Reference no: EM132214132
After reading each short case, prepare answers to the questions for the upcoming search committee interview to review.
1) “RLI Home Builds a Castle on Communication”
Since the outset the owner Ralph Lorean has prided himself on focusing the culture of the company on excellent customer service. Managers know that a culture like this would only work if the company’s employees enjoyed their work and the company. He wanted to build a company where every employee felt they owned the castle. Ralph believed that communication was essential to making an employee feel a part of the group, so he often said that he never wanted employees to “read about their company in the media and learn something new.”
Because RLI is international in scope it is possible that on any given day or time two thirds of its 2,000 employees are outside an office. To conquer the communication this problem imposes Ralph is surveying his managers to see if they think a new, but very expensive, “dashboard” intranet system would be worth the expenditure. The system would ensure optimal communication strategies allowing every employee remote access from wherever they are. Regardless, of location every employee can share information on the dashboard from their cell phone. However, it does not offer a “SKYPE” feature. Management has sent a short questionnaire to you asking the following questions:
A) How would the new tool influence job performance positively in RLI?
B) Could dependence on a program which does not permit access to verbal or face to face communications hinder job performance in a global setting? If so why?
C) If the dashboard was only presented in English would this be a factor in its intracompany success?
D) One of the biggest reasons suggested for purchasing the system is that it allows information to flow both from top down to bottom up. Do you see this as possible if the company is not structured in a similar way? If so why, if not why not?
2) Email Over All! Richard Burton is one of the production supervisors at Lighting R Us a branch of RLI. Richard supervises 25 employees and has been performing well in this same job for 5 years. Burton wants a promotion in the foreseeable future but feels it unlikely. Burton is always “on”. He has 24/7 email access, texts almost a hundred messages a day and is never without his phone. Richard believes that because of the efficiency involved, E-communication is better the face to face.
A) Can Richard’s philosophy on communication affect his career? Why or Why not?
B) If Richard wanted to control his email for maximum performance can you make two recommendations that will help him?
C) Using four sentences only express your personal philosophy on communication given your own personal skill set. Justify how this statement will maximize your job success and your career.
3) Do I have to Move? RLI has recently decided to relocate one of its plants from California to Mexico. If you were asked to handle the transition how, to whom, and where would you communicate the news? Be sure to justify the answer with class material.
4) I Can’t See You! Marlena is one of the best Sofa designers that RLI has ever had. She is currently living and working in the Egyptian branch of the RLI as part of the new fall sofa line has an Egyptian theme. She contacts you to ask for help. It seems that Marlena is being asked to wear traditional Muslim dress as the factory is in a very conservative section of Cairo. Her team leader provides no further explanation even when pressed. She is concerned about wearing the clothing because it is very constricting, and she is used to moving all over the floor when making her prototypes. But this is the least of her problems. Her real problem is that her project head, Assan, keeps saying, “I can’t see you when you are unclothed.” And then turns his back on her, sometimes continuing to talk but most often walking away. Marlena wails “I cannot see his face and his body language. I do not know if he likes the work, is trying to be nice, or just hates it and refuses to tell me. Worse yet, I am not sure if I trust him to tell me the truth. I have overheard him on his phone saying that he is just letting me stay on the team because he has to have a woman.” Marlena is tired of this situation and is considering asking for a transfer back home to Germany.
1) Identify the communication issues you see in this situation.
2) What advice would you give Marlena in her actions with Assan? Be sure to give at least three points of action for Marlena to take when dealing with her team leader.
3) What advice would you give her about asking for a transfer?
Assignment Instructions
After reading each short case, prepare answers to the questions for the upcoming search committee interview to review. Remember your reading audience is wanting to see you apply your interpersonal skills related to communication and how they can and will influence job performance.