What do you think the fired engineer’s intended message was?
The engineer’s intention in the memo was to outline the concerns over diversity that are experienced in Google as a workplace. The individual purposefully indicates the various issues inclusive of lack of inclusion in meetings based on gender and race and the lack of competitive salaries for both the males and females. The Engineer was right to point out these issues as they are experienced in Google, which is one of the significant Technological companies in the globe. Furthermore, the engineer’s initiative had the benefit of ensuring the firm notes their drawbacks and can mitigate them for having a better working environment. However, in conveying his message, he failed to incorporate evidence from the company itself. The author should have had at least two or three interviews with the minorities and the majorities to show the evidence of what he claims is happening at Google.
Viewpoints on the argument that the memo was not intended to belittle women or minorities
The author notes that Women have a higher interest in people compared to men, and this can be used as a way to reduce the gender gap. According to the memo, Google’s Ideological Echo Chambe r, “We can make software engineering more people-oriented with pair programming and more collaboration.” This shows that the engineer is concerned with how to use the strong personality traits of the women in ensuring programming is more intuitive and person-oriented. The author should have coined the statement such that it shows why having a collaborative approach in programming can benefit with more females on board and ways it can reduce the gender gap. The suggestion that “If we, as a society, allow men to be more “feminine,” then the gender gap will shrink” is exciting but can easily be misunderstood. The author should have rephrased the comment to suggest ways in which assistance can be offered to the females in their gender-structure roles as opposed to allowing the men to be more feminine.
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In what ways could the employee have strengthened his memo to persuade his audience using facts?
The employee should have involved factual information through interviews with other workers in Google Inc. Interviews are essential as they will help to support the engineer’s comments about the lack of diversity and sexism within the company. Another possible way of improving the memo would have been to use supporting sources from other studies about Google Inc.’s diversity practice. By having these supporting information, the engineer’s arguments would be viable, and some truth could be evident, primarily due to the use of facts presented by other authors.
In what ways do you believe this memo crossed the line in also advancing harmful gender stereotypes even while criticizing Google's hiring practices?
Google’s hiring practice is very open and allows the candidates to understand how the whole process is carried out. The employees are given a chance to mock the company’s strategies, which means the HR and other departments can criticize the country if the hiring practice does not involve diversity. The memo crossed the line such that it lacked the necessary factual information to show how the HR practices were not in line with diversity concepts. Moreover, the author presents his opinion on how women are unable to withstand high-stress jobs while Google offers flexible work-life balance options and promotes gender equality in their hiring practice. Therefore, the memo did not follow the proper routine first to verify whether the engineer’s observation is in line with studies conducted on the company on diversity and the hiring process.
What do you believe were the most meaningful lessons he demonstrated as a leader, citing not only your readings from this assignment?
Google’s CEO demonstrated dominant leadership traits in his response to the Engineer’s memo regarding the lack of diversity and the advancement of harmful gender stereotypes within the workplace. The CEO was very assertive and calm in his response as there is no instance of him using any stray language. The CEO also demonstrated emotional intelligence in responding to the Memo as he assures the community that Google is aware of the critics they receive and continually tries to involve the workers as much as possible to help mitigate the raising issues. He argues that the engineer should have first presented the matter to the management such that the issue would be mitigated without the development of public chaos in the social context. Therefore, the CEO applies his leadership skills in responding to the memo.
Why do you believe that this complicates communication in the business context and in what ways is this memo an example of just how complicated things have become for companies?
The aspect of digital media allowing for the contribution of all personnel in sharing information presents significant challenges within the business context. Since all persons can easily present their findings to such media, content that is not verified and that may have detrimental outcomes to a business can be posted. The case of the Memo against Google by one of their engineers is one of the examples of such issues. Because the information presented, to some point, lacks factual evidence on what the Engineer was claiming, it is can easily complicate the business context for Google Inc. Potential employees may feel that the company does not practice diversity, hence refraining from any participation with the business. The employees of the business, on the other hand, may lack motivation and be in a state of confusion and disagreement with the management, hence impairing their productivity. Therefore, the digital media, while offering a platform for product promotion and other benefits, has many instances in which it can complicate things for significant companies.
When memos like this go public, why is it so important for companies to respond appropriately for example on Twitter or Facebook?
The social media platforms have a significant role in guiding the perception of the people towards a company. Considering the Memo against Google, the company has the mandate to undertake action on social platforms and address the community appropriately. This is because social media sites have depth in all nations and can thus reach out to many persons instantly as opposed to blogs and other forms of digital media. Moreover, people have become accustomed to obtaining news from these social platforms, and this means that addressing such an issue on Facebook and Twitter will have a positive impact at a faster rate as opposed to the use of other media alone. Therefore, due to the broad reach of these social platforms, it is essential that companies respond to issues on these sites as a method of controlling the damage on their image.
How do you feel that social media has affected the business communication structure of Google in revolutionizing its internal communication processes and promoting the flow of ideas?
The social media has affected communication and business structure in many ways, where the internal communications are made public rather than having internal solutions to the same. The public image for the company is quickly tarnished by the perception that they do not deal with their internal issues appropriately such that the same are released to the public through the social platforms. Moreover, promoting the flow of ideas is hampered because the internal communication is broken, and every employee will rely on social media platforms to inform them about the company undergoing.
How do you think the internal communications processes in combination with recognizing the role of digital communications in the modern business environments has broken down traditional barriers in the organizational hierarchy?
Traditional barriers were evident in the organizational hierarchy as communication in the business would only happen vertically, and this would take up much time and hence, inappropriate. Through the use of digital communications within the business environment, it becomes evident that linking with the top management is more comfortable and only requires consistency and appropriate requests. Internal communications, therefore, can occur from an employee to the top management directly without the need to follow given protocols, which means that the barrier is broken and this leads to effective communication in the business setting.
What do you think the impact of digital networks has enabled networks of individuals and organizations to collaborate, share information, and request information? In what ways has it become easier, and in what ways has it become more difficult?
Digital networks have made it easier for people to work together and share information easily. Moreover, requests can easily be made to each other, hence improving communication and reliability of the team members in a given organization. However, the need to continually rely on electronic gadgets makes the process difficult. This is because individuals focus more on the mobile phones and tablets to connect them with the digital platforms, thus increasing the chances of distraction by social media posts and other factors such as games on these devices. As a result, the productivity of the workers is significantly reduced.
