c.
Attitudinal derivation
d.
Conceptual decoding
e.
Motivational instrumentality
129. Refer to Urban Legends. The angry P&G consumer who started the rumor about Febreeze would have
used ____ to create the initial email message.
a.
physical stimuli
b.
intranets
c.
encoding
d.
decoding
e.
information diffusion
130. Refer to Urban Legends. Email users who received the email about P&G’s Febreeze would have used
____ to understand the message.
a.
physical stimuli
b.
intranets
c.
encoding
d.
decoding
e.
information diffusion
131. Refer to Urban Legends. Top managers who encouraged subordinates to do everything in their power
to assure customers that Internet myths about their companies were false engaged in:
a.
downward communication
b.
information diffusion
c.
upward communication
d.
establishing a grapevine
e.
horizontal communication
132. Refer to Urban Legends. When an employee at Coca-Cola received an email that contended half a rat’s
body had been found in a bottle of one of its competitor’s products, the employee forwarded the email
to everyone who worked in the Atlanta office. What kind of a grapevine communications network did
this Coke employee use?
a.
cluster chain
b.
stratified chain
c.
information overload
d.
source diffusion
e.
gossip chain
133. Refer to Urban Legends. The Internet through which the urban legends are transmitted is called a(n):
a.
information conduit
b.
communication medium
c.
information medium
d.
transfer channel
e.
paralanguage conduit
JetBlue
JetBlue Airways, which has been in business since February 2000, has had tremendous success
by offering direct flights, low fares, wider leather seats, flat screen TVs with live digital satellite
channels, one-way tickets, no requirement for Saturday night stayovers, and great customer service.
Modeled after Southwest Airlines, JetBlue has the lowest costs in the industry at 6.4 cents per
passenger mile. But as its new planes age, its costs will rise, as will the wages it pays its pilots, flight
attendants, and mechanics. With only two successful new airlines in the last 25 years, the challenge for
JetBlue will be to continue its success as it ambitiously grows from 73 planes and 6,500 employees to
290 planes and 25,000 employees over the next five years. Key to meeting those goals is solid
communication.
As companies like JetBlue grow, in addition to being good one-on-one communicators, managers
must also learn how to communicate effectively with a larger number of people throughout an
organization. This is why founder and CEO David Neeleman and President Dave Barger speak with
every new “class” of employees as they come through JetBlue’s structured orientation process. On the
first day of orientation, Barger teaches the new hires about JetBlue’s brand (direct flights, low fares,
wider leather seats, flat screen TVs, etc.), while Neeleman shows them how JetBlue earns its money
and the role each of them plays in that.
Another part of JetBlue’s strategy to communicate and reinforce its organizational culture is a
program called Principles of Leadership (POL). POL is a five-day training program, completely taught
by JetBlue’s managers from all levels of the company, from the very top to the very bottom. As they
teach, JetBlue’s managers share real world stories that illustrate ways in which company managers and
employees have practiced or violated the five principles of JetBlue’s culture. In general, these stories
demonstrate when it is proper and improper to break company rules to serve customers. For example, a
JetBlue pilot once bought several dozen McDonald’s Happy Meals for the kids on his plane. While
this was a violation of company spending guidelines, buying those Happy Meals adhered to JetBlue’s
cultural principle of “Doing the right thing,” because the plane was stuck on the ground without food,
and the kids on board were hungry.
Effective leaders, however, don’t just communicate to others; they also make themselves
accessible so that they can hear what others, particularly customers and employees are feeling and
thinking about their organization. At JetBlue, founder and CEO David Neeleman uses frequent
informal meetings and surprise visits to listen to his customers and employees. On an almost daily
basis, Neeleman can be found on a JetBlue flight talking to customers. Neeleman will typically use the
plane’s public address system to introduce himself and say that he wants to hear any feedback, good or
bad, that they have about the airline. Passengers often offer advice on where JetBlue should offer new
routes and service, but they also complain about the food, meaning the lack of it (just cookies, snacks,
and biscotti). To this complaint, Neeleman says, “We found out most people would rather have a TV
than a meal.” But, most importantly, Neeleman listens, writing thoughts and customer comments on
airplane napkins that he stuffs in his pockets to be turned into organizational to–do’s once the flight is
over.
134. Refer to JetBlue. What step of the communication process is involved when the CEO writes down
customers’ comments on cocktail napkins?
a.
encoding
b.
channeling
c.
feedback
d.
sending
e.
decoding
135. Refer to JetBlue. What step of the communication process is involved when managers turn the CEO’s
notes written on the cocktail napkins into to-do lists?
a.
encoding
b.
channeling
c.
feedback
d.
sending
e.
decoding
136. Refer to JetBlue. JetBlue’s orientation for new employees would be an example of ____
communication.
a.
upward
b.
informal
c.
horizontal
d.
dyadic
e.
downward
137. Refer to JetBlue. JetBlue Airlines founder and CEO David Neeleman and its President Dave Barger
speak with every new “class” of employees as they come through JetBlue’s structured orientation
process. This is an example of ____ communication.
a.
informal
b.
formal
c.
upward
d.
horizontal
e.
cluster
138. Refer to JetBlue. The JetBlue pilot who bought several dozen McDonald’s Happy Meals engaged in:
a.
involuntary listening
b.
active hearing
c.
passive listening
d.
empathetic listening
e.
voluntary hearing
139. Refer to JetBlue. When CEO Neeleman uses the plane’s public address system to introduce himself
and says that he wants to hear any feedback, good or bad, that customers or employees have about the
airline, he is looking for ____ feedback.
a.
valid
b.
motivational
c.
constructive
d.
participative
e.
democratic
BP and Texas City
The death toll from the 2005 blast at the British-based BP oil refinery in Texas City, Texas, was 15.
The explosion at the nation’s third-largest refinery injured about 180 people and sent flames and black
smoke towering into the sky. The explosion occurred at the refinery’s isomerization unit, which is used
to increase the octane content of some fuel products. The explosion at the plant occurred after a piece
of equipment called a blowdown drum overfilled with highly flammable liquid hydrocarbons. The
excess liquid and vapor hydrocarbons were then vented from the drum and ignited as the isomerization
unit, a device that boosts the octane in gasoline, started up. Alarms and gauges that were supposed to
warn of the overfilled equipment didn’t work properly. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board (CSB), one of several agencies that examined the causes of the blast, said internal
BP documents show that when BP acquired the refinery, it had ordered an immediate 25 percent,
across-the-budget cut in fixed costs at its refineries. The CSB report ended by saying, “The
combination of cost-cutting, production pressures, and failure to invest caused a progressive
deterioration of safety at the refinery.”
140. Refer to BP and Texas City. Obviously, the executives at BP in London had a different _____ from the
executives at the Texas City refinery on what needed to be done to run an efficient operation.
a.
retention
b.
proactive attitude
c.
perception
d.
apprehension
e.
participative viewpoint
141. Refer to BP and Texas City. BP executives said that there may have been a(n) _____ problem
because they had not intended the refinery‘s management to put profits above safety considerations.
a.
encoding
b.
decoding
c.
transmission
d.
feedback
e.
retention
142. Refer to BP and Texas City. When people outside the refinery industry heard the details of how the
explosion occurred, it was not clear to them that it was caused by human error and could have been
prevented. _____ more than likely prevented the media communication from being received correctly
by the general population.
a.
Encoding
b.
Noise
c.
Transmission
d.
Feedback
e.
The communication medium
143. Refer to BP and Texas City. The message to reduce fixed costs by 25 percent was delivered to BP’s
refineries through _____ communications.
a.
upward
b.
dyadic
c.
horizontal
d.
downward
e.
functional
144. Refer to BP and Texas City. The BP executives assumed that they could pipe their intended message
directly into the heads of its refinery management with perfect clarity and without any perceptual
filters interfering with comprehension. The managers were supposed to understand that they needed
to reduce fixed costs and maintain safety levels. This was an example of a(n):
a.
communication selection error
b.
decoding attribution error
c.
conduit metaphor
d.
encoding bias
e.
passive listening reaction
145. Refer to BP and Texas City. What could BP executives in London have done to make sure that
managers in its U.S. refineries understood they were not to sacrifice safety for profits?
a.
establish an online discussion forum
b.
provide televised meetings between London and the United States.
c.
conduct a corporate talk show
d.
set up a company hotline
e.
do any or all of the above
146. Refer to BP and Texas City. When asked about conditions at the plant, workers at the Texas City
refinery said their recommendations for repairs were ignored. As a result, they assumed management
knew a problem existed and so they stopped calling attention to it. This would be an example of:
a.
organizational silence
b.
organizational filtering
c.
negative grapevining
d.
lower level filtering
e.
communication shutdown
Sony
Since becoming Sony’s CEO, you’ve spent 10 days a month in Tokyo, 10 days a month at Sony’s New
York City office, and 10 days a month at home in London. So after yet another long international
flight, you return exhausted to your Tokyo hotel room. When the travel wears you down, you
sometimes question why you took this job. You didn’t actively campaign for the position. However,
the board and the previous CEO picked you because they felt an “outsider” was needed to shake Sony
out of it funk. As head of Sony’s U.S. operations, you restored profitability by cutting $700 million in
costs and laying off one-third of the employees. More importantly, though, you were able to get
Sony’s entertainment, electronics, and games units to work together. So why are you an outsider if you
turned around a Sony Division? Well, it’s simple. Unlike Sony’s previous CEOs, you’re not Japanese
and you’re not an engineer.
Sony was in terrible shape when you took over, posting its first loss in more than a decade
after a series of embarrassing business mistakes, including Sony BMG’s music copy protection
software (which installed itself on computers when music was played and unintentionally made
computers vulnerable to hackers), and flawed laptop batteries (which overheated and occasionally
caught fire). The most visible and expensive mistake, though, was the long delay in introducing Sony’s
new PlayStation 3 videogame console. By the time the PlayStation 3 came out, Microsoft had already
sold 10 million of its competing Xbox 360 game stations, cutting significantly into Sony’s market
share. And, with the Xbox 360 priced at a relatively cheap $400, Sony’s $700 price for the PlayStation
3 will barely cover costs. So, not only was the PS3 late, it won’t be adding the $2 billion in annual
profits that it was supposed to deliver.
Some of Sony’s problems lie in its competitive corporate culture, which celebrates the success
of maverick innovators who did what was needed, including going around their bosses, to bring new,
innovative products to market. Consequently, working independently, not communicating, and not
collaborating became the norm. That worked when Sony was a smaller and primarily Japanese
company, but it no longer works given Sony’s size and global scale (just 25 percent of Sony’s
revenues come from Japan). With over 1,000 products, one manager put it best when he said, “Sony’s
gotten so big that things don’t connect any more.” One of your top executives explained the problem
this way: “I have 35 Sony devices at home. I have 35 battery chargers. That’s all you need to know.”
Other signs of the poor communication and collaboration included actively discouraging designers and
engineers from listening to customers; the Walkman and PC groups—without
consultation—simultaneously bringing new MP3 players to market; and the head of Sony’s
videogames division going over his budget by hundreds of millions of dollars without telling the then
CEO.
None of those problems are going to get solved unless you can convince your Japanese
managers and employees, who criticize you for spending too little time in Tokyo, to follow your lead.
Despite your success at Sony’s U.S. division, you’re seen as an outsider because you don’t speak
Japanese. You must get Sony’s different divisions to talk to each other and work together. Sony will
fail if these groups ignore each other. Finally, you need to change the culture of organizational silence
that encourages Sony’s independent managers and employees to not keep their bosses informed about
problems.
147. Refer to Sony. The application of _____ would explain why Sony managers in the United States could
have thought the Japanese employees were cold and unfeeling.
a.
selective perception
b.
attribution theory
c.
faulty closure
d.
selective retention
e.
defensive biases
148. Refer to Sony. Which of the following types of communication was very limited in Sony’s corporate
culture at the time it was trying to introduce the PlayStation 3 videogame console?
a.
informal
b.
horizontal
c.
congruent
d.
symbiotic
e.
perceptual
149. Refer to Sony. What type of communication would the Japanese employees of Sony be using when
they smiled as if they were in agreement with a proposed strategy when, in fact, they disagreed it with
it?
a.
nonverbal
b.
reactive
c.
proactive
d.
verbal
e.
perceived
150. Refer to Sony. What could Sony’s management have done as the first step in setting up successful
cross-cultural communication?
a.
use motivational tools to reward good communicators
b.
create an organization-wide communication system
c.
force everyone to adopt the same organizational culture
d.
reduce dissonance by creating cognitive learning opportunities
e.
familiarize themselves with other cultures’ work norms
151. Refer to Sony. Which of the following is not one of the organization-wide communication techniques
that Sony could use to hear what their employees feel and think?
a.
company hotlines
b.
survey feedback
c.
televised/videotaped speeches and meetings
d.
frequent informal meetings
e.
surprise visits
SHORT ANSWER
1. List and briefly define the four parts of the perception process.
2. Briefly define perceptual filters. How do perceptual filters impact the perception process?
3. Define attribution theory. Within your definition, be sure to define the two types of attributions that
people typically make.
ANS:
4. What is the conduit metaphor? What is its significance to managers?
5. Briefly identify the difference between the formal and informal communication channels in an
organization.
6. Distinguish between coaching and counseling.
ANS:
7. What is an EAP? How can it help a manager deal with employee performance problems?
8. Briefly explain why it is important for managers to understand nonverbal communication.
9. Briefly differentiate between active listening and empathetic listening.
10. How would a manager define constructive and destructive feedback?
11. Briefly identify the four categories of knowledge and skill that a manager should have in order to
manage one-on-one communication effectively.
12. Email and voicemail are typically used for one-on-one communication. However, they may also be
used at times for organization-wide communication. Briefly explain how this is done.
13. What is organizational silence? Why does it occur? What should managers do about it?
ANS:
ESSAY
1. Explain how student’s perception process and perceptual filters could complicate the communication
process for the registrar’s staff at a university, which is trying to implement an unpopular change in
policy requiring the payment of an additional fee to drop classes after the first week (where no fee has
been charged for this drop prior to the change). The registrar has placed notification of the change in
the student registration newspaper, as an email message to all students, and on posters across the
campus.
2. Assume that you have just accepted your first job upon graduation from college. You are working as
the supervisor of a group of manufacturing workers in a company that has had some financial
problems. Workers have complained about being unfairly blamed for financial losses associated with
the production process, and your predecessor quit as a result of grievances filed against him by his
subordinates. Explain how you can use your understanding of attribution theory to be more effective in
your personal perception of the causes of problems in your work unit, and in your personal
communications about those problems to your new subordinates.
3. Identify and briefly describe the different kinds of communication channels in organizations. Specify
the things that managers should know about using these channels in order to maximize their
managerial effectiveness.
4. Assume that a friend of yours has just taken a job as international sales manager for a small but
growing medical instrument company. Your friend will be directly supervising a variety of sales
representatives from many different cultures, who are selling the company’s products in nations all
over the world. Based upon your knowledge of communication in management, what advice would
you give your friend about effectively managing one–on-one supervisory communication with these
multicultural sales representatives?
5. What are the two reasons why companies use organization-wide communications? Define three types
of organization-wide communication. Give an example of the effective or ineffective use of each
communication method. Using the material from the text chapter on Managing Communication,
explain why the example was particularly effective or ineffective.
