Week 9 Discussion
Managers spend one-third of their time communicating up and down the organizational hierarchy. Communication is the transfer and understanding of information from one person to another. The communication model comprises of several parts.
We want to examine the communication pathway or medium in which communication is delivered. The communication pathway is the way messages are sent, including:
· Face-to-face meetings.
· Electronic mail and online discussions.
· Written letters or memorandums.
· Telephone or voice-mail, among others.
While some people may be better at using certain mediums over others, some mediums can be better suited for the specific message being conveyed. For this week's discussion, suppose you are a manager who needs to communicate several messages to employees of the company.
Messages
1. The CEO abruptly resigns after the news media reports that the CEO embezzled millions of dollars.
2. A plan to relocate the company.
3. The death of an employee.
4. The reassignment of one division to a new location.
Respond to the following for each of the messages above:
· List the medium (telephone, email, text, face-to-face meeting, et cetera) you would use to communicate the message.
· Explain why you chose that medium over the other possible mediums.
· Then, consider the importance of the information conveyed in these messages. How might the choice of medium for communication impact trust and credibility among the employees?
Week 10 Discussion
Decision making is the process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of action. While we want to make rational decisions, sometimes we don't. Sometimes, we make non-rational decisions.
There are four steps in rational decision making:
1. Recognize and define the problem or opportunity. In business, the problem can come in the form of customer complaints, supplier breakdowns, staff turnover, sales decline, and so on. Organizations proactively seek opportunities to exceed goals, surpass the industry expectations, and to expand and grow the business.
2. Identify and analyze alternative courses of action. Leaders should seek input from multiple sources to interpret and analyze the problem/opportunity to come up with as many options as possible to solve the issue.
3. Choose a preferred course of action. The group wants to answer the following:
· Is the action ethical?
· Is it feasible? (Costs, technology availability.)
· Is it effective? If your answer to this question is the resolution is "good enough," you want to rethink this solution—it will cause more harm than good.
4. Implement the preferred course of action. You need to have the participation of all teams to successfully implement the action.
On the other hand, non-rational decisions are generally the result of either satisficing (going with the first available option without much research) or intuition (using your "gut" or just your own feelings to make decisions).
For this week's discussion, think about a time when you made a non-rational decision on the job or in your personal life.
Respond to the following:
· Was it the result of satisficing or intuition?
· How would your decision have been different using the four steps for rational decision making?
· How would the steps have helped you to make a better, or more sound, decision?