Case Study Analysis Paper

Stephen Jones

Comm 303 - Organizational Communication

Dr. Ryan Meers

An Analysis of the InfoNet Case Study

Communication networks are vital to a healthy organization. Employees need to

hear from those above them in order to have a vision for why their work is important. In
this paper, I will analyze the InfoNet case study from Chapter 8 of Case Studies in
Organizational Communication.

InfoNet is an information collection and dissemination company originally designed

to aid the communication lines between the government and private organizations. In this
case study, the company makes a decision to reorganize its internal structure, reducing
the number of vice presidents from two to four. The primary character we will study in this
case is an InfoNet boundary spanner named Marti. The main role of boundary spanners
within InfoNet is to work directly with InfoNets clients to control the flow of information into
and out of InfoNet. Due to the unique nature of her job, and several issues with the
communication network at InfoNet, Marti feels disconnected from and unsatisfied with
InfoNet.

The primary issue facing Marti is that, as a boundary spanner, she feels more

connected to her clients outside of InfoNet than she does to her own company. Most of
Marts work is spent with InfoNets clients: researching issues for them, making phone calls
to discuss these issues with them, and making trips to visit potential new clients. In

addition, most of the funding for her division comes from her clients, not directly from
InfoNet. Ken is Martis direct supervisor, however, she often feels pressure from several of
the vice presidents in the company. Due to the fact that she is receiving tasks from her
clients, her supervisor, and others higher up in the company, Marti feels overwhelmed by
the amount of work placed on her. More importantly, she feels disconnected from the
company she works for. She is quite dissatisfied to hear that changes to internal
organizations and funding are being made at the company headquarters across town
without any consideration for the impact those changes will make to her division.

When considering theories of organizational communication, McGregors Theory Y

address several of the issues surrounding Martis unfortunate situation. Theory Y builds off
of the human relations view, and describes an ideal description of the relationship between
supervisors and their employees. This theory states that employees will tend to exert their
effort to accomplish tasks as they begin to see company goals as their own goals. In a
sense, the employees begin to take ownership of the problems facing their company. If
InfoNet were to adapt their management style according to Theory Y, Martis supervisor,
along with the vice presidents, should reconsider the task load that each group is placing
on Marti. They should set specific goals and objectives before Marti and allow her to
accomplish them without additional pressure and control from above. According to the
theory, Marti would thrive when she is able to utilize her own imagination, ingenuity, and
creativity to accomplish the goals of the company.

In addition, InfoNet would benefit form implementing a better sense of

organizational culture. In this case study, it seems that little, if any, cultural elements are
present within InfoNet. The case describes the company headquarters as a modern, brick
building with a fancy lobby and nicely furnished conference room. Marti and her
coworkers work in an outdated office building across town from the headquarters. Other
than this mention of the disparity between buildings, no other mention of work
environments or company culture is made. InfoNet would benefit greatly by making their
core values more evident through the use of artifacts, stories, and/or metaphors. A sense
of organizational culture would cause employees, like Marti, to feel like they are part of
something more important than the seemingly trivial tasks they routinely do.

An organizational communication practitioner of the interpretive perspective would

view InfoNets lack of an organizational culture as a problem that should be acknowledged,

but cannot be directly fixed by the management. The interpretive view holds that culture is
socially constructed and can be observed but not controlled. In other words, InfoNet's
company culture cannot be designed from scratch, it has to be built from the people within
the company. The employees and managers would have to come up with ideas and
values that define them based on their natural, social interactions. While the interpretive
perspective is somewhat helpful and true, the traditional perspective, stating that the
company culture can be controlled by management, should also be considered. It seems
that the executives at InfoNet have shown little interest or concern for Martis department.
Further, they are not interested in building a sense of individual importance or team unity

with the different departments of the company. From the traditional perspective, the
management can, and should, take action to address these problems.

As a consultant, I would first recommend that InfoNets executives implement a

regular, reoccurring day for company-wide recreation and team building activities for
employees within the same city. This type of activity would allow both employees and
management to build friendships outside of the office, and help those who feel
undervalued by the company to have an opportunity to interact with the executives. In
addition, building friendships that exist outside of the office would begin the process of
implementing a company culture (from the interpretive standpoint). Second, I would
recommend that company executives intentionally seek to find a way to show their
employees the importance of InfoNets core values. This effort could be accomplished
through internal marketing, employee appreciation days, or other creative ways to show
the employees that they are valued. Finally, I would recommend that supervisors
reevaluate the workload they ask of each employee, like Marti, and give those employees
freedom to solve problems how they best see fit.

In conclusion, we see that the troubles facing InfoNets employees are nothing new

to the field of organizational communication. With some effort from InfoNets executives to
establish clear and reasonable roles for employees and to implement a better sense of
organizational culture, employees like Marti would find InfoNet a more enjoyable place to
work.

Works Cited:

Eisenberg, E.M., Goodall, H.L. & Trethewey, A. (2014). Organizational

Communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint (7th ed). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins
Press.

Sypher, Beverly Davenport. "Chapter 8. Communicators Spanning the Boundaries:

A Story of Power, Loyalties, and Stress." Case Studies in Organizational Communication.

New York: Guilford, 1990. 140-49. Print.