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Organizational Communication Final Exam

2.) Formal and informal networks are key parts of an organization. The first thing to do is describe exactly what a formal network is and what an informal network is. Formal networks are networks that are made by the organization. They are official, appropriate channels people follow when trying to relay information. (Zaremba, 2010, 134) They can also be described as communication networks and they conform to the organizational chart. The charts show who is to report to whom and they show the chain of command in an organization. (Zaremba, 2010, 134) However, just because it is a formal network doesnt mean the communication is always going to work and go through right away. Sometimes people are not available and are not able to be communicated with. Informal networks are channels that carry the information that are not prescribed by the organization.(Zaremba, 2010, 134) Also known as the grapevine these networks are very important and have stayed relevant and frequent for over sixty years. (Zaremba, 2010, 134) There are four different patterns that can be identified with grapevine communication. Single strand is when one person tells another, who then tells a third person, gossip is when one person tells a host of others. Probability is when an individual randomly informs other people and a cluster is when of the people informed one tells another and of those others informed one tells another. (Zaremba, 2010, 135) The grapevine is not prescribed and they usually are created on the basis of factors that are peripherally related to corporate policy. (Zaremba, 2010, 135) Hobbies and activities are a large part in developing the grapevine as well as friendships that are created due to these things. (Zaremba, 2010, 135) Formal and informal networks can affect the climate and culture of an organization greatly. Problems with informal messages is that they move at a much greater speed then formal messages. Rumors are spread

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quickly, inaccurate news is moved through the organization, and distorted information is passed along to people. Formal networks can be good for an organization, an example would be an email announcing the retirement of an administrator. The formal e-mail will have a list of achievements and appreciation. (Zaremba, 2010, 135) An example of formal communication that I can relate to was my process of interviewing for the company I am doing my internship with. When interviewing for the job the first person I met with was the woman who I would be directly working with. Following that I met with the rest of the team that she was a part of and I would also be working with. Last I met with the President and Vice President of the company who controlled all of the different departments. Finding time to meet with the President and Vice President was pretty tough and when I finally did meet them they did not have much time to talk. This shows communicating with the different chains of command and how sometimes not all parts are open to communicate with.

4.) Culture and generations in the workplace is a very important topic to talk about. Each generation has very significant characteristics that play a large role in the workplace. The first generation is the traditionals. The traditionals lived through events such as the Great Depression and World War 2. These events played a huge role in who they are and their takes on life. They tend to look at Baby Boomers as disrespectful, and too blunt. They look at Generation X as impatient and view Millenials as too distracted by technology. (Baldrige) Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964 and are the post World War 2 generation and grew up in the 1960s counter culture. They see traditionalists as too conservative, generation X as selfish, and Milennials as lacking focus. (Baldrige) Generation X is a group that was born between 1965 and 1976 and can not be defined by one set of principles. They bring a much different approach to

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the workplace and focus on things such as quality of work life, and work environment. They look at work as a way to support their current lifestyle and not as a way to save for retirement. They view Traditionals as conservative, baby boomers as new age workaholics, and Millennials as too optimistic. Millenials were born between the years 1977 and 1998. They celebrate diversity and pride themselves on being self-inventive and individualistic. Instead of following rules they look to write their own rules and govern for themselves. For most Millennials technology is not something that can be used but something that life is all about. They multi-task fast and because their parents nurtured them they feel they should be nurtured as well. (Baldrige) Each generation has a different take on different issues and the time they grew up in has a strong impact on their decisions in all sorts of different categories. With a topic such as increasing multicultural, global marketplaces each generation may have a different take on this. For the traditionals this may be something that they dont at first totally agree with. Although they will probably agree that this is something they have to do and needs to be done they might take a more classical style of management approach to seeing this happen. They may tell people what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. They might not be as open to responses as to how to fix things or how to improve different matters. They also might be hesitant in doing so and it may take a much longer time to do.They are less trusting in change. For baby boomers they will be less conservative then the traditionals. They will embrace this global marketplace and see it as a good thing. When communicating they may use face to face conversations and tend to be more hands on then traditionalists would be.They may see this as a way to advance business in the future more than it can right now. As for generations X they will welcome this multi-cultural global marketplace with open arms. They will see this global marketplace as a great way to expand their business and make more money. They will also create a positive environment for these people to live and

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work in. They will praise them, congratulate them and wine and dine them to make sure they do business with them. Millenials will also welcome this change. They feel that the more diverse and global their company can become the better. They feel that by having more diversity they will have more opinions and more creative ideas to go around. They feel that this would be a great way to expand business. However, instead of face to face meetings they may use technology to have conference calls or face to face meetings over the computer. They will try to use all forms of technology to make communication faster, better, and more efficient. A real life example I can relate to comes from the company I am currently interning with. Throughout my life I have lived in five different states which were all in five different regions of the United States. Although it was not on a global scale their were many different demographics and environments that were significant to each region. I feel that diversity and different viewpoints as important. As an intern it is my job to research as many different companies as possible and figure out which ones would be the best for our company to invest with. To be able to do this you must take into account all the different cultural values of the region and figure out how to cater to them and which would suit the area the best. Being open to all these different cultures and needs is definitely something that needs to be taken into consideration and something some of the generations would not look to do.

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1.) To help with this problem there are many things that can be done internally to help increase the level of communication amongst the school and the employees on the road. First is the timing of the messages. Many of the employees on the road are complaining about the messages they are receiving. The timing of the messages the school sends is extremely important. They should be sending a message everyday. As a whole the school needs to come together and figure out how many messages a day they should be sending.The messages should arrive at a point in time where the information in meaningful and shouldt arrive too late. (Zaremba, 2010, 112) Obviously they arent sending enough so they should try to send out at least two messages each day at around the same exact time. Second, they need to make sure the message is clear. Everyone receiving it understands what is being said and they should not be confused over the message or have to ask all kinds of questions. It is difficult to have a face-to-face conversation in this case so a well written e-mail with maybe a phone call afterwards clearly stating what needs to be done would be the best way to go. (Zaremba, 2010, 113) Third they must send an accurate message. The message should be describing things that are accurate and consistent with what the school is trying to convey. They should fit with the culture and the environment the school has and what they want their employees to have as well. Fourth is a pertinent message. The message should be relevant with what the employee is going through and they should be able to immediately implement information from the message into their current task. Last is credible, the message should be coming from someone within the organization that is a credible source and the employees believe in. They should be able to look at who wrote the message and say this came from the director it must be correct. If a person who is not trusted or credible writes a message less people are likely to listen and follow what it says. Social media is a huge aspect that this school should look into. For this case I personally recommend using Facebook and

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Twitter. With Facebook you will be able to create a page for prospective students to look at and like. You will be able to show pictures of the campus, information about the campus, and the overall culture and environment the school is trying to portray. You will also allow current students to write on the wall and give real time feedback on activities, events, and personal experiences of being a student. Twitter is another social media site that could do an awesome job of creating publicity. Over Twitter you can inform followers of events coming up, relevant school news, and other activities on campus. You can also personally connect with students by tweeting personal messages to them and creating a connection. The biggest thing with the media richness continuum is figuring out which media form to use in which situation. Facebook and Twitter are things that can be used year round and are used to reach a broad audience. In the case of a small school or even some large schools sending a letter or note to prospective students on holidays or birthdays is something that can really help in conveying a positive message and keeping up with communication. Having prospective students come in for a face to face tour or meeting can also help because you are able to actually show them the campus and environment. E-mails or newsletters can also be used to let students know of school wide news and activities that are going on at the time. By tapping into as many media sources as possible you are able to communicate with a wider audience.

3.) Leadership perspectives can have a large effect on an organizations communication practice, climate, and culture. The first leadership perspective is leadership as style. This perspective says that we are more concerned with what leaders do rather than the personal characteristics they have. (Papa, 263) All control of decisions and group processes to members. Leaders remain available for consultation or problem solving but generally allow other authority to members and

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avoid responsibilities. They also are oriented towards guiding and coaching members rather than completely controlling everything. A great real life example of this style of perspective is Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett is a billionaire and owner of many different companies. In his book Management Secrets he talks about how he has delegated people to run each of his companies. When executives come to him and ask him you always tells them do what you feel is best for the company. Although he does help is some decision making he gives free reign and trust to the people he puts in charge. This can sometimes backfire however because people that are inexperienced need help in making decisions and they need someone to sometimes guide them through the process. Second is the leadership as trait. This is based off of distinguishing leaders by personality traits. Things such as intelligence, responsibility, character, and other traits. They say that the three most important traits to have are intelligence, adjustments, and deviancy. (Papa, 263) Although this trait can work a lot of the time I feel that this does not always make the greatest leader. A good example comes from high school sports. On most teams the captains were always the best players on the team. Although not every captain is the best player on the team their are some players that are simply there because they are good at the sport. They are lacking other skills that are important to being a captain or leader but made captain based on pure skill. For leaders just because you are intelligent, and know lots of information does not make you a good leader. You must be able to have great people skills, and relate to everyone you are working with. Last is the situation theory which states that no one leadership style is ideal and that the circumstances of leadership will determine whether a particular style will be effective or ineffective.(Papa. 266) This is very true because not everyone is lead the same way. Different things appeal to different people. Sometimes a leader needs to be firm and come down hard to get a job done and sometimes they need to show sympathy and show the employee that they

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care. A football coach I feel is the best example of this because they have to play every leadership role possible. At times they have to be tough on their players, yell, scream, cuss, and do whatever they need to do to get the job done. Other times they must be a role model and tell their players to do well in school, help in the community, and succeed as human beings. They must be positive reinforcements and show at all times their intelligence for the game of football.