Communication Effectiveness in a Student Engineering Organization
This paper examines communication effectiveness at Made at TU, a university student organization founded in the 1970s to help mechanical engineering students develop projects for local residents with physical and developmental disabilities. Using a communication audit methodology, the paper analyzes the organization's leadership communication strategy and the communicative behaviors of group members. It identifies the use of interdependent communication systems, vertical communication, and horizontal communication as the organization's primary approaches. The paper evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches and concludes with practical recommendations—including electronic communication tools, written communication methods, and an open-door management policy—to improve communication effectiveness.
- Introduction to Made at TU Organization: Background and mission of Made at TU
- Methodology for Assessing Communication Effectiveness: Communication audit approach explained
- Assessment of Communication Effectiveness: Vertical and horizontal communication systems analyzed
- Strengths and Weaknesses of Communication Approaches: Evaluation of communication strategy pros and cons
- Recommendations for Improving Communication: Practical steps to strengthen organizational communication
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper clearly applies a named methodological framework—the communication audit approach—anchoring its analysis in established organizational communication scholarship.
- It balances descriptive analysis with evaluative critique, identifying both strengths and weaknesses of the organization's communication strategies rather than offering a one-sided account.
- Practical, actionable recommendations flow directly from the identified weaknesses, giving the paper a logical cause-and-effect structure that readers can follow easily.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied organizational communication analysis. It draws on peer-reviewed and practitioner sources (Hargie & Tourish, Cheney et al., Koschmann) to frame an analysis of real organizational behavior, showing how theoretical concepts such as vertical and horizontal communication map onto observable practices within a specific student organization.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with background on the organization and its mission, then justifies the chosen methodology (communication audit). The central section applies the audit framework to describe the organization's communication systems, followed by an explicit strengths-and-weaknesses evaluation. The paper closes with targeted recommendations and a concise conclusion that synthesizes all main findings. This IMRAD-adjacent structure suits an applied organizational analysis at the undergraduate level.
Introduction to Made at TU Organization
Made at TU is a student organization that has existed at the university since the 1970s, established to help mechanical engineering students fund and develop projects for the local community. The organization was founded after the then Dean became interested in the efforts of mechanical engineering students to develop projects addressing the needs of local residents with physical and developmental disabilities. Since its inception, Made at TU has grown into an important student organization through its commitment to leadership and service. The primary goal of the organization is to leverage the university's mechanical engineering students to enhance the lives of people with disabilities. This paper examines organizational communication effectiveness at Made at TU, given the significant social service value the organization provides to both students and faculty.
Methodology for Assessing Communication Effectiveness
One of the major factors contributing to the success of Made at TU across all its operations is communication. Communication plays a crucial role in ensuring that organization members understand the needs of locally disabled people and in supporting the creation of projects that meet those needs in an effective and sustainable manner. The field of organizational communication has gained considerable attention in recent years because of its significance to the effective functioning of organizations (Hargie & Tourish, 2015). Several methodologies exist for assessing communication effectiveness within an organization.
For this paper, the methodology used to assess communication effectiveness at Made at TU is the communication audit approach. This approach helps in understanding the wide range of communicative behaviors within an organization. While there are several variables and techniques that can be employed in this approach, this analysis focuses on examining the communication strategy employed by the organization's leadership and the communicative behaviors of group members. Both the strategy and behaviors are examined with respect to their role in achieving organizational goals and supporting the effective functioning and operations of the organization.
References
Cheney, G., Christensen, L. T., Zorn, T. E., & Ganesh, S. (2010). Organizational communication in an age of globalization: Issues, reflections, practices (2nd ed.). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Exceptional Parent. (2015, June 29). Engineering a very special project. Retrieved June 26, 2017, from
Hargie, O., & Tourish, D. (2015, February 26). Assessing the effectiveness of communication in organizations: The communication audit approach. Health Services Management Research, 6, 276–285.
Koschmann, M. (2012). What is organizational communication? Retrieved June 26, 2017, from http://koschmann.webstarts.com/uploads/what_is_organizational_communication.pdf
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