Thai-Lay Fashion Company is a small-sized company, carried on garment manufacturing and trading business. Their headquarter is situated in Hong Kong with around 20 staff in Hong Kong and 200 staff in China. Their products are exporting mainly to Europe.
Communication Barriers at the organization level
Communications in business terms include proper understanding of the message, its acceptance, and action on it. It helps in the proper implementation of plans and policies of management. It makes possible the smooth and efficient working of an organization. It increases managerial efficiency. The main barriers to communication that inversely affect the efficient working of Thai-Lay Fashion Company are discussed here.
Complexity in organizational structure
The organizational structure of Thai- Lay Company is complex in nature as it involves many levels of management. Its management involves the CEO, one General Manager, and five Divisional Managers, and one Additional Manager for each department. The flow of directions and information between these levels of management takes much time. Thus the information is always gets delayed which affects the proper management of the organization. Chances of distortion of communication are more in the organization due to this complex structure.
Complexity in organization structure affects the communication within the organization. Organizational structure is a determinant factor in the capacity of personnel to efficient communication. As a result of complexity, communication gaps are feeling in the organization. (Seema p. 148).
Information overload
The problem of information overload inherent in the organizational personnel also contributes to the organizational inefficiency of the company. The company follows a centralization policy in which the general manager is the controlling authority in the management of the organization. Divisional Managers are not possible to take independent decisions relating to their specific area. Decision relating to the entire working of the organization is under strict control of the GM. Hence he has to process information from the five divisional managers within a specific time period in order to provide instructions for the proper working of the organization.
As a result, the GM has to face a problem of information overload which affects the efficient management of the organization inversely. Decoding and interpretation of the information from managerial personnel are getting delayed and thus instructions are not given in time. Thus they always face a shortage in supply of raw materials and other necessary outputs. As a result, there is always a delay in completing the projected schedule of work in time.
At the time of designing information channels in the organization, the firm has to consider the quantity and complexity of information that can reasonably be handled by a single person. The time required for processing the information should also be taken when formulating the communication channel within the organization. For the elimination of information overload Company has to instruct the employees to provide only essential information to their direct head. Through the regulation of the amount of information received by managers, information overload can effectively be reduced. Regulation of upward communication is a difficult task. It is a critical factor in the smooth functioning of the organization. (Addess 2001, p. 173).
Along with this, the organization suffers from time pressure. For taking quick action in response to a problem information has to be sent within a specific period. This type of urgency leads to poor timing of communication which leads to a lack of accuracy of information. For effective communication, the data must reach in time in an accurate and complete manner.
Communication overload is experienced when there are more messages than the receivers can possibly handle. In case of information overload, the receiver of the information can not handle the information properly. This affects the communication within the organization badly. (Aswathappa 2005, p. 423).
Technology
Technology is highly essential for speedy communication in the organization. It includes fax messages, voice mail, email, teleconferencing, and the internet. Due to the lack of knowledge in handling newer communication technologies, it can contribute to a misunderstanding between personnel of the organization. Fear of non-confidence is also affected in the communication using new technology. Because of reduced contact with co-workers’ telecommunication, it imposes a feeling of greater social isolation to the organizational personnel.
The organizational policy of the company is also not best supporting the effective flow of communication between various levels of management. The rules and regulations of the organization restrict that upward communication should be only through proper channels. It causes a delay in passing the message to the top level. Thus employees are not accessible to such communication facility and as a result, there is no communication channel between employees and top-level management.
Barriers to communication are factors that block or significantly distort successful communication. Through the adoption of effective communication policy communication problems that badly affect organizational efficiency and profitability can be prevented. (Nelson and Quick 2006, p. 258).
Thai- Lay Fashion Company can overcome their communication barriers through organizational policy changes, adopting decentralization of powers to support the managers for taking independent decisions relating to their department. Their existing communication system should be modified in order to reduce the information overload of the managers.
Bibliography
ADDESS. Patricia J. (2001). Management Would Be Easy… If It Weren’t for the People. AMACOM Div American Management Association. P. 173. Web.
ASWATHAPPA, K. (2005). Human Resource and Personnel Management. Tata McGraw-Hill. p. 423. Web.
NELSON, Debra L., and QUICK, James C. (2006). Organizational Behaviour. Thomson South-Western. P. 258. Web.
SEEMA, Shrama. Journalism Communication Management. Anmol. p. 148. Web.