Case Studies; Organizational Communication and Culture
INSTRUCTIONS:
Assignment #3 – Case Study Portfolio
Assignment Instructions
The case study should be comprised of two parts:
Summarize
the case (approx. one-third of the case study): Briefly describe a specific
organizational communication incident or challenge, and provide some sense of
the larger organizational context in which it occurred. If the case is based on
an event discovered through secondary research, please cite the original story.
If drawing on personal experience, please protect the privacy of those involved
by anonymizing the name of the organization and those involved; use descriptors
instead (e.g., a national
financial institution, or the assistant manager). Note that you are not expected to undertake primary research for this assignment.
Assignment Checklist
•
How clearly is the communication problem, and its context, defined?
•
How deeply is the communication
problem analyzed? What methods are used to analyze the problem or challenge?
•
Are proposed solutions logical and well argued? Are they supported by
research?
•
Is the case study clear, concise, coherent, and well organized?
•
Are sentences well written and understandable? Are the mechanics of
grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage
correct?
SOLUTION:
Case Studies: Organizational Communication and Culture
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Case Studies:
Organizational Communication and Culture
Air Canada
Section 1:
Background Information
Air Canada is Canada’s flag carrier and a leader in
the international air transportation market. Air Canada (2019) indicates that
it operates in over 200 global destinations where it provides passenger and
cargo services. This airline operates internationally, which equips it with
competitive advantage.
Section 2:
Challenge
The biggest challenge of Canada’s
flag carrier is ineffective channels of communication. This weakness underlines
the unhealthy organizational culture where information flows downward rather
than upward and horizontally (Sorensen, 2012; Wicker & Breuer, 2013). Poor
communication in an organization causes hostilities because employees feel that
the management ignores their grievances and opinions.
Section 3:
Potential Solutions
a)
Restructure
internal communication processes. The company can solve the challenge by
adopting a balance between bottom-up and top-down communication approach. For
example, American Airlines (2019) uses this method to ensure interaction with
its employees during goals setting and decision-making. This approach promotes
internal business conversations because the airline listens to its staff
members (American Airlines, 2019). The success of this strategy relies on
effective communication infrastructure.
b)
Implement an
open-door policy. Air
Canada should reduce obstacles between employees and management. For example,
American Airlines (2019) uses open-door policy for adequate flow of information
and notes that this approach allows its employees to feel comfortable, raise
issues on company operations, and enhance operational safety. Hence, Air Canada
can leverage open-door policy to create a more conducive working environment.
c)
Rearrange office
layout. Air
Canada can mitigate communication breakdown by changing the office set-up to
encourage employee collaboration. Faced with the same challenges, American
Airlines adopted open-space office and, as a result, improved workplace
communication between the management and employees. This type of office plan
makes the administration approachable because it does not separate employees
(American Airlines, 2019). However, this style also has some weaknesses. In
particular, open-office design reduces office security due to lack of lockable
doors. Though, despite a limitation in terms of reduced security, such office
layout will promote interaction between workers in Air Canada.
Solution 4:...
