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430© Pearson Education Limited 1998, 2002

Chapter 20

Communication

What the Chapter Covers

This chapter deals with communication, a process that has strong connections with everyother topic in the book. Because communication is often taken for granted, there is anunfortunate tendency for people to overlook the complexity of what is necessary in order tocommunicate effectively. Therefore, to make it easier for the reader to appreciate thiscomplexity, much of the discussion in the chapter is focused on communication at theinterpersonal level. Nevertheless, the principles involved are equally applicable tocommunication at the macro level of organisations, and to this end the chapter covers:• a definition of communication and effective communication• the importance of communication to organisations• a model of communication, which breaks down the process into easy-to-understand stages• barriers to effective communication• patterns of formal communication in organisations• informal communication within organisations• different forms of organisational communication: verbal, written and electronic• the digital age and the virtual organisation.

The chapter closes with an overview section that reviews its contents and in addition tomaterial which addresses the learning outcomes set out at its start, the chapter contains threeconnected themes.1. All communication takes place within a context and so communication can be strongly

affected by the environment in which it takes place.2. A number of developments in organisations and in the environments in which they

operate can create a necessity for them to change the ways in which they communicate,both internally and externally.

3. Whatever the method of communication used, in order to ensure the effectiveness of theprocess, there are certain principles that need to be observed.

Instructional Approaches

Resources Provided

As well as the text, the chapter contains other material that can be used to facilitate studentlearning:• there are two short case studies, which allow students to apply certain concepts as they

appear in the text• to illustrate the real world applicability of concepts in the chapter, a number of OB in

Action features appear at intervals throughout the text

Organisational Behaviour and Analysis: Second edition Instructor’s Manual


• review and discussion questions are provided at the end of the chapter and these can beused to integrate its contents

• a longer case study is given later in this chapter of the Instructor’s Manual, which can alsobe used for integrative purposes

• although primarily intended for self-study, the Time Out exercises in the chapter can alsobe used as vehicles for classroom discussion

• a number of supplementary teaching and assessment materials are provided later in thischapter of the Instructor’s Manual.Chapter 20 of the book also contains six diagrams and to enable lecturers to use these for

illustrative or explanatory purposes in teaching sessions, OHT masters are providedseparately on the website.

Instructional Approaches

As noted above, communication is a complex process. Nevertheless, it should be possible tocover the contents of the chapter in two hours of instruction. Where a lecturer-centredteaching approach is used, this would normally be divided into lecture and tutorial, with thelecture used to give a basic coverage of the topic, and the tutorial session used for discussionor case studies. With a student-centred learning approach students would normally berequired to pre-read the chapter before coming to a two-hour seminar. Here a short (20minutes) period could be devoted to checking on understanding, and the remainder devoted tocase studies and exercises.

The seven learning outcomes for the chapter and the sections that address each one aresummarised in Table IM20.1 following, which also indicates sections that could be omitted iftime is short.

Learning Outcomes Chapter Section and Pages AssociatedDiagrams

AssociatedExercises

Themes Covered

Define communication and effectivecommunication

Definition 612-613

Understand the importance of effectivecommunication in organisations

The importance ofcommunication 612-614

Case 20.1 Theme 1Theme 3

Use the communication model to explaincommunication in terms of its major componentactivities

The communication model 615-620 Fig 20.1 Theme1 communicationoccurs within a contextTheme 3 effectivenessrequires observation ofcertain principles

Understand the barriers to effectivecommunication that are associated with majorcomponents of the communication model

Barriers to effective communication:barriers associated with sender 621barriers associated with media andchannel 622-623barriers associated with receiver 623-624cross-national influences 624-625

Case 20.2 Theme 1Theme 3

Understand the main directions of communicationflow in organisations and distinguish betweenformal and informal communication

Communication in organisations:Formal communication: 627-630Informal communication 630-631

Fig 20.3Fig 20.4

Theme 3

Explain the characteristics and strengths andweaknesses of the two traditional methods ofcommunication in organisations: verbal andwritten

Forms of communication* Verbal communication – theory 632-635verbal communication – practice 636-637Written communication 637-639* Electronic communication 639-641

Fig 20.5Fig 20.6

Case 20.3 Theme 1Theme 2 developments inorganisations create a needfor changes in ways ofcommunicating

Understand the significance of the newinformation and communication technologiestogether with evidence on whether these willresult in radically different organisational forms,e.g. the virtual organisation

Digital/ Virtual Organisation 641-642* New organisational forms 642-643* The Virtual Organisation 643-644* Accounting for the lack of virtual organisations 644-646* Teleworking 646-647* Overview and conclusions 647-648

Theme 1Theme 2Theme 3

Table IM20.1: Learning Outcomes Related to Chapter Contents and Associated Teaching Materials* these items can be omitted if time is short



Teaching Materials in Textbook

Time Out Exercises

While primarily designed for use as private study material, Time Out exercises can also beused in-class to promote discussion, or give short hands-on breaks in a formal lecture. Givenbelow are a number of prompts that have been found useful where the exercises are used forthis purpose.

Exercise on page 620: Components of Communication

This exercise can be used to encourage students to apply the components of thecommunication model to a process with which they are familiar. The questions are verystraightforward and students should encounter few problems in developing answers.

Question 1

Most students will spot that in a formal classroom session the source of the message isnormally the lecturer. However, it is worth asking them who or what is the source if specificreading from a text book has been prescribed? If the lecturer has prescribed the reading, thenthe source of the message is still the lecturer.

Question 2

Here students who are having difficulty in finding an answer could be asked ‘how does themessage get from the lecturer to you?’ If it is by talking then the channel used is clearly theverbal one.

Question 3

Here students who are having difficulty in finding an answer could be asked ‘when a lectureris talking to you, is that the only way he uses to convey the material?’ For example, slides andhandouts are sometimes used, both of which are media associated with the verbal channel.

Question 4

Hopefully the students.

Exercise on page 625: Barriers to Communication

This exercise is a continuation of the one on page 620, but considers the barriers tocommunication in the classroom situation.

Question 1

If students have difficulty here they should be directed to examine Table 20.3. This draws adistinction between physical and psychological noise and gives some examples.



Question 2

If students have difficulty here they should be directed to examine Table 20.2.

Question 3

See question 1 above.

Question 4

See table 20.4 in the text.

Exercise on page 631: Communication in an Academic Institution

Question 1

If students have difficulty here they could be asked how they get to know about changes toacademic regulations, new library or computing facilities and other matters that affect theirinterests. In most institutions these days, students are bombarded with information on thesematters and so there should be little problem in producing answers.

Question 2

If students have difficulty here they could be asked about provisions that are made to seekstudent opinions on matters that affect them. Once again most institutions have a number ofways of doing this. For example, course committees, staff student liaison bodies, courseevaluation questionnaires, and in some institutions the Student Union has representatives onSenate.

Question 3

This can be a tricky question to answer and if students have difficulty they could be askedabout the role of the Student Union in this matter.

Question 4

The existence of a student grapevine can be taken for granted in most institutions. Thus theanswers to this question usually prove to be very interesting.

Exercise on page 637: Interpersonal Communication Styles

Before students attempt to answer these questions they should be encouraged to re-examinethe material on pages 633-635 of the chapter, which deals with communication styles, andthey should be reminded of the need to be scrupulously honest with themselves in answeringthe questions. Answers are likely to be so varied that it is impossible to give prompts and sothe whole exercise is probably better conducted as a free-flowing discussion, in whichstudents can ask questions about how to interpret the above material, in order to produce theiranswer.



Case Studies

Timings

The two cases in this chapter are of the rolling scenario type, in which the first sets the scenefor the second. They are comparatively short and either one can be read and digested in about10 minutes. A further 10-15 minutes group discussion should then be sufficient for studentsto produce answers.

Teaching Notes for Case Study 20.1: The Luxor Company

Suggested Use of the Case

The case is designed to get students thinking about communication and to establish a ‘need toknow’ in terms of using the communication model for analytical purposes. For this reason itis best introduced early in the teaching session, preferably just before the communicationmodel is covered.

Suggested Answers

Question 1

A strong clue is given at the very end of the case, where M Binochet remarks that in the past,very few communication problems existed in the firm. In those days the firm was almostcertainly very small and people probably communicated with each other without consciouslyhaving to remember to do so. The firm has now grown considerably, and in this period ofgrowth people have been rushed off their feet. Thus they probably had strong tendencies tocope with the situation by focusing strongly on their own individual responsibilities, thusforgetting to communicate with others.

Question 2

Three areas can easily be identified in the case:• communication about the flow of orders into the firm, the need to keep the production

informed and the need for production to keep marketing in the picture• financial control information, which helps regulate the flow of financial resources in and

out of the organisation• communication with employees, which helps to keep people informed about matters that

affect them and allows problems to surface and be identified

Question 3

See answer to question 2. All three need urgent attention, particularly the matter ofestablishing a dialogue with employees.



Teaching Notes for Case Study 20.2: The Luxor Company – FurtherDevelopments

Suggested Use of the Case

This case gives students the opportunity to apply the communication model to a simulatedsituation in which there are problems arising from ineffective communication. Essentiallythese problems are associated with different interpretations of the same information. For thisreason the most appropriate place to introduce the case is immediately after the barriers toeffective communication have been considered.

Suggested Answers

The key to diagnosing problems here is for students to use the communication model and tryto look at the information conveyed in the charts through the eyes of two different parties:employees and managers. This is a fairly clear case of lack of consensus between senders andreceivers about the rules for the use of symbols. In addition, there is probably some noise onthe channel due to perceptual distortions and an inappropriate (or rather incomplete) selectionof channel.

Looking at the message from the employees' perspective, output has risen and across thesame period the number of people employed has fallen. Significantly, there have been anumber of new product lines introduced, investment in new plant and machinery iscontinuing unabated and the accident rate has risen steeply. Thus for employees the messagecould well be that the firm is doing well, and fairness dictates that they should receive a sliceof the cake. In their eyes, they are the ones who have had to cope with an increased number ofchanges in products and machinery and this has resulted in the firm becoming a less safeplace in which to work. Moreover, the firm's willingness to invest in new machinery couldindicate something else. There has been a reduction in the workforce, which could mean thatthere is more to come. That is, job security could be at risk; hence the generally hostile mood,feelings of insecurity, people leaving to take up jobs elsewhere and a substantial pay claim.

There is, of course, another side to the story. Management is unlikely to continue to investunless it believes that business prospects are good. Therefore, re-equipping could simply bebecause labour turnover is high, and managers are worried about sustaining output. What islacking, of course, is any indication of how sales are holding up, a fairly disastrous omissionin the light of the information that is provided. Another problem point is the accident rate.Managers may well regard the inclusion of this chart as a clear indication to the workforcethat they (managers) are concerned about safety. On its own, however, it does nothing toindicate this concern. Overall, management seems to be making the mistake of assuming thattheir interpretation of the information is the same as the conclusions that will be drawn byemployees; a clear case for some supplementary information to explain how to interpret thecharts.



Review and Discussion Questions

Question 1

See pp 612-613 of text

Communication is defined on page 612 of the text as ‘a process in which information and itsmeaning is conveyed from a sender to a receiver’. Note that if sender and receiver do notattribute the same meaning to the message, communication has not occurred. Effectiveness ofcommunication is the extent to which sender and receiver both attribute the message with thesame meaning and effective communication is vital to organisations for three main reasons:for coordination, for control purposes and to make effective use of human resources.

Question 2


The communication model is shown in Figure 20.1 in the text. Its major components are: thesender of a message; encoding of the message into symbols for transmission; transmissionalong a channel; decoding by the receiver. Contextual factors affecting the process areshown on the model as: technology; organisational culture; organisational structure.

Question 3


Barriers associated with sender: message formulation, perceptions, encoding – see Table 20.2

Barriers associated with Channel and medium: noise (physical and psychological),inappropriate (to the message) media and/or channel – see Table 20.3

Barriers associated with receiver: perceptions, information overload – see Table 20.4

Question 4


Face-to-face Verbal CommunicationAdvantages: highest potential for information richness because non verbal signals carrysupplementary information that conveys meaning; instantaneous feedback is possible;emotions and subtle meanings such as honesty and integrity can be conveyed.

Disadvantages: effectiveness depends on communication styles of sender and receiver;because it is instantaneous, the message fades and it is difficult to convey very complexinformation; susceptible to distortion of message in chains of communicators e.g. the‘Chinese whisper effect’.

Written CommunicationAdvantages: gives a permanent record; allows complex information to be perused at somelength; allows information to be retained until needed.



Disadvantages: hard to convey emotions; requires a degree of literary skill on part of senderand receiver.

Question 5


The grapevine, which supplements the formal organisational system by:

• disseminating information that is not usually available through formal channels

• compensating for the impoverished nature of formal channels

• disseminating information that employees (rather than managers) want to receive.

In addition:

• it is usually much faster than formal channels and almost as accurate

• most employees regard it as a more reliable source of information than formal channels

• it gets to virtually everybody.

But managers:

• do not like it because it is not under their control

• regard it as a source of misleading rumours.



Supplementary Teaching Materials

Tutorial Questions

1. Define what is meant by the expression ‘information richness’ and state the factors thatinfluence the richness of a communication medium.

2. What is the importance of feedback in the communication process, and what are the

major types of feedback? 3. What are the major contextual factors that can affect the nature of communication in

organisations and in what ways is communication likely to be affected by these factors? 4. What distortions are likely in downwards communication in organisations and what

psychological reasons have been used to explain these distortions? 5. Explain why rumours can be a feature of informal communication networks in

organisations. 6. Explain what is meant by a person’s interpersonal communication style. 7. Name four interpersonal communication styles identified by Polsky (1971) and state the

effects that these have on the nature of interpersonal communication. 8. What is team briefing and what are said to be its advantages as a system of

communication in organisations? 9. Identify some of the difficulties with electronic communication that are starting to

appear in organisations and say whether, in your view, these difficulties are avoidable.

10. Define ‘technological determinism’ and explain how technologically determinist ideashave been used to produce arguments about the existence of the virtual organisation.

11. The virtual organisation is said to have a number of clearly identifiable characteristics.

What are these characteristics and what advantages are said to accrue from them?

12. What evidence is there for the widespread existence of the virtual organisation?



Answers to Tutorial Questions

QuestionNumber

Outline Answers Pages in Text

1 Definition: potential information carryingcapacity of medium. Factors: whethermultiple channels used, whetherchannel/medium permits rapid feedback,type of communication, variety ofinformation cues available.

616-617

2 Feedback enables sender to grasp receiver’sreaction to message and is thus an aid toensuring meaning has been conveyed.Types: direct and indirect.

618

3 See discussion in text 618-620 4 Sharpening and levelling of messages, which

have been explained by: personalexpectations, association with priormessages, condensation and closure.

627-629

5 See discussion in text 630-631 6 The way a person prefers to relate to other

people in interpersonal communication633

7 Styles: self-exposing, self-bargaining, self-protective, self-actualising

634-635

8 See discussion in text 636 9 See discussion in text 639-64110 See discussion in text 641-64211 Lean, flat structures; absence of hierarchy;

outsourced activities; teamworking; transientworkforce; use of ITCs. Advantages: abilityto compete; learns from environment; rapidreaction to environmental change; economyin use of resources; enthusiastic andcommitted workforce.

642-643

12 Virtually none. Indeed there are strongarguments given in the text why this type oforganisation is unlikely to exist in awidespread way.

643-646

Table IM20.2: Sources of Answers to Tutorial Questions



Supplementary Case Study

Case Study 20.3: Swallow Insurance Services

Swallow Insurance Services is a fast-growing insurance brokers that has quadrupled in size inthe last five years and has plans for significant future expansion. It deals with all types ofinsurance for both personal and property risk and caters for industrial, commercial anddomestic customers. Currently it employs approximately 1000 people; 100 at the head officein Croydon, just outside London, with the remainder in branch offices across the whole ofGreat Britain. It is structured into five regions, each with a small regional office of about 10staff and each region has up to 20 branch offices with about 12 staff in each one.

Because of new developments and modifications to existing products, insurance is afast-changing business. For this reason the company is aware of the need to foster a customerservice ethos in its staff, and to this end it pays great attention to employee-relations matters. Itis currently reviewing its communications policy, and wishes to ensure that all employees arekept up to date with information on matters that affect them. In addition, it is particularly keento encourage feedback from employees about conditions at the sharp end of operations,together with any information that they gather about customer needs. As a matter of policy ithas been decided that the following types of information should be disseminated:

• For all new employees full details of conditions of service.

• For everyone, full information on changes that are made from time to time, for example, toholiday entitlements.

• Job-related information such as new product developments, promotions within the company,new offices opened, and internal vacancies.

• Changes in organisational policy on such matters as health and safety.

• Company objectives, performance, and progress towards objectives.

TaskTaking into account the nature of the business and the company structure, design a scheme ofworkplace communication for the company. Be prepared to justify your design by stating:

1. what you feel to be the most appropriate ways for this information to be disseminated, givingreasons for your choice

2. how the company should go about putting its communications aims into practice.



Teaching Notes for Case Study 20.3: Swallow Insurance Services

Timing

This case is relatively short and it is unlikely to take students more than five minutes to readand digest its contents. Working in groups, a further 25 minutes should be sufficient forstudents to produce an outline design for a scheme of workplace communication.

Suggested Use of Case

The case gives students the opportunity to apply some of the matters covered in the chapter ina practical way. Therefore, its use should be deferred until the whole chapter has beencovered. While it is primarily intended for use in a classroom session, it could also form thebasis of a written assignment, or even an examination question if it is handed out in advancewith the questions removed.

Suggested Answers

Question 1

What has to be communicated is fairly clear and so answers should be couched in terms ofhow this could be done most effectively. There are a number of factors that are importanthere:1. The dispersed nature of employees means that communication is potentially difficult and

needs to be very carefully thought through.2. One thing working in the firm's favour is a structure with comparatively few levels of

management, which makes the situation fairly ideal for face-to-face briefing for some ofthe information. This could be done by regional managers being briefed at headquarters,branch managers briefed at regional level, and employees briefed in the branches; a fairlycost-effective scheme so long as the people concerned do it well.

3. Face-to-face methods also provide a ready forum for feedback of the information that topmanagement wishes to gather.

4. There is, however, information that needs to be communicated in writing; some of itbecause it is personal to individuals, and some because employees should ideally have apermanent record for future reference.

Overall the position could be summarised thus:

By personal letter: Individual conditions of employment

Written bulletins supplemented Changes to conditions ofby face-to-face briefings service.

New product developmentsInternal vacancies, promotions etc.Changes in working arrangementsPolicy changes

Annual report supplemented by Objectives and performanceface-to-face methods



Question 2

Implementation is really a matter of common sense, but a few important points should benoted.1. It is probably unsafe to assume that managers have the necessary skills to conduct team

briefings and so implementation should be delayed until they have been adequatelytrained.

2. Bulletins etc. will also need to be designed to be attractive and eye catching so that they

are read and not just dumped in the waste paper basket. 3. People who will produce bulletins on different matters need to be identified and instructed

that this is now part of their job. For example, some of the items such as internalvacancies, changes in working arrangements, changes to working conditions and changesin policy are matters that could be dealt with by the Personnel or Human ResourcesDepartment.

Supplementary Illustrative Material

Given below is an additional OB in Action feature to supplement those in Chapter 20. It isassociated with material on page 624 and 625 of the book and illustrates the idea that in aglobalised economy there is now a greater recognition of the importance of language skills tofacilitate effective communication. Together with brief notes, this material is also availableon the student Website. Thus it is not necessary to reproduce it; merely to draw theattention of students to its availability.

OB in Action: If You Want to Get Ahead Get a Language

A survey of members of the Institute of Management (the UK’s leading professional body formanagers) conducted for Professional Manager magazine in mid 1999 revealed a somewhatnonchalant attitude towards the acquisition of foreign language skills. While managersindicated that their companies engaged in extensive overseas trade, nearly 90 percent of thesample reported that English was the normal language used when conducting business withpeople from other countries. Nevertheless there was widespread support from respondents forthe idea that the capability to use local languages had tremendous advantages in terms ofbuilding relationships and the facility to engage in meaningful negotiation.

Another significant finding was that people such as receptionists, telephonists and salesand marketing staff, who tend to be on the front line in dealing with customers, were seldommultilingual and few firms provided training in foreign languages or cultural awareness.Moreover, 80 percent of the sample reported that their organisations did not recognisecompetence in a foreign language as a basis for rewarding people in terms of salary and feworganisations would be prepared to pay to send employees on courses to learn or improvetheir language skills.

Commenting on the gap between Great Britain and other countries in terms of foreignlanguage acquisition, Vandevelde (1999) notes that the growth of multinational companies,



who now account for one-third of the output of the developed world makes it imperative thatcompanies develop better capabilities for global communication. More significantly she notesthat in Great Britain, the inability to speak a foreign language(s) is now something that makesit harder for a young graduate to get a good job. Moreover, it is also starting to affect theprospects of people in mid-career and in future, having a foreign language could well be anessential investment for lifetime employability.

Sources: Vandevelde, H (1999) Linguistic ability holds the key to future job security,Profession Manager September; 6Charlesworth, K, N Ferguson, A Macdonald and S Mann (1999) UK Plc needsto learn the value of speaking customers’ language, Professional ManagerSeptember; 20-21



Assessment Materials

Assignment Question

In the last decade a number of influential writers have forecast the demise of the traditionalorganisation, together with the widespread emergence of the ‘virtual organisation’. What is avirtual organisation, what are its likely advantages and disadvantages and what evidence isthere that the above prognosis is likely to prove correct?

Examination Question

While the increased provision of information technology in organisations is resulting inpressures for a significant expansion of written communication, this could well result in adecline in the effectiveness of communication.

Discuss



Suggested Marking Framework for Assessment Materials

Assignment Question

This question requires three issues to be addressed: defining the virtual organisation, astatement of its advantages and disadvantages, evidence for its widespread existence. Theseshould respectively attract up to 15 percent, 25 percent and 60 percent of the total marks forthe assignment. Be prepared to award zero marks for any issue that is not addressed. Sincethis is an assignment and students will have time to research material for their answers (agreat deal of which is cited in the chapter), credit should be given if they do so.

There is no set definition of the virtual organisation given in the chapter and so it ispermissible for them to use a definition from one of the sources quoted, so long as they makereference to the validity of the definition somewhere in the essay.

The stated advantages of the virtual organisation are given in outline in the chapter, butonce again students should follow up the references cited. Bare pass answers to this issue willsimply regurgitate the material from the chapter. Better and good answers will note that theadvantages stated all accrue to the organisation. Some of these could actually bedisadvantages for people who work in organisations of this type, e.g. lack of security.

Arguments about the likelihood that the prognosis is correct are also given in the chapter.Bare pass answers will simply regurgitate what is said. Better and good answers will explorethe literature cited in further depth to develop their arguments.

Examination Question

This is a straightforward question, the answer to which can easily be culled from the materialin the chapter. Be prepared to fail answers that do not address the issue of whether an increasein the use of IT could result in lowered effectiveness of communication. Ideally, the answershould contain:• a definition of effective communication, e.g. the extent to which meaning (not just

information) is conveyed (15 per cent of the total mark)• the potential advantages of written communication using IT (15 per cent of the total mark)• the barriers to effective communication and whether or not these are more likely to be

prevalent in written communication (50 per cent of the total mark)• a well argued conclusion of some sort that comes down for or against the statement in the

question (20 per cent of the total mark)

Be prepared to award zero marks for any of these issues that is not addressed in the answer.



Multiple Choice Questions

NOTE: When using these questions, it is advisable to precede them with the generalinstructions given in the introduction to this manual.

1. Which one of the following is an essential for communication to occur?

a. feedback

b. information is conveyed from a sender to a receiver

c. sender and receiver both attribute a message with the same meaning

d. an exchange of information

2. Which of the following is an aspect of organisational functioning in which effectivecommunication can be crucial?

a. coordination

b. control

c. the effective use of human resources

d. all of the above

3. Encoding is:

a. the process of formulating an intended message into symbols so that it canbe conveyed along a channel

b. a pattern of thought, configuration of ideas or other response to internalconditions about which individuals express themselves

c. the process of creating meaning from received messages

d. none of the above

4. A channel of communication is:

a. the use of appropriate symbols to convey a message

b. the carrier of a message

c. interference that distorts a message


5. Which of the following is NOT described in your text as a contextual factor that canimpact on the effectiveness of communication?

a. organisational structure

b. organisational culture

c. technology

d. leadership



6. A barrier to effective communication that is associated with the sender of a messageis:

a. decoding

b. encoding

c. noise

d. information overload

7. A barrier to effective communication that is associated with the receiver of a messageis:

a. decoding

b. encoding

c. noise


8. A barrier to effective communication that is associated with the media and channel is:

a. decoding

b. encoding

c. noise


9. Which of the following is a reason given by Erez (1992) for systematic distortions ofmessages as they travel downwards through an organisational hierarchy?

a. sharpening of messages

b. levelling of messages

c. ‘a’ and ‘b’

d. neither ‘a’ nor ‘b’

10. Sharpening of messages occurs when:

a. there is selective omission of part of a message

b. people fill in gaps, or amplify certain points in a message

c. people only hear what they expect to hear

d. people exaggerate certain parts of a message

11. An example of formally sanctioned lateral communication in organisations is:

a. the grapevine

b. cross-functional liaison teams in a matrix structure

c. team briefing

d. a performance appraisal meeting between boss and subordinate



12. The grapevine is:

a. a faster means of conveying information than the formal communicationsystem

b. a slower means of conveying information than the formal communicationsystem

c. normally welcomed by managers

d. usually grossly inaccurate

13. A rumour is:

a. the same thing as the grapevine

b. secret information disseminated in a covert way

c. an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy

d. unverified information of uncertain origin

14. According to Zaremba (1988) a beneficial feature of the grapevine is:

a. it acts as a safety valve

b. it gives people a feeling of ‘being in the know’

c. it acts as a timely reminder to managers that they might need to be moreeffective in their own communication

d. all of the above

15. A interpersonal communication style in which the sender of a message encourages thereceiver to give feedback, but then gives little or no feedback in return is identified byPolsky (1971) as:

a. self-exposing

b. self-bargaining

c. self-protective

d. self-actualising

16. Which of the following is NOT one of the six cardinal principles on which teambriefing is based?

a. face-to-face communication

b. irregularity

c. small briefing teams

d. relevance of information

17. Written communication is usually the most effective form where:

a. there are large numbers of employees dispersed over several locations

b. accuracy and precise wording is vital

c. employees need to have an accurate record for future reference

d. all of the above



18. A phenomenon associated with the increased use of E-mail in organisations has beenidentified as:a. an improvement in people’s written communication skills

b. people feel close and more friendly towards each other

c. a higher degree of information overload


19. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the virtual organisation?

a. people work more efficiently because there are precise rules definingtheir tasks and how the tasks should be undertaken

b. lean, flat hierarchies that are stripped down to the bare essentials

c. tasks are undertaken by project teams that vary in size according to thenature of the task in hand

d. a high degree of outsourcing of work

19. Truly virtual organisations are:

a. rapidly replacing the more conventional form of organisation

b. extremely rare

c. only found in the voluntary sector

d. only found in service industries



Answers to Multiple Choice Questions

Question Number Answer Level of Difficulty Page Number

1 c Easy 612

2 d Easy 613

3 a Moderately Difficult 616

4 b Moderately Difficult 616

5 d Moderately Difficult 618-620

6 b Easy 621-622

7 a Easy 623-624

8 c Easy 622-623

9 c Moderately Difficult 628

10 d Moderately Difficult 628

11 b Easy 629-630


13 d Moderately Difficult 630-631

14 d Moderately Difficult 631

15 a Difficult 635

16 b Moderately Difficult 636

17 d Easy 637-638

18 c Moderately Difficult 640-641


20 b Difficult 644-646

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