Palmer Textbook Pages 314-315

Q1. How would you describe Agilent Technologys communication process for dealing with downsizing?
They have an open communication style. They used a tell and sell strategy to inform employees of the change. Through a variety of media they kept staff well informed of the core issues affecting the organization. They created and reinforced trust in the company by emotionally involving employees.

Q2. Which approachgetting the word out or getting buy-inbest characterizes the communication process? Why?

The basic differences between these two approaches:

getting the word out: focuses on providing information

getting buy-in: the emphasis with this approach is involving employees both literally and metaphorically in the communication of change process

Give examples of this

getting the word out strategies included emails, newsletters etc.

buy-in strategies were more personal and enabled emphasis on two way communication such as coffee talks, face-to-face meetings, brainstorming meetings and the like.

Q3. Apply Stace and Dunphys contingency approach to the case. What emerges from your analysis?

The nature of the change can be related to Stace and Dunphys types of organizational changes which include developmental or incremental transitions task-focused transitions charismatic transitions and turnarounds.

 that there are strong elements of a charismatic transformation in this case. In charismatic transformations, emotional commitment is the key to establishing a communication process Meetings were used to allow two-way communication between the management team and the employees that were facing job losses. The company drew upon the Hewlett Packard precept of honest and open communication, and even the tired sound of the CEOs voice in delivering the message of layoffs reinforced his own personal attitude to the problems facing the company.

Q4. What assessments would you make of the media used by the company?

The type and combination of media used when communicating change influences how the message is received. The key issues in this area were: The company used a variety of media that vary in richness to ensure that information was shared and that personal attention was paid to all employees. There was an emphasis on richer communication media including training given to managers on how to convey delivering bad news They enabled feedback channels through brainstorming meetings The CEO made public speeches to show his openness in communicating the difficulties facing the company

Communication was the key to the success of Agilent and they did it right even through the darker periods.

 They focused the message they were sending to make it clear and concise. By using the cascade philosophy of communicating change the message delivery was with lower level managers who were more trusted in the organization. This would also ensure that the level of media richness was high relying mostly on face-to-face communication. The commitment to communication was so strong that Agilent also focused on communicating when they did not meet their targets and they acknowledged where they went right and wrong Communication to the external stakeholders was also a key element to maintaining the image of the company.

Q6. What are the limits to an open communication style when faced with ongoing rounds of downsizing? What else might be done by management to retain staff motivation?

Some of the limits Agilent Technology faced when downsizing were: Staff began to feel that layoffs were fruitless when the organizations situation did not improve. The staff became aware of their failure to help improve the performance of the company.

Look beyond the case, and draw on topics from the other chapters to answer this question.