Organizational Communication Theories and Strategies for Overcoming Barriers to Student Return to Campus

This report evaluates the general theories of organizational communication and identifies the barriers preventing students from returning to campus. It suggests strategies such as cultural differences awareness training and sound proofing to overcome these barriers.

Individual report

ABSTRACT
The report is being commissioned to focusses on the general theories of
organizational communication and will evaluate the barriers which are preventing students
from retuning to campus. Further, it will also outline the strategies, the University of London
should consider for overcoming the barriers. The report has identified that for overcoming the
barriers related to culture and physical, different strategies such as training related to cultural
differences awareness, sound proofing etc. are being suggested.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................1
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF ALL THE QUESTIONS...............................................1
General theories of organizational communication................................................................1
Analysis of the barriers preventing students from returning to campus.................................3
RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................................................5
Strategies for overcoming these barriers................................................................................5
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................6

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Characteristics of bureaucratic theory........................................................................1
Figure 2: Theory X and theory Y...............................................................................................2
Figure 3: The acceptance theory of authority............................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
Talking in relation with the business communication, it is being referred as the
sharing of information amid the people of the firm that helps in bringing commercial
advantages for the firm. Further, it refers to the manner in which the business corporations’
shares data successfully for promoting their products and services to the existing and
potential customers. The current follow-up report focusses on the general theories of
organizational communication and will evaluate the barriers which are preventing students
from retuning to campus. Further, it will also outline the strategies, the University of London
should consider for overcoming the barriers.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF ALL THE QUESTIONS
General theories of organizational communication
Different studies have reflected that communication is the main element to the
existence of the organization. however, it is a complex process which normally includes
generating, exchange, interpretation and storing of message for accomplishing the common
tasks as well as targets within an organization (Barker and Camarta. 2018). There are some
organizational communication theories which will be discussed in the subsequent paragraph:
Bureaucracy
This theory of organizational communication is being developed by German
sociologist Max Weber for exemplifying the form of ideal organization.
Figure 1: Characteristics of bureaucratic theory
(Serpa and Ferreira, 2019).
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In relation with the communication, this theory makes an assumption as hierarchical
approach wherein each and every member of the firm reports to one above him or her until
the communication reaches the top command. Furthermore, as per the theory, it is important
that the ideal business corporation should accept and undertaken an impersonal structure and
must have a clear established rules not only for controlling emotional oriented behaviour of
the people which leads to irrational as well as unpredictable reaction, however for protecting
the usual people from abuse of power by the top-level management (Cygan and Bejster,
2021). It is being regarded as an important theory of organizational communication due to its
usefulness in severely regulatory the behaviour of people and making sure complete chain of
command as well as structure.
Theory X and theory Y
This theory is being developed by Douglas McGregor which directly grounded on the
opposing assumption of the human nature. The theory suggests that people are required to be
motivated by rewards which should be based on their performance along with the
contribution in relation with the accomplishment of the objectives being established by the
firm instead of individual accomplishments. This theory can be used for motivating the
people by opening up communication channels for spurring commitment and innovativeness
to the objectives of the organization. further, this theory comes to the organizational
communication from the school of human resources.
Figure 2: Theory X and theory Y
(Bhasin, 2019).
It states that effective communication as well as motivation are two sides of the coin
and effective communication instead of external control plus threat of punishment is more
likely to encourage people to work in regards with fulfilment of the objectives of the firm.
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Acceptance theory of authority
The acceptance theory of authority was being developed Chester Barnard. This theory
makes an argument that there are three functions which are being served by the organizations
which are informal that is maintenance of feelings of self-respect, communication and the
final one is maintenance of cohesiveness in the formal business corporations (Argyle, 2017).
In addition to this, the author has also offered a bottom-up clarification of authority along
with the process of communication recommending that managers are being regarded as the
inter-connecting centres in a communication system and that accountability has not been
bestowed in those who gave the orders however on the acknowledgement or non-
acknowledgement of accountability through sub-ordinates.
Figure 3: The acceptance theory of authority
(Tanuja, 2022).
This theory is very much crucial to organizational communication because it just not
only focuses on the requirement of acquaint all the members of the company with effective
communication channels, however at the same time also helps in underlining the significance
of formal channels of communication for connecting to all organizational members.
Analysis of the barriers preventing students from returning to campus
In the assessment one, there are different barriers to effective communication have
been determined however the two most important among them are the physical barriers and
cultural barriers. Articulating in relation with the physical barriers, these are being referred as
those barriers which are the resultant of some technical defects in the media being utilized for
communicating or because of some disturbances in the adjacent atmosphere. Most of the
time, noise is being utilized as a blanket term for mentioning the physical barriers usually.
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However, noise is also being regarded as an important factor that augments the physical
barrier throughout the communication process. other than this, it has also been found out that
time along with distance are also regarded as an important physical barrier of effective
communication (Cygan and Bejster, 2021). Due to unavailability or technological issues,
sometimes faster means of communication is not possible. This might result into the
communication gap amid the transmitter and the receiver. In addition to this, the physical
barrier also includes the wrong choice of medium. For illustration, if the teacher makes use of
charts, graphs and PowerPoint presentation for orienting the students to a novel way of
studying, they are compelled to be ill-equipped to deduce any data form such kind of
sophisticated presentations. Underpinning the discussion further, even the surroundings along
with the adverse conditions of weather also influences the means of communication and have
a severe effect on the despatcher as well as receiver of the message. In other words, when
there is a communication taking place amid the two people under extreme weather condition
that is hot or cold, the atmosphere will definitely have a direct impact on the mood and
mental agility of the people which can result into extreme level of stress. For example,
extreme cold weather will persuade laziness and will obstruct the capability of thinking. On
the other hand, extreme hot weather persuades the people hyper active and they become
listless which can result into enormous anxiety and pressure.
Moving further, articulating about the cultural barriers, it is being defined as the
socially transmitted patterns of behaviour, art, belief and institutions and all other products of
thinking and work of human. From this definition, it can be attributed that culture is nothing
but the sum total of customs, thinking, arts, rituals as well as skills of a group of people
which is being passed on from one generation to other (DuBrin, 2017). There is different sub-
culture that takes place within a major culture. Therefore, such kind of different sub-cultural
diversity plays an important role in communication because it has an extensive impact on
both the verbal as well as non-verbal communication and might thus, generates barriers to
effective communication. Students are reluctant go back to the University because of the
cultural differences because they are not in a position to comprehend each other effectively.
The background from which the individual come influences the manners of communication.
In addition to this, there are some informal communication practices which are being
regarded as aggressive in a particular culture. For illustration, speaking and laughing
deafeningly in Japan is being regarded as rude and on the other hand, it is normal in the
western counties. Such kind of differences in culture can result into communication barrier.
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Thus, these are two kinds of barriers which the students are facing and are not willing to
return to campus.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Strategies for overcoming these barriers
There are different strategies that is being executed by University of London for
overcoming the barriers being identified above. Firstly, for the purpose of incapacitating the
physical barriers in effective communication, the University has adopted diversified
communication methods such as messaging applications through which the students can get
the perfect answers to their queries. In addition to this, the layout of the classroom has also
been changed that renders effective communication amid all the students in the class. Other
than this, for reducing disturbances and noises, the university has insulated the classrooms
from sound sounds. Sound proofing was done as it is being regarded as an important sub-
section of elimination of noise (Argyle, 2017). Additionally for avoiding any technological
issues in the communication media and technologies, regular checking of devices was being
also being initiated for any sort of faults and disturbances. Secondly, in order to overcome the
cultural barriers in effective communication, the University has created a centralized
communication hub which can be accessible in the campus. Further, training has also been
arranged by the university for having cultural differences awareness among all the students
and teachers. Through this, students will talk in regards with the particular examples and will
understand other’s culture.
CONCLUSION
Thus, from the above evaluation, it can be concluded that communication plays a
major role in each and every aspect as it helps in sharing of information. The report has
determined different theories of communication and has also analysed the barriers such as
physical and cultural being faced by the students of University of London. Different
strategies such as training related to cultural differences awareness, sound proofing etc. are
being suggested for overcoming these barriers.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Argyle, M., 2017. Social Interaction: Process and Products. 2nded. Routledge.
Barker, R.T. and Camarta, M.R., 2018. The role of communication in creating and
maintaining a learning organization: Preconditions, indicators, and disciplines. Journal
of Business Communication. 25(4). pp.443-467.
Cygan, H. and Bejster, M., 2021. From the classroom to the virtual world: Faculty response
to COVID-19. Journal of Nursing Education. 60(9). pp.509-512.
DuBrin, A.J., 2017. Human relations for career and personal success: Concepts, applications,
and skills. 9thed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Jacobi, L., 2018. What motivates students in the online communication classroom? An
exploration of self-determination theory. Journal of Educators Online. 15(2).
Serpa, S. and Ferreira, C., 2019. The Concept of Bureaucracy by Max Weber. International
Journal of Social Science Studies. 7. p.12.
Online references
Bhasin, H., 2019. Theory X and theory Y of Management: Meaning, Differences &
Application. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.marketing91.com/theory-x-
and-theory-y/>. [Accessed on 30thJune 2022].
Tanuja, A., 2022. Top 4 Theories of Authority | Organisation. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/notes/management-notes/authority/top-4-
theories-of-authority-organisation/4955>. [Accessed on 30thJune 2022].
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