Another consultant also limited himself to working with local clients and often telecommuted to reduce his work hours. He used another key tool as well: controlling information about his whereabouts. He reported (with some pleasure) that he had actually skied every day the previous week — without claiming any personal time. Yet senior colleagues saw him as a rising star who worked much harder than most people at the firm.

Furthermore, people who buy in to the ideal-worker culture find it difficult to understand those who do not. As a result, accepters can become the main drivers of organizational pressure for round-the-clock availability. They tend to have trouble managing people who have lives outside the office. One senior consultant, describing the kind of employee he prefers to work with, said:

In our research we found that people typically rely on one of three strategies: accepting and conforming to the demands of a high-pressure workplace; passing as ideal workers by quietly finding ways around the norm; or revealing their other commitments and their unwillingness to abandon them.

By operating in this way, organizations pressure employees to become what sociologists have called ideal workers: people totally dedicated to their jobs and always on call. The phenomenon is widespread in professional and managerial settings; it’s been documented in depth at tech start-ups, at investment banks, and in medical organizations. In such places, any suggestion of meaningful outside interests and commitments can signal a lack of fitness for the job.

To satisfy those demands, employees arrive early, stay late, pull all-nighters, work weekends, and remain tied to their electronic devices 24/7. And those who are unable — or unwilling — to respond typically get penalized.

This semester I will be using IU’s FLAGS System to provide real-time feedback on your performance in this course. Periodically throughout the semester I will be entering data on factors such as your class attendance, participation, and success with coursework, among other things. This information will provide feedback on how you are faring in the course and offer you suggestions on how you might be able to improve your performance. You will be able to access this information in the student center: One.IU> Student Services page > Student Center > My Academics and Grades > My Grades.

Humor and sarcasm. Because there are no visual cues in distance education, humor and sarcasm are impossible to discern. Be very careful when interjecting humor and refrain from using any remarks that are sarcastic in nature.

Copyrights and intellectual property. Students may not post, transmit, promote, or distribute content that know or could reasonably be expected to know is illegal, or content that violates copyright or other protected intellectual property rights.

I do not accept late work (this includes forgetting the assignment on your printer and wanting to run it by my office after class). If you do not come to class on an exam day or when a written assignment is due, you will receive a ZERO for that assignment unless an alternate due date has been previously approved and/or documentation has been provided for extreme circumstances.

POLICY ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Use of an AI Generator such as ChatGPT, MidJourney, DALL-E, etc. is explicitly prohibited in this course. In Communication Studies, we rely on skills such as writing and critical thinking that are developed through practice and improvement. As a result, you will be given opportunities to practice and grow without the use of AI.

Disrespectful or rude emails will be forwarded to the Division Head of Applied and Professional Studies and may be openly used as teaching material.

xplores reciprocal influence between communication and organizational structures and between communication and managerial styles. Discusses communication designs, superior/subordinate communication, conflict, information management, networks; communication vis-a-vis employee motivation, satisfaction, and productivity; and communication effectiveness in organizations.