Define and give examples of downwards, upwards and horizontal Essay

Define and give examples of downwards, upwards and horizontal organizational communication. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different forms of c - Essay Example Downward communication is the most studied form of communication in the business organization. As Downward communication is the most widespread form in organizations as those at the top have the facilities and status for instigating communication. They also have a greater require doing so and are definitely less inhibited about taking such action. at times written messages are issued by top executives to all levels of the organization. though this presents the kind of deformation that takes place when oral messages are sent down the line, employees are conditioned to believe that communications must come through their immediate supervisors. while they don't, employees quickly instigate to lose respect for the supervisors (Jeanette W. Gilsdorf; 1998). If you choose to communicate directly, there is the problem assuring that you do not alienate the layers between yourself and the person you are communicating with. You must also be careful of what you say so as not to countermand or cause confusion from what more immediate supervisors have said (Ferrell, March 10, 1998). Several writers, like Marshall McLuhan in The Medium Is the Massage, have explained how media influence the receiver's perceptions of the message. Douglas Brush asserts, "A ten-minute videotape of a chief executive officer announcing a new corporate policy imparts hundreds of times more information than an audiotape of that same message, which contains hundreds of times more information than a printed text of the message." (Brush, pp. 10-11). Downward communication moves from superior to subordinate, whether from the chairman to all employees of the company or from one superior to one subordinate. It is the main form of communication in corporations. More media carry more messages down the management chart than take them upward or horizontally combined. That is not to say that formal communications in the business organization are typically downward or even vertical. Most are horizontal. However most formal ones are downward, as one writer notes: "It is obvious that the bulk of communication in most organizations is downward--directing, instructing, explaining, and the like. The passing on of orders, policies, and plans is the backbone of managerial communication." (Jose R. Goris, Bobby C. Vaught, John D. Pettit Jr, 2000) Katz and Kahn list five purposes of downward communication: 1. Specific task directive: job instructions. 2. Information designed to produce understanding of the task and its relations to other organizational tasks: job rationale. 3. Information about organizational procedures and

The crisis of trust as a major issue in the relationship among Essay

The crisis of trust as a major issue in the relationship among business organizationsand their customers - Essay Example The lost of credibility is central in the crisis of trust. The crisis of trust can be understood from two major perspectives; First, business to business and second business to individual customers. A business organization is a customer to another business organization when one buys goods and services from the other. This could be in the form of buying raw materials from a business for the purpose of producing it to a finished products or when a business rent the equipments of another business in order to further its business operation. There is a business to an individual customer relationship when the individual buys goods and services from a business organization. Whichever way one chooses to look at the issue, crisis of trust can emanate if proper management techniques was not ensured. Few examples will help us to understand the point. To buttress the point more succinctly, Crisis of trust in Bank of America Corporation (BAC): Bank of America Corporation is the one of the largest financial institutions in America. It is a multinational bank with headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to the BMO capital market result, the bank is ranked as the highest financial institution in America by assets. ... This enviable record helped in no small measure in building the public trust which the bank has. Regrettably, in 2010, the bank was accused by the USA government for defrauding organizations and institutions especially schools, hospitals, and government institutions through investing the revenues from the municipal bond sales. The bank however agreed to have defrauded the institutions and accepted to pay damages at the tune of $137.7 million, including the payment of $25 million to the coffer of the Internal Revenue Service, as well as $4.5 million to the attorney general of the state. Hence, it was reported that the former Bank Executive of the famous Bank of America, Douglas Campbell pleaded guilty to the charges of distrust, wire transfer, and conspiracy to defraud the bank1 Because of this development, the famous bank started loosing customers; people started withdrawing their money because of distrust. Crisis of trust in the UK media: In the recent times, majority of the Europea ns are displeased with the manner in which the media reports issues. The media was alleged to hide certain information from the public. It was alleged that the media is more interested in getting story than telling the truth. This development has eroded the trust which people have on the media. The role of the media as a watchdog in the democratic process is no longer feasible, as some people argued. In the United Kingdom, people see the media from the point of carrying social stories rather than conveying the latest political development in the nation. Example, the tabloids are always inundated by stories about celebrities and campaigns, rather than reporting the latest political development in the country. This is certainly not healthy in a country