Chapter 9
According to McShane and Von Glinow (2013), communication is the process through which information is shared and understood between two or more people. It supports organizational learning, work coordination, behavioral change, and employee well-being. It is effective when the message is effectively transmitted from the sender and understood by the receiver. There are two main channels of communication which are the verbal and non-verbal communication. There are other channels such as web-based means of communication thorough e-mails, face book and other platforms. The social media is comprised of these web based tools. The non-verbal communication strategies include voice intonation, facial gestures, silence and physical distance. The main difference between verbal and non-verbal communication is that the non-verbal communication is automatic, less rule bound and mostly non-conscious.
McShane and Von Glinow (2013) have it that the acceptance of a medium of communication is largely dependent on the social acceptance as well as the media richness. The social acceptance aspect has to do with the extent too which the medium is approved by the teams, organizations and individuals. Media richness, on the other hand, is the data carrying capacity of the medium. These two are very important in the communication process. Of course, there are various barriers to effective communication, which is also referred to as the noise. These barriers can be use of ambiguous phrases, jargon, as well as poor alignation of code-books due to the different languages. Another challenge can be the differences in gender where men and women communicate differently.
Though the barriers are present, there are ways through which the communication can be made successful. One of the aspects is through active listening where some skills can be employed. These include maintaining interest, looking for clarification, organizing the information, and avoidance of interruptions among others. At times, organizations use hierarchies in a bid to streamline their communication. These can include strategies such as internet-based communication, and other strategies through which management interacts with employees such as management by walking around (MBWA).
Chapter 14
McShane and Von Glinow (2013) have it that organizations differ in their cultural context. The differences come about due too the differences in the elements of culture which comprise of the values as well as the assumptions shared within the organization. The shared assumptions are defined as the non-conscious beliefs that are taken for granted. These might have worked so well for the organization in the past such that they are taken as the normal way in which the people in the organization think and act towards challenges and opportunities. The values, on the other hand, are the stable and evaluative beliefs that act as the guides in preferences for outcomes or manner of acting in different situations. The differences in these values make the differences in organizations.
The organizational cultures are important within the organization since they act as the social glue which keeps the members of the organization united. Due to the differences in organizational cultures, there are different strategies that can be adopted in merging of the organizational cultures. These include integration, assimilation, deculturation and separation. There is also the need to strengthen the organizational cultures this can be done through four main strategies which include aligning the artifacts with the desired culture, the actions of the founders and leaders, having culturally consistent rewards as well as attracting, recruiting and incorporating employees into the organization. According to McShane and Von Glinow 92013), the socialization process has to go through stage which include pre-employment, encounter, and the last stage which is the role management.
Chapter 15
This chapter opens with the description of the Lewin’s field analysis model which has it that all systems do have the driving as well as the restraining forces. It also has it that change occurs through the process of unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. Unfreezing is what creates the equilibrium between the driving and restraining forces while the refreezing process maps the organizational structures and systems to the desired behaviors.
The change process is not always a smooth one as people tend to resists the change. The main reasons as to why people tend to resists the change include fear of the unknown, breaking of routines, saving face, direct costs, incongruent organizational structures as well as incongruent teams. In other words, the people like sticking by what they are used to; their routine. The management can put in place some measures to make sure that the resistance to change is minimized. Some of these strategies include effective communication where the employees are informed of the changes which should be expected, learning where the employees are taught about the change and how to deal with it, as well as involving the employees in the change process so as to help them cope with the change. The use of trade-offs can be employed and in case of total resistance to change, the use of coercion can be employed. During the organizational change process, there is the need to have the vision bearers. These can be the visionary leaders who steer the organization through the process. They are supported by other individuals through the social process. There are some aspects employed in the organizational change process. The research is a fact-finding process which can help through the change while the appreciative inquiry looks at the positive behavior philosophy by helping the participants to focus on the positive behavior. Large group interventions involve huge numbers of people who need to be guided through the change process. These aspects combined with the cross cultural and ethical issues can help in bringing about the organizational change.
Article Review
Mina and Joy (2010) looked at the importance of teams and how they can be led through the change initiatives in the modern era. They argue that the team’s functional structure helps in defining a team’s identity. This effectiveness depends on the knowledge that the team possesses.
As such, it has to be noted that an effective team is the one which realigns its goals and objectives to the overall objectives of the organization. An evaluation model can be put in place to ensure that a team’s organizational objectives are complimentary. In order to attain these, the team management comes in as s strong figure in guiding the team through the objective setting process. This implies that communication must be enhanced amongst the team members and with the management. Leaders in the team can help in attaining this by encouraging the team members to communicate with the key stakeholders who are outside the team. Through such an act, the team can effectively deal with the issues within the team as well as the externalities which are beyond the team’s control.
The senior management of the team is also critical for the success as they can help in realigning the objectives of the team to the overall goals and objectives of the sponsors and other support organizations. All these need an effective model which can enhance the communication process.
References
Mina, G. & Joy, H. (2010). The Importance of Teams and How to Lead Teams Through Change Initiatives in 21st Century Organizations. The Business Review, Cambridge 16.1: 60-66. (Attached).
McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2013). Organizational Behavior (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
