Case Study Analysis

Description

Robert, a director and union member, has requested an 8 percent raise for his work unit. His request is based on recent finance reports showing that his department has substantially contributed to a 15 percent profit increase for the organisation. He feels that his team should be compensated for the hard work and long hours they have put in over the last few years to achieve this outcome.

Kay knows the value of Robert’s team and readily acknowledges their achievements. However, she knows that the company has plans to expand and diversify. This new project will use up the majority of the profit increase for at least the next five years. She is willing to sit down with Robert and talk about how his team can get involved in the new project. There could be new job opportunities, some overseas assignments, and possible promotions to various leadership positions within the new project.

Kay has flagged this with Robert; however, he is adamant that his team needs to be compensated with a monetary increase. He went as far as threatening to get the union involved if his request is unsuccessful.

Conflict Handling Styles

Based off the case study in the description, It shows that Robert was using Competing Approach to request for his demand of welfare and monetary increase for his team. Despite Kay’s difficulties in trying to fulfill his requests, she is willing to sit down and discuss with him future job opportunities, assignments and possible promotions.

I feel that Robert could have used a Collaborative Approach towards Kay and discuss possible solutions that would benefit both parties instead of threating Kay by asking the union to get involved if he’s request was rejected. From this scenario, it clearly shows that Robert has a strong character and selfish in a way he places himself over others. With that being said, he’s request was for his team so in a way he also cares for their welfare. However with the approach that he used, the result will only end up in a win and lose solution.

Bargaining Approach

Kay was adopting an Integrative Approach. Kay acknowledges that Robert’s achievements and wanting to have monetary increment for his team. However, she is unable to provide such a request due to the fact that the company is using the profits to further expand and diversify. Instead instead of saying no, she opt for a passive approach by initiating a negotiation with Robert. She was calm in that situation and tried so strike an agreement for a “win-win” outcome.

Interpersonal Communication Contributing to Poor Workplace Environment

Effective negotiation and communication skills are both equally important in both your career and personal life. I personally feel that Robert had aInt self-centered mindset that only cared about himself and his team. He did not put into consideration on how is actions would affect the organisation and Kay. Robert should have been more cooperative when Kay approached him with a solution to satisfy both ends.

On the other hand, Kay should have empathised with Robert. She neglected the efforts and achievements of him and his team and instead was more concern on what was good for the company.

Learning from this case study, we now know the importance of listening and communication. In society, both listening and communication is equally important as the words heard or voiced out could lead to different outcomes.

Hall’s Context Model

Based of the Hall’s Context Model as a reference, Kay demonstrated a High-Context Culture as she was willing to solve the issue with Robert through negotiations. She proposed a solution that will result in a “win-win” situation as this new solution involves Robert and his team taking on future projects which is useful for future career progressions. That way she does not neglect the organisations needs too. I feel that Robert should have taken a more passive approach towards Kay and maybe the negotiations would have produced better results instead of threatening to report this up to the union.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this case study shows the importance of being attentive and cooperative to negotiations is. The message that is also delivery should be clear and concise as to avoid misunderstandings that might result in parties being unhappy. In society, there are bound to be conflicts every here and then but if everyone puts in their best effort in being understanding and using the correct approach, I am sure problems like these would hardly arise. In order to create a less toxic environment amongst ourselves, the first step we should take is to work on ourselves!

References

Images:

• Conflict Handling Style

http://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-organizationalbehavior/chapter/conflict-management-styles/

• Bargaining Approach

http://www.getsmarter.com/blog/career-advice/negotiating-for-success/

• Interpersonal Communication

https://matterapp.com/blog/how-to-improve-your-interpersonal-communication-skills

• Hall’s Context Model

https://www.slideshare.net/Noonamsom/intercultural-communication-9966550

Stereotypes

What Is A Stereotype?

Stereotypes are acts of generalization on a group of people on their characteristics and behavior. These acts are normally inflicted on people of different ethnic groups, religion and sexual orientation. The acts however can be view in a positive or negative aspects which mostly leads to the latter. Stereotyping can affect the way we communicate and that shouldn’t be the case.

Communication

The use of stereotype is to help us generalize the people around us and we would adapt to the particular individual based on stereotypes of their race and religion etc…
With that being said, stereotyping does indeed has it advantages and disadvantages.

Advantage

It enables us to act swiftly in any particular situation that happens in our daily life due to the fact that we had a similar experience before. One example would be speaking to a particular person in his mother tongue because he is off that particular race. I am stereotyping that everyone of that race speaks that language fluently.

Disadvantage

It allows us neglect the differences between every individuals and that leads us to make assumption about an individual based of their stereotypes For example saying anyone that has tattoos are bad. This however is not true because everyone is unique in their own way. These assumptions could sometimes cause unnecessary conflict and unhappiness.

The Main 4 Ethnic Groups

Even though stereotyping is still largely a main issue in effective communication out there for example countries stereotyping that people of dark skin are associated with crime in whatever they do. That is why I am proud to say that as a Singaporean, all of our races are bonded and issues like this don’t really happen often! Although many say that Singapore is just a tiny little red dot on the world map, the fact that many different races and religion resides in this sunny little island seems quite impressive to me. Some would say that having different ethnic groups will result in conflicts which is not entirely wrong but thinking positively, it enables us to mix together with different people of all walks of life and that creates a stronger bond which prevents us being stereotypes.

In Singapore the four main ethnic groups consists of Chinese, Malays, Indians and lastly the Eurasians. From the early 60s till the late 90s as Singapore was evolving to become a metropolis, there were racial remarks hurled at these different ethnic groups. From the Malays being lazy and unwilling to peruse any education to the Indians being smelly and dirty, all these nasty remarks were not necessary and effective in any to aid any forms of communication. As you can see these stereotypes do not mean anything as we are cultivating a harmonious society, you do see non Chinese people pursing higher forms of education. We do see Indians become more hygienic and in ways contribute to society to shape how Singapore is today! Of course the journey to becoming a country with racial harmony wasn’t easy but it was only made possible with mixing around with people of different ethnic groups! One example would me Hence the saying, One People, One Nation, One Singapore.

Past Experience

Racial Equality

Back then after my O Levels, I was working part time at an F&B Establishment. What happened was something that we might see nowadays but this is something that shouldn’t be happening at all.

It was the usual dinner timing and as usual it would always be packed. The service crew will always be busy and at times customers can sometimes feel impatient because of the someone negligence from us. Of course all these are not done on purpose as we are busy serving others as well. This particular table called the manager over and explained that he waited filthen minutes for the tables to be cleared. Despite several attempts to get the service crew to clear, nothing was done. At that point in time there was only 3 service crew, myself and two fellow Malay colleagues. Immediately without asking for any explanation, the manager reprimanded the three of us but vented her anger towards my two Malay colleagues. She being a typical stereotype, said “Why is it you Malays cannot do anything right?” Of course I was shocked to hear her say that because as person with a leadership position, you should not have said that! Then of course this escalated up the chain of command and she left ultimately. I was glad that I’ve left the job as the environment was somewhat toxic and things like these were actually quite common. As you can see, the manager stereotyped my fellow Malay colleagues by saying every all of them are the same.

• 

• 

• 

Implications

This situation that I’ve experience is not something you still don’t see in present time. From time to time, you can still see these typical stereotypes that live among us. Be it in your work place or school the only thing we can do is to learn from their mistakes and prevent yourself or others from committing it.

Conclusion

In summary, everyone can be a stereotype. Be it subconsciously or openly, I feel that everyone should live together in harmony. Since young, we’ve always recited “Regardless of race, language or religion”, I’m sure that situations like the one I’ve mentioned above can definitely be avoided by being understanding to the other cultures.

Resources

Images:

• Stereotypes:
  https://crestresearch.ac.uk/comment/brandon-using-stereotypes-prepare-interviews/
• Racial Harmony:
  https://medium.com/@patcheezie/the-myth-of-multiculturalism-in-singapore-d0712706db4
• Story Board
  https://www.storyboardthat.com/

Johari Window Model

Introduction

The Johari Window Model was developed in 1955 by American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham. It’s purpose is to allow development in awareness and development in both yourself and others. It is also a convenient method of understanding and enhancing communication between the members in a group

This method is used to enhance the individual’s perception on others. The model is based of two main ideas, revealing information regarding yourself to others to gain trust and learning about yourself from their feedbacks.

The Model

Johari Window Model

The method I’ve mentioned earlier is interpreted by this model. The model is represented as a common window with four panes. Out of the four panels, two of it represents yourself and the other two being representing parts known by others but not you. Through mutual trust which can be achieved by day to day communication and socialization, the information is passed down from panel to panel.

As mentioned, the model consists of four panels which represents

• Open Area
• Hidden Area
• Blind Spot
• Unknown

Open Area

Here the lies the information about the person’s attitudes, behavior, emotions, feelings, skills and views. These information will be known by the person as well as by others. This is mainly the area where all forms of communications occur and the larger the panel becomes, the more effectual and dynamic the relationship will be. ‘Feedback solicitation’ is a process which occurs by understanding and listening to the feedback provided from another person. By filling this panel up as much as possible, the size of the panel can be increase both vertically and horizontally thus reducing the size of the Bind Spot and Hidden Area.

Blind Spot

The panel here lies information about yourself that others see but you are unaware of. This shows that through communication, others can interpret you differently than you expect. That is why effective communication is necessary and receiving feedback from others can ensure this panel to be smaller.

Hidden Area

The information that lies here will be known to you but is kept unknown from others. This includes feelings, past experiences and fears which you might feel that is irrelevant or reluctant to tell others. This panel affects relationships and thus by moving more information to the open area, we can reduce the size of this panel.

Unknown Area

Lastly, the Information here is unaware to both yourself and others. This includes feelings, capabilities and talents. The individual will be unaware of the information here until he uncovers he’s own capabilities and talents. That is why an effective and open communication is important to decrease the size of this panel.

Model Done By Girlfriend.

Model Done By Acquaintance.

As you can see from the model above that I’ve provided, the model allows me to see the feedback on how others perceive of me and how I portray myself as a whole to others. I can keep the positive feedbacks provided and use the negative feedbacks as a way to further upgrade myself. This will definitely allow me to give out a positive vibe to people around us and I am sure that is the goal of every single one of us!

Conclusion

By using this model, I can see in a clearer way on how I portray myself to others and how others perceive of me. There are many ways of displaying effective communication and this method is definitely just one of the many brilliant ways to execute it. This model allows the user to improve on his self-awareness and the way others perceive of him by listening to their feedbacks. The fact that this model has been used worldwide over decades shows how effective and ingenious it is in creating an effective communication between you and your loved ones.

Resources

Images:

• Harry Ingham & Joseph Luft https://www.procurementpracademic.com/post/when-harry-met-jo
• Model https://www.communicationtheory.org/the-johari-window-model/

References:

• https://www.communicationtheory.org/the-johari-window-model/

Shannon Weaver’s (1954) Model of Communication

• 

  Warren Weaver

• 

  Claude Shannon

Introduction

In 1948, Claude Shannon, an American engineer and Warren Weaver, an American scientist invented a model known as the “Shannon Weaver’s Model“.

The model’s aim is specially designed to develop effective communication between the sender and receiver. At first the model was developed to improve the communication through telephone and other technologies which could be implemented. Not only does it serve to aid technologies at that point in time but it also aims to target in the future inventions and developments.

Breakdown Of Model

Shannon Weaver’s Model (1954)

Modern Shannon Weaver’s Model

In this model there are various keywords like transmitter, message, receiver, destination, encode and decode.

• Sender

The originator of message or the information source or known as the person initiating the conversation.

• Encoder

The transmitter which converts the message sent into signals.

• Decoder

Basically a reverse process of an encoder.

• Receiver

The destination of the message from the sender.

Flow Of Model

Through various research, I realised that this model is effective in serving its purpose without much thinking. To make it easier to understand, basically the sender will prepare the information he wants to transmit to the receiver. He will then encode it to a transmitter and the message will be passed through a channel. Over there, there are many factors which can affect the flow of this conversation. The main factor that would cause this disruption is noise pollution which comes in many different forms. Be it a car honking in the middle of the streets to the subtle cries of a baby, noise is something that one cannot avoid. Once the receiver receives the encoded message, he will then decode it and give his feedback of the message received, continuing the flow of this model.

Norbert Wiener

Changes To the Model

However, there was an issue in the original version of this model. The model only shows that conversation only goes one way and there was no way the receiver could respond or acknowledge. That’s where American mathematician, Norbert Wiener suggested the inclusion of a feedback in the loop which connects the receiver to the original sender therefore, completing the loop.

Completed Vs Uncompleted Model

Completed

If the completed model is being used, the receiver can provide the sender with an acknowledgment or response saying that the message has been received and decoded. It can even lead to clarifications that the received message has the correct information. Therefore, this continues the flow of the conversation.

Uncompleted

If the uncompleted model is being used, any factors affecting the process of the message being sent over will result in the message being incomplete or distorted. The receiver will have no way of requesting the message to be sent again, resulting in the end of the conversation.

For even further understanding, I have created this simple mind map to show how the model works in a real world scenario. As you can see, the father’s message was transmitted to his daughter but as a result of the noise generated by the television, the daughter could not decipher his message. Her feedback would be received by the father and then he will then repeat his message which will continue this conversation.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Of course in everything there are always its good and bad sides. Lets discuss them!

Advantages

• The model identifies the factor that causes the message to be disrupted during the process.
• The model shows that communication is a two way process.
• Explains about effective communication.

Disadvantages

• The model was originally used to be applied to telecommunication rather than human communication.
• Feedback feels like is less important compared to the message being sent out.

Conclusion

Despite it being an idea that originated in 1954, the Shannon & Weaver’s Model is still relevant in our current society. From us communicating with our loved ones, it even shaped how technology works today. The Shannon-Weaver model of course isn’t flawless. Many criticised that the model makes communication too simple and it being a one way thing. With that being said, nothing changes the fact that the principles of this model laid the foundation of many modern models and theories.

Resources

Images:

• Claude Shannon https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/claude-shannon-the-father-of-the-information-age-turns-1100100
• Warren Weaver https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3425
• Nobert Wiener https://www.britannica.com/biography/Norbert-Wiener
• Original 1954 Model https://sportsbusinessresearch.blog/2016/09/12/the-communication-model-of-a-facebook-live-video-broadcast-based-on-the-shannon-weaver-model-a-practical-example-for-football-clubs/
• Modern Model https://www.communicationtheory.org/shannon-and-weaver-model-of-communication/

References:

• https://www.communicationtheory.org/shannon-and-weaver-model-of-communication/
• http://www.simplynotes.in/mbabba/communication-models/2/

Lucas Lim Jia le

Born and raised on this little red dot.
Here’s a little short post about myself!

My Background

I am 22 years old this year and was born in the year of rabbit. As a Gen Z, I am truly raised in the digital age. Growing up, I was greatly interested in web development and amused by how sites like Facebook were created. This is the reason why I have decided to pursue an IT course when I was choosing my diploma.

The reason I’ve decided to pursue this degree is very simple. I’ve always wanted to be an IT specialist in an established company. Being able to help others that are not “IT Savvy” and at the same time managing the company’s server and database is what I’ve always wanted to do. I’m sure the skill sets that are taught will definitely set me up for success in my future career.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

National Service

ORD-ed on May 2021 after what seems like eternity! During BMT, I had a hard time adjusting from my civilian lifestyle. Soon enough I “POP-ed” and was posted to Specialist Cadet School for 6 months as a trainee. After a gruesome 6 months of training, I finally was granted the rank and was posted to 1SIR as an Infantry Recce Specialist! That was where my real journey as a soldier began….

During my time in army, I must say there where many times where I felt like giving up. The constant outfields and long walks with a load strapped on your back wasn’t my thing. As much I would love to, I had the responsibility of having to lead my men. As the veterans always say lead by example, if you can’t show, what rights do you have to ask from your men. Luckily the friendship and comradeship I’ve forged within this two years pulled me through! Well NS indeed wasn’t easy but journey was definitely fruitful!

Education Background

Nanyang Polytechnic

Diploma in Multimedia and Infocomm Technology (2016 – 2019)

University Of Wollongong

Bachelor in Business Information Systems (2021 – 2022)

Hobbies

PC Building

Since young, I have always express a huge interest in computer building. From time to time, I would watch YouTube videos to learn more about it as computer parts are rather expensive and one wrong mistake can cost me a fortune. Based off this interest, I have since build all my PCs instead of buying it pre-build.

So far I’ve built 2 PCs with the first one being the cheaper one and the latter being the more expensive one. The fact that I am able to mix and match the parts to my liking and combining it all together into a war machine is one of the most exhilarating feeling ever.

Watching Soccer

When I was young I used to watch soccer with my grandfather all the time! Since then, I fell in love with this sport! I remember vividly that the first match that I watched in 2006, it was a game between Manchester United against Manchester City. Since then I’ve always been a Manchester United fan!

Some may say soccer is just 22 people chasing after a ball, I for sure can appreciate the art and beauty of this sport. Go Red Devils!

Personal Life

Cotton

Donut

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I currently have 2 male Pomeranians Cotton & Donut at home!

The white Pomeranian is named Cotton and he is 8 years old this year. The brown Pomeranian is a newly bought puppy that me and my girlfriend co-owned and he is only 4 months old! Although they are very adorable, once they are being put together, it can be pretty torturous and tiring as an owner. However, they never fail to brighten up my day and it’s a blessing to have them in my life.

Contact Me!

Singapore, SG

ljllim002@mymail.sim.edu.sg

• WordPress
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter