Question 1

Discuss the benefits and challenges of email use from an organizational perspective.

Accepted Answer

E-mail is a highly effective communication medium that is central to the way that organizations function, enabling virtual teams, working at home, and collaboration in many forms. Its benefits include knowledge sharing and communication networks. E-mail is a core communication technology for the creation, distribution, and application of knowledge in organizations. In a survey of e-mail users (Tassabehji and Vakola 2005), respondents commented that e-mail had improved teamwork and information flow and allowed information to be shared with multiple co-workers. They also found that the majority of respondents reported the net effect of e-mail is improved organizational communication. Similarly, its benefits include External communications and image. Prompt response to external e-mails and professional language are as important for maintaining external relationships as they are for intra-employee communication.
Because so much time is spent using email in an organization, it also presents challenges. These include
a. Individual e-mail efficiency - The time spent handling e-mail; time recovering from e-mail interruptions to work flow.
b. Individual e-mail pressure -- Anxiety caused by e-mail volumes; perceived need to respond to e-mails quickly.
c. Organizational e-mail effectiveness --Using e-mail to support effective decision-making and knowledge sharing; improving e-mail dependent business processes.
d. Organizational risk -- The risk of litigation resulting from unguarded comments made by an employee in an e-mail; regulatory action resulting from e-mail deletion.

Question 2

Identify three risks that the use of social media may create for organizations.

Accepted Answer

Risks that the use of social media may create for organizations fall into two categories: internal and external risk. Therefore, students may discuss three of the following:
Risks From Internal Communications
.Secrets are harder to protect. Know that material information about company plans and strategies will flow down through the organization faster. Be sure that key employees know just how slippery this slope is.
.Compensation isn't confidential any more. Assume that information about employee compensation will no longer stay with the employee. Disparities in pay, benefits, and work arrangements will be rapidly exposed and compared among employees.
.Strategic actions may be signaled in advance. If employees are asked to implement strategic actions, those strategies will be almost impossible to conceal from those outside the organization. Organizations will need to anticipate leaks and be prepared for quick action if and when they occur.
.Inconsistencies within an organization may be exposed. Different departments within organizations inevitably take different positions regarding customers, employees, and regulators. The blogosphere will quickly reveal these inconsistencies for all to see. When information is flowing more freely than ever before, managers will need to take steps to ensure that all company positions are in harmony.
Risks From External Communications
.Premature release of new product information. Employees commonly leak pictures or descriptions of a new product before its official release. Even a casual tweet revealing the location of a key employee can signal new product or business development activity before it is ready for public release.
.Exposure of company problems. Employee "venting" is ubiquitous on Facebook and Twitter. In some cases, that frustration is an indictment of the company's own products, services or, perhaps most commonly, management culture.
.Harassment. Social media almost immediately gave rise to claims of workplace harassment - a superior using Facebook or another medium to make unwanted advances.

Question 3

Discuss an organizational culture of which you have been a part. Explain the healthy and unhealthy aspects of the culture. How did these aspects affect the communication climate in the organization?

Accepted Answer

Student responses may mention the aspects of a healthy culture, which include listening well, respecting the validity of others' experience, feeling free to be assertive, having a clear sense of direction and control, getting good feedback about their performance, and feeling valued as intelligent human beings. They may also mention characteristics of an unhealthy culture, which include the following: authoritarian and detailed supervision; tasks characterized by restrictions on employees' abilities to use resources; work production systems that do not provide opportunities to contribute initiative, responsibility, or personal knowledge to the job; limited opportunities for employees to exercise influence in the planning and organizing of tasks; tasks that deprive the individual of the self-determination of work rate and methods for carrying out the work; and tasks that limit human contacts during work.
In discussing how these characteristics affect the communication climate of the organization, students might address either supportive or defensive communication characteristics. A defensive communication climate is characterized by evaluation, control, strategy, neutrality, superiority, and certainty, while a supportive communication climate can be described as problem oriented, descriptive, spontaneous, empathetic, provisional, and exhibiting equality.

Question 4

Managers should avoid the use of informal communication networks.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

Oral communication (compared to written communication) generally gives the sender more control over when and how the message will be received.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

Sales figures are low at one of a chain store's retail outlets. The best way to solve this problem would be to utilize

Accepted Answer

A)   Upward communication
B)   Downward communication
C)   Horizontal communication
D)   A combination of upward and downward communication

Question 7

The richest channel of communication is face-to-face or interpersonal communication.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

The culture of business can be characterized as typically having a bias towards action, a demand for confidence, and a results orientation.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

When selecting a channel of communication, you should consider all of the following, EXCEPT

Accepted Answer

A)   The delivery time required
B)   Cost
C)   The need for a record
D)   What is easiest for the sender

Question 10

Context refers to a system of shared meanings and practices held by members that distinguish the organization from other organizations.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

An unhealthy organizational culture is characterized by all of the following aspects, EXCEPT

Accepted Answer

A)   Work production systems that do not provide opportunities to contribute initiative, responsibility, or personal knowledge to the job
B)   Limited opportunities for employees to exercise influence in the planning and organizing of tasks
C)   Tasks that limit human contacts during work
D)   A willingness to investigate issues rather than taking sides

Question 12

Deleting or tampering with company email can be considered illegal under certain circumstances.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

A healthy organizational culture can be described as a place where authentic people, do all of the following, EXCEPT

Accepted Answer

A)   Listen well.
B)   Feel free to be assertive.
C)   Are limited in their opportunities to exercise influence in the planning and organizing of tasks.
D)   Have a clear sense of direction and control.

Question 14

Dimensions of context include all of the following, EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

A)   Social
B)   Horizontal
C)   Physical
D)   Chronological

Question 15

If a permanent record of the communication is required, the best channel to select is the written one.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

One of the leanest channels of communication is a printed form, such as a job application form.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

List the dimensions of context and briefly explain each.

Accepted Answer

The answer of List the dimensions of context and briefly...

Question 18

List the three types of flow of the formal communication network and briefly explain the "grapevine."

Accepted Answer

The answer of List the three types of flow of...

Question 19

Management makes improvements based on suggestions made by experienced
Workers in the dock area. This is an example of

Accepted Answer

A)   Downward communication
B)   Upward communication
C)   Horizontal communication
D)   Quality circles

Question 20

Which of the following best describes formal communication networks?

Accepted Answer

A)   Generally the quickest way to communicate in an organization
B)   Management's idea of who ought to communicate with whom on the job
C)   Cannot be depicted accurately by any graphic means
D)   Concerned exclusively with upward and downward communication

Exam 5: Steps Three and Four: Consider the Context and Select a Channel of Communication

Discuss the benefits and challenges of email use from an organizational perspective.

Identify three risks that the use of social media may create for organizations.

Discuss an organizational culture of which you have been a part. Explain the healthy and unhealthy aspects of the culture. How did these aspects affect the communication climate in the organization?

Managers should avoid the use of informal communication networks.

Oral communication (compared to written communication) generally gives the sender more control over when and how the message will be received.

Sales figures are low at one of a chain store's retail outlets. The best way to solve this problem would be to utilize

The richest channel of communication is face-to-face or interpersonal communication.

The culture of business can be characterized as typically having a bias towards action, a demand for confidence, and a results orientation.

When selecting a channel of communication, you should consider all of the following, EXCEPT

Context refers to a system of shared meanings and practices held by members that distinguish the organization from other organizations.

An unhealthy organizational culture is characterized by all of the following aspects, EXCEPT

Deleting or tampering with company email can be considered illegal under certain circumstances.

A healthy organizational culture can be described as a place where authentic people, do all of the following, EXCEPT

Dimensions of context include all of the following, EXCEPT:

If a permanent record of the communication is required, the best channel to select is the written one.

One of the leanest channels of communication is a printed form, such as a job application form.

List the dimensions of context and briefly explain each.

List the three types of flow of the formal communication network and briefly explain the "grapevine."

Management makes improvements based on suggestions made by experienced Workers in the dock area. This is an example of

Which of the following best describes formal communication networks?