Download Chapter 13: Information and Communication

Organizational
Behavior, 9/E
Schermerhorn, Hunt, and
Osborn
Prepared by
Michael K. McCuddy
Valparaiso University
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Chapter 13 Study Questions
 What is the nature of communication in
organizations?
 What are the essentials of interpersonal
communication?
 What are the barriers to effective
communication?
 What are current issues in organizational
communication?
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
2
Study Question 1: What is the nature
of communication in organizations?
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
3
Study Question 1: What is the nature
of communication in organizations?
 Feedback and communication.
– Feedback is the process through which the
receiver communicates with the sender by
returning another message.
– Giving feedback often is associated with one
or more persons communicating an evaluation
of what another person has said or done.
– 360-degree feedback.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
4
Study Question 1: What is the nature
of communication in organizations?
 Guidelines for effective constructive feedback.
– Give feedback directly and in a spirit of mutual trust.
– Be specific, not general; use clear examples.
– Give feedback when the receiver is most ready to
accept it.
– Be accurate; check validity with others.
– Focus on things that the receiver can control.
– Limit how much feedback the receiver gets at one
time.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
5
Study Question 1: What is the nature
of communication in organizations?
 Communication channels.
– Formal channels.
• Follow the chain of command established by an
organization’s hierarchy of authority.
– Informal channels.
• Do not follow an organization’s hierarchy of
authority.
• The grapevine is an informal channel through
which rumors and unofficial information pass.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
6
Study Question 1: What is the nature
of communication in organizations?
 Channel richness.
– The capacity of a communication channel to convey
information effectively.
– Richest channels — face-to-face communication.
– Moderately rich channels — telephone, electronic chat
rooms, E-mail, written memos, and letters.
– Leanest channels — posted notices and bulletins.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
7
Study Question 1: What is the nature
of communication in organizations?
 Organizational communication is the
specific process through which information
moves and is exchanged throughout an
organization.
 Information flows:
– Through formal and informal structures.
– Downward, upward, and laterally.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
8
Study Question 1: What is the nature
of communication in organizations?
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
9
Study Question 2: What are the essentials
of interpersonal communication?
 Effective and efficient communication.
– Effective communication.
• The accuracy of communication.
– Efficient communication.
• The cost of communication.
– Effectiveness does not guarantee efficiency or
vice versa.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
10
Study Question 2: What are the essentials
of interpersonal communication?
 Nonverbal communication.
– Occurs through facial expressions, body
position, eye contact, and other physical
gestures.
– Gives clues to what a person is really thinking.
– Two important aspects of nonverbal
communication.
• Kinesics  the study of gestures and body
postures.
• Proxemics  the study of how space is utilized.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
11
Study Question 2: What are the essentials
of interpersonal communication?
 Active listening.
– Ability to listen well is a distinct asset.
– Everyone needs to develop good skills in
active listening.
– Active listening is the ability to help the
source of a message say what he or she really
means.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
12
Study Question 2: What are the essentials
of interpersonal communication?
 Guidelines for active listening.
– Listen for content.
– Listen for feelings.
– Respond to feelings.
– Note all cues.
– Reflect back.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
13
Study Question 2: What are the essentials
of interpersonal communication?
 Cross-cultural communication.
– Ethnocentrism.
• The tendency to believe that one’s culture and its
values are superior to those of others.
– Cross-cultural communication challenges.
• Language differences.
• Use of gestures.
– One of the best ways to understand cultural
differences is to learn some of the language.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
14
Study Question 3: What are the
barriers to effective communication?
 Physical distractions.
– Any aspect of the physical setting in which
communication takes place.
– Can interfere with communication
effectiveness.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
15
Study Question 3: What are the
barriers to effective communication?
 Semantic problems.
– Involves a poor choice or use of words.
– Use the KISS principle of communication.
• “Keep it short and simple.”
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
16
Study Question 3: What are the
barriers to effective communication?
 Mixed messages.
– Occur when a person’s words communicate
one thing while actions or body language
communicates another.
– Nonverbals add important insights in face-to-
face meetings.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
17
Study Question 3: What are the
barriers to effective communication?
 Absence of feedback.
– One-way communication flows from sender to
receiver only, with no direct and immediate
feedback.
– Two-way communication goes from sender to
receiver and back again.
– Two-way communication is more effective
than one-way communication.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
18
Study Question 3: What are the
barriers to effective communication?
 Status effects.
– Status differences create potential communication
barriers between persons of higher and lower ranks .
– Mum effect.
• Occurs when people are reluctant to transmit bad
news.
– Management by wandering around (MBWA).
• Getting out of the office to directly communicate
with others as they do their jobs.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
19
Study Question 4: What are current issues
in organizational communication?
 Advances in information technologies enable
organizations to:
– Distribute information much faster.
– Make more information available.
– Allow broader and more immediate access to
information.
– Encourage participation in the sharing and use of
information.
– Integrate systems and functions, and use information
to link with the environment.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
20
Study Question 4: What are current issues
in organizational communication?
 Potential disadvantages of electronic
communications.
– Technologies are impersonal.
– Nonverbal communication is removed from
situation.
– Can unduly influence the emotional aspects of
communication.
– Information overload.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
21
Study Question 4: What are current issues
in organizational communication?
 Communication and social context.
– Mean and women are socialized into different
communication styles.
• Women are socialized to be more sensitive to
interpersonal relationships in communication.
• Men are socialized to be competitive, aggressive,
and individualistic, which may cause
communication problems.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
22
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2005 © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that permitted in Section
117 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the express written
permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Request for further
information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley
& Sons, Inc. The purchaser may make back-up copies for his/her own use
only and not for distribution or resale. The Publisher assumes no
responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages, caused by the use of these
programs or from the use of the information contained herein.
Organizational Behavior: Chapter 13
23