Abstract
This chapter addresses the communication between information technology/information systems (IT/IS) professionals and their users in the corporate environment of the city of Curitiba (Brazil). The main goal was to analyze the communication processes and their pitfalls to knowledge transfer in this area. The study is exploratory considering that the desired number of responses was not reached. Results show that professionals have a communication whose terms make difficult users to understand them. Although it is not intentional, respondent professionals do not facilitate their understanding, what creates a knowledge bias between them. Conclusions suggest that professionals be formally prepared for customer service and manage their approach as user-cantered. Professionals need to be clear to users, in order to guarantee them confidence. Respondent users recognize the importance of IT/IS for their lives and companies; thus they expect professionals to share and explain well their actions/choices.
TopIntroduction
Globalization and, consequently, the information and technology society have introduced many technical terms into the vocabulary of IT/IS professionals by logical necessity and explicit use. These expressions, which have become part of the daily life in many organizations, are not always dominated by the users. Thus, this technical language has broadened people’s vocabulary. In addition, technology evolves faster than our language ability to assimilate new concepts and find the appropriate terms. Therefore, strategies need to be developed to improve administrative and technical communication.
It is in these situations, focus of present study, that communication problems often occur because the client does not always dominate technical terms of the IT/IS area. We want to discuss its consequences and that improving this aspect means increasing trust, which can bring a differential in negotiation (Cassarro, 2010). Professionals need to be creative to adapt to specific, local and semantic situations. They need to identify what customers understand and, above all, what they really need. The interactivity between both and the clarity of the information paved the way for strengthening relations of trust between professional and user.
In the reality of the professionals targeted by this study, a continuous connection (loyalty) is created from trust in the service provided, based on clarity of communication (including vocabulary adaptation). Considering that people do not simply buy products, but also services (Madia de Souza, 2007), it is assumed that in the field of IT/IS demand is not only for equipment or programs, but also for security, information organization and ability to solve problems. These initial considerations resulted in the subject of this study - knowledge transfer conditioning by the communication processes in the IT/IS area - whose research, based on theoretical and empirical evidence, has quantitative and qualitative analysis in an interdisciplinary approach involving IT/IS, processes, knowledge transfer, management and innovation.
Key Terms in this Chapter
IT/IS Professionals: Are the professionals that work in the field of IT/IS which can be programmers, analysts, software engineers, technicians, network administrators, IT consultants, etc.
IT/IS Adoption: When users/enterprises are presented with a new technology or system, a number of factors influence their decision about how and when they will use it: perceived usefulness (degree to which using a particular system would enhance performance); perceived ease-of-use (degree to which using a particular system would be easy); etc. Because uncertainty exists in the mind of decision makers with respect to the successful adoption of it, people have attitudes/intentions toward trying to learn to use it prior to initiating efforts directed at using.
Communication Efficiency: Ability to deliver a clear message in the shortest amount of time. With this form of communication, the message may or may not be received in the manner intended. The receiver may feel the brevity is insufficient and may need more clarity in order for the message to be delivered effectively. Being able to master efficient communication in business will have a positive impact on managing professional relationships and organizational behavior.
Customer Service: The provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees’ receptiveness. Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to the customer relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively get customers’ feedback. A good customer service experience can change the entire perception a customer holds towards the organization.
Knowledge Transfer: Refers to sharing/disseminating knowledge and providing inputs to problem solving. In organizational theory, knowledge transfer is the practical problem of transferring knowledge from one part of the organization to another. Knowledge transfer seeks to organize, create, capture or distribute knowledge and ensure its availability for future users. It is considered to be more than just communication, otherwise a memorandum, an e-mail or a meeting would accomplish this transfer.
IT/IS Users: Are the users or clients that need/want specific IT/IS solutions for their enterprises/lives. They can have different IT/IS background or knowledge related.
Communication Processes: Because communication is interaction, participants take turns “sending” and “receiving.” Interaction means that both parties—persons or entities—can affect the other. In this way, both parties are senders and receivers. They are also co-persuaders in that they may take turns trying to affect one another by sharing symbols.
IT/IS: Information technology/information system. IT is considered a subset of information and communication technology (ICT) which is an important component of an information system. And this is an organized system for the collection, organization, storage and communication of information. Any information system aims to support operations, management and decision-making. Thus, an information system is the information and communication technology (ICT) that an organization uses, and also the way in which people interact with this technology in support of business processes.