse of time is a negative intangible. An economists’ understanding of both physics and metaphysics may account for why speculation itself is both rational and irrational. Naturally this is compounded by the abstraction of the weightless digital economy. As Douglas W. Hubbard noted: “[i]f you know almost nothing, almost anything will tell you something.” ‘Floating value,’ is economic value given in the application of regulation but Perelman points out there are no discount rates in the natural sciences, whilst business may value natural resources as no different from paper value, clearly there is a qualitative difference. Money is a ‘manufactured resource’, only useful where recognized [350]. Perelman (2006) points to the economist Arthur Cecil Pigou (1932) who suggested that people “... distribute their resources between the present, the near

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future, and the remote future on the basis of a wholly irrational preference, present, near future, remote future relative to one another, but business has ‘no reason at all to consider a lower discount rate for the more distant future” [351]. Robbins (1935) observed in influential study of economic methodology, economy is a ‘complexity’ of ‘scarcity relationships’ [352]. Deviation from marginal pricing causes inefficiency and social loss. Von Hayek’s price system and Newtonian analogue calculator, assembles information like a giant computer, outcomes superior to planning but nevertheless a mixture of the rational and irrational. Von Hayek’s proposal is hypothesized in the ‘best possible world.’” The economy is often thought of as divided into sectors. The primary sector is that which produces raw product. The secondary sector of manufacturing, construction and utilities increases and later loses a proportion of market share in production and demand, but the service sector continuously grows. The three-sector hypothesis that was proposed by Fourastie (1954) and Clark (1957) posits a cycle of growth in per capita income in which the share of the primary sector decreases with rising income. There is a fourth sector – the information sector – which is spread throughout the various sectors. Innovation is more likely to be found in the second and fourth sectors, to shift the demand curve [353]. The information sector is the domain of the internet, of cyberspace, of the digital future. A significant observation of the relationship between specialization and growth is that specialization forms the basis for high-income levels and productivity. There are disadvantages as well as advantages to specialization. These are described by the efficiency effect, the risk effect and the dynamic effect. A specialized firm is supposed to be able to exploit economies of scale, reap the benefits of learning, and to use specialized inputs (efficiency increases). However, specialization is disadvantageous, if the firm is locked in a mature, declining industry. Mature industries or those with a low potential for product differentiation will not be able to grow fast (or produce dynamic effect). Furthermore, as Aiginger (2001) points out if member countries of a Monetary Union are too highly specialized, the external shocks will lead to asymmetries in demand, and

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can’t be compensated for by changes in the external value of currencies [354]. Does growth make structural change necessary? Or vice versa, does growth depend on past structural change more closely than innovation by itself? [355] As Warren Buffett once put it: “[i]t is better to be approximately right than to be precisely wrong.’ Berk, Green and Naik (1998 and 1999) show that Research and Development projects and new ventures display high level of systematic risk; [356] and Ho, Xu and Yap (2003) empirically demonstrate that Research and Development investment increase a firm’s systematic risk [357]. Wyatt (2002) remarks that the risk associated to Intangible Assets (IAs) is higher than risk associated to tangible assets, since generally IAs precede investment in tangible assets [358]. So investment in IAs is characterised by uncertainty. As Marzo (2007) points out risks reduce during investment, is high in researching and reaches a lower level at marketing phase. The arrival of new information and knowledge make reduction of risk possible during life on investment [359]. Tangible assets are seen as less risky. However, significant growth can arise from IAs. Risk reduction can itself be an intangible asset. For any given project, a reduction of the value of the real option is positively correlated to the risk variance of the underlying asset value [360]. Despite the fact that the value of intangibles may be calculated from comparing market value of stock to the accounting book value, there is no standardized measurement of intangibles. As Douglas Hubbard put it: “[a]nything you need to quantify can be measured in some way that is superior to not measuring it at all. — Gilb’s Law.” So investing in intangible assets pays for a greater uncertainty. The risk reduces during investment. It is at its maximum at the moment of the research project, while new information and knowledge make possible a reduction of risk while it reaches a lower level still at the moment of marketing phase. As Marzo (2007) observes, the value of real option is positively correlated to overall risk (variance) of underlying asset value [361]. As Zambon (2009) states, “... even though the relevance of intangible assets is unanimously recognised, the delicate and complex issue of the valuation of and reporting on intangibles remains wide open” [362].

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So if, Intangible Assets are those that one cannot see or touch but which become relevant when subject to market transaction [363], does one compute value of intellectual property in terms of items and cost of development, or also on the basis of forecast earnings based on current value? Marzo (2007) recognises that the calculation of value in IAs doesn’t include political and economic factors such as those, for example, which influence share prices [364]. There is no standardized measurement or market valuation based on imperfect information. As Salvadore Dali once said: “Have no fear of perfection - you’ll never reach it.” Table 7. Positive and Negative Intangibles and Remediation Positive Intangibles

Negative Intangibles

Human capital (knowledge) Organisational capital (Collective knowledge, policies, regulations) Information capital (Intellectual property, patents) Market Positioning Statutory based Customer based Market based Contract based Technology based

Threat of substitute products and services New market entrants Switching costs Slack (time lost) Barrier to entry Obligations Complaints Unknown unknowns Threats to supply Barriers to research and development Product differentiation Planning

Remediation of intangible threats Environmental scanning Regulation Education Market capture Rights Positive networking Known unknowns Fulfilment of terms Patents

MONEY AS A SYSTEM OF SIGNS The point is often made that money is a symbol and its value is arbitrary, though it is encoded as belonging to a system of signs and symbol that are given legitimacy by society. Money withdrawn from circulation does not have currency but may have a market value but itself cannot be used to pay for itself.. Such are the knotty questions that surround the issues of value in society and the meaning or meaninglessness

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of money as a ‘thing in action’ or a token of exchange – an index that bears semantic meaning. The boundaries between physical and intangible value were partially explored in the proceeding section in relation to intangible assets but they are also problematic in the shift from physical to digital currencies. Forms of comparison between deconstruction, semiotics and money include, firstly, that ‘money’ describes a quality that is both positive and negative (can be added or taken away) and as such is both destructive and constructive, it is a shifting network of mediations, differences and traces. Because its ability to be converted into other systems of value, objective, subjective, equivalent, non-equivalent, like language money is a name for a structural or foundational instability [365]. In standard Derridean semiotic theory a ‘given sound or mark (a signifier) relates to a given idea or concept (a signified), as much money may instantiate a ‘transcendental signified’ – an ultimate presence (premised on a tacit and legal) belief, which ‘anchors all meaning in itself’ – and which replaces the presence of a speaker. Semiologists may argue that we are trading in ‘one idea of the logos’ for another as we move through history, one currency for another, but same logos of exchange value. According to Bradley (2008) the agency of language is bound up in the logocentric story of the sign which equates speech with ‘pure presence and writing with mediation, difference or absence’ [366]. Signs are characterized by a state of mediation, making it impossible for them to ‘directly relate to a ‘present’ meaning or signified, likewise with physical money or even electronic money, it describes a numerical value but also presents its own ‘state of language’ a priori as a transcendental signified [367]. Similarly just as the sign cannot be reduced to a single presence (or single point) because it is in a state of complexity (an element without simplicity) so to with currency, even non-current, or extrajudicial currency (because its value as a historical and cultural marker). Nothing is value free and money even if it cannot be spent is not value free. However, there is one important difference in which money differs from the Saussurian [368] notion of the sign (constituted in the idea that the sign acquires meaning through its difference from other signs) [369]

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and that is that money acquires its meaning through its similarity or convertibility to other forms. However, money also assumes its place in the network of signs as an instantiation of difference (to differ – in the sense of distinguishing or differentiating something from something else) and to defer (in the sense of delaying or postponing something at a later point in time) [370], constantly referring to other elements that exist alongside the system or to elements that ‘exist before or after it’ in the language or value system [371]. In fact money is such a complex value system, like the inter-relation of linguistic signifiers, in which meaning is endlessly transferred or deferred. Indeed, Derrida’s notion of Saussure’s ‘original trace’ can be extended to cover not simply ‘language but the pure realm of thought’ a part of the ‘process of differing/deferring’ named as difference [372]. There is a Russian proverb that says: “[w]hen money speaks, truth keeps silent.” Bishop Nicole Orsema [373], is regarded as one of the original theorists of monetarism in its metallic form. As Galbraith explains, Oresme, “showed how the coinage of gold, silver and copper – coins of fixed weight and reliable purity – replaced the awkward tedium of scales and the weighing of metal” [374]. Viewed in this light, it is perhaps ironical that money may be regaining its abstract quality through the digital form in the post-structuralist age. As Bradley (2008) explains, money as a pure signifier and its financial value or its value as a tradable commodity is similar to the dichotomy between signifier and signified as a portal “... through which we can enter the opposition that makes up the metaphysics of presence, such as the opposition between the soul and the body, the idea and the material, the transcendental and the empirical” [375]. What of the intangible quality, for example, a network of relationships which define the interrelationships of contractual obligations, bank account percentages, interest payable, goodwill, futures? In and of itself the value gained in such transactions is mediated through a form of metaphysical system – temporal deferral or many other multi-variables? Or perhaps the condition of what John Kay calls ‘opportunity costs’ which are defined as the implicit prices involved in the price of doing A making it more difficult to doing B? [376]. Both examples invite comparison with the concept of

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trace as neither sensible nor intelligible (in other words not something that be conceived within our minds – like the difference between spoken and written marks – or states of imaginative concepts) [377]. At this point an economic intangible is neither a subject nor object, ‘neither a property of our being [and] something that exceeds the spatial opposition between interiority and exteriority’ [378]. As Thomas A. Stewart noted: “[c]ompanies ... have a hard time distinguishing between the cost of paying people and the value of investing in them.” Like the linguistic system of original trace, money is neither an empirical nor historic ‘truth’ (it is even in the process of becoming or until it is realised and attains conceptual presence). This state is even prior to the metaphysical concept because the process of deferral allows them to appear as concepts in the original state which is the nature of intangibles. The meaning of money as a symbol is a process which is endlessly deferred. Financial value like the ‘trace’ is a condition of mediation, a synthesis of complexity ‘rather than a present being, thing or entity: the trace is nothing, it is not an entity, and it exceeds the question of what is? [379]. The interest gained on lending money at a higher rate is a relationship of ‘kind’ or ‘similarity’ of ‘like as like’ rather than of duality or being and not-being. In a certain world no option would have a value. As Zambon and Marzo (2007) suggest, the combination of uncertainty with flexibility determines the asymmetry of a real options payoff: ‘At the time the real option could be struck, the probability distribution of value is cut at the level of exercise price, the option is exercised only if profitability limits the losses but not the gains’ [380]. Can intangibles therefore be considered to be market conditions? Yes and no, a real option for example is the right to make a value-accretive decision under market conditions. The possibility that the market may add or subtract value from the decision made is the intangible, the fact of its occurrences is the empirical measure and but changes the intangible into something else [381]. As Leif Edvinsson noted: “[o]f central importance is the changing nature of competitive advantage – not based on market position, size and power as in times past, but on the incorporation of knowledge into all of an organization’s activities.”

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Table 3. The Economy as a Semiotic System (After Morarasu, 2008)

Intangible assets generally have five distinct qualities. The first is ‘non-rivalry’, since an intangible asset can be exploited in multiple activities. The second quality is ‘increasing returns,’ due to the fact that knowledge is cumulative and benefits are enlarged with its use. Company specificity as the value of intangible assets is dependent on the specific qualities of the firm. The fourth quality is path dependency as intangible assets are grounded in prior decision making. The fifth quality is scarcity as intangible assets are generally not replicable by other companies, and the sixth quality is ‘high-risk’ in comparison with tangible assets [382]. Intangibles are ‘non rival’ assets. They are assets that one cannot see or touch, such as patents and goodwill, but become relevant when subject of a market transaction or even a potential transaction. They offer future benefits or detriments without physical embodiment. If economic use is equivalent to diminished consumption, what if new modes of economy lead to increase consumption based on concepts of the ‘yet to be seen’ or ‘exploited. As Peter F. Drucker noted: “[t]he single greatest challenge facing managers in the developed countries of the word is to raise the productivity of knowledge and service works.” So whether one generation

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of the workforce carries the burden of loans created by the preceding generation into the future, or indeed saves for the future generation; or by the digital encoding of immaterial transaction, premised on the future translatability of symbols that act as money or financial value; or whether at its basis, business continuity is premised on the inductive inference of performing a service tomorrow based on one provided today - the ‘shadow of the future’ is caste by many forms of business activity.

THE ECONOMY AS A SEMIOTIC SYSTEM Table 3 highlights the role of money as a signifying system in which it is a resource (signifier/), an accounting device (signified within syntagmatic relations/banks and businesses), and a measure of value (indexical sign/banks and businesses), a ‘liquid’ (icon/digital or metallic currency), or a symbol of power or object of desire (metonym) [383]. However, like the sign there is a sense in which the idea of a singular or unique sign is a contradiction in terms – this is because any singular, ‘present’ and independent sign ‘necessarily contains within it traces of other signs within the system against which it is defined’ (as does money). Similarly, the currency value of money could be described as a ‘signifier of a signified’ as every sign works by referring to other signs within the system’ but unlike the Saussurian notion, money could be seen as having some inherently positive content of its own – it is not only a symbol for an absent object. But as John Plameatz noted: “[t]he store of wisdom does not consist of hard coins which keep their shape as they pass from hand to hand; it consists of ideas and doctrines whose meanings change with the minds that entertain them.”

Chapter 10

‘THE DIGITAL YOU!’ Chapter 10 of CDB discusses and explain the concept of social presence and the digital domain. When we communicate with others online, the virtual medium allows us to gain a sense of the presence of the other person(s). Short, Williams and Christie, (1976) the originators of social presence theory, defined social presence as “the degree of salience of the other person in a mediated interaction and the consequent salience of the interpersonal interaction” [384]. Social presence in the online environment has also been defined as “being with others” [385], and the ‘level of awareness of the co-presence of another human, being or intelligence’ [386]. As Evan Spiegel put it: “[w]e’re kind of looking at a future where people acknowledge the hybridization of digital and analogue, and appreciate and understand that they both affect each other.” The most common method of communication in the virtual world, or the digital domain, is the email. An email does not itself have a facial expression, interact with us (even if animated), or demand attention but nevertheless allows two or more people the ability to communicate across space and time. The use of internet and cloud-based software programs is ubiquitous in the modern working environment that uses information technology (including computing). People communicate through emails, apps, mobile phones, texting services, software for digital video

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conferences, video chatrooms, electronic forums, and social media channels in the course of their normal day. The use (and uptake) of electronic communication technology in organisations of all sizes has a huge impact. Technologies which use social presence have increased in the contemporary world of communication, and so too have the number of individuals or interactions that a person has access to. Entire relationships may be conducted through mediated technology and people increasingly rely on them as substitutes for face-to-face (F-t-F) interaction [387]. The Networked Minds Theory of Social Presence explores the relationship between two or more people, both a sense of the “other” and of the other’s sense of “me, you or us” in an online environment [388]. As Ken Auletta has noted: “[t]he digital revolution has disrupted most traditional media: newspapers, magazines, books, record companies, radio.” However, this is tempered by the fact that in virtual communication an individual might be aware of the other, but the other and the self may not be aware of an observer [389]. This may be understood as the technology-sociality “blindspot” alluded to in the conceptualisation of the Johari window [390]. Intentionality and refinement of social relations are exemplified by the practice of the Johari window devised by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham (see Figure 2) [391]. Squares represent the spaces of knowledge and exchange in inter-personal communication: things that one knows but the other is blind to (‘façade’), things that are known and shared (‘arena’), things that one does not know about self but the other knows and may share (‘blind spot’), and things that neither knows and that are not shared (‘unknown’). As Fletcher (2007) points out, the relations between the squares of the Johari window can explain how effectively information senders and receivers (communicators and communicants) develop towards their projected possible selves. Within the informational environment, the Johari window is a measure of the cognitive relations of distributed learning. These relations can account for cultural differences as well as register the part played by body language and the use of silence and language [392].

‘The Digital You!’ Known to self Arena Façade

Not known to self Blind spot Unknown

93 The shadow of the future Known to others Not known to others

Figure 2. The Johari Window.

In virtual or Computer-Mediated-Communication (CMC) we experience others in terms of sensing and interacting with them, “... [n]ot with their immediate embodiments of mind, i.e., physical bodies with their actual faces and voices, but with mediated embodiments of minds, representations made of pixels, ink, stone, paper, etc” [393]. Often we might simply imagine the other person with whom we are conversing, or even suspend our perception of them and respond simply to the textual communications that they make with us. However, smiling at emotions, laughing or crying in films, gaining an understanding of how another person thinks or feels are all measures of online social presence and, depending on the nature of the interaction, may be superficial or strong. As Ginni Rometty puts it: “[t]hink about when a digital business marries up with what I’ll call ‘digital intelligence.’ It is the dawn of a new era about being a ‘cognitive’ business. When every product, every service, how you run your company can actually have a piece that learns and thinks as part of it, you will be a cognitive business.” Suler (2005) identifies the following factors as basic psychological features of cyberspace:       

reduced sensations, identity flexibility, altered perceptions, equalized status, transcended space, temporal flexibility, social multiplicity.

All these factors are implicit or explicit determinants of the psychological experience of social presence online [394].

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Suler (2003) defines four factors in perceiving online presence: Firstly, sensory stimulation from the environment; secondly, change in the environment; thirdly, interactivity with the environment; and fourthly, the degree of familiarity [395]. Clearly some mediums are better for some tasks – email for short text-based conversations and digital video for contextualised descriptions, but these questions – the differences between responding to text or to a virtual representation of a physical body – remind us that online social presence may also be considered as a form of semiotics which has universal properties. Biocca and Harms (2002) point out that people over millennia have used representations of others, be it from stone sculptures, wooden masks or in virtual graphic characters for the purposes of informational transmission, storage, interface, for mediated interaction and symbolic communication and decoration [396]. The types of mediums through which informational social presence may be articulated or experienced are manifold. They include:       

collaborative work environments (mediated work interactions/growth in telecommunication infrastructure); mobile and wireless telecommunication; high band-width teleconferencing interfaces (tele-immersive F-t-F simulations); agent-based e-commerce and help interfaces (intelligent agents that inhabit virtual environments speech interfaces 3D social virtual environments, Social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc [397].

The latter are in widespread use to promote small businesses globally. Biocca and Harms (2002) regard “co-presence of the embodied other” as an environmental affordance that is correlated with sentient beings. Mediated embodiments of sentient others almost always trigger social presence responses. These responses are even triggered by representations that the viewer knows to be false. The moment of perception of copresence (whether derived from ink, pixels, or marble) is described as the

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“threshold moment” [398]. Goffman (1963) [399] derived two criteria for determining the moment of co-presence (whether biological or cybernetic): first, when individuals sense they are able to perceive others; and, secondly, the moment of perception when others perceive them [400]. As Lewis Howes put it: “[i]t can be easy to become ‘friends’ or ‘connected’ with someone in a digital world, but it requires thought and strategy to convert social media connections into rewarding business relationships.”

3D DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS In the 3D digital environment, be it terrestrial, digital or cloud, measures of co-presence include symbols encoding awareness, eye fixation, proxemic behaviour, and physiological responses. In the textbased environment heightened social presence may be defined by description of self, self-other interaction, mimicry of facial expression, demonstration of intentional awareness, access to shared thinking, dispositional states of mind, access to shared affective states, decentring behaviours, sense of the intentional states of the other, referential engagement, reciprocity, motor mimicry, and recognition of phenomenal states [401]. There is also clearly an intentional reflexivity in the sense of the person being close enough to sense being perceived by the other (Goffman, 1963) [402]. Furthermore, the co-orientation model of interaction suggests that online social presence may be assessed by comparisons of subjective and inter-subjective responses to stimulus – a shared experience. As Jim Clarke put it: “[t]he Internet is not just one thing, it’s a collection of things – of numerous communications networks that all speak the same digital language.” Social presence thus spans different classes of technology: it can be found in a variety of mediated interactions; it applies to human and cybernetic interactions; and it concerns “real” or “illusory” social interactions [403]. However, the SIDE (Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects) obviates the necessity for interpersonal interaction in

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social presence as the lack of non-verbal or bodily cues in CMC may increase rather than decrease social presence in group contexts [404]. Underlying the SIDE model is the belief that individuals have multiple layers of “self”, including personal identity and a range of possible social identities. The salience of a relevant social identity can thus be increased by contexts in which transfer of personal information is limited. Instead of individuating or conceiving in interpersonal terms of “self” vs “other” relations communication by people in groups is more likely to be in terms of shared similarity than differences – a social rather than personal identity. This depersonalised shared social identity has an increased influence on behaviours [405]. As David Chen stated: “[t]he rise of digital technologies has eroded boundaries: Anyone can participate, start a business, and reach a global audience.” As Mykota and Duncan (2007) state, “[t]he genesis of social presence lies in the conceptualization from social psychology of immediacy and intimacy surrounding F-t-F communication” [406]. Relational and content information is critical for building ties between actions for group activities, thus enhancing the quality of communicative collaborations [407]. But more than this it can span distances and overcome barriers: Space perception and transactional distance are also factors in the creation of social presence. Perceptions of space are somewhat subjective and may influence online participation. Transactional distance describes the sense of psychological and communications distance to be surmounted online. Although a source of exchange and creativity, it is also a space of potential misunderstandings between communicators who may be separated by both space and time [408]. As Eduardo Paes put it: “[t]here is no time and space in the digital world. People chat and collaborate through social networks. Cultural icons garner millions of fans online in locations they have often never been themselves. The boundary between public and private life is now everyone’s business.”

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THE CREATION OF SOCIAL PRESENCE Tu and McIsaac (2002) [409] and Aragon (2003) [410] assert that the following are key factors in online dialogue and messaging:      

Timely response to messages Use of stylistic communication types/humour, emotions Casual conversations/personal stories Appropriate message register and length Planning, creativity, decision-making, social tasks Appropriate communication to group size

There is also evidence that the appeal of social presence in enhancing online engagement works in the commercial setting. As Hassanein and Head (2005/6) suggest, it is about “increased levels of social presence through socially-rich descriptions and pictures positively impacts attitudinal antecedents” [411]. Clearly social presence is a facilitator of engagement in all online environments. However, social presence, informational presence and cognitive presence are three main factors in teaching and learning in online environments. They are summarised by Vaughan and Garrison (2006) [412] in the table below: Factors Social presence

Informational presence

Cognitive presence

Categories Affective expression Open communication Group cohesion Design and organization Facilitating discourse Direct instruction Triggering event Exploration Integration Resolution

Examples Emoticons Express trust and judgment Encourage collaboration Defining content and activities Sharing meaning Focussing discussion Sense of puzzlement Information exchange Connecting ideas Applying new ideas

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Social presence is described as the ability of communicators to project themselves in cyberspace as real people and it involves both instructional (meaning exchange) and cognitive components. As Biocca and Harms (2002) suggest, “humans are the only species that engage in sustained and prolonged interaction with representations of others” [413]. Social presence is concerned with defining the digital “self”, “group” or “other”. As Charnock (2010) says, this is a complex mosaic of habit, subconscious acts of omission and commission, and premeditated presentations [414]. In this sense the “digital you” of social presence takes on both mythical and cybernetic characteristics being “more than the sum of the breadcrumbs” left behind in travels through cyberspace [415], but rather a notion of mind and person which picks out “open-ended systems” capable of including “non-biological props and aids” as parts of themselves [416]. Furthermore social presence is an extension of the “mind-bodyscaffolding” problem in which biology and technology combines to produce perceptions, emotions and cognitions in a supportive environment [417]. Social presence also takes place in a complex psychological context which may inhibit, amplify or extend personality and behavioural expressions beyond those associated with the F-t-F environment. As Richard Branson put it: “[i]n this digital age, it doesn’t really matter if you are in Canary Wharf or the Caribbean; there are opportunities waiting to be grasped by entrepreneurs.” New technologies are used in many areas:    

information about a product launch is easily disseminated to clients or consumers via website, email, social media, text, or app. information about a business is disseminated to its employees relatively easily product or service surveys are easier to conduct since the evolution of the internet and social networks social interaction with consumers is increasingly easy as social media and internet websites continue to evolve

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dialogue face-to-face with other employees, clients and consumers use, no matter where they are located, is possible because of videoconferencing communication 24/7 is possible through the use of digital networks (phones and printers are digitised) —satellite and broadband transmissions mean people can use their mobile phones to communicate with anyone else when at work or not at work, no matter the time of day or location;

Technology has changed how we interact and communicate with others. With the increased use of social networks, people can create new relationships communication more easily and cheaply. As Chad Hurley put it: “[t]he power of digital distribution over physical retail outlets is you have a chance to create a global audience.” Examples include:  





instant text messaging services using mobile phone applications, which let emergency services connect with people free internet calls, which use free internal call centers and instant messaging applications (such as SKYPE) to help people connect with friends over a range of media social networking platforms, which provide online social networks that help a person discover old school friends and get new friends based on interests and region parental security applications, which help parents keep track of where their children are

Email continues to be the business communication message medium of choice, even though social networks are trying to replicate email communication. People cannot use social networks to exchange certain information, so email remains the mostly widely used form of electronic communication. People rely on a wide range of e-communication technologies to perform duties, some of which are interactive with forms of mass media,

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telephone, video-conferencing, television, newspapers, and magazines. This form of e-communication helps to:   

Maintain and measure the level of communication among the workforce—marketing, customer satisfaction, team building Create new sales channels—selling products and services online Ensure people can also work remotely with greater efficiency— made possible by email (an effective tool in customer relations management), internet, instant messaging, and associated technologies such as video-conferencing (which can reduce travel and accommodation costs and allow for presentation of data remotely).

As Middleton (1997) suggests [418] information and communications technology (ICT - using the intranet and internet) offers five main communication efficiencies:   

 

High capacity for data storage and transmission. Easy access and storage of data. Creation of new shared communication space, which enables contact between individuals and groups who might otherwise not have communicated. Widespread dissemination of ideas, interactivity, and multidirectional information flows. Improved communication abilities using synchronous and asynchronous time and space.

As Bazhenova, Taratukhin and Becker (2012) relate, e-communication technology allows for greater specialisation and mass media dissemination, either as a form of market segmentation or niche strategy [419]. It allows greater proximity and diffusion into markets, with a strong focus on highend users, flexibility and speed in reaction to business changes, greater efficiency of resources, and technological heterogeneity and integration. As Lewis Howes put it: “[i]t can be easy to become ‘friends’ or

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‘connected’ with someone in a digital world, but it requires thought and strategy to convert social media connections into rewarding business relationships.”

Chapter 11

‘A NOUS FOR NEWS’ In chapter 11 of BCD we explore the concept of media and some media effects that impact on awareness in the business world. Social media is defined as computer mediated tools that allow for the creation and sharing of digital information, text and pictures in electronic, fibreoptic, radio frequency and Wi-Fi networks. It has its technological beginnings in Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 (the semantic web) and allows usergenerated content. Social media is highly interactive. As with personal use, social media is widely used in business promotion. Beyond cost effective marketing, people in business need to keep up with the play, it helps to know what’s going on in the world around them, to make the most of their opportunities. Business people need a ‘nose’ for what’s going on, they need to have nous to find and develop business ideas, and they also need to be aware of their environment and promote their situation within it. This is where social media comes in. This includes watching the media, knowing what’s going on in the world, although some business people will tell you that sometimes it’s better not to! Mass communication is the transmission of signal usually from a single source to a large audience. It is usually transmitted by a media such as TV, radio, book or newspaper. Social media is a form of active participant (one to one; one to many) networked mass-media. The familiar models of ‘one-many’ stimulus and dispersion, audience reception, ‘use and gratification’ continue to be relevant but

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pertinent for the world of today and tomorrow also is the idea that news, for example, is ‘networked and participatory’ if not also always transparent. Increasingly, information is proliferate and necessary, after all, our survival depends on the exchange of it. New is not something just created by professional journalists but it is open to all citizens to create and share information and views; this creates increased dialogical interaction in the model of mass communication, with more exchanges between journalists and the public, which alters ideas about the meaning of public opinion and standards by which newsworthiness and credibility are assessed. This change is seen as akin to an ‘ecological’ system a dynamic informational entity [420] that is as much created and shared as it is digested and consumed. However, it is also important to emphasize, that while interaction in the news ‘ecology’ can be useful, there is a risk of misperception or unverified, decontextualized information negatively affecting the quality of information. In order to minimise these effects, a slower paced reaction to and creation of ‘news’ is arguably better, with more comprehensive ‘crosschecking’ of facts. As Herbert Simon once said: “...a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention... .” For people working in the busy world of serving, of clients, of information, of image, sights and sounds, there is also a risk of information overload. As Remund and Aikat (2012) state, “[i]formation overload may be defined as the self-perception of having too much information for the amount of time available to process the information, causing a person to feel stressed . . .” [421]. Dean and Webb (2011) emphasise the importance of reserving time for decision making and the difficulty in doing so. The communication technology that is available to managers and executives (such as smart phones, tablets, apps and organisers) are also within reach of their workers. Knowledge of how to use smart-technology effectively can mitigate the information overload that might challenge the productivity of the organisation as a whole. While attention fragmentation can also follow from information overload [422], good time management, including time for reflection and cessation from the unceasing rhythm of daily meetings, travel, and social occasions in

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which an employee represents company, can be built-into work activity and scheduling. In any productive firm, organisation or business, on the one hand there is a desire for creativity without getting distracted but on the other, creativity plummets under conditions of attentional fragmentation [423]. Multi-tasking in response to multiple messaging is seen as a poor coping mechanism making people less productive and able to make useful decisions [424]. It is more desirable to be focused on one task at a time, and switching between tasks ‘turns off’ rules for old task on ‘turns on’ rules for new task. Research has shown that people processing in parallel take thirty percent longer to complete the processing task than those processing in sequence [425]. But creative problem solving typically requires us to hold several thoughts at once in memory so we can sense connections that we hadn’t previously and forge new ideas. The result of multi-tasking can involve higher stress hormones, damaged personal relationships, even damage to personal health. It has led some people advocating disengagement from electronic media – ‘I don’t want to be connected, I want to be disconnected!’ becomes the catch-cry of the o ver-busy person! Whilst electronic media and computer mediated communication is very useful, educational psychologists advise periods of disengagement (or quiet from chatter) can be beneficial. For Amabile (2002), the likelihood of creative thinking is higher when people focus on just one task for the day or collaborate with just one person. Creative thinking decreases when people have fragmented days [426]. As Henry Ford put it “[o]bstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.” To lessen information overload, strong communication systems need to be put in place to control the quantity as well as quality of information, to ensure that information overload is not a constant threat up and down the chain of command or communication pathway. Localisation of information can also help a corporation to serve its clients better. From the organisational perspective on information overload a desirable state is to be able to cope with increasing amounts of information, to be capable of identifying most critical bits of information, to distinguish the accurate

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from non-accurate, in order to make decisions sensible to organisations. Gordon, Haka, O’Reilly and Schick (2012) defined overload as an imbalance within an organisation in which employers and employees fail to match their information processing capabilities with the volume of information encountered. Perceived information overload can be defined as a breakdown – a point at which information inputs cannot be reprocessed and utilised by an individual and which result in cognitive ineffectiveness [427]. Generally speaking, an individual’s performance will generally improve with the amount of information received but will reach a critical level where more information produces a decline in processing ability. But as the information load and cognitive complexity increases, integrative complexity decreases. Idea generation and information load also reach a critical point after which idea organisation decreases as information overload increases. Too much of a good thing is a bad idea! Thus while it could be said that the mass media are characterised by an undifferentiated aggregate of disordered and sometimes darkly reflective images of mass society [428], media themselves rely upon many effects that are both sensory and narrational, including devices of communication medium usage such as spectacle, simplification, and exaggeration. As Idries Shah, stated: “[s]ometimes a pessimist is only an optimist with extra information.” Furthermore media are forms of meta-information – they are part of the power and socio-economic system that they report on, and as media are themselves formed by series of words and images, stories, rhetoric and sensory impressions all intended to gain attention and influence. Such media forms are both networked and multi-modal and also distributed across a variety of systems. Indeed, central to many types of journalism ethics, the concept of truth may itself be ‘mediated,’ that is represented, disguised or limited in various ways. The proliferation of television (TV)

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and radio channels in the satellite, cable and broadband2 era has brought a plethora of information alternatives, but as Bernstein (2002) states, not necessarily “better information … [rather] increased quantity of information ... without any consistent improvement in quality” [429]. This is turn may lead to ‘degraded’ time, decision-making and investment decisions [430]. For Ozcan (2012), there is a hegemonic relationship between information and the Internet which leads to problems with information ‘pollution’ and “the credibility, control and, marketization of information in which the possibility “of free-thinking and finding relation between cause and effect” is eroded [431]. These are subtle effects and are a product of people having to spend extra time and energy to process there environments but some people and some business spend a lot of effort doing just that, they thrive on ambiguity, symbol manipulation, and subtle change – the advertising industry, retailers, publicists and of course journalist and media corporations themselves. As Alain de Botton put it: “[w]e are continuously challenged to discover new works of culture—and, in the process, we don’t allow any one of them to assume a weight in our minds.” Increasingly, either by subsuming within a media conglomerate or by the hybrid amateurism of citizen-journalism (through blogging, tweets, self-publishing, lack of editing and verification for news items), security in the accessibility, reliability and credibility of journalistic information can be brought into question. It is not just the general public and the public services that rely on reliable and truth – bearing news but businesses also, in fact up-to-date unambiguous information is the life-blood of many businesses. Businesses thrive by disambiguating aspects of the consumer environment, at least good businesses strive to! But in today’s world, the smart-phone has made citizen journalists (at least potentially) of all communicators who have software social media programs such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the ubiquitous blogs at their disposal to tell the

2

A broadband telecommunications network is multi-media, multi-port, and multi-rate. ‘Broadband’ is wide bandwidth data transmission through one of a variety of mediums: coaxial cable, optical fiber, twisted pair or wireless.

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world their every mood, thought and disposition. A ‘blog’ is an abbreviation of weblog and is an informational site on the World Wide Web (W3) consisting of a series of entries called posts. Alternatively a media outlet may rush to print with a story on the basis of partial or incomplete information from a tweet. Although interactivity and collaboration have increased in some areas of the global information network and there are more mechanisms for open social participation, this generally has not led to an improvement in the quality of information available nor the perception of a globalised social stability. Whilst one can argue that the media plays a role in maintaining “vital links and connections necessary for a cohesive social order” it does so without much thought to the effect in any localised sense (much as water will flow down a hill instead of up it) [432]. As Ethan Zuckerman put it, “[i]t’s fine to have social media that connects us with old friends, but we need tools that help us discover new people as well.” This goes for connecting businesses with clients also. And although giant media conglomerates, dominate the market and culture of media (such as the News Corporation, 3 Time Warner, 4 Microsoft5 and Google6) deregulation has also weakened the objectivity of the media and its relation to truth value. Competition has arguably not generally raised the truth value but rather broadened the interpretative culture of what makes news. Furthermore the era of the citizen journalist adds further challenges to the assigned professional role of journalist in any democracy. As García de Madariaga (2013) states, “the objectivity and the role of the media as monitors of power are less valuable in a society which is increasingly subject to the dictates of commercial rationality and which turns most journalists into mere disseminators of consent” [433]. 3

News Corporation is an American multinational media corporation, and the world’s second largest media group. 4 Time Warner Inc., is an American multinational media corporation. It is the third largest television network and filmed TV Entertainment Company. 5 Microsoft is an American multinational corporation based on personal computers, computer software and consumer electronics. It is the largest software maker in the world. 6 Google is an American multinational corporation which specializes in internet services and products – online advertising, searching and software technologies.

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Prevalent in today’s media-hungry world is the concept of ‘Fake News,’ which is a form of ironic propaganda, a statement that is made, known to be false (or at least independent of truth value), in order to have the subject in the media gaze, and often for propagandist purposes. Fake news bears a proposition whose relationship to fact is tangential. It is a variation of the ‘straw-man or straw-woman’ argument, a proposition put known to be fallible. Of course, ‘fake news’ is different from an advertisement, which is subject to commercial standards of fair representation. An advertisement can be of course biased but ‘genuine’ on pain of fraud. At the other end of the media spectrum, the relationship of the media with systems of ‘power’ is less than clear cut – truth value and objectivity tend to transcend their sources. As Thomas Sowell put it: “[i]f people in the media cannot decide whether they are in the business of reporting news or manufacturing propaganda, it is all the more important that the public understand the difference, and choose their news sources accordingly.” Perhaps this is also related to Ramonet’s (2001) assertion that ‘seeing is understanding,’ meaning the mediated society that consumes images also blames the receiver of information for practising the choice of interpretation, as he or she can become meaningfully informed on his or her own [434]. Digital media is patterned information that is encoded in machine or electronic device readable format. It includes computer programs software and digital imagery, is also often time dependant, information has a time specificity in acquisition and use [435]. But as John Ortberg Jr. put it: “[w]e have largely traded wisdom for information, depth for breadth. We want to microwave maturity.” The adage that ‘time is money’ is about getting the task done with the best information available at the time. The psychological exploration of ‘self’ online is complex. Within the concept of the online ‘self’ the notion of ‘self-boundary’ is a strong factor in online communication and elearning. As Suler (2004) suggests, a self-boundary is a sense of ‘what is me and what is not me’ [436]. It may be a continuum between inhibition and disinhibition. The self-boundary describes a flexible perimeter which makes distinctions between thoughts, feelings and memories aware not

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only in terms of what exists outside that field but also within other people. Suler (2004) identifies a plethora of factors which contribute to a selfboundary: Firstly, awareness of having a physical body; secondly, perception via senses of the outside world; thirdly, being able to make a psychological distinction between what I know and what others know about me; fourthly, sensation of the physical/psychological self, moving in a space/time continuum of past present future [437]. In these situations of diffuse ‘self and other’ boundaries, ‘primary process thinking’ may take over in the interpretation of online social presence. Personal feedback loops become just as prevalent as two-way communication. As Denise Morrison put it: “I see more people taking charge of their well-being through the use of data and digital sensors, wearable health bands, and smartphone apps that can track and quantify everything from their heart rate, blood pressure, and sleep quality to steps walked and calories consumed.”

CONCLUSION Most business communication in the digital world of today and tomorrow will either take place face to face or is technologically mediated (by phone, email, video conference, text etc.). More mediated business communication is taking place because of the ubiquitous availability of new distal technologies that are compatible with the office PC – social media, Skype, Yammer, etc. You can now video-call your colleague almost anywhere in the world with internet connection. But it is still a fact that generally face-to-face communications can lead to a higher level of rapport than technologically mediated conversations this is because of the importance of the verbal and nonverbal cues in the communication. Yet some electronic forms of communication can have a depersonalisation tendency. Although a business relationship can be long or short, its hard feel a colleague when you can only perceive a talking image. In order for business to be successful entrepreneurs need to take opportunity but frequently they must also try to create opportunity (and minimise the impact of negative relationships, including opportunism that gets in the way!). Business require renewal and creativity to sustain and reinvent themselves. While a gene for creativity or a neural substrate has not been found yet (rather, it is generally considered a property of a variety of behavioural and psychological traits such as general intelligence),

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creativity is sometimes seen as a signal of genetic viability and psychological strength. It is an important ingredient of business development and arguably also even business continuity. Business continuity and innovation go hand in hand as business negotiate their resources and terms, demand and supply, through networks and clients. Traditionally they seek to expand and to grow. But if we look more closely at the ways in which growth has been understood in the economy and in the working of business we see that the unthinking adoption of strategies for growth may lead degradation of the environment for business and even conflict. The alternative is that we manage growth more carefully and that we do not just consume for consumptions sake. Surely adapting to an environment over time is preferable to continuous linear growth. Business changes with the changing business environment but the imperative to always grow may jeopardise the environment that sustains it. Much of the communicative business world is engaged in negotiation of some form or another. Often it is necessary and wise to consider the past, present and future in relation to boundaries with others. One of the most obvious problem areas is that family interactions can prevent people from seeing and preserving their boundaries, personal relationships tend to ‘get in the way’ of professional relationships by the form of interpersonal bias they lend themselves to. However, it also important in situations where personal boundaries need preserving to make care of the self a priority, to recognise the importance of feelings and to seek support to be assertive. Here it is worth reminding ourselves not to overly punish the mistakes of others – and to try not to blame people. Ulrich (2017) also recommend trying to separate ‘events from patterns’ – many of the frustrations in business and temporary events but not patterns which constantly repeat themselves. When you find that patterns are repeating themselves and not producing the right outcome, the design of the ‘game’ need to change. Listening is crucial to relationships within organisations. Certain communication are positive and are conducive to good listening. These are based on open communication, which generally produces stronger perceptions of supportiveness, trustworthiness, and in the work place

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these can lead to higher motivation, increased employee production, and lower absenteeism. Recognition of oneself (through reflective practices) and recognition of others through reflective practices is related to behaviors of respect though it is conceptually distinct because it is based in inherent human values that are grounded in notions of dignity. All human interactions affect ideas and perceptions of dignity. Positive self-other relations in which positive other regard is received is understood to increase a person’s sense of dignity. By comparison a negative recognition decreases human dignity. As Timothy Findley observed: “[t]he spaces between the perceiver and the thing perceived can [...] be closed with a shout of recognition.” Trust is thus a desirable quality for market transaction as it encourages the conditions under which transactions can be made easily and efficiently consequently the more trust that exist in the conditions for transaction the more economical become the costs of maintaining trust. But business is predicated on solving problems today with the intent of also solving them in the future. Some of the ‘goods and services’ of business are intangible like – goodwill and future customers and opportunities brought from having a reputation. Increasingly we communicate in digital and virtual worlds, even our notion of money has been dematerialised. Like money, the sign is first and foremost a mental (or psychic) phenomenon, the idea of money exits independently of physical embodiment as a sign – a digital currency and may or may not be constituted by its material substance – particularly in intangible form as a transferrable or contractible ration of value. Information and communications technology, and e-communication, are used to transmit information and meaning from one group to another to facilitate effective communication between people and groups who are geographically remote. Managers spend about 80% of their time communicating with others, whether by phone, in meetings or in private conversation. But this communication is increasingly in a mediated digital world. We are also living in a media proliferate world, with a plethora of information choices. As such media in whatever channel (online, radio or TV) are providing not just an economy of symbols but also conditioning of social behaviour. While there may be value in applying value judgements

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to media items, it is also useful to view them with a knowledge of the way in which they are filtered in reaching us, which can help us to sort out the relevancy of the news to us. Hence we sometimes get the idea that the future is a linear path from point A to point B but the teachings of some indigenous cultures reminds us that for many people ‘walking backwards into the future’ with awareness of their past life in front of them, is the preferred disposition towards the future. The considered advice is to use your past experiences as a store-house of knowledge, or as signs along a pathway into the future. That way one stays cognisant of the ‘shadow’ or ‘footprint’ one leaves.

REFERENCES Quotations from the esteemed authors and commentators in this book are taken from ‘BrainyQuote’ and from 12 Manage The Executive Fast Track. Thanks are also due to family, friends and colleagues, and DC. [1]

[2] [3] [4] [5]

[6]

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Jap, S. D., Robertson, D. C., Rindfleisch, A., and Hamilton, R. (2013). Low-Stakes Opportunism. Journal of Marketing Research, 50 (2): 216-227. Williamson, O. E. (1985). The Economic Institutions of Capitalism. New York: The Free Press: 47. Jap et al., ibid., 216. Williamson, Economic, Capitalism, 47. Das, T. K. and Rahman, N. (2010). Determinants of Partner Opportunism in Strategic Alliances: A Conceptual Framework. Journal of Business Psychology, 25 (1): 57. Kim, J and Lee, J. (2016). The Moderating Effect of Ethical Leadership on the Relationship between Monitoring Activity and Opportunism. Journal of Marketing Thought, 2 (4): 42. Kim and Lee, Moderating, Leadership, 42. Jap et al., Low-Stakes Opportunism, 217. Jap et al., Low-Stakes Opportunism, 217. Jap et al., Low-Stakes Opportunism, 218. Jap et al., Low-Stakes Opportunism, 218.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Luke Strongman is a teacher and academic. He has published several books with Nova Science Publishers, including ABC: Analogues in Business Communication, Cloud 9: Learning in the Information Age, The Symbol and the Reason: An Introduction to Public Relations, and Reconstructions: An Introduction to International Development Studies.

INDEX

A active listening skills, 53 adaptability, 12 ambushing, 48 asymmetric alliance, 5 attentional fragmentation, 105 attributional style, 6 audience reception, 103

B boundary-spanning agents, 72 brainstorming, 18, 19 building ties, 96

C catallaxic, 79 citizen-journalism, 107 cloud-based software programs, 91 cognitive – rational, 65 collaboration, 35, 53, 73, 97, 108, 130 complex systems, 15

Computer-Mediated-Communication, 93 contextualised creativity, 20 controlled experimentation, 21 cooperation, 3, 63, 71, 74 corporate social responsibility, 27 creative efficacy, 16 creativity, vii, x, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 96, 97, 105, 111, 117, 118, 119, 120, 137 cultural icons, 96 customer-vendor relationship, 75 cyberspace, 83, 93, 98 cycle of growth, 83

D deception and misinformation, 74 defensive listening, 48 dematerialised currencies, 78 digital age, vii, 98, 138 digital currency, 113 digital domain, 91 digital intelligence, 93 digital media, 13, 109 digitally coded, 78

142

Index

disambiguating, 107 divergent thinking, 11, 20 dynamic effect, 83

E e-communication, 99, 100, 113 economic cost-benefit calculus, 2 ecosystem, 25 efficiency effect, 83 emotional intelligence, 14, 15, 54 empathy, 36, 37, 39, 50, 53, 54, 62 environmental footprint, 9 equilibrium theory, 79 exchange of knowledge, 26

F Facebook, 94, 107 face-to-face, 34, 35, 36, 75, 92, 99, 111, 127 fake news, 109 foundational instability, 86 free-thinking, 40, 107 future states, ix

I idea generation, 15 Identity recognition, 66 indigenous cultures, 114 information exchange, 63, 75 information overload, 104, 105, 137 innovation, 4, 14, 16, 21, 22, 28, 29, 30, 81, 83, 84, 112, 120, 121, 122, 124, 133 insight, 13, 20, 53 Instagram, 94, 107 intangible assets, 74, 78, 79, 80, 84, 86, 89 intangibles, 77, 78, 80, 81, 84, 88 intelligent decision-making, 15 intentional reflexivity, 95 Inter-personal skills, 36 Intrinsic motivation, 15

J Johari window, 92

K knowledge acquisition, 67, 70

G good communication skills, 47 Google, 108 growth, viii, 16, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 80, 83, 84, 94, 112, 122, 132

H high capital intensity, 27 human capital, 28, 30, 64, 85, 132 human communication, 49 human development, viii

L linguistic signifiers, 87 listening, viii, x, 12, 33, 35, 36, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 112, 125, 126 listening skills, 33, 47, 50, 53 literal listening, 48 localisation of information, 105 long reverberation, 54 loops, 110 loosely-coupled networks, 22

Index M management, 15, 31, 41, 49, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 67, 69, 70, 72, 74, 100, 104, 116, 118, 119, 121, 122, 124, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131, 137 managerial skills, 50 managing feelings, viii, 39 market transaction, 81, 85, 89, 113 mass media, 99, 100, 106 measure of value, 90 Microsoft, 108 mind-body-scaffolding, 98 mindful listening, 36, 125 modelling recognition, 59 monopolising, 48 multi-tasking, 105

N negotiation, viii, x, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 112, 123 negotiation framework, 33, 35 network effects, 81 Networked Minds Theory of Social Presence, 92 new technologies, 98 News Corporation, 108 nous, ix, 103

O open communication,, 112 opportunism, vii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 69, 111, 115, 116, 117 opportunity, x, 1, 30, 53, 87, 111 opportunity costs, 87 optimism, 5, 6, 7, 15, 116 optimum conditions, 15 organisational creativity, 13, 14

143

organisational culture, 5, 71, 74

P patience, viii, x, 34, 43, 44, 45, 54, 124 peer recognition schemes, 60 period of illumination, 17 Personal feedback, 110 personality factors, 28, 72 persuasive communication, 18 positive and negative valency, 80 Positive self-other relations, 113 proactive personality, 14 problem-solving, 12 productivity rationale, 57 propaganda, 109 pseudo-listening, 48 psychological strength, 112 public and private, 96

Q quantum of communication, 63

R recognition, viii, ix, 48, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 72, 78, 95, 113, 127, 128 recognition in the workplace, 55, 56, 57 Research and Development, 22, 81, 84 resilience, 6, 7, 116, 128 risk effect, 83

S scarcity relationships, 83 Schumacheran, 80 selective listening, 48 self-boundary, 109

144

Index

self-continuity, 7 semantic web, 103 shared reality, 13 shared social identity, 96 SMART goals, 38 social media, ix, 92, 94, 95, 98, 101, 103, 107, 111 social presence, ix, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 110, 135, 136 social relations theory, 4 socialisation process, 30 specialisation, 79, 100 spontaneous preferences, 8 state of complexity, 86 strategic personnel plans, 58 Strategic trust, 67 surveillance, 9, 68 symbol manipulation, 107

T tangible, vii, ix, 18, 21, 28, 60, 64, 65, 69, 74, 80, 81, 84, 89 third-party effects, 9

threshold moment, 95 Time Warner, 108 Transaction Cost Theory, 2 transcendental signified, 86 triple-bottom-line reporting, 9 trust, ix, 14, 35, 53, 63, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 97, 113, 116, 129, 130, 131 Twitter, 94, 107

U upward mobility, 49

V value-accretive decision, 88 virtual technologies, ix

W weightless digital economy, 82 world wide, 108