CASE James W.

Caruso Has
Communication Problems

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Theory of reinforcement
3. Accused of being poor communicators
4. Relationship b/w reinforcement theory & communication
5. Improving communication skills
6. Suggestion for better communicator
7. Conclusion
8. References

1. INTRODUCTION
This topic gives you an overview of communication and introduces you to the main elements in the
communication process. It also highlights the importance of speaking clear, positive messages and offers you
some basic tips and guidelines on this form of communication so that you may become more proficient in the
kind of speaking and listening at workplace. You will also learn about some of the common pitfalls which may
impede the effectiveness of communication.

Behaviorist B.F. Skinner derived the reinforcement theory, one of the oldest theories of motivation, as a way to
explain behavior and why we do what we do. The theory may also be known as Behaviorism, or Operant
Conditioning, which is still commonly taught in psychology today. The theory states that "an individuals
behavior is a function of its consequences" (Management Study Guide, 2013). Behaviorism evolved out of
frustration with the introspective techniques of humanism and psychoanalysis, as some researchers were
dissatisfied with the lack of directly observable phenomena that could be measured and experimented with. In
their opinion, it would make the discipline of Psychology more "scientific" and on par with the core sciences.
These researchers turned to exploring only the behaviors that could be observed and measured, and away from
the mysterious workings of the mind (Funder, 2010). The science of psychology that is often associated with the
current era may be considered inadmissible to those that follow Skinners beliefs. Psychology has frequently
been associated with the human mind and the evolution of cognitive awareness, causing Skinner to move in a
different direction. By applying his thoughts on adjusting motivation through various stimuli, industries such as
business, government, education, prisons, and mental institutions can gain a broader understanding of human
behavior. "In understanding why any organism behaves the way it does, Skinner saw no place for dwelling on a
persons intentions or goals . For him, it was outward behavior and its environment that mattered. His most
important contribution to psychological science was the concept of reinforcement, formalized in his principles of
operant conditioning. This was in contrast to Ivan Pavlovs principles of classical conditioning, which along with
J.B. Watsons extreme environmentalism strongly influenced his own thinking.

Reinforcement theory has been used in many areas of study to include animal training, raising children, and
motivating employees in the workplace. Reinforcement theories focus on observable behavior rather than
needs theories that focus on personal states. Reinforcement theory is a form of operant conditioning and
focuses on the environmental factors that contribute to shaping behavior. Simply put, reinforcement theory
claims that stimuli are used to shape behaviors. There are four primary approaches to reinforcement
theory: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment, which
will be covered in a later paragraph. By analyzing the various components of the Law of Effect and the primary
approaches, we can achieve desired results, otherwise known as consequences, through its application within
the workplace.

Communication is straightforward which is encoded and decode messages between the sender and the receiver.
Communication can fosters motivation but also act as a double edge sword because it may also be able to de-
motivate people within the radius. It can control members in several way such charismatic leader who speaks
with confidence. What makes it difficult, complex and frustrating to communicate with each other are the
barriers that avoid us to decode the messages clearly.

A lot of bosses are accused of being poor communicator because of they have very high communication barrier
in the way which leads to communication breakdown. For example if the boss is from different country and of
course he will have different culture. Each culture holds different cultural beliefs, practices and perception. Even
so, the boss and the employees need to respect and to be respected with their culture.

Communication takes both parties to be able to listen and to talk. Its hard to communicate with someone who
already thinks they are correct in the first place. The more egotistical the boss is the worse the communications
are. There are some weird unwritten rules also. " Because I am the boss I cant be wrong", or "I will look stupid if
I am wrong because I am the boss so I will go to the ends of the earth defending my position." or "Since I am the
boss I cant be questioned about anything".

The bosses may have poor communication because of their feeling of superiority. They often thought that they
have the power to control over people and less often they see that the way they communicate and behave
burdens them. It could be that, the superior (the boss) is too intelligent for his subordinates or his subordinates'
perspective is different from his superior. Having this issue derived on several factors such as emotions, physical
barriers, lack of social skills, lack of knowledge and education. In the case incident states that the boss is men so
in other words, they mostly emphasize about status, power and independence.

Some bosses will speak to their people on what needs to be done, but won't listen to what their peoples input.
They are too busy with expenses, payroll, monthly reports, etc. They forget to take the time to create clear and
concise directions. They assume that just because they were in the meeting that the same communication was
heard by all. They have selective hearing and do not communicate all the information they were supposed to.

Another example of poor communication is the language and different accents and dialects. Some words may
mean different to different individuals. Some employee may not understand the accent and dialects spoken. In
this process, communication breakdown occurs because there is wrong perception by the receiver. In short, the
receiver did not receive (decode) the message clearly.

In addition, the hierarchical structure of a company also adds up to the satisfaction of the bosses that often
results to poor communication. For example, instead of having the initiative to talk to their employees , they
have this mentality that since they are the bosses and they are at the higher level in the organizational structure
, their employees should be the ones to make an effort to consult them or talk to them

Thats why they are called poor communicator. A good boss will speak to their people and listen to what they
have to say. A good boss will take care of their people; a good boss knows that you can't run a business by
yourself. A poor communicator is not a good leader. A great leader will lead their people to victory, and will
know how to pull their people out of defeat, and rise and learn from the leaders mistakes.

The reinforcement theory, based on E. L. Thorndike's law of effect, simply looks at the relationship between
behavior and its consequences. Reinforcement theory emphasizes that consequences influence behavior while
communication is the transference and understanding of meaning, it would appear that good communication
will increase understanding and efficiency while complimenting the reinforcement theory.

In the case study suggest that there is strong relationship between reinforcement theory and communication.
Communication controls behaviors which stimulates motivations, offer information and is a way to release
emotions. Reinforcement theory is a middle part of those four functions. In order to achieve each function,
communication and reinforcement theory work hand in hand to provide opportunity to send messages and to
receive feedback from employees.

Sending the correct messages and receiving feedback not only strengthens the relationship between the boss
and the employee, it also strengthens the lines of communication. Since Mr. Caruso does not communicate well,
he is unable to motivate his employee through the use of reinforcement theory.

Reinforcement theory establishes that employees have higher job satisfaction and higher levels of motivation
when the behavior the company wants is reinforced with praise. In Mr. Carusos case, his employees are very
critical of his style of management and it is considered to be a regular source of conflict.

In the workplace, reinforcement theory can either hinder or promote communication. If mangers or supervisors
ways of communicating produce favorable results, there is huge possibility that they will repeat that action and
as a result, it will yield a better flow of communication. But if they already know that a particular action will
produce unfavorable results, they will most likely not do that specific action. Since Caruso is not aware of the
consequences of his behavior, he continues to do it because it satisfies his wants and needs. For him , his actions
bring positive results that benefit him as a manager or supervisor in public relations but in reality his bad
behavior have affected the performance of his employees that led to lack of initiative to be more productive and
promote effective communication

When we talk about expectancy theory in which it act in a certain way depends on the strength of an
expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the
individual. The employee will apply the relationship by receiving the correct data. So he or she will exert their
perception of the effort to their performance. If the performance is good they will be given reward and they
eventually achieve their goal satisfaction.

This case only proves that when an action results to a negative consequence, employees try to decrease the
occurrence of this behavior but when it brings positive effects, the natural outcome would be an increase in the
action that produced it. But when a specific behavior does not deliver either good or bad effects, it is most likely
that the action will never happen again.
First and for most Caruso needs to understand and learn the beginning of the communication process. It is he
(sender) which starts the messages and then the message will be encoded by the brain. Followed by the
message being send (verbally or written) through the channel which travels to the receiver. The receiver will
then decode the message in which the brains translate the message in most simple way by the receiver. While
having this process, there will be some distractions such as noises in which it prevent the receiver from
understanding the message clearly. Finally, ending with feedback which determines the receiver understands
fully or not.

Next step is for Caruso to learn and explore the power of non-verbal communications. Action speaks louder than
words so body language may reveal a persons true feelings, motivation or character. It is hard to control than
words. The way he listen, look, move, and react tells the other person whether or not he care, if he is being
truthful, and how well he listen. When his nonverbal signals match up with the words he said, they increase
trust, clarity, and rapport. When they dont, they generate tension, mistrust, and confusion.

If he want to communicate better in all areas of his life, its important to become more sensitive to body
language and other nonverbal cues, so he can be more in tune with the thoughts and feelings of others. he also
need to be aware of the signals he sending off, so he can be sure that the messages he send are what he really
want to communicate.

Another way to enhance his communication skills is to improve the direction of communications. In
downward communication, Caruso needs to interact with his employee of lower level whereas lateral takes
place among members of the same work group such as managers of same level. Moreover he also need to
improve his formal channel of communication because his job require professionals dealing with clients. He
need to differentiate when to use formal language and when to use informal language.

While Mr. Caruso seems to understand that some people do need to be told that they are doing a good
job, he actually needs to put it into practice. Mr. Caruso must set the example by meeting his deadlines. If he is
able to complete his work in timely manner, his employees will begin to so the same. He needs to learn how to
communicate with clients to avoid placing his employees in awkward situations.

Showing his employees the correct way to deal with clients will give the employees self-confidence and
motivation. When employees feel valued by the company, it fosters creativity and stronger problem-solving
skills. Furthermore, changing his tone when he speaks to his employees will relieve tensions his employees feel
when they are unable to express their emotion through communication process. Finally, criticizing employees
and not praising them are enough to kill motivation and job satisfaction. Mr. Caruso would do well to use
constructive criticism and praise his employees more in order to create environment that allows for growth and
for more open lines of communication where he can receive feedback to make sure that his message is getting
through his employees.

In order for Caruso to improve and be a better communicator, that he should learn and understand the process
of communication as well develop his own interpersonal skills in communication. The process of communication
involves Listening, Choosing his words, understands why communication fails, relax, clarify and being positive.

In this information, age that we are all in, Caruso will be able to quickly learn and develop his communication
skills while running a business. He could easily sign up for an online course that he could do on his own time,
read articles online, learn communication skills through a good book and so forth.

However, he could easily follow seven verbal communication skills that improve workplace management
effectiveness

Personal Contact - The reason is that people relate to one another better when they can meet in person and
read each others body language. Whats more, people can feel the energy the connection creates. You can
also smile and shake someones hand when you greet them, which creates a powerful connection.

Develope a Network - No one achieves success alone. Success in any company requires a team effort.

Be Positive - Try to remain positive and cheerful. People are much more likely to be drawn to you if you can
maintain a positive attitude.
 Relax - When we are nervous we tend to talk more quickly and therefore less clearly. Being tense is also
evident in our body language and other non-verbal communication. Try to stay calm, make eye contact and
smile. Let your confidence shine.

Choosing his words: This is where he needs to be aware of. The words that hes going to use when talking
to the others could he be misunderstood or confusing to others and also criticizing the employees with
praise or harsh on the words being used.
Be Clear - Since people often hear things differently, and they may be hesitant to ask you to explain what
you said, you should ask, Did I explain this clearly? This will confirm they understood.

Compromise - You can decrease the tension associated with conflict if you always ask, What is best for the
company? This gives people a different perspective on your requests, and they will be less likely to take any
conflict personally.

Understand Why Communication Fails: By learning about the various barriers to good communication he
can be aware of and reduce the likelihood of ineffective interpersonal skills.

Be interesting and interested - Even though most of your workplace communications will be about business
topics, it is also important to share your personal side. You can share your interest in your family and ask
about theirs. You can tell short stories and have your employees feel closer to you.

Finally Listen - Listening attentively to your employees demonstrates respect. Listening isnt easy because
everyones mind tends to wander. So to help you concentrate on what the other person is saying, keep a
good eye contact without staring, and then make a comment about it or ask a question.

2. CONCLUSION

By understanding all of those skills and applying them in his communication with regards to improve the
communication with his employees, it could be really helpful as this could somehow increase the bond of his
relationships with them, avoids misunderstanding with the others, making the employee more comfortable and
motivated in their working environment which could fix the communication breakdown.

Improving communication skills is a process that happens gradually over a period of time and that he
has the opportunity to practice his communication skills every day at work. A quick tip to help him to improve
faster would be at the end of each day, take a moment to review his communications during the day. What was
effective? What wasnt effective? That way he will continue to learn and improve his communication skills.

References :-
http://natamcancer.org/page235.html
 https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/PSYCH484/3.+Reinforcement+Theory
http://www.studymode.com/essays/James-w-Caruso-Has-Ommunication-Problems-1147132.html
http://www.aral.com.au/resources/communicn.html