http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Collaboration/Case-Studies A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Collaboration and Case Studies in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Collaboration/Case-Studies http://tc.eserver.org/35607.html http://tc.eserver.org/35607.html Give 3 designers 4 weeks to create multiple conceptual designs for 8 features and what do you get? If they are team of innovative designers you might get the designs and a new process. If they are a team of committed designers you might get the designs and an improved collaboration. We were lucky. We got all three. http://tc.eserver.org/34860.html http://tc.eserver.org/34860.html Even a newspaper like The Times, with layers of editing to ensure accuracy, can go off the rails when communication is poor, individuals do not bear down hard enough, and they make assumptions about what others have done. http://tc.eserver.org/33501.html http://tc.eserver.org/33501.html Drawing on insights from Goffman's dramaturgical approach to interaction, this article demonstrates how meetings are team performances routinely concerned with sustaining or challenging interpretations of power relations. The data for this article were collected at a British embassy, relying on participant observation, audio recordings of weekly gatherings of Heads of Section, and interviews with the people that attended the meeting. The analysis focuses on the double role behavior of the Ambassador as the director and central player of a team performance and the conflicting ideologies these shifting roles entail. http://tc.eserver.org/31645.html http://tc.eserver.org/31645.html This presentation reports on an intercultural virtual team project conducted by students in two management communication courses, one at the University of Delaware (USA) and one at McGill University (Canada). The goal of the partnership between the two classes was to enhance students' ability to collaborate across cultures using a variety of technologies for collaboration, a skill they need in order to succeed in the increasingly global and technologically mediated environment of work. Each team, which included students from both universities, compared communication practices in a company or type of business that exists both in the United States and in Canada. Their task was to analyze how the practices reflect and shape the particular environments in which the businesses operate. During the project they advanced and monitored their work through different technologies, including blogs, email, and a designated collaborative Web-based workspace, and they produced several genres of documents reporting their achievements. This presentation first analyzes the advantages, vulnerabilities, and faultlines of virtual intercultural teamwork as students experienced them. We then describe conditions that help teams overcome the risks of virtual work and assess how well we were able to create these conditions in the courses. http://tc.eserver.org/31653.html http://tc.eserver.org/31653.html When Monsanto attempted to release transgenic wheat in the upper Midwest of the US, localization efforts to accommodate stakeholders were unsuccessful. This paper explores this case briefly and suggests a new role for technical communicators as negotiators of technology. http://tc.eserver.org/30589.html http://tc.eserver.org/30589.html SIGs exist to serve specialized needs within the greater organization. Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Professional Interest Committees (PICs) are a tool by which the local chapters can serve a diverse range of special interests, boosting chapter membership. The Lone Star Chapter (Dallas/Fort Worth) began hosting SIG meetings three years ago. Currently, with four active SIGs, we are hosting an additional 100 to 200 members per month. This is how we built our SIGs to promote membership in STC. In the spring of 1990, a group of disgruntled contractors began to meet formally to discuss dissatisfaction with insurance plans for independents available through the society. We had been meeting informally for many years, to discuss the job market, rates available, and generally to gossip. We call it networking. personal contact or the sudden ice storm we had that night attendance was down significantly. From that point, we have kept a mailing list updated from our sign-in sheets, and sent postcard reminders about each meeting. http://tc.eserver.org/30093.html http://tc.eserver.org/30093.html This study looks at how an information and communication technologies (ICT) rich environment impacts team conflict and conflict management strategies. A case study research method was used. Three teams, part of a graduate class in instructional design, participated in the study. Data were collected through observations of team meetings, interviews with individual members, plus analysis of electronic documents exchanged among team members. Findings indicate that all teams experienced conflict at some level and that conflict management strategies evolved over time. ICT played a dual role in the conflict management of teams. These technologies seemed to facilitate conflict management by offering a formal means of communication, making communication more effective, with minimal wasted or unnecessary efforts; and creating opportunities for more thoughtful reactions, with chances for reflection on the content. However, ICT also aggravated conflict, specifically when strategies for use were imposed, when team members became blunt and forthright, and when misinterpretations occurred because of differing sense of urgency in replying to emails.