SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 454-4

COMPUTER-MEDIATED WORK AND WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION

Prerequisites:

75 credits, including CMNS 362. Recommended: CMNS 253 or 353.

The course will examine communication and conflict in the workplace in the context of the introduction of information technologies. Through lectures, readings, discussions, and research projects, the social context of the development of computerized information systems and automated production systems in blue-collar and white-collar settings in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Japan will be investigated. Claims that information technology is ushering in a post-industrial society will be critically evaluated in the light of evidence regarding the character of communication between labour and management in a diversity of workplace settings. New and old managerial utopias will be compared. Recent business and organizational communication theory and the practice of “participatory management” and “intimate authority” will be critically analyzed. Debates regarding whether the information technologies primarily create or destroy jobs, deskill or upgrade skills, degrade or enrich work, etc. will be reviewed. The course will examine collective bargaining for new technology agreements in Europe and North America. The semester will conclude with discussion of alternative approaches for socializing the systems analysis and design of computer-mediated work.

Required Reading:

Joan Greenbaum, Windows on the Workplace: Computers, Jobs, and the Organization of Office Work in the Late Twentieth Century, NY: Monthly Review Press ,1995 ISBN 0-85345-901-0
Readings for discussion in tutorials will be available on reserve in the Library as well as an extensive bibliography of books and articles useful for preparing term papers.

Evaluation:

Note: Review essays will be limited to 600-750 words and based on topics assigned the week before they are due. The topics will require review of the required readings of the three weeks leading up to the assignment. Although there will be no final exam, students will be expected to write term papers that indicate critical reflection on the content of readings and lectures. Original research in a workplace setting will be encouraged.

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will also follow Policy T10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty”, and “Academic Discipline” (see the current Calendar, General Regulations Section).