MGMT Chapter 9 - FR
101. What is a grapevine? Explain the characteristics of a grapevine.
A grapevine is an unstructured and informal network founded on social relationships rather than organizational charts or job descriptions. The grapevine works through informal social networks, so it is more active where employees have similar backgrounds and can communicate easily. Although some of the transmitted information might be true, communication can become distorted by deleting fine details and exaggerating key points of stories. The Internet has expanded the scope of grapevines.
93. Briefly explain the communication process model and its components.
According to the communication process model, communication flows through channels between the sender and receiver. The sender forms a message and encodes it into words, gestures, voice intonations, and other symbols or signs. Next, the encoded message is transmitted to the intended receiver through one or more communication channels (media). The receiver senses the incoming message and decodes it into something meaningful. Ideally, the decoded meaning is what the sender had intended. In most situations, the sender looks for evidence that the other person received and understood the transmitted message. This feedback may be a formal acknowledgment or indirect evidence from the receiver's subsequent actions. Feedback repeats the communication process. Intended feedback is encoded, transmitted, received, and decoded from the receiver to the sender of the original message. Students can draw the communication process model diagram provided in the text. Feedback: Refer: Exhibit 9.1
96. Emotional contagion receives relatively little attention in organizational behavior literature (as it is mostly studied by psychologists), yet it is an important part of social interaction in the workplace. Define emotional contagion and identify two benefits of this phenomenon.
Emotional contagion refers to the notion that we tend to "catch" other people's emotions by continuously mimicking that person's facial expressions and nonverbal behavior. For instance, listeners smile more and exhibit other emotional displays of happiness while hearing someone describe a positive event. Similarly, listeners will wince when the speaker describes an event in which they were hurt. Along with defining emotional contagion, students need to identify any two of the three benefits described in the textbook. Communicates caring: Mimicry provides continuous feedback, communicating that we understand and empathize with the sender. To consider the significance of this, imagine if employees remain expressionless after watching a colleague bang his or her head! The lack of parallel behavior conveys a lack of understanding or caring. Improves the listener's empathy: Mimicking the nonverbal behaviors of other people seems to be a way of receiving emotional meaning from those people. If a colleague is angry with a client, your tendency to frown and show anger while listening helps you to share that emotion more fully. In other words, we receive meaning by expressing the sender's emotions as well as by listening to the sender's words. Strengthens team cohesiveness: Another function of emotional contagion is to fulfill the drive to bond. Social solidarity is built out of each member's awareness of a collective sentiment. Through nonverbal expressions of emotional contagion, people see that others share the same emotions that they feel. This strengthens team cohesiveness by providing evidence of member similarity.
99. Briefly explain the problem of information overload.
Information overload occurs whenever a job's information load exceeds an individual's capacity to get through it. Employees have a certain information processing capacity—the amount of information they can process in a fixed unit of time. At the same time, jobs have a varying information load—the amount of information to be processed per unit of time. Information overload creates noise in the communication system because information gets overlooked or misinterpreted when people can't process it fast enough. The result is poorer-quality decisions as well as higher stress.
98. Explain the concept of media richness. What are the two conditions required for a communication channel to be considered high in media richness?
Media richness refers to the data-carrying capacity of a communication medium. The data-carrying capacity includes the volume and variety of information that the channel can carry. Face-to-face interaction has very high media richness, whereas newsletters and routine computer printouts have low media richness. The two conditions that require a communication channel that is high in media richness are non-routine and ambiguous situations. In non-routine situations, the sender and receiver have little common experience, so they need to communicate more information to develop a common understanding of that situation. Ambiguous situations occur when the parties face multiple and conflicting interpretations of their observations and experiences. Again, large amounts of information (and probably more varied information) are required to reduce this ambiguity.
100. What are the common gender differences observed in communication?
Men and women have similar communication practices, but there are subtle distinctions that can occasionally lead to misunderstanding and conflict. One distinction is that men are more likely than women to view conversations as negotiations of relative status and power. They assert their power by directly giving advice to others and using combative language. There is also evidence that men dominate the talk time in conversations with women, as well as interrupt more and adjust their speaking styles less than do women. Men engage in more "report talk," in which the primary function of the conversation is impersonal and efficient information exchange. Women also use report talk, particularly when conversing with men, but conversations among women have a higher incidence of relationship building through "rapport talk."
102. Should companies try to eliminate grapevine communication? Explain your answer.
Research suggests that companies should not try to eliminate grapevine communication. One reason is that they cannot eliminate the grapevine even if they try. Moreover, attempts to eliminate the grapevine might further strain relations with employees. At the same time, the grapevine should not be viewed as a primary source of communication. It can be fairly accurate, but it may distort actual events by deleting some details. Rather than eliminating the grapevine, companies should treat the grapevine as a signal of employee anxiety and act on the causes of that anxiety. Companies should also use the grapevine as a benchmark of the effectiveness of formal communication. They should try to reduce the need for grapevine communication by providing more effective formal methods of organizational communication.
97. What is social acceptance? What are the social acceptance factors?
Social acceptance refers to how well a communication medium is approved and supported by the organization, teams, and individuals. One factor in social acceptance is organizational and team norms regarding the use of specific communication channels. A second social acceptance factor is individual preferences for specific communication channels. These preferences are due to personality traits, as well as previous experience and reinforcement with particular channels. A third social acceptance factor is the symbolic meaning of a channel. Some communication channels are viewed as impersonal, whereas others are more personal; some are considered professional, whereas others are casual; some are "cool," whereas others are old-fashioned.
95. A few organizations have recently tried to minimize employee use of email when communicating with colleagues. Discuss two reasons companies might want to minimize the use of email.
The textbook describes four problems with email in organizational settings. Students may discuss any two of them. In spite of the wonders of email, anyone who has used this communication medium knows that it has its limitations. Here are the top four complaints: Information overload: Many email users are overwhelmed by hundreds of messages each week, many of which are either unnecessary or irrelevant to the receiver. This occurs because emails can be easily created and copied to thousands of people through group mailbox systems. Ineffective for communicating emotions: Some organizational communication requires the transmission of emotion, and email does not send this emotional meaning very well. Even the use of emoticons is insufficient for some messages, which should be communicated in person. Reduces politeness and respect: A third problem is that email seems to reduce our politeness and respect for others. Email has low social presence, which makes it more impersonal, so people are more likely to write things that they would never say in face-to-face conversation. Poor medium for ambiguous, complex, and novel situations: Email requires a moderate level of mutual understanding between the sender and receiver. Coordinating through email in ambiguous, complex, and novel situations, on the other hand, requires communication channels that quickly send a larger volume of information and offer equally rapid feedback.
94. What are the four major factors that influence the effectiveness of the encoding-decoding process in communication?
There are four main factors that influence the effectiveness of the encoding-decoding process. These are: Communication channel proficiency: Generally, the encoding-decoding process is more effective when both parties are skilled and enjoy using the selected communication channel. Similar codebooks: A second factor is the extent to which both parties have similar "codebooks"—dictionaries of symbols, language, gestures, idioms, and other tools used to convey information. Shared mental models of the communication context: A third factor influencing encoding-decoding process effectiveness is the extent to which both parties have shared mental models about the topic's context. When sender and receiver have shared mental models, they have a common understanding of the environment relating to the information, so less communication is necessary to clarify meaning about that context. Experience encoding the message: A fourth factor influencing encoding-decoding process effectiveness is the sender's experience at communicating the message. The more experience and practice gained at communicating a subject, the more people learn how to effectively transmit that information to others.
