Communication to Be Effective, the

¶ … communication to be effective, the company executives will have to conduct face-to-face meetings with plant managers. It is unfortunate that the response doesn't comment on communication in a decentralized structure and doesn't use the term decentralized because the entire case is about moving an existing structure from "centralized" to "decentralized." In a scattered system where no centralized access to information and communication is available, there is a possibility of mismanagement and serious communication problems that Carson Container can also face.

This is not mentioned by the author in the response however there is vast literature documenting the challenges faced by organizations when they turn to decentralization. "Decentralization of the organization resulted unclear roles and responsibilities. It also made it more difficult to know the employees' areas of expertise or responsibilities, which had negative effects on decision-making and employees' ability to decide with whom to communicate." (Maki et al.

2005) The author mentions the importance of communication in any organization and it is very pertinent to the issue because lack of communication can lead to breakdown of the entire system. In a decentralized organization however, this kind of communication mentioned in the response may not always be possible because plant managers are scattered all over. For this reason, it is more important to focus on virtual means of communication and online conferences as they can enable managers in variety of areas to come together and communicate in real time.

"Communication builds trust. It provides guidance, and the phrase "collaborative teams" infers that communication is taking place…Recent technologies such as Desktop videoconferencing systems, Collaborative software systems, and Internet / Intranet systems have simply provided additional mechanisms of communication. With each new tool in the toolbox, there is a chance that a more appropriate tool exists for the communication need than existed a decade ago." (Tabari, 2004) References Mojtaba Tabari. 2004 "Managing Virtual Teams" http://www.apiems.net/archive/apiems2004/pdf/apiems2004_10.6.pdf Maki, E. 2005 Communication and knowledge sharing in a decentralized organization.

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/conf/olkc/archive/oklc5/papers/f-2_maeki.pdf Analysis to Response of Answer 2 The author correctly identifies the problem that has occurred due to decentralization. Lack of communication in procurement sector has been causing problems for Carson executives. They should try to review the possibility of centralized communication. The second problem is ineffective management of change. In any organization, management of change is highly significant to the overall success of the organization as well as effective introduction of the change process.

If change is not effectively communicated, it can lead to serious friction and resistance on part of the employees. With regard to Carson, we understand that the basic problem has been lack of coordination between managers of different plants and locations and hence it is not always easy to communicate with them on various issues including change. Change management must be closely studied to effectively incorporate it in the change process.

One theory that the author could have mentioned in his response is Kurt Lewin theory of change which has been widely studied and considered one of the most effective and comprehensive works on the subject of change. It explains how change must be introduced and how it can be managed.