CHAPTER 4

Group and
Interpersonal processes
in Organization
 Contents

Group structure

Leadership
Group
Conflict decision

Communication
COMMUNICATION
If I could change the alphabet,
I could put U and I together!
 Functions of Communication
Communication
The transference and the understanding of meaning.

Communication Functions
1. Control member behavior.
2. Foster motivation for what is to be done.
3. Provide a release for emotional expression.
4. Provide information needed to make decisions.
 The Communication Process
▪ Channel
▪ The medium selected by the sender through which
the message travels to the receiver.
▪ Types of Channels
▪ Formal Channels
▪ Are established by the organization and transmit messages
that are related to the professional activities of members.
▪ Informal Channels
▪ Used to transmit personal or social messages in the
organization. These informal channels are spontaneous and
emerge as a response to individual choices.
 Elements of the Communication Process

▪ The sender
▪ Encoding
▪ The message
▪ The channel
▪ Decoding
▪ The receiver
▪ Noise
▪ Feedback
The Communication Process Model

Communication Process
The steps between a source and a
receiver that result in the transference
and understanding of meaning.
 Direction of Communication

Upward Downward Lateral

 Interpersonal Communication
▪ Oral Communication
▪ Advantages: Speed and feedback.
▪ Disadvantage: Distortion of the message.
▪ Written Communication
▪ Advantages: Tangible and verifiable.
▪ Disadvantages: Time consuming and lacks feedback.
▪ Nonverbal Communication
▪ Advantages: Supports other communications and
provides observable expression of emotions and
feelings.
▪ Disadvantage: Misperception of body language or
gestures can influence receiver’s interpretation of
message.
 Nonverbal Communication

Body Movement Intonations

Facial Expressions Physical Distance

© 2007 Prentice Hall

 Intonations: It’s the Way You Say It!

Change your tone and you change your meaning:

Placement of the emphasis What it means
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I was going to take someone else.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of the guy you were going with.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? I’m trying to find a reason why I
shouldn’t take you.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Do you have a problem with me?
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of going on your own.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Instead of lunch tomorrow.
Why don’t I take you to dinner tonight? Not tomorrow night.
Three Common Formal Small-Group
Networks
Small-Group Networks and Effectiveness
Criteria

TYPES OF NETWORKS
Criteria Chain Wheel All Channel

Speed Moderate Fast Fast

Accuracy High High Moderate
Emergence of a leader Moderate High None
Member satisfaction Moderate Low High
 Grapevine
▪ Grapevine Characteristics
▪ Informal, not controlled by management.
▪ Perceived by most employees as being more
believable and reliable than formal
communications.
▪ Largely used to serve the self-interests of
those who use it.
▪ Results from:
▪ Desire for information about important situations
▪ Ambiguous conditions
▪ Conditions that cause anxiety
The Grapevine

Control Reliability

Self-
Interests
 Suggestions for Reducing the
Negative Consequences of Rumors

1. Announce timetables for making important decisions.

2. Explain decisions and behaviors that may appear
inconsistent or secretive.
3. Emphasize the downside, as well as the upside, of
current decisions and future plans.
4. Openly discuss worst-case possibilities—it is almost
never as anxiety-provoking as the unspoken fantasy.
 Computer-Aided Communication
▪ E-mail
▪ Advantages: quickly written, sent, and stored; low
cost for distribution.
▪ Disadvantages: information overload, lack of
emotional content, cold and impersonal.
▪ Instant messaging
▪ Advantage: “real time” e-mail transmitted straight to
the receiver’s desktop.
▪ Disadvantage: can be intrusive and distracting.
 Computer-Aided Communication
(cont’d)
▪ Intranet
▪ A private organization-wide information
network.
▪ Extranet
▪ An information network connecting
employees with external suppliers,
customers, and strategic partners.

▪ Videoconferencing
▪ An extension of an intranet or extranet that
permits face-to-face virtual meetings via
video links.
 Knowledge Management (KM)

Knowledge Management
A process of organizing and distributing an
organization’s collective wisdom so the right
information gets to the right people at the right time.

Why KM is important:
Intellectual assets are as important as physical assets.
When individuals leave, their knowledge and experience
goes with them.
A KM system reduces redundancy and makes the
organization more efficient.
Choice of Communication Channel
Channel Richness
The amount of information that can be transmitted
during a communication episode.

Characteristics of Rich Channels

1. Handle multiple cues simultaneously.
2. Facilitate rapid feedback.
3. Are very personal in context.
 Information Richness of
Communication Channels

Low channel richness High channel richness

Routine Nonroutine

Source: Based on R.H. Lengel and D.L. Daft, “The Selection of Communication Media as an Executive Skill,”
Academy of Management Executive, August 1988, pp. 225–32; and R.L. Daft and R.H. Lengel, “Organizational
Information Requirements, Media Richness, and Structural Design,” Managerial Science, May 1996, pp. 554–72.
Reproduced from R.L. Daft and R.A. Noe, Organizational Behavior (Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt, 2001), p. 311.
Barriers to Effective Communication
Filtering
A sender’s manipulation of information so that it will
be seen more favorably by the receiver.

Selective Perception
People selectively interpret what they see on the
basis of their interests, background, experience, and
attitudes.

Information Overload
A condition in which information inflow exceeds an
individual’s processing capacity.
Barriers to Effective Communication
(cont’d)
Emotions
How a receiver feels at the time a message is received
will influence how the message is interpreted.

Language
Words have different meanings
to different people.

Communication Apprehension
Undue tension and anxiety about oral
communication, written communication, or both.
Communication Barriers Between
Men and Women
▪ Men talk to: ▪ Women talk to:
▪ Emphasize status, ▪ Establish
power, and connection and
independence. intimacy.
▪ Complain that ▪ Criticize men for not
women talk on and listening.
on. ▪ Speak of problems
▪ Offer solutions. to promote
▪ To boast about their closeness.
accomplishments. ▪ Express regret and
restore balance to a
conversation.
 Silence as Communication

▪ Absence of speech or noise

▪ Powerful form of communication
▪ Can indicate
▪ Thinking
▪ Anger
▪ Fear
▪ Watch for gaps, pauses, & hesitations in
conversations
 “Politically Correct” Communication
▪ Certain words stereotype, intimidate, and insult
individuals.
▪ In an increasingly diverse workforce, we must
be sensitive to how words might offend others.
▪ Removed: handicapped, blind, and elderly
▪ Replaced with: physically challenged, visually
impaired, and senior.
▪ Removing certain words from the vocabulary
makes it harder to communicate accurately.
▪ Removed: garbage, quotas, and women.
▪ Replaced with terms: postconsumer waste materials,
educational equity, and people of gender.
 Word
Semantics
Connotations

Barriers to Effective
Cross-Cultural
Communication

Tone Perception
Differences Differences
Hand Gestures Mean Different
Things in Different Countries
Hand Gestures Mean Different Things in
Different Countries (cont’d)
Communication Barriers and Cultural
Context
High-Context Cultures
Cultures that rely heavily on nonverbal and
subtle situational cues to communication.

Low-Context Cultures
Cultures that rely heavily on words to convey
meaning in communication.
To be continue . . . !