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QUESTION T8 : COMMUNICATION
QUESTION 1 : Should companies try to eliminate grapevine communication? Explain your answer.

No. The companies should not try to eliminate grapevine communication

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Definition:
Grapevine unstructured & informal network founded on social relationship rather than organizational
(Nancy Borkowski, 2010)

An informal chat between people, seen as a network through which the information is reliably spread.
(Mc Shane & Van Glinow, 2003)

It transmit info very rapidly in all directions

(Newstrom & Davis, 1993)
Office communication commercial

Types of grapevine chains

E Y G

C
B

H J

K
G

C H I B D J A X

A D C B

K F J B

Gossip

I D

Probability
(J.W Newstrom & K. Davis, 1993, Organizational behavior: human behavior at work, 9th ed., p.445)

Single strand

Clust er

TYPES OF GRAPEVINE CHAINS

Single strand chains
It flow is like a chain i.e : A tells something to B who tells the same thing to C and so on. The longer the strand the more distortion and filtering effects.

Gossip chain

This chain passes a message regarding a not-on-job nature.

Generally considered to be slow in passing the information
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Probability chain
Information may move from anybody to anybody This chain is found when the information somewhat interesting but not really significant. Only some people in the organization will get to know the information

Cluster chain

Individuals communicates with only those individuals he/she trust.

Most informal communication flows through this chain
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The grapevine is a suppleme nt

Grapevin e channels carry informati on rapidly.

ADVANTA GES

Creates a sense of unity among the employee s

Serves as an emotional supportiv e value

Feedback obtained is quick

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How to deal with grapevine ?

Managers should find out about what and why that information is being communicated Managers should provide accurate infromation False info in the grapevine should be corrected by the manager

Conclusion
The organization should not eliminate the grapevine communication because it can help the employees in doing their work.
The grapevine communication among the employees and employers can not be stopped even though the upper level of management put an effort on it.

There are several ways on how to deal with grapevine communication and next it can be use as a medium

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References :
Ronald R. Sim (2002). Managing organizational behavior. United States: Greenwood Publishing Group. Nancy borkowski (2010). Organizational behavior in health care, 2nd edition. United States: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Fred C. Lunenburg, & Allan C. Ornstein (2007). Educational administration: concepts and practices, 5th edition . Belmont: Thomson Books/Cole. J.W Newstrom & K. Davis (1993). Organizational behavior: human behavior at work, 9th edition. New York: McGrawHill Book Company.

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