Research methods unit I article review

Although difficult to assess, communication climate is a variable of much interest to researchers of organizational behavior.

The present article describes a unique research design which was successfully implemented in a large telecommunication organization to evaluate the factors most influ- ential in affecting communication climate as related to organizational behavior. Discussion focuses on the general applicability and specific advantages of the questionnaire-interview design.

A RESEARCH DESIGN FOR STUDYING COMMUNICATION CLIMATE WITHIN A ORGANIZATION Susan Kogler Hill, Cleveland State University Peter G, Northouse, Western Michigan University IN RECENT YEARS, several methods of analysis have emerged as useful in analyzing communication climates in organizations.

Duty studies are employed to gain information on how mana- gers use their time.'' ^'' Trained observer techniques are used to collect first-hand information on the flow and content of employees' communication networks.'' Communication audits are frequently being employed as the primary tool for soliciting information about communication climates within entire orga- nizational systems.^' *'''' Consultants as well as in-house research teams are employing techniques such as these to determine the communication climates of organizations.

Admittedly, communication climate is a complex, and even ambiguous, construct which is difficult to assess in organiza- tions.

Traditionally, management has placed a high degree of value on the communication within a company under the assump- tion that a positive communication climate leads to increased productivity, profitability, and job satisfaction; and reduced absenteeism, grievances, and turnover. Management's concern with communication climate, however, has not been paralleled by an abundance of specific research tools for valid climate evaluation.

Dennis* discusses the present instruments available for orga- nizational climate analysis. He posits the need for an instrument designed for climate analysis which would measure nianagerial 38 THE JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION -15:2 climate in the broadest sense and, more specifically, would measure the most crucial communication climate factors. Dennis suggests that it is critical that more data be collected analyz- ing the relationship between perceptions of commtmication climate and actual communication behaviors. Such research showing the relationship between perceived climate and actual behavior is necessary to determine the practical significance of the communication climate construct. The relationship between climate attitude and communication behavior was the focus of the present research design. This study was con- structed in an attempt to give greater clarity to the construct of communication climate by analyzing the attitude-behavior linkage.

The present investigation was commissioned by a large tele- communication corporation.' Although the specific findings are relevant only to this particular organization, the research design has general applicability for many organizations. The general purpose of the study was to focus upon those factors or be- haviors which were most influential in affecting communication climate. An analysis of the established communication networks and structures within the organization facilitated the identifica- tion of critical problem areas. These problem areas became the focal points for initiating subsequent changes in the organiza- tion under study. To determine the critical problem areas a two-phase (questionnaire-interview) design was developed which attempted to link the attitudes of mang^ers (climate percep- tions) with their communication behaviors.

QUESTIONNAIRE TO DETERMINE CLIMATE PERCEPTIONS The first phase of the research design consisted of an attitude questionnaire constructed to determine managers' attitudes toward other employees and the organization in general. Speci- fically, attitudes such as trust, perceived openness, and satis- faction were measured by Likert-type instruments to determine which employees were more positive toward the organization and each other and which employees were the more negative.

The specific questions on the instrument reflected the areas and concerns of the particular organization under study. The initial attitude questionnaire was designed to single out those A RESEARCH DESIGN • HILL/NORTHOUSE 39 employees who felt most positive toward the organization as well as those employees who felt most negative.

Scores from the Likert-type instruments were tabulated and summed to give an overall attitude acore for each manager. The individual scores were then ranked from highest to lowest—from most positive toward the company to most negative toward the company.

INTERVIEW TO DETERMINE COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS After the most positive and most negative employees were determined, 100 subjects were selected for interviewing, 50 from each extreme group. Each intensive interview lasted between 45 minutes and an hour. The interviewer at the time of the interview did not know whether the subject represented the favorable or the unfavorable group.

The purpose of this second phase was to analyze the ex- pressed communication behavior of employees at the compsiny and to determine the critical communication factors which con- tribute to positive and negative employee attitudes or positive and negative climate within an organization. The interview was designed to focus on numerous areas of employee communica- tion and to determine by content anlaysis whether or not there are similarities of communication behavior within the positive and negative groups and to determine if there are any significiant communication differences or pattems between the positive sind negative groups.

The open-ended interview was designed to investigate four general areas: 1) demographic information, 2) interpersonal communication pattems, 3) specific communication behav- iors, and 4) reactions to company practices. The first area of demographic data generated by the interviews was not a central area of concern. Nevertheless, the information ob- tained in this section was useful in determining if background information other than specific on-the-job interaction pattems influenced employee's attitudes. Demographic information included such items as the employee's name, department, age, sex, title within the organization, years of service with the organization, and years within the present position in the organization. 40 THE JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION -15:2 The second series of questions on the interview were designed as open-ended questions to solicit explanations and detailed information from each subject as to their interpersonal com- munication patterns. Specific questions were designed to determine upward, downward, and lateral communication pattems. For example, questions probed for general topics that supervisors talked about or discussed with their subor- dinates, in both formal and informal settings. Probing questions were included to elicit specific responses from the subjects on these topics. These probes suggested specific items of dis- cussion such as personal problems, company policy, current events, etc. Further probes asked about the frequency of and motivating forces behind these discussions. This pattem of questioning (general topic, specific content, frequency, and motivation) was continued not only for subordinate com- munication pattems, but also for supervisor and co-worker communication pattems. It was hypothesized that during these discussions of communication behaviors, pattems would emerge across all levels of employee interaction within the organization.

The third section of the interview focused on specific behav- ioral questions. These questions were designed to ascertain com- munication behaviors of employees within the organization and were more specific than the general pattem questions discussed during the first half of the interview. Some specific behavioral questions which were used in this section of the interview include: What avenues or channels do you have for expressing opinions about your job at company X? Specifically, what pri- mary channel do you employ? How do you react to face-to-face discussions as a means of solving on-the-job problems? How fre- quently would you say you trade your opinions about corpo- rate policy and practices with other managers? Do you fre- quently challenge the opinions of other? If you are confronted with the same recurring problem on the job, what do you do?

If the company were to st^gest that you were to change your techniques, what would you do? How would you react? These questions attempted to determine the degree of openness of communication and the variety of channels used within the organization. It was hypothesized that individuals who are happy and positive within the organization would have varied channels and open networks of communication within the organization. A RESEARCH DESIGN • HILL/NORTHOUSE 41 The fourth and final section of the interview was specifically designed to focus on the effects of individual mechanisms and practices that existed within the organization. Particular kinds of staff meetings, new management practices, and controversiid or interesting company publications were singled out for speci- fic study. These particular areas within the company were studied and analyzed in terms of how they affected communi- cation climate within the organization. Special focus was given to company publications and the effect of these company publi- cations upon employees' communication behavior since this was of primary interest to the company xmder investigation. The interview was concluded by asking for open-ended evjiluations of the company publication and general company practices.

ANALYSIS OF DATA The information on the four interview sections (demograph- ic, communication pattems, communication behaviors, land reac- tions to company practices) was analyzed by means of content analysis which provided both quantitative and qualitative results for interpretation. For analysis, the interviews were divided into two groups as determined by the initial question- naire—positive employees and negative employees. The com- ments and answers given by the positive employees were com- pared to those given by negative employees to determine the relationship between communication pattems and behaviors and attitudes; the relationship between company practices and attitudes; and the relationship between demographic factors and attitudes. The analysis was a direct attempt to investigate the linkage between attitude and behavior.

Although the purpose of this paper is not a discussion of the specific results found in the telecommunication organization, the following examples illustrate the type of results obtained from the content analysis.

Distinct differences in attitude and behavior were found between managers who were positive toward the company and managers who perceived the company negatively. The analysis indicated that 68 percent of the positive managers in the studies company believed that their comments and suggestions would be acted upon, while 67 percent of the negative managers believed their comments and suggestions would not be acted upon. 42 THE JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION • 15:2 2.

Differences existed in topic choice between positive and negative managers. The more negative employees discussed "shop talk" while the positive employees avioded "shop talk" whenever possible.

Certain attitudes and behaviors were common to both positive and negative managers. The analysis indicated that 80 percent of all managers expressed favorable reactions to an innovative company publication.

From the content analysis of the interview data, the issues central to an understanding of communication climate were for- mulated. These issues provided the rationale for the recom- mendations that were eventually provided to the company.

DISCUSSION The specific value of the research design employed in this study is found in the advantages obtained through the valid empirical delimitation of the positive managers from the nega- tive managers. The initial questionnaire provided the necessary information to determine those employees most favorable toward the company and those most negative. After being separated, the two groups were interviewed to ascertain why they were different. Why were some people positive toward their company, and why were some people negative? Was it in their communication pattern? Was it in their use of com- pany publications or their participation in certain company practices? What were the specific differences between the positive and negative groups? The analysis provided answers to these types of questions.

In addition, the design provided information useful to man- agement in analyzing the differential effects of company ideas, policies, or programs. The two-phase design provided data bene- ficial to an understanding of why a given company policy (e.g., MBO) was successful or why it needed buttressing within a specific group of managers. Certain innovative programs were accepted by both groups indicating a positive corporate ap- proach to change within the organization.

A general, overall climate assessment is provided by the two- phase design. The questionnaire and interview format focuses on numerous attitudes and behaviors and thereby provides the researchers with data salient to a general climate assessment. A RESEARCH DESIGN • HILL/NORTHOUSE 43 The degree of agreement between positive and negative manag- ers on the attributes of critical company policies was a good indi- cator of the degree of positiveness within the organization.

The design provided a method of analyzing the link between attitudes and behavior. Much research points to the discrep£m- cies between the way individuals describe their attitudes and the way they actually behave.*""^ ^ By conducting the interviews after the initial questionnaires were administered, the present study was able to obtain data significant for interpreting the attitude-behavior linkage. Consistencies and discrepancies between communication attitudes and behaviors became apparent as a result of the design.

In conclusion, this research design was found useful because it provided data indicating subtle but influential differences within two groups of people which lead to future action by management in the organization to improve attitudes of indivi- dual managers and general organizational communication cli- mate. For consultants and researchers of organizational com- munication, this design is advantageous because it provides a method of assessing the communication attitude-behavior link- age and the overall organizational communication climate.

The construct "communication climate" will continue to be difficult to assess. However, the present questionnaire-interview design is a first step in creating an explanation of the communi- cation climate construct.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 1.

T. Burns, "The Directions of Activity and Communication in Department Executive Group," in Human Relations, 7, 1954.

J. Hinrichs, "Communication Activity of Industrial Research Vet- sonnel," in Personnel Psychology, 17, 1964.

J. E. Weinrauch and J. R. Swanda, Jr., "Examining the Significance of Listening; and Exploratory Study of Contemporary Managers," in The Journal of Business Communication, 13:1, 1975.

G. M. Goldhaber, Organization Communication, Dubuque, Brown Company, 1974.

H. Greenbaum, "The Appraisal of Organizational Communication Systems," unpublished manuscript delivered to the International Com- munication Association, Atlanta, 1972. 44 THE JOURNAL OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATION • 15:2 6. J. C. Taylor and D. G. Bowers, Survey of Organizations, University of Michigan, 1972.

Intemational Communication Association, Communication Audit, 1976.

8. H. S. Dennis, III, "The Construction of a Managerial Communica- tion Climate Inventory for Use in Complex Organizations," unpublished manuscript delivered to the International Communication Association, Chicago, 1975.

9. S. K. Hill and P. G. Northouse, Mountain Bell Managerial Commun- ication Study, Denver, 1974.

10.

R. T. LaPiere, "Attitudes vs. Actions," in Social Forces, XIII, 1934.

11.

B. C. Wilkins Kutner and P. Yarrow, "Verbal Attitudes and Overt Behavior Involving Racial Prejudice," in Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, XL VII, 1952.

12.

M. L. DeFleur and F. R. Westie, "Verbal Attitudes and Overt Acts:

An Experiment on the Salience of Attitudes," in American Sociological Review, XXIII, 1958.

13.

V. Vroom, Work and Motivation, New York: Wiley, 1964.

14.

A. Wicker, "Attitudes vs. Actions: The Relationship of Verbal and Overt Behavioral Responses to Attitude Objects," in Journal of Social Issues, 25,1969.

15.

, "An Examination of the 'Other Variables' Explanation of Attitude-Behavior Inconsistency," in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 19, 1971.

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