Running head: AN ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION SIMPLICITY

An Analysis of the Organization Simplicity

from an Organizational Communication Perspective
Julian Roux, Erica Dalton, Angela Berardi, Ian Smith, Peter Donlon, Kelly Miller
State University of New York at Geneseo

An Analysis of the Organization Simplicity

from an Organizational Communication Perspective

AN ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION SIMPLICITY

Simplicity is an innovative store aimed at providing a simple way for parents and caretakers to
shop for fundamental items, relieving them of the hassle of their traditional shopping experience. In the
context of Simplicity, several dialogues and perspectives are taking place, particularly between the
employees of the store. In particular, Dialogue as Equitable Transaction and Dialogue as Empathic
Conversation are abundant in the work environment of Simplicity. Examining Simplicity through a
Systems Theory approach and through the lense of organizational communication, the positive aspects of
the store are highlighted, as well as the factors which should be improved. Simplicity shows that it has
strong values that emphasize openness, order, and contingency which let the organization focus on
making forward progress against their competitors.
Simplicity uses communication as strategic control on the micro-level context by offering its
employees some incentive other than their normal pay. This incentive encourages the employees to work
well and remain positive and happy, thus giving our customers the best experience possible. The
managers at Simplicity are following the exact definition of the strategic-control perspective, as noted in
Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity and Restraint: the strategic-control perspective
regards communication as a tool for influencing and shaping the environment (Parks, 1982) (Eisenberg,
et. al., 2014, p. 34). By creating incentive for their employees to do well, the Simplicity managers,
Michael Norris and Oliver Pace, are strategically influencing their employees to treat customers better,
thus creating a better result for the business through happier customers and more efficient work.
Unfortunately though, as observed in the narrative, employee Christopher Dean still continues to slack,
and the dynamic between all employees in general could be improved. This leads to the conclusion that
strategic control is not the only factor that plays into an effective workforce. Also, perhaps the companys
attempt at strategic control could be improved through better incentives, as well as disincentives to not
slack off. With some simple changes, Simplicity managers strategic control could be dramatically
improved so that it facilitates organizational change (Eisenberg, et. al., 2014, p. 35) as well.
Viewing communication through the transactional-process model, which asserts that in human
communication, clear distinctions are not made between senders and receivers and that Rather, people

AN ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION SIMPLICITY

play both roles simultaneously (Eisenberg, et. al., 2014, p. 32), Simplicity managers Michael Norris and
Oliver Pace do not simply send messages out to their employees and customers, but also value the
feedback they receive and pay attention to it. They believe they need to encode messages in the simplest
ways for receivers to understand, and they themselves make every attempt at decoding the messages they
receive back. They believe this will allow them to always create and maintain a positive workplace for
employees, and a positive shopping experience for customers. Whenever a customer complains or raves
about Simplicity, Norris and Pace take the comments into careful consideration. Likewise, they stay
connected with their six employees on as personal of a level as possible, acting as much as their equals as
they can, in order to not inhibit truthfulness about the work experience. This also allows employees to feel
valued rather than looked down upon by management.
Dialogue as Equitable Transaction takes place when Michael Norris mentions his employees truly
make the difference when they work at Symplicity, even though he admits some of them make more of a
positive difference than others. Dialogue as Empathic Conversation occurs when Michael Norris talks
about one of his employees and his positive attitude and award-winning smile.
Dialogue as a mindful approach understands talk as both having a purpose/strategy and an
activity regarding mentality and relational factors (Eisenberg, et. al., 2014, p. 34). This ties into
Simplicitys use of communication as strategic control: the managers try to incentivise hard work by
providing month-end pizza parties based on productivity reports, and other such incentives. Additionally,
mindful dialogue takes place with Simplicitys public, offering memberships that come with coupons and
punch-card reward systems. This creates a relationship with the customer-base that is stronger than simply
service-provider and buyer. Now, especially with the monthly newsletter, Simplicity creates contact with
its public. sending and receiving, encoding and decoding, messages.
Simplicity shows that it has strong values that emphasize openness, order, and contingency which
let the organization focus on making forward progress against their competitors.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION SIMPLICITY

One positive experience depicted in the narrative is when Sam mentions how Simplicity has a
policy stating that employees must work together. This ties in smoothly with Dialogue as Equitable
Transaction because the company policy sets the base for equal sharing of input to occur.
The first negative experience to be found in the narrative can be found in the poor work ethic of
Christopher Dean. As the narrative notes, he is known for slacking off and being rude to the customers.
This has resulted in shorter shifts, but is full of negative implications. First, his rude behavior towards the
customers could have an effect on the macro-context by lowering public opinion of Simplicity. Also, his
frustration could have severe implications internally, as it would make him difficult to work with, leading
to difficulty filling the shift, or lowering effectiveness of the employees working with him. While his
laziness and attitude was somewhat addressed, failure to take a more direct approach could lead to a
negative idea that laziness is tolerated in the company.
The second negative experience can be found in Elizabeth Fitz, check-out window worker. Due
to her shyness, she has issues in asking for help, particularly when it is needed. Again, this can have
negative implications on the macro-context by making the company appear unprofessional in front of its
customers, eventually lowering reputation. Internally, it can become an issue to more goal oriented
workers and managers, who see this lack of communication as a setback to their goals of customer
service, better positions in the company, and more efficient work environment.
The third negative experience would be Isabel James, check out window worker, melancholy
attitude. As with the previous examples, her melancholy attitudes may have a negative effect on customer
opinion and the macro-context. Internally, her personality places her at odds with the more optimistic
employees, as noted in the narrative. This places a strain on the flow of communication within the
workplace, lowering efficiency. This strain, if allowed to persist, could create a new constraint in not
expressing happiness in order to avoid conflict. However, her removal to night shifts should help to
reduce that negative implication.
The fourth negative experience could be found in Kyle Leons controlling personality.
Particularly due to his personality, Kyle would be the most at risk of abusing strategic communication.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION SIMPLICITY

This could be negative in that his goals may not be the same as the companys, causing conflict both
internally and externally. Internally, he may upset communication and efficiency by trying to make all of
the decisions. Since he continually attempts to control his fellow employees, it may also lower employee
morale, who may view this communication as degrading and unnecessary.
The hypothesized outcome for Simplicity was that it would be a thriving innovative shopping
experience for customers, marked with ever-positive employees always willing to help with a smile.
While its true that Simplicity has been recognized by the community as a new, exciting, smarter way for
parents and caretakers of children to shop, it has some need for improvement within the workplace. A
better system needs to be implemented within the micro-context of Simplicity in order to create a
friendlier face to customers. When employees work well together and maintain positivity, customers
sense this and have more positive feelings toward a company. Simplicity managers are perhaps too lenient
with their employees, ignoring slacking and negativity rather than dealing with the issue. If the dynamics
within the company can be improved, this will then allow Simplicity to better achieve its mission.
Our organizational system has roots in balancing a companys ideals and mission statement, but
also the attitudes that each employee brings to the business. Each member of the team must work
together, despite their flaws. Each manager must create effective ways to present the store in the most
appealing way, implementing new ideas such as the mobile app. These presentations must be consistent
with the stores mission statement and ideals held by the company.
Using the definition of organizational communication as a balance of creativity and constraint,
(Eisenberg, et. al., 2014, p. 38) it is observable that Simplicity currently is focused a bit too much on
creativity, and needs to balance it out better with constraint through reinforcing to its employees the need
for better teamwork. Some constraint needs to be put on the employees because currently they feel they
can slack off and get away with it, despite the mission statement of Simplicity: To be the most
convenient daily essential needs provider for every parent, caretaker, and child in the world-offering a
faster and safer alternative to traditional shopping. If managers engage in metacommunication,
discussing how to better communicate, with employees to work out a solution to the current dynamic

AN ANALYSIS OF THE ORGANIZATION SIMPLICITY

issues between members of the company, a system could be developed to keep everyone on good terms
with one another and encourage positive productivity.
Simplicity is a relatively new company specializing in a transformative system for shopping,
delivering a simple and quick alternative for parents and child caretakers. While there is some
improvement needed on the micro-level of the organizations system, on the macro-level it is performing
incredibly. With some adjustments to the communication methods within the workplace, Simplicity has
the potential for immense productivity growth.

References

Eisenberg, E. M., Goodall, H. L., Jr., & Tretheway, A. (2014). Organizational Communication:
Balancing Creativity and Constraint (7th ed.). New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin's.