Exam 11: Managers and Communication

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Communication Barriers-The Sword and the Millstone (Scenario) Sandra Millstone, the CEO of Excalibur Manufacturing Company, concluded that the company would have to reduce its workforce by 10 percent at the end of the month due to declining demand for their products. She spent several hours preparing charts, tables, graphs, diagrams, and other visual aids for a presentation to the employees about the upcoming layoffs. Although the company's situation was uncertain, Sandra intended to tell the employees that the layoffs were a short-term measure and that the long-term prospects for the company were very favorable. Sandra hoped that the optimistic tone of the presentation would help employees understand the reasons for her decision and feel better about the layoff situation. -At one point in the presentation, Sandra said, "These layoffs will result in improved capacity utilization, higher productivity ratios, and improved profit margins that will yield the best ROI in the industry." Several employees looked puzzled, and Sandra realized that her use of specialized business terminology had become a communication barrier known as __________.

Alex has just been informed that he has received a long-awaited job promotion. He is very happy and excited. Which of the following will most likely affect his communications for the rest of the day?

Organizational communications in the office of tomorrow will rely heavily on social networks and text messaging.

__________ communication can be beneficial when there is an interest in efficiency and speed of communication between managers at different levels and in different departments.

The vertical and horizontal flows of organizational communication can be combined into a variety of patterns called communication __________.

Laura sent a text message to Betty telling her that she would come by to pick her up after work so they could go shopping. Betty, however, made other plans for the evening thinking Laura was talking about going shopping the next day. Which of the following best explains what went wrong with the communication?

Listening is an active search for meaning, whereas __________ is passive.

Alec is hired as a senior analyst at Tech Research Institute and is assigned to a project with four other researchers. He soon realizes that two of his teammates do not see eye to eye on many issues. Far from being solved, the situation escalates over the next couple of months. This bothers Alec a great deal because he is expected to coordinate his work with them. He decides to speak to his manager about the problem and seek his advice. In this example, communication is being used ________.

Computer programmers have developed their own __________, or technical language that others may not not understand.

describe the seven elements of the communication process and explain the process of interpersonal communication.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. "Flo" of Communication (Scenario) Recently the employees of Chatterbox Enterprises, Inc. received a letter from the vice-president of operations explaining that a new production facility would be built in Chatland, Ontario. It was also stated that about one-fourth of the employees from the current Chatland facility would be transferred to the new facility, and if an employee wanted to volunteer for the transfer, they could do so by applying at the human resources office. Sam, a production supervisor, first went to Florence, a purchasing manager who had already volunteered to transfer, to discuss the possibility of becoming her inventory control supervisor at the new facility. Florence told Sam that Ruth, the current inventory control supervisor, would not be transferring and that she would consider his request. -The letter from the vice-president to the employees is an example of which type of organizational communication?

Active listening is enhanced by developing __________ with the sender.

When a person tells his or her manager what the manager wants to hear, that individual is using which barrier to effective interpersonal communication?

____________ allow instant sharing of information among people with related interests.

Communication acts to control member behaviour in organizations.

How office workspace is designed and configured can influence _________.

Filtering is the manipulation of information to make it appear more favourable to the receiver.

Grammar mistakes in written communication are an example of noise.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Communication Barriers-The Sword and the Millstone (Scenario) Sandra Millstone, the CEO of Excalibur Manufacturing Company, concluded that the company would have to reduce its workforce by 10 percent at the end of the month due to declining demand for their products. She spent several hours preparing charts, tables, graphs, diagrams, and other visual aids for a presentation to the employees about the upcoming layoffs. Although the company's situation was uncertain, Sandra intended to tell the employees that the layoffs were a short-term measure and that the long-term prospects for the company were very favorable. Sandra hoped that the optimistic tone of the presentation would help employees understand the reasons for her decision and feel better about the layoff situation. -As the employees began to leave the meeting room, some were overheard complaining about the fact that no managers were being laid off and questioning why it was always the workers who had to bear the impact of poor management decisions. Some were even more sarcastic, like one employee who stated that it didn't make any difference to Sandra if employees lost their jobs and that if the company wanted loyalty, it should hire a dog. These statements are probably the result of which barrier to effective communication?

When the information we have to work with exceeds our processing capacity, the result is __________.