MODULE NO.

06

President Ramon Magsaysay State University

Iba, Zambales, Philippines
Tel/Fax No.: (047) 811-1683

College of Engineering
COURSE CODE: BES 03
COURSE DESCRIPTION: ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
1st Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021

Introduction

Communication
Effective communication is important for managers for two reasons. First,
communication is the process by which the management functions of planning,
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organizing, leading, and controlling are accomplished. Second, communication is the

activity to which managers devote an overwhelming proportion of their time.
The process of communication makes it possible for engineer managers to carry out
their task responsibilities. They can carry out their management functions only by
interacting with and communicating with others. The communication process is thus
the foundation for the management function.

Rationale

Communicating is a vital function of the engineer manager. Organizations cannot function

properly without effective communication. If the required outputs must be realized,
communication must be managed. And, thus, the process of communication is important
to engineer managers because it enables them to carry on their management functions.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon completing this module, student should be able to:

A. Define communication and state the importance of proper system of
communication in managing organization.
B. Know the different forms used in an effective communication of engineering
organization.
C. Describe the model of the communication process.
D. Know the different problems affecting the effective communication process in an
engineering management.

Discussion

Communication
is process of sharing information through symbols, including words and message.

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may happen between superior and subordinate, between peers, between manager
and a client or customer, between an employee and a government representative.

Functions of Communication
1. Information function
2. Motivation function
3. Control function
4. Emotive function

The Communication Process

SENDER

develop
idea
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encodes
then transmit
message
to

RECEIVER

receives
message

decodes

accepts
or
rejects then provides
feedback to

Factors Affecting Acceptance and Rejection

1. The accuracy of the message
2. Whether or not the sender has the authority to send the message and/or require action
3. The behavioral implications for the receiver

Forms of Communication
1. Verbal – transmitted through hearing or sight.
Two classes:
a. oral
b. written
2. Non verbal

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The Barriers to Communication

1. Personal barriers – arising from a communicator’s characteristics as a person and
emotions.
2. Physical barriers – refer to interferences to effective communication occurring in the
environment where the communication is undertaken.
3. Semantic barriers – is the study of meaning as expressed in symbols such as words,
pictures or actions.

Overcoming Barriers to Communication

1. Use feedback to facilitate understanding and increase the potential for appropriate
action.
2. Repeat message in order to provide assurance that they are properly received.
3. Use multiple channels so that the accuracy of the information may be enhanced.
4. Use simplified language that is easily understandable and which eliminates the possibility
of people getting mixed-up with meaning.

Techniques for Communicating in Organizations

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1. Downward communication – refers to message flows from higher levels of authority to

lower levels. The purposes are:
a. to give instructions
b. to provide information about policies and procedures
c. to give feedback about performance
d. to indoctrinate or motivate
2. Upward communication – refers to messages from persons in lower-level positions to
persons in higher positions. Among the technique used are:
a. formal grievance procedures
to employee attitude and opinion
b. to provide information about policies and procedures
c. to give feedback about performance
d. to indoctrinate or motivate
3. Horizontal communication – refers to messages sent to individuals or groups from another
of the same organizational level or position. The purposes are:
a. to coordinate activities between departments
b. to persuade others at the same level of organization
c. to pass on information about activities or feelings

Management Information System (MIS) – is an organized method of providing past, present,

and projected information on internal operations and external intelligence for use in
decision-making.
is a formal method of making available to management the accurate and timely
information necessary to facilitate the decision-making process and enable the
organization’s planning, control, and operational functions to be carried out effectively.
is used by corporate firms consists of written and electronically based systems for
sending reports, memos, bulletins, and the like.
has the following purposes:

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1. to provide a basis for the analysis or early warning signals that can originate both
externally and internally.
2. to automate routine clerical operations like payroll and inventory reports.
3. to assist managers in making routine decisions like scheduling orders, assigning orders
to machines, and reordering supplies.
4. to provide the information necessary for management to make strategic or non-
programmed decisions.

Review Questions

1. Why is effective communication important to the engineer manager?

2. For what purposes may communication be used in the organization?
3. What are the factors influence the effectiveness of organizational communication?
4. How may the barriers to organizational communication be overcome?
5. What are some of the consequences of the use of computer communications
technology in the workplace?

Assessment
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Online quiz will be announced in the messenger group chat at the end of the week
together will the link address. Answering will be done only on the said date upon posting of
announcement.

Reflection

CASE STUDY 6: The President and the Personnel Manager

Molecular Membranes is a small high-tech film owned by its president, Ross Ellenshaw, and
his family. It manufactures delicate osmotic membranes that perform crucial functions in
sophisticated sensing instruments. The personnel manager, Anita Weiss, was, at the same
time of this case, the only woman holding a supervisory or managerial position in the
company. She had been with Molecular Membranes since its founding, and she and her
husband had been close friends of Ellenshaw and his wife for many years.

However, for about the last two years, Weiss and Ellenshaw had found themselves drifting
apart. Their socializing off the job had virtually ended, and job related conferences
between the two of them – formerly a frequent occurrence – had become a rare event.
This state of affairs began when Ellenshaw, after prolonged soul-searching and study of
contemporary management literature, had decided to effect a drastic change in
management philosophy. With the active intervention of an academic counselor, the
president had made strenuous efforts to convents the company from a paternalistic to a
participative management style, extending to all levels of supervisors and employees. A
central device for inducing this change was a program of high level management
conferences. These meetings, conducted by Ellenshaw with the academic consultant
always present as a dominant contributor, were both frequent and lengthy.

During all this time, Weiss felt more and more alienated, in fact almost isolated, from the
president and the other managers. No longer was Ellenshaw available for the cozy and
frank conversations the two of them had enjoyed for years. On many occasions, Weiss felt

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like an outsider at management meetings. The other participants would spring “surprises”
upon her and (allegedly) put her down as an old fogy ignorant of the latest management
thinking. At the same time, however, it was her obligation as personnel manager to
administer the old policies, since they were still incorporated in the company “bible” – the
employees’ manual. In short, Weiss perceived herself as occupying an impossible role,
caught between conflicting demands and subjected to confusing or contradictory
messages from the president.

At the joint request of Ellenshaw and Weiss, and with the convent of the academic
consultant, a specialist in organizational communication was bought in to assist them in
finding ways to reestablish “open” communication. One important technique introduced
by the specialist was having them exchange detailed written documents setting forth with
complete candor their perceptions of all the factors leading up to the present difficulty.

In these documents, explained the specialist, brutal honesty was essential. The “criss-cross”
comparison of perceptions was, understandably, a nerve-racking experience for both
Weiss and Ellenshaw. Below are excerpts from Weiss’s statement. Keep in mind that these
represent only her perceptions; those of Ellenshaw were different.
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During the time when we’ve both been working toward a participatory method of
management, we have been saddled with an authoritarian Policy Manual – one
that dictates that the Personnel Manager has many requirements and responsibilities
– in conflict with participatory management. A manual that I have had to
administer until it can be replaced. This has created a credibility gap for me.

Since I was administering things, and still making a lot of authoritarian decisions as
decreed by the Policy Manual, I was perceived as “inflexible.” It’s been a long and
difficult experience for me, with no recognized structure for determining who makes
which inputs.

Perhaps I was wrong in declining the opportunity to attend those meetings with
you… But at the time I was trying to be sensitive to your efforts to establish a new
role of leadership for yourself.

Uncertainty and ambiguity concerning my role were a problem for me. Sometimes I
was only a sounding board, but at other times, I was providing the inputs and
making specific recommendations. I felt that the resolution of top-level people-
relations problems were beyond my expertise… How do I keep communication lines
“open” without becoming a tattletale in the middle (right now I’m the one both
sides are talking to)?

I resented having my research, my videos… filtered through someone else to you,

when I used to work directly with you before. I now perceive conflict in almost every
aspect of those working relationships – generated, no doubt, by the total system as
much as by any individuals.

Source: From The Corporate Manager’s Guide to Better Communicating by W. Charles Redding. Copyright 1984 by
Scott, Foresman and Company.

Questions:
1. Why had communication broken down between Weiss and Ellenshaw?

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2. How could Ellenshaw have prevented problems with Weiss? How could Weiss have
better adopted to the new managerial climate?
3. How might the written documents overcome the barriers to communication between
them?
4. Has Weiss’s credibility been irretrievably damaged?
5. How do you think is the ultimate solution to this communication problem?

Resources and Additional Resources

 Medina, Roberto G. (2016). Engineering Management. Rex Book Store, Inc.,

Manila, Philippines. ISBN 971-23-2466-4
 Stoner, J.A. et.al. (1987). Management, 3rd Edition. Prentice-Hall International,
Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. ISBN 978-0-12-544305-7

Additional Resources:

 Robbins, Stephen P. and Mary Coulter (1999). Management, 6th Edition. Prentice
Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. ISBN: 978-0-13-209071-1
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 Wheeler, Thomas F (1990). Computer and Engineering Management. McGraw-

Hill Education, Inc., NY. ISBN 13: 978-0-07-069526-9

Prepared by:

Dionisio M. Martin Jr., CpE

BES 03 Instructor