Chapter 9 Communication
CHAPTER 9 - COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define communication and list its four functions.
2. Describe the communication process.
3. Contrast the three common types of small-group networks.
4. Identify factors affecting the use of the grapevine.
5. Describe common barriers to effective communication.
6. List four rules for improving cross-cultural communication.
7. Outline behaviors associated with providing effective feedback.
8. Identify the behaviors related to effective active listening.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I.
FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
A. Communication’s Four Major Functions—control, motivation, emotional expression, and
information.
1. Control. Communication controls member behavior in several ways.
a) Employees are required to follow authority hierarchies and formal guidelines.
b) Informal communication also controls behavior.
(1) When work groups tease or harass a member who produces too much, they are
informally communicating with, and controlling, the member’s behavior.
2. Motivation. Communication fosters motivation by clarifying for employees what is to be
done, how well they are doing, and what can be done to improve performance.
a) The formation of specific goals, feedback on progress toward the goals, and
reinforcement of desired behavior all stimulate motivation and require
communication.
3. Emotional expression. For many employees, their work group is a primary source for
social interaction.
a) Communication within the group is a fundamental mechanism by which members
show their frustrations and feelings of satisfaction.
b) Communication provides an avenue for expression of emotions and fulfillment of
social needs.
4. Information. The final function that communication performs is related to its role in
facilitating decision making.
a) It provides the needed information.
5. No one of these four functions should be seen as more important than the others.
II.
THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
A. The Model
1. A purpose, expressed as a message to be conveyed, is needed to begin the process.
2. It passes between a source (the sender) and a receiver.
3. The message is encoded (converted to a symbolic form).
4. It is passed by way of some medium (channel) to the receiver.
5. The receiver retranslates (decodes) the message initiated by the sender.
6. The result is a transference of meaning from one person to another.
7. See Exhibit 9-1, the communication process.
a) The source encodes the message.
b) The message is the actual physical product from the source encoding.
c) The channel is the medium through which the message travels.
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III.
IV.
(1) Formal channels are established by the organization and transmit messages that
are related to the professional activities of members.
(2) Other forms of messages, such as personal or social, follow the informal channels
in the organization.
d) The receiver is the object to whom the message is directed.
e) Before the message can be received, the symbols in it must be translated into a form
that can be understood by the receiver—decoding of the message.
f) The final link is a feedback loop—the check on how successful we have been in
transferring our messages as originally intended.
DIRECTION OF COMMUNICATION
A. Direction
1. Communication can flow vertically or laterally.
2. The vertical dimension can be further divided into downward and upward directions.
B. Downward
1. Communication that flows from one level of a group or organization to a lower level.
a) Managers communicating with subordinates.
2. Used by group leaders and managers to assign goals, provide job instructions, and inform
underlings of policies and procedures, point out problems that need attention, and offer
feedback about performance.
3. Not only oral or face-to-face; letters, e-mails, and so on, sent to employees are also
downward communication.
C. Upward
1. Communication that flows to a higher level in the group or organization.
2. Used to provide feedback to higher-ups, inform them of progress toward goals, and relay
current problems.
3. Upward communication keeps managers aware.
4. Examples of upward communication are performance reports prepared by lower
management for review by middle and top management, suggestion boxes, employee
attitude surveys, grievance procedures, superior-subordinate discussions, and informal
gripe sessions in which employees have the opportunity to identify and discuss problems
with their boss or representatives of higher management.
D. Lateral
1. Communication among members of the same work group, among members of work
groups at the same level, among managers at the same level, or among any horizontally
equivalent personnel.
a) Horizontal communications are often necessary to save time and facilitate coordination.
b) Lateral relationships are formally sanctioned.
c) Often, they are informally created to short-circuit the vertical hierarchy and expedite
action.
d) Lateral communications can, from management’s viewpoint, be good or bad.
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
A. Oral Communication
1. The chief means of conveying messages is oral communication.
a) Speeches, formal one-on-one and group discussions, and the informal rumor mill or
grapevine.
2. The advantages are speed and feedback.
3. The major disadvantage is that whenever the message has to be passed through a number
of people there is a potential for distortion.
B. Written Communication
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1. Written communications include memos, letters, electronic mail, fax transmissions,
organizational periodicals, notices placed on bulletin boards, or any other device that is
transmitted via written words or symbols.
2. Advantages
a) They’re tangible and verifiable.
b) Both the sender and receiver have a record of the communication.
c) The message can be stored for an indefinite period of time.
d) Written communications are more likely to be well thought out, logical, and clear.
3. Drawbacks
a) Time consuming because it is more precise.
b) The lack of feedback.
C. The Not-So-Obvious: Nonverbal Communication
1. Verbal messages also impart a nonverbal message.
2. In some instances, the nonverbal component may stand alone.
3. Nonverbal communication includes body movements, the intonations or emphasis we
give to words, facial expressions, and the physical distance between the sender and
receiver.
4. Kinesics is the academic study of body motions. It refers to gestures, facial
configurations, and other movements of the body.
a) Much of the research findings are debatable. Therefore, consideration of the ways
body motions convey meaning must be qualified.
5. It can be argued that every body movement has a meaning and no movement is
accidental.
a) We act out our state of being with nonverbal body language.
6. We may disagree with the specific meanings of the movements, but we cannot deny that
body language adds to, and often complicates, verbal communication.
a) A body position or movement does not by itself have a precise or universal meaning,
but when it is linked with spoken language, it gives fuller meaning to a sender’s
message.
b) Intonations can change the meaning of a message.
c) Facial expression conveys meaning.
d) Space in terms of physical distance also has meaning.
7. Look for nonverbal cues as well as listen to the literal meaning of a sender’s words.
8. Particularly be aware of contradictions between the messages.
9. We misinform others when we express one emotion verbally, such as trust, but
nonverbally communicate a contradictory message that reads, “I don’t have confidence in
you.”
a) Actions usually speak louder than words in a contradictory situation.
V. ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
A. Formal Small-Group Networks
1. There are three common types of small-group networks.
a) See Exhibit 9-2.
b) The chain rigidly follows the formal chain of command.
c) The wheel relies on the leader to act as the central conduit for all the group’s
communication.
d) The all-channel permits all group members to actively communicate with each other
and is most often characterized in practice by the self-managed team.
2. The effectiveness of each type of network depends on the goals of the group.
a) See Exhibit 9-3.
b) If speed is important, the wheel and all-channel networks are most effective.
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c) For accuracy use the chain or wheel.
d) The wheel is best for allowing leaders to emerge.
e) If member satisfaction is important, the all-channel network is best and the wheel
worst.
B. The Informal Group Communication Network
1. In an informal system information flows along the well-known grapevine and rumors can
flourish.
2. A classic study of the grapevine investigated the communication pattern among sixtyseven managerial personnel in a small manufacturing firm.
a) The grapevine was an important source of information; only 10 percent of the
executives acted as liaison individuals.
b) Information on events of general interest tended to flow between the major functional
groups.
c) No evidence surfaced to suggest that any one group consistently acted as liaisons;
rather, different types of information passed through different liaison persons.
3. Replication found that only 10 percent act as liaison individuals.
4. Grapevine accuracy
a) The grapevine carries information that is 75 percent accurate.
5. Rumors emerge as a response to situations that are important to us, where there is
ambiguity, and under conditions that arouse anxiety.
6. A rumor will persist either until the wants and expectations creating the uncertainty
underlying the rumor are fulfilled or until the anxiety is reduced.
a) The grapevine is an important part of any group or organization’s communication
network.
b) It identifies for managers those confusing issues that employees consider important
and that create anxiety.
c) It acts as both a filter and a feedback mechanism, picking up the issues that
employees consider relevant.
d) For employees, the grapevine is particularly valuable for translating formal
communications into their group’s own jargon.
C. Computer-Aided Communication
1. Includes electronic mail (e-mail), intranet and extranet links, and video-conferencing.
2. E-mail
a) Uses the Internet to transmit and receive computer-generated text and documents.
b) A recent study found that the average U.S. employee receives thirty-one e-mail
messages daily.
c) Benefits
(1) Message can be quickly written, edited, and stored.
(2) Messages can be distributed to one person or thousands.
(3) Messages can be read, in their entirety, at the convenience of the recipient.
(4) The cost of sending formal e-mail messages is a fraction of the cost to print,
duplicate, and distribute a comparable letter or brochure.
d) Drawbacks
(1) Information overload.
(2) Time consuming to read, absorb, and respond to messages daily.
(3) Messages lack emotional content. The nonverbal cues in a face-to-face message
or the tone of voice doesn’t come across in e-mail.
(4) Messages tend to be cold and impersonal.
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(5) Not the best means to convey certain information such as layoffs, plant closings,
or other messages that might evoke emotional responses and require empathy or
social support.
3. Intranet and Extranet Links
a) Intranets are private, organization-wide information networks that look and act like a
Web site but to which only people in an organization have access.
b) Extranet links connect internal employees with selected suppliers, customers, and
strategic partners.
4. Videoconferencing
a) Permits employees in an organization to have meetings with people at different
locations.
b) Live audio and video images of members allow them to see, hear, and talk with each
other.
c) Unlike previous specially-equipped rooms, cameras and microphones are now being
attached to individual computers, allowing people to participate without leaving their
desks.
5. Summary
a) It is no longer necessary for employees to be at their workstation to be available.
Pagers, cellular phones, and personal communicators allow location flexibility for
employees.
b) Organizational boundaries become less relevant as a result of computer-aided
communications. Networked computers allow employees to conduct business on a
broader basis.
VI. BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
A. Filtering
1. Filtering refers to a sender’s purposely manipulating information so that the receiver will
see it more favorably.
2. The major determinant of filtering is the number of levels in an organization’s structure.
a) The more vertical levels, the more filtering.
b) Filtering occurs wherever there are status differences.
B. Selective Perception
1. Selective perception occurs when the receiver in the communication process sees and
hears things in a selective way based on his needs, motivations, experience/background,
and other personal characteristics.
2. The receiver also projects his interests and expectations into communications as he
decodes them.
C. Information Overload
1. Individuals have a finite capacity for processing data.
2. When individuals have more information than they can sort and use they tend to weed
out, ignore, pass over, or forget information.
D. Gender Styles
1. Men and women use oral communication for different reasons.
2. Men use talk to emphasize status, women use it to create connection.
a) For many men conversations are primarily a means to preserve independence and
maintain status in a hierarchical social order.
b) For many women conversations are negotiations for closeness in which people try to
seek and give confirmation and support.
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c) When men hear a problem, they want to assert their desire for independence and
control by providing solutions.
d) The women present the problem to gain support and connection, not to get the male’s
advice.
E. Emotions
1. How the receiver feels at the time of receipt of a communication message will influence
how he or she interprets it.
2. Extreme emotions are most likely to hinder effective communication.
F. Language
1. Age, education, and cultural background are three of the more obvious variables that
influence the language a person uses and the definitions he gives to words.
2. In an organization employees usually come from diverse backgrounds.
3. Grouping employees into departments creates specialists who develop their own jargon
or technical language.
4. In large organizations members are also frequently widely dispersed geographically.
5. The existence of vertical levels can also cause language problems.
6. Speaking a common language, English, does not prevent differences in usage of that
language.
7. The problem is that members in an organization usually don’t know how those with
whom they interact have modified the language.
VII. CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
A. Cross-Cultural Factors
1. The greater the differences in backgrounds between sender and receiver, the greater the
differences in meanings attached to particular words or behaviors.
B. Cultural Context
1. High-Context Cultures—China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia—rely heavily on nonverbal and
subtle situational cues when communicating with others.
a) What is not said may be more significant than what is said.
b) A person’s official status, place in society, and reputation carry considerable weight
in communication.
2. Low-Context Cultures—Europe and North America—rely essentially on words to convey
meaning.
a) Body language or formal titles are secondary to spoken and written words
3. See Exhibit 9-4.
4. Communication in high-context cultures implies considerably more trust by parties.
5. Oral agreements imply strong commitments in high-context cultures.
6. Enforceable contracts will tend to be in writing, precisely worded, and highly legalistic in
low-context cultures.
7. Low-context cultures value directness; managers are expected to be explicit and precise
in conveying intended meaning.
C. A Cultural Guide
1. Four rules to reduce misperceptions, misinterpretations, and misevaluation are:
a) Assume differences until similarity is proved.
b) Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation.
(1) Description is less based on the observer’s culture and background than on the
interpretation or evaluation.
c) Practice empathy.
(1) Before sending a message, put yourself in the receiver’s shoes.
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d) Treat your interpretation as a working hypothesis.
(1) Once you’ve developed an explanation for a new situation treat your
interpretation as a hypothesis that needs further testing.
VIII.
ETHICS IN COMMUNICATION: IS IT WRONG TO TELL A LIE?
A. Most of us differentiate between “real lies” and “little white lies,” the latter being an acceptable,
even necessary, part of social interaction.
B. Employee transfer example
IX.
IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS
A. Suggestions for Making Communication More Effective
B. Use Multiple Channels.
1. You improve the likelihood of clarity if multiple channels are used to convey a message
because you stimulate a number of the receiver’s senses, and people have different
abilities to absorb information.
2. Repeating a message by using a different channel acts to reinforce it and decreases the
likelihood of distortions.
C. Use Feedback.
1. Many communication problems can be attributed directly to misunderstandings and
inaccuracies.
2. These are less likely to occur with effective feedback.
a) See Exhibit 9-5.
b) The manager can ask a set of questions relating to a message in order to determine
whether the message was received as intended.
c) Performance appraisals, salary reviews, and promotion decisions represent important
but more subtle forms of feedback.
3. Feedback does not have to be conveyed in words.
a) Actions can speak louder than words.
D. Simplify Language.
1. Structure messages in ways that will make them clear and understandable.
2. Words should be chosen carefully.
3. Jargon can facilitate understanding when it is used with other group members who speak
that language, but it can cause innumerable problems when used outside that group.
E. Listen Actively.
1. See Exhibit 9-6.
2. Many of us are poor listeners because it is difficult and because it’s usually more
satisfying to talk.
3. Listening, in fact, is often more tiring than talking. It demands intellectual effort.
a) The average person speaks at a rate of about 150 words per minute, whereas we have
the capacity to listen at the rate of over 1,000 words per minute.
4. Active listening is enhanced when the receiver develops empathy with the sender, that is,
when the receiver tries to place himself in the sender’s position.
5. Because senders differ in attitudes, interests, needs, and expectations, empathy makes it
easier to understand the actual content of a message.
6. An empathetic listener reserves judgment on the message’s content and carefully listens
to what is being said.
F. Constrain Emotions.
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1. If we’re emotionally upset over an issue, we’re likely to misconstrue incoming messages.
2. The best approach is to defer further communication until composure is regained.
G. Use the Grapevine.
1. You can’t eliminate the grapevine, therefore use it and make it work for you.
2. The grapevine is a valuable source of feedback.
3. The grapevine can carry damaging rumors that reduce the effectiveness of formal
communication.
a) To lessen this destructive force, make good use of formal channels.
SUMMARY
1. Organizations use communication for four primary purposes or functions: control, motivation,
emotional expression, and for exchanging information.
2. The communication process model consists of a purpose, expressed as a message that passes between
a source (the sender) and a receiver. The message is encoded (converted to a symbolic form). It is
passed by way of some medium (channel) to the receiver. The receiver retranslates (decodes) the
message initiated by the sender. The result is a transference of meaning from one person to another.
3. Communication can flow in two primary directions in an organization—vertically or laterally. The
vertical dimension can be further divided into downward and upward directions.
4. Managers have a number of channels of communication available to them, but each has its own
unique strengths and weaknesses. The chief means of conveying messages is oral communication. It
is fast and provides feedback. The major disadvantage is that whenever the message has to be passed
through a number of people there is a potential for distortion. Written communications are tangible
and verifiable. But they are time consuming and often lack in feedback. Verbal messages also impart
a nonverbal message.
5. Organizations have both formal small group networks; the chain, wheel, and all-channel networks but
also information networks like the grapevine.
6. Communication in today’s organizations is enhanced and enriched by computer-aided technologies
including electronic mail, intranet and extranet links, and videoconferencing. Each technology has its
advantages and its drawbacks.
7. There are six common barriers to effective communication. Filtering refers to a sender’s purposely
manipulating information so that the receiver will see it more favorably. Filtering occurs wherever
there are status differences. Selective perception occurs when the receiver in the communication
process sees and hears things in a selective way based on his needs, motivations,
experience/background, and other personal characteristics. Information overload is the result of
individuals having a finite capacity for processing data, and the information to work with exceeds the
processing capacity. Gender styles: men use talk to emphasize status; women use it to create
connection. Emotions reflect how the receiver feels at the time of receipt of a communication
message and will influence how he or she interprets it. Language—age, education, and cultural
background are variables that influence the language a person uses and the definitions he gives to
words.
8. Cultures tend to differ in the importance to which context influences the meaning that individuals
take from what is actually said or written. High-context cultures—China, Vietnam, and Saudi
Arabia—rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues when communicating with others.
Low-context cultures—Europe and North America—rely essentially on words to convey meaning.
Body language or formal titles are secondary to spoken and written words. See Exhibit 9-4.
9. There are four rules for improving cross-cultural communication: 1) Assume differences until
similarity is proved. 2) Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation. 3) Practice
empathy. 4) Treat your interpretation as a working hypothesis.
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10. Many communication problems can be attributed directly to misunderstandings and inaccuracies.
These are less likely to occur with effective feedback. The steps for effective feedback are listed in
Exhibit 9-5. The manager can ask a set of questions relating to a message in order to determine
whether the message was received as intended.
11. Many of us are poor listeners because it’s difficult and because it’s usually more satisfying to talk.
Listening, in fact, is often more tiring than talking. It demands intellectual effort. Active listening is
enhanced when the receiver develops empathy with the sender, that is, when the receiver tries to place
himself in the sender’s position. See Exhibit 9-6.
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