ORGANISATIONAL COMMUNICATION IN MARRIOTT HOTELS

Organisational Communication in Marriott Hotels

Organisational Communication in Marriott Hotels

Introduction

Organisational communication is the processing of information in message form into, through, and out of the organisation; it is a collective representation of ideas. The organisation is defined as a permanent and complex interactive system of individuals who work together to achieve common goals (Taylor, 2004). Communication is defined as a cooperative enterprise among a network of people requiring the interchange of ideas, messages, and attitudes to produce understanding and shared meanings of actions to be taken by the organisation. The paper explores the organisational communication in relevance with Marriott Hotels and Resorts, a renowned hotels chain functioning throughout world.

Three Main Communication Theories applicable to Marriott Hotels

Three main theories were identified in the research of organisational behaviour: scientific management, human relations, and systems theory. The scientific management theory initiated by Frederick Taylor viewed workers as extensions of their machines, motivated by economic incentives, with emphasis on vertical communication flow, communication from the top down. Chester I. Barnard and Elton Mayo founded the human relations theory, which emphasised horizontal communication flow, especially among peers (Papa, 2008). System theory theorists defined a system as a set of interdependent parts connected by communication flows pervasive throughout the organisation and the environment.

In 1938, Barnard named formal communication channels that traverse the organisation through a hierarchy of authority as a communication system. This communication system typically includes the characteristics of centralisation, shape, and technology (Papa, 2008). Centralisation is the degree to which authority is concentrated in a single source and communication is controlled and organised throughout the organisational hierarchy. Centralised structures are more efficient when the problems and tasks are relatively simple, but when the problems and tasks become more complex, decentralised hierarchies appear to be more efficient. The shape or structure of a system refers to the tallness or flatness of the organisation's bureaucracy (Hoy, 2001). Papa (2008) reported that the number of levels a message must travel within an organisation could be seen as the distance a message must travel; and as the distance increases, the satisfaction and quality of the message tends to decrease. Finally, how organisations develop the capacity to be a knowing organisation and use technology to communicate in the age of globalisation will continue to change drastically (Papa, 2008). The use of the World Wide Web, electronic mail, and videoconferencing has had a tremendous impact and will continue to influence the flow of communication within and outside the organisation.

Organisational Communication in case of Marriott Hotels

Communication in organisations flows directionally through formal and informal networks. According to Fred C. Lunenburg and Allan C. Ornstein, this flow of communication is carried in four directions: downward, upward, horizontally, and diagonally. Vertical flow refers to the upward and downward direction of communication through the organisation's hierarchical shape (Taylor, 2004). Downward communication is used by people at higher levels in the organisation to transmit information to people at the lower levels of the organisational hierarchy. Researchers have reported that downward communication is easy to send, but it tends to be ...