Organizational Communication
Organizational Communication
COURSE CODE 16334 SUMMER 2022 ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION Task brief & rubrics
Task
This is an individual task. ALL the questions must be answered in full in a coherent and communicative way. Please do not plagiarize and include any references that you may use when answering the questions.
Please upload your final task in a word document to Turnitin.
Formalities:
· Wordcount: 1500-2000
· Cover, Table of Contents, References and Appendix are excluded of the total wordcount.
· Font: Arial 12,5 pts.
· Text alignment: Justified.
· The in-text References and the Bibliography have to be in Harvard’s citation style.
Submission: Week 4 – Sunday 21/08/2022 23:59
Weight: This task is a 40% of your total grade for this subject.
It assesses the following learning outcomes:
· Outcome 1: To understand communication within an organization as an element of branding and mirror of organizational culture.
· Outcome 2: To critically review and assess communication manuals and IT internal communication tools.
To do this, copy-paste the questions onto a word document and complete the questions. Remember to answer fully and include examples in your answers. Please use Harvard referencing for any sources you consult. Please note that the QUESTIONS INCLUDE 472 WORDS. THESE WORDS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE WORD COUNT.
MIDTERM PROJECT: COMPANY HANDBOOK COMPARISON TASK FOR ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
2022 MIDTERM ASSESSED TASK
Look at the 2 company handbooks and answer the following questions for each one.
COMPANY 1: VALVE
Company website: https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/
Company handbook: https://archive.org/details/ValveEmployeeHandbook/page/n29/mode/2up
1. Look at the company website. What does the company do? What type of organization is it in terms of the four organization types proposed by Blau and Scott – justify your answer.
2. Does the handbook include a mission statement? If so, write it here.
3. Does the handbook include a message from the CEO?
4. What information is provided about the history of the company? How is this done? (using infographics / text / images etc)
5. What can you learn about the company structure from the handbook. Please include examples.
6. Is there a section on best practice of communication both internally and externally? (within the organization and from the organization to clients / suppliers etc)
7. Are there any references to company jargon?
8. Does the handbook include a section on company ethics and corporate social responsibility?
9. Does the handbook include information about how employees progress within the organization is monitored?
10. Does the handbook include information about disciplinary procedures for employees?
11. Do you feel that there is an accurate ‘match’ between the handbook and the company website?
12. How useful do you think this handbook would be to a new employee? Please justify your answer (min 150 words)
COMPANY 2:
Company website: http://www.sunriseco.com/#our-communities
Company handbook: http://www.sunriseco.com/Sunrise_Employee_Handbook_Jan2015.pdf
1. Look at the company website. What does the company do? What type of organization is it in terms of the four organization types proposed by Blau and Scott?
2. Does the handbook include a mission statement? If so, write it here.
3. Does the handbook include a message from the CEO?
4. What information is provided about the history of the company? How is this done? (using infographics / text / images etc)
5. What can you learn about the company structure from the handbook. Please include examples.
6. Is there a section on best practice of communication both internally and externally? (within the organization and from the organization to clients / suppliers etc)
7. Are there any references to company jargon? Give 2 examples.
8. Does the handbook include a section on company ethics and corporate social responsibility?
9. Does the handbook include information about how employees’ progress within the organization is monitored?
10. Does the handbook include information about disciplinary procedures for employees?
11. How aligned are the company values as portrayed on the company website and the company handbook?
12. How useful do you think this handbook would be to a new employee? Please justify your answer (min 150 words).
13. After looking at BOTH company handbooks. What impression do you get about the aspects of company culture and how the culture may differ in each company. Mention things like organizational structure, communication flows and expectations about workplace design? Please give examples to justify your answers. (600-700 words). (This question is worth 50% of the mark so please spend time on this one).
· Rubrics
| Exceptional 90-100 | Good 80-89 | Fair 70-79 | Marginal fail 60-69 | |
| Knowledge & Understanding (20%) | Student demonstrates excellent understanding of key concepts and uses vocabulary in an entirely appropriate manner. All aspects of the task have been completed to a high standard. | Student demonstrates good understanding of the task and mentions some relevant concepts and demonstrates use of the relevant vocabulary. | Student understands the task and provides minimum theory and/or some use of vocabulary. | Student understands the task and attempts to answer the question but does not mention key concepts or uses minimum amount of relevant vocabulary. |
| Application (30%) | Student applies fully relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. | Student applies mostly relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. | Student applies some relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. Misunderstanding may be evident. | Student applies little relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. Misunderstands are evident. |
| Critical Thinking (30%) | Student critically assesses in excellent ways, drawing outstanding conclusions from relevant authors. Reference is made to the theories covered in class and applied to the real-life situations in a coherent way. | Student critically assesses in good ways, drawing conclusions from relevant authors and references. A fair attempt is made to apply the theories talked about in class to the situations outlined in the task. | Student provides some insights but stays on the surface of the topic. References may not be relevant. | Student makes little or none critical thinking insights, does not quote appropriate authors, and does not provide valid sources. |
| Communication (20%) | Student communicates their ideas extremely clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck. The student paraphrases and cites the references used to answer the questions. | Student communicates their ideas clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck. Reference is made to other sources and the student has written in their own words in such a way the meaning is mainly coherent and logical according to the question. | Student communicates their ideas with some clarity and concision. It may be slightly over or under the wordcount limit. Some misspelling errors may be evident. | Student communicates their ideas in a somewhat unclear and unconcise way. Does not reach or does exceed wordcount excessively and misspelling errors are evident. |
