Download Given below is an additional OB in Action feature to supplement

Chapter 20
Communication
What the Chapter Covers
This chapter deals with communication, a process that has strong connections with every other topic
in the book. Because communication is often taken for granted, there is an unfortunate tendency gor
people to overlook the complexity of what is necessary in order to communicate effectively.
Therefore in order to make it easier for the reader to appreciate this complexity, much of the
discussion in the chapter is focused on communication at the interpersonal level. Nevertheless, the
principles involved are equally applicable communication at the macro level of organisations, and to
this end the chapter covers:
 a definition of communication and effective communication
 the importance of communication to organisations
 a model of communication, which breaks down the process into easy-to-understand stages
 barriers to effective communication
 patterns of formal communication in organisations
 informal communication within organisations
 different forms of organisational communication: verbal, written and electronic
 the digital age and the virtual organisation
The chapter closes with an overview section that reviews its contents and in addition to
material which addresses the learning outcomes set-out at its start, the chapter contains three
connected themes.
1. All communication takes place within a context and so communication can be strongly affected
by the environment in which it takes place.
2. A number of developments in organisations and in the environments in which they operate can
create a necessity for them to change the ways that they communicate, both internally and
externally.
3. Whatever the method of communication used, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the process,
there are certain principles that need to be observed.
New Concepts Introduced in Chapter
Channel of communication: the carrier of the message
Closure of message: the receiver filling-in what he/she perceives to be gaps in a message, before
transmitting it onward
Communication: a process in which information and its meaning is conveyed from a sender to
receiver(s)
Condensation of message: the extraction of what the receiver of a message perceives to be its key
points and transmitting only these onward
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Decoding: a process in which the receiver of a message uses the symbols in which it is conveyed, to
attribute it with a meaning
Effective communication: the extent to which sender and receiver of a message both attribute it
with the same meaning
Encoding: a process in which a message is transformed into a set of symbols that can be conveyed
by a channel
Feedback: a process in which sender and receiver exchange roles, so that the receiver responds to a
message
Flamemail: the use of E-mail to abuse others in the workplace
Grapevine: an informal channel of communication
Information Richness: the potential information-carrying capacity of a communication medium
Interpersonal Communication Style: the way a person prefers to relate to other people in a
communication situation
Leveling of message: omission of certain details of a message as it is transmitted onward
Medium: specific ways of conveying a message along a channel
Noise: any extraneous signal that interferes with, or masks-out a message
Receiver of Message: the person(s) to whom a message is directed
Rumor: unverified information of uncertain origin
Self-disclosure: information that people consciously communicate about themselves to others
Sharpening of message: selective attention to only part of a message
Source of message: the person(s) from which a message originates
Team Briefing: a cascade system of communication starting at the top of an organisation, in which
managers at each level brief their direct subordinates about matters relevant to the subordinates
Technological Determinism: the belief that technological advances drive changes, for example to
organisational structures
Teleworker: someone who works at a place other than the one where the results of the work are needed,
by using information and communication technology
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Time Out Exercises: Hints for Completing
Exercise on page 620: Components of Communication
This exercise is provided so that you can apply the components of the communication model to a
process with which you are familiar. The questions are very straightforward and you will probably
have few problems in developing answers.
Question 1
Most students will spot that in a formal classroom session the source of the message is normally the
lecturer. However, it is worth asking yourself ‘who or what is the source, if specific reading from a
text book has been set by your lecturer?’
Question 2
If you have difficulty in finding an answer here try asking yourself ‘how does the message get from
the lecturer to me?’ If it is by talking, then the channel used is clearly the verbal one.
Question 3
If you have difficulty in finding an answer here ask yourself ‘when a lecturer is talking to the class,
is that the only way he/she uses to convey the material?’ For example, slides and handouts are
sometimes used, both of which are media associated with the verbal channel.
Question 4
(Hopefully) your answer here is yourself and the rest of the class.
Exercise on page 625: Barriers to Communication
This exercise is a continuation of the one on page 17, but considers the barriers to communication in
the classroom situation.
Question 1
If you have difficulty here, re-examine Table 20.3, which draws a distinction between physical and
psychological noise, and also gives some examples.
Question 2
If you have difficulty here, re-examine Table 20.2.
Question 3
See question 1 above.
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Question 4
See table 20.4 in the text.
Exercise on page 631: Communication in an Academic Institution
Question 1
If you encounter difficulties in finding an answer here, try asking yourself how you get to know
about changes to academic regulations, new library or computing facilities and other matters that
affect your interests. In most institutions these days, students are bombarded with information on
these matters and so there should be little problem in producing answers.
Question 2
Try asking yourself whether there are provisions to seek student opinions on matters that affect them.
Once again most institutions have a number of ways of doing this. For example, course committees,
staff student liaison bodies, course evaluation questionnaires, and in some institutions the Student
Union has representatives on Senate.
Question 3
This can be a tricky question to answer and if you have difficulty you could try asking other people
about the role of the Student Union.
Question 4
There is a student grapevine in most institutions, and so you should have little difficulty in producing
an answer to this question.
Exercise on page 637: Interpersonal Communication Styles
Before you attempt to answer these questions you should re-examine the material on pages 633-635
of the chapter, which deals with communication styles. You need to be scrupulously honest with
yourself in answering the questions. If you are attempting this exercise in a classroom session,
answers are likely to be so varied that it is impossible to give model answers. In these
circumstances you will probably find that your lecturer conducts the exercise as a free-flowing
discussion. Therefore, you will have the opportunity to ask questions about how to interpret the
above material, in order to produce your answers.
Supplementary Illustrative Material
Given below is an additional OB in Action feature to supplement those in Chapter 20. It is associated
with material on page 624 and 625 of the book and illustrates the idea that in a globalised economy
there is now a greater recognition of the importance of language skills to facilitate effective
communication.
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OB in Action: If You Want to Get Ahead Get a Language
A survey of members of the Institute of Management (the UK’s leading professional body for managers)
conducted for Professional Manager magazine in mid 1999 revealed a somewhat nonchalant attitude
towards the acquisition of foreign language skills. While managers indicated that their companies
engaged in extensive overseas trade, nearly 90 percent of the sample reported that English was the
normal language used when conducting business with people from other countries. Nevertheless there
was widespread support from respondents for the idea that the capability to use local languages had
tremendous advantages in terms of building relationships and the facility to engage in meaningful
negotiation.
Another significant finding was that people such as receptionists, telephonists and sales and
marketing staff, who tend to be on the front line in dealing with customers, were seldom multilingual and
few firms provided training in foreign languages or cultural awareness. Moreover, 80 percent of the
sample reported that their organisations did not recognise competence in a foreign language as a basis for
rewarding people in terms of salary and few organisations would be prepared to pay to send employees
on courses to learn or improve their language skills.
Commenting on the gap between Great Britain and other countries in terms of foreign language
acquisition, Vandevelde (1999) notes that the growth of multinational companies, who now account for
one-third of the output of the developed world makes it imperative that companies develop better
capabilities for global communication. More significantly she notes that in Great Britain, the inability to
speak a foreign language(s) is now something that makes it harder for a young graduate to get a good job.
Moreover, it is also starting to affect the prospects of people in mid-career and in future, having a foreign
language could well be an essential investment for lifetime employability.
Sources:
Vandevelde, H (1999) Linguistic ability holds the key to future job security, Profession
Manager September; 6
Charlesworth, K, N Ferguson, A Macdonald and S Mann (1999) UK Plc needs to learn
the value of speaking customers’ language, Professional Manager September; 20-21
Useful Sources of Additional Material
For those who enjoy exploring study materials on the internet, given below are a number of
potentially useful websites that give further information on the topics and issues covered in the
chapter.
http://www.ee.uwa.edu.au/~ccroft/em333/lecn.html
The site gives a brief, but useful overview of communication in organisations.
http://www.chrisrodgers.com/gap.html
A set of brief, general notes illustrating the importance of communication inorganisations.
http://www.prospects.csu.ac.uk/student/cidd/wdgd/articles01/articles.htm
A short examination of graduate employment and employment prospects. This points out that high on
the list of skills that employers seek in graduates are: the ability to communicate well in writing and
verbal communication skills.
http://www.millionhandshakes.com/products/engine.htm
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An interesting paper from a commercial (consulting) organisation that describes its methods of
auditing organisational communication, and how an audit of this type can be used to improve
communication.
http://www.sharedlearning.org.uk/communication1.htm
The first of a pair of papers dealing with communication. This one relates communication to role
theory.
http://www.sharedlearning.org.uk/communication2.htm
The second of a pair of linked papers dealing with communication. This one considers the
communication process in more detail.
http://www.uh.edu/crc/intcomm.html
A useful set of brief notes on interpersonal communication, making relevant points about verbal and
non-verbal communication.
http://www.onepine.demon.co.uk/mcult2.htm
Very brief notes produced by a commercial (consultancy) firm, which deal with proxemics and
verbal versus non-verbal communication.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/cotwj1/
The site gives a brief report of the findings of a research project that investigated the costeffectiveness of electronic communication in organisations.
http://www.managementfirst.com/articles/email.htm
The site consists of a short, but useful paper on the uses and abuses of e-mail in organisations, and
an argument for the necessity for organisations to have well though through e-mail policies.
Guidelines for the content of these policies are also given.
http://www.makingthenetwork.org/toolbox/tools/ten.htm
A set of ten highly prescriptive guidelines for making the internet work in organisations. A recipe
approach that is portrayed as applicable everywhere.
http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue3_9/williams/
The site consists of a forward looking paper, which examines the likely developments in e-mail as
away of communicating within and between organisations.
http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue4_2/mjohnson/
An extensive and useful paper that gives a detailed examination of communication on the internet,
and in particular its potential applicability and usefulness to non-profit organisations.
http://www1.oecd.org/dsti/sti/it/ec/prod/dismantl.htm
A long and very detailed paper produced by The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development, which considers the barriers to global electronic commerce, and how the barriers
might be overcome.
http://www.pscw.uva.nl/is/js/vorg/vo.htm
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An interesting introduction to the concept of the Virtual Organisation(VO). The role of information
and communication technologies in the VO is covered in a useful way.
http://www.uni-hildesheim.de/~chlehn/isko2001/abstracts/bosch_petra.html
A short, but interesting paper by Petra Bosch-Sijtsema of the University of Groningen in The
Netherlands. The paper reports the results of a study of small virtual organisations. Interestingly
the results show that contrary to what many people suppose, electronic communication is not the
only, or even the most important way of communication in organisations such as these. Rather,
conventional methods such as the telephone and face-to-face encounters have tremendous
importance in bringing about satisfaction of employees.
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