A Case Study of Workplace Communication Problem:

"Strategies for Implementation"

A Take-Home Midterm Course Work in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

of
Business Communications for Accountancy

Submitted by:

Chua, Tyron Jasper L.

Go, Sharlynne Michelle C.
Manotok, Evangeline Kizza Marie T.
Sia, Irene Nicole B.
Section BSA C34
Submitted to:

Cecilia Paragas Almazar

Lecturer
Department of English and Applied Linguistics (DEAL)
 Table of Contents

I. Background of the Study 2

II. Statement of the Problem 3
III. Scope and Delimitation 4
IV. Strategies for Organizational Culture 5
A. Reinforcing Commitment to the Organization (Commitment) 5
B. Recognition of Good Work Performance (Celebratory) 7
C. The Span of Control Optimization and Peer To Peer Recognition
(Co-directional) 8
D. Application of Consideration in the Workplace (Consideration) 10
V. Recommended Strategy for Implementation 12
VI. Conclusion 12

Bibliography 14

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I. Background of the Study

Organizational culture has always been important but is only being given proper
recognition in the past decade. In the paper of Odiakaose (2018), organizational culture,
to a large extent, is a determinant of the performance of the organization. As Odiakaose
(2018) has cited: “organizational culture is the most important variable that influences
organizational performance (Ahmed, Shafiq, 2014).”

Organizational culture is seen to be collective participation between employees that

have a direct correlation with their work attitude and behavior, which then influences the
economic performance of the organization (Oweyemi and Ekwoaba as cited by
Odiakaose, 2018). Depending on how organizational culture is shaped through its
tangible and intangible aspects, it could either motivate or demoralize employees,
affecting employee engagement.

Employee engagement is the level of the investment of a worker to the company. The
more passionate, committed and loyal they are, the better their work performance will
be (Kappel, 2018). When compounded, individual employee engagement becomes an
aggregate organizational performance.

Strong culture, when properly employed in organizations, strengthens the esteem and
commitment of each employee. On the other hand, a weak culture hinders unity among
employees and improvement in work ethics. (Odiakaose, 2018). Albeit, the strength of
the culture is not the main factor that affects employee engagement. Culture must also
be built based on strategies, which are derivatives of experience, that can respond with
the dynamic environment a company is associated with the success of organizational
performance. (Kotter and Heskett, 2011 as cited by Odiakaose, 2018).

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Through external adaptation, the organization develops cultural components such as
values, artifacts, symbols, and assumptions, and integrate these in internal affairs. It is
crucial to establish a strong culture by considering the nature of employees and the
industry of an organization in the development of the cultural components of the
company.

In doing so, the culture established, which positively correlates to employee

engagement, is more likely to bring about effective results to the organization
(Odiakaose, 2018).

II. Statement of the Problem

Organization culture has a strong correlation to its influence on employees and the work
culture of employees. For instance, due to the collective nature of the culture, an
excessively strong culture may have too much influence over employees which may
suppress individuality and may lead to a superfluous amount of unhealthy
competitiveness among employees. The lack of individuality would restrict creativity and
the diversity of ideas in the organization. The unhealthy competitive mentality would
lead to office politics and the condescension and belittling of one another. This would
also stifle collaboration and would lead to the absence of a collective support system for
the organization. This type of environment promotes the crab mentality in which
members would try to reduce the success of other members instead of supporting one
another.

On the other hand, employees of a weak culture are more likely to assume apathy to
their work and would, therefore, lack motivation and drive to complete the goals and

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objectives of the organization. A weak culture led by autocratic leaders would lead to
employees to work based on fear of punishment and the consequences of their
inactivity. This work ethic would lead employees to only work the bare minimum to avoid
the aforementioned consequences.

This paper seeks to identify the strategies that could improve and maximize employee
engagement and efficiency in an organization. Strategies that will be associated with
communication in organizational culture will then be discussed. These strategies are to
be implemented to the corporate culture of organizations and are expected to influence
employee engagement. Hence, this improvement to employee engagement will create a
positive outcome for organizational performance as a result of the causal relationship
between organizational culture to employee engagement and organizational
performance.

III. Scope and Delimitation

This paper will focus on identifying communication strategies that would address an
organization’s lack of employee engagement. The proposed courses of action would
revolve around the model of organizational culture as depicted by Odiakaose on her
paper Organizational Culture and Dynamics.

The paper will concentrate on the communication aspect of the organizational culture
such as commitment, celebratory, co-direction, and consideration; and, will not mention
the other aspects of the organization such as logistics, operations, and public relations.
The paper will also focus on the employees’ work and engagement and their
relationship with their immediate management head.

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IV. Strategies for Organizational Culture

A. Reinforcing Commitment to the Organization (Commitment)

A lack of influence among the members of an organization may lead to a weak
organizational culture. A reason behind a weak culture may be from a distortion in the
communication of its members, particularly organizational commitment. The concept of
organizational commitment is an important factor in creating effective communication in
the workplace (Postmes, & Martin & Boudewijn, 2001). Organizational commitment is
defined as a force that drives an employee to achieve the purposes of their
organization. It is acquired by having and maintaining an interest in the professional
relationship between the firm and the employee (Tharikh, Ying, & Saad, as cited by
Aranki, Suifan & Sweis, 2019).

Reinforcing organizational commitment requires an understanding of the 3 dimensions

of organizational commitment, as stated by Aranki, Suifan & Sweis (2019), which are:
(1) continuance, which is the involvement of commitment and the contrasting costs in
leaving the organization (2) affective, which refers to the emotional commitment
between the employee and the organization, and (3) normative commitment, which
refers to the obligational feelings of an employee to their organization.

The existence of a strong organizational commitment through its employees is important

because it leads to various beneficial outcomes. When it is formed among the
employees of the organization, these individuals tend to acquire an increase in
workplace performance, physical endurance, loyalty, and productivity. Ultimately,
reinforcing organizational commitment is relatively important to various organizations as
the aforementioned qualities are correlated to increasing the profitability of the

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organization, which is an integral part in achieving its goals (Joseph & Francis as cited
by Aranki, Suifan & Sweis, 2019).

A notable example of good organizational commitment is the search engine technology

and development company known as Google. With respect to the three types of
commitments, generally speaking, there is continuance commitment at Google because
among the top tech companies tracked by Wired Magazine, by analyzing SEC Files, it
was revealed that the company has the highest paying median pay of $246,804
compared to Facebook and Twitter which has a median pay of $228,651 and $172,783
respectively, as of 2018 (Thurm, 2019). With the given data, it may be implied that the
reason why Google is retaining its employees is because of the monetary benefits it
offers. The employees may see the company as a reasonable employer, enhancing
their commitment to the organization.

Google exhibits affective commitment by improving work culture through collecting and
interpreting data. The company collects, processes, and evaluates data provided by its
employees to acquire insights on what areas need to be improved and restructured with
regards to the organization. Which, as Meek (2015) states, develops the emotional
commitment of the employees resulting in their sense of workplace freedom, a working
environment, and the creation of more meaningful work instead of focusing on monetary
benefits alone. Google takes care of its employees by giving them a purpose and
identity. A practical example was stated by Tran (2017), which gives light to the fact that
no two offices are alike, as it makes employees feel like a workplace, instead of a space
for critical and creative thinking. Considerations such as these facilitate the emotional
connection between the employees and the management, therefore having affective
commitment.

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As for normative commitment, Google recognizes that mistakes are a part of
productivity. The company’s culture is to understand failure as a means of creating
breakthroughs in the workplace. Tran (2015) states that at Google, experimentation was
encouraged. The management of Google invests in internship programs that accept the
brightest students from the best colleges globally to experience working at the
company. Normative commitment is shown in this situation as it depicts the investment
of the management to both employees and interns in pursuing the company’s objectives
together. Which, in conclusion, increases their desire to be involved in the company
rather than leaving for a different organization.

B. Recognition of Good Work Performance (Celebratory)

A weak organizational culture commonly has a fragile influence over employees. The
employees would tend to lack motivation and interest in their work; thus, producing
lackluster output (Deci & Ryan, 2008, as cited by Idowu, 2017 ). This lack of incentive
would also lead to the dissatisfaction of employees and subpar employee engagement.

A great strategy to improve satisfaction and increase engagement is recognizing and

rewarding good performance. According to Idowu, fair treatment, together with effective
communication and collaboration, can be achieved through performance appraisal
(2017). Celebrating good work not only gives fair treatment to those who worked hard;
but, it would also give other employees further encouragement and cause to do well.
Since recognizing good performance acknowledges hard work and effort, it promotes a
good work ethic and habit that strengthens weak organizational culture. Celebratory
acts also create positive relations between management and employees, leading to
better collaboration and communication in the organization. (Idowu, 2017).

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Employees with motivation and interest in their work tend to be more satisfied with their
occupations. These workers also tend to be more competent and place more effort in
their work leading to a higher performance level. A higher performance level will lead to
the maximization of the efficiency of the organization.

Southwest Airlines is a company known to have celebratory practices for employee

recognition. They have two main employee recognition programs: Southwest Airlines
Gratitude (SWAG) and Kick Tail. The SWAG is a point reward system where employees
can earn points through remarkable work performance and can redeem these points
through shopping sprees, flight tickets, and flight privileges. Kick Tail, on the other hand,
is a rapid reward for when the airline achieves company goals and furthers the vision
and mission of the company. Employees who had a great contribution to these awards
would not only get recognition from co-workers and management but they would also
have surprise parties and cash gifts given to them. Employees are said to enjoy and
love the programs. Their positive response has made the programs huge successes.
The programs do not only improve employee satisfaction but also help employees focus
their efforts in the same direction of achieving company goals. It also helped improve
employee performance, allowing for the company to be more efficient and move more
quickly (Myers, 2017).

C. The Span of Control Optimization and Peer To Peer Recognition (Co-directional)

Companies require execution of strong culture to make the operational process much
efficient, this is especially important to organizations that thrive in hyper-competitive

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environments such as those in the financial services industry. In this nature, it is crucial
to make manager-subordinate communication systems efficient. To illustrate this, 53%
of the employees who belong to the financial services industry are dissatisfied with their
direct supervisors primarily because of poor communication, lack of support, and lack of
personal development (TINYpulse, 2014).

Based on this study, organizational structure modification is seen to be a suitable

solution to this co-directional communication concern. Organizational structure has six
basic elements, one of which is the span of control. It refers to the capacity of a
manager, or the number of subordinates a manager is capable of handling. The span of
control must be minimized to promote support and personal development from the
manager to the subordinates. This also increases team interaction and boosts proper
mentorship to the employees. In return, subordinates will be more comfortable in
communicating in an upward direction. Commonly, the optimal span of control is eight;
but it differs from company to company depending on the nature of subordinates, nature
of managers, and context of the organization (Morrison, 2013).

Besides fostering vertical communication, this strategy also enhances horizontal

communication within each unit of the organization. Through this, peer and managerial
assessment would also be more accurate and well-communicated. Managers are not
the only ones responsible for providing feedback, subordinates and their colleagues
must also contribute to the assessment of each member. Peer to peer recognition tools
could aid in this objective, enabling transparency and an open-culture to improve overall
performance.

This span of the control optimization process and the peer to peer recognition is best
implemented by a world-renowned company and the largest fast-food chain in the

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world, McDonald's (Palmer, 2019). This company has a narrow span of control, which
results in close management supervision (UK Essays, 2018). Besides facilitating
manager-subordinate relationships, horizontal communication is also augmented with
peer to peer recognition tools, which is considered as the best employee recognition
tool used by McDonald's because it was able to turn staff to managers within a few
years. It is effectively turning the workforce of McDonald's into a pool of potential
organizational leaders (Waijango, 2012 as cited by Vinay, 2019).

D. Application of Consideration in the Workplace (Consideration)

Having a strong organizational culture is living by the core values. These core values
are defined by the culture of the people who are in the internal area of the business.
Also, people sharing the same culture encourages expression and teamwork in the
workplace. Since everyone shares the same beliefs values, the pace will be the same
for everyone with minimized conflicts and the people will understand each other better
and can put themselves in the other's shoes. Also, it will be more convenient for the
company to hire because there is a culture that has to be followed. Culture is an
important aspect of building an organizational culture as it defines the internal and
external identity of a company. Companies would want to be spoken well of like,
"team-oriented" or "good work-life balance" (Moseley, 2018).

People sharing the same culture are more likely to work harmoniously than people of
different cultures which results in a more cohesive team for efficiency. These people will
have similar personalities and will realize each other's strengths and weaknesses. This
can help managers utilize their workers easily to accomplish the task in the maximum
capacity as fast as possible (Cabrera, 2018).

It is given that not all of the people in the workplace share the same culture but to be
considerate, it is good to define a common language, values, and beliefs. The values

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and beliefs don't have to be one each as long as no two cultures are clashing against
each other. It's also good to have what these organizations call "cultural ambassadors"
so employees can share their insights on something. This is considered empathic for
the other employees because it shows them that their cultures matter to the company
and their expressiveness is not taken away from them which can result in happiness in
the workplace. Also, it creates harmony between colleagues in the workplace (Hayzlett,
2016).

An example of a harmonious workplace developed through the application of

consideration is the case of Disney Animation. The Harvard Business school case study
stated by Dhir (2019) involves the famous animation company’s efforts in creating a
positively efficient workplace through job redesign and organizational restructuring.
From a traditional hierarchical model involving fixed-job roles, Disney created an
improved and efficient workflow by making changes to the work structure, physical
place and its people which innovated a new culture. The organization’s teams were
restructured by dissolving the traditional hierarchy and breaking down its silos. Disney
refrained from using formal conference rooms and relocated the workspaces to help the
employees brainstorm ideas together. The study further states that the company no
longer required formal communication channels such as meetings, emails, and status
reports in keeping everyone up to date (Edmonson et al., 2015 as cited by Dhir, 2019).
During this restructuring, resources were now shared and reallocated on a need-basis.
The aforementioned strategies encouraged open communication between the
management and its members; which ultimately created an engaged, positive and
harmonious workplace for the entire organization.

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V. Recommended Strategy for Implementation

Co-direction in the workplace primarily focuses on strengthening the relationships within

the unit of the organization. Modifying the structure through the optimization of the span
of control could promote vertical and horizontal feedback. It improves vertical by
increasing manager-subordinate interaction. It improves horizontal by increasing
subordinate-subordinate interaction. The effect of this modification is not limited to
interaction time, but also promotes support and personal development that leads to
higher employee satisfaction.

Weak culture is addressed by valuing the importance of organizational commitment in

meeting the goals of the organization. In the role of the sender, which are the
administrators, organizational commitment is valued when they disseminate clear
information through various channels either online or offline to improve the
understanding of the receivers of the information. In the role of the receiver, they are
expected to inquire in the instance of misunderstanding the received information. This is
to clear the barriers in communication at the same time enhancing the relationship
between the manager and the subordinates of the organization.

VI. Conclusion

Organizational commitment exists co-directionally. It could either be from horizontal

communication, which is informal and interpersonal interaction, or vertical which has an
up and down movement within an organizational hierarchy. According to the study of
Postumes, Martin, & Boudewijn (2001), organizational commitment is best when it is
sourced from senior management through vertical communication. Furthermore,
antecedents to having strongly committed employees include: having adequate

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knowledge or information to perform their tasks at hand and the process of receiving
information was preferred to be via formal channels, which are prevalent in vertical
communication, rather than informal ones, which may be seen in horizontal
communication.

Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, was able to encapsulate the impact of the
co-directional execution in the organization to primarily embed a commitment to its
culture. Starbucks, in its early years, had the common issue of employees having the
fear to speak up to their superiors - hindering upward communication. Former President
Behar was able to come up with a solution by the year 2015. He introduced open
forums to the company wherein people are encouraged to communicate with peers and
managers (Ferguson, 2019). Through this, a multi-directional form of communication
was introduced, thus promoting the culture of openness in the company. This particular
strategy may have contributed to the growth surge Starbucks had from the year 2015 to
2016. The year 2014 had a customer growth rate of 5.84% while the year 2015 had a
customer growth rate of 5.51%. However, the growth rate of the year 2016 has jumped
to 8.15% (Trefis Team, 2016).

In conclusion, co-directional organizational commitment is deemed to be the most

important strategy for effective workplace communication. By positively strengthening
workplace culture through communication, the organization can pursue its objectives
collectively, developing relationships between the management and employees,
eventually leading to a healthy working environment.

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