Question

Mr. Shubhendu Bose is the owner of 'Bikmac Enterprises' carrying on the business of manufacturing various kinds of biscuits. There was a lot of discontentment in the organisation and the targets were not being met. He asked his son, Naval, who had recently completed his MBA, to find out the reason. Naval found that all decision making of the enterprise were in the hands of his father. His father didn't believe in his employees. As a result, both the employer and the employees were not able to understand each other's messages in the same sense. Thus, the employees were not happy and targets were not met.

(a) Identify any two communication barriers because of which Bikmac Enterprises was not able to achieve its target.

(b) State one more barrier each of the types identified in (a) above.

Answer 1

(a) (i) Lack of confidence of superiors in his subordinates: If superiors do not have confidence in the competency of their subordinates, they may not seek their advice or opinions.

(ii) Organisational policy: If the organisational policy, explicit or implicit, is not supportive to the free flow of communication, it may hamper effectiveness of the communication. For example, In an organisation with highly centralised pattern, people may not be encouraged to have free communication.

(b) Rules and Regulations: Rigid rules and cumbersome procedures may become a hurdle to the communication. Similarly, communication through prescribed channels may result in delays.