Communication_Case

Question 1: Based on your reading, what are the key communication concepts evident in this case' Based on my reading, there are several communication barriers evident in this case. Following I will represent three of them. The first communication barrier is a gender stereotype, which is one of perceptual distortions. According to Schiffman (1990, cited in Campling, Poole, Wiesner, Ang, Chan, Tan & Schermerhorn, 2008), a stereotype occurs when people simply apply common characteristics of a group to a specific person. One example of a stereotype is the glass ceiling, which is an invisible barrier for women’s career (Still, 1992). It is caused because stereotypical people often recognize most women as less skilled and experienced in management compared to men. Another communication problem associated with the case is an ethnocentrism of valuing culture and gender diversity. It arises when people believe in their own group culture superiority, and measure others by their own ethnicity (Campling, et al., 2008). An ethnocentric individual will have problems with his communication style and behaviour. For instance, Shockley-Zalabak argues that men have different values and social behaviour styles from women (2009). As a result, male managers may behave improperly and treat female managers in a stereotypical way. Except for above barriers, poor communication channels are also indicated in this case. Campling et al. (2008) points out that a communication channel is an instrumentality through which a transmitter sends information to a receiver. Using of poor or wrong channel will lead to ineffective communication in organisations. For example, if a manager is reviewing his subordinator’s bad performance in front of other employees rather than in a private place, the subordinator may feel embarrassed. So he might not be willing to accept any positive criticism or any suggestions for his further improvement. Question 2: How do the specific communication issues outlined in the case study relate to the concepts you have identified above' In this case, Tom and Jim think that Ann has been promoted to the vice president of marketing because she is a woman. According to Brislin (2008), Powell and Graves (2003), people believe in that men have better talent and skills of management than women have. Here we could say that Tom and Jim have placed a gender label on Ann. They may think that their organisation is required to provide some female leadership positions by Organisation Practices. They may guess that their board of directors prefer some female leadership styles for some reasons. They might feel another more experienced male colleague instead of Ann should be promoted. However, based on Ann’s past working experience as a marketing manager, there is no doubt that Ann has developed excellent marketing and managing skills as well as great interrelationship skills with both her boss and her subordinates. Her past outstanding performance had made her well qualified for the position of the marketing vice president when the former vice president retired. It is indubitable that Tom and Jim have made an attribution error (Park, Choi, & Cho, 2006, cited in Brislin, 2008). They have attributed Ann’s promotion simply to her advantages as a woman and ignored her individual contribution. Therefore, a gender stereotype has been evident in this case. Another communication problem in this case is that George Miller was unwilling to criticize Ann because he didn’t know how to deal with a woman on his staff. As Jane White (1992) has observed that men feel uncomfortable in view of women in powerful or authoritative positions rather than those traditional women, George’s feeling about Ann is just one example of those female managers who are confronting enormous attitude problems from a male-dominated organisations. In addition, Sarros and Moors (2001) points out that male managers have different communication styles from the ways which female managers are using so that they may prefer a workplace surrounded by all male staff. In this case, George might have had never worked with any female employee at a top level management before Ann’s promotion. Maybe he thinks Ann, as a female vice president, is more sensitive, emotional, and not as open as man, etc. He may possibly find it is difficult to communicate with Ann effectively then he just tries to ignore her (Inkson & Kolb, 1998). The problem of communication between George and Ann happens because George considers his own male group culture as superiority. This is the exact embodiment of an ethnocentrism of gender diversity. In addition, when Ann was promoted to the vice president of marketing, the directing board of Drummond may not clearly informed its management team and well explained to them the reasons for Ann’s promotion. I guess this happens because the organisation maybe used an inappropriate communication channel to announce Ann’s promotion, i.e., a notice without details. According to Salmon and Joiner (2005), people don’t have opportunities to ask questions and get feedback if a communication channel is not effective. Thus it is easily for them to misunderstand a message without immediate feedback. In this case, Tom and Jim possibly have not got a chance to clarify the message for Ann’s promotion. Since they are stereotypical men, it is more likely for them to transmitter the information into their own understanding. That is one reason why they think Ann was promoted because she was a woman. So the poor communication channel in this case is a communication barrier as well. Question 3: If you were a manager, what would you do to improve the specific communication issues outlined in the case' You should propose at least three possible solutions. If I was a manager , I would not directly confront Tom, Jim and George because gender stereotype and ethnocentrism are impossible to be eliminated immediately (Clemmons, 1995). However, women executives will mostly fail to develop when their male-dominated environment does not accept them (Srivastva & Cooperrider, 1999). Thus it is critical for Ann to take corresponding actions without any delay. Firstly, since Jane White (1992) reports that sales performance is a great way to demonstrate one’s competency, Ann could set up a quarterly or yearly sales quota which is higher than previous sales records. Then lead her team to achieve it by developing new customers. This will prove that she was promoted because of her highly skilled capability. Secondly, to cope with the communication problem with George, Ann can improve her ability of getting feedbacks and accepting positive criticism. She also needs to advance her adaptability to George’s culture and expectations for her (Morrison, White, Velsor, & The Centre for Creative Leadership, 1992). These goals could be achieved by listening actively and giving constructive feedback during communication. Thirdly, because mentoring is a vital factor for female executives’ careers (Inkson & Kolb, 1998), Ann should develop her mentors gradually. She should communicate with George and other senior executives honestly and openly in a natural and genuine manner without insulting them (Elder, 1994). Taking outside activities with them may also help establish her mentoring effectively (Morrison, et al., 1992). Although Ann needs to take some actions, her organization also needs to improve its communication environment. For example, Drummond needs to set up multiple communication channels to ensure messages are understood clearly (Salmon & Joiner, 2005), such as a memo with a detailed video, a meeting which has opportunity for immediate feedback. Furthermore, Drummond also can introduce some training programs for the management team about how to deal with culture and gender diversity positively. However, people take long time to build trust and outstanding interrelationship (Brislin, 2008), it may need months even years for both Ann and Drummond to achieve their goals. References Brislin, R. (2008). 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(Writer) (2005). Toward an understanding communication channel preferences for the receipt of management information, Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge: Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge. Sarros, J. C., & Moors, R. J. (2001). Right from the top: Profiles in Australian leadership. Sydney, Australia: McGraw-Hill. Shockley-Zalabak, P. S. (2009). Fundamentals of organizational communication: knowledge, sensitivity, skills, values (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Srivastva, S., & Cooperrider, D. L. (1999). Appreciative management and leadership: The power of positive thought and action in organizations (Revised ed.). Euclid, Ohio: Williams Custom Publishing. Still, L. V. (1992). Breaking the glass ceiling: Another perspective. [Working Paper Series]. University of Western Sydney. White, J. (1992). A few good women: breaking the barriers to top management. NJ: Prentice Hall Professional Publishing.