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COPYRIGHT 2005 Society for the Advancement of Management
"Blogs" have been in the news a lot lately with their comments on mainstream media reporting. But the Web log (elided to "blog") also flourishes in the business world. These informal journals and postings to the Internet come in all shapes and sizes. Some can be harnessed to further corporate objectives, some can boost employee morale, some may be used for recruitment, and some are hostile or critical--but cannot be ignored by today's managers. Blogs are undoubtedly here to stay, so human resource managers should try to make the best of it.
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During the last five years, the number of Web logs has increased dramatically. A Web log is an informal online journal, with chronological entries that are typically short and often include news summaries and links to other sites, along with a "blog" author's musings about anything from world events to how their morning coffee tasted. Blog is a contraction of Web log (Maher, 2004a, p. B10). On any given day, an estimated two million people worldwide maintain Web logs (Wessel, 2004). Even more have been started, but many are only active for a few months ("Online Buzz," 2005). These online journals are popular: according to some reports, approximately 25% of Web users read Web logs occasionally and 11% read them regularly (Kewney, 2005; Gard, 2004).
Web logs offer several desirable features for the creator. They are typically less formal than traditional Web pages, although they may be quite elaborate and include links to audio and video files (Dodge, 2004). The software for adding to a Web log and posting one on the Internet is often easier to use than traditional Web page software or intranet collaboration ("electronic meeting room") software (Rosencrance, 2004). They may also be identified by search engines such as Google, aggregated by other Web sites (which take the "best" of selected logs on specific topics), and may even be syndicated or sent automatically to specific individuals when posted, just as "listservs" do via e-mail (Klarquist, 2003; also see http://www.microsoft.com/communities/blogs/PortalHome.mspx). Some Web logs are created so that only one person can "publish" entries, but others allow readers to post responses.
The development of Web logs has several organizational and legal ramifications for human resource (HR) managers or general managers involved with human resource functions. This paper briefly explores these implications, offering occasional examples. Managers need to understand the various types of Web logs and the implications of each if they want to use this technology effectively.
Organizational Web Logs
More businesses are maintaining organizational web logs, which serve a variety of purposes: maintaining communication between managers and current employees, hosting workgroup discussion, facilitating communication among employees, providing a forum for the chief executive officer, developing customer relations, and recruiting new employees. Each of these will be briefly considered.
* Maintaining communication between managers and current employees. Web logs can offer current information (e.g., about changes in employee benefits plans), supplementing newsletters or updating policy information. They may include frequently asked questions and links to relevant information or formal online training modules that HR may offer employees. Such logs operate within an organization's intranet; that is, they are accessible only to current employees who type an identification code. Providing every employee with the same information and explanations may enhance morale and understanding of policies (Bies, 1987; Conlon and Ross, 1997; Bies and Shapiro, 1988).
* Facilitating group discussion and problem solving. Web logs provide a useful forum for discussion when there is a geographically dispersed, "virtual," team (Cascio, 2000; Leonard, 2003). They can provide "institutional memory" for the team and for the organization independently of individual team member's email records (O'Shea, 2003; Conlin and Park, 2004). At some firms (e.g., Daimler-Chrysler, IBM, and Soar Technology), managers or engineers at different facilities have used Web logs to share problems and compare solutions. These logs are not accessible to every employee, but only to members of the specific group. For many managers, facilitating group problem solving is a substantial benefit of Web logs to the organization.
* Facilitating communication among employees. Some firms allow all employees to post entries to selected Web logs to encourage dialog between members of a team or between employees and managers. Some of these are of a social nature such as a discussion of hobbies or work-related social events (e.g., the company picnic and softball tournament). Others provide commentary and discussion on work-related problems that transcend specific work groups.
Some firms use Web logs in addition to email (Vu, 2003). American Airlines uses them in lieu of e-mail for some jobs because less than one-fourth of its workforce has easy access to company e-mail. With Web logs every employee has access to the same information because one employee (or a supervisor) can print the information to share. The difference between e-mail and Web logs has been compared to the difference between a private letter and a bulletin board: with Web logs, there are no private postings. Every employee sees everything. Rosencrance (2004) suggests that Web logs may work best for firms that already encourage open collaboration and communication among employees. Future research may determine the extent to which they merely reflect a norm of openness and the extent to which they help create such a norm.
HR managers may use "employee discussion" Web logs to identify problems and concerns (Bray, 2003). Logs may also supplement the more traditional data bases and employee surveys used to identify employee interests and hobbies (e.g., asking an employee with a specific hobby to help entertain a prospective customer with that same hobby; identifying an alumnus to send to a specific college to recruit). Some firms allow nonwork-related Web logs to encourage esprit de corps by allowing workers to identify fellow employees who share their interests, provided that they discuss these interests on their own time. Generally, by occasionally visiting these Web logs, HR managers can gain greater insights into the work-related problems and interests of employees.
* Providing a forum for the chief executive officer (CEO). Such Web logs are generally accessible to the public. The CEO or a president can supplement annual reports by discussing his or her vision and company strategy. A CEO can also provide extensive explanations, but, unlike traditional magazine or newspaper interviews, does not have to worry about being misquoted, edited, or having comments taken out of context (Kharif, 2004). For example, Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems, maintains a blog (available at http://blogs.sun.com/roller/page/jonathan/ as do a number of upper-level managers from various companies (Lynn, 2004).
Several senior...
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