Case Analysis of

SMITH FINANCIAL CORPORATION

Presented By: Four Swords

Nazish Sadruddin
Adnan Khawaja
Asher Hussain
Haroon Siddique
 Analysis

First Impression
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I
KNOW
 Analysis

UNDERSTANDING THE AUDIENCE

HEARING OR LISTENING
COMMUNICATION &
ETHICS
Perception
Self in Communication
Meanings & Message Barriers
 PERCEPTION

The process by which you

become aware of many stimuli
impinging on your senses.
Self Fulfilling Prophecy: When you
make a prediction or formulate a
belief that comes true because
you made the prediction and
acted on it as if were ture.
 SELF in Communication

Who you are and how you percieve

your self
Open Self
Blind Self
Unknown Self
Hidden Self
Self Esteem
 Meanings & Message Barriers
Polarization- refers to the tendency to look at the world in terms of opposites and to
describe it in extremes.

Intensional orientation- Refers to the tendency to view people, objects and events in the
way they are talked about and the way they are labeled.

Bypassing- a pattern of misevaluation in which people fail to communicate their intended

meanings.

Allness-Refers to the tendency to assume that one knows all that there is to know, or that
what has been said is all that there is to say.

Indiscrimination occurs when you group unlike things together and assume that because
they have the same label, they are all alike.
HOW WE SHOULD GO
ABOUT IT
HOW WE SHOULD GO
ABOUT IT
 BEWARE OF TRAPS
Optimism Trap - Not be aware of complexity & high failure rate thinking that the necessity
to change and the quality of the selected “solution” will remove barriers.
Illusion of Control Trap- Forget that change has both intended/predictable and
unintended/unpredictable consequences.
Solution Vs People Orientation Trap- Underestimate the impact of ‘soft’ consequences.
Single Perspective Trap- Not take into consideration the 3 different perspectives:
‘Change Strategists’ – ‘Change Agents’ and ‘Change Recipients’.
Quick Win Trap- Forget that change initiatives are only successful if they are
sustainable too.
Individual Progress Blindness Trap- Not acknowledge that people need to move
through different Stages and will do it at a different pace.
 CASE QUESTIONS &
ANSWERS
How well does Miller’s style and tone serve him in his Email explanations
of why Lotus Notes aren’t serving the company well? How would do it
differently?
How well does Miller communicate his goals for the future of data
management at Smith Financial Corporation?
How sensitive is Miller to the knowledge levels and concerns of his various
audiences?
Could you suggest a communication strategy that would have served
Miller better?
What does the case suggest about the problems that can arise in clashes
between various corporate cultures?
What role does personality play in communication? How can you, as
Socrates recommended learn to “Know yourself” better?
Questions From the
Audience