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■ ■ ■ Virtual and Real Measurement of Interpersonal and Business Communication
Hubert Landier
International Institute of Social Audit, Paris, France.
Abstract. Digital communication, engulfing the entire global system, have greatly simplified the distant communication across the whole world. A web-connected PC or a mobile enable, besides instant booking of flights or accommodations in virtually any country of the planet, or participation in any kind of e-learning, the emergence of the organizations of new type, where internal and external business communication is held both virtually and in real time. Thus, we may see the increase in the use of artificial intelligence. However, does it mean new challenges for the humanity? Will they move the 'human' (feelings, emotions, tenderness, touching nature) aside from the interpersonal communication that can not be excluded from all spheres of human activity, including business relations. Neglecting human relations can lead to the degradation of business relations, which in the future will serve as a fertile ground for the emergence of conflicts. Even conflicts that do not have an antagonistic character must be channeled into a constructive way. In many ways, the constructiveness of the conflict is determined by the way to overcome this conflict and by the achieved results. The most valuable result is when both sides win and cooperation still continues. An organization develops due to a constructive conflict.
Keywords: virtual communication, digital economy, interpersonal communication, business communication, spoken word, human-to-human communication
For citation: Landier H. Virtual and real measurement of interpersonal and business communication / Transl. N.A. Potevsky. Communicology (Russia). 2017. Vol. 5. No.6. P. 44-50 DOI 10.21453/2311-3065-2017-5-6-44-50.
Inf. about the author: Landier Hubert, Dr. Sc. (Econ.), vice-president of International Institute of Social Audit (France), Professor emeritus of Academy of Labour and Social Relations. E-mail: hlandier@club-internet.fr.
Received: 02.11.2017. Accepted: 12.11.2017.
Digital economy has changed our life. Digital media literally invaded all spheres of a human life. The well-known scientist V.D. Solovey states: "The role and importance of social media in politics will increase. This is due to the expansion of the scope and depth of penetration of the "Digital" into our life, with the crisis of traditional media, including television, with the entry into life of new generations that have gone through socialization in the digital age. As an inevitable consequence, the influence of social networks will increase in political and civil protest and also in the revolutionary movement" [Solovey: 20]. "The development of information technologies and social networks has reached a level whereby individuals and small groups were able to exert political influence with their help" [Chugrov: 45].
However, I don't want to challenge the advantages given due to the usage of computers and electronic networks. One day I bought a wooden garden bench with Internet access from a firm whose sales office is in France, where they only take orders, assembling is done somewhere in Vietnam, and wood is imported from South America. I often correspond on the Internet with my friend Azim Agbouy Amed, who lives in the Timbuktu area. For what purpose do I cite this example? In order to draw your attention to the next moment: value is created, and we do not even know how it is distributed. Where, in what place? Everything is very blurry.
I want to give you an example from the field of hotel business. 30 years ago I had to call in order to book a hotel room. How much time did I spend to call to AccorHotels' booking center, where I was offered a suitable hotel? Now I do not need to call any booking center, I go to the Internet, on Booking.com and book a room in any hotel. On the hotel's website, I can find out information on room, price, equipment, etc. Evolution of value is demonstrated by the example of the transformation of a hotel reservation into a global booking system. AccorHotels, which owns 1,000 hotels in France, does not seek to reduce the number of subsidiaries. Now it is completely unprofitable to use hotels that bring maximum profit, otherwise it's better to use and improve the booking system.
Nowadays, sale of services on the Internet makes more profit than production of computers. We are experiencing the process of entering into the economy of intangible values. However, the problem is that the economy of intangible values conflicts with the institutional system. For example, our company buys digital devices and software of them.
The conclusion: computers play an important role in the enterprise, but additional services are much more important. The humor is that you firstly must buy software, and then train the staff. This will reduce costs in the future. The profitability of an enterprise depends not only on tangible values, but also on intangible and human values. Investments in people are treated directly as an increase in the competition of the enterprise. This is the number one problem.
One more problem is management of enterprise. Management of enterprise in a liberal capitalist system is the preservation of material capital. Such values as creativity, initiative are often neglected in governance and management of enterprise.
In my opinion, there is a serious contradiction: it is necessary to reform the enterprise -the enterprise should be viewed from the standpoint of humanism, the reform should assume where is a human in the system. "To support modernization processes in Modern Russia, it is necessary to reintegrate science, education and production, successfully interacted during the Soviet period, but weakened and disunited during the period of socio-economic stagnation" [Malykhina, Ukolova: 81].
Even in social phenomena, at first glance disunited, a foundation supporting the stability of the system is hidden. F.I. Sharkov, analyzing virtual network communities, comes to the conclusion that "dispersal of information and communication environment in space and time, behind which there is fragmentation of society, is considered in the network communities as "the way to maintain the relative stability of the whole" [Sharkov 2015: 29-46; Kireeva].
My friend Mark Deluzet wrote on this subject a wonderful book, which is very popular in France [Chopin, Deluzet, Godino]. As you see, the question is whether the enterprise is really an expression of the commercial decisions of shareholders or the expression of human demands. I would like to address to the trade unionists of Russia and I hope that nothing will destroy the principles of the Chicago school. Digital economy obliges you to create a new enterprise of tomorrow.
The digital economy still carries serious risks:
- the first one is what I call "digital totalitarianism". You can see my mobile phone. When I had arrived at the airport, I received a message stating that I was in Russia and information on how to call France. I congratulated myself on the fact that they knew where I was. When I go to the US two months later, a policeman at the airport will ask me why I flew to Moscow on September 20. I would say that this does not concern him. A policeman would say to me: "In that case, return to France". Therefore, I will not take risks and will not go to the US. That's what digital totalitarianism is - it interferes with our personal lives. And when I return to France, I am sure that I will receive many emails about Russian vodka, Chekhov's works, trip to Russia, etc. I am proud that Professor Yuri Popov, who passed away from us this year, taught me the social audit of A.P. Chekhov;
- the second risk lies in the formation of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence does not exist. All that exists is artificial logic. A human brain does not work as an information algorithm. The artificial intelligence's superiority over a human mind is regarded as humiliation of a human. Artificial intelligence can create relaxing music. But artificial intelligence is not capable of creating Tchaikovsky's masterpieces. Artificial intelligence does not possess creativity, it can not destroy templates, rules, has no imagination. The computer does not change the paradigm; the computer can not imagine the future. The program, embedded in artificial intelligence, meets only American ideas, created by American engineers in the Silicon Valley. Engineers of Silicon Valley imagine that thanks to artificial intelligence a person can become immortal.
A dream becomes a reality in the foreseeable future. The information dream blurs reality and leaves only a dream of domination. This dream corresponds to culture, but this culture does not contain humanity. And when I re-read the works of Chekhov, I do not want to read the translation made by robots.
Nothing can replace spoken word and direct communication of people. Written communication should also be based on a text clear for communicants. It is not necessary to use in the text some jargon incomprehensible to another party of communication. Written Communication should also be based on facts.
I shall give you an example: communication of the middle manager with employees. It seems self-evident that an employee understands what manager says to him. However, experience shows that very often there is a deep misunderstanding between them. The manager has to make great efforts to effectively interact with the personnel he manages. He regularly holds meetings, sends emails to employees, holds informal meetings. Nevertheless, he does not always hear his employees, he often locks himself in the office, moving away from his staff.
How to explain this phenomenon?
Most managers, in France, did not receive training in social and communicative technologies; they focus mainly on the technical aspects of interaction; "Human factor problems" are implicitly treated by them as secondary ones. It is necessary to rejoice if the graduate has not gained a sense of superiority in relation to his fellows from less prestigious schools. To this are added the deeply individualistic traditions of our education system. The culture of many managers and leaders leaves much to be desired. Hence, some misunderstanding of the partners with whom they are somehow forced to interact.
Employees have enough information to perform their daily operations. But they often complain about a lack of information of a more general nature, which will help them to know "where we go", understand the reasons for this or that decision, the lack of understanding of the requirements (principles and procedures) imposed on employees.
Many managers attribute the lack of proper communication with employees to lack of time. The consequence of such a level organization of interaction in the team is at least the dismissal of employees from the intended objectives of the enterprise.
Good communication is first and foremost an oral interpersonal communication, which is a really strong possibility of recognizing a person's condition. It accordingly represents the most effective target communication. Written communication (although one can not do without it) can never replace the oral one. This is an illusion, when many believe that the Intranet, accessible to every employee of the enterprise, allows him to do without oral communication with employees. On the contrary, the Intranet leads to the degradation of labor relations, as they become more impersonal. The employee, lost in the need to perform "soulless procedures" feels a sense of isolation or loneliness. Informal exchange of information allows interlocutors to get to know each other's opinions.
A tolerant approach to discuss is aimed at examining different points of view and achieving a mutually acceptable solution. Interaction on the principle of confrontation, on the contrary, directs the discussion towards confrontation and gaining an advantage over the interlocutor.
In business communication, it is necessary to simultaneously, at the least, take into account the economic, legal, human aspects. Naturally, business communication participants will defend their economic interests, but legal measurement should not be forgotten. If the negotiator finds it difficult to make a decision due to legal issues, he must postpone the discussion. In addition, the negotiators should not lose sight of the actual human labor relations in the company. Neglecting human relations can lead to the degradation of labor relations, which in the future will serve as a fertile ground for the emergence of conflicts.
"Along with positive (constructive) qualities, each conflict has negative (destructive) features. The same conflict can be constructive in one aspect and destructive in another. In many ways, the constructiveness of the conflict is determined by the way to overcome this conflict and by the achieved results. The most valuable result is when both sides win and cooperation still continues. An organization develops due to a constructive conflict" [Sharkov, Speransky: 77].
The communication strategy must be translated into practice. The ability to correctly respond to events, the usage of certain information at the right time, depending on the context and bandwidth of the channel(s).
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■ ■ ■ Виртуальное и реальное измерение межличностных и деловых коммуникаций
Ландье Убер
Международный институт социального аудита, Париж, Франция.
Аннотация. Цифровые коммуникации, охватившие всю глобальную систему, значительно упростили возможность коммуницировать на расстоянии практически с любой точкой планеты. Компьютер, включенный в Интернет, дает возможность не только забронировать номер в гостинице в любой стране в кратчайший срок, участвовать в работе видеоконференций, вебинаров, а также создавать нового типа организации, в которых внутренние и внешние деловые коммуникации будут осуществляться ка в виртуальном, так и в реальном измерении. Все более активно будут использоваться механизмы, связанные с применением искусственного интеллекта. Однако, не грозит ли это человечеству новыми вызовами? Не вытеснят ли они «человеческое» (чувства, эмоции, нежность, трогательность) из межличностной коммуникации, которые невозможно исключить из всех сфер человеческой деятельности, включая деловые отношения. Игнорирование человеческих отношений может привести к деградации деловых отношений, которое в последующем послужит благоприятной почвой для возникновения конфликтов. Даже конфликты, не несущие антагонистический характер, необходимо направлять в конструктивное русло. Во многом конструктивность конфликта определяется способом его преодоления и достигнутыми при этом результатами. Наиболее ценным является результат, когда в выигрыше оказываются обе стороны и сотрудничество продолжается, организация развивается благодаря конструктивному конфликту.
Ключевые слова: виртуальная коммуникации, цифровая экономика, межличностные коммуникации, деловые коммуникации, живая речь
Для цитирования: Ландье У. Виртуальное и реальное измерение межличностных и деловых коммуникаций / пер. Н.А. Потевского // Коммуникология. 2017. Том 5. № 6. С. 44-50 DOI 10.21453/2311-3065-2017-5-6-44-50
Сведения об авторе: Ландье Убер, д.э.н., вице-президент Международного института социального аудита, почетный профессор Академии труда и социальных отношений. E-mail: hlandier@club-internet.fr
Статья поступила в редакцию: 02.11.2017. Принята к печати: 12.11.2017. Источники
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