ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Organizational Communication

Organizational Communication

Introduction

The word communication is taken from the word communicate which is also taken from the word commune. The utterance commune means to share ideas? feelings. Effective business communication is the main life force of all organizations. It has been said that communication is the backbone of business? and those who possess such an ability to communicate effectively are those most likely to succeed in competitive business environments.

Communication is the process of moving and afterward understanding meaning. Efficient communication exhibits properties which decrease conflicts? augment efficiency as well as allow firms to operate in a more coherent fashion which is evident in best companies of the world.

Discussion

It is evident that communication is fundamental in connection with any process in an organization. Any kind of change within an organization is usually followed by a deep resistance by leadership as it is perceived as something inherently new and undefined. Resistance and barriers to change is one of the most difficult aspects of dealing with reform in a business.

As for NASA? during Werner Von Braun's tenure at the helm? there was much strength in this company's organizational communication structure. A more than adequate system of communication was established and overseen by Von Braun that centered upon the theory of upward communication (Allen & Hauptman 1987). This theory was designed around the principle? that workers closest to the problem had a large 'hand in' the decision making. The term? penetration? was key for this organizations checks and balances. It established extensive contact between contractors and NASA officials at the Marshall Space Flight Center (Daft & Lengel 1984).

This was a two-way direct form of communication where feedback was present in both parties. The high level of redundancy in this organization can be attributed to the success of the Monday Notes in the communication process. NASA's lateral function kept different labs up to date upon each other? and its workers possessed a 'willingness to serve?' a principle where workers had the necessary skills and training to perform their jobs. Believe it or not? the Army? as strong as it may appear? (Daft & Lengel 1984) it contains several weaknesses to coincide with its strengths.

This can be attributed to the Army's system of downward communication. This system is based upon the giving and taking of orders? with an understanding that no questions shall be asked of authority. The lack of checks and balances in the Army leads to enormous amounts of discretion held by any officer with a considerable amount of power and prestige. This can sometimes lead to hostility and moral masochism? the act of abuse and overextension of power towards subordinates. The key essentials in the communication process include a source? receiver? and a communication channel (Broom & Dozier 1990).

The source encodes an anticipated meaning into a message and the receiver decodes the message into a alleged meaning in which it may or may not give feedback to the source. The communication channel is the way through which ...