Author : Fernandez, Jesus C.

Summary : This is a naturalistic case analysis of the organizational communication flow at the SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). SEARCA is a regional organization hosted by the University of the Philippines at Los Banos (UPLB). It provides graduate education and research support to nationals of its member countries in the Southeast Asian region. Data were gathered from 84 staff members of SEARCA (77.78 percent) at the supervisory, technical, and administrative levels through a survey questionnaire and interviews. Participant observation and content analysis of document were also employed while "who-to-whom" communication matrices were drawn out to determine the existing communication networks in SEARCA. Official and non-official communication in SEARCA took the informal form of communication through face-to-face interaction (upward, downward, and horizontally) among staff members. However, official communications flowed significantly downward following the organizational lines since the majority of the respondents considered the management/immediate supervisor as the main source of "adequate" to "much" information on their job and other office matters. Except for the informal communication network, this pattern of downward communication flow along the organizational lines was generally observed in the formal, feedback, and technical communication networks. However, the flow of technical communications sometimes deviated from the formal organizational structure as lateral flow was also observed. SEARCA staff members performed different communication functions at any given communication situation. The variation in the communication functions a staff member performed depended on the organizational level of the other staff member he is communicating with. As regards feedback activities in SEARCA, most of the respondents said the management/immediate supervisor "seldom" responded to the feedback they gave on office-related matters.