Author : Paje, Glen L.

Summary : This study sought to find out what and how communication activities or transactions occur in an organization that coordinates the efforts of other agencies and what possible communication problems this coordinating agency may be encountering. The findings show that knowledge, experience, homophily, and friendship ties determine, to a large extent, actual and potential communication transactions that take place in the four organizational levels studied. There was also a marked preference for the personal, face-to-face communication both among and between organizational levels. Respondents get a greater bulk of communication during the months of May to July and October to December. However, there seemed to be no marked difference in the frequency of communication with superiors during peak hour periods and outside of the peak work periods. It was also found that respondents handle overload of communication mainly by employing the techniques of escape, queueing, and recording. Also, the respondents too were satisfied with the existing communication system and there was evidence suggesting a low tendency for respondents to distort information. In this study, the role of communication in decision-making was highlighted. It was also demonstrated that personalities of the members of a coordinating body play a significant role in the decision-making processes. This study also showed that there is a tendency for such coordinating bodies to prolong the time lag between initial awareness or knowledge of a problem and subsequent action on it.