The greatest challenges facing leaders and managers in today’s environment is communication. By having in place the perfect communication line and strategy is what forms the heart of the organization. Enunciating the anticipations and concepts to employees, customers and investors are crucial towards the longevity and efficiency of the firm. The most important aspect of communication is the style upon which the message is delivered to the people involved. According to research, there are a lot of techniques that can be used in communication and without having the best one in place; it will lead to inappropriate communication which is catastrophic to the organization's success. (Husain, 2013).
In 2013, Tim Cook addressed the corporate employees at Apple Inc. in relation to the previous year’s controversies, escalating competition from Samsung and Google, rising and tumbling stock prices and the new products and advancement made by the firm. The CEO also announced the new employee discount incentive that had been introduced. The Employee Purchase Plan was to be availed to all the staff who worked at Apple when they purchased various Apple products. The CEO also talked to the employees about the firm’s future in relation to its global expansion strategies (Mark).Tim Cook also informed the corporate employees that despite the company’s share prices having a fluctuating behavior in the market, this was not the primary goal of the firm, it is only making new products for its users that the company should set as its top priority. This is because the firm's share prices and revenue are the only byproducts of its efforts. The message passed forth by Tim Cook was held at his Cupertino Campus De Anza 3 auditorium (Mark).The employees sat in rows whereby the first rows were made up of the firm’s top executives while the other rows consisted of other employees. As such, the communication style used by Tim Cook to pass his message to his employees was face-to-face talk.
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Face-to-face communication is amongst the richest communication channels that a leader can use in passing messages to his/her subordinates. Despite the modern age that has seen the adoption of various technological means of communication such as emails/message or social media, face-to-face remains on top. The use of modern media at times leaves not only the employees but also other people feeling disconnected for it does not allow for the normal human interaction. Through face-to-face communication, Tim Cook has the ability to motivate his employees as seen from the factors that are affecting the company which might have demotivated the employees (Arundale, 2010). These communication channels allow for the formation of bonds between the parties involved. The relationship is created after the development of trust. These communication channels are also suitable for laying down a foundation upon which discussions will be made (Arundale, 2010). This is because; one can receive immediate feedback from the listeners. Through the feedbacks, the people will have the chance to air out their views and feelings on matters that might touch on their work areas. It also allows the speaker to see the different nonverbal cues from the listeners which will allow one to adjust their messages that it fits what the listeners expect to hear (Arundale, 2010).
The main difference that exists between leaders and managers is the way the two motivate their followers and how they set the tone for other important aspects of an organization. For most managers, they have subordinates, unlike leaders who have followers. As such, in an organization, the managers are in charge of the firm’s internal operations, in contrast to the leader. In the case of Apple, Tim Cook is the company's leader, and he oversees its entire operations both internal and external, unlike a manager who will manage the internal operations such as departmental activities. However, the manager can also pass the message on how the firm is operating in its market. However, this will be only to the people of which he /she have formal authority over. The manager cannot pass such a message to the firm's top executives. It is only the leader like Tim Cook who can summon the senior executives of the business, the managers and other employees in one sitting and pass a message to them. The manager can also not talk about certain aspects of the employees such as the incentives without having consent from the CEO. This is because; such a matter requires a decision to be made by the top executives. As such, he/she will not have the chance to talk about it, but it can be passed down through emails or memos. A manager can also talk about the firm's future goals; however, he/she cannot talk about the matter into details such as where the company's operation will be expanded or which products will have to become increased due to their demand. The manager only talks about the general future goals of a firm such as ensuring there is profitability by a certain percentage and what the particular department's role is in attaining the profit. The manager cannot also talk about other firms that are competitors to Apple. This is because; this is the CEOs responsibility to enlighten the employees on who its competitors are after having statistics from the respectable department within the firm. The manager cannot also talk about what the firm will do such as moving into other markers as in this case. Cook stated that the company would increase its operations in the Chinese market due to the huge population that adores Apple products (Mark). However, the manager can also use a face-to-face communication channel with his/her employees when relaying any message to them. The message, however, must originate from the senior officers in the firm before it can become passed to other employees.
Communication is a key element in the organization. It is through it that information in relation to different factors in the firm is passed from the leaders to the employees. This is an indication that the enterprise must have a clear communication channel upon which the information will trickle down until it reaches the least senior employees in the firm without any distortion occurring. However, a firm's overall leader and managers have different levels of authority which indicates that some messages cannot be passed down to the manager. He/she must get consent from the other senior executives in the firm before passing down some messages. However, the communication styles such as face-to-face can be used by the two when communicating. Arundale, (2010), states that face-to-face communication is the most effective communication method for it allows for the formation of trust, immediate feedback response and one can easily study the non-verbal cues from the listeners.
References
Arundale, R. B. (2010). Constituting face in conversation: face, face work, and interactional achievement. Journal of Pragmatics , 42(8), 2078-2105.
Husain, Z. (2013). Effective communication brings successful organizational change. The Business & Management Review , 3 (2), 43.
Mark, G. (2013). Apple’s Town hall meeting: Tim Cook talks Android, China, earnings, retail, more. 9TO5Mac. Retrieved on 17 July 2017, from https://9to5mac.com/2013/01/26/apples-town-hall-meeting-tim-cook-talks-android-china--earnings-retail-more/.
