Organizational Communication and Culture - Research Paper Example

During this meeting, the manager presented a revamp plan that involved a higher focus on online advertising and less focus on traditional modes of advertising. Each member of the key staff was assigned with specific tasks by the manager. The session did not have any scope for discussion or providing suggestions as the manager did not encourage it. Shortly, the manager sent out an email communication to the rest of the department informing them about the new changes and revamp plans. However, the email communication did not mention anything about employee’s questions or suggestions either.

Instead, the specific tasks for each team, along with the desirable goals as well as deadlines, were assigned to them. In such a situation, the decision has left me and the rest of the employees confused and frustrated as to why the changes were made. Lack of communication between upper management and the employees during a change is a common phenomenon in most organizations (Frahm & Brown, 2007). The problem in this case occurs because there was no employee involvement in the decision making process which, in turn, results in employees feeling confused and unvalued.

In this case, employees were not encouraged to get involved in the company as well as the marketing department’s strategic decisions; instead, they were assigned with tasks without the opportunity of discussion or consultation. The specific communication problem mentioned above can be attributed to the work culture of many Asian companies. According to Hofstede, countries such as Japan and China are particularly high in power distance, which means that subordinates in organizations that are managed by leaders from those countries are not encouraged to question the decision of their authorities for fear of negative consequences or conflicts (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2009).