Communication Technology and Social Change †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Communication Technology and Social Change. Answer: Introduction: Ted Kimoski, the Chief financial officer of Oz newspaper just finished the presentation. According to the case study Oz, newspaper is going through a tough phase. They are bearing a huge loss in the market and the stakeholders are not happy with the marketing strategy of Oz newspaper. According to John Campbell the general manager of Oz newspaper, the company is facing problem due to the product cost. The printing cost and the distribution cost for Oz newspaper is highest among its rivals. Other than that, Oz newspaper is also facing the problem of very poor production rate and high costs of labour. According to Paul Jaworski the editor in chief, the printing operations should be rationalised. Paul also mentioned that they should reduce the number of employee so the labour cost can be minimised. The HR manager of Oz newspaper May Wong has stated that, the lack of labour flexibility is one of the main reasons for poor productivity. The union laws and restrictions is becoming a barrier for work efficiency. Labour turnover and employee absenteeism is a common issue for the company and it is creating a major problem in the production rate (Dorothy, 2017). Paul Jaworski also mentioned that the employees are not at all motivated and having regular conflicts with the management. Ted discussed that the newspaper industry is shrinking which is evident from the decreasing sales and the revenue from advertisement (Dlugolecka, 2017). Ted also emphasise on the fact that they should focus on online platform and apply digitisation. Oz newspaper has many union related issues that not only create conflict but it also reduces the production of the organisation. The main cause of the union related issue is that the employees are less motivated. Conflicts between the workers and the management are a common in Oz, which is degrading the work environment and creating a negative working environment (Hisam, 2017). Employee absenteeism is another reason of concern. Many other organisations faced this employee absenteeism problem in the past and this creates a huge difference in production of the organisation. Another problem that Oz organisation is facing is the problem of labour turnover. Oz is facing problem in retaining the employee. However, these problems can be solved if the company follows some rules or implement some strict policy. The company should implement strict attendance policy that every employee should maintain. Company should include programs that aim at employees health betterment. This type of program will reduce the stress of the employee and will increase their productivity. Company should understand that employee may face some issues in that case the company should reschedule their shift to another time or day. Company should work on employee satisfaction by introducing incentives, which will motivate the employee to work hard. Good attendances should be rewarded which will reduce the employee absenteeism. The company should understand the issues that the employees are facing which will reduce the conflicts. Organisation should organise frequent meetings with the union to understand their problem and minimising the problem. HR should provide proper training to the employees that will increase the production rate. The environment factors that plays a vital role in Oz newspaper can be analysed with the help of PEST analysis: Political factors: The effect of political reform on this industry is as effective as on the individuals. A terrorist attack, a sudden resignation of government leaders or union elections can alter the political environment and gains attention from the readers. One such example is U.S. presidential campaign of 2008, which created a buzz in the different parts of the world and increased the readership (Hmielowski et al., 2017). Economical factors: The technological advancement has affected the economic factors of the newspaper industry. The organisation who failed to implement necessary changes has lost their market shares. Different newspaper organisation has faced the problem of high prices of copy, reduced advertisement sales, failed in circulation due to the financial crisis. Internet has caused a huge loss and reduced the advertisement cost of newspaper. Technological factors: Internet is an advanced and powerful technology and it has changed the concept of mass communication. Internet has greatly affected the external environmental and is substituting the newspaper prints. Technological advancement and internet has changed the concept and habits of reading news. This has affected and reduced the readers demand (Lin, 2014). According to researchers, audio, text transmissions and video has changed the communication model. Socio-cultural environment: Internet usage has influenced the socio-cultural environment of newspaper. The low subscription cost of internet and availability of online news has changed the perception of the reader. Access and scanning of news in internet is easy and faster. It is expected that the current newspaper readers will soon be replaced with online news (Bourreau, 2015). The environmental factors will largely affect the HR practices (Kooij et al., 2013). Oz needs to cut the printing and distribution cost of the newspaper print, they should look forward to digitisation. Advancement of technology and usage of internet will affect the newspaper print and the company should work on online news channel, which is low in cost and very easy to access. Online news channel or site will help the organisation in decreasing the labour cost. Oz newspaper has many challenges in front of them. The company is at the breaking point and the FWA legislation of the government is supporting the union to show their strength. The company is facing the problem of poor productivity so the HR should provide training and proper facilities so that the production of the employees increases. The HR should understand the issues the employees are facing and should work accordingly, which will reduce the conflicts between the employees. HR should implement proper healthcare programs that will provide free checkups, which will reduce the stress and other physiological problems and will reduce the problem of employee absenteeism ( Mattke et al., 2013). References: Bourreau, M., Kourandi, F., Valletti, T. (2015). Net neutrality with competing internet platforms.The Journal of Industrial Economics,63(1), 30-73. Dlugolecka, M. (2017).The Rise and Fall of the Publishing Industry: Human Resource Management Implications(Doctoral dissertation, The College of St. Scholastica). DOROTHY, O. (2017).FACTORS INFLUENCING ABSENTEEISM IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF H-YOUNG AND COMPANY LIMITED(Doctoral dissertation, MUA). Hisam, Z. (2017). Media and Labour. Hmielowski, J. D., Hutchens, M. J., Haridakis, P. M., Beam, M. A. (2017). Social Media, News Platforms, and Partisan Exposure: Voters Media Preferences During the 2016 Presidential Campaign Season. InThe Presidency and Social Media(pp. 71-89). Routledge. Kooij, D. T., Guest, D. E., Clinton, M., Knight, T., Jansen, P. G., Dikkers, J. S. (2013). How the impact of HR practices on employee well?being and performance changes with age.Human Resource Management Journal,23(1), 18-35. Lin, C. A. (2014). Communication technology and social change. InCommunication Technology and Social Change(pp. 17-30). Routledge. Mattke, S., Liu, H., Caloyeras, J., Huang, C. Y., Van Busum, K. R., Khodyakov, D., Shier, V. (2013). Workplace wellness programs study.Rand health quarterly,3(2).