Emails: Using email away from the office has become a way of life for many employees in Canada. Companies now provide employees with BlackBerrys and set up Virtual Private Networks that enable staff to access email accounts from home. This technology blurs the line between work time and personal time. The implementation of this technology has produced a workplace with no boundaries. Many employees draft and send email communications from home well into the night.

Pfizer Inc. is the worlds largest research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company. At a division of Pfizer Inc. located in Markham, Ontario, a group of employees convinced management to put in place a policy that forbids staff to send email between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., unless doing so is absolutely necessary for the performance of their job functions. Management agreed that email addiction has a detrimental impact on employee stress, workplace morale, and worklife balance. The policy encourages employees to put their BlackBerrys and laptops away and spend time with their families when they leave the office.

One employee at Pfizer, Graham Robertson, was identified as the worst offender of email use outside of work hours. He typed emails during family meals and while attending his sons soccer games. The purpose of the new corporate policy is to persuade Graham and others to change their ways.

Management in the Markham office claim that the new policy not only decreased the volume of emails sent by employees over the company network but also increased employee productivity.

QUESTIONS

1.For analysis: What impacts have recent advances in information technology had on communication in organizations?

2.For application: Identify potentially detrimental effects to Pfizer of Graham Robertson sending so many email messages outside of work hours.

3.For application: In order to ensure effective communication, what factors should a manager consider when deciding whether or not to deliver a message by email?

4.For debate: A policy banning email between certain hours is fair to all employees. Implementing such a policy would benefit most organizations. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?