DUW123

Organizational
Communication
Topics:
Organization, Organizational Culture,
organizational communication,
formal and informal communication
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Learning outcome
After completing the topics student
should be able to :
Understand and able to explain the
meaning of organization
Explain the meaning of communication
in organization
Describe the skills of communication in
organization

What is Organization
Two or more people get together and agree
to coordinate their activities in order to
achieve their common goals and objectives.
Responsibilities by means of which the
activities of the enterprise are dispersed
among the (managerial, supervisory, and
specialist) personnel employed in its service
formal interrelations established among the
personnel by virtue of such responsibilities

Types of organization
Two types of organization
Formal organization
refers to the planned structure of
jobs and positions with clearly
defined objectives and functions.
It is deliberately or consciously
created by top management for
the accomplishment of enterprise
objectives.
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 official relationships and

channels of communication.
Formal structure is governed
by established rules and
procedures.
Examples : Government
Agencies, UNIMAP, MAS, AIR
ASIA, PETRONAS, SHELL,
ExxonMobil and etc.
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Informal organization
Arises from the personal and social relations
of people.
not formally designed but develops
interactions between persons.
influenced by personal attitudes, like and
dislikes.
Informal relations cut across formal channels.
For example, a superior may take advice from
the sales manager instead of from the
production manager who is his boss.
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Organizational Culture
Auxillium West (2003) has defined
organizational culture as :
The moral, social and behavioral norms of
an organizational based on their beliefs,
attitudes and priorities of its members.
Department within companies can have
deference cultures.
Examp. = Department of HR vs
Department of treasury
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Case Study : First day on a new job

Verbal and nonverbal cues

The way people dress up
How hard they work
The way space is used
Technology
What type of language, terminology
Who talks with whom

Types of culture
Deal and kennedy (1984) have
identified 4 types of culture
1. Tough-Guy-Macho-Culture
Typical of high risk organization
Dealing with life and death
Examples: police Departments, construction
industry, security industry

2. Work-Hard-Play-Hard-Culture

Sales and on meeting customers needs

Examples : KFC, IBM, MAXIS
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3. Bet-Your-Company-Culture
high risk but slow feedback
Examples :

Boeing spends billions to develop a new aircraft

Big oil companies invest millions in exploration
before seeing their success or failure

4. Process Culture
- Low risk , slow feedback
- Focus on the processes of how things
get
done
- Examples : Governmental organization and
pharmaceutical industry
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Dimensions of Organizational
Culture
Sociability level of employees
involved with one another on a
personal
Power distribution and job
autonomy- degree of power
distance at different level, how much
freedom do employees have to make
decisions
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 Degree of structure policies and

procedures, job roles, area and
responsibility
Achievement reward- are
performances of employees
acknowledged and rewarded (money,
things or whatever)
Opportunities for growth does the
company encourage workers to develop
their skills time to time, attending
training annually, further study in order
to be more competent and professional
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 Tolerance for risk and change

Does management encourage
employees to take the opportunities
or profit concerned
Conflict tolerance the way of
management handling conflict in
organization, does company involve
employees in conflict resolution
Emotional support does
management show a genuine
interest in the well being of
employees.

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What is Communication????
Communication is defined as a
process by which we assign and
convey meaning in an attempt to
create shared understanding.
This process requires a vast repertoire
of skills in intrapersonal and
interpersonal processing, listening,
observing, speaking, questioning,
analysing, and evaluating.
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 Use of these processes is

developmental and transfers to all
areas of life: home, school,
community, work, and beyond.
through communication collaboration and cooperation occur.

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Model of Communication Process

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Definition of Organizational
Communication

Organizational communication is
the symbolic act through which
organizations adapt to, alter, or
maintain their environment for
the
purpose
of
achieving
organizational
goals
and
objectives (Kennan & Long,
2003)
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 adapt refers to the ways in

which organizations change or
configure themselves to meet
new contingencies in their
environments
alter is used to reflect the
impact that organizations exert
on their environments
maintain emphasizes the
relationships that organizations
must establish with their

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 Goldhaber 1990, was defined

organizational communication as
the flow of messages within a
network of interdependent
relationship

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Functions of Communication in
Organization
Conrad (1985), identified 3 functions
communication in organization
Command Function : allows members to
issue, receive, interpret. Outcome of the
command Function is coordination among the
many interdependent members in organization
Relational function: allows members to
create , and maintain productive business and
personal relationship
Ambiguity-management function -choices in
an organizational setting are often made in
highly ambiguous circumstances objectives
may not be clear.
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Organizational Interaction
Two kinds of interactions exist in
organization
Formal
systems designed by management to
dictate who should talk to whom to get a
job done
Informal
patterns of interaction based on
friendships, shared personal or career
interests
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VICE
CANSELLOR

FORMAL & INFORMAL

COMMUNICATION
FLOW

Deputy
VC

Head of
Department

Administrato
rs

Formal Network
Linkage
Informal Network
Linkage

Employee
s

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Formal Communication
Downward Communication
Upward communication
Horizontal communication

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Downward communication
Occurs whenever superiors initiate
message to their subordinates
Several types of downward
communication
Job instructions
when you restock the shelves, put the new
merchandise behind the old stock
Job rationale
we rotate the stock like that so the customers
wont wind up with stale merchandise
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Procedures and practices

dont try to argue with unhappy customers, if you
cant handle them yourself, call the manager
Feedback
messages that inform employees of their
performance in the organization
You are really hardworking, if you keep up the good
work, you will be promoted.
-Indoctrination
is the process of inculcating ideas, attitudes and
cognitive strategies
examp. People can buy the stuff we sell at other
places, but we can bring them in here by giving
them what they want quickly an pleasantly
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Potential benefits and

problems
Benefits
Prevention/correcti
on of employees
errors
Greater job
satisfaction
Improved Morale

Problems
Insufficient or
unclear messages
Message overload
Message distorted
as it passes
through one or
more

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Upward Communication
Messages flowing from subordinates
to superiors
Employees feel free to express their
ideas
four types of messages
What subordinates are doing
Unsolved work problems
Suggestions for improvement
How subordinates feel about the job
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Potential benefits and

problems
Benefits
Prevention of new
problems and
solution of old ones

Problems
Superiors may
discourage, disregard
, or downplay
importance of
subordinates
messages
Increased acceptance Supervisors may
of management
unfairly blame
decisions
subordinates for
unpleasant news
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Horizontal (lateral)
Communication
Messages between members of an
organizational with equal power
5 purposes
Task coordination
Problem solving
Sharing information
Conflict resolution
Building rapport
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Potential benefits and

problems
Benefits
Increased
cooperation among
employees with
different duties
Greater
understanding of
organizations
mission

Problems
Rivalry may occur
between employees
from different areas
Information overload
discourage contacts

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Informal communication

Arise because of personal interests.

Faster than formal
Informal communication can serve useful
functions
Confirming formal messages
The boss is really serious this time about
cutting down on overnight travel. I heard
him yelling about it when I walked past his
office
Expanding on formal messages
The invitation to the office party says
casual dress but dont make it too informal
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 Expediting official messages

You might learn about openings
within an organization from
people in your network before
the vacancies are published
Contradicting official messages
You might learn from a friend in
accounting that deadline for
purchases on this years budget
isnt as firm as it sounded in the
recent memo
Circumventing formal channels

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Grapevine
"the informal transmission of information,
gossip or rumor from person to person
The grapevine is the informal and
unsanctioned information network within
every organization
The network helps employees make sense
of the world around them and
consequently provides a release from
emotional stress and all informal
information is undocumented
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 informal passing of information

through the organization
normal work situation, upwards of
80% of the information that comes
over the grapevine is accurate.

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Factors Affecting Grapevine's

operation
1. The greater the homogeneity of the organization,
the better the grapevine will operate
2. Sometimes rumor are optimal
3. Rumors prosper best where formal
communication is poor
4. People perform best in informal social contacts
but can operate as effectively as a sideline to
official meetings
5. people start and spread rumors to enhance their
status, fill gaps in social conversations, and avoid
suspense over suspected events
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Advantages of Grapevine Communication

1. Grapevine channels carry

information rapidly. As soon as an
employee gets to know some
confidential information, he/she
becomes inquisitive and passes the
details then to his/her closest friend
who in turn passes it to other. Thus,
it spreads hastily.
2. The managers get to know the
reactions of their subordinates on

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3. The grapevine creates a sense of

unity among the employees who
share and discuss their views with
each other. Thus, grapevine helps
in developing group cohesiveness.
4. The grapevine serves as an
emotional supportive value.
5. The grapevine is a supplement in
those cases where formal
communication does not work.
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Disadvantages of Grapevine
Communication
1. The grapevine carries partial
information at times as it is more
based on rumours. Thus, it does not
clearly depicts the complete state of
affairs.
2. The grapevine is not trustworthy
always as it does not follows official
path of communication and is
spread more by gossips and
unconfirmed report.

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3. The productivity of employees

may be hampered as they spend
more time talking rather than
working.
4. The grapevine leads to making
hostility against the executives.
5. The grapevine may hamper the
goodwill of the organization as it
may carry false negative
information about the high level
people of the organization.
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Types of Communication in
Organization
Interpersonal communication
As the process through which people create and
manage their relationship, exercising mutual
responsibility in creating meaning.

Small group communication

the communication that is carried out within a small
group.
A small group is generally defined as a group that
consists of at least three members and at the
maximum around twelve to fifteen members.
A group that has just two members or more than
fifteen members would not come in the category of a
small group.
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 Public communication
Public speaking
Size more than 18 or 20
peoples
It occurs at public places
Intercultural communication
Communication between
members of different cultures
(racial, ethnic)
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