Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
AUGUST 2013
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CONTENT
TOPIC PAGES
TASK 1 3-5
TASK 2 6-18
TASK 3 19-23
REFERENCE 24
COURSEWORK 25-31
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Task 1
news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning. In general,
Communication is also the transfer of information and understanding from one person
understanding. Communication is an activity that when you are a manager will have
to do a lot of.
required that there be both a sender and a receiver for communication to take place.
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The following are the natures of communication.
(c) It is complex.
There is a great deal of variation in the definitions. Some are very abstract and some
are extremely specific. Few definitions are cited below. Given the variety of ways in
which words are used and understood, we are often ill-served to search for the single,
People define terms in different ways, and those differences in definition can have a
profound impact onthe extent to which we understand each other and the way we
move forward with both academic and everyday pursuits. In other words, it is better to
evaluate definition in terms of their utility rather than in terms of their correctness. So
we should not assume that there is always a single right way to define a concept.
Communication is all of the procedures by which one mind can affect another.
Communication means that information is passed from one place to another. These
definitions are incomplete in the sense that Weaver's definition is incredibly broad; it
includes all the procedures by which one "mind" could have an effect on another,
whereas the other definitions excludes too many activities that we normally think of
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features have emerged as important points of discussion.
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Task 2
Telling is communicating. Many employees and managers feel that if they have
"said it to her" or "told him about it," they have communicated. They may have tried
communicationoften a small part. People who believe that telling people something
is equal to communicating with them fail to acknowledge the active role of receivers.
Sources have to consider what meaning a receiver might attach to the message, what a
receiver's background is, what a receiver thinks and feels. If anything, telling is only
other person's views and communication skills. If your boss makes this mistake/ you
can be assured you will be blamed for the boss's mistake. Consequently, you must
take an active role in communicating with your supervisor to be certain you fully
understand anything you are told. Although it is not fair to hold you responsible for
inadequate communication on the part of the boss/ that is the reality with which you
Communication is a tool, and like any tool, communication can be used for good or
bad purposes.
The way a person uses communication determines its goodness or badness. For
example, take a computer. If we use this tool for its intended purposeto process
informationwe can say that it is a good and useful device. Put that computer in the
hands of an irate employee and he or she can use it to destroy data and information. Is
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the computer bad? No, it is simply being used in a bad way. It is the same for
Hopefully, this book will suggest ways in which to use communication as a positive
tool to
Communication is a verbal process. When most people, whether they are top
important as what we say, and often more important. How we act is as important as
Nonverbal actions often contradict verbal messages, and when they do most people
believe the nonverbal over the verbal. Thus, the process a/communication is both
verbal and nonverbal, They rarely focus on the relevance of the nonverbal aspect of
as well.
Meanings are in words. The idea that meanings are in words is perhaps the most
between supervisor and subordinate. What a particular word means to us may not be
what it means to someone else. The word stimulates a meaning in our minds that is
different from the meaning it stimulates in the mind of our colleague. For example,
the word evaluation carries different meanings for people at different levels in the
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organization. The lower-level employees might feel this means the end of them. The
upper-level management might feel this means support for their work. The point we
wish to make about words and their meanings is that no word has meaning apart from
the person using it. No two people share precisely the same meanings for all words.
Meanings are in people, not words. Therefore/ we must realize that what we say to
others in the organization might not stimulate in their minds the meaning we want or
intend to be stimulated. This requires that we adapt our ideas to the background and
Communication is a good thing. Ask 10 people you encounter at work today, "Is
communication a good thing?" Probably over half, maybe all 10, will look at you a bit
strangely and answer "Certainly," or words to that effect. Since, as we noted above,
many people think communication will solve all our problems, it is reasonable they
Communication is a tool, and like any tool, communication can be used for good or
bad purposes.
broken down. As one learns early in the study of non-verbal communication, one
cannot not communicate. Although this phrase is the English teacher's nightmare, it
expresses very well the nature of communication between human beings. Such
messages are likely to continue and, even in the extreme, silence and the absence of
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new verbal messages in itself communicates. When people feel a need to place blame
for their poor decisions, their interpersonal incompetence, their failure to consult with
wiser persons before taking action, we hear the phrase "communication breakdown."
The more communication, the better. If it is a good thing/ and it will solve all our
problems, then of course the more of it the better. This myth is tied to the two
previous ones. This myth is so prevalent in American society that it has assumed the
position of a stereotype. If one meeting is good, two would be better. If one memo is
good, two would be better. If one evaluation review conference is good, two would be
better. People often do not recognize that it is the quality of communication that is
important, not the pure quantity of it. In many "white-collar" occupations, meetings
are the bane of people's existence. Some people spend more than 75 percent of their
working hours in meetings with other employees. Although much of this time no
that a very large portion of that time is wasted. It is based on the assumption that the
more people talk to one another, the better will be the decision that is made. Not
Communication will solve all our problems. For years, people have tried to
convince us that communication will solve all our problems. If the wife and the
husband are not getting along, get them to sit down and talk it outthat will solve the
problem. If the parent and the child are not getting along, get them to sit down and
talk it outthat will solve the problem. If the supervisor and the subordinate cannot
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get along, get them to sit down and talk it outthat will solve the problem.
Unfortunately, it just is not so. Communication can either create or help overcome
problems. The parties should be separated, not forced to communicate. Yet in many
they put two people or two groups together who hate each other. They force them to
communicate and cannot understand why matters only get worse. Effective
expected to solve all problems. Communication is no magic elixir. It will not cure
cancer, it will not overcome weight problems, and it will not solve all the problems in
things worse.
failures and foul-ups, this myth is used as an excuse for not trying to be a better
communicator. If people are born with or without the ability to communicate, so the
thinking goes, how can I be blamed for being a poor communicator? Sorry, no excuse.
primarily determined by our genes, we acquire our communication skills from our
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(c) facial expressions
(e) touch
(f) setting
(g) time
These may be brought about, for example, by such factors as poor management or
5. System design faults refer to problems with the structures or systems in place in an
the message. Poorly explained or misunderstood messages can also result in confusion.
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4. Physical barriersare often due to the nature of the environment, such as outdated
1. Ambiguity of words/phrases results when the communicator uses words that sound
communicator must consider the audience before making the presentation itself and in
cases where it is not possible, the presenter can at least try to simplify her vocabulary
Gender. Males interacting with other males require the largest interpersonal distance,
followed by females interacting with other females, and finally males interacting with
Culture. Hall (1959) identified the importance of cultural variation. He suggested that
while all cultures use personal space to communicate, and tend to conform to the
different categories, the size of the space within the categories varies across cultures.
Hall also identified the essential issue in inter-cultural difference as the tendency to
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Age. Some evidence suggests that personal space gets bigger as we grow older
(Hayduk, 1983). Children tend to be quite happy to be physically close to each other,
"The eyes are the mirror of the soul". Eyes can captivate an audience and express
what words may not be able to deliver. A word is a word, but a word expressed upon
the sincerity of the eyes will allow the words spoken to reach the minds of those they
When you maintain eye contact, you present an air of confidence in yourself and what
you are communicating. People who are listening to what you are saying will take you
more seriously, and will take what you say as important. If you lose eye contact or
focus on everything else but the person you are speaking to, you may not be taken
Eye contact can relay our inner most intimate thoughts and desires. It can let the
person we are speaking with know our emotional connection and interest in what we
are conversing about. A longing stare or the ability to smile with your eyes like a
super model can often deliver the subtle message of interest. On the flip side, anger,
disgust, and dissatisfaction can also be easily delivered with through our eye contact.
Eye contact is a non-verbal ability to communicate, and it often equals to our ability
communication skills like body language and especially eye contact, yet these non-
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verbal skills often speak louder than our words.
The way we use our eye contact can also enhance an intimidating conversation,
making the message of the words more resounding. We have often heard stories that
recount horrific circumstances where the person describes their attacker or intimidator
as having pure evil in their eyes. Many criminals have been described as having
empty and blank stares, which is said to indicate their lack of remorse or lack of
Have you thought about eye contact as a skill? As adults, using appropriate eye
contact can be difficult. What about youth? Eye contact can be tied to so many life
skills that its important for our youth to practice and learn about eye contact as a
communication skill. Consider for a moment using eye contact to show empathy,
concern for others, to manage feelings or to help with communication. Those are all
life skills that youth will grow and develop as they mature into successful adults.
Failing to maintain eye contact during a conversation can send mixed signals to the
person you are speaking with. It is often construed as a tell-tale-sign that you might
not be forthcoming or truthful in what you are saying---liars tend to not keep eye
contact. If the lack of eye contact is not construed as a lie the person may be trying to
span.
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closes communication, high status people are looked at, and look more while talking
than listening, increased eye contact is associated with credibility and dominance and
Dont worry if eye contact is something you struggle with. Its likely that everyone
will have a conversation sometime where they can identify some characteristics of
odd eye contact, as well as characteristics of really great eye contact. Remember to
learn from that. Whichever extreme you experience take a mental note of what you
(a) typically, some person or other perceiver that perceives and interprets the signs. (b)
(d) the physical basis of this appearance, or sign vehicle, e.g., the skin, muscle
The human face is extremely expressive, able to express countless emotions without
expressions are universal. The facial expressions for happiness, sadness, anger,
Trust your instincts. Dont dismiss your gut feelings. If you get the sense that
someone isnt being honest or that something isnt adding up, you may be picking up
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Pay attention to inconsistencies. Nonverbal communication should reinforce what is
being said. Is the person is saying one thing, and their body language something else?
For example, are they telling you yes while shaking their head no?
Look at nonverbal communication signals as a group. Dont read too much into a
single gesture or nonverbal cue. Consider all of the nonverbal signals you are
receiving, from eye contact to tone of voice and body language. Taken together, are
their nonverbal cues consistentor inconsistentwith what their words are saying?
Upper body toward the audience - You might want to lean into the audience to bridge
the space of separation. Stand still without movement - If you are listening to a
question, you can stand still without movement to show your interest. Arms and
chest- If you cross your arms in front of you, what does this mean to the audience? It
could be construed as confrontational or that are you in deep thought about a question
from an audience member. Feet and legs - You may move purposefully from one side
You can use your body to communicate positively with the audience by following
Hamlets advice to suit the action to the word and the word to the action through
The gesture is subordinate to the message. Make sure that the audience can see your
hands above the lectern. Hold you hands at least waist-high and make sure to put your
notes or other objects on the lectern or podium so your hands are free to move.
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You might count off the points on your finger, you may point with your full arm
extended to some object or direction, you may outline sizes and shapes, or you might
use a gesture to show emphasis. If you are troubled by your gestures, or a lack of
gestures, attend to the cause, not the effect. It will not help matters to tack a few
smile. In fact, touch can establish, repair or even ruin a relationship. Touch has very
Touching conveys an impression of warmth and caring and can be used to create a
personal bond between people. Be careful about touching people from diverse
cultures, however, as norms for touching may vary significantly around the world.
Gestures may be made with almost any movable part of the body. Our focus will be
speech related gestures, primarily of the hand and arm. Gestures can be categorized as
either speech independent or speech related. You may use one gesture to support your
Skin covers largest part of our body and protects vital organs supported by
muscles and bones. Skin is the major part of body that is exposed to outer world. Its
the largest sensory organ. It senses temperature, humidity, pressure, and vibrations. It
regulates the temperature of body with help of hypothalamus. Most important above
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the one-armed hug, the manly shoulder bump, the A-frame clasp with handshake in
you're in a dark basement with someone, odds are you'll feel a bit uncomfortable, or
even scared. If you're at a fancy restaurant, you may feel important and classy. When
you make a person feel comfortable in their setting, it's much easier to communicate
with them because of this level of comfort. A person most likely won't open up to
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Task 3
After I realised what was going on in the case study, I think that the major and main
problem cause by the lack of communication between staff and between supervisor
and executive. First, Ravi, the staff of Bangalore office did not send any pre-alert
message to the executive at the airport, no pre-alert message has been received from
Bangalore office made the executive who checking for the load at airport worried all
the night. Ravi give a reason for why he did not send the pre-alert message as before.
The reason is there was excess booking by other logistic companies and there was no
any space which result in cargo officials of all airlines refused to accept the load. Due
to no load was send to the airport, Ravi feel its no wrong for no sending the pre-alert
message.
Actually, when this kind of things happen, Ravi should need to send a pre-alert
message to tell that there was no any load be connected through the flight. After this
will only the executive at airport did not worry about it. Second, Ravi, the staff of
Bangalore do not have any responsibility because he switch off his mobile and did not
inform the executive at airport. We need to make sure that our mobile phone is always
active. It is easy for other people to stay connected with us if there is any immediate
problems occur we can look into it at once. Aside from that, from the study case, we
can know that the job of Ravi to find a space for the cargo has become a daily routine.
The executive at airport has also used to retrieve the load and confirms the receipt of
the same to the Bangalore office. If there is anything happen like the load get into the
wrong place or the ship broken down, all the staff involved can know the situation
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through telephone. They will not get nervous or feel something amiss. In this case,
phone play a significant role to let them ask each other and find out the root cause. In
the study case, Ravi is the only one who know well about the whole incident and what
went wrong but he himself switched off the phone. He did not inform other people
involved in the job. So how come executive at airport and assistant manager know
The major problem is the load was put to a halt and it might cause the loss by
There are minor and major problems in the case study. The minor problems of this
case are there is no any pre-alert message has been received by the executive at
airport. The problem occur was started from the person in charge who was Ravi.
Besides, Ravis phone was switched off all the night. There was no address of Ravi
The working experience is one of the causes and barriers to communication. Ravi did
not use the best method to solve the problem. There will also the physical barriers
There was also underlying causes in the case study. The underlying causes are all
c) There are three important theory that related to the problems. The first once is
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vertical communication. The vertical communication is the flow of message down and
between Razi and his supervisor. It means communication from bottom to top. Razi
should tell his supervisor that the truth. There is no load was connected. He needed to
at least send a pre-alert message to tell supervisor the truth. Razi also need to inform
the executive at airport and supervisor that he had done booking for morning flight
and load will be connected through morning flight. Razi should give information and
suggestions for improvements. Razi should learn to report what had happened to the
upper part.
between work units horizontal communication.flows within and between work units:
its main purpose is coordination. Ravi should ask helps from his other colleague. He
can ask the one who has the same job as Ravi which is sending the a pre-alert
message to the other party to let them know the load has sent.
communication flows between people inside and outside the organization. Ravi
should tell the staff in the airport about this matter. He should inform the staff that
carry out the job to confirm the load at the airport. When the staff can figure out the
real situation, all the things will be solve. This is to make them rest assure.
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2. Solutions
Asking another colleague Someone is there to carry The replacement might just encounter some
to replace his duty at night the responsibility and emergencies or personal reasons and things.
continue the job. He could not hold the test well. The colleague
through communication
Explained to his supervisor He would be regarded as a Be blamed or regarded as not capable at all to
in advanced responsible staff run out the task. He will be losing many
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3. Recommentation
The leader or the boss of the company should educate the staff about the importance
of communication. The leader should tell them all of the misunderstanding is just
Secondly, the leader or boss of company should give some method in order to
avoid next incidence happen again. If same kind of incidence still happen all the staff
Thirdly, the management section of company must set rules and regulations if
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Reference
1. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication
2. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/communication.html
3. http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/touch-nonverbal-communication
4. http://www.helpguide.org/mental/eq6_nonverbal_communication.htm
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COURSEWORK
NRIC : 921017-01-5468
No H/P : +60137941553
New competitors appear. Technologies are reborn. New materials are invented.
Government regulations are altered. All organizations must deal with these kinds of
now, the issue of global warming has created a lot of change and uncertainty for many
"greener," since restaurants are the retail world's largest energy user, with a restaurant
using five times more energy per square foot than any other type of commercial
building, according to Pacific Gas & Electric's Food Service Technology Center.
Nearly 80% that commercial food service spends annually for energy use is lost in
generates 100,000 pounds of garbage per location per year. Thus, restaurants are
energy use.
2. To Discover Irregularities & Errors Small problems can mushroom into big
ones.
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Cost overruns, manufacturing defects, employee turnover, bookkeeping errors, and
customer dissatisfaction are all matters that may be tolerable in the short run. But in
the long run, they can bring about even the downfall of an organization. Example:
You might not even miss a dollar a month looted from your credit card account. But
an Internet hacker who does this with thousands of customers can undermine the
Amazon.com, Priceline.com, and ether Web retailers. Thus, a computer program that
monitors Internet charge accounts for small, unexplained deductions can be a valuable
control strategy.
reduce labor costs, eliminate waste, increase output, and increase product delivery
cycles. In addition, controls can help add value to a product so that customers will be
more inclined to choose them over rival products. For example, as we have discussed
early in the book (and will again in this chapter), the use of quality controls among
Japanese car manufacturers resulted in cars being produced that were perceived as
Changing population trends. New overseas markets. Controls can help alert managers
customer demand for those products, signaling store management that similar items
5. To Deal with Complexity Does the right hand know what the left hand is
doing? When a company becomes larger or when it merges with another company, it
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may find it has several product lines, materials-purchasing policies, customer bases,
even workers from different cultures. Controls help managers coordinate these
various elements. Example: In recent years, Macy's Inc. has twice had to deal with
with one name, Macy's, and a much-promoted national strategy. But after losing
money in 2007, CEO Terry Lundgren began altering course from a one-size-fits-all
nationwide approach to a strategy that tailors the merchandise in local stores to cater
to local tastes.
former chairman Alfred Sloan set the level of return on investment he expected his
levels while still maintaining authority over the sprawling GM organization. Later
GM used controls to facilitate the team approach in its joint venture with Toyota at its
California plant.
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Figure 4.3 Six
Phase 1 Basic financial planning: Managers initiate serious planning when they a
requested to propose the following year's budget. Projects are proposed on the basis <
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very little analysis, with most information coming from within the firm. The sales
quite tin consuming. Normal company activities are often suspended for weeks while
managers t to cram ideas into the proposed budget. The time horizon is usually one
year.
point they consider projects that may take more than one year. In addition to intern
basisand extrapolate current trends five years into the future. This phase is also tin
consuming, often involving a full month of managerial activity to make sure all tl
proposed budgets fit together. The process gets very political as managers compete fi
larger shares of funds. Endless meetings take place to evaluate proposals and justii
ineffectual five-year plans, top management takes control of the planning process I
the hands of lower-level managers and concentrated in a planning staff whose task is
develop strategic plans for the corporation. Consultants often provide the sophistical
and innovative techniques that the planning staff uses to gather information and
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Upper-level managers meet once a year at a resort "retreat" led by key members of the
planning staff to evaluate and update the current strategic plan. Such top-down
plans with help from consultants but minimal input from lower levels.
Phase 4Strategic management: Realizing that even the best strategic plans are
management forms planning groups of managers and key employees at many levels,
from various departments and workgroups. They develop and integrate a series of
strategic plans aimed at achieving the company's primary objectives. Strategic plans
at this point detail the implementation, evaluation, and control issues. Rather than
attempting to perfectly forecast the future, the plans emphasize probable scenarios and
contingency strategies.
The sophisticated annual five-year strategic plan is replaced with strategic thinking
at all levels of the organization throughout the year. Strategic information, previously
available only centrally to top management, is available via local area networks and
staff, internal and external planning consultants are available to help guide group
strategy discussions. Although top management may still initiate the strategic
planning process, the resulting strategies may come from anywhere in the
organization. Planning is typically interactive across levels and is no longer top down.
People at all levels are now involved. General Electric, one of the pioneers of strategic
planning, led the transition from strategic planning to strategic management during
the 1980s. By the 1990s, most other corporations around the world had also begun the
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