Human Resources Chapter 13 Homework Communicating externally is discussed, as is communication technology, such as the Internet, e-mail, and social networking. The authors describe the dynamics of interpersonal communications

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Chapter Thirteen: Communication

Chapter Synopsis

The chapter begins by explaining the eight primary elements in the communication process:

communicator, encoding, medium, message, decoding, receiver, feedback, and noise. The authors

also distinguish between verbal and nonverbal communication.

In a section on communicating within organizations, discussion focuses on the four primary patterns

of communications flow—upward, downward, horizontal, and diagonal.

Communicating externally is discussed, as is communication technology, such as the Internet, e-

mail, and social networking. The authors describe the dynamics of interpersonal communications

and to explain effective and ineffective communication.

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Explain the elements in the communication process

2. Compare the major directions of communication within organizations

3. Discuss why face-to-face is a richer information medium than e-mail.

4. Summarize how technology is changing the way individuals communicate in organizations.

Key Terms

communication—The transmission of information and understanding through the use of common

symbols.active listening—When a receiver uses effective verbal and nonverbal communication to

understand

and relate to a communicator.

upward communication—Upward communication flows from individuals at lower levels of the

organizational structure to those at higher levels. Among the most common upward communication

flows are suggestion boxes, group meetings, and appeal or grievance procedures.

horizontal communication—Communication that flows across functions in an organization.

diagonal communication—Communication that cuts across functions and levels in an organization.

information richness—Refers to the amount of information that can be transmitted or

communicated in an effective manner.

intranet—A private protected electronic communication system within an organization; intranets

allow certain stakeholders to gain access to internal organizational information.

spam—A barrier to effective e-mail communication, this is unsolicited commercial solicitations that

enter and clutter an employee’s e-mail inbox.

Lecture Outline

The Chapter outline is organized to correspond with the PowerPoint slides.

The chapter title slide may be used as a background to introduce the class.

Learning objectives

Review the chapter learning objectives. These will be reviewed on the last slide of the pack.

The Importance of Communications (1 of 3)

Organizations that foster communication among employees and managers are more likely to be

effective.

The Importance of Communications (2 of 3)

The Importance of Communications (3 of 3)

The pertinent question is not whether managers engage in communication because

communication is inherent to the functioning of an organization. Rather, the pertinent question

is whether managers will communicate well or poorly. In other words, communication itself is

unavoidable in an organization’s functioning; effective communication is avoidable. Every

manager must be a communicator. In fact, everything a manager does communicates something

overstatement at this point, it will become apparent as you proceed through the chapter. Despite

the tremendous advances in communication and information technology, communication

among people in organizations leaves much to be desired.

How Communication Works

Communication experts tell us that effective communication is the result of a common

understanding between the communicator and the receiver. In fact, the word communications

derived from the Latin communis, meaning “common.” The communicator seeks to establish

commonness” with a receiver. Hence, we can define communication as the transition of

Exhibit 13.1 A General Model of Communication

The most widely used contemporary model of the process of communication has evolved

mainly from the work of Shannon, Weaver, and Schramm. These researchers were concerned

with describing the general process of communication that could be useful in all situations. The

elements include a communicator, encoding, a medium, decoding, a receiver, feedback, and

noise.

The Elements of Communication

Encoding

Given the communicator, an encoding process must take place that translates the

communicator’s ideas into a systematic set of symbols—into a language expressing the

communicator’s purpose. Message

Medium

The medium is the carrier of the message.

Decoding-Receiver

For the communication process to be completed, the message must be decoded in terms of

relevance to the receiver. Feedback

potential for distortion between the intended message and the received message. A feedback

Nonverbal Communication (1 of 2)

The information sent by a communicator that is unrelated to the verbal information—that is,

nonverbal messages or nonverbal communication—is a relatively recent area of research among

behavioral scientists. The major interest has been in the physical cues that characterize the

communicator’s presentation. These cues include such modes of transmitting nonverbal

messages as head, face, and eye movements, posture, physical distance, gestures, tone of voice,

handshakes, and clothing and dress choices.

Nonverbal Communication (2 of 2)

Nonverbal messages may differ from other forms of communication behavior in several ways.

indicating displeasure), ultimately contradicting the communicator is sending verbally. Another

way in which nonverbal messages differ from other forms is that they are more apparent to the

difficult for the sender to know how successfully she or he produced the nonverbal message that

was intended. Finally, many nonverbal messages are susceptible to multiple interpretations.

Nonverbal Message Research Findings

Research indicates that facial expressions and eye contact and movements generally provide

information about the type of emotion, while such physical cues as distance, posture, and

gestures indicate the intensity of the emotion. These conclusions are important to managers.

They indicate that communicators often send a great deal more information than is obtained in

verbal messages. To increase the effectiveness of communication, a person must be aware of

the nonverbal as well as the verbal content of the messages. When verbal and nonverbal

messages conflict, receivers tend to place more faith in nonverbal cues.

Communication Within Organizations (1 of 7)

The design of an organization should provide for communication in four distinct directions:

downward, upward, horizontal, and diagonal. Since these directions of communication establish

Downward Communication

This type of communication flows downward from individuals in higher levels of the hierarchy

to those in lower levels.

Communication Within Organizations (2 of 7)

Employees go through four stages when high-level decisions are developed and implemented:

first, employees speculate about what’s going to happen ,second, when the official

announcement is made, employees digest the news and why the decision is being made, third,

they deliberate by discussing the announcement with their peers; and, fourth, employees make a

Communication Within Organizations (3 of 7)

An effective organization needs upward communication as much as it needs downward

communication. In such situations, the communicator is at a lower level in the organization than

group meetings, and appeal or grievance procedures. In their absence, people somehow find

ways to adopt nonexistent or inadequate upward communication channels. This has been

organizations.

Communication Within Organizations (4 of 7)

Upward communication serves a number of important functions. Organizational communication

researcher Gary Kreps identifies several which are listed on the slide.

Communication Within Organizations ( of 7)

Often overlooked in the design of most organizations is the provision for horizontal

communication .When the chairperson of the management department communicates with the

chairperson of the marketing department concerning the course offerings in a college of

business administration, the flow of communication is horizontal. Al-though vertical (upward

and downward) communication flows are the primary considerations in organizational design,

effective organizations also need horizontal communication. Horizontal communication is

necessary for the coordination and integration of diverse organizational functions.

Communication Within Organizations (6 of 7)

While it is probably the least-used channel of communication in organizations, diagonal

through other channels.

Communication Within Organizations (7 of 7)

Organizations are involved in communicating externally to introduce products and services, to

increase awareness of key brands, to project a positive image and reputation, to attract

employees, and to gain attention.

The typical external communication program includes four distinct programs:

• Public relations involves the communication of a positive image, exemplary

corporate/organization citizenship, and promotion of an identity as a contributor to society and

the immediate community.

Each of these four communication programs is used to collect or disseminate information. The

internal and external communication programs provide ideas, information, connections, and

insight into what individuals and groups are saying, what is important, and what needs

modification.

Information Richness

There are many different ways to communicate both within

the organization, to supervisors and co-workers, and outside the organization, to customers and

vendors. Communication media differ in their information richness .The richness of

communication refers to the amount of information that can be transmitted in an effective

manner. A medium that enables high richness, such as a face-to-face interaction, is more likely

richness medium, such as a generalized e-mail sent to all employees.

EXHIBIT 12.3 Common Communication Media in 21st Century Organizations

Exhibit 13.2 provides examples of communication media typically used by employees and the

level of richness contained within each medium. Face-to-face communication is high in

richness because verbal and nonverbal cues can be exchanged and observed. This form of

person fails to understand a communication, a request for clarification can immediately be

presented. Information richness is low in the case of an e-mail to a general population. The

addressed, so feedback is not likely to occur in this type of communication.

Technology and Communication

Managers have access to various technologies to facilitate communication.

Intranet and Extranet

While we may all be aware of the internet, there are two closely related terms.

An intranet is a private, protected electronic communication system within an organization. If it

is connected to the Internet, it has its privacy protected by what are called firewalls. A firewall

is a network mode set up internally to prevent traffic to cross into the private domain. Intranets

such as vendors, customers, and other strategic partners.

Dangers of Email

The use of e-mail will continue to expand rapidly in the coming years. In the past, some e-mail

users sent out unedited, poorly written messages on the fly. This type of sloppiness has been

criticized and is discouraged in organizations. The privacy of e-mail is another serious issue.

Erased messages can remain on disk drives, servers, and social networking sites indefinitely.

Instant Messaging

In addition to e-mail, the growth of instant messaging (IM) has also been explosive within

recent years. Now, more and more organizations are installing internal IM systems. Corporate

use of IM is expected to grow rapidly because IM offers real-time communication among

and demands the immediate attention of its users.

Text Messaging

Driven by the increased need to conduct business from anywhere at any time, text messaging

from cell phones is also gaining in popularity. Given that most employees, customers, and

vendors have cell phones in the United States, many companies are exploring ways to use text

Social Networking Sites

Another way in which technology is transforming communication is with the explosion in

popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Serving a variety

of human and business needs, social networking sites are rapidly becoming part of the

communication fabric of organizations.

Smart Phones

According to research conducted by the Pew Research Center, approximately 68 percent of

American adults owned smartphones in 2015. The way people use their

smartphones continues to evolve. According to recent research, more than 225 billion apps were

downloaded by iOS (Apple) and Android (Google) users in 2015. The five most popular apps in

2015 were Facebook, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, Google Search, and Google Play.

Voice Mail

The primary method by which employees communicate internally, leaving a recorded message

communicators to focus on the reason for their call. Voice mail minimizes inaccurate message-

taking and differences in time zones. Employees today are encouraged to develop the ability to

leave concise, professional, and courteous voice-mail messages.

Voice Mail Best Practices

Best voice mail practices include those listed on the slide.

Perhaps the most important tip is the first one listed, organize thoughts before picking up the

phone

Videoconferencing and Teleconferencing

Video conferencing refers to technologies associated with viewing, and teleconferencing refers

to technologies primarily associated with speaking. These technologies allow members of

virtual teams and other geographically dispersed individuals to interact without having to travel

for a face-to-face meeting.

Electronic Meetings (1 of 2)

Another form of conferencing is Web conferencing (or “webinars”) in which the Internet is

used to conduct real-time e-meetings or presentations of geographically dispersed participants.

Participants connect to the Web conference via a personal computer or other Internet-enabled

device. In addition to presentations, Web conferencing and online collaboration software allow

voice, video, instant messaging, document sharing, and presentations among participants. These

electronic flip chart displaying comments, ideas, and responses of participants. Meetingware

allows facilitators to poll meeting participants, analyze voting results, and create detailed

reports.

Electronic Meetings (2 of 2)

Advancements in information technologies are continuing and are providing organizational

technologies to learn can result in less efficiency. Also, the social interaction and personal touch

can be lost by relying solely on electronic technologies for communication. Electronic

communication omits many verbal and most nonverbal cues that people use to acquire

feedback. Guarding against anonymity and depersonalization are concerns when using many of

the information technologies.

Interpersonal Communications

Within an organization, communication flows from individual to individual in a variety of

ways, from face-to-face and group settings to instant messaging and videoconferencing. Such

flows are termed interpersonal communication and can vary from direct orders to casual

expressions. Interpersonal behavior could not exist without interpersonal communication. In

addition to providing needed information, interpersonal communication also influences how

people feel about the organization. The problems that arise when managers attempt to

communicate with other people can be traced to perceptual differences and interpersonal style

differences. We know from Chapter 4 that each manager perceives the world in terms of his or

senders of information themselves and others In research involving interpersonal

communication, it has been found that only 7 percent of the “attitudinal” meaning of a message

comes from words spoken. Over 90 percent of meaning results from nonverbal cues.

Multicultural Communication

Multicultural communication occurs when two or more individuals from different cultures

communicate with one another, whether it is through a face-to-face meeting, an instant

Hall theorize that culture is communication and that communication can be divided into several

culturally determined parts: words, space, time, and behavior. Within each of these categories,

examples of the challenges of communicating across cultures are common.

Successful Multicultural Communication

Businesspeople from different cultures effectively and efficiently communicate with each other

hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times every business day. By and large, the senders and

receivers of those successful communications exhibit some, or all, of the following attributes:

1. Preparation. They have made it a point to familiarize themselves with significant cultural

differences that might affect the communication process. They do this through study,

observation, and consultation with those who have direct or greater experience with the culture

than do they.

that in the absence of direct, usually extensive, ongoing exposure to another culture, they may

be unaware of nuances in the communication process. Rather than assuming understanding is

complete unless demonstrated otherwise, they assume it is incomplete until shown otherwise.

Barriers to Effective Communication

A good question at this point is: “Why does communication break down?” On the surface, the

answer is relatively easy. We have identified the elements of communication as the

communicator, encoding, the message, the medium, decoding, the receiver, and feedback. If

noise exists in these elements in any way, complete clarity of meaning and understanding will

not occur. A manager has no greater responsibility than to develop effective communications.

In this section, we discuss several barriers to effective communication that can exist both in

organizational and interpersonal communications.

Improving Communication in Organizations

accomplish. First, they must improve their messages—the information they wish to transmit.

Second, they must seek to improve their own understanding of what other people are trying to

communicate to them. As organizations become increasingly diverse, the opportunities for

communication breakdowns will most likely increase.

Techniques to Improve Communication

Despite innumerable differences, multicultural communication can be successful.

Following up involves assuming that you are misunderstood and, whenever possible, attempting

to determine whether your intended meaning actually was received.

The regulation of communication can ensure an optimum flow of information to managers,

communication and encourage feedback or upward communication every time they

Individuals are exposed to thousands of messages daily. Many of these messages are never

decoded and received because of the impossibility of taking them all in.

Complex language has been identified as a major barrier to effective communication.

The grapevine is an important information communication channel that exists in all

organizations. It basically serves as a bypassing mechanism, and in many cases it is faster than

the formal system it bypasses.

Promoting Ethical Communication

It is incumbent upon organizational members to deal ethically with one another in their

communication transactions. Kreps postulates three broad principles applicable to internal

organizational communications. The first is that organizational members should not

intentionally deceive one another. This may not be as simple a principle to conform to as it may

seem. While lying clearly violates it, is communicating less than you know to be true a breach

nonmalfeasance or refraining from doing harm. Finally, organization members should be

treated justly. This too can be difficult, for justice is a relative principle that must be evaluated

in a specific context.

EXHIBIT 13.3 Improving Communications in Organizations (Narrowing the Communication

Gap)

We have discussed several common communication barriers and several means to improve

communication. Exhibit 13.3 illustrates the means that can be used to facilitate more effective

communication. Often there is not enough time to utilize many of the techniques for improving

Exhibit 13.3 shows that communicating is a matter of transmitting and receiving. Managers

must be effective at both. They must understand as well as be understood.

In Review, Did We…

Instructors may wish to refer to the learning objectives to facilitate a review of the chapter

concepts.

Summary of Key Points

❑ Communication is one of the vital processes that breathes life into an organizational

structure. The process contains five elements:

the communicator initiates the communication;

❑ Communication flow moves in one of four directions. Downward communications are the

most common and include job instructions, procedures, and policies. An upward flow can be

just as important and may involve the use of employee surveys, group meetings, or grievance

procedures. Horizontal and diagonal communications serve an important coordinative

function.

❑ Interpersonal communication flows from individual to individual in face–to-face and group

settings. In addition to providing needed information, interpersonal communication can also

influence how people feel about the organization and its members. Interpersonal style is a

term used to describe the way an individual prefers to relate to others in interpersonal

communication situations.

❑ Improving organizational communications is an ongoing process. Specific techniques for

doing this include following up, regulating information flow, utilizing feedback, empathy,

repetition, encouraging mutual trust, effective timing, simplifying language, effective

listening, using the grapevine, and promoting ethical communications.

Chapter 13 – Communication

Review and Discussion Questions

1. Can you think of a communication transaction you have been a part of when an encoding or

decoding error was made? Why did it happen, and what could have been done to avoid it?

Ans: Student answers will vary.

2. Why do you think that downward communication is much more prevalent in organizations

than upward communication? How easy would it be to change this?

Ans: Downward communication often involves communicating instructions and organizational

policy and actions by upper management to subordinates. Because many organizations still retain

bureaucratic structures and defer to hierarchy, where the emphasis is on order giving and limited

delegation, downward communications dominates. Upward communication often occurs as

subordinates try to inform superiors about their activities and to persuade them to take actions

3. Due to the increase in spam and other nonessential e-mail message (e.g., jokes and chain

letters) that employees receive, some claim that reading, processing, and responding to e-mail

messages can drain employee productivity. What can be done to help employees better manage

their e-mail communication?

Ans: Student answers will vary, depending on their familiarity with anti-spam techniques, personal

preferences, and creativity. Some suggestions include (a) require better subject lines or keywords,

4. In your experience, which of the barriers to effective communication discussed in the

chapter is responsible for the most communication problems? Which barrier is the hardest to

correct? Barriers include frame of reference, selective listening, value judgment, source credibility,

filtering, in-group language, status differentials, time pressures, and communication overload.

Ans: Student answers will vary.

5. Discuss some of the advantages of using texting to reach customers as compared with the

more traditional methods such as TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, or direct mail.

Ans: Texting is less expensive than many other forms of advertising and marketing. There’s less

spam because cell phone companies block most of it. Texting is the favorite form of communication

6. Can you think of reasons why some individuals might prefer one-way communications

when they are the sender, and two-way when they are the receiver? Explain.

Ans: The sender may prefer one-way communications because it seems like less work; once the

message has been sent it is assumed to have been received. In addition, the sender does not have to

face the possibility of having been ineffective, or have to be more direct in encoding the message.

7. What steps can you take to become a more active listener? Why will better listening make

you a better communicator?

Ans: While answers will vary students may focus on empathy and feedback.

8. “Organizations should be less concerned with improving communication than with

reducing the volume of information they disseminate to employees.” Do you agree with this

statement? Explain.

Ans: Many students will agree with the statement, asserting that information and thus

9. Think back to the discussion of the The Wheel Net and The All-Channel Net. Which

communication approach is better at solving complex problems? Why?

Ans: While answers will vary, students may focus on the increased level and speed of

communication available in the All-Channel Net.

10. Think of a time when you were trying to communicate with someone from another culture

who did not speak your native language well. What steps did you take to understand this

person? What was the most difficult or challenging aspect of the situation?

EXERCISE 13.1: Your Communication Style

Purpose

To help students determine their preferred communication styles and to gain insight as to

how their style may affect their ability to work in a managerial situation.

The Exercise in Class

The Communication Style exercise is self-explanatory; students could easily complete

the assignment on their own. Whether you use the exercise in the classroom or

encourage students to do the exercise independently, remind them of two important

things:

(1) The exercise has no right or wrong answers; students should answer in accord with

what they would really do in each situation.

(2) The results of the exercise are neither good nor bad for any person, but rather

descriptive of a certain part of their self-reported behavior. It is helpful to add, too,

Instead of asking students to disclose their styles, more fruitful conversation may

occur by raising questions like these:

1. Were you surprised by the results of your inventory? If so, why might you have

been surprised?

2. What questions posed the greatest difficulty for you, i.e., where were you

sincerely drawn to two different responses? What two styles did these represent?

How do you account for the struggle?

CASE 13.1: The Road to Hell

“The Road to Hell” has received much acclaim as a story that provides substantial learning

opportunities in examining the subtle, almost intangible dynamics of interpersonal communication

between two individuals and the disastrous results that problems in interpersonal communication can

produce. Upon a first reading, students are typically amazed at the outcome and ask, “What went

wrong?” Answering these questions should be the objective of class discussion.

To summarize the case: John Baker, chief engineer of the Caribbean Bauxite Company Ltd. in

and economic planning). However, Baker worries about Rennalls’ racial consciousness. He dislikes

any sign of racial condescension shown by the European members of the staff and two European

expatriates have complained to Baker about Rennalls’ allegedly overbearing, sometimes cynical

attitude.

Shortly before he leaves, Baker calls Rennalls into his office to attempt to break down the barrier.

Rennalls, as before, denies that he cannot get along with the Europeans on staff and assures Baker

that he will correct this wrong impression. Baker tries another tack and praises Rennalls, along with

Barracanians in general, for their ability to learn the ways of commerce in such a short time (50

years), compared to the European and American experience of 200-300 years. Rennalls shows no

overt displeasure over Baker’s remarks and, after several minutes of cheerful conversation, leaves the

office.

In guiding class discussion, it’s useful to focus on the question of “what went wrong?” by having

students:

1. Identify the barriers of communication present in the situation. Several are at work, including:

a. Differing points of reference—probably the major barrier. Students should understand

each individual’s frame of reference (which may be facilitated by approaching the situation

from Rennalls’ and Baker’s individual perspectives).

b. Selective perception.

2. Consider the question: Was Baker’s second attempt to break through the invisible barrier

between himself and Rennalls a wise move? What other approaches may have been more

effective?

3. Place them in Baker’s position. What should Baker do? Should he attempt to convince Rennalls

that his feelings toward his European coworkers, now revealed, is a critical shortcoming?

Others will argue Rennalls’ talents merit an effort to get him back. What actions should Baker

take to secure Rennalls’ return?

Answers to Case Questions

1. What, in your opinion, did Baker hope to accomplish as a result of his conversation with

Rennalls? Did he succeed? Why or why not?

Ans: Baker hoped to break through Rennalls’ facade concerning his feelings toward European

remove his facade and because of Baker’s second tack that was a move of questionable merit.

2. Did nonverbal communications play a part in this case? Be specific and give examples.

Ans: Students may cite a number of examples including notably the nonverbal signals that

3. What could Baker and Rennalls have done to improve the situation described in the case?

Ans: Many students will likely suggest that Rennalls should have removed his facade and

Teaching Hints and Tips

Lecture Ideas

1. One well-known book on interpersonal communications is Deborah Tannen’s, You Just Don’t

Understand: Men and Women in Conversation (Morrow 1990). Her earlier book, That’s Not

What I Meant serves as an excellent companion to discussions on intercultural communication.

Both of these books have numerous lecture ideas. For example, Tannen defines

2. One of the most frustrating, and ultimately costly, products of communication inside (and

outside) the organization are rumors, those nasty bits of hearsay that can cost a company its

employee morale, its image with the public and even its business. If your students aren’t

convinced that rumors are costly, offer these examples:

Chapter 13 – Communication

b. McDonald’s spent almost a year and a bundle combating the false rumor that the

company puts red worms in its hamburger meat.

c. Squibb spend about $100,000 to squelch the absurd notion that spider eggs had infected

its Life Savers’ chewing gum (after the rumor produced a nose-dive in sales).

If you’d like to discuss the topic; see two excellent sources (“Where Did the Rumor Come

3. One interesting question to pose to students in your coverage of the grapevine: does gossip

help or hurt an organization? In a recent Fortune magazine article, columnist Walter Kiechel

III argues that gossip serves several useful purposes:

a. When rumors of bad tidings exist, gossip enables employees to “think through in advance

what they will do if the rumors become the awful truth.”

b. Management can float “trial balloons” concerning a plan they’re considering putting into

action, and thus receive an early indication of reactions to the plan if implemented.

Project Ideas and Suggested Class Speakers

1. If you have a student in your class who is from another country, or you know someone who is

new to this one, invite him/her to tell the class about communications and cultural differences

and similarities between the two countries. This can be especially gratifying for foreign

students, because they get a chance to talk openly about some of the surprises and confusion,

2. Ask students to prepare a profile of someone they know well who is a type A, B, C, or D

3. As a group project, have your students interview the director of corporate communications for

a local business. In their written report, students should focus on the department’s

Chapter 13 – Communication

4. Invite the PR director or communications director from a local business to your class to speak

to about a situation where managing communications with the public became a critical issue.

Some examples of such issues:

1. Issuing a new public stock offer.

5. Another way to look at communication is to have students view a film or TV show and note

the application of the communication concepts covered in the chapter. Possible films could be

When Harry Met Sally, Barbarians at the Gate, The Insider, Wag the Dog, Brubacker, Traffic,

Term Paper Topics

1. Men and Women: Do Communications Patterns Differ? (Research on Tannen’s books)

2. Barbara Jordan, Communicator: The Impeachment Trial of President Richard Nixon

3. How Are New Technologies Affecting the Way We Manage/Communicate?

4. Voice Mail, E-Mail, FAX: Can They Improve the Way We Manage

5. Sign Language: Should Business Be More Attuned to This Second Language?