Jim Tomlinson, Ph.D.  
Comm Studies Course 25.210
Organizational Communication

(on this page I post interesting facts about organizations which I expect you to keep in mind for class discussions and assignments)

E-Surveillance:  ABC News Feb. 11, 2001.  A hospital in San Francisco has issued employee badges which are tracked by a computer to identify the specific location of any employee at any time.

Internet Economy - NPR (June 4, 2000) reported a US Government study which claims the number of people employed in Internet related commerce has doubled since 1998.

Bulletin Board Posting Costs Employee His Job -  CNN reported (May 14, 2000) that Ameritech has fired an employee for posting in a Yahoo.com online bulletin board, comments about the company that they found defamatory.  The company obtained a subpoena to learn the identity of the person responsible for the posting - Yahoo.com complied with the subpoena - and the individual was fired.  He has now filed a lawsuit against Yahoo.com for violating his privacy on the bulletin board.

EMPLOYEE E-SURVEILLANCE: 
New software enables an employer to monitor the keystrokes on your PC !  Called "Investigator" this capability will allow managers to determine if employees are playing games or doing other forms of what is now called "cyberslacking."  This software also can be programmed to detect use of words which might indicate illegal activity on the part of employees. 
(ZDTV Jan 8, 2000)  Investigator's CEO says the fastest growing segment of his company's clients are disgruntled spouses.

Another company - AtomicTangerine.com - is marketing software called "netradar" which monitors chatrooms, Bulletin Boards etc., and can be programmed to search for specific words/phrases - then can automatically decipher the users ID.  It can also be programmed to create a profile of a user based on their online postings.  (ABC News, May 16, 2000)  Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee is considering calling for Congressional hearings into uses of this type of software.

American Management Association- funded a study which found that in 1997 35% of US employers were tracking their employee's use of e-mail and Internet traffic.  For 1999, they estimate that rate is up to 45% and will continue to grow. (CNET May 2, 1999)  NOTE:  you should know that court rulings make it clear - when you are at work, the email you send and your Internet usage can be monitored by your employer AND that you can be fired for violation of company policies regarding the use of these communication technologies.

Edward Jones Inc., of St. Louis has fired 19 employees, and disciplined 41 others after one employee had filed a complaint about an "offensive" e-mail message.  (Cyberlaw Journal, May 14, 1999).

A Phoenix AZ couple have been fired from their jobs as critical care nurses, at Scottsdale Healthcare, after their employer found that the couple have an "adult" website which they manage on their own time.  The couple's website does not mention their work for Scottsdale Healthcare, but they were fired anyway. (MSNBC July 16, 1999)

Cornell University - School of Industrial and Labor Relations - reported results of a study which shows "unionized employees work an average of 6.63 hours of overtime on top of their  regular 40 hour work week.  One-fifth of these workers .....work between 11 and 20 hours of overtime"...  Reasons for the overtime include: job insecurity and financial pressures... those who work more than 50 hours per week experience much greater incidence of "severe" work-family conflicts. The study concludes that the "hidden costs" of overtime "may be greater than previously suspected."
(Wall Street Journal - April 25, 2000)

 ABC News reported - June 22, 1999 - that a US Commerce Department study concluded the following:

35% of US economic growth since 1995 is directly attributed to Information Technology.   The average US worker is earning $30,000 per year - the average InfoTech worker is making $53,000 per year.

Electronic Commerce in the US is doubling every 9 months.

What it costs a bank to conduct a single transaction:

by teller -         $ 1.07
by ATM -          $   .27
by internet -    $   .01

1999 Wage-Gap Study

In the U.S., the average C.E.O. now makes more than 400 times the annual income of the average worker.  The release of the annual study by the Institute for Policy Studies  found that C.E.O. compensation grew by 37%  from 1998 to 1999.  Leading the "pack" was Disney CEO Michael Eisner who will make $576 million in 1999.   The average U.S. worker received a wage increase of   2.7% from 1998 - 1999.

The study concludes that C.E.O. compensation is weakening the economy and has become a significant influence on increasing inflation.
(PBS Newshour - Sept, 3, 1999)

CEO Severance Pay

Mattel Corporation - awarded severance pay of $ 40 million to their CEO who was employed for only 2 years - during which Mattel lost over 
$2.5 billion.

Coca-Cola - awarded severance pay of $18 million to their CEO - Coca-Cola lost over $14 billion during his service.

COMPAC - awarded $420 million in severance pay to the CEO - during his service the corporation's stock lost 50% of its value

Of the top 800 U.S. corporations - CEO pay increased 13% during 1999.

Competition for CEO positions is at an all time high.

ABC Evening News - May 1, 2000

1999 Annual Labor Day Survey of US Workers
(Gallup Organization)

Levels of "satisfaction" with work in the U.S. are lower today than in 1997 or 1989.
Reasons for "dissatisfaction" were:  stress and pay.

49% responded that in the past 12 months they had felt "anger" at work
16% responded that in the past 12 months they had felt "angry enough to hit a co-worker"
87% responded that Technology was a source of stress at work
(CBS News Sept. 6, 1999)

CBS NEWS, reported (Sept. 6, 1999)

        Work hours per year:
                        Sweden    1,500 per worker
                        France      1,656 per worker
                        U.S.           2,000 per worker

        Vacation Time for Workers:
"Small business employees (in the US)...get an average of eight days off while Europeans and Australians receive four to six weeks of paid annual leave.  In total hours we now work two months longer every year than Germans.  Two weeks longer than the Japanese."
MSNBC - citing a study in the online journal "escapemag.com"
June 11, 2000

What "perks" Do People Want at Work???

Flex hours                              67%

Casual Dress                         56%

Unlimited Internet Access   51%

Telecommuting                     43%

Nap Time                                28%

Massage                                 25%

Day Care                                24%

Expresso                                23%

Pets (allowed to come to work)             11%

(Source:  Careerpath.Com - April 12, 2000)

Activities which have been "replaced" by the Internet
(survey of North American Internet users)

Writing letters on paper         64%

Long Distance Phone Calls     46%

Watching Television                43%

Newspapers                             24%

Magazines                                21%

Local Calls                                 21%

Books                                        19%

Movies                                       10%
(Source:  Time Magazine April 17, 2000 page 16)