Assignment on

Managing Communication

Submitted by: Mahbub Ahmed Foyez
Level: 5
Reg no: 6114

Level 5 Unit : Managing communication

Introduction
The third largest supermarket in UK, J Sainsbury plc (Sainsbury’s) has been founded in 1869, and currently has 890 stores that consist of 547 supermarkets and 343 convenience stores. The company has 150,000 employees and serves more than 19 million customers a week (Company Overview, 2011, online).
Sainsbury’s has a range of stakeholders to deal with. A stakeholder can be defined as “someone who has invested money into something, or has some important connection with it” (Chorley et al, 2008, p.2). According to Kozami (2002) stakeholders can be divided into two categories: internal and external.
An internal stakeholder for the company is someone who works for the company and therefore is interested in various aspects of the business. External stakeholder, on the other hand, is someone who is interested in the performance and other aspects of the business, even though the individual does not work for the company.
Sainsbury’s internal stakeholders can be external stakeholder of the company at the same time. For example, Sainsbury’s employees who also happen to be local residents are the type of individual who are internal and external stakeholders at the same time

Task 1 – Research

A) Sainsburys is a big organization in UK. They have a big range of stakeholder and they are performing very well to to keep a good relation to their stake holder. They have different technique and system that they use to communicate with different types of stake holders.

1) Advertisement is the main way of communication with the customer in Sainsbury’s. The colleague, managers and all other employees plays a vital role the communication system with the customer. 2) Sainsbury’s have their own technique to communicate internally with the employees/ shareholder/board and suppliers. They have a very useful tool named NEWS AT 9 . In this process the head office gather all the relevant information that is needed for business and email them to all the store and shareholder. Beside this weekly update, monthly magazine, seminar, regular meetings are arranged to communicate with them. They have a very strong HR policy and beside this they have a division called RIGHT LINE where any of the stake holders can communicate about anything.

B) Internet and intranet are widely used in sainsburys to communicate with its stake holders. Email. Advertisement are main medium. Beside that their website plays a vital role in communication process.
Sainsburys have other portal called Connect used by their employees and major shareholder where they can update and gather knowledge about A to Z of the business. Even they can write their own opinion.

C) Sainsbury’s use a open communication policy where all the stakeholder can easily say their opinion. According to Sainsbury’s the have open door policy for their stakeholder . They can say their view via Connect/ website even directly to Sainsbury’s head office.

D) The main barriers to effective work place communication are can be described in the following heading:-

1. Poor Listening Skills:

Poor listening skills top the list when it comes to barriers to communication. It can be result from ❖ Lack of involvement with the other person or the topic at hand: you just don't care enough to listen. ❖ Distractions in the environment such as excessive noise or activity. ❖ Disagreement with the speaker, resulting in mentally "shutting off" the other person. ❖ Passive listening rather than active involvement with the speaker.

2. Ignorance about the information. 3. Communication with the huge numbers of stake holders

E) Eastern Cultures are often perceived as high context cultures where collectivism is important. In high context cultures people use a lot of indirect and nonverbal communication and are mostly collectivistic. People from The organizations cultures on the other hand are more individualistic and use low context communication, meaning they use concrete language and direct communication to get their point across.

The difference in of the organization distance and protecting your image is clearly visible the organization eastern and the organization cultures. East and the organization have a different perception of the organization and the organization distance. Eastern cultures tend to have a very hierarchical structure, where the organizations cultures are more egalitarian. In Japanese companies for example, younger employees are expected to support the people in higher positions and never give their opinion directly to the manager.

In multinational companies this is very visible, especially when the employer and the manager are not from the same culture. An Asian manager wants the employee to be loyal to the company and to him, without showing own initiative, while a the organizations employee would want to be able to show his skills and to pursue personal fulfilment. Most likely, none of the persons would want to adjust to the other one.

Task 2 Report

a) Identify the key stakeholders in the organization and for each stakeholder analyse the key information and knowledge they need. Compare your findings with the knowledge and information needed by stakeholders in other organizations (AC1.1)

Sainsbury’s have many suppliers, the suppliers interest in the business is that they receive long term contracts, prompt payment and growth of purchases. The suppliers that supply on credit will want secure contracts and guaranteed payment. The employee stake is that they want satisfactory pay to their job role, safe and good working conditions, job satisfaction and career prospects.
Sainsbury’s owners have risked their own funds when they invested in Sainsbury’s. The owners are shareholders and their ownership of the business is determined by the proportion of the total shares each person holds. If the value of Sainsbury’s grows the owners might be able to see their stake in the business as a profit. The owners can vote at Sainsbury’s annual general meeting and influence policy decisions.
Without the customers of Sainsbury’s it would not exist, customers want to know that the standard of quality of the products they are buying are of a high standard and at a reasonable price. Customers like to know that they can go in one week and the product will be there the next (product availability). Customer service is also very important to customers; they must be able to keep the customers satisfied.
Local authorities can control through planning restrictions. They enforce public health and the trades description legislation to stop Sainsbury’s from misleading customers from what they are buying. In turn they benefit from business rates which are local tax that is paid by Sainsbury’s of non-domestic property in England and Wales.

The government wants Sainsbury’s to be a successful business because it receives revenue, HR Revenue & Customs taxes the business profits and collects VAT as well as NIC deducted from employees. They also want it to create jobs in the local area.

The local community wants the benefits of Sainsbury’s being in the area to outweigh the costs, they want to create more jobs in the area and don’t want the area to be overcrowded or cause more traffic in the area.

b)Explain the systems used for communicating key information to the stakeholders in your chosen organization (AC 1.2)

Sainsbury's communication methods

People working in different functional areas have to communicate with each other in order to achieve the same objectives but they also need to communicate with other range of individuals and organisations, including their customer's, competitors and their suppliers as well as their own employees.
Good communication within a business is essential because it effects the operation of the business.

The purpose of communication is: ❖ Passing on information ❖ Giving instructions ❖ Making checks & receiving feedback ❖ Negotiation ❖ Confirmation

The two main areas of communication that are mainly used in businesses are internal and external.

Internal communication is communication that takes place within an organisation, while external communication takes place between the organisation and the people outside the business.

All large businesses use information communication technology (ICT) to communicate internally and externally.
ICT is any equipment or interconnected system of equipment that support all forms of technology used to create, store, manipulate, manage, move, display, switch, interchange, transmit or receive information in its various forms.
This has had a major effect on the way communication takes place in the business because they help to play an important role in the effectiveness of communication.
The main methods of ICT Sainsbury uses externally

Face to face: Sainsbury sets up a customer service desk which deals with customer's enquiries and complaints

E-mail: This is used to communicate with the customer's who enquire about information on Sainsbury and updates on the latest events at Sainsbury's

Telephone: Sainsbury also use this to communicate with the customer's who also seek for information regarding products, etc

Interviews: Sainsbury sometimes interview with someone outside the organisation who may be interested in something Sainsbury has done, e.g. press, radio or television

Business letters: Sainsbury use business letters to make arrangements without the need for parties to meet. Business letters also provide both parties with a permanent record of such arrangements and also confirm verbal arrangements

Faxes: Sainsbury uses fax machines to send both written and visual information electronically over the telephone line

Video conferencing: Sainsbury uses this when they need to have face to face meetings with people who are geographically separated

Internet: Sainsbury has a website which can be viewed by the customers to find out all about the current developments that are taking place in the fields in which Sainsbury operate. This is a benefit to the customer's because it allows the customers to see how well they are doing etc
c)The use of technology – how it helps communication and whether it also hinders communication (AC 2.2).

Technology is constantly altering the way we live our lives. From how we eat to how we travel and work to how we entertain ourselves, technology has become an integral part of our day. However, the aspect of our lives that has been most impacted is likely the way we communicate with one another. These changes have been for both better and worse, but have unequivocally impacted the way we interact with the people in our lives. speed Technology has amplified the rate at which we communicate with the world around us. Developments like email, instant messaging, texting, phone Twitter, social networking sites like Face book and Myspace, and video conferencing have allowed us to connect with each other at breakneck speeds. This has helped us in some ways by allowing us to get in touch with each other quickly for both business and emergency needs. However, with speed sometimes comes recklessness. In a heated moment, people may send a text or email they later come to regret, but can't take back because it was sent in a matter of seconds.
Technology has exploded access to news for the public. We are able to communicate about events as they happen with platforms like Twitter or news tickers that can be downloaded to your desktop. Moreover, the internet has changed the way we communicate news by giving literally anyone a voice with blogs and websites. This free flow of information serves as a check on public figures sometimes, but can also lead to misinformation and confusion

Sometime the use of technology hinders the communication as well. Like error made by software or any application sometime gives wrong information to the end users.

D) The communication policies and procedures and their impact (AC 2.3)

Communication is the message issued by a corporate organization, body, or institute to its publics, both internal and external.
An organization must: o Communicate the same message to all its stakeholders o Transmit coherence, credibility and ethic

If any of these is missing, the whole organization may fail.

Corporate Communications help organizations: o Explain their mission o Combine its many visions and values into a cohesive message to stakeholders.
The concept of corporate communication could be seen as an integrative communication structure linking stakeholders to the organization.
A corporate communication structure is a system which enables organizations to strategically orchestrate all types of communication.
Corporate communication is historically linked to the field of public relations, which has been concerned with the voice and image of big business for nearly a century. The fathers of public relations Ivy lee and Edward Bernays addressed some issues that managers still face today in corporate communications.

e) An analysis of potential barriers to effective workplace communications (AC 1.3). Give examples

The main barriers to effective work place communication are can be described in the following heading

1. Poor Listening Skills. Poor listening skills top the list when it comes to barriers to communication. Poor listening skills can result from: ❖ Lack of involvement with the other person or the topic at hand: you just don't care enough to listen. ❖ Distractions in the environment such as excessive noise or activity.

❖ Disagreement with the speaker, resulting in mentally "shutting off" the other person. ❖ Passive listening rather than active involvement with the speaker.

2. Assumptions. There are many assumptions we make while communicating with others. For instance, you might think that you know what the other person is going to say, so you simply "leave" the conversation.
3. Non-Verbal Signals. One recent study showed that only 7% of our communicating is tied to what we actually say! A full 55% of communication happens through non-verbal signals, and another 38% is based on tonality. So if your non-verbal signals are contradicting what your mouth is saying, people are going to remember what you didn't say.
4. Improper Use of Questions. Many people believe that if they ask a multitude of questions, they are communicating well and connecting with the other person. This may or may not be the case! We must ask the right questions at the right time to get the information we need to communicate effectively. That means asking open-ended questions - questions that begin with who, what, when, why, where, and how. Open-ended questions help true discussion and understanding to take place.

f) How communication is influenced by values and cultural factors. Evaluate these influences within the organisation you have researched.(AC 2.1)

The difference in of the organization distance and protecting your image is clearly visible the organization eastern and the organization cultures. East and the organization have a different perception of the organization and the organization distance. Eastern cultures tend to have a very hierarchical structure, where the organizations cultures are more egalitarian. In Japanese companies for example, younger employees are expected to support the people in higher positions and never give their opinion directly to the manager.

In multinational companies this is very visible, especially when the employer and the manager are not from the same culture. An Asian manager wants the employee to be loyal to the company and to him, without showing own initiative, while a the organization employee would want to be able to show his skills and to pursue personal fulfilment. Most likely, none of the persons would want to adjust to the other one.

In Sainsbury’s it is clearly visible the influence of cultural factors in communication.
As it is a multicultural organization and people from different ethnetic group and countries work there the communication process are also different
The core value of Sainsbury’s is to show equal opportunity and same respect for all the individual because of that any meeting any communication system are not decided depending on the employees back ground . Instead the communication process is developed in such ways which reflect the main values and culture of the organization.

G) Theories of organisational communication (AC 4.2)

MODEL OF STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM

An organization is a system of at least two people with interdependence, input, throughput and output. Communicators cooperate to produce a product by using energy, information and materials

Two types of information

Absolute Information - all knowledge present in the system (what do we know)
Distributed Information - that which has been diffused through the organization (who knows it) A network is characterized in three ways
Scope of communication - level of analysis, individuals,amount of information recieved, ie. load (function of complexity and rate) under load occurs when rate is below processing ability ,overload occurs when rate exceeds capacity of your processing ability
Dyads governed by rules or expectations, connections between dyads are called links
Symmetry - whether communication is equal or more one sided.
Strength - how often the communication takes place, more communication = stronger link
Reciprocity - amount of agreement on what is communicated
Content - what is discussed
Mode - method of communication, face to face, email, phone, fax groups BUREAUCRACY THEORY (Positional)

An organization is a system of purposeful, interpersonal activity designed to coordinate tasks.Authority in an organization comes from rules and regulations. Bureaucratic (rational-level) authority - vested in supervisors and managers rules which allow solutions of problems, standardization, and equality, sphere of competence, systematic division of labor with each role having clearly defined rights and powers, hierarchy, seen in organizational charts, competence, people are promoted on their knowledge and merits,non-ownership freedom to allocate resources by managers carefully maintained records (paper trail)
Non-bureaucratic leadership

Communication in an organization is not treated as a variable or seen as important by this theory

FOUR SYSTEMS THEORY (Positional)

Looks at human relations from a production, management orientated perspective If you care for and nature workers, the organizations operations will improve .An organization functions along a continuum of four systems exploitative-authorities system - deals with iron hand, no feedback ,benevolent-authorities system - manager is more sensitive consultative system - seeks consultation from workers participative management system - workers participate in decision making

MODEL OF CONTROLLING ORGANIZATIONS
(ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION THEORY)

Control in an organization is exterted in four ways Simple control - by the use of direct open power (like likerts system 1 management, do as you are told) Technical control - by use of machinery .Bureaucratic control - use of organizational procedures and formal rules (like Weber), training manual, policies, memos, reports
Concertive control - use of interpersonal relationships and teamwork - relies on a shared reality and shared values. ORGANIZATIONAL MODEL (Relational)

Uses communication as a basis for human organizing and provides a rationale for understanding how people organize
Organization is something people create through communication and their activity
Organizing Activities
Act - statement or behavior of an individual
Interact - an act followed by a response
Double Interact - an act followed by a response, then an adjustment or follow-up by the first individual
Organizing activities reduce uncertainty of information SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT THEORY

Theoretical approach to organizations that emphasizes organizational design,worker training for efficiency, chains of command, and division of labor. The perspective rests on the assumption that work and organizations can be rationally or “scientifically” designed and developed.

H ) Recommendations. This must include a plan to improve the workplace communications in the organisation you have researched (AC 4.3) and measures to evaluate the success of the plan (AC 4.4)
When communication flows through a company, knowledge is shared, achievements are celebrated and issues are addressed. When a company does not communicate well, information silos develop, with individual departments unaware of the happenings in the rest of the organization. The result is often poor customer service, low morale and reduced productivity. There is plenty of incentive for companies to ensure that the lines of communication are open throughout an organization. Creating a a strong communication network does not have to be difficult.

Intranet Site

An important tool in creating a communication-friendly organization is the development of an intranet site. A password protected site is perfect for sharing broadcast-type messages to the entire company, such as promotions, new products and success stories. It is also a great place to provide information regarding dress codes, vacations and extra curricular staff activities. It becomes the central repository of all types of shared information, making it available on-demand to anyone seeking specific information about their company. Intranet sites are easy to develop using off-the-shelf tools and can be updated with new information easily.

Face-to-Face Meetings

In an age of rapid-fire emails, text messages and omnipresent smart phones, every employee is inundated with short bursts of information. What is often missing is context and a deeper understanding of the issues affecting the company. In fact, Inc. Magazine reports that a study by University of California, Los Angeles psychology professor Albert Mehrabian found that 55 percent of meaning in an interaction comes from facial and body language and 38 percent comes from vocal inflection. Only 7 percent of an interaction's meaning is derived from the words themselves.

Communication Framework

One important aspect of creating an open communication environment is to link communication among employees as a measurable goal during performance reviews. The mechanics will change by role, but information technology professionals might be expected to share research information with other members of the team, human resources professionals might be expected to share information on promotions and hires on the company's intranet site and sales staff may be expected to share their ongoing leads with other salesmen. By codifying expectations for specific sharing of information, a company shows the importance it places on all communications

Sainsburys has a well structured evaluation process to find out whether the communication system is working properly or not.

Colleague feedback form ( anonymous), onsite evaluation form, colleague council meeting, colleague knowledge test etc are some of the example of evaluating the system.

Task 3

a) In the information age, we have to send, receive, and process huge numbers of messages every day. But effective communication is about more than just exchanging information. Effective communication requires you to also understand the emotion behind the information. It can improve relationships at home, work, and in social situations by deepening your connections to others and improving teamwork, decision-making, caring, and problem solving. It enables you to communicate even negative or difficult messages without creating conflict or destroying trust. Effective communication combines a set of skills including nonverbal communication, attentive listening, the ability to manage stress in the moment, and the capacity to recognize and understand your own emotions and those of the person you’re communicating with.
While effective communication is a learned skill, it is more effective when it’s spontaneous rather than formulaic. A speech that is read, for example, rarely has the same impact as a speech that’s delivered (or appears to be delivered) spontaneously. Of course, it takes time and effort to develop these skills and become an effective communicator. The more effort and practice you put in, the more instinctive and spontaneous your communication skills will become.

Interpersonal communication is often defined by communication scholars in numerous ways, usually describing participants who are dependent upon one another. It can involve one on one conversations or individuals interacting with many people within a society. It helps us understand how and why people behave and communicate in different ways to construct and negotiate a social reality. While interpersonal communication can be defined as its own area of study, it also occurs within other contexts like groups and organizations. Interpersonal communication is the process that we use to communicate our ideas, thoughts, and feelings to another person. Our interpersonal communication skills are learned behaviors that can be improved through knowledge, practice, feedback, and reflection.

Uncertainty reduction theory

Uncertainty reduction theory comes from the socio psychological perspective. It addresses the basic process of how we gain knowledge about other people. According to the theory people have difficulty with uncertainty, they want to be able to predict behavior and therefore they are motivated to seek more information about people.
The theory argues that strangers, upon meeting, go through certain steps and checkpoints in order to reduce uncertainty about each other and form an idea of whether one likes or dislikes the other. As we communicate we are making plans to accomplish our goals. At highly uncertain moments we become more vigilant and rely more on data available in the situation.

According to the theory we reduce uncertainty in three ways: 1. Passive strategies: observing the person. 2. Active strategies: asking others about the person or looking up info. 3. Interactive strategies: asking questions, self-disclosure.

Social exchange theory

Social exchange theory falls under the symbolic interaction perspective. The theory predicts, explains and describes when and why people reveal certain information about themselves to others. The social exchange theory uses Thibaut and Kelley’s (1959) theory of interdependence. This theory states that “relationships grow, develop, deteriorate, and dissolve as a consequence of an unfolding social-exchange process, which may be conceived as a bartering of rewards and costs both between the partners and between members of the partnership and others” (Huston & Burgess, 1979, p. 4)..
According to the theory human interaction is like an economic transaction, in that you may seek to maximize rewards and minimize costs. You will reveal information about yourself when the cost-rewards ratio is acceptable to you. As long as rewards continue to outweigh costs a couple will become increasingly intimate by sharing more and more personal information. The constructs of this theory include discloser, relational expectations, and perceived rewards or costs in the relationship. Levinger (1965, 1976) discussed marital success as dependent on all the rewarding things within the relationship, such as emotional security and sexual fulfillment..
The underlying assumptions include that humans weigh out rewards versus costs when developing a relationship. The boundary conditions for this theory are that at least two people must be having some type of interaction.
Social exchange also ties in closely with social penetration theory.

Symbolic interaction

Symbolic interaction comes from the socio cultural perspective in that it relies on the creation of shared meaning through interactions with others. This theory focuses on the ways in which people form meaning and structure in society through interactions. People are motivated to act based on the meanings they assign to people, things, and events.
Society
Social acts (which create meaning) involve an initial gesture from one individual, a response to that gesture from another and a result. Self Self-image comes from interaction with others based on others perceptions. A person makes sense of the world and defines their "self" through social interactions. One ’s self is a significant object and like all social objects it is defined through social interactions with others. Ability to use significant symbols makes thinking possible.
In order to understand relational dialectics theory, we must first understand specifically what encompasses the term discourse. Therefore, discourses are "systems of meaning that are uttered whenever intelligible utterances aloud with others or in our heads when we hold internal conversations" Now, taking the term discourse and coupling it with Relational Dialectics Theory, it is assumed that this theory “emerges from the interplay of competing discourses”. This theory also poses the primary assumption that, "Dialogue is simultaneously unity and difference”. Therefore, these assumptions insinuate the concept of creating meaning within ourselves and others when we communicate, however, it also shows how the meanings within our conversations may be interpreted, understood, and of course misunderstood. Hence, the creation and interpretations we find in our communicative messages may create strains in our communicative acts that can be termed as ‘dialectical tensions.’ The well known proverb "opposites attract, but Birds of a feather flock together" exemplifies these dialectical tensions b) To develop communication skill after discussing my tutor and gathering all the knowledge I think I need to do the following things ➢ Need to be more open ➢ Use of more body language ➢ I need to focus more on the starting point of any communication ➢ Watching BBC news everyday for 30 min can help to improve communication skill

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