Question

3. Comparing Communication Channels

Comparing Communication Channels

Strategically selecting a communication channel means that you choose the communication channel that is best able to meet your work objectives. This process involves evaluating three qualities of communication channels: richness, control, and constraints.

As a new district sales manager, you have been given a variety of tasks by the director of marketing. In this case analysis, you will evaluate your communication channels for each task in terms of richness, control, and constraints.

Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.

You work for Performance Now Sports (PNS), a chain of retail sports stores. You sell high-end sports clothing and gear. After two successful years as a PNS store manager, you were recently promoted to a district sales manager. In this role, you are responsible for the performance of 15 stores. You work closely with each store manager to carry out the organization's overall sales strategy.

Last week, you met with the company's marketing director. She stated that you are responsible for achieving a 15 percent growth in revenue for your district during the next year. She wants you to implement a new incentive system in which sales representatives receive lower base wages but higher commission rates. She also wants you to provide recommendations for at least five locations within your district for new stores. Finally, she wants you to lead local marketing campaigns that draw attention to stores in your district.

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1). You want to hold a meeting with the 15 store managers to discuss the new sales incentive system. Which of the following statements is most true of a conference call in this situation?

1. It is low in richness and low in control

2. It is low in richness and medium in control

3. It is low in richness and high in control

4. It is medium in richness and low in control

2). You want to hold individual meetings with each of the 15 store managers. Which of the following statements is most true of meetings with each store manager in this situation?

a) It is high in richness and high in constraints

b) It is high in richness and low in constraints

c) It is low in richness and high in constraints

d) It is low in richness and low in constraints

3). You want to communicate the 15 percent sales growth goals to each of the store managers. At the same time, you want to share some of your ideas for how store managers can make this happen. Which of the following is most true of an email in this situation?

1. It is high in richness and low in control

2. It is low in richness and high in control

3. It is low in richness and low in control

4. It is high in richness and high in control

4). You want to communicate the 15 percent sales growth goals to each of the store managers. At the same time, you want to share some of your ideas for how store managers can make this happen. Which of the following is most true of a phone call to each sales manager in this situation?

1. It is low in richness and low in planning

2. It is medium in richness and medium in planning

3. It is high in richness and medium in planning

4. It is medium in richness and high in planning

5). You want to set up a Facebook fan page for stores in your district. It will be a source of news about your products, local sporting events, and best practices in athletic training; a place for communities to form; and a place to get feedback from your customers. Which of the following statements is most true about this Facebook fan page as a communication channel?

1. It is high in planning and low in resources

2. It is low in planning and medium in resources

3. It is low in planning and low in resources

4. It is medium in planning and high in resources

6). You want to hire a consultant with expertise in identifying suitable locations for expansion. You've constructed a list of ten individuals, all from referrals, who may be able to provide this service. You want to contact each individual to gain additional information about availability, expertise, planned approach, and pricing. Which statement is most true of an email in this situation?

1. It requires less planning than a phone call

2. It has less permanence than a phone call

3. It requires more coordination than a phone call

4. It is not as rich as a phone call

7). You want to hire a consultant with expertise in identifying suitable locations for expansion. You've constructed a list of ten individuals, all from referrals, who may be able to provide this service. You want to contact each individual to gain additional information about availability, expertise, planned approach, and pricing. Which statement is most true of a phone call in this situation?

1. A phone call has more verbal cues than a face-to-face meeting

2. A phone call requires more resources than a face to face meeting

3. A phone call requires less coordination than a face to face meeting

4. A phone call has less immediacy than a face to face meeting

Answer 1

Ans. Communication channels comprises of face to face communication, electronic communication, oral, verbal and written communication, broadcasting media like TV, radio, newspaper, magazines or internet. The communication channels play an important role in communicating and transferring information from sender to receiver. The communication channel should comprise of three qualities richness, control and constraint.

Richness in communication refers to the speed of the communication and number of cues available in between the communication.

Control means how effectively the communicator can plan and control the communication.

Constraint refers to the obstacles in coordination and limitation of resources.

1. The correct answer is d. it is medium in richness and low in control.

In a situation where a conference call is conducted with 15 store managers to discuss about the new sales incentive system. In that situation, the richness level will be medium as the manager is directly communicating with 15 other managers and the control will be low as coordinating and communicating with 15 people in one go might not be very effected.

2. The correct answer is b. it is high in richness and low in constraints.

In the case where the manager would like to conduct a one on one meeting with 15 managers, the level of richness will be high as the manager would be able to communicate in speed and constraint will be low as there will be less obstacles in between the communication channel.

3. The correct answer is 2. It is low in richness and high in control.

In the case where the manager wants to communicate about 15% sales growth with each store manager and share some ideas with them via email, in that case the richness of communication is low as there will be less immediacy with mail and control will be high as the manager can plan and communicate the message accordingly.

4. The correct answer is c. it is high in richness and medium in planning.

In case the manager wants to communicate over phone call about the 15% sales growth and share some ideas, the level of richness will be high as the interaction will be direct with high immediacy and planning might be medium as there will two way communication with interruptions from other end as well.

5. The correct answer is a. it is medium in planning and high in resources.

The manager would like to set a Facebook page that shares about the news on latest products, local sports events, best practices in athletic training and other related posts. This Facebook fan page as a communication channel will have planning and many resources will require to post on Facebook page.

6. The correct answer is c. it requires more coordination than a phone call.

In case a manager would like to hire a consultant with expertise. From a list of 10, the manager wants to contact everyone and gain more information about them. With email communication, as it requires more planning and richer than a phone call. It requires more coordination than a phone call, as the mail communication is not a quick channel of communication, so the manager must communicate every individual and wait for their response in order to communicate further.

7. The correct answer is b. a phone call requires more resources than a face to face meeting.

In case, the manager would like to hire a consultant out of list of 10 and communicate over the phone call. The communication will require more resources as the manager will have to communicate with every individual over the phone. Communication with face to face interaction is the most convenient, rich and have least number of constraints. The interaction over the phone might have constraints like network issues, semantic barriers which can be avoided in face to face meeting.