Evaluating Vertical Communication in Organizations: A Case Study

This dissertation investigates the significance of vertical communication in resolving information conflicts within a business organization, specifically focusing on a case study of a company operating in the Ajman Free Trade Zone. The research begins by establishing the context of the modern capitalist market and the crucial role of effective communication, both horizontal and vertical, in organizational success. It highlights the problem statement concerning the impact of conflicts on employee performance and the need to understand the role of vertical communication in addressing these issues. The study aims to analyze the importance of vertical communication and its impact on conflict resolution, with specific objectives including understanding the importance of vertical communication, analyzing information conflicts, evaluating the role of vertical communication, and providing recommendations for improvement. The research employs a positivist philosophy and a deductive approach, utilizing secondary sources for a comprehensive literature review. The dissertation's structure includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, data analysis, and a concluding chapter with recommendations. The literature review explores the meaning and types of vertical communication, including downward and upward communication channels. The study aims to provide insights into how vertical communication influences organizational efficiency and employee performance, emphasizing the role of management in maintaining a clear vision and effective communication strategies.

Running head: DISSERTATION
To evaluate importance of vertical communication in resolving information conflicts
within an organisation: A Case Study on X in Ajman Free Trade Zone
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The modern economic market has been structured along the lines of capitalism form of
market structure (Daft 2015). Such a form of economic market is characterised by a unique set of
features. The main feature of the capitalist form of market structure is that the different business
organizations are made to compete with each other in order to stabilize their position in the
market (Song et al. 2015). This leads to the situation whereby each business firm is on the look
out to maintain their dominance in the market. In order to do this, they have to ensure that their
firms are functioning in an efficient manner whereby the needs and desires of their targeted
population is fulfilled to their true potential level (Young and Ghoshal 2016.). For this, there is a
need on the part of the employees and the management of the different business firms to
guarantee a strong system of communication amongst all the people of the business
organizations so that the work can be executed in an effective manner.
Often times it is observed that within a business organization, there is a need for
communication for the efficient functioning of the different constituent units within the firm
(Aiello et al. 2018). Communication can within an organization takes place at two levels. One is
horizontal communication whereby people belonging to the same level converse with each other.
Such a kind of communication is more common in any business organization. Horizontal
communication takes place amongst employees belonging to the same rank (Nederhand, Bekkers
and Voorberg 2016). They ask help from each other and provide support to each other so that
their share of work is completed in an efficient manner. This is needed as the functioning of the
organization is dependent upon the work done by the team of such employees. The other kind of
communication that exists is known as vertical communication. Vertical communication takes
place between the superiors and the junior employees (White et al. 2017). This kind of

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communication exists for ensuring the flow of chain of command rather than maintaining a kind
of friendship that can be seen in the case of horizontal communication.
The Ajman Free Trade Zone is located in the United Arab Emirates. It was created in the
year 1988 in order to provide business opportunities too the offshore companies who want to
carry out their business activities in this part of the world. The business firms that are operating
in the Ajman Free Trade Zone are one of the most important contributors to the rise in the
country’s gross domestic product. Their level of production is comparatively higher as compared
to the domestic business organizations.
Problem Statement
Vertical communication occupies an important position within the functioning of a business
firm. This is due to the fact that the employees at the lower levels understand their requirements
from the information as issued by the members belonging to the higher positions in the business
firms. However, often times it is observed that the effective functioning of the work of the
employees at the lower levels are impacted as a result of certain conflicts that might arise either
amongst themselves or with their immediate superiors. Under such situations, there often
becomes a necessity to over step the defined line of hierarchy and communicate with the
superiors at the higher level of management. However, the impact of such kind of vertical
communication is difficult to judge as changing the structure of hierarchy is not permitted within
any business organizations in order to maintain efficiency of the work done.

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Research Aim
The aim of the research is to analyze the importance of vertical communication and
determine how it impacts the resolution of conflicts within the working of the business
organization X operating in the Ajman Free Trade Zone.
Research Objectives
The objectives of the research can be stated as follows -
1. To understand the importance of vertical communication.
2. To critically analyze the different information conflicts that might arise in the working of the
company X operating out of the Ajman Free Trade Zone.
3. To evaluate the importance of vertical communication in resolving information conflicts
within the organization X.
4. To provide certain recommendations that would help to improve the working of the business
organization X so that the productivity of the firm is maintained.
Research Questions
The research questions can be stated as follows -
1. What is the importance of vertical communication?
2. What are the different information conflicts that might arise in the working of the company X
operating out of the Ajman Free Trade Zone?
3. What is the importance of vertical communication in resolving information conflicts within
the organization X?

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4. What are the various recommendations that would help to improve the working of the business
organization X so that the productivity of the firm is maintained?
Research Rationale
In the course of this research work, the importance of vertical communication within a
business organization has been looked in to.This is significant in nature as the working of the
business firm has been analyzed. Often times it is believed that the efficiency that can be
experienced within the working of any firm is due to the proper adherence to the chain of
command within such firms (Tesi and Aiello 2016). However, there might arise a situation or
conflict which warrants the immediate attention of the superiors who are at the management
level. Although it is opined that the people at the management level do not take a direct part in
the production of the company, however, it is seen that it is due to their efforts that the efficient
functioning of the business firm is maintained (Child 2015). This is due to the fact that they are
the ones with the vision of the company. As a result, this research work is significant in nature as
it helps the readers to understand the important role played by the management level and by the
employees within the functioning of such a business firm.Furthermore, the research work also
examines the importance of communication and tries to understand the importance of vertical
communication in resolving information conflicts within the organization X that is operating out
of the Ajman Free Trade Zone.
Structure of the Research
Chapter one of the research tries to understand the aim of the research work. The main
objective of the research is to analyze the importance of vertical communication and determine
how it impacts the resolution of conflicts within the working of the business organization X

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operating in the Ajman Free Trade Zone. This chapter also outlines the research objectives and
the research questions which are answered in the course of the work.
Chapter two examines the different secondary sources of literature which belong to this field
of study. In this respect, the books, articles and academic journals have been consulted in order
to understand the importance and significance of vertical communication within a particular
organization. In this regard, the opinions and view points of the different authors and scholars
have been taken in to consideration so to understand the issue in a comprehensive and in-depth
manner.
Chapter three outlines the research methodology that has been undertaken in the course of
this research work. The research takes a positivist research philosophy, the deductive research
approach and descriptive research design in order to understand the aim of the research. The use
of positivist research has enabled the researcher to take a scientific approach to the research aim
of understanding the importance of vertical communication as seen in the context of a business
firm. Furthermore, the information that has been collected from the secondary sources of
literature has been analysed in a qualitative manner so as to take a comprehensive understanding
of the issue at hand.
Chapter four analyses the data that has been collected in the course of the research work. In
this regard, this chapter has developed various themes in order to understand how vertical
communication affects the efficiency of business firm and the work of the employees.
Chapter five aligns the data collected in the literature review section with that of the themes
developed in chapter four. This enables the researcher to have a comprehensive understanding of
the research objective which is to analyze the importance of vertical communication and

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determine how it impacts the resolution of conflicts within the working of the business
organization X operating in the Ajman Free Trade Zone.
Chapter six is the concluding chapter of the research work. This chapter also provides
certain recommendations on how to improve the aspect of vertical communication so that the
efficiency of the business sis maintained.
Summary
To summarize, this chapter provides the purpose of the research. The aim of the research is
to analyze the importance of vertical communication and determine how it impacts the resolution
of conflicts within the working of the business organization X operating in the Ajman Free Trade
Zone. Furthermore, it also lays down the various research objectives that is looked in to in the
course of the research work under investigation. This chapter also provides a brief over view
about the structuring of the research as is followed in the latter chapters of the study.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.0 Over view
This chapter provides a detailed examination of the different sources of literature which
have been consulted in the making of this research project. The main aim of this research is to
analyze the importance of vertical communication and determine how it impacts the resolution of
conflicts within the working of the business organization X operating in the Ajman Free Trade
Zone. In this regard, the various secondary sources which includes the books, academic journals
and articles have been consulted with in order to understand the issue of vertical communication.
2.1 Meaning of Vertical Communication
In an organization when people communicate among the persons of different ranking or
position, it is known as vertical communication. For example, the communication that goes on
between manger and his/her employees will be a kind of vertical communication. This usually
occurs within the organization, it is an internal type of communication where two people of
different ranks and position communicate with each other. The style of communication differs
from one person to the other. In the opinion of Spaho (2013), the communication between the
CEO and the manager will be different from that between the CEO and the employees, this
means that in vertical communication, and information has to move from bottom to top.
Basically the communication that exists between the subordinates and the superior is known as
vertical communication. Vertical communication is always a two way communication. In this
type of communication, the management can decide to share any information to the employees
or when they decide to share information downward, that is also a type of vertical
communication. Additionally, when the management tries to incorporate information that they

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have received from the employees about the effectiveness of the policies that are implemented by
the office, this type of communication is also a type of vertical communication. Therefore, in
other words vertical communication stands for upward and downward communication.
2.2 Types of Vertical Communication
Communication occurs in certain ways within a given business organization. This
characteristic has led to the classification of the process of communication in accordance with
the types of vertical communication that can be observed within such a business firm. There are
usually two kinds of communication types, downward communication and upward
communication.
According to Dudschig et al., (2013), when information moves from one person in the
organization to other person in the organization, it usually occurs in two ways, when the
information passes from the superiors in the organization to the subordinates, then it can be
classified as downward communication. The other type of vertical communication is known as
upward communication, when the information passes from the bottom to the top of the
organization then it can be classified as upward communication. Therefore vertical
communication can be divided into types: downward communication and upward
communication. When the superior of an organization, send any type of information, order, data,
instruction or decisions to the subordinates it is generally through downward communication.
The downward communication cans either e oral or written. The downward communications that
are written are usually handbooks, manuals, electronic views, notices, displays, electronic news
etc. The oral form downward communication includes face-to-face communication, telephonic
communication, speeches, and meetings among others. All of these techniques are part of the
downward oral communication.

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According to Ramadanty and Martinus (2016), when information flows from the
subordinates to the superiors in the hierarchy of the organization then it is usually classified as
upward communication. Any type of upward communication aims to send information to the
mangers and the seniors at an office so that they can understand the problems that are going on in
the office or they might want to give some feedback to the superiors. Usually the subordinates
communicate their grievances, attitudes, opinions and suggestions to the superior through the
means of upward communication. the communication between the superior and the subordinates
does not happen directly, they go through the next in level to the subordinates and slowly moves
up to the top of the organizations. These are the two ways of vertical communication.
2.3 Advantages of Vertical Communication
As mentioned earlier vertical communication occurs when information moves from one
person in an organization to another person in the organization, and there are two types of
vertical communication, upward communication and downward communication. There are
merits of vertical communication. The advantages of verbal communications are plenty. As
stated by Lennie and Tacchi (2013), the first advantage of vertical communication is that it
brings all people into the communication network. There are a lot of people in the office and in
order to work successfully at an organization, every employee needs to have a successful
communication with the other employees as well as their supervisors. In order to set up an
effective communication, there needs to be proper vertical communication, hence the positive
part about vertical communication is that it helps every individual in the organization to talk to
each other. There are superiors that need to communicate important information to the
employees and in order to do that there needs to be a way through which the superiors
communicate with the employees. The people in an organization talk to each other through the

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help of vertical communication; hence the first merit of vertical communication is that it brings
in all the employees in the organization so that they can talk to each other. Every employee’s
voice matter hence it is important for all the employees to be heard and vertical communication
enables that.
According to Bloom et al., (2014), the second advantage of vertical communication is
that it only allows all the people in an organization to talk to each other but also allows that all
the massages that have to be passed is done in an organized manner. There are a lot of people in
the organization that means that in order for an effective communication to take place the
information needs to be organized in effective manner. Whether it is vertical upward
communication or downward communication, information is always passed along in an effective
manner. Information is either managed in form of a manual or a handbook or a formal message
so that there is no mixing up or any problem with any information. These information that are
passed in a vertical communication are not informal communication but there are proper
messages that are officially important hence they need to be communicated in a proper organized
manner and that is what he benefit of vertical communication is, it helps the information that is
being sent either to the subordinates or to the superior in a properly organized manner
(Christensen and Cornelissen 2013). This is the key reason why vertical communication is so
important in an organization.
When a superior has to send some kind of a message to the employee regarding the pay
or the change in the technical matter of the office, in that case these message needs to be send in
an official manner. The official and formal tone of the message is of prime importance in these
cases. As opined by Ramdhani, Ramdhani and Ainissyifa (2017), the vertical communication
helps the superiors to send these messages in a formal manner. The communication in an office