GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM HOW COMMUNICATION CONTRUBUTES TO EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE IN GHANAIN ORGANISATIONS: A STUDY OF MOBILE TELEPHONY NETWORK GHANA LIMITED (M.T.N) BY RAHINATU SULEMANA MADC 14039 . . . , . . ' I . A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH, GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIRMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION OCTOBER ,2015 CANDIDATE'S DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own original research and that no PaIt of it has been presented for any degree in this institution or elsewhere. All references cited have fully acknowledged. I am responsible for any shortcoming in this project. Rahinatu Sulemana (Candidate) Signature .. g::.r.~~ ............... . SUPERVISOR'S DECLEARATION I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of this disseltation were supervised by me in accordance with guidelines on supervision of dissertation laid down by Ghana Institute of Journalism Mr. Kenneth Awuku (Supervisor) n Signature l1frY~ kJ.XIY...........-. Date . . .1.& .. 1 ... ~/ /. > ~ ...... . ACKNOWLEDGMENT Firstly I give thanks to Almighty God for grace and strength granted me to complete this dissertation. My honest gratitude goes to my supervisor, Mr. KennethAwuku for his encouragement mentorship and very excellent relationship he offered me during my project. My next appreciation goes to my adorable and sweet husband and my lovely children for their support and love in the period of my dissertation. Last but not least of my thanks goes to the staff and management Mobile Telephony Network Ghana Limited as well as the respondents for their appreciable cooperation. DEDICATION , I dedicate this disseliation to my beloved husband and my cherished children. They have been a rich source of motivation to me. May the good Lord Himself bless them. DECLARA TIONi DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT CHAPTER ONE Introduction 1.1 Background To The Study 1.2 Problem Statement 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 General Objective 1.5 Relevance Of The Study TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.6 Scope And Organization Of The Study CHAPTER TWO Literature Review 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Theoretical Literature 2.1.1 Organizational Information Theory 2.2 Empirical Literature 2.2.1 Organizational Communication 2.2.2 Types of Communication inan Organization 2.2.3 Communication Barriers 11 111 iv v 1 1 5 7 7 8 9 10 10 10 10 12 12 12 23 CHAPTER THREE Methodology 3.1 Introduction 3.2 A Conceptual Framework 3.3 Research Design 3.4 Population and Sampling Techniques 3.4.1 Target Population 3.4.2 Sampling Technique CHAPTER FOUR 25 25 25 26 26 27 27 Data Analysis, Interpretation and Presentation 29 4.1 Introduction 29 4.2 Inter Action With My Boos And Colleagues Is Cordial 30 4.3 Information Received About My Department Is Been Accurate 30 4.4 Information Received By My Work Is Been Sufficient 31 4.5 The Information Received About My Department Has Been Timely 32 4.6 At Your Work Place You Often Communicate With Your Manager 33 4.7 My Manager Often Consults Me Before Making Decisions That Affects Me 33 4.8 My Manager Often Meets With Me to Review My Performance Objective 34 4.9 Encouragement from Managers to Offer New Ideas to Make Output Better 35 4.10 Receiving Feedback to Improve On Performance 36 4.11 Effective Communication Leads To Improvement in Commitment to an Organization 37 4. I 2 Effective Communication Leads To Improvement inPerformance to an Organization 38 4.13 Poor Outdated Equipment Used During Communication and Background Noise May Serve As A Barrier to Communication in an Organization 38 4.14 Emotions and Nervousness May Lead To Ineffective Communication 39 4.15 Lack of Clarity inOrganizational Structure Serves As Barrier to Effective Communication 4.16 Leaving Things and Said, Genera.1ization and Proverbs or Sayings Can Lead To Communication That Are Not Clear And Can Lead to Misinterpretations 4.17 III Health, Poor Eyesight or Hearing Difficulties and Pain May Lead To Communication Barrier 4.18 Source of Information 4.19 Discussion of Results 4.19.1 Interaction between Mangers and Subordinates 4.19.2 Adequacy and Accuracy of Information Received About Department 4.19.3 Receiving Information Timely 4.19.4 Frequency in Interaction between Managers Subordinates 4.19.5 Employees Involvement in Decision Making 4.19.6 Managers Meeting Subordinate To Review Their Objectives and Encourage Them 4.19.7 Feedback and Improved Performance of Staff 4.19.8 Effective Communication leads to Improve Commitment CHAPTER FIVE Summary, Recommendation and Conclusion 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Summary of Findings 5.3 Recommendation 5.4 Suggestions for further studies 5.5 Conclusions 40 41 41 42 44 44 44 45 45 45 46 46 46 55 55 55 55 56 57 Table 1 Gender of respondents Table 2 Age range of respondents LIST OF TABLES Table 3 number of years spent on the job Table 4: Interaction with my boss is cordial Table 5: Since the beginning of my working experience the information I have received about 33 33 34 34 my department is accurate 35 Table 6: Since the beginning of my working experience the information I have received about my department has been sufficient 36 Table 7: Since the beginning of my working experience the information I have received about events in my department has been timely 37 Table 8: At your work place you often communicates with your manager Table 9: My manager often consults me before making decisions that affects me Table 10: My manager often meets me to review my performance objective 38 38 39 Table 11: In my one on one interaction with my manager, he often encourages me to bring offer ideas on how to do my job better 40 Table 12: My manger often gives me enough feedback about the way I perform my job so that I can improve on my performance 41 Table 13: Effective communication leads to improvement in my commitment to the organization 42 Table 14: Effective communication leads to improvement in my performance 43 Table 15: Poor and outdated equipment used during communication and background noise may serve as a barrier to communication in my organization 44 Table 16: My emotions and nervousness may lead to ineffective comnlunication 45 Table 17: The lack of clarity in organizational structure may serve as a barrier to effective communication 46 Table 18: Leaving things half said, generalization and the use of proverbs or sayings can all lead to communications that are not clear 47 Table 19: III health, poor eyesight or hearing difficulty may lead to communication barrier 48 ABSTRACT Communication is very essential in promoting employees performance in every organization. However institutions seem to downplay the essence in of this vital ingredient in the line of production. This research therefore aimed to investigate and bring to light the positive correlation between communication and enhanced output of employees using Mobile Telephony Network Ghana Limited as a case study. The research made use of a quantitative approach. Using a purposive sampling three branches plus the head office of Mobile Telephony Network were selected. At the 3 branches 3 staff were randomly selected from each of the three levels of management. Same sampling was done for the head office except that in that case the lower level management were 6. Thus a data was gathered by administering a questionnaire to 50 staff of Mobile Telephony Network Ghana Limited at 4 different office locations in Accra. Data was analyzed quantitatively/thematically. Results of the study primarily showed that effective communication leads to enhancement in the performance of employees. Given good interaction between managers and subordinates the performance of employees increase. Also it became clear that communication not handled well could affect negatively the output of employees. Illness, emotions, the use of proverbs and generalizations and outdated equipment are some of the barriers to effective comnlunication in organizations. Thus to enhance productity of organizations communication should be effective among co-workers and between managers and employees. CHAPTER ONE Introduction 1.1 Background to the Study The study of organizational communication dates back to the middle of the last century. Some of the founding approaches of communication originated in other fields like sociology, psychology ~ business management, and industry, and provide the foundation upon which the field of organization was built (Miller, 1999). Today, communication is a well-established field and very important to organizational development. Whenever people conle together, there is bound to be communication. Communication is the only way information can be passed on fronl one person to the other; through the use of both verbal and non-verbal means such as language. signals. facial expressions, music, body movements and gestures (Hybels and Weaver 2001). The organization, like every other social group uses communication in their daily activities; in interactions between superiors and subordinates. as well as among colleagues~ both formally and informally. Communication is the process of transmitting information and cOlnmon understanding from one person to another, which is very essential for the success of any organization. Therefore it must be effectively handled to ensure the attainment of the organization's goals. Vardaman and Halterman define communication inside the organization as the flow of infolmation, materials, perceptions and understandings among the various stakeholders of the organization. According to (Wilson 2005) communication in different organization refers to various ways, strategies and 1 tools which the employees use in their official, interpersonal, and small group communication activities. The easiness or complexity of the interpersonal communication process is dependent on the easiness or complexity of the organization (Wilson, 2005). Sambe (2005) explained it as one that implies a flow of information in a societal system to bear its operation and to gear it towards attaining its predetermined goals. All communications should reflect the strategic objectives of the organization, and each interpersonal relationship exists within a complex network of interrelated relationships, resulting with the ability to communicate interpersonally beconling a foundational skill for virtually any other organizational activity. Toward a shared goal, a better COlTIlTIUnication brings more effective collective actions. It is important to be emphasized that the Goals decided need to be communicated internally and externally, influencing the effectiveness of the organization itself. Interpersonal communication and interpersonal skills affect the effectiveness of the organization. Now, Fortune 500 companies name strong interpersonal communication as the most inlpoliant criteria for success in management positions (Buckley. Peach & Weizel, 1989~ Kane. 1993), and employers consistently name interpersonal COlTInlUnication skills as crucial for success on the job (Maes, Weldy&Icenogle, 1977).Indeed, effective communication is needed for productivity. In fact, COlTIlTIUnication takes a universal aspect in the work of every nlanager in any organization. Everything and everyone in the organization, is linked to a network of decisions and information, which are in an uninterrupted interaction and totally interdependent on each other. At the end this whole system is based on it - communication: '~ ... everything that makes a 2 manager involves communication. Not some things, but everything! A manager cannot formulate strategy, or make a decision without information. That information should be comnlunicated. Once a decision is made, communication occurs again. Otherwise, no one will know what decision is taken. The best idea, suggestion with creative or more subtle plan may not take shape without communication (Robbins and DeCenzo, 2011). Since communication refers to the sharing of information by any effective means, there is no doubt it entails the ability to make meaning of realities. In this sense, communication is cultural as much as it is human. Since that is the case, its practice cannot be executed in vacuum, but must be anchored in people's everyday lifestyles and cultures. Hence, like every other discipline, Africanizing communication science is as much a possibility as presenting its perspectives from African contexts and experiences. Focusing on the negative challenges confronting the continent, might make scholars see only the difficulties that confront the application of theories to Africa's reality, which only betrays the Anglo-American stereotypical views of the continent. The argument is made here that the starting point of any practice of communication has to lie with the identity and culture of those involved in the communication process. Historically, the African School of Development Communication sprang from the continent's post-colonial and communist movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Anglophone Africa employed radio and theatre for community education, adult literacy, health and agricultural education (Kamlongera, 1983). In 1994 the F AO project "Communication for Development in Southern Africa" was a pioneer in supporting and enhancing development projects and programs 3 through the use of participatory communication. The F AO project, placed under SADC, developed an innovative methodology known as Participatory Rural Communication Appraisal (PRCA), which combined participatory tools and techniques with a strong communication focus needed to enhance projects results and sustainability. Radio maintained a strong presence in research and practice into the 21 st century. Radio was especially important in rural areas, as the work of the non-governmental organization Farm Radio International and its members across sub-Saharan Africa demonstrated. Knowledge exchange between development partners such as agricultural scientists and farmers were mediated through rural radio (HamblyOdame, 2003). (Abugre 2012) conducted a study in Ghana. The purpose was to examine how managers' interaction with employees affected work output, using Ghanaian organizations. It was found that regular interactions between managers and employees in Ghana has a direct positive effect on employee work output. Results emerging from the analysis show that for organizations to make any significant impact on performance, both managers and their subordinates must have a very good climate of social interactions. The involvement of lower level employees in organizational activities and decision making is of crucial importance to organizational performance. It is pertinent to say that communication has been characterized as the life wire of any organization. Without communication., organizations don't achieve goals. The purpose of communication in an organization is to effect change- to influence action toward the welfare of the enterprises (Osemeke, 2008). Communication is essential for the internal functioning of 4 enterprises because it integrates the managerial functions (Weihrich et aI2005). No matter how minor or major, the lack of communication or poor communication will strain the productivity of the organization (Alexis, 2015). Today, more and more businesses depend on communication for their success since a well­ organized communication system is shown to be important factor in stimulating worker satisfaction in organizations (Abugre 2011). Businesses in Africa and Ghana in particular being conscious of this global knowledge of the effect of communication on employee performance is also paying much attention to effective communication in their organizations. As a student of communication studies, there is an attraction and influence by the quest to contribute to knowledge in areas of communication and employees job satisfaction in developing economies, where more research is needed particularly in Africa as a whole, and Ghana in particular. For this reason, this study explores the job satisfaction of employees with regards to communication within organizations and how this impinges on their work output in a developing context. In short, current research on management and employee communication suffers from a number of limitations. For instance, reviews have mainly focused on western and developed countries neglecting the underdeveloped and in particularly Africa. This study seeks to address this limitation by contributing to the balance of management practice in Africa particularly in the area of employee communication in developing countries using MTN Ghanaas a case study. 5 1.2 Problem Statement It's difficult to imagine for any organization which doesn't require one person to communicate with the other. No matter the origin, information travels through a series of filters, both in the sender and in the receiver, and is affected by different channels, before the idea can be transmitted and re-created in the receiver's mind. Physical capacities to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch varies between people, so that the image of reality may be distorted even before the mind goes to work. In addition to physical or sense filters, cognitive filters, or the way in which an individual's mind interprets the world around him, will influence his assumptions and feelings, creating a double complexity that once led Robert Louis Stevenson to say that hunlan communication is doubly relative. It takes one person to say something and another to decide what he said (James and Herbert, 1958). Peterson (1962) observes that, "communication can and does affect work adversely if not properly handled. There are graduation degrees of these effects, ranging from a slight drag against the progress of the enterprise to the causing of errors or misunderstanding of the philosophical foundation of the main organization, and thereby make the output of the system virtually impossible, stating further that, one ever-present cause of faulty communication is that, language, whether oral or written, is itself faulty or imperfection when the meaning of words and sentences and equally the emotional content is ambiguous. In today's work place, the issues of communication and employees job satisfaction are of great importance in organizational development. Effective communication in an organizational setting plays a critical role in shaping employee perception and the organizational strategy. If the organizational communication pattern is weak, it would result in a low commitment as a result of diminished satisfaction of the workforce, greater employee turnover, and less productivity (Hargie et aI., 2002; Abugre, 2010). An employee's perception can be affected by an 6 organizational setting, and this setting may playa critical part in establishing a connection between the individual's perceived level of satisfaction in communication and the outcome of his/her work output (Abugre, 2010). The 2009 annual report of Mobile Telephony Network (M~) draws a correlation between communication and staff performance. The report stated that "ensuring Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana maintains an engaged employee base that translates into exemplary performance was a key priority in 2009; resulting in a shape improvement in communication with staff in the year. This was effective through initiatives such as the introduction of a monthly in-house newsletter, the launch of a 24 hour help desk for employee queries; the "all adds up" campaign to drive communication on total rewards; more interacting staff sessions, and finally the launch of innovation Hub project to provide competitive advantage by harnessing employee ideas for sustained business results' (www.mtnghana.com). It is against this background that this project set to explore how communications contribute to the of performance staff in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Ltd. Mobile Telephony Network is a telecommunication company in Ghana which have about 35% share of mobile subscribers in Ghana. The company (MTN) has approximately 34000 staff strength across Ghana and makes use of internal communication channels such as Inemos, face to face, mails in-house newsletters among others. This study seeks to explore how effective these channels are and how they affect the performance of the staff. 7 1.3 Research Questions I. To what extent do employees in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Ltd engage in communication with other members at the same level in the organization? 11. To what extent do employees in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Ltd engage in communication with other members at different levels in the organization? 111. Does communication in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Ltd. ensures effective performance in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Limited? IV. What are the barriers to effective communication in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Limited? 1.4 General Objective This study generally aims at understanding as to how communication affects performance of workers in an organizations using Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Limited as a case study. Specific Objectives In view of the research questions, the following specific objectives have been cast: 8 I. To determine the extent to which employees in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Ltd engage in communication with other members at the same level in the organization? ii. To assess the extent to which employees in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Ltd engage in communication with other members at different levels in the organization? Ill. To find out if communication in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Ltd. ensures effective performance in the company? IV. To identify the barriers to effective communication in Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Limited? 1.5 Relevance of the Study This work is of contemporary relevance, blending with communication and organizational performance in Ghana. The study adds to our knowledge on management policy and practices in several ways. In the first place, employees' perceptions are built on reactions of the communication styles of management in organizations, and a positive perception of employees would lead to employee satisfaction and sustain their output. Given this importance, Inanagement must pay attention to their cues, assumptions, and response patterns in order not to sway the perception of employees in a negative direction which ultimately affect organizational output. Secondly, the physical interactions between managers and junior employees should be encouraged since employees prefer to be in constant touch with their superiors. Constant physical interactions between management and employees would most likely improve 9 coordination and collaboration in work organizations. Effective communication between managers and employees through physical interactions will certainly strengthen the socio­ emotional bond between employees and give them a greater co-worker satisfaction. Also, managers can better use the available physical interaction of face-to-face communication which does not cost anything to the organization to reach their employees. This finding brings to bear the problem of technology deficiency in developing countries. Whilst electronic media plays a major role in today's global world, many workers in African countries have no easy access to these. The importance of organizational communication as an area of research is gaining interest, particularly because it is very essential in all dimensions of the organization's performance. It will also serve as a source and reference material for students, researchers and policy makers in area of communication and organizational development in Ghana. 1.6 Scope and Organization of the Study The study centered on communication and organizational performance at Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) Ghana Limited. The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter captures the introduction, statement of the research problem, research questions and objectives as well as relevance of the study. The second chapter includes literature review in terms of theoretical and empirical studies. The third chapter addresses issues of methodology. The fourth chapter centered on results and discussions, while the fifth chapter summarizes the results, draw conclusion and make recommendations. 10 2.0 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER TWO LITERA TURE REVIEW This chapter reviews literature on relevant issues to provide a theoretical background for the research. The review presents and discusses issues on communication in organizations. In essence, issues concerning types of communication, communication barriers, organizational communication, organizational communication, and communication and enlployee performance. 2.1.0 Theoretical Literature 2.1.1 Organizational Information Theory The organizational information theory is a complex framework which focuses on how an organization adopts the information which is fundamental to them for sustenance. Karl Edward Weick, an American organizational theorist developed this theory. His studies on organizational studies have been noted for the introduction of concepts such as sense making, loose coupling etc. This broad concept can be applied to reduce equivocality and ambiguousness in communication process within the organization. According to the theory, for an organization to sustain, it must afford the information needed to achieve the goals. The theory states that communication within the organization regulates the environment which influences the behavior of the people and their performance. Thus the main aim is to lessen ambiguity so as to accept 11 only the essential information excluding the excess. The organizational communication must aim at the people's understanding of the objectives more clearly to achieve goals. The theory also posits that maintaining a perspective is another method that should be adopted by the organization to make a clear objective to the people. A narrow perspective can bring in ambiguity which may affect the existence of the organization. But a broader perspective can bring in clearer objective within the people thus reaching the goal easier. That to understand the organizational communication it is important to familiarize with some of these concepts such as information environment, information equivocality, and required selection. Information Environment is an important concept when it comes to the formation of an organization. The organization is sustained using the information they accept and by the people's interpretation. All the available information that an organization receive can be termed as information environment. Information equivocality, is when an organization receives an array of information that has to be interpreted. The equivocal information creates ambiguity and thus it must be sorted out. For that the organization divides the people into departments and other special categories to decrease the equivocality in the messages they receive. Also, required selection explains that the information when received in an organization can be vague and to reduce the ambiguity furthermore, the interpreters are selected, and in order to make sense of the information, the organization designs guidelines. According to the theory, information is subjected to a series of communication activities to reduce the ambiguity. This process is called the cycle and the stages include: An act 12 -which means the ambiguity of the message. A response that means the reaction to the ambiguous message. And an adjustment, meaning the formulated message by the organization 2.2.0 Empirical Literature 2.2.1 Organizational Communication Communication does not occur in isolation. There are different context of communication. One of them is psychological context, which describe the existence of employees and what they bring to the interaction. Employee's desire, needs, values, personality, etc., all may be considered form psychological context. Another framework is Relational, which concerns employee's reactions to the other employees. The Situational context deals with the psycho-social "where" people are communicating. An interaction that takes place in one organization will be very different from other that takes place in different organizations. Environmental context deals with the physical "where "employees communicate. Furniture, noise, location, level, season, temperature, time of day, these are considered as examples of environmental context. Cultural context includes all the scholarly behaviors and instructions that affect the interaction. One can from a culture where it is considered insolent to make long, direct eye contact; one will out of respect to avoid eye contact. If the other employee comes from a different culture where long, direct eye contact signals are reliable, then one should in the cultural context for a basis for misunderstanding (Lunenberg& Irby 2006). 13 2.2.2 Types of Communication in an Organization Communication in an organization flows vertically and horizontally. Further, in the vertical direction, communication may be directed downward and upward. A discussion of the features and functions of different communication flows aid understanding of the measures and results presented later in the current study. Downward communication: Downward communication is the communication that flows from an upper-level employee to a lower-level employee. It is "initiated by the organization's upper management and then filters downward through the 'chain of command'" (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 478). It is not difficult to imagine that downward communication is used to give orders, assign tasks, provide instructions and directions, inform employees of job procedures and policies, point out problems that need attention, and offer feedback on employees' past performance (Robbins et al. 2010, 291; Greenberg and Baron 2008, 350). In other words, it is mainly used to tell the employees what they should do and how well they are doing. In respect of satisfying employees' needs for organizational communication, it is important that employees can receive sufficient and accurate information about the organization and their jobs, and get feedback about the performance (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 350). Scholars found six crucial areas that employees want to know from the upper-level management (Greenberg and Baron 2008,350-1): 1). what, exactly, does my job entail? 2). how well am I doing? 3). does anyone care about me? 4). how is my work unit doing? 5). where is the organization headed? 6). how can I help the company to meet its objectives? Moreover, previous research also found that it is important to explain the reason behind a decision when a manager communicates downward to 14 the subordinate. But in the practice, managers tend to ignore the need for explanation (Robbins et al. 2010, 291). They are either too busy to explain to the employees or think that it is not necessary to let the employees know since they are just like "machines" following orders. However, research has revealed that such explanations can enhance employees' commitment and support for decisions (Dvorak 2007). When the employee knows why the management made the decision, it is twice as likely that he/she commits to the change. Furthermore, there are some deficiencies of downward communication. Employees do not only expect to receive information about the organization and their tasks, and feedback from managers, but also want to participate in the communication. In the one-way communication, it is only the upper-level management that speaks and the lower-level employees listens, and the upper-level management rarely ask for the lower-level employees' opinions and suggestions. However, people need to be respected and considered to be able to think and provide useful ideas. Therefore, in an organization with a good quality of communication, upward communication is regarded as important as downward communication (Robbins et al. 20 I 0, 291). Upward Communication: This in an organizational flow of information from a lower-level employee to an upper-level employee. Upward communication is used to keep managers informed of what is going on in the work and what the subordinates are feeling. Specifically, it provides management with the information they need for doing their work, such as data for making decisions, the current status of projects, and infonnation on new problems. Through upward communication, superiors also get to know their subordinates' feelings about their work, 15 colleagues, and the organization, so that they can adjust for better individual and organizational performance. Moreover, as discussed earlier, superiors and the organization needs advice and opinions from employees as well. Managers rely on upward communication to collect suggestions for improvement and new ideas (Robbins et al. 2010, 291; Greenberg and Baron 2008,351). Upward communication is important. Failing to relay the necessary information upward, such as changes and problems in a project, or creative ideas to enhance profits, may cause detrimental and even disastrous results (Tubbs and Moss 2008). The functions of upward communication are summarized by researchers as: "provides management with needed information for decision making", "helps employees relieve the pressures and frustrations of the work situation", "enhances employees' sense of participation in the enterprise", "serves as a measure of the effectiveness of downward cOlnmunication", and "suggests more rewarding uses of downward communication for the future" (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 485). A previous study proved that the higher levels of freedom the employees have to speak to their superiors, the higher levels of commitment they have to the organization (Wayne et al. 1997). Therefore, an organization should encourage upward communication and undertake efforts to ensure that it is of a good quality. However, it is not uncommon that organizations lack in upward communication. Upward communication is not simply a reverse direction of downward communication, since when communication flows from lower-level employees there may be some problen1s due to the characteristics of job positions (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 351). People may fear the bureaucracy and possible retaliation so they prefer to not face the risks. Even though in today's organizations the emphasis on hierarchy is lower and team work is emphasized., there still are some limitations of upward communication. Previous research found that upward 16 communication happens less frequently than downward communication in organizations (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 351). In addition, the conversation time of upward communication is shorter compared to the communication flows in the other direction (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 351 ). Importantly, upward communication often displays a lack of comprehensiveness. Subordinates often fear to tell bad news to their superiors. When they report to the superiors they may emphasize their merits and achievements but avoid the mistakes they made and troubles they caused. Therefore, the bad things are often omitted in the communication. But managers make decisions based on the information they gain from other employees, and all the information has the potential of changing the result 33 dramatically. That is to say, bad news can also be pivotal. If the higher-level managers are not informed with accurate and sufficient information and that information is necessary for the managers to do their job, then it is very possible that a worse result will be caused. Therefore, to encourage effective upward communication, managers should not behave unreceptively to bad news so that their subordinates will not be afraid of rebukes, punishment, or retaliation (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 485). Furthermore, it is also common that subordinates simply choose to agree with their superiors when they are asked about for comments. Or the subordinates may choose to keep silent even though they have ideas for improvements. The reason might be that subordinates are not sure if their suggestions and comments are truly welcome. Therefore, it is important that managers make time to listen to subordinates and let them know that they are willing to take suggestions and listen to critical opinions (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 353; Robbins et al. 2010, 291). Additionally, previous research suggested that, in order to encourage effective upward communication, besides not giving responding badly to subordinates, managers can also reward upward communication. 17 Furthermore, they can also share their own feelings, opinions and difficulties with their subordinates, so that the subordinates will follow the model to communicate upward effectively (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 487). Horizontal Communication: This is becoming common, flowing among the employees at the same level with flattening of organizational hierarchy and the promoting team work (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 353). Horizontal communication in an organization can serve for an efficient and accurate transfer of information and facilitate coordination, hence no accidents will happen because of lack of necessary communication and the organization functions more effectively (Robbins et al. 2010, 292; Tubbs and Moss 2008,490). Goldhaber (1993) concluded that there are four important functions of horizontal communication. It can help to: 1). improve the task coordination especially between departments to meet the overall organizational goals; 2). Solving problems through brainstorming between co-workers in a department; 3). Share information with other departments especially update changes that may affect other departments; 4). Resolve conflict among members in a department or between departments (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 490). Since in horizontal communication people are horizontally equivalent. the communication is usually friendlier in nature than the vertical communication. It is often also more casual and easier since the social barriers are fewer between people, and they are often more satisfied with it (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 353). However, there are some problems that may cause bad horizontal communication, especially between different groups or departments. Members in a group or department are usually required to demonstrate loyalty, especially when there is competition between groups or departments. As a result, they tend to avoid communication with those outside and also not trust and help others (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 490; 18 Greenberg and Baron 2008, 353). Moreover, when there is a conflict between co-workers, they may behave antagonistically and show their resentment more openly, since they do not need to bow to hierarchy (Greenberg and Baron 2008,353). All these problems may inlpact on the overall organizational benefits of horizontal communication. Schein (1997) summarized a guideline to reduce the barriers to horizontal communication: 1). put more emphasis on the overall organizational effectiveness and the importance of different departments' role in contributing to this overall effectiveness; 2). facilitate the high interaction and frequent communication between groups to work on the intergroup coordination and help each other; 3). employ frequent rotation of members among different groups or departments to stimulate mutual understanding and empathy for others' difficulties and problems; 4). avoid any win-lose situation to reduce competition for reward so that the resources and information are shared equally and fairly (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 491). Additionally, empirical studies found that games and team challenges outside of the office can open up the lines of communication and reduce the barriers to effective communication across equivalent personnel in the organization (Mowle 2004, 1; Tubbs and Moss 2008, 489). Formal and Informal Communication: Two styles of communication that occur in an organization can be distinguished - formal communication and informal communication. Formal communication is "the sharing of messages regarding the official work of the organization", while informal communication is "the sharing of unofficiallllessages that are unrelated to the organization's formal activities" (Greenberg and Baron 2008. 348). Fonnal conlmunication in an 19 organization follows an organization's "chain of command" (Bratton et al. 2007, 329). It is impacted by the organizational formal structure, which indicates "the formally prescribed pattern of interrelationships existing between the various units of an organization" (Greenberg and Baron 2008,349). Therefore, the formal communication follows the prescribed rules about who is to communicate with whom (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 349). In this fOlma} communication structure, it is settled who the authority in the organization is that is responsible for answering the subordinate, and who is responsible for answering the superior. These rules about who may communicate with whom for the organization to operate properly are fixed and defined (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 349-350). That is to say, they do not change just because of personal reasons. Informal communication in today's organizations is often used as a means of work-oriented communication. The informal connections between members in the organization build an informal communication network through which they share informal information. People in the network transmit information to others with whom they come into contact, so the informal communication breaks off the organizational boundaries (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 354; Greenberg and Baron 2008, 356). Moreover, informal communication is usually performed orally. Therefore, 36 the information is usually widespread and spreads rapidly (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 356). The informal channel is sometimes called and known as "the grapevine", and it is mainly based on social relations (for example, friendship, or acquaintance) among the members in an organization (Bratton et al. 2007, 329; Greenberg and Baron 2008, 356). Information disseminated through the grapevine without official verification is often rumor. Rumors about the organization and the work are caused by ineffective or inadequate organizational communication. However, informal communication without official verification 20 can still be helpful for bonding between members of the organization and improving performance (Sostek 2006). Sostek (2006) proposed two types of rumors. When the rumor is about individuals, it usually hurts people. When the rumor is about how the other groups in the organization are doing better, it is likely to stimulate productivity and help the organization. Therefore, sometimes the management allows the spreading of rumors in the organization (Sostek 2006, D 1). Furthermore, it has been shown that socializing informally among employees can improve work groups' cohesiveness, provide better opportunities for satisfying employees' social needs, and ensure a stimulating work environment in the organization (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 356: Baskin and Aronoff 1989). Davis (1953) stated that grapevine communication is one of the fastest channels and often it is also accurate. It can also carry plenty of information. Nevertheless, grapevine communication is largely considered to be unreliable because of message distortion in the communication process (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 495). The distortion Occurs when people omit some parts they think are unrelated, exaggerate some parts to make the story sound better, or distort the message to make it accord with their own ideas or fit their own purposes (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 495). As a consequence, employees do not prefer to get information about the organization and work through the informal channel" although this channel is frequently used and important (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 496). In order to avoid the disadvantages of grapevine communication, the empirical study suggested some alternatives that can also be applied by the organization to share the organizational values with the employees (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 495). It includes one-on-one informal conversations with employees, 21 bringing up values as secondary agenda of meetings, social activities, organization wide meetings, and meetings with middle managers (Tubbs and Moss 2008, 495-6). Some of these alternatives contain social-emotional-oriented communication. One of the current study's assumptions is that social-emotional-oriented comlTIunication affects organizational commitment. In an organization, the informal communication network which is based on the informal connections between people is sometimes divided according to the similarities between people, such as age, gender, and race (Greenberg and Baron 2008,354-5). It is not difficult to understand that people tend to spend more time and communicate more with those who are similar to themselves since it feels more comfortable. Moreover, by communicating with others who are similar to themselves, they usually receive a lot of useful and valuable information. It is because they have similar backgrounds and situations, that the knowledge from similar people can be used in their own cases (Greenberg and Baron 2008~ 355). A previous study found that the informal communication pattern between people has a predictive effect on employees' voluntary turnover (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 355). Specifically, among those who come into contact and share information with each other, the turnover can be caused by their influence on each other. That is to say, who is going to quit the organization for a better job in another organization can be known from familiarity with the informal communication patterns within the social groups in the organization (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 355). Additionally, the informal communication network can cross the organizational structure and hierarchy. When the information is not related to the job, members at different levels - including both the managerial and non-managerial level - dare to share information, such as jokes or interesting movies, to a larger extent. In contrast, it is not common that a worker at a lower organizational level formally communicates to the superior about how to do a job (Greenberg and Baron 2008, 355-6). 22 Communication and Employee Performance Literature supports the idea that communication and employees job performance directly influence each other. That the interpersonal interactions involving the exchange of information between co-workers and between employees and their supervisors can have significant effects on the employees' psychological job outcomes, including high job satisfaction (Ray and Miller, 1994).Two key sources of information in organizations include top management and the immediate supervisor (Young and Post, 1993). For example, satisfaction with communication from top management and from one's inlmediate supervisor positively relates to perceptions of job satisfaction (Pincus, Knipp and Rayfield, 1990). In their research, Goldhaber et al. concluded that communications received from important relationship partners (i.e., supervisor, top management) and the amount of infonnation (Le., as much as employees feel they need on relevant topics) received within the communication were the best predictors of high job performance (Goldhaber et aI., 1978). In addition, employee's perceptions of top-level management's openness of communication and willingness to include enlployees in the participation of decision making have been positively correlated with employees overall job performance and satisfaction (Byrne and LeMay, 2006).Literature showed that supervisor's listening skills were perceived as crucial in assessing the effectiveness of supervisory communications (Kim" 2002).Sullivan's Motivating Language Theory (ML T) hypothesizes that superior's use of motivating language, including direction giving, sharing of feelings and explaining culture, would have positive impact on key worker productivity and processes outcomes including performance and job satisfaction. His theory triggered further research on the subject (Sullivan, 1988). In the US, study by Mayfield and Mayfield, 2009 showed that 23 strategic applications of leader oral communication have positive measurable effects on subordinate performance and job satisfaction. While the focus on communication as a key in strategy execution, occupies an impol1ant role in studies and practical applications of our times, its importance as a best practice to execute strategy is worth noting. Earlier research nlade communication a peripheral concern. focusing instead on issues such as organizational structure and processes such as reward systems and resource allocation (Schultz, Hatch, and Larsen 2000).More recent literature also suggests that communication is key to proper execution of organizational goals (American Management Association, 2007). The further attention and elaboration of communication. in terms of strategy implementation, is an important component in the overall configuration issue, to achieve the strategic objectives of the organization and its effectiveness. According to Hellweg& Phillips (1982), the worker productivity increases when there is communication within the organization. Besides many other things the communication within the organization helps the employees to perform their tasks well, to have information about the duties they have to perform, and about the goals of the organization. They argue that existence of communication within the organization lead to the effective decision making. Smidts, Pruyn, & Riel (2001) posits that employees who are well informed about organizational activities as goals and objectives, new developments and achievements can enable the organization's members to develop such characteristics which differentiates it from other organizations. They found that communication climate is an important variable in the 24 relationship between employee communication and organizational identification. In their point of view the lack of communication within the organization affect the organizational decision making. According to them, it's the foremost duty of the manager to pay serious attention towards the internal communication climate, by giving each employee opportunities to speak, get involved and be listening and guide them for the fulfillment of goals. A study by Harshman&Harshman (1999) concludes that the structure of the organizations is changing day by day as the environment is changing. The changing social and economic atmosphere in any country brings change in the work settings of any organization. Organizational communication is the critical function, and it affects the content and structure of the organization. These changes lead to change in formal and informal patterns of communication in the organizations. The previous researches show that there is a strong bound between communication and other organizational functions. Another study by Monge, Cozzens, & Contractor (1992) shows that communication variables like information sharing and communication between group members leads to innovation in the organization. They found that communication variables have a strong effect on the organizational outcome. They argue the participative environment within the organization, increase its productivity and improve its performance and outcomes. 25 Effective communication in the work setting of any organization promotes trust in the employees. When they are getting involved in decision-making or when they are empowered this thing will increase their confidence level and definitely have a positive effect on the performance of the employees. 2.2.3 Communication Barriers Some barriers of organizational communication have been identified as they affect the effectiveness of organizations. These barriers include lack of clarity, meaning the failure to use common language and honest expressions. Lack of proper coordination, suggesting organizational failure to coordinate the various activities of the different departments in the organization, frequently results in pitiable interpersonal communication, repetition of effort and regular irritation and frustration for the employees affected. Proper channel of interpersonal communication in organization has to be followed for improving the organizational productivity. Also, lack of adequate organizational equipment can significantly hamper the proper functioning of a business environment in the organization. Interpersonal organizational communication remains effective when all the required facilities are put in the organization and the employees are trained. Improper description of functions such as undefined and unclear designation of functions often pointers to misuse of functional authority in the organizations. Functional authority should be delegated to a suitably designated employee based on the departmental policy. The manager must be trained, educated and with experience, his level of honesty must be high and authentic and must be judgmental in his dealing with everyone (CELC, 2011). Wilson (2005) brought out the following facts as barrier to effective communication in different types of 26 organizations; Physical setting of office, clothes, timing of the message, lack of rappo11 between the sender and receiver, lack of motivation and non-payment of salaries. 27 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter deals with the approaches and methods used to collect data for the study. The sections include a conceptual frame work, research design, sampling techniques and instrumentation. 3.2 A Conceptual Frame Work Who in an orga nization? Saying what? In which channel? To whom? (Source: Adapted from Laswells Communication Modelof 1948) This model depicts the stlucture and functions of conmlunication in work organizations. According to the framework, the convenient way to describe an act of communication is to Effect on Employee Performance / ./ answer the following questions: who, says what, in which channel, to whom and what effect. The "who" could be a subordinate or superior in an organization. The 4'saying what" is the nlessage. 28 / / This depends on where it is coming fron1. The superiors' n1essage takes the fonn of con1n1ands. controls, instluctions, Inotivations, and reprimands mnong others. While messages cOIning from the subordinates may take the form of complaints, grievances, submission of reports among others. In which channel, refers to the mediuln of cOlnmunication. In a typical work organization like MTN Ghana, channels may include, meetings, durbars, letters, e-mails, telephones, WhatsApp, Facebook nlessages, text messages, and the notice boards. To wholn refers to the audience or the major stake holders in the organization. They include employees, customers, suppliers, employers, shareholders of the company, regulators of the industry, the financial community and governmental agencies and departments. These then translate to impact on the performance of the employees as supported Iny several authors in the literature review. 3.3 Research Design The study adopted a positivists approach, with the believes that social reality exists in an objective world and its characteristics can therefore be measured through measures of a deductive, hypothesis-testing approach that disengages the unit of analysis from its context and focuses on statistical forms as the basis of generalization (Hatch, 2006). The adoption of a quantitative technique is further justified on grounds of universal acceptability of studying and understanding such critical subjects like communication and organizational performance using quantitative technique. The research also used a case study, cross sectional in nature, as data was collected at once, within one academic year. Indeed, both primary and secondary data were used. 29 3.4 Population and Sampling Techniques 3.4.1 Target population The study targeted employees from Mobile Telephony Network Ghana Limited, who work in greater Accra. 3.4.2 Sampling Technique The study was carried out in four different MTN branches located in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. A non-probability sampling method was used in selecting these four branches from the list of MTN Ghana branches on line, while a random sampling method was adopted in selecting the employees. The head office at Rigde, the Graphic Road branch, Tudu branch and the Roman Rigde branch were selected and under studied. Sample Size and Frame A sample of 50 respondents from four Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) branches was surveyed. The sample size was randomly obtained by taking 12 respondents each of the three Mobile Telephony Network (MTN) branches and 14 from the head office. In each branch, the 12 respondents were further obtained by sampling randomly 3 persons each from the three levels of management: thus senior level management, middle level management and junior level 30 management. This was to make sure that all categories of employees were covered. Same was done for the head office except that in their case the lower level staff were 6. Instrumentation The self-developed and self-administered pre-coded questionnaire was developed through review of literature on communication and employee performance. The questionnaire comprised of six sections with items working towards achieving the research objectives on effect of communication on employees' performance. The sections are demography; communication participation and motivation to work; Interpersonal communication between Management and Employees, as well as Effective communication and organizational employees work performance. Reliability and Validity As part of a validity and reliability test, the instrument was initially given to the human resources manager of MTN Ghana to make sure that it followed their standards and codes of ethics before they were distributed to the participants. Also a pre- test of the instrument was done at the head office of MTN where respondents were randomly selected to respond to the questions before the main research kick started. These were done to enhance the reliability and internal validity of the questions. 31 CHAPTER FOUR DATA ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND PRESENTATION 4.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter of the research presents data analyzed together with its interpretation. The sections in this chapter are the background information, tabular presentation of data and discussion of results. 4.2 Background Information Fifty (50) staff of Mobile Telephony Network were chosen from four (4) different branches in Accra and were administered with questionnaires. Twenty-eight (28) of them were males whiles twenty-two (22) of them were females. Of the total respondents, 2% had their ages below 20 years. 48% of them had their ages between 20 and 29 years, 30 to 39 years were 400/0, 40 to 49 years were 40% while respondents above 50 years formed 2% of the total sample. As regards educational background, 24% had certificate, 62% possessed a bachelor's degree and 14% had·a master's degree. 10% were less than a year on the job, respondents that had spent between 1 to 2 years on the job were 12%, respondent that were between 2 to 3 years on the job were 320/0. 120/0 of the respondents had spent between 3 to 4 years on the job whiles 340/0 had been on the job between 4 to 5 years. Below is tabular presentation of the demographics of the respondents. 32 Table 1: gender of respondents Respondents Frequency Percentage Males 28 56 Females 22 44 Total 50 100 Table 2: age range of respondents Age Range Frequency Percentage Below 20 1 2 20-29 years 24 48 30-39 years 20 40 40-49 years 4 8 50 years and above 1 2 Total 50 100 33 Table 3: number of years spent on the job Years Frequency Percent Less than 1 year 5 10 1-2 years 6 12 2-3 years 16 32 3-4 years 6 12 4-5 years 17 34 Total 50 100 4.2 INTERACTION WITH MY BOSS AND COLLEAGUES IS CODIAL 44% of the respondent strongly agreed that their interaction with their boss and colleagues is cordial, 32% just agreed, 8% were undecided whiles 16% disagreed they had a cordial interaction with their boss. Table 4 below illustrates this Table 4: Interaction with my boss and colleagues is cordial Response Frequency Percent Strongly agreed 22 44 Agreed 16 32 Undecided 4 8 34 Disagreed 8 16 Total 50 100 4.3 INFORMATION RECEIVED ABOUT MY DEPARTMENT IS BEEN ACCURATE 10% of the respondent strongly agreed that the information received about their department since the beginning of their work has been accurate. Whiles 58% agreed, 10% disagreed and 22% did not give a response. Table 5 below gives a tabular overview of this information Table 5: since the beginning of my working experience the information I have received about my department is accurate Response Frequency Percent % Strongly Agreed 5 10 Agreed 29 58 Undecided 11 22 Disagreed 5 10 Total 50 100 35 4.4 INFORMATION RECEIVED ABOUT MY WORK IS BEEN SUFFICIENT 46% of the respondent agreed that information received about their work has been sufficient, and 28% who strongly agreed. 12% were undecided on the above assertion, 80/0 disagreed and 6% strongly disagreed. Table 6 below shows this information. Table 6: since the beginning of my working experience the information I have received about my department has been sufficient. Response Frequency Percent Strongly agreed 14 28 Agreed 23 46 Undecided 6 12 Strongly 3 6 Disagreed Disagreed 4 8 Total 50 100 4.5 THE INFORMATION RECEIVED ABOUT MY DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN TIMELY Concerning the timely reception of information about event in department, 280/0 strongly agreed and 24% agreed. Whiles 2% were undecided, 14% strongly disagreed and 32% disagreed that information received about event in their department was timely. Table 7 illustrates this below. 36 Table 7: since the beginning of my working experience the information I have received about event of my department has been timely. Response Frequency Percent Strongly agreed 14 28 Agreed 12 24 Undecided 1 2 Strongly 7 14 disagreed Disagreed 16 32 Total 50 100 4.6 AT YOUR WORK PLACE YOU OFTEN COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR MANAGER 28% of the respondents strongly agreed that they do communicate with their managers at work whiles 40% agreed. 20% of the respondent were undecided on that statement and 12% strongly disagreed. Table 8 below shows it more clearly. 37 Table 8: at your work place you often communicate with your manager. Response Frequency Percent Strongly agreed 14 28 Agreed 20 40 Undecided 10 20 Strongly 6 12 disagreed Total 50 100 4.7 MY MANAGER OFTEN CONSULTS ME BEFORE MAKING DECISIONS THAT AFFECTS ME Out of 50 respondents, 12% strongly agreed that their managers consulted them before taking decisions that affected them. 68% of them just agreed, 10% were undecided, 12% strongly disagreed and 8% disagreed. Below is table 9 showing this information. Table 9: my manager often consults me before making decisions that affects me. Response Frequency Percent Strongly agreed 6 12 Agreed 29 58 ~ Undecided 5 10 - 38 Strongly 6 12 disagreed Disagree 4 8 Total 50 100 4.8 MY MANAGER OFTEN MEETS WITH ME TO REVIEW MY PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE Respondents to a large extent agreed that their managers met them often to review their performance objective. This was evident as the data gathered showed that 20% strongly agreed and 48% also agreed. Though 12% were undecided, 16% strongly disagreed and 4% disagreed. Table 10 below paints the picture clearer. Table 10: my manager often meets with me to review my performance objective Response Frequency Percent Strongly agreed 10 20 Agreed 24 48 Undecided 6 12 Strongly 8 16 disagree I-. Disagree 2 4 Total 50 100 39 4.9 ENCOURAGEMENT FROM MANAGERS TO OFFER NEW IDEAS TO MAKE OUTPUT BETTER In a whole most respondents agreed in their one on one interaction with their managers, they were encouraged to bring out new ideas that helped them to do their job better. According to the data gathered, 24% strongly agreed, 40% agreed, 26% were undecided and 10% strongly disagreed. This is indicated in table 11 below. Table 11: in my one on one interaction with my manager concerning my work, he encourages me to offer ideas on how to do my job better. Response Frequency Percent Strongly agree 12 24 Agreed 20 40 Undecided 13 26 Strongly 5 10 disagreed Total 50 100 4.10 RECEIVING FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE ON PERFORMANCE. 30% of the respondents strongly agreed that they received enough feedback from their managers about their performances which helped them to improve on their work output. 340/0 also agreed, 40 20% were undecided but 2% strongly disagreed and 14% disagreed. Table 12 below illustrates this. Table 12: my manger often gives me enough specific feedback about the way I perform my job so that I can improve my performance. Response Frequency Percent Strongly agreed 15 30 Agreed 17 34 Undecided 10 20 Strongly 1 2 disagree Disagree 7 14 Total 50 100 4.11EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION LEADS TO IMPROVEMENT IN COMMITMENT TO AN ORGANISATION Most respondents agreed that effective communication leads to improvement their commitment to the organization. 50% of them strongly agreed whiles 17 agreed. Only 2% strongly disagreed and 14% were undecided. Below is table 13 which shows this information. 41 Table 13: effective communication leads to improvement in my commitment to the organization. Response Frequency Percent Strongl y agreed 25 50 Agreed 17 34 Undecided 7 14 Strongly 1 2 disagree Total 50 100 4.12 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION LEADS TO IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE TO AN ORGANISATION None of the respondents disagreed that effective communication leads to an improvement in their performance to the organization. 56% strongly agreed that effective communication leads to an improvement in their performance to the organization. 21 % also agreed whiles 2% were undecided. Table 14 shows this information. Table 14: effective communication leads to improvement of my performance. Response Frequency Percent Strongly agreed 28 56 i-- Agreed 21 42 - 42 Undecided 1 2 '"'- Strongly 0 0 disagree Disagree 0 0 ~ Total 50 100 4.13 POOR AND OUTDATED EQUIPMENT USED DURING COMMUNICATION AND BACKGROUND NOISE MAY SERVES AS A BARRIER TO COMMUNICATION IN AN ORGANISATION. Out of 50 respondents 46% strongly agreed that poor and outdated equipment used during communication and background noise may serve as a barrier to communication in an organization. 32% also agreed whiles 20% were undecided. However 2% strongly disagreed. Table 15 below gives a tabular presentation of this information. Table 15: poor and outdated equipment used during communication and background noise may serve as a barrier to communication in my organization 43 Response Frequency Percent Strongly agree 23 46 Agreed 16 32 Undecided 10 20 Strongly 1 2 disagree Total 50 100 4.14 EMOTIONS AND NERVOUSNESS MAY LEAD TO INEFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION Most respondent agreed that their emotions and nervousness may lead to ineffective communication in the organization. 24% strongly agreed, 40 agreed, 2% were undecided, 22% however strongly disagree and 12% disagree. Table 16 illustrates this information. Table 16: my emotions and nervousness may lead to ineffective communication. r--.. Response Frequency Percent r--- Strongl y agreed 12 24 r--- Agreed 20 40 Undecided 1 2 44 Strongly 11 22 disagree Disagree 6 12 Total 50 100 4.15 LACK OF CLARITY IN ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE SERVES AS A BARRIER TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION. 24% and 24% of the respondent strongly agreed and agreed respectively that the lack of clarity of organizational structure serves a barrier to effective communication. 20% were undecided whiles 8% disagreed that the lack of clarity in their organizational structure serves as a barrier to effective communication. Table 1 7 below illustrates this information. Table 17: the lack of clarity in organizational structure may serve as a barrier to effective communication. - Response Frequency Percent - Strongly agreed 12 24 - Agreed 24 48 - Undecided 10 20 r-- Disagreed 4 8 - Total 50 100 - 45 4.16 LEAVING THINGS HALF SAID, GENERALISATION AND PROVERBS OR SAYINGS CAN LEAD TO COMMUNICATIONS THAT ARE NOT CLEAR AND CAN LEAD TO MISINTERPRETATIONS. Majority of the respondents affinned the above statement. 40% of strongly agreed, 34 agreed, 24% were undecided but 2% strongly disagreed that leaving things half said, too many generalizations and the use of proverbs or sayings can lead to unclear communication that can lead to misinterpretations. Table 18 below shows this information. Table 18: leaving things half said, generalizations and the proverbs or sayings can all lead to communications that are not clear and that can lend themselves to misinterpretations. Response Frequency Percent Strongly agreed 20 40 i-- Agreed 17 34 - Undecided 12 24 i-- Strongly I 2 disagree - 100 Total 50 46 4.17 ILL HEALTH, POOR EYESIGHT OR HEARING DIFFICULTIES AND PAIN MAY LEAD TO COMMUNICATION BARRIER Apart from 6% of the respondents that were undecided all agreed that ill health, poor eyesight or hearing difficulties and pain may lead to communication barrier. Whiles 52% strongly agreed, 21 % agreed. Table 19 below illustrates this information. Table 19: ill health, poor eyesight or hearing difficulty mat lead to communication barrier. - Percent Valid percent Response Frequency Strongly agreed 26 52 52 I- 42 42 Agreed 21 Undecided 3 6 6 - 0 a Strongly a disagree - 0 a Disagree 0 r--- 100 100 Total 50 -- 4.18 SOURCE OF INFORMATION 47 Given a range of options, the highest mention was face to face interaction with managers which recorded 40 followed by memos which had 38 and then work place/staff meeting and co- workers both scoring 25 each. Getting information from documents reported to the department recorded an appreciable score of 20, bulletin boards 12, electronic mail 10 employee meetings with top mangers 4 and the media was 2. No respondent mentioned employee handbook and letters to home. Table 20 below gives a tabular overview of this information. Source of information Frequency Cumulative frequency Face to face with my 40 40 managers/supervisors Memos 38 78 Employee meetings with top 4 82 managers Document reported to my 20 102 department .- Workplace/staff meetings 25 127 with my boss '- 12 139 Bulletin boards t-- 0 139 Letters to my homes t---. 25 164 Co workers "-- 48 - Employee handbook 0 164 News media 2 166 ,- Electronic mail 10 176 I - 4.19 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 4.19.1 INTERACTION BETWEEN MANGERS AND SUBORDINATES Ir managers According to this study most staff agreed that the interaction between them and the' are cordial. (Abugre 2012) did note that such interaction between managers and their subordinates has a direct positive effect on output. (Tubbs and Moss, 2008) describes such interaction either as upward communication or downward communication. Either way it may be; such interaction is vital to enhance output of staff. 4.19.2 ADEQUACY AND ACCURACY OF INFORMATION RECEIVED ABOUT DEPARTMENT The results of the data gathered showed that most staff agreed that information received about eVents in their department had been accurate. The above results agrees with the position of Slllidts, Pruyn, &ReiJ (20 0 I ) that it is necessary for employees to be welJ informed about 49 organizational activities such as goals and objectives, new developments and achievements. According to them, it helps to make informed decisions geared toward attaining the organizational goals. Also even though few people disagreed the study revealed that majority of respondent agreed that information they received concerning events in their department has been accurate. The accuracy of information received can actually help in performing required task. (Greenberg Baron, 2008) emphasized this same point when they remarked that it was always necessary for employees to receive sufficient and accurate information about the organization and job. 4.19.3 RECEIVING INFORMATION TIMELY The study revealed that information concerning events in various department was received on time and this was crucial in carrying out assigned task. (Wilson 2005) listing barriers to effective comm . . h t ft': ts work output mentioned timing as one major barrier When umcatlOn t a alec . itIDorm t' . l'cated on time employees would not be able to make the right a Ion IS no commun deClo . . ' Therefore it is not just enough to give adequate and accurate Slons at a gIven tIme. information but also must be released on time. 4 19 N INTERACTION BETWEEN MANAGERS SUBORDINATES • .4 FREQUENCY I Th ff fMobile Telephony Network agreed that they often e study is showed that sta 0 . rs (Bryne and LeMay, 2006) pointed out that such oft communicate with theIr manage . 50 interactions helped in boosting productivity. According to them management's openness of communication and wiliness to include employees in the decision making has been positively correlated with overall job performance and satisfaction. 4.19.5 EMPLOYEES INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION MAKING. The study showed that majority of the respondents agreed that their managers consulted them before making decisions that affected their job. The study of (Robbins et aI, 2010) noted that such actions is an opportunity for managers to collect suggestions for improvement and new ideas. Also (Wayne et aI, 1997) points out that the more senior management involves employees in decision making, the higher their commitment to the organization. However it is possible to that employees may sometimes for fear of victimization not freely express their views (Greenberg and Baron, 2008). It is therefore always necessary to create a conducive atmosphere for such interactions between managers and subordinates. 4.19.6 MANAGERS MEETING SUBORDINATE TO REVIEW THEIR OBJECTIVES AND ENCOURAGE THEM The study reported that staff of Mobile Telephony Network agreed that their managers met them to periodically to review their objectives. This kept employees up to date on their work schedule. Also meeting employees to motivate them is key. A study in the United States of America by Mayfield and Mayfield (2009) showed that strategic applications of a leaders' oral communication have a positive measurable effects on subordinate performance and job 51 satisfaction. It shows that the results of this study which revealed that maj ority of the staff agreed their managers' interaction encouraged them to their job better is actually critical in staff performance. 4.19.7 FEEDBACK AND IMPROVED PERFORMANCE OF STAFF The respondents according to the study agreed that their managers gave them feedback about their performance which helped them improve their performance. Knowing how one fare in previous task always helped to improve the next assignment. (Greenberg and Baron, 2008) agreed with this result when they remarked that it was always necessary for employees to receive feedback about their performance. 4.19.8 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION LEADS TO IMPROVE COMMITMENT The results of this study revealed that majority of the respondents agreed that effective communication leads to their commitment to the organization. The study of (Wyne et al. 1997) agrees with this finding as it noted that the higher levels of freedom the employees have to speak with their superiors, the higher levels of commitment they have to the organization. 4.19.9 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION LEADS TO IMPROVE IN STAFF PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY The study showed a positive correlation between effective communication and staff performance. Majority of staff respondents agreed that effective communication led to increase 52 in both their performance and productivity. (Ray and Miller, 1994) study agrees with this point. According to them, the interpersonal interactions involving the exchange of information between co-workers between employees and supervisors can have a significant effects on the psychological job outcomes, including high job satisfaction. 4.19.10 BAD COMMUNICATION The study essentially revealed that when there was bad communication it had a negative effect of staff performance. Majority of the respondent agreed poor and outdated equipments used during communication can be a barrier to effective communication. This would consequently lead to fall in staff output. Also the results of the study showed that ill health could also become a barrier of communication at the work place. Physical capacities to see, hear, smell, taste and touch varies between people, so that the image of reality may be distorted even before the mind goes to work. The emotions and nervousness of an individual could distort the transmition of information which may lead to problems. It takes an individual to say a thing and it takes another to decide what he said (James and Herbert, 1958). The above statement also agrees with the results of this study which shows th .. f ndents agree that things half said and generalization can be a barrier to at majorIty 0 respo f 'C. • • t·on (Peterson 1962) sums it all when he note "communication can and electIve communlca 1 • ' k hen not properly hand does adversely affect wor w 53 CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 5.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the summary of findings, conclusions, recommendations and suggestions for further studies. 5.2 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS With Mobile Telephony Network as a case study, a comprehensive research was conducted to find out how communication contributes to effective performance an organization. From the research, these are the summary of findings 1. Cordial interaction between managers and subordinates can enhance a worker's output. 11. Transmiting accurate and sufficient information to employees can enhance their performance. iii. Timely release of information to employees is key to helping enhance their IV. v. performance. Managers communicating often with their subordinates can encourage them to give their much better output. Managers freely communicating with their subordinates can help bring out new ideas that can help the organization. 54 VI. Managers giving feedback to their subordinates helps them to improve on their next task. Vll. Effective communication makes staff increase their commitment to an organization. viii. Effective communication helps improve performance of staff in an organization. ix. Bad communication leads to fall in the performance of employees. x. Human emotions and nervousness can lead to bad communication. Xl. Generalizations and the use of proverbs can lead to bad communication. xu. Outdated equipments can lead to bad communication XIII. III health can also lead to bad communication 5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS In as much as it is evident that effective communication enhances employee's performance and bad communication is the reverse, the following is recommended 1. Organizations should offer periodic health care review for their staff to ensure they have healthy enough to communicate at work. 11. Organizations should replace outdated communication equipments at work to help in effective communication. iii. Organizations should discourage the use of generalizations and proverbs in official line of communication. IV. Organizations should create a conducive atmosphere that allows free communication without fear of victimization. v. Institutions are encouraged to always give feedback to employees so as to help improve their next task. 55 5.4 SUGGETSTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES In future there should be similar study conducted with much focus the on the cost implications of not allowing effective communication in an organization using a larger sample size so as to allow for a more concrete generalizations. 5.5 CONCLUSIONS The following conclusions can be drawn from the study i. There is a direct and positive correlation between effective communication and performance of employees. This is consistent with (Ray and Miller, 1994) that posits that the constant interaction between co-workers and between managers and subordinates leads to increase in employee performance. ll. iii. Bad communication leads to fall in staff performance. This conclusion is re­ echoed by (Peterson, 1965) as he says communication can and does adversely affect work if not handled well. For an organization to enhance the performance of its staff, then it must do well to promote effective communication and discourage bad communication 56 REFERENCES American Management Association (1955). The Ten Commandments ofgood communication. New York: American Management Association. Centre for English Language Communication National University of Singapore (2011). Interpersonal Communication. Hybels, S., & Weaver, H.R. (2001). Communicate effectively. 6th Ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill James G March; Herbert A Simon (1958). Organizations. New York: Wiley. pp. 9- I 1. ISBN 9780471567936. OCLC 1329335. Sambe, J.A (2005). Introduction to mass communication practice in Nigeria. Ibadan: spectrum Books Ltd. Vardaman, G &HaIterman, C. (1968). Managerial control through communication. New York: John Wiley & sons. Wilson, D. (2005). New perspectives in applied Communication. Ibadan: SterlinHordanPublishersEnugu: Dek Computer Technologies. Abugre, J. B. (2010) Perceived Satisfaction in Sustained Outcomes of Employee Communication in Ghanaian Organizations, paper presented at the Academy of African Business & Development Conference, University of Lagos, Nigeria, May 18-23,2010,467-474. Abugre, J. B. (2010). Essentials of Employee Communication; empirical evidence for theoretical and managerial practice, Saarbriicken: GmbH & Co. LeMay, E. (2006). Different media for organizational communication: perceptions of quality and satisfaction, Journal of Business and Psychology, 21, (2),149-73. 57 Hargie, 0., Tourish, D. and Wilson, N. (2002). Communication audits and effects of increased information: a follow-up study, The Journal of Business Communication, 39, (4), 414-36.48 Hatch, M. J. (2006). Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic, and Postmodem Perspectives 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mullins, L. (2005). Management and OrganisationalBehaviour, 7th Ed., Pearson Education Limited, UK. 58 APPENDIX 1 A QUESTIONNAIRE GHANA INSTITUTE OF JOURNALISM HOW COMMUNICATION CONTRUBUTES TO EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE IN GHANANAIN ORGANISATIONS: A STUDY OF MOBILE TELEPHONY NETWORK GHANA LIMITED INTRODUCTION This research is a master's work; aim at creating the understanding as to how communication contributes to effective performance in MTN Ghana Limited. The outcome of this research is expected to contribute to knowledge, theory and practice in the field of communication studies. I will therefore be grateful if you could help by answering the questions that follow. I undertake that all responses will be used for the purpose of this study. 59 Section A: Demography Please tick where applicable 1. What is your gender? A). Male [ ] b). Female [ ] 3. Highest education qualification attained A). Certificate b). Bachelors c). Masters [ ] [ ] [ ] 2. What is your age range? a) Below 20 years b). 20-29 years [ ] c). 30-39 years d). 40-49 years e). 50 years and above [ ] e). Other-Specify ....................... , .. , ........................................ . [ ] [ ] [ ] 4. UnitIDepartment ............. ·· .... ··· .. ·· .. ····· .. ·· ...... ··· .. · .............................................. . 60 5. Job title ....................................................... . ......................................................... 6. Number of years spent in the organization A). Less than 1 year [ ] b). 1 - 2 year [ ] c). 2 - 3 years [ ] d). 3 - 4 years [ ] e). 4 - 5 years [ ] Section B.:. Sources of Information 7. Generally, where do you get information about your organization and other matters that? Affect your job? Tick as many as possible. a. Face-to-face with supervisors/managers [ ] h. Memos [ ] c. Employee meetings with top management [ 1 d. Documents reported to my department [ 1 . with my boss [] e. Workplace/staff meetIngs f. BUlletin boards [ ] g. Letters to my home [ ] 61 h. Coworkers [ ] i. Employee handbook [ ] j. News media (e.g., newspapers, TV) [ ] k. Electronic mail [ ] I. Other ................................................. [ ] Section C: Interaction with my Boss and Colleagues at Work Kindly evaluate and rate the following statements and circle the number that represents the answers of your choice from the given scales (Strongly Agreed, Agreed, Undecided, Strongly Disagreed, and Disagreed). Kindly answer all the questions. Strongly Agreed Undecided Strongly Disagreed Disagreed Agreed 1 2 3 4 5 ITEMS QI Interactions with my boss and coIIeagues is cordial I 2 3 4 5 Q2 Interactions with my boss and colleagues is cordial 1 2 3 4 5 Q3 Since the beginning of my working experience the information i 1 2 3 4 5 have received about my department's issues/events has been 62 I accurate Q4 Since the beginning of my working experience the information i 1 2 3 4 have received about my department's issues/events has been sufficient Q5 Since the beginning of my working experience the information i 1 2 3 4 have received about my department's issues/events has been timely Section D: Subordinate - Superior Communication in MTN Ghana Ltd Kindly evaluate and rate the following statements and circle the number that represents the answers of your choice from the given scales (Strongly Agreed, Agreed, Undecided, Strongly Disagreed, and Disagreed). Kindly answer all the questions. Strongly Agreed Agreed Undecided Strongly Disagreed Disagreed 1 2 3 4 5 ITEMS Q6 How often do you communicate with your manager? 1 2 3 4 5 63 5 5 Q7 My manager often consult me before making decisions that 1 2 3 affect my job Q8 My manager often meets with me to review my performance 1 2 3 objectives? Q9 In my one-on-one interactions with my manager concerning my 1 2 3 work, she/he encourages me to offer ideas on how to do my job better? Q 10 My manager gives me specific enough feedback about the way 1 2 3 I perform my job so that I can improve my performance? Section D: Relationship between Effective Communication and Employee Performance in MTN Ghana Ltd 4 4 4 4 Kindly evaluate and rate the following statements and circle the number that represents the answers of your choice from the given scales (Strongly Agreed, Agreed, Undecided, Strongly Disagreed, and Disagreed). Kindly answer all the questions. Strongly Agreed Agreed Undecided Strongly Disagreed Disagreed 64 5 5 5 5 1 2 3 I 4 5 ITEMS QII Effective communication lead to improve in my commitment 1 2 3 4 to the organization i- Q12 Effective communication lead to improve in my performance 1 2 3 4 '- Ql3 Effective communication lead to high productivity in my 1 2 3 4 organization - Section E: Barriers to Effective Communication in MTN Ghana Ltd Kindly evaluate and rate the following statements and circle the number that represents the answers of your choice from the given scales (Strongly Agreed, Agreed, Undecided, Strongly Disagreed, and Disagreed). Kindly answer all the questions. r--- Strongly Agreed Agreed Undecided Strongly Disagreed Disagreed ~ 1 2 3 4 5 :-- I--- ITEMS -- poor and outdated equipment used during communications Ql1 1 2 3 4 d b k nd noise may serve as a barrier to an ac grou . tion in my organization. communlca '--- 65 5 5 5 - 5 Q12 My emotions, and also being extremely nervous, may lead to 1 2 3 4 5 ineffective communication. Q13 The lack of clarity in my organizational structure serve as a 1 2 3 4 5 barrier to effective communication Q14 Leaving things half-said, using too many generalizations, 1 2 3 4 5 proverbs or sayings, can all lead to communications that are not clear and that can lend themselves to misinterpretations. Q15 III health, poor eyesight or hearing difficulties and pain may 1 2 3 4 5 lead to communication barrier Thank You Very Much for Your Kind Cooperation 66