Neil Patterson
Abstract
An incident by the CEO of Cerner Corporation is one of the representative email cases found in textbooks. This project studied problems observed in the case from the perspectives of communication, organizational justice, and perception. This paper began with description of the organizational case, identified communication problems, and analyzed them based on organizational justice and perception. This study incorporated the three different domains to comprehensively explore the case and suggested a unique approach to the complexity of human behanviors.
Introduction When thinking of company emails one might think of the inappropriate forwards that contain attachments of videos of cats from you tube that circulate through the organization or the necessary communications exchange confirming appointments or other important information. But sometimes there’s those heated exchanges much like the infamous email Neal Patterson CEO of Cerner Corporation, is best known for. His email is now covered in text books as “What not to do” in email communications. His email has become notorious and is now textbook material (Chapman, 2004). The email created a firestorm for the Cerner Corporation, in which the email was sent throughout the organization and on to media sites (Wong, 2001). Within days the company’s stock prices dropped dramatically. The scope of Patterson’s leadership has been scrutinized by investors, analyzed by business professionals, and lectured on by academics. Thanks to the example of miscommunication Mr. Patterson has given us, we are able to discuss in detail how the importance of proper communication, and how communication, organizational justice, and perception are all interconnected. The purpose of this project is to explore an example of the corporate incident by applying theoretical concepts in three domains: communication, organizational justice, and perception. This paper will identify specific problems of the
An incident by the CEO of Cerner Corporation is one of the representative email cases found in textbooks. This project studied problems observed in the case from the perspectives of communication, organizational justice, and perception. This paper began with description of the organizational case, identified communication problems, and analyzed them based on organizational justice and perception. This study incorporated the three different domains to comprehensively explore the case and suggested a unique approach to the complexity of human behanviors.
Introduction When thinking of company emails one might think of the inappropriate forwards that contain attachments of videos of cats from you tube that circulate through the organization or the necessary communications exchange confirming appointments or other important information. But sometimes there’s those heated exchanges much like the infamous email Neal Patterson CEO of Cerner Corporation, is best known for. His email is now covered in text books as “What not to do” in email communications. His email has become notorious and is now textbook material (Chapman, 2004). The email created a firestorm for the Cerner Corporation, in which the email was sent throughout the organization and on to media sites (Wong, 2001). Within days the company’s stock prices dropped dramatically. The scope of Patterson’s leadership has been scrutinized by investors, analyzed by business professionals, and lectured on by academics. Thanks to the example of miscommunication Mr. Patterson has given us, we are able to discuss in detail how the importance of proper communication, and how communication, organizational justice, and perception are all interconnected. The purpose of this project is to explore an example of the corporate incident by applying theoretical concepts in three domains: communication, organizational justice, and perception. This paper will identify specific problems of the
References: Burton, T. M., & Silverman, R. E. (2001, Mar 30). Lots of empty spaces in Cerner parking lot get CEO riled up: Email scolding employees gets posted on a web site; stock price takes beating. Wall Street Journal, pp. 3-B3. Chapman, C. (2012, October 17). Cerner CEO predicts workplace changes. Retrieved from http://www.jewell.edu/gen/media/achieve/summer2004/cernerCeo.html Cropanzano, R., Bowen, D. E., & Gilliland, S. W. (2007). The management of organizational justice. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21(4), 34-48 Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32, 554-571. Daft, R. L., Lengel, R. H., & Trevino, L. K. (1987). Message equivocality, media selection, and manager performance: Implications for information systems. MIS Quarterly. 11, 355-366. Miller, K. (2006). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. Robbins, S. P. & Judge, T. A. (2009). Contemporary theories of motivations. In Organizational behavior (13th ed.). (pp. 195-203). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Wong, E. (2001, Apr 05). Chief executive is criticized after upbraiding workers by email. New York Times, pp. 1-C1.