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Case Analysis of

SMITH FINANCIAL CORPORATION

Analysis

First Impression

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I KNOW

Analysis

UNDERSTANDING THE AUDIENCE

HEARING OR LISTENING

COMMUNICATION & ETHICS

PerceptionSelf in CommunicationMeanings & Message Barriers

PERCEPTION

• The process by which you become aware of many stimuli impinging on your senses.– Self Fulfilling Prophecy: When you

make a prediction or formulate a belief that comes true because you made the prediction and acted on it as if were ture.

SELF in Communication

• Who you are and how you percieve your self– Open Self– Blind Self– Unknown Self– Hidden Self– Self Esteem

Meanings & Message Barriers• Polarization- refers to the tendency to look at the world in terms of

opposites and to describe it in extremes.

• Intensional orientation- Refers to the tendency to view people, objects and events in the way they are talked about and the way they are labeled.

• Bypassing- a pattern of misevaluation in which people fail to communicate their intended meanings.

• Allness-Refers to the tendency to assume that one knows all that there is to know, or that what has been said is all that there is to say.

• Indiscrimination occurs when you group unlike things together and assume that because they have the same label, they are all alike.

HOW WE SHOULD GO ABOUT IT

HOW WE SHOULD GO ABOUT IT

BEWARE OF TRAPS• Optimism Trap - Not be aware of complexity & high failure rate thinking that

the necessity to change and the quality of the selected “solution” will remove barriers.

• Illusion of Control Trap- Forget that change has both intended/predictable and unintended/unpredictable consequences.

• Solution Vs People Orientation Trap- Underestimate the impact of ‘soft’ consequences.

• Single Perspective Trap- Not take into consideration the 3 different perspectives: ‘Change Strategists’ – ‘Change Agents’ and ‘Change Recipients’.

• Quick Win Trap- Forget that change initiatives are only successful if they are• sustainable too.• Individual Progress Blindness Trap- Not acknowledge that people need to

move through different Stages and will do it at a different pace.

CASE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS• How well does Miller’s style and tone serve him in his Email

explanations of why Lotus Notes aren’t serving the company well? How would do it differently?

• How well does Miller communicate his goals for the future of data management at Smith Financial Corporation?

• How sensitive is Miller to the knowledge levels and concerns of his various audiences?

• Could you suggest a communication strategy that would have served Miller better?

• What does the case suggest about the problems that can arise in clashes between various corporate cultures?

• What role does personality play in communication? How can you, as Socrates recommended learn to “Know yourself” better?

Questions From the Audience