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Chapter 11 Communication Page
a.
II. Choice of Communication Channel
managers.
B. Channel Richness
1. Channels differ in their capacity to convey information.
2. Some are rich in that they have the ability to:
a. Handle multiple cues simultaneously.
b. Facilitate rapid feedback.
c. Be very personal.
3. As Exhibit 11-7 illustrates, face-to-face conversation scores highest in
nonverbal), and the personal touch of being present.
4. Others are lean in that they score low on these factors.
a. Impersonal written media such as formal reports and bulletins rate lowest
in richness.
C. Choosing Communication Methods
routine.
2. Routine messages tend to be straightforward and have a minimum of
ambiguity.
misunderstanding.
b. Routine messages can efficiently be communicated through channels that
communicated only by selecting rich channels.
usually the better choice.
4. Written communication is generally the most reliable more for complex and
well.
5. Choose written communication when you want the information to be tangible
and verifiable.
signatures need to be authentic.
8. There are significant gains and challenges from the introduction of text
messaging in business settings.
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business.
b. However, some users view text messaging as intrusive and distracting.
9. On the corporate level, the returns on using social media are mixed.
a. If you want to use social media for business purposes as a manager, make
effort.
b. Use discretion about which social media platforms are acceptable for
business communications.
a. If someone in the company happens to read a critical or negative blog
entry or post, there is nothing to keep him or her from sharing that
information with others.
11. It’s important to be alert to nonverbal aspects of communication and look for
D. Information Security
proprietary information about clients, customers, and employees.
2. Organizations worry about the security of the electronic information they seek
employees with knowing.
employees.
5. An organization can relieve employee concerns by engaging them in the
creation of information-security policies and giving them some control over
how their personal information is used.
III. Persuasive Communications
A. Automatic and Controlled Processing
1. To understand the process of communication, it is useful to consider two
relatively different ways that we process information.
2. We often rely on automatic processing, a relatively superficial consideration
of evidence and information making use of heuristics, like those we discussed
in Chapter 6.
a. Automatic processing takes little time and low effort, so it makes sense to
use it for processing persuasive messages related to topics you don’t care
much about.
b. The disadvantage is that it lets us be easily fooled by a variety of tricks,
like a cute jingle or glamorous photo.
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3. Now consider the last time you chose a place to live. You probably did some
independent research among experts who know something about the subject,
gathered information about prices from a variety of sources, and considered
the costs and benefits of renting versus buying.
4. This is called controlled processing, a detailed consideration of evidence and
information relying on facts, figures, and logic.
a. Controlled processing requires effort and energy, but it’s harder to fool
someone who has taken the time and effort to engage in it.
5. There are a few rules of thumb for determining what types of processing an
audience will use.
B. Interest Level
1. One of the best predictors of whether people will use an automatic or
controlled process for reacting to a persuasive message is their level of interest
in it.
2. Interest levels reflect the impact a decision is going to have on your life.
a. When people are very interested in the outcome of a decision, they’re
more likely to process information carefully.
b. That’s probably why people look for so much more information when
deciding about something important (like where to live) than something
relatively unimportant (like which soda to drink).
C. Prior Knowledge
1. People who are very well informed about a subject area are also more likely to
use controlled processing strategies.
a. They have already thought through various arguments for or against a
specific course of action, and therefore they won’t readily change their
position unless very good, thoughtful reasons are provided.
2. On the other hand, people who are poorly informed about a topic can change
their minds more readily, even in the face of fairly superficial arguments
presented without a great deal of evidence.
a. In other words, a better informed audience is likely to be much harder to
persuade.
D. Personality
1. Are you the type of person who always likes to read at least five reviews of a
movie before deciding whether to see it?
a. If so, you are probably high in need for cognition, a personality trait of
individuals who are most likely to be persuaded by evidence and facts.
their evaluation of persuasive messages.
E. Message Characteristics
1. Another factor that influences whether people use an automatic or controlled
processing strategy is the characteristics of the message itself.
a. Messages provided through relatively lean communication channels, with
to encourage automatic processing.
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b. Conversely, messages provided through richer communication channels,
processing.
F. Choosing the Message
1. The most important implication of all this research is to match your persuasive
message to the type of processing your audience is likely to use.
a. When the audience is not especially interested in a persuasive message
positive images with your preferred outcome.
c. On the other hand, when the audience is interested in a topic, when they
are high in need for cognition, or when the information is transmitted
through rich channels, then it is a better idea to focus on rational
arguments and evidence to make your case.
IV. Barriers to Effective Communication
A. Filtering
he/she wants to hear.
2. The more levels in an organization’s structure, the more opportunities there
are for filtering. Being reluctant to give bad news, or trying to please one’s
boss distorts upward communications.
B. Selective Perception
characteristics.
2. Receivers project their interests and expectations into communications as they
decode them.
C. Information Overload
1. When the information we have to work with exceeds our processing capacity,
the result is information overload.
information and less effective communication.
3. Employees must balance the need for constant communication with their own
personal need for breaks from work, or they risk burnout from being on call
24 hours a day.
D. Emotions
communication.
2. During those times we are most likely to disregard objective thinking and
substitute emotions for judgments.
E. Language
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1. Words mean different things to different people.
receiver as to them.
3. The persuasiveness of language also depends on the person’s initial agreement
with a message.
a. For example, concrete language is more persuasive when the audience has
dissimilar political views to the message, while abstract language is more
persuasive when political views are similar
F. Silence
defined by the absence of information.
2. Research suggests silence and withholding communication are both common
and problematic.
a. One survey found that more than 85 percent of managers reported
remaining silent about at least one issue of significant concern.
operational problems.
i. Employees are more likely to be silent if they are being mistreated by
managers, are experiencing frequent negative emotions and
rumination, or feel like they have less power in the organization.
c. And silence regarding discrimination, harassment, corruption, and
behavior.
G. Communication Apprehension
1. An estimated 5 to 20 percent of the population suffers from communication
apprehension, or social anxiety.
a. They experience undue tension or anxiety in oral and/or written
communication.
telephone.
2. Oral-communication apprehensives avoid situations, such as teaching, for
which oral communication is a dominant requirement.
a. But almost all jobs require some oral communication.
b. Of greater concern is evidence that high oral-communication
minimize the need for communication.
c. Be aware that some people severely limit their oral communication and
rationalize their actions by telling themselves communicating isn’t
necessary for them to do their job effectively.
H. Lying
information, or lying.
2. People differ in their definition of what constitutes a lie.
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individuals telling considerably more.
c. Compounded across a large organization, this is an enormous amount of
deception happening every single day!
3. Evidence also shows that people are more comfortable lying over the phone
than face-to-face and more comfortable lying in e-mails than when they have
to write with pen and paper.
deception in others.
a. The problem is, there are no nonverbal or verbal cues unique to lying—
averting your gaze, pausing, and shifting your posture can also be signals
of nervousness, shyness, or doubt.
b. Most people who lie take a number of steps to guard against being
sign of truthfulness.
c. Finally, many lies are embedded in truths; liars usually give a somewhat
true account with just enough details changed to avoid detection.
d. In sum, the frequency of lying and the difficulty in detecting liars makes
this an especially strong barrier to effective communication in
organizations.
V. Cultural Factors
A. Introduction
communication problems.
b. A gesture that is well-understood and acceptable in one culture can be
meaningless or lewd in another.
2. Only 18 percent of companies have documented strategies for communicating
with employees across cultures, and only 31 percent require that corporate
B. Cultural Barriers
1. First, there are barriers caused by semantics. Words mean different things to
different people. Some words do not translate between cultures.
a. Finnish—the word sisu is untranslatable into English. It means something
akin to “guts” or “dogged persistence.”
directly translatable into Russian.
2. Second, there are barriers caused by word connotations. Words imply
different things in different languages.
a. The Japanese word hai means “yes,” but may mean “yes, I’m listening,”
not “yes, I agree.”
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the context.
4. Fourth, there are differences in tolerance for conflict and methods for
resolving conflicts.
avoid emotionally charged disputes.
c. They may attribute conflicts to the situation more than to the individuals
and therefore may not require explicit apologies to repair relationships,
whereas individualists prefer explicit statements accepting responsibility
for conflicts and public apologies to restore relationships.
aggressive, while Pakistan differentiates between different degrees of
threats.
ii. Different standards for aggression reflect the ways certain country may
interpret or respond to a conflict.
C. Cultural Context (Exhibit 11-8)
cultures.
b. They rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues when
communicating with others.
c. What is not said may be more significant than what is said.
d. A person’s official status, place in society, and reputation carry
considerable weight.
both parties.
4. Oral agreements imply strong commitments in high-text cultures.
5. Who you are—your age, seniority, rank in the organization—is highly valued
and heavily influence your credibility.
6. In low-context cultures, enforceable contracts will tend to be in writing,
precisely worded, and highly legalistic. Similarly, low-context cultures value
directness.
D. A Cultural Guide
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“third culture” context for effective intercultural communication that
transcends each person’s cultural norms.
perspectives of all concerned.
4. Consider the other person’s viewpoint. Before sending a message, put
yourself in the recipient’s shoes. What are his or her values, experiences, and
frames of reference? What do you know about his or her education,
upbringing, and background that can give you added insight? Try to see the
problem-solving approach whenever potential conflicts arise.
5. Proactively maintain the identity of the group. Like any culture, the
establishment of a common-ground “third culture” for effective intercultural
communication takes time and nurturing. Remind members of the group of
your common goals, mutual respect, and need to adapt to individual
communication preferences.
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