Digital Equipment

In the Digital Equipment case study, there were several communication challenges the company faced. An example of this was demonstrated in the way the new organizational chart of U.S. field operations was made up. It did not include all managers, such as Mr. Shields. This led to confusion regarding whether or not Mr. Shields was still employed at Digital. However, the organizational chart did not show Mr. Shields because it did not go up to the executive level, where he sat. One way this could have been handled better would be to indicate on the organizational chart that the executive level was not present for whatever reason. They could have also verbally communicated this to the employees.

This miscommunication was further reinforced by a face-to-face vertical communication exchange. Vertical communication occurs when “the flow of communication [goes] both up and down the chain of command”. More specifically, at a meeting for top managers, Mr. Olsen, the president, was asked by the vice president, why Mr. Shields was not at the meeting and Mr. Olsen responded vaguely. This vague response led to confusion. According to Lussier, “[w]hen communicating down the chain of command, management should give careful thought to possible consequences of messages”. As a result, Mr. Olsen should have reflected upon the outcome of his response, before communicating it.

Since the managers present at the meeting did not know where Mr. Shields was or why he failed to attend, it led them to speculate why. This type of speculation was channelled orally and in writing throughout the grapevine. The grapevine is defined as an “informal vehicle through which messages flow throughout the organization”. Speculation or rumours generally spread because people fear the unknown, which is true in this case study. This communication could have been dealt with more appropriately, if Mr. Olsen clearly communicated that Mr. Shields was attending a meeting for another company. Additionally, if management or Human Resources were tuned into the grapevine, they would have known about the false rumours and would have had an opportunity to stop and correct them. They could have also responded with