2010 (August)
Paper: 102
Full Marks: 80
Time: 3 hours
1. (a)
Discuss some important typologies of organisation. Classify organisations on
the basis of prime beneficiary and point out what problems such organisations
are faced with. 8+8=16
Ans: TYPOLOGIES OF ORGANISATION
Some scholars based on size, ownership, legal status and the area
of operation have classified organisation. Another set of scholars has
classified the organisation based on function or purpose, primary beneficiary,
consumer and authority. Now we will be discussing about the classification
based on the latter set of scholars.
a)
Typologies by Goal or Function or Purpose
Talcott Parsons has classified organisations into four types on
the basis of their functions or goal served by the organisation. The four types of organisations are:
i) Production/Economic Organisation: these types of organisations
produce goods or make things which are consumed by the society.
ii) Political Organisation: these types of organisations are
concerned with the attainment of political goals. They generate and allocate
power within the society and also maintain peace and stability in the society.
Legislature and government departments are examples of such organisations.
iii) Integrative Organisations: These organisations try to settle
conflicts, integrate and coordinate various segments of the society to work
together and provide stability in the society. Judicial courts, police, and
social agencies are examples of this type of organisation.
iv) Pattern Maintenance Organisation: These organisations are concerned with the
societal continuity with a focus on long-term issues such as of society’s
values, patterns, knowledge, culture, etc. through the educational, cultural
and religious institutions.
Katz and Kahn have also classified organisations into four types
based on the functions or goals served by the organisation. The four types of
organisations are:
(i) Production or Economic Organisation: These organisations are
concerned with the manufacture of goods, provision of essential services to the
people and also building up of infrastructure. Their focus is on creation of
wealth.
(ii) Managerial or Political Organisation: These organisations are
concerned with adjudication; coordination and control of resources; people; and
sub-systems.
(iii) Adaptive Organisation: These organisations provide
opportunities for creation of knowledge, testing and development of theories
and also provide information and solutions to the existing problems.
Universities and research institutions are examples of these organisations.
(iv) Maintenance Organisation: These organisations give space and
scope and devote to the socialization of people for their roles in other
organisations and in the larger society. Schools, church, and health and
welfare institutions are examples of this type of organisation.
b)
Typologies on the Bases of the Consumer or Primary Beneficiary Blau and Scott
They classified the organisation based on the primary recipient of
the output or who benefits. The main basis for this classification is who the direct
consumer of the output of the organisation is, or who the prime beneficiary is.
Four types of organisation are derived on this basis:
(i) Mutual Benefit Association: In this type of organisation the
primary beneficiaries are the members themselves. Political parties, trade
unions, professional associations and religious bodies are examples of these
organisations.
(ii) Business Organisations or Business Concerns: In this type of
organisation the owners of properties are the prime beneficiaries of the organisation.
They are mostly concerned about the return on investment in the organisation
than with the nature of output of the organisation. The other main concern is
that of operating efficiently to make the maximum profit at minimum cost. In
order to survive they have to compete with other organisations.
(iii) Service Organisations: In this type of organisation the
clients who are served are the prime beneficiaries. Hospitals, educational
institutions, social work agencies legal aid societies, etc. are examples of
these organisations.
The clients who are supposed to be the primary beneficiaries do not have usually control over these organisations.
The clients who are supposed to be the primary beneficiaries do not have usually control over these organisations.
(iv) Commonwealth Organisations: In this type of organisation the
public at large is its primary beneficiary. Post office, police service, fire
department, military service are examples of these types of organisations. They
perform mostly protective services or serve as its administrative arm.
c)
Typologies on the Basis of Compliance A. Etzioni: He differentiates organisation on the basis of compliance.
Compliance involves one party telling or directing another party to do
something. It refers to the manner in which the lower participants in an
organisation respond to the authority system of the organisation. In this
context, Etzioni identifies three types of power: coercive, utilitarian and
normative. Coercive power is based on the application or the threat of physical
sanction. Here compliance is alienated. Utilitarian power is based on control
over material resources. Here compliance takes a calculative or utilitarian
approach. Normative power based on the allocation of symbolic rewards. Here the
compliance is moral. Almost all the organisations would follow the three types
of authority, which combine three types of compliance.
d) Typologies
on the Basis of Authority: Max Weber
identifies three types of organisation on the basis of exercise of authority.
They are explained below:
(i) Charismatic Authority: In this type of organisation there will
be a leader and set of disciples or followers. Because of charisma or an
exceptional quality of the followers accept his authority or repose their faith
in the person. In this type of organisation the administrative apparatus is
very loose and unstable that is a built in instability.
(ii) Traditional Authority: In this type of organisation the
followers or employees accept the authority of a person who occupies the
traditionally sanctioned position of authority. The administrative apparatus in
this kind of domination would consist of personal servants, relatives and
feudal lords.
(iii) Legal or Rational Authority: In this type of organisation
people or followers accept the authority of a leader, which is based on the
belief in the rightness of law. It is legal because authority is exercised by
means of a system of rules and procedures by reason of the office, which an
individual holds. The administrative apparatus corresponding to this kind of
authority is bureaucracy.
Or
(b) In
what respect system approach to organisation is superior to the traditional
approach? 16
Ans: The systems approach
focuses on understanding the organisation as an open system that transforms
inputs into outputs. The systems approach began to have a strong impact on
management thought in the 1960s as a way of thinking about managing techniques
that would allow managers to relate different specialties and parts of the
company to one another, as well as to external environmental factors. The
systems approach focuses on the organisation as a whole, its interaction with
the environment, and its need to achieve equilibrium.
In simple words, a system may be defined as a
set a interrelated and interdependent parts forming an organized unit or
entity. These parts are known as sub-systems which interact with each other and
are subject to change. They are interrelated as well as interdependent. Hence,
changes in any sub-system lead to changes in others. Any working organisation
may be said to have three sub-systems as follows:
System approach is superior to Traditional
Method
A common drawback of the classical,
behavioural and quantitative schools is that they weigh down one characteristic
of the organisation at the expense of others. While the classical approach
emphasizes the ‘task’ and ‘structure’, the behavioural approach emphasizes
‘people’ and the quantitative approach emphasizes ‘mathematical' decision
making’.
The whole system faces functional
inability in the absence of proper knowledge of the respective parts. Every
part bears a relation of interdependence to every other part. In other words,
rather than individually dealing with the various parts of one organisation,
the systems approach aims to give enables the manager to perceive the
organisation as a whole.
The employees of the research and
development, manufacturing or the marketing division of a company, should
perceive the company en bloc since the activities of either part of the company
influence the activities of other parts.
If the business has managed to grow
beyond the start-up stage, it will certainly demand new things you may not
provide. Hence, there will surely come a time, when you distance yourself from
the chain of command, put a management team in command and, as per requirements
bring in external consultants for assisting in development of the systems
approach, necessary for ensuring the company is in good shape in the long run.
People need order, structure and
predictability; they need to know their agenda for the day when they come to
the office each day. Business should be predictable and organised. A business
eventually attains a state when it has sufficient funds to sustain itself and,
when it attains that state, it drifts from that critical stage of its inception
with all the problem-solving challenges and initiates development of a whole
new set of needs - management, stability and structure.
In other words, it is delegation.
However, delegating authority is not devoid of complications: it is very
complicated to alter the way you run business your business – going from
one-person rule to professional management.
The first challenge may well be to
find someone else to manage the transition to professional management for you.
This does not signify you have to seek out a new CEO, but a new management
system. If your strengths do not lie in convening or facilitating meetings -
for instance, presiding over a staff-meeting with 10 people discussing how
things should be done - then it would be advisable to appoint someone else to
lead the process like a manager type, or a consultant type who specialize in
such transitions. In the end, if you are an entrepreneur, a long-range plan is
a week; for a manager, a short-range plan is a year.
Another challenge you could face over
this transition is to redefine your role in the business. Identify your strengths
and work on them. If you are good at sales be the face of the business to the
key customers. If it is product development, be ready to be involved in
identifying market opportunities and analysing customer base for its needs.
Perhaps there is an export market that needs some investigation? Get on a plane
and speak to the key people.
If you aim to hand over 100 % of your
authority to the management team, monitor this turning point. In some
businesses, the decision-making can shift from 100 % to zero i.e. wherein you
do not have to make any decisions at all. This does necessitate a certain
approach such as: 'As long as the managers stay within the budget and meet the
financial goals, why should I care how they do it?'
Feedback is an important mechanism
that enables a system to adapt and fine-tune according to the changing
conditions of its environment and to control its operations. The operations of
the system should be initiated and feedback must be given to the appropriate
people so that their work can be assessed and if required corrected.
FEATURES OF SYSTEMS APPROACH
1. An organisation comprises of many
sub-systems.
2. All the sub-systems are interred-
related.
3. The sub-parts should be studied in
their inter-relationships rather than in isolation.
4. The organisation provides a
demarcating line that separates it from other systems. It determines the
internal and external parts.
5. The organisation is responsive to
environmental effect. It is vulnerable is the changes in environment.
6. An organsation is a system
consisting of many interrelated and interdependent parts or sub-systems. These
elements are then arranged in an orderly fashion.
7. As a system, an organisation draws
inputs (energy. Information, materials, etc) from its environment. It transforms
these inputs and returns the output into the environment in the form of goods
and services.
8. Every system is a part of a super
system.
9. Organisation is an open system and
it interacts with its environment. It is also a dynamic system as the equilibrium
in it is always changing.
10. Management is expected to regulate
and adjust the system to secure better performance.
11. Management is multidisciplinary as
it draws and integrates knowledge from various disciplines.
Systems theory
has made the following advantages as compared to traditional theories:
1. It
provides a manager a way of thinking about the job he has to managed and finds
an opportunity to him for looking it the organization as a whole and for
achieving overall effectiveness.
2. It
provides main focus to organizational efforts towards a direction which people
should move.
3. It
draws attention of managers to an important factor and that is the environment
in which an organization works. The interaction with the environment is
dynamic.
4. It
includes within it focus both micro and macro aspects of the organizations.
Hence it serves a multi-level and multi-dimensional approach.
5. It
implies that the modern manager should have analytical orientation should be
expert in motivating to achieve goals and open mandate to receive and respect
new ideas, i.e. creativity and innovation.
6. It
also implies that management education must seek to develop the ability to work
with and motivate others.
7. The
feed back mechanism provides and opportunity to rearrange organizations part
according to the change in the environment.
The system theories have been criticized on
the following grounds.
1. Systems
theory is not a complete explanation of the whole organizational system. It
does not explain how the sub-system of the specific organization is uniquely
related in a given environment.
2. The
conceptional framework for understanding organization provided by system theory
is too abstract.
3. It
does not really offer any new thing. Managers do understand interrelationship
between different parts and the influence of environment on organization and it
sub-systems.
2. (a)
Define the term “Span of management”. How would you determine the optimum span
in a given situation? 6+10=16
Ans:
SPAN OF MANAGEMENT: In the words
of Spriegal, "Span of control means the number of people reporting
directly to an authority. The principle of span of control implies that no
single executive should have more people looking to him for guidance and
leadership than he can reasonably be expected to serve. The span of supervision
is also known as span of control, span of management, span of responsibility,
span of authority and span of direction.
Factors
influencing the span of Management
There
are number of factors that influence or determine the span of Management in a
particular organisation, the most important of these are as follows:
1.
The
capacity and ability of the executive: The characteristics and abilities
such as leadership, administrative capabilities; ability to communicate, to
judge, to listen, to guide and inspire, physical vigour, etc. differ from
person to person. A person having better abilities can manage effectively a
large number of subordinates as compared to the one who has lesser
capabilities.
2.
Competence
and training of subordinates: Subordinates who are skilled, efficient,
knowledgeable, trained and competent require less supervision, and therefore,
the supervisor may have a wider span in such cases as compared to inexperienced
and untrained subordinates who requires greater supervision.
3.
Nature of
Work: Nature and importance of work to be supervised is another factor
that influences the span of supervision. The work involving routine,
repetitive, unskilled and standardized operations will not call much attention
and time on the part of the supervisor.
4.
Time
available for supervision: The capacity of a person to supervise and
control a large number of persons is also limited on account of time available
at his disposal to supervise them. The span of control would be generally
narrow at the higher level of management because top manager have to spend
their major time on planning, organising, directing and controlling and the
time available at their disposal for supervision will be less.
5.
Degree of
Decentralization and Extent of Delegation: If a manager clearly delegates
authority to undertake a well-defined task, a well trained subordinate can do
it with a minimum of supervisor's time and attention.
6.
Effectiveness
of communication system: Faulty communication puts a heavy burden on
manager's time and reduces the span of control.
7.
Quality of
Planning: Effective planning helps to reduce frequent calls on the superior
for explanation, instructions and guidance and thereby saves in time available
at the disposal of the superior enabling him to have a wider span.
8.
Degree of
Physical Dispersion: If all persons to be supervised are located
at the same place and within the direct supervision of the manager, he can
supervise relatively more people as compared to the one who has to supervise
people located at different places.
9.
Assistance
of Experts: the span of supervision may be wide where the services of experts
are available to the subordinate on various aspects of work. In case such
services are not provided in the organisation, the supervisor has to spend a
lot of time in providing assistance to the workers himself and a such the span
of control would be narrow.
Or
(b)
Critically discuss the necessity of decentralization of authority in an
organisation, so as to make delegation more meaningful and effective. 16
Ans: Decentralisation: According to Allen,” Decentralization
implies consistent and systematic efforts to delegate to the lowest levels all
authority except that which can only be exercised at Central points.” Koontz and O’Donnell have stated that,
“Authority delegations may be extensive or limited. Much authority delegated
through the echelons of an organization is referred to decentralization of
authority, where as authority is said to be centralized wherever a manager
delegates little of it.”
Thus
decentralization implies delegation of formal authority, the pushing of
decision making down the chain of command.
Decentralization is the tendency to delegate formal authority to the
lower organizational units while centralization is exactly opposite of it.
Hence it may be stated that,” everything that goes to increase the importance
of the role of a subordinate is decentralization, and everything that goes to
reduce it is centralization.
Advantages of Decentralization: The main
advantages of decentralization are as discussed below
1)
It reduces the burden of top management so
that he can concentrate on other important functions like planning control etc.
2)
It makes growth and diversification easy. Under decentralization each product line is
treated as a separate division, hence it can respond quickly to the changes in
demands of its special market.
3)
It enables the organization to survive and
grow under the conditions of keen competition.
4)
It helps in promoting development of
executives. Decentralization provides
opportunity to subordinate managers to take decision and take initiative so as
to acquire leadership qualities.
Decentralization tends to promote autonomy, initiative and creativity on
the part of subordinates. It helps the
organization to maintain stability and continuity effectively.
5)
It improves motivation and morale of
subordinates. As opportunity to take decisions
is given to them, it helps in developing belongingness and satisfies the need
of power, prestige, status and independence.
When motivation and morale improves, productivity increases and healthy
working relationship also develops. It
helps in maximum utilization of talents of lower levels in the organization.
6)
It results in effective supervision because
lower level managers are given complete authority to make changes in work
assignment, to take disciplinary action, to recommend promotions and even to
change production schedule.
7)
Decentralization is useful in promoting
effective control through comparative evaluation of performance and clear-cut
accountability of results.
8)
It promotes democratic management and
flexibility of operations. Necessary
changes can be quickly made without disturbing the organizational structure.
9)
It helps in saving time as all the paper work
relating to the basic operations of business can be significantly reduced, work
can be completed early without wasting time.
Disadvantages of Decentralization: The main
weaknesses of decentralization are as discussed below:
1)
Decentralization may create problems of
co-ordination among different departments in the organization. Semi autonomous division may concentrate on
their own goals at the cost of the organizational objectives. There may be loss effective control and it
may lead to disintegration of the organization.
2)
There may be lack of uniformity as all the
decentralized units may not follow uniform policies and procedures. Thus inconsistencies may arise in the
activities of the organization.
3)
Decentralization may result into heavy
overheads on account of higher administrative expenses, duplication of staff
and facilities trained persons may not be fully utilized.
4) It is not suitable for small scale units as
decentralization needs broad product lines which are not available in small
scale units.
5) Decentralization may restrict timely action
during emergencies.
6) Some of the organizational activities cannot
be decentralized such as handling government authorities, trade union
negotiations etc.
7) Decentralization may not be possible due to
external constraints, such as increase in competition, growing power of trade
unions, government interventions, development of computerized information
system, rising cost of executives etc tend to reduce decentralization in
several cases.
3. (a)
Bring out the role of groups in an organisation. Substantiate the claims that
group task influences group performance and satisfaction. 8+8=16
Or
(b)Discuss with examples, why perception is
the key factor in management. 16
Ans: Perception
Perception
is an important mediating cognitive process. Through this complex process,
people make interpretations of the stimulus or situation they are faced with.
Both selectivity and organization go 'into perceptual, interpretations. Externally,
selectivity is affected by intensity, size, contrast, repetition, motion and
novelty and familiarity. Internally, perceptual selectivity is influenced by
the individual's motivation, learning and personality. After the selective
process filters the stimulus situation, the incoming information is organized
into a meaningful whole.
Individual
differences and uniqueness are largely the result of the cognitive processes.
Although there arc a number of cognitive processes, it is generally recognized that
the perceptual process is a very important one. It is a process that takes
place between the situation and the behaviour and is most relevant to the study
of organizational behaviour. For example, the observation that a department
head and a subordinate may react quite differently to the same top management
directive can be better understood and explained by the perceptual process.
In
the process of perception, people receive many different kinds of information
through all five senses, assimilate them and then interpret them. Different
people perceive the same information differently.
Perception
plays a key role in determining individual behaviour in organizations.
Organizations send messages in a variety of forms to their members regarding
what they are expected to do and not to do. In spite of organizations sending
clear messages, those messages are subject to distortion in the process of
being perceived by organizational members. Hence, managers need to have a
general understanding of the basic perceptual process.
Basic Perceptual Process
Perception
is influenced by characteristics of the object being perceived, by the
characteristics of the person and by the situational processes.
a)
Characteristics of the
object include contrast, intensity, movement, repetition
and novelty.
b)
Characteristics of the person include
attitude, self-concept and personality.
The
details of a particular situation affect the way a person perceives an object;
the same person may perceive the same object very differently in different
situations. The processes through which a person's perceptions are altered by
the situation include selection, organization, attribution, projection,
stereotyping process, and the halo effect process. Among these, selective
perception and stereotyping are particularly relevant to organizations.
a)
Selective
Perception: Selective perception is the process of screening out
information that we are uncomfortable with or that contradicts our beliefs. For
example, a manager has a very positive attitude about a particular worker and
one day he notices that the worker seems to be goofing up. Selective perception
may make the manager to quickly disregard what he observed. For example, a
manager who has formed a very negative attitude about a particular worker and
he happens to observe a high performance from the same worker. In this case
influenced by the selective perception process he too will disregard it. In one
sense, selective perception is beneficial because it allows us to disregard
minor bits of information. But if selective perception causes managers to
ignore important information, it can become quite detrimental.
b)
Stereotyping:
Stereotyping is the process of categorizing or labeling people on the basis of
a single attribute. Perceptions based on stereotypes about people's sex exist
more or less in all work places. Typically, these perceptions lead to the
belief that an individual's sex determines which tasks he or she will be able
to perform. For example, if a woman is sitting behind the table in the office,
she will be very often, perceived as a clerk and not an executive at first. But
it would induce holding an exactly opposite assumption about a man.
Stereotyping consists of three steps: identifying categories of people (like
women, politician), associating certain characteristics with those categories
(like passivity, dishonesty respectively) and then assuming that any one who
fits a certain category must have those characteristics. For example, if
dishonesty is associated with politicians, we are likely to assume that all
politicians are dishonest.
4. (a)
Point out in brief, some behavioural implications of control. Suggest some
suitable measures to minimise behavioural disfunctions of control. 16
Or
(b)
Discuss between hygiene factors and motivation factors. What is the
significance of Herzberg’s theory in actual life? 9+7=16
Ans: Another popular need-based approach to
motivation is the dual-structure approach developed by Frederick Herzberg. This
is also known as Two-factor Theory. Herzberg developed this approach after
interviewing 200 accountants and engineers in Pittsburg. He asked them to
recall such occasions when they had been dissatisfied and less motivated. He
found that entirely different sets of factors were associated with satisfaction
and dissatisfaction. For instance, an individual who identified 'low pay' as
causing dissatisfaction did not necessarily mention 'high pay' as a cause of
satisfaction. Instead, several other factors, such as recognition or
accomplishment, were cited as causing satisfaction.
This finding suggests that
satisfaction and dissatisfaction are at opposite ends of a single scale.
Employees would, therefore, be satisfied, dissatisfied or somewhere in between.
Herzberg argued that attitudes and motivation consists of a dual structure. One
structure involves a set of factors that result in feelings ranging from
satisfaction to no satisfaction. The other structure involves a set of factors
that result in feelings ranging from dissatisfaction to no satisfaction.
Herzberg identified two sets of
factors responsible for causing either satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The
factors influencing satisfaction are called motivation factors or motivators,
which are related specifically to the job itself and the factors causing
dissatisfaction, are called hygiene factors, which are related to the work
environment in which the job is performed.
Motivators
a)
Achievement
b)
Recognition
c)
Advancement
d)
The work itself
e)
The possibility of personal growth
f)
Responsibility
Hygiene or
Maintenance Factors
a)
Company policies
b)
Technical supervision
c)
Interpersonal relations with supervisor
d)
Interpersonal relations with peers
e)
Interpersonal relations with subordinates
f)
Salary
g)
Job security
h)
Personal life
i)
Work conditions
j)
Status
Based on these findings, Herzberg
recommended that managers seeking to motivate employees should first make sure
that hygiene factors are taken care of and that employees are not dissatisfied
with pay, security and working conditions. Once a manager has eliminated
employee dissatisfaction, Hertzberg recommends focusing on a different set of
factors to increase motivation, by improving opportunities for advancement,
recognition, advancement and growth. Specifically, he recommends job enrichment
as a means of enhancing the availability of motivation factors.
Criticism
Although
widely accepted by managers, Hertzberg’s dual structure approach however
suffers from certain drawbacks. Other researchers who measured satisfaction and
dissatisfaction based on different aspects reached very different conclusions.
They have also criticized Herzberg's theory for its inability to define the
relationship between satisfaction and motivation and to pay enough attention to
differences between individuals. Hence, at present Herzberg's theory is not
held in high esteem by researchers in the field of motivation. The theory,
however, had a major impact on managers and has played a key role in increasing
their awareness of motivation and its importance in type work place.
5. (a) How
does distortion in communication take place? What are the barriers of effective
communication? 8+8=16
Ans: Distortion of Communication
a)
Tendency to Evaluate: This can cause
communication distortions, when we listen to others we tend to evaluate them on
the basis of their statements and hence we interpret the remainder accordingly
to our first impressions. For example, if a person makes a few initial
unfavorable remarks about religion, we tend to brand him as an agnostic and
will view the rest of the message in that light.
b)
Advance Information: Advance information can
cause us to favour certain interpretations and reject others information. When
we receive information that we believe to be accurate, we may tend to structure
subsequent information in a way that is consistent with our prior knowledge.
c)
Lack of Interest: This reason will cause
communication distortions even many messages may be received because the
message never interpreted consciously by the receiver.
d)
Distrust: If someone distrusts the sender, he
or she will likely to distort or change the message negatively to accommodate
his or her personal feelings.
e)
Encourage Feedback: Sender must make sure they
receive feedback cues from receivers in order to know how well they can
transmit the accuracy of message.
f)
Developing Trust: Information should be
perceived to be informative, rather than manipulative in order to develop trust
and prevent distortion.
g)
Repetition: If we think something is
particularly important, it might be worth while to say the same thing in two or
three ways even if it proves redundant.
h)
Listening with Understanding: It means to see
from the other person's point of view. For example, a third party, who is able
to lay aside his own feelings and evaluations, can assist greatly by listening
with understanding to each person and clarifying the views and issues.
i)
Use the problem- solving approach: The problem
solving approach is effective in that it creates an atmosphere of trust and
openness, by inviting subordinates to contribute ideas and engaging in two way
communication.
j)
Use many channels: The chances of successful
transmitting information are greater when we appeal to the maximum number of
senses. Example, the use of television is better than the radio in order to
transmit informations.
Barriers of Communication:
Communication is the process of
passing information and understanding from one person to another, anything that
obstructs the free flow of communication is referred to us Barrier of
communication. E.g. Problem in encoding and decoding, wrong or defective
communication channel, noise in the channel etc. Barrier may arise at any of
the following level:
a)
Sender
oriented,
b)
Receiver
oriented
Sender-oriented
barriers could be voluntary or involuntary. At any cost, efforts should be made
on the part of the sender to identify and remove them. As the sender is the originator of communication,
he should be extremely careful not to erect barriers. If his interaction gives
rise to or indicates that there are barriers, the communication comes to a
grinding halt. Some of the barriers that are sender-oriented are as follows:
Receiver can
also have some barriers in the course of the interaction. Although his role in
the initial phase is passive, he becomes active when he starts assimilating and
absorbing the information. He is equally to blame if the situation goes awry
and communication comes to a stop, or there is miscommunication. Some of the
barriers emanating from the side of the receiver are as follows:
Types
of Barriers in communication: The barriers to communication in an
organization may be broadly categorized into following groups:
1. Physical barriers (RECEIVER’S
ORIENTED)
2. Socio- psychological or personal
barriers (RECEIVER’S ORIENTED)
3. Organizational barriers (SENDER’S
ORIENTED)
4. Semantic barriers (SENDER’S
ORIENTED)
5. Mechanical barriers (SENDER’S
ORIENTED)
However, such a classification does
not suggest that these are mutually exclusive. Rather, it is helpful in
understanding the nature of communication barriers.
1. Physical Barriers: There are the environmental factors that also
obstruct or reduces the sending and receiving of communication, such as
physical distance distracting noises and other interferences difficulty arises
in communicating a message, when the physical distance increases:-
Noise: Noise is first and foremost
barrier to effective communication. Noise may be caused by machines, equipment,
communication device, disturbances in the time of transmission etc. noise also
encompasses many other factors such as the sender may use ambiguous or confusing
signal. The receiver may misinterpret the message. Thus communication is likely
to be spoilt due to noise.
Time and distance: Time and distance
also acts as a barrier in smooth flow of communication. Distance between the
sender and receiver acts as a hurdle. Although this barrier can be overcome by
technology but still in case of breakdown, this exists. Different timing of
shifts at workplace also act as barriers in imparting on vital information.
2.
Socio-psychological or personal Barriers: There are certain socio
psychological factors which restrict the free flow of communication. They are
the attitude and opinions, status consciousness, ones relations with fellow
workers, seniors, and junior’s etc. family background. These restrict
participative communication:
I. Motives, attitudes, judgments,
emotions, and social values of people from the part of the personal barriers.
Psychological distance is also developed with this.
II. Individual Differences: There are
differences in the motives, attitudes and sentiments of the people. So this
causes problems in encoding and decoding other’s sentiments, attitudes and
motives.
III. Differences in interest: The
interest of people also differs. A problem may be important for one person but
may not carry weight for another. The ideas, question, attitudes, feelings etc
of other party may represent an obstacle to one’s own personal goal.
IV. Division of People: Communication
is ideas and viewpoint also gets affected by the division of people into
classes, castes and communities.
V. Difference of viewpoints:
Communication suffers when there are differences in view point of the different
people.
VI. Lack of planning: Good
communication never happens but has to be planned. When people take it lightly
and communicate without planning it turns into miscommunication or mal
communication.
VII. Cultural barriers: Due to
difference in the cultural background the same word, phrases, symbols, actions
etc. may mean different to different group of people. Mis understanding may
take place due to this.
3.
Organizational Barriers: Organisational barriers arise due to defects in
the organization structure and the communication system of an organization:
I. Hierarchical distance: Downward
communication promotes hierarchical distance. The chances of information being
filtered are more at this structure, because there are several layers.
Information received from the top may not reach at bottom in the same shape.
The information gets coloured which brings hierarchical distance.
II. Diversion: Diversion of
information is also one of the causes which brings barrier to communication
process. For example sometimes a manager diverts the information meant for one
person or group to another.
III. Colouring: Information are also
coloured by the manager intentionally with a view to twist the situation in
their favour. For example, an office may quote his subordinate wrongly, to
spoil his career or his chance of promotion or his image in the eyes of the
boss.
IV. Status barriers: Status is a
barrier of communication in a formal organization. Organizational interaction
and communication are influenced by the status and the expectations.
V. Goal conflicts: Goal conflict acts
as communication reducers. Different goal lead to bifurcation of interest. Due
to this communication suffers.
4. Semantic Barriers: Semantic means the relationships of signs of
their reference. Semantic barrier arises from the disadvantages of the symbolic
system. Symbols have got number of meaning and one has to choose any one of
them according to the requirement of communication. Symbol or the language is
the most important tool of communication which has to be used very carefully:-
I. Words with different meaning: Some
words convey more than one meaning. When the receiver assigns a different
meaning to a word than what the sender intended, there occurs miscommunication.
II. Denotation and connotation: Words
have two types of meaning = Denotation and connotation. Denotation is the
literal meaning of the words connotation are the suggestive meaning of the
words. Connotation is the suggestive meanings of the words. Connotation may be
positive or negative.
III. Offensive style of communication:
Badly expressed messages lose their impact. Offensive style of communication
leads to communication breakdown causing loss of time and money.
IV. Wrong assumptions: Communication
should not be based on assumption as it may lead to wrong interpretation. All
possible efforts should be made to clarify assumptions.
V. Selective perception: many a time
the message is decoded by the receiver in a way which may be selective. In
other words most of the receivers protect their own interest and expectations
leading to a particular type of feedback which becomes a communication problem.
5. Mechanical Barriers: Mechanical barriers include inadequate
arrangement for transmission of news, facts and figures. Example poor office
layout and defective procedure and the use of wrong media led to poor
communication.
I. Information overload: Excess of
communication is called information overload. Brevity is the soul of
communication. The receiver cannot comprehend and absorb beyond his mental
capacity. His mind will remain closed for the excess part of the communication.
Therefore one should be brief and to the point.
II. Loss of transmission: When
messages are transmitted from person to person they are filtered. In other
words they are diluted and distorted on the way. In oral communication about
30% of the information is lost in each transmission.
Or
(b) Why
is organisational change often resisted by individuals and groups within the
organisation? How can such resistance be prevented or overcome? 8+8=16
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