MGMT7001 Business Communication

Answer of Question 1:

The plan of action that Julien Day followed as the CEO of RadioShack Corporation can be likened the Classical Management Theory, developed by Max Weber in the 19^th century (Kitana, 2016). In sending over lay-off mails to numerous employees of the organisation, the CEO followed the top-down method of written communication. He not only undermined human relations, but also reinstated the idea that the employees are nothing but mechanical parts to the organisation, which is a machine.

Even though the lay-offs were an uncomfortable but necessary step in achieving the desired goals of the company, the same could have been dealt with via alternative methods. In order to ensure the practice of appropriate communication, RadioShack should resort to following Deetz’s Managerialism Theory, along with the Interactional Model of Communication. Instead of simply casting aside the interests needs of the employees, as recommended by the classical model, Stanley Deetz’s theory asserts that the organisations should operate in a democratic manner and acknowledge their voices. Following the Managerialism theory would benefit RadioShack, for it would aid in balancing corporate and human interests. The employees would truly perceive that the organisation values their work and input, and help establish that managerial positions are not the ultimate source of power in an organisation (Zink, 2017).

Apart from that, in order to improve the communication strategy of RadioShack, the organisation should first engage in the dialogic mode of communication with its employee and then transfer the same information to the employees. The dialogic mode of communication would benefit the organisation for it would promote a shared comprehension of the message and would engage the participants in learning and solving problems collectively (Yang, Kang & Cha, 2015). The drawbacks of this model, like making decision based on assumptions, lack of control or closure, can be countered by use of the information transfer model whereby the manager can convey verified information based on the discussion they had via the dialogic mode. The demerits of the information transfer model, such as lack of audience engagement, misinterpreting information, or lack comprehensibility on part of the receiver, on the other hand, would be cancelled out by the prior discussion the parties had via the dialogic mode of communication. Since the use of the two models effectively cancel out each other’s demerits, RadioShack could use the same to ensure effective communication.

Answer of Question 2:

In 2006, Julian Day was appointed as the CEO of RadioShack, in hopes that his skills would aid the organisation in dealing with an unstable upper management and financial troubles. Therefore, it would imply that Day, or the CEO of RadioShack Corporation, is said person who is responsible for the communication decision of the company.

In an attempt to attain the goals of increasing the volume of average sales unit, rationalizing the cost structure of the firm, and growing retail space of profitable footage, the CEO decided to curtail the company’s workforce, such that the organisation’s overhead expenses could be decreased. But RadioShack’s employees were unaware of a same, therefore, they were left in dismay when they received their respective emails notifying them of their termination from service. The decision, though made in best interests of the organisation, it consequently made the employees lose faith in the organisation and hampered the morale of those who were not terminated. In other words, what the organisation underwent was a leadership communication gap.

Leadership communication gap refers to the difference between the intended message of the leader and the interpretation of the employees along with the consequences of the same (Rajbhandari & Rajbhandari, 2015). The employees of RadioShack were under the impression that their talents were valued by the organisation, since the then recent communications had conveyed that their skills were fundamentally required in improving RadioShack’s market performance. However, when they received their termination email, it was quite in contrary to the impression the organisation had communicated to them.

Even though the past cannot be undone, yet the CEO and his subordinate managers are accountable for sending abrupt termination mail, thus hampering the faith the employees had in the organisation. In order to mitigate the detrimental consequences of their actions, the CEO and his submanagers should engage in self-reflective practice and monitor their leadership skills and the relationships they share with their followers, which in turn would pave the way for effective communication (Ruben & Gigliotti, 2016). Apart from that, they could also engage in the transactional model of communication with their employees, collect their anonymous feedbacks regarding their leadership communication skills and work on the skills that require more proficiency (Solaja, Idowu & James, 2016).

Answer of Question 3:

The instance of RadioShack emailing termination notices to their employees was covered by a reporter from Fort Worth Star-Tribune, later on it made to the headlines of AP news and the story was also published by national publications like The New York Time and USA Today. Thus, apart from bringing down the collective morale of the employees, the organisation also faced backlash in the form of negative publicity.

In order to address the same, it would have been ideal for RadioShack to promote cultural cohesion amongst its employees. To bring about the same the company could have again engaged in a dialogic mode of communication with its employees, so as to instil the sense of belongingness in them, to make them feel valued by the organisation, and to motivate them into being committed to the objectives of the organisation (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al., 2017). Success at inculcating cultural cohesion among employees would have not only diminished the damage done by negative publicity, but it would have also guaranteed overall success of RadioShack Corporation. Being culturally cohesive would have improved the employees’ performance, resulting in a quality teams, and retention of which would have improved the productivity of RadioShack’s workplace.  

Ideally speaking, the organisation can consider negative press as a valuable feedback and subsequently begin to take constructive steps in rectifying its erstwhile faults. The organisation could also consider being strategic when dealing with negative press and their detracting questions. Opting to behave in a polite manner would make their negative claims against the organisation, seem feeble and devoid of substantial proof. Lastly, negative publicity can often be a blessing in disguise, in the form of increased consumer participation (Yu, Liu & Lee, 2019). If that were the case, RadioShack should have reaped the benefits of the same, since it would have aided them in making their turnaround in the market.

Answer of Question 4:

The Stanford Research Institute’s internal memorandum of 1963 defined a stakeholder of a corporation as a party or group that supports the organisation, and without which the organisation would flatline (Strand & Freeman, 2015).

In context of the concerned case study on RadioShack Corporation, the employees of the organisation, irrespective of whether they are still under the organisation’s payroll or not, are the stakeholders. The employees play a pivotal role in the execution of the plans and strategies the management sets in order to achieve the organisations objectives (Brunton, Eweje & Taskin, 2017). In this particular case study, the employees as stakeholders have their job and financial security and their dependability on the organisation at stake.

In addition to the employees, it can also be argued that even the managerial staff are the stakeholders of RadioShack Corporation. The managerial staff is directly answerable to their respective supervisors and even clients. Apart from that, they are also held accountable to various other stakeholders for running a transparent and profitable business (Freeman, 2015). Therefore, the stakes are particularly high for the managerial staff as they supply RadioShack with strategies for better market performance. Underperformance of the organisation would raise questions about their skills at business management.  

Another party that has high stakes involved in this case study are the suppliers (Hueske & Guenther, 2015). Since the relationship of the suppliers with RadioShack is interdependent, the performance of one would therefore affect the other. Thus, the negative publicity that RadioShack has received would definitely not bode well with the suppliers, since the natural default response would be to refrain doing business with them, such that the suppliers can protect their positive independent image.

Answer of Question 5:

One of the most critical communications issues that the corporate management of RadioShack is facing at the moment is its dearth of employee engagement. The unceremonious termination of over 400 employees of the organisation would definitely have an effect on the morale of those who are still under the payroll of the company. The step the organisation had taken in order to cut overhead costs was not properly executed with appropriate communication, therefore, as a corollary effect the existing employees would question their faith in the organisation. Thereby making them feel demotivated to work for RadioShack, consequently resulting in lack of engagement.

The other crisis RadioShack is experiencing is its erratic process of communication. For instance, the company’s decision to terminate numerous employees without any prior intimation is an example of erratic communication. It also goes against RadioShack’s public statement of promoting cultural diversity in the workforce and inculcating passion in one’s work. Therefore, the organisation’s statements and actions are self-contradictory and inconsistent.

Lastly, RadioShack also needs to collect employee feedback if it wishes to improve its management style. Since feedback is constructive criticism, it would aid the organisation in rectifying its errors and help in keeping the employees engaged, since addressing their grievances in the feedback would act as a positive reinforcement (Beer, Finnström & Schrader, 2016).  

Answer of Question 6:

Judging by the information provided by the case study on the events that have surpassed in RadioShack Corporation, under the supervision of CEO Julian Day, it would be preferable for the organisation to seek the aid of a professional communications consultant.

The assistance of a communications consultant would be of paramount importance to RadioShack since they would help in the implementation of effective communication strategies. Thereby, reducing erratic communication and inconsistency in information that is conveyed.

They would also supervise the creation and publication of content, edit and draft copy of communications that take place in the organisation. Documenting these copies would reduce the chances of employees acting on erroneous assumptions. The assistant would also aid in the maintenance of web content and execute effective social media strategies. Monitoring and customizing the organisation’s media exposure would also safeguard RadioShack’s interests from the negative publicity it had received. The assistant would also ensure that the internal communications of the organisation is seamless (Karanges et al., 2015). Therefore, the assistant would ensure that no information is lost in communicative process.  

References:

Beer, M., Finnström, M., & Schrader, D. (2016). Why leadership training fails—and what to do about it. Harvard Business Review, 94(10), 50-57.

Brunton, M., Eweje, G., & Taskin, N. (2017). Communicating corporate social responsibility to internal stakeholders: Walking the walk or just talking the talk?. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26(1), 31-48.

Freeman, R. E. (2015). Stakeholder theory. Wiley encyclopedia of management, 1-6.

Hueske, A. K., & Guenther, E. (2015). What hampers innovation? External stakeholders, the organization, groups and individuals: a systematic review of empirical barrier research. Management Review Quarterly, 65(2), 113-148.

Karanges, E., Johnston, K., Beatson, A., & Lings, I. (2015). The influence of internal communication on employee engagement: A pilot study. Public relations review, 41(1), 129-131.

Kitana, A. (2016). Overview of the managerial thoughts and theories from the history: Classical management theory to modern management theory. Indian Journal of Management Science, 6(1), 16.

Rajbhandari, M. M. S., & Rajbhandari, S. (2015). Leadership maintenance: Filling the gap for leadership competences. Educational Research and Reviews, 10(21), 2777-2788.

Rodríguez-Sánchez, A. M., Devloo, T., Rico, R., Salanova, M., & Anseel, F. (2017). What makes creative teams tick? Cohesion, engagement, and performance across creativity tasks: A three-wave study. Group & Organization Management, 42(4), 521-547.

Ruben, B. D., & Gigliotti, R. A. (2016). Leadership as social influence: An expanded view of leadership communication theory and practice. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 23(4), 467-479.

Solaja, M. O., Idowu, E. F., & James, E. A. (2016). Exploring the relationship between leadership communication style, personality trait and organizational productivity. Serbian Journal of Management, 11(1), 99-117.

Strand, R., & Freeman, R. E. (2015). Scandinavian cooperative advantage: The theory and practice of stakeholder engagement in Scandinavia. Journal of business ethics, 127(1), 65-85.

Yang, S. U., Kang, M., & Cha, H. (2015). A study on dialogic communication, trust, and distrust: Testing a scale for measuring organization–public dialogic communication (OPDC). Journal of Public Relations Research, 27(2), 175-192.

Yu, M., Liu, F., & Lee, J. A. (2019). Consumers’ responses to negative publicity: the influence of culture on information search and negative word-of-mouth. Journal of Brand Management, 26(2), 141-156.

Zink, J. (2017). Management theory and organizational communication. Organizational Communication.

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