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 Managerial Communication Corporate Communication Collection

BELL • MARTIN
THE BUSINESS
EXPERT PRESS for Organizational Development Debbie D. DuFrene, Editor
DIGITAL LIBRARIES Reginald L. Bell • Jeanette S. Martin
EBOOKS FOR Managerial Communication for Organizational Development provides
BUSINESS STUDENTS clarity for top, middle, and frontline managers on paramount
Curriculum-oriented, born-
digital books for advanced
business students, written
communication issues. It helps them anticipate and respond to
communication challenges managers face daily.
Challenges occur rapidly and with no warning. A business
Managerial
by academic thought
leaders who translate real-
world business experience
can be destroyed by media manipulations of public perceptions.
Knowing what to do, what to say, and what not to say is para- Communication
for Organizational
mount in dealing with complex cultural issues faced by today’s
into course readings and

MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION FOR ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

managers. Developing effective communication strategies,
reference materials for internally and externally, will keep organizations viable. This
students expecting to tackle

Development
book is a field manual for managers at any organizational level.
management and leadership
challenges during their Reginald L. Bell is a professor of management in the College of
professional careers. Business at Prairie View A&M University. He received his PhD in
business education from the University of Missouri at Colum-
POLICIES BUILT bia. He has several dozen articles published in peer-reviewed
BY LIBRARIANS journals and proceedings and is a frequent contributor to
• Unlimited simultaneous Supervision. He serves as an ad hoc reviewer for the Internation-
usage al Journal of Business Communication and the Journal of Business
• Unrestricted downloading and Technical Communication; he serves on the editorial review
and printing board for the Business and Professional Communication Quarterly.
• Perpetual access for a His research has also appeared in the Business and Professional
one-time fee Communication Quarterly, International Journal of Business Com-
• No platform or munication, Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning
maintenance fees Objects, and several more.
• Free MARC records
• No license to execute Jeanette S. Martin is a professor emeritus in the School of Busi-
ness at University of Mississippi. She received her EdD in busi-
The Digital Libraries are a
comprehensive, cost-effective
ness education from the University of Memphis. Previously,
she was a reviewer and associate editor for Journal of Business
Reginald L. Bell
way to deliver practical
treatments of important
Communication and reviewer for the International Association of
Intercultural Relations. Her research has appeared in the Jour-
Jeanette S. Martin
business issues to every
nal of Education for Business, Journal of Business Communication,
student and faculty member.
Management Communication Quarterly, and others. She has pub-
lished three books, namely, Global Business Etiquette, The Essential
Guide to Business Etiquette, and Passport to Success; a chapter in
Handbook of Ethnic Conflict; and a textbook Intercultural Business
For further information, a
Communication.
free trial, or to order, contact:
[email protected]
Corporate Communication Collection
www.businessexpertpress.com/librarians
Debbie D. DuFrene, Editor
Managerial
Communication
for Organizational
Development
Managerial
Communication
for Organizational
Development

Reginald L. Bell
Jeanette S. Martin
Managerial Communication for Organizational Development
Copyright © Business Expert Press, LLC, 2019.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for
brief quotations, not to exceed 250 words, without the prior permission
of the publisher.

First published in 2019 by

Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com

ISBN- 978-1-94784-331-8
ISBN- 978-1-94784-332-5

Business Expert Press Corporate Communication Collection

Collection ISSN: 2156-8162 (print)

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Cover and interior design by S4Carlisle Publishing Services Private Ltd.,

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First edition: 2019

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Printed in the United States of America.

 Dedication
To our spouses, immediate family members, and students:
Our heartfelt thanks to our families for allowing
unfettered time on weekends to work on
the book and for your patient support.
We are grateful to our students for their input
on ideas and topics that were necessary
inclusions for this second edition.

—Reginald and Jeanette

 Abstract
Managerial Communication for Organizational Development ­offers a func-
tions approach to managerial communication as well as ­explores what the
communication managers actually do in business across the planning,
organizing, leading, and controlling functions. The Windows into Prac-
tical Reality add contemporary information pertinent to key concepts in
the chapters. Focusing on theory and application that will help managers
and future managers understand the practices of management communi-
cation, this book combines ideas from industry experts, popular culture,
news events, and academic articles and books written by leading scholars.
The chapters will help any manager realize the full capacity of its organiz-
ational objectives, both internally and externally. Organizational develop-
ment is the relationships built by effective managerial communication.
All of the levels of communication (intrapersonal, interpersonal,
group, organizational, and intercultural) play a role in managerial com-
munication and are discussed thoroughly. The top, middle, and frontline
communications in which managers engage are also addressed. Expound-
ing on theories of communication, the authors relate them to the theo-
ries of management—such as organizational culture and climate, equity
theory, leadership and power, technology in communication, communi-
cation process model, ethics, and conflict resolution. These are the knowl-
edges that are invaluable to management.

Keywords
change; climate; coaching; commitment; conflict resolution; corporate
social responsibilities; culture; customer service; cyber theft; delegation;
empowerment/engagement; equity theory; ethics; expectancy theory;
feedback; financial reporting; hierarchies; incivility; leadership; negoti-
ating; organizational development; performance; scientific management;
social justice warrior; stakeholders; strategic planning/career develop-
ment; teams; technical core; technology; training/workplace learning;
trust; value chain
 Contents
Preface...................................................................................................xi
Acknowledgments..................................................................................xiii
Chapter 1 The Nature of Managerial Communication........................1
Chapter 2 The Managerial Communication Process.........................25
Chapter 3 Power, Climate, and Culture............................................49
Chapter 4 Ethical Issues in Management Communication................71
Chapter 5 Conflict Resolution..........................................................97
Chapter 6 Communication Technology..........................................119

References............................................................................................137
About the Authors................................................................................145
Index..................................................................................................147
 Preface

Purpose
Managerial Communication for Organizational Development offers a
unique functions approach to managerial communication. Readers will
be engaged by a focus on theory and application that will help man-
agers and future managers understand the practices of management com-
munication. Managerial Communication for Organizational Development
combines ideas from industry experts, popular culture, news events, and
academic articles and books written by leading scholars. It merges popu-
lar communication theories with broadly accepted management theories
to provide practical solutions to managerial problems that occur across
the functional areas and tiers of management. After reading Manager-
ial ­Communication for Organizational Development managers will have a
much better insight about how to handle a plethora of business problems
confronting today’s manager.

Contents
The book includes six chapters emphasizing the essentials of managerial
communications for top, middle, and frontline managers engaged in the
four functional areas of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
The book is especially useful for managers and mid-career working
adults enrolled in MBA programs, as there are many examples to which
they can relate. The materials will also serve as guideposts for professors
doing research and teaching in the managerial communications field.
Professors with little or no industry experience will find the chapters’ con-
tents replete with workplace examples. Professionals and future managers
will find the contents of the book engaging and refreshing due to the
real-world approach. Currently, there is a gap between academic research
and business practice linking managerial problems to communications
solutions. This book sheds light on particular techniques of management
xii PREFACE

communication as they are used by people engaged in managing others

at each level of the organization and across the various functional areas.

Managerial Communication for Organizational

Development
Instructor’s Manual

PowerPoint (PPT) slides for each chapter are included, which highlight
the concepts of each chapter. The PPT is accessible from Business Expert
Press by request from persons who will use the book for teaching purposes.
In addition, the test questions are also available from Business Expert
Press. Test items include structured-response and essay items. Questions
and cases assessing mental abilities at the higher levels of the cognitive
domain (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels) are emphasized.

Reginald L. Bell, PhD

Jeanette S. Martin, EdD

 Acknowledgments
Thanks to Our Editor
We appreciate the honest and accurate feedback received from Debbie
DuFrene, our editor, who helped us tremendously with our book. The
features, figures, tables, charts, and graphs were all made much better
because of Debbie’s meaningful comments; her untiring efforts were es-
sential in shaping this book. We appreciate her surgical pen and feel that
her insistence on points of view, technical details, and painstaking adher-
ence to specificity has made this book a useful tool in preparing pro-
fessionals to resolve management problems that require well-developed
communication skills. She ensured that balance was adhered to with the
presentation of representative views on both sides of controversial issues,
especially in the Windows into Practical Reality features in each chapter.
We also appreciate the efforts of others who reviewed the book’s chapters
and materials.
 CHAPTER 1

The Nature of Managerial

Communication

Objectives
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
1. explain how management and communication form managerial
communication;
2. explain how managers use managerial communication to motivate;
3. explain the need for communication policies;
4. identify the processes of group or team communication in
traditional and virtual environments.

Introduction
Your success as a manager depends on your ability to communicate ef-
fectively. In today’s global economy, that is not easy because technology
is producing more information, complicating the way in which people
from different countries and cultures communicate, as well as how they
communicate with people with various business specialties. The ability to
sift through the information, cultures, and disciplines is time-consuming,
and the amount of information being processed is but one of many exist-
ing barriers to communication. This book is a guidepost through those
barriers that will help you focus your managerial communication (MC)
to make your organization as efficient as possible.
As a manager, you need strong communication competency to work with
diverse groups of people in an ever-changing global work world. It takes a great
deal of skill to both manage and communicate well. Understanding how the
disciplines of management and communication have come together to form
MC will help you understand the importance of MC in the organization.
2 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION—ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Origins of Managerial Communication

When people think of management, they think of it as something people
do in an organization to get things done. Management is the “act or art of
managing: the conducting or supervising of something (as a business)” or
“the judicious use of a means to accomplish an end” (Merriam-Webster’s
online 2014). When people think of communication, they think of mes-
sage exchanges between a source and a receiver. The basic definition of
communication is “to make commonly understood.” Therefore, MC is the
use of management and communication skills to make information com-
monly understood in order to accomplish organizational goals.
The fields of management and communication continue to evolve
through scientific investigation. The two fields were a fledgling collection
of ideas in the 1900s. Compared with the more ancient fields, such as
philosophy or mathematics, management and communication are still
infant fields of study. However, management and communication have
advanced through scientific investigation.

Management

The management theories we use today have developed over time. Manage-
ment scholars talk about four managerial functions, and textbooks define
management generically as the process of planning, organizing, leading,
and controlling to achieve the stated goals by using resources judiciously.
The field of management employs the classical approaches, which include
perspectives on scientific management principles, administrative man-
agement, bureaucratic management, behaviorism, human relations, and
so on. Contemporary approaches include perspectives on quality circles,
organizational behavior, quantitative analysis, and contingency theories.
The classical perspective, a more pessimistic managerial view, pioneered
by Frederick W. Taylor shown in the photo at the
bottom left of this page, is often referred to as Theory
X, where managers felt their subordinates had noth-
ing to offer the company except their manual labors.
The behavioral perspective, a more optimistic mana-
gerial view, is referred to as Theory Y, where managers
began to realize that the workers could be a source of
 The Nature of Managerial Communication 3

assistance if encouraged to do so. The human relations

perspective, put forth by William Ouchi and referred
to as Theory Z, involved the quality circle approach to
managing, teaching American businesses to adapt to the
art of Japanese management styles. Theory Z ­focused on
increasing employee loyalty to the company by provid-
ing a job for life with a strong focus on the well-being
of the employee, both on and off the job. According to Ouchi (1981),
Theory Z management tends to promote stable employment, high produc-
tivity, and high employee morale and satisfaction through his ­examination
of the evolving culture of “Z” people in society. Management s­cholars
agree that ­ contributions by people such as Max Weber, Henri Fayol
(shown in the photo at the top right of this page), ­Frederick W. ­Taylor,
­Chester I. Barnard, Joan ­Woodward, Mary Parker F ­ ollett,
­Herbert Simon (shown in the photo at the bottom right
of this paragraph), Elton Mayo, and W. Edwards Deming
helped to shape the field of management. In fact, their
books are considered by many to be the most influential
management books of the twentieth century (Bedeian
and Wren 2001). Frederick W. Taylor’s work revolution-
ized early American industrial organizations, leading to
the scientific management approach. Elton Mayo’s and
Fritz ­Roethlisberger’s work at the ­Hawthorne plant in
­Illinois is largely responsible for shaping managers’ un-
derstanding of the direct e­ ffect that social interaction has
on productivity in the workforce, thus ushering in the
human relations movement. Edward Deming’s research
on quality circles and teams further revolutionized man-
agement theory. The field of management evolved largely
from the ideas of these people.

Communication

Communication studies grew out of the field of management studies.

The National Communication Association defines communication as “a
group of instructional programs that focus on how messages in various
media are produced, used, and interpreted within and across different
4 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION—ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

contexts, channels, and cultures, and that prepare

individuals to apply communication knowledge and
skills professionally” (Morreale and Backlund 2002,
p. 7). Peter F. Drucker (1954), shown in the photo
at the top left of this page, argued that management
was the ­effective use of motivation and communica-
tion, one of five basic tasks of the manager.
Moreover, it was in the 1950s that communication studies began to
concentrate on an individual’s relations with other individuals (Morreale
and Backlund 2002). Along with management studies, communication
studies revealed evidence that workers could help improve operations
when their ideas were considered. Communication
studies became more relationship oriented. Mary
Parker ­Follett (shown in the photo at the left) was
a management philosopher, whose contributions
helped business leaders recognize the importance of
effective communication of human beings within the
organization. What is clear about her emphasis on
motivation and interpersonal communication skills
is that they are predicated on effective management. She is also credited
with offering the following sage advice: “Management is the art of getting
things done through people.” Follett’s writings are featured with com-
mentary in the 1995 Harvard Business School Press book, Follett: Prophet
of Management.
As the study of the fields of management and communication evolved
concurrently, practitioners became increasingly aware that communication
is an essential competency for managers and their subordinates.

Managerial Communication

Management and communications theories go hand in hand at all levels of

the organization: top, middle, and frontline. M­ orreale, Rubin, and Jones
(1998) listed the study of relationship management as part of interper-
sonal and group communication skills. Managers must control conflict,
allow others to express different views, know how to effectively be assertive,
 The Nature of Managerial Communication 5

analyze situations, and exchange information. Managers who practice

these skills successfully are effective communicators. The role of effective
MC in the workplace is to help the firm succeed.

The Role of Managerial Communication

Managers play many complex roles in the workplace: mind reader, detec-
tive, analyst, pundit, and fortune-teller. But managers are only human,
and they need two-way communication to truly know what is happening
in their work worlds. A manager’s worst communication error is to as-
sume that everyone has and understands the information that has been
conveyed. On the flip side, as any help wanted advertisement will prove,
a manager’s most important competence—and the one most executives
look for in college graduates—is the ability to communicate. Using writ-
ing, speaking, listening, and nonverbal skills effectively to translate orga-
nizational ideas into productive worker actions contributes directly to a
healthy bottom line.
A successful communication is a message that is understood in the
way that the sender intended and leaves the sender and receiver on good
terms. These criteria for successful communication are consistent with
Barnard’s (1968) views on coordinated systems of organizational control
and the most important function of the executive (Zuboff 1988). In this
role, managers ensure the downward, horizontal, and upward exchange
of information, and transmission of meaning through informal or formal
channels that enable the achievement of the goal (Bell and Martin 2008).
Effective MC is imperative to achieving the mission of any company,
and no manager can succeed in the classic management functions of plan-
ning, organizing, leading, and controlling without it. By communicating
effectively at all levels—top, middle, and on the front line, as well as
across internal boundaries and interculturally—a manager can help the
organization exert a positive influence on the community in which it is
located and be as profitable as possible for its owners.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, communication theorists wrote
articles that defined the boundaries of several professional disciplines in
the field of communication (Shelby 1993). For the purposes of scientific
6 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION—ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

investigation in professional communication, the discipline is often di-

vided into four areas: organizational, business, corporate, and MCs. These
areas are not exactly mutually exclusive (managers can be engaged in two
or more of these types of communication simultaneously), but they are
distinct enough to be considered separate disciplines within the field.

Four Types of Workplace Communication

Organizational communication is the study of how in a complex,

system-oriented environment people send and receive information within
the organization, and the effect that it has on organizational structure.
The type of communication focused on at the organizational level would
include improving coordinated systems of control.
Business communication focuses on studying the basic use of both writ-
ten and oral skills. For example, business communication focuses on de-
veloping the fundamental concepts of written communication principles,
such as grammar, unity, emphasis, coherence, construction of standard
documents used in a business environment—that is, bad news and good
news messages—progress reports, reprimands, and job search skills such
as resumes and employment application letters. Business communication
overlaps with managerial and corporate communication in that these
documents are what form the history of the corporation.
Corporate communication focuses on creating a desired world reputa-
tion and image of the organization. For example, the duties of a director
of corporate communications would include the task of overseeing the
writing of the company’s external documents such as the annual report.
MC merges business communication, organizational communication,
corporate communication, and management. Figure 1.1 illustrates how
management and the other three areas of communication are interdepen-
dent, with MC emerging as the main communication in the workplace.
MC combines the management and communication theories in the
workplace to help managers function as planners, organizers, leaders, and
controllers of a company’s limited resources in order to achieve the stated
goals. In fact, it is impossible for any manager to function without MC at
any level of management. Take a moment and try to plan, organize, lead,
or control a project without using communication on some level.
 The Nature of Managerial Communication 7

Management

Managerial
communication
Merging of business
Organizational communication, Business
communication organizational communication
communiction, corporate
communication, and
management

Corporate
communication

Figure 1.1 Managerial communication overlap

Communicate to Motivate
Figure 1.2 illustrates the Communicate to Motivate Model (CMM) and its
constituent parts. Planning sets up a blueprint for future actions needed to
achieve agreed-upon goals. Organizing determines who will do what and
why. Leading occurs when top managers share their vision of the future
and then shape organizational culture to achieve that vision. Controlling
systematically gauges the organization’s actual performance against the es-
tablished plans and goals and calibrates adjustments in areas of weakness.
Along with resources, managers use their functions to attain the goals
of the organization. Imagine trying to accomplish any of these functions
without goal-directed communication. Froschheiser (2008) argues that
business leaders need to preach “communication, communication, com-
munication” (p. 9). Every employee should know the company’s goals.
8 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION—ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Motivate

Managerial Managerial
functions: planning, Achieve resources: material,
organizing, leading, your stated goals financial,
and controlling informational, and
human

Communicate

Figure 1.2 Communicate to motivate model—CMM

No confusion. No exceptions. Communication is the “golden thread”

tying all the management functions together. For example, you can con-
ceive of a brilliant plan; however, successful interpersonal communication
is necessary to implement it. To conceive a plan is to communicate on an
intrapersonal level. In fact, most plans that failed did so somewhere in the
communication process.
Geneen, a former ITT executive, wrote that to “manage means to
get something done, to accomplish something that you, or the team
of managers, set out to do, which presumably is worthy of your ef-
fort” (Geneen and Moscow 1984, p. 105). What is implicit in all the
earlier definitions is that managers work for owners, especially in profit-
seeking enterprises. Managers successfully operate businesses for owners
to achieve their goals, so as to dominate the market as the number one
recognized brand. Whether owners bear the risk of failure or enjoy the
safety of success, employees will expect them to provide the resources
for them to do their jobs. Thus, we could say that the real work of a
manager is to help owners judiciously utilize resources to accomplish
the owners’ goals. (Nonprofit organizations may have benefactors and
donors instead of owners, while government organizations have stake-
holders such as voters and tax payers.) This managerial task requires
motivating and communicating with employees.
 The Nature of Managerial Communication 9

Employees are the organization’s most important resource because

only human resources can be developed and improved in a way that
makes them more productive (Drucker 1954). No nonhuman resource
is capable of being the boss! Therefore, managers must always strive to
continually improve their ability to motivate their employees. In manage-
ment terms, motivating an employee means getting him or her to do a
good job independently with little help.
Motivation can be done with a stick (threat, punishment) or with a
carrot (incentive, reward). The carrot approach is preferred for building
an organization of employees who take initiative and are proactive in
helping achieve the stated goals. Employees work better when rewarded
for good work. Because motivation is a large part of the leadership func-
tion, motivation theories are nearly always included in the prominent
part of management textbooks. Window into Practical Reality 1.1 shows
a good example of a manager getting things done through people using
her interpersonal communication skills.

Window into Practical Reality 1.1

Getting Things Done Through People
George Stanford and his wife Jennifer worked in different careers for
25 years, George as an accountant and Jennifer as a manager for several
large retail discount chains. They had two children, Lucinda and Ryan,
19 and 17, respectively. Though things were going well for the couple,
Jennifer was not content with her career and decided to do something
about it. George and Jennifer agreed that they would take the plunge
and use $200,000 of their retirement and other savings, nearly a third
of their total assets, to purchase a restaurant franchise. They decided
on a gourmet burger and fries established chain that showed good
bottom-line numbers and a rapid rate of return in a short time.
Things went well in the first year, with sales revenues exceeding
$1.5 million and netting the couple $180,000 in before taxes income.
However, the second year, Jennifer, who agreed to put full-time ef-
fort into the business, noticed that the revenues had started to decline
30 percent and that none of the factors that would suggest a decline in
10 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION—ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

revenues were present, such as foot traffic or major competition emerg-

ing in the immediate surrounding metropolitan area. The products
she ordered through the franchisor had not declined in quality either.
Jennifer, having read a bit while completing her bachelor’s degree in
management from a major university in the Phoenix area, remembered
Mary Parker Follett as an exemplar in management theory, who had
recognized that a key to getting people to do the things you would
have them do is keeping them motivated.
What did Jennifer do to solve her problem?
Jennifer knew that she could not directly ask her employees ques-
tions about their behavior because they would give her a socially desir-
able response. In other words, they would tell her what they thought she
wanted to hear. Jennifer also suspected that unmotivated employees
were the cause of her rapidly diminishing bottom line. She therefore
hired a few people from her church whom she trusted to visit her
establishment randomly for about a month. Their responses did not
surprise her. However, she was a bit disappointed that some of the
long-term employees did not appear to respect the customers, deliber-
ately mistook orders, and were a bit rude to the loyal customers who
frequented the place. Using the reports from the spies, Jennifer was
able to verify this unprofessional employee behavior by viewing the
surveillance videos at those times.
Rather than terminating the employment of the long-term em-
ployees, who had earlier been very loyal to her franchise, Jennifer cre-
ated an incentive plan that would motivate them to do the right thing,
whether she was in the restaurant or not. She used her interpersonal
communication skills by asking each employee individually and pri-
vately about his or her goals and aspirations for the future. Once she
learned about these things, she integrated her employees’ aspirations
with her incentives program. Some employees needed more immedi-
ate things, such as a better car or more money for child-care expenses.
These employees were motivated to behave in a way that would make
them eligible to receive monetary bonuses, up to $1,000 annually.
Others were motivated to earn points, making them eligible for the
new George & Jennifer Stanford Scholarship assistance program that
 The Nature of Managerial Communication 11

could contribute up to $2,500 a year toward an employee’s college

tuition. She then retrained all her employees on upselling techniques,
courteousness, and respect for customers. They knew clearly now what
Jennifer expected them to do, and they knew that Jennifer knew what
they wanted from her.
Needless to say, with feedback from the people doing the work and
integrating their needs and desires into the incentives for doing good
productive work, Jennifer was able to stave off disaster and recover the
revenues she had lost in the previous year.

Jennifer figured out how to help her frontline employees plan and
control the amount of their paychecks by doing something extra, such as
upselling to customers (suggesting other items on the menu prior to clos-
ing the sale). She learned that few of her employees saw their jobs with
her franchise as a career; thus, she used their own ambitions as a means
to an end. For her employees who were enrolled in college, she was able
to make college more affordable, as long as they treated her business and
customers as they should be treated, with respect and courteousness.
Although managers must build a strong working relationship with
employees, this should not be confused with building friendships, be-
cause that is not the goal of effective communication. A manager needs
to do his or her job without bias or favoritism. Holding back constructive
criticism on the basis of friendship is a sign of a weak manager.
Motivating a football player on a pro-team or motivating a food
worker at McDonald’s is accomplished by communicating with the em-
ployees what is expected of them; what their position does for the firm,
the team, the customer, and for the employee; and by using positive re-
inforcement—praising an employee for a job well done, or passing along
a thank you for caring about the customer. The manager is motivating
the employee and molding the employee into the type of team player the
manager wants in order to have a successful organization. Since many of
us watch collegiate or professional sports, or eat at fast-food restaurants,
we can quickly identify the teams that seem to run like a machine and
the ones that are very disjointed. Sports fans may avoid watching their
favorite team play when they are not winning. While lack of talent could
12 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION—ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

be to blame, the problem also could be that they are not being motivated
properly and are not being communicated with in such a way that they
are motivated to win. Likewise, most people have their favorite fast-food
restaurants that they revisit because of the service. A manager builds em-
ployee customer service skills and the loyalty of the customer through
effective planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Managerial Communication by Management Tier

We can use MC theories to explain communication responsibility across

the three tiers of management (top, middle, and frontline). Figure 1.3
shows who starts the communications process and who carries out the
directions. At the strategic level, top management deals with conceptual
problems and direction-setting for the organization. At the tactical level,
middle managers direct the human elements of the organization. At the
operational level, the frontline managers use their technical skills on be-
half of the organization.

Strategic level
Top decision making:
management: CEOs, CFOs, CIOs
Facilitative managers at this
level produce or initiate the
objectives and core values to
be carried throughout all other
levels of management
(Facilitators who use mostly
Tactical level decision conceptual skills)
making: directors,
general managers
Middle
management:
At this level managers translate what
executives want communicated Operational level
throughout the organization decision making: sales
(translators who use mostly human force, supervisors,
skills) marketers, foremen

Frontline
management:
Directive managers at this level carry out communication
directly to employees
(supervisors who use mostly technical skills)

Figure 1.3 Managerial communication decision making by tier

 The Nature of Managerial Communication 13

While in theory the tiers make sense, the study by Harcourt, R

­ icherson,
and Wattier (1991) of 871 U.S. middle managers’ communication prac-
tices showed information to be moving in and through middle manag-
ers as opposed to out from them. The middle managers did not always
communicate the information that was pertinent to the subordinates. In
addition, Brownell (1990) provides evidence of middle managers’ listen-
ing skills and how they rated themselves as listeners in the hospitality
industry. While they rated themselves as good listeners, their subordinates
did not. Lawler, Porter, and Tennenbaum (1968) surveyed 105 manag-
ers who evaluated themselves to be higher on self-initiated interactions
than non-managers and subordinates. A different study found that 105
managers evaluated self-initiated interactions with other managers higher
than those initiated by subordinates or nonmanagers. As the studies show,
most managers have a lot of work to do in using communication to mo-
tivate and help subordinates do their jobs.
Information changes as it progresses through levels of management;
therefore, the accuracy of information should always be questioned.
Channels will be discussed in the next chapter, a subject that is impor-
tant to show how top management communicates goals throughout the
company.
One typical leading or motivating function of frontline management
is reprimanding an employee who is tardy. Most frontline managers will
follow a prescribed system of progressive disciplinary actions—verbal
warning, first written warning, second written warning, and dismissal—
to reinforce compliance and gain commitment (Frankel and Otazo
1992). What different kinds of communication could result? To what
degree does an employee’s frequency of communication with an immedi-
ate supervisor change pre- and postreprimand? Does the employee openly
complain about the supervisor, regardless of whether the reprimand was
fair and accurate? Does his or her productivity change? How does the su-
pervisor’s choice of words affect employee behavior in the short and long
term? Answers to testable questions like these add to the resources that
management research can provide to practitioners. All of these questions
are important.
After a frontline manager has reprimanded an employee, the most im-
portant question is: “What to do in order to motivate the employee again
14 MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION—ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

after the reprimand?” A reprimand should not cause an employee to lose

his or her motivation. In fact, Taylor, Fieldman, and Lahlou (2005) found
that blood pressure was significantly higher when recipients were reading
a threateningly worded reprimand when compared with a nonthreaten-
ingly worded reprimand.
In the past, MC was oriented more toward practicing managers who
needed to understand communication theory from a more pragmatic
perspective than toward the development of the basic skills, which are
normally the focus of business communication. Therefore, a background
in management principles and basic communication skills developed
in an undergraduate business communication course are helpful to the
manager.
Communication competency is the use by a manager of a combina-
tion of knowledge, skill, behaviors, and attitudes. If a manager expects
to make good decisions, he or she must understand the structure of the
organization. The manager must be able to plan the goals within the or-
ganization for which he or she is responsible. The manager must then lead
teams to perform tasks that will reach the stated goals of the organization
and the subunit.
Finally, the manager must have a way to evaluate the performance
and correct any shortcomings. One way of doing this is to develop a
routine that includes frequent, in-depth discussions about performance
with employees. Asking specific questions to help the employee along
can be important. Such questions might include: What have you accom-
plished? How did you measure accomplishments? What do you want to
accomplish in the next few months? What measurements might you use
for those accomplishments? What has to be done? And, how can I help?
Being a great manager at any level requires competency in many areas:
communication, planning and administration, teamwork, strategic ac-
tion, global awareness, and self-management. Communication compe-
tency includes informal and formal communication and the ability to
negotiate. Planning and administration competency involves the ability
to gather information, analyze it, and develop a solution to a problem. It
also includes the ability to use time management, to be able to plan and
organize multiple projects, and to do so within the budget.
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