Register to read the introduction…
Communication, as defined by management professors Robert Kreitner and Angelo Kinicki is “the exchange of information between a sender and a receiver, and the inference (perception) of meaning between the individuals involved” (Kreitner, Kinicki, &, 2008). Communication, both effective and ineffective goes on around us constantly, both in personal and in business settings. The focus of this paper however will be on communication as it relates to the business world. It will look one final time at the Jeanne Lewis at Staples Inc., case study and examine barriers to communication within Staples, and the effect these barriers had on making changes within the organization. It will also look at different communication strategies that Jeanne Lewis used for communicating with subordinates and develop an effective message strategy that Lewis could utilize. Finally, this paper will examine communication modification strategies and their use when dealing with culture barriers within the
…show more content…
These cultural differences can greatly impact the effectiveness of communication transmission and reception because it can change the entire context of a message just on how that message is interpreted. For example, in the United States, people nod their heads to communicate “yes” or agreement. In North Korea however, nodding of the head up and down in that manner communicates “no” or disagreement. Because of the impact cultural differences can have on communication, it is important that managers attempting to communicate with subordinates first examine the cultural differences present within the organization before they send the desired message. Unfortunately Jeanne Lewis did not evaluate the cultural backgrounds of her staff in the marketing department before attempting to communicate with them and the result was an employee almost brought to tears because of her approach. Remember, Lewis had come from the merchandising department, which was described by employees within that department as having their own style of “rough and tumble” (Suesse, J. M. 2000) meaning that their environment was more harsh and abrasive than other departments. The marketing department at Staples was quite different however and the first time that Lewis challenged a marketing idea, the result was disastrous. Lewis expected to open up good dialogue and discussion regarding the idea but her message was not interpreted the way in which Lewis had expected. In fact, the person was devastated by her approach. Lewis quickly realized that she needed to change her communication strategy; she could no longer communicate as if she worked in the merchandising department (although at first, Lewis was still working in merchandising), otherwise she would always have people leaving upset and they would accomplish nothing. It ultimately forced Lewis to
These cultural differences can greatly impact the effectiveness of communication transmission and reception because it can change the entire context of a message just on how that message is interpreted. For example, in the United States, people nod their heads to communicate “yes” or agreement. In North Korea however, nodding of the head up and down in that manner communicates “no” or disagreement. Because of the impact cultural differences can have on communication, it is important that managers attempting to communicate with subordinates first examine the cultural differences present within the organization before they send the desired message. Unfortunately Jeanne Lewis did not evaluate the cultural backgrounds of her staff in the marketing department before attempting to communicate with them and the result was an employee almost brought to tears because of her approach. Remember, Lewis had come from the merchandising department, which was described by employees within that department as having their own style of “rough and tumble” (Suesse, J. M. 2000) meaning that their environment was more harsh and abrasive than other departments. The marketing department at Staples was quite different however and the first time that Lewis challenged a marketing idea, the result was disastrous. Lewis expected to open up good dialogue and discussion regarding the idea but her message was not interpreted the way in which Lewis had expected. In fact, the person was devastated by her approach. Lewis quickly realized that she needed to change her communication strategy; she could no longer communicate as if she worked in the merchandising department (although at first, Lewis was still working in merchandising), otherwise she would always have people leaving upset and they would accomplish nothing. It ultimately forced Lewis to