• DocumentCode
    775458
  • Title

    Making contact in international virtual offices: an application of symbolic interactionism to online workplace discourse

  • Author

    Amant, Kirk St

  • Author_Institution
    Inst. of Tech. & Sci. Commun., James Madison Univ., Harrisonburg, VA, USA
  • Volume
    46
  • Issue
    3
  • fYear
    2003
  • Firstpage
    236
  • Lastpage
    240
  • Abstract
    The online work environment brings with it factors that can create problems in crosscultural interactions. Technical communicators, therefore, need to understand how cultural communication expectations can affect discourse in IVOs. This article overviews one area-contact-in which cultural differences could cause online communication problems. The article also uses the theory of symbolic interactionism to examine these problems and to posit strategies for avoiding them.
  • Keywords
    electronic mail; human factors; office automation; professional communication; Email; crosscultural interactions; cultural communication; international virtual offices; online workplace discourse; symbolic interactionism; technical communication; Books; Costs; Cross-cultural communication; Cultural differences; Demography; Employment; Global communication; Kirk field collapse effect; Teleworking; Virtual environment;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Journal_Title
    Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on
  • Publisher
    ieee
  • ISSN
    0361-1434
  • Type

    jour

  • DOI
    10.1109/TPC.2003.816785
  • Filename
    1227596