Intranet Design Strategies

The intranets have been deployed extensively in large and small-scale organizations. It has grown rapidly by offering features like collaborative communication channels, easing the business processes etc. Typically organizations faced difficulties but they are prevalent while implementation. But the organizations lack clear strategies in designing intranet. It leads to loss on investment, time and productivity, a complete intranet failure. Previous studies mainly focused on management, security and usage etc. This paper presents 9 design strategies for intranet addressing system oriented plan that can be applied in real-time to achieve improvement in organizational performance

Improving the new employee onboarding process in a case company

Abstract. The purpose of this study was to improve the onboarding process of a case company operating in the field of information and communications technology. A literature review was conducted to form a theoretical foundation for the empirical study, which was then used to identify potential improvement areas in the process. Ultimately, recommendations were made, that the case company could act upon to improve their onboarding practices. This research was conducted as a qualitative case study. The primary method of data collection were semi-structured interviews, which were conducted inside a specific organizational unit, which the research was focused on. Based on the current theory, a model for onboarding was established, with uncertainty reduction theory and newcomer adjustment emerging as crucial concepts which to focus on when making improvements in an onboarding process. The case company’s current onboarding practices were analyzed, and improvement areas were identified. These areas included equipment and tools, information supply and temporary accommodation of international employees, the effectiveness of the current onboarding plan, addressing role clarity and social acceptance in the onboarding process, and the assignment and communication of responsibilities of an onboarding buddy. Actionable suggestions were made addressing each of the improvement areas. With respect to the onboarding plan, a new solution was developed and implemented to improve upon the features deemed insufficient in the previous version. Additionally, based on the individual recommendations, a standard process for the entry of a new employee, was suggested. The results of this study are not generalizable to other domains, as they apply only to the specific case company under examination. The study does, however, provide value to the case company, and its results can be referenced in future studies conducted in similar conditions.Uuden työntekijän perehdytysprosessin kehittäminen kohdeyrityksessä. Tiivistelmä. Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli kehittää uusien työntekijöiden perehdytysprosessia kohdeyrityksessä, joka työskentelee tieto- ja viestintäteknologian alalla. Kirjallisuuskatsauksella luotiin teoreettinen pohja empiiristä tutkimusta varten, jonka avulla prosessista tunnistettiin mahdollisia kehitysalueita. Lopputuloksena tuotettiin joukko suosituksia, joita noudattamalla kohdeyritys voisi parantaa perehdytyskäytäntöjään. Tämä tutkimus tuotettiin kvalitatiivisena tapaustutkimuksena. Ensisijaisena datankeruumenetelmänä käytettiin teemahaastatteluita, jotka toteutettiin tutkimuksen kohteena olleen organisatorisen yksikön sisällä. Vallitsevan kirjallisuuden pohjalta, perehdytyksen peruspilareista laadittiin malli, josta tärkeimpinä käsitteinä nousivat esiin epävarmuuden vähentäminen sekä uuden työntekijän sopeutuminen. Kohdeyrityksen perehdytysprosessi analysoitiin ja mahdollisiksi kehitysalueiksi tunnistettiin laitteisto ja työkalut, ulkomailta palkattujen työntekijöiden informointi ja väliaikainen majoitus, nykyisen perehdytyssuunnitelman tehokkuus, roolin selkeyden ja sosiaalisen hyväksynnän käsittely prosessissa sekä tukihenkilön nimittäminen ja hänen vastuidensa kommunikointi. Tuotetut kehitysehdotukset suunniteltiin käsittelemään jokaista havaittua kehityskohdetta. Perehdytyssuunnitelman kehittämiseksi suunniteltiin ja implementoitiin uusi virtuaalinen ratkaisu, joka paransi vanhassa versiossa riittämättömiksi todettuja ominaisuuksia. Lisäksi yksittäisten suositusten pohjalta tuotettiin ehdotus standardiprosessista, jota käytettäisiin, kun uusi työntekijä liittyy yksikköön. Tämän työn tulokset eivät ole yleistettävissä muille aloille, sillä ne rajoittuvat tietyn kohdeyrityksen perehdytysprosessin kehittämiseen. Työ tuottaa kuitenkin arvoa kohdeyritykselle, ja tuloksia voidaan varauksella käyttää referenssinä tutkimuksissa, jotka tuotetaan samankaltaisissa olosuhteissa

Born to be Wild: Using Communities of Practice as a Tool for Knowledge Management

This paper looks at what happens when Communities of Practice are used as a tool for Knowledge Management. The original concept of a Community of Practice appears to have very little in common with the knowledge sharing communities found in Knowledge Management, which are based on a revised view of 'cultivated' communities. We examine the risks and benefits of cultivating Communities of Practice rather than leaving them 'in the wild'. The paper presents the findings from two years of research in a small microelectronics firm to provide some insights into the wild vs domesticated dichotomy and discusses the implications of attempting to tame Communities of Practice in this way.Comment: Paper presented at the Ethicomp 2010: The 'Backwards, Forwards and Sideways' changes of ICT, Tarragona, Spain, April, 2010, pp. 71 - 80

Looking beyond - socialization tactics:The role of human resource systems in the socialization process

Previous research questions whether the association between socialization tactics and human resource systems has been properly explored. Based on theory, we present a framework that links socialization tactics and human resource systems for various groups of newcomers. In doing so, we contribute to academic theory by exploring the under-researched areas of the content and context of socialization tactics, while illustrating helpful practices to retain key newcomers in organizations. The article provides new insights into socialization tactics and human resource systems by bridging the two theoretical areas, opening up this conceptual space for examination by organizational scholars. We also discuss the theoretical and practical implications for human resource scholars and practitioners accordingly

Changing careers : how newcomers seek information in three types of career transitions

Workplace transitions are increasingly common as individuals move between jobs and occupations more frequently. Socialization literature looks at the process organizations use to help individuals meet their needs and acquire information about the new job (Kramer, 2010; Van Maanen & Schein, 1979). While many scholars study socialization, the most recent Handbook of Organizational Communication suggests nonentry-level newcomers are relatively unexplored (Kramer & Miller, 2014). To further understand the behaviors of nonentry-level newcomers, especially as mid-life and early-life career transitions grow more common, future research is warranted. This dissertation focuses on the information-seeking behaviors of organizational newcomers. Using theory-based models of information seeking (Miller & Jablin, 1991; Morrison, 2002), this study seeks to further understand the behaviors of newcomers when changing careers. This study focuses on three types of career transitions: (1) Occupational (Moving from outside the typical work progression to a new occupation); (2) Job (Changing jobs within the same field for the purpose of advancement or salary increase); and (3) Education to paid work (Transitioning from a full-time educational setting to full-time paid work). This investigation highlights a number of significant findings in information-seeking behaviors. Across all three types of career transitions, the most common source of information is peers, the most common tactic is overt, and the most common communication medium is the internet. Results suggested need for control over others, intrinsic motivation, and learning orientation were significant predictors of landline phone use for information seeking. The study demonstrated coworker influence as a significant predictor of information seeking through the organizational intranet. There was also a significant difference between individual use of third parties for information seeking between job transitioners and those making transitions from education to paid work. This study offers insights to both communication and management scholars who study socialization and information seeking, as well as human resource development practitioners. These findings contribute to the socialization literature by further describing how individuals make career transitions at various life stages. Additionally, these findings are helpful to practitioners who anticipate career transitioners into their workforce. Taken together, these results facilitate both a theoretical and practical application of newcomer socialization in these contexts.Communication Studie

Newcomer assimilation into a globally distributed project

Newcomer assimilation is the process through which new hires are integrated into their role and their organization. Previously, most of the assimilation literature has focused on co-located and established organizations and projects. However, the use of geographically distributed work forms is constantly increasing in organizations due to the rush of advanced technologies, through which experts can collaborate from anywhere and anytime. With the help of these technologies, organizations can reach new markets and hire new skillful employees that may be difficult to find locally. As the work setting is changing from local to global, the previous assumptions about what helps newcomers assimilate are challenged. To date, there is a lack of research on newcomer assimilation in the virtual context, and in particular, how newcomers of a new subsidiary assimilate into existing R&D department, which at the same time go through a shift from operating locally to operating globally. The purpose of this thesis is to begin to bridge these gaps in literature and to study what factors affect newcomers’ assimilation into a newly established distributed software development project, where company insiders are located at a distant site, and are used to operating only locally. This study adopts a single case study in a Finnish software company, which has established a new distant site for its R&D department to enable hiring more skilled software developers. Field observations and semi-structured interviews are used to collect data and to obtain first-hand experiences from both sides to form an inclusive understanding of the phenomenon at hand. Therefore, 19 newcomers and 10 insiders, who have a key role in the newly distributed project or who were involved in newcomers’ assimilation process, are interviewed. The collected data is then analyzed as prescribed by Gioia method. The results of this thesis show that, in the virtual context, newcomer assimilation is likely to occur through both face-to-face and virtual means. Face-to-face activities are found to be vital for successful assimilation, since newcomers fail to receive enough cues and rich information over virtual means. In addition, an assimilation gap was identified as a new phenomenon in the research field, showing how different perceptions among newcomers and insiders, e.g. related to their rate of assimilation, are likely to burst into misunderstandings and conflicts, lowering the success of newcomers’ assimilation. A lack of common work practices and unmet expectations are likely to hinder newcomers’ assimilation success

Born to be Wild: Using Communities of Practice as a Tool for Knowledge Management

This paper looks at what happens when Communities of Practice are used as a tool for Knowledge Management. The original concept of a Community of Practice appears to have very little in common with the knowledge sharing communities found in Knowledge Management, which are based on a revised view of 'cultivated' communities. We examine the risks and benefits of cultivating Communities of Practice rather than leaving them 'in the wild'. The paper presents the findings from two years of research in a small microelectronics firm to provide some insights into the wild vs domesticated dichotomy and discusses the implications of attempting to tame Communities of Practice in this way.Communities of Practice, Knowledge Management

An organizational onboarding model: application to program design

Organizations face a myriad of challenges when developing programs to support new employees' orientation. Welcoming new employees to an organization involves more elements of learning and integration than just handing them a manual and letting them sink or swim. This project provides a foundation for an on-boarding model and application of its program design that is firmly based in secondary literature. Methods of investigation for this project are secondary data located in journals, articles and books and one organization's website with documents located in the public domain. The data will be assessed in order to design an onboarding program to support new employees' orientation in that particular organization. It is imperative that an onboarding program ensures new employees are prepared to become productive members of an organization as quickly and efficiently as possible to ensure consistent services. A priority for many organizations is to become the employer of choice by making positive lasting impressions on new employees and affect its ability to reach its short and long-term goals. A blended learning delivery for the program will be created, incorporating the best practices of various onboarding, socialization and orientation programs. The goal of this project is to create an onboarding program that supports an organization's need to build a solid, productive, and lasting work relationship with newly hired employees. --Leaf ii.The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b186344