Communication Strategies - Annotated Bibliography Example

Communication Strategies Rubin, R. B., Rubin, A. M., Piele, L. J., & Haridakis, P. M. (2010). Communication research: Strategies and sources. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. The paper examines the perceptions of employees in large organization towards the top- down flow of information. Further it studies the preferences of the employees with regard to communication and the relationship between those perceptions and their willingness to advocate for the organization. This it does, by first reviewing past data and literature on the same subject. Past studies in the same discipline have approached it from a boundary-spanning perspective where the focus is mainly on an individual practitioner’s relationship with other strategic individuals in the external environment. These studies had, however, overlooked personal influence which is equally important for internal communication. This is a gap that the paper aims to bridge whereby the employees are the strategically targeted public (Rubin, 2010). The results presented in the paper suggest that the personal influence of the CEO and top managers has an effect on information satisfaction. This further has a direct influence on how employees market and speak about the organization to external stakeholders. The paper posits that the employees at all levels who have a relationship with the top managers are more satisfied with the information they receive and by extension feel a greater responsibility to sell the organization to external stakeholders. The channel of conveyance as well as the direction dimension of internal communication is of paramount importance in any organization. For example, many employees prefer face-to-face interaction as compared to say email communications. It is also surprising that meetings are greatly valued as communication channels, the time they consume notwithstanding. The use of electronic communication was also welcome among many organizations for its importance in flattening the traditional, hierarchical communication structures. Moreover, it also gives employees the sense of hearing things first-hand, from the top. Overall, the paper advocates for the incorporation of personal influence in devising organizational and communication strategies. 2. Mariani, L. (2010). Communication strategies: Learning and teaching how to manage oral interaction. Italy: Learning Paths. The writer analyzes the different ways of improving employee engagement and alignment in the modern’s flatter, more networked organizations. Over the recent past, the command and control approach to management has lost its viability gradually. The emergence of new technologies coupled with globalization has greatly reduced the efficacy of directive top-down leadership models. Amidst these new changes in the approach towards leadership, a new form of communication strategy needs to stand up to take the vacant position. The paper seeks to provide this alternative to communication in these changing times. Importantly, the process has to be conversational and all-encompassing. Employees and employers alike have all voiced their interest in advancing the conversation towards a state of organizational conversation. It has been found that smart leaders prefer to engage with their employees in a face-to-face style as opposed to using a series of commands. To start with, the research focuses on the aspect of intimacy, getting close, in achieving this state. The sustenance of personal conversation depends on the ability of the parties to stay close, both figuratively and literally (Mariani, 2010). Where conversational intimacy prevails, decision makers seek and earn the trust of their subordinates. Another important aspect is the practice of gaining trust. No employee will dive into a heartfelt exchange of views with a hostile person or one who seems to have a hidden agenda. Listening, and not just hearing, is one of the most important aspects of achieving conversational intimacy. Managers who listen to their employees can be guaranteed of receiving information from their juniors. One must know when to stop talking and start listening. The last aspect should be getting personal with the employees. Managers should allow their employees to analyze and grade their performance and work towards bettering their relationship. Only then can conversational intimacy be achieved. 3. Hülsmann, M., & Pfeffermann, N. (2011). Strategies and communications for innovations: An integrative management view for companies and networks. Berlin: Springer. The paper analyzes the process and procedure of developing an effective a team’s communication strategy in the context of a corporate organization. Too much communication about the wrong things is just as problematic as too little communication about important things. In doing so, the manager should start by looking at the different kinds of work that the team will be doing. Work that requires individual interaction should be identified as well as work that requires team work. The pattern of the jobs should then be analyzed to verify whether they are routine, repetitive, changing, or they are changing with time. The paper proposes a work matrix that captures all the kind of works in four quadrants. In the first quadrant, workers work autonomously such that very little cross-team communications. The communication should be minimal, local, and compliance-oriented and in some cases automated. The second communication norm is where team members need to provide enough information to each other about areas where their routine work is interdependent to enable them to coordinate (Hülsmann, 2011). Here, the communication should be standard, organized and easy. The team needs to develop a strategy that manages and coordinates each of the two communications. Further, the paper proposes a third communication norm that is emerging and at the same time autonomous. Employees should be able to identify changes in the work they have been doing and communicate the same. Lastly is the emerging and interdependent type of communication. In this scenario, workers can work together to develop communications strategies that are beneficial to the organization. All these four communication norms should be integrated in coming up with an effective communications strategy. The team leader’s role changes and shifts as different workers work in different quadrants in the matrix. 2. Questionnaire I am a finalist student and is required to undertake an academic research on the perceptions of employees on communication strategies in a blue-chip organization. You have been selected as an important stakeholder to provide information which will be used solely for academic purposes and treated with utmost confidentiality. Your feedback will be extremely appreciated. Thank you! PART I Name:…………………………………………………………….. Gender: MALE [ ] FEMALE[ ]Contact:……………………………. Education level: ………………………………….. (primary, secondary, tertiary) Position in the company:…………………………….. Place of residence:…………………………………………. Age group: 16-25 [ ] 26-35 [ ] 36-45 [ ] 46-55 [ ] 56-65 [ ] PART II (tick as appropriate) 1) Do you like your current organizational communication strategy? YES [ ] NO [ ] 2) What is your preferred method of communication? ………………………………………....... ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3) Given a chance, would you change the company’s communication strategy? YES [ ] NO [ Why? ……………………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4) Do you like being commanded? YES [ ] NO [ 5) Based on your understanding, who is supposed to implement the communication strategy? ………………………………………………………. 6) Of what help do you think a communication strategy is? Highly helpful [ ] Helpful [ ] Neutral [ ] Little helpful [ ] Not helpful [ ] 7) Do you think personal influence is important in influencing communication strategy? Highly helpful [ ] Helpful [ ] Neutral [ ] Little helpful [ ] Not helpful [ ] Thank you for your time! 3. Methodology The study is mainly descriptive in nature and as thus aims to employ research surveys and both qualitatitive and quantitative designs to achieve its objectives. The sample size will consist of 35 employees and 10 managers that will be chosen at random from the records at the human resource registry. The methods of data collection will be confined to interviews, questionnaires and review of publications and journals relevant to the study. Questionnaires will also be useful in acquiring relevant data from the employees. The questionnaire will use open questions coupled with closed ones thus ensuring only data that is relevant to the study is sourced. The study aims to validate the data collected from the field and/or literature reviews by conducting a number of tests. The reliability of the methods of data collection will be ascertained beforehand e.g. through pretesting of questionnaires. Data will also be fine-tuned to match with the reality on the ground as recorded through personal observation. This will help in identifying misleading and untruthful information from the respondents. To ensure reliability, the same methods of data collection are applied to all the correspondents. In this study, ethical consideration issues have been considered in advance to ensure that the well being of the community in which the study is being done is not compromised. The researcher will seek the manager’s permission before interviewing any employee or manager. The confidentiality of the information sourced from the respondents will be maintained as the data will only be used within the realms of academic research. Hostile and non cooperative respondents will not be coerced into giving information that they are not willing to or be forced into explaining certain points. References Rubin, R. B., Rubin, A. M., Piele, L. J., & Haridakis, P. M. (2010). Communication research: Strategies and sources. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Hülsmann, M., & Pfeffermann, N. (2011). Strategies and communications for innovations: An integrative management view for companies and networks. Berlin: Springer. Mariani, L. (2010). Communication strategies: Learning and teaching how to manage oral interaction. Italy: Learning Paths. Read More