Reference no: EM132962401

Manager's Hot Seat: Virtual Workplace - Out of Office Reply

Advances in information technology have dramatically increased managers' abilities to communicate with others. Yet, these same increases have also given rise to increased communication problems. These problems are compounded by telecommuting-employees who perform work in their home instead of the office using a variety of information technologies.

This video case introduces us to telecommuting-employees using information technology to do their work in their home instead of at the office. Telecommuting can offer many benefits including reduced capital costs because employees work from home, increased flexibility and autonomy for employees, increased job satisfaction and decreased turn over, and increased productivity. Organizations have also found that telecommuting allows them a competitive edge in recruiting hard-to-get employees and the ability to access nontraditional labor pools. Yet, the likelihood of communication problems increases with telecommuting as some employees may not have access to all information and may feel that the company does not appreciate them.

Angela and Ralph are engaged in a conflict between individual members of the organization that has occurred because of their differences in goals and values. This type of conflict is known as __________ conflict.

Multiple Choice

a. offensive

b. intergroup

c. discriminatory

d. interpersonal

e. equal employment