F.Y.B.COM. SEMESTER – I

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Q.5
Explain Downward Communication Advantages and Disadvantages.

ANS:
In Downward Communication, top management of an organization transmits
decisions taken by it, along with its intended goals, vision, culture and
ethics through various levels of authority.

All
decisions taken by the top management are passed down the ladder of authority
for their implementation. The messages that flow though this channel are
orders, memos, rules, practices, procedures, circulars, regulations. Written orders,
bulletins, bulletin-boards, posters, house-journals are commonly used modes of
this communication. As it proceeds from superiors to the subordinates, this
communication is also called Top-Down Communication.

Downward
Communication is needed

·       
to get the work done

·       
to prepare the workforce for challenges

·       
to tackle misinformation and suspicion arising out of it

·       
to create a feeling of pride and confidence in the workforce in order to
motivate it and to boost its morale.

·       
to transmit work ethics and the organisation‘s culture

 

Advantages:

This type of
communication demands complete obedience and ensures disciplined, orderly
implementation of orders. It leads to efficient functioning of the organisation
and eliminates dissent. Tasks and positions of authority are well defined. This
brings clarity in the minds of people who are responsible for taking action,
thus avoiding confusion. It helps in uniting different levels of authority and
brings in team spirit.

[For
example, an American or British Crisis Management team in action, or the NSG
commandos in action in Mumbai during the terror attack, illustrate how downward
communication ensures effective implementation of ideas. Many family–run
business houses, too, work efficiently for this reason.]

Requirements:

It is
important that the decisions are taken after due deliberation. The vision of
the authority must be effectively percolated, so that it correctly and
completely reaches the last person in the chain. The authority must set a good
example so as to inspire confidence in the subordinates and win their
cooperation.

Disadvantages:

Being
one-way communication, it can have some glaring disadvantages. Lack of vision
and arbitrary decision-making can prove detrimental and harmful to the
organization. Balance in sharing information is important, so is judicious use
of discretion. Unnecessary information leaks can jeopardize organizational goals.
A reticent authority, unable to share necessary details with subordinates,
could prove equally harmful.

A
hierarchical transmission of information delays implementation of decisions.
Similarly, oral communication leads to information loss, distortion and lack of
accountability. Absence of a feedback mechanism at the subordinate level leads
to frustration. As a result, subordinates develop lack of trust in the
authority, and feel exploited, leading to a tense relationship.