b628

Faculty of Business Studies

Arab Open University

Organizations and People

B628

Tutor Monitoring Assignment

Spring 2020

Questions

This TMA is based on a case study. The case study is about communication, communication skills and barriers to communication. After reading the case, you have to answer to the TMA questions with reference to B628 course material and external resources.

You are supposed to answer your TMA in 1500 words. Only a 10% deviation from the word count limit is acceptable. Critical discussion and link between theoretical frameworks and the case should be clearly highlighted. You are also expected to refer to external references to provide more evidence to your discussion.

For all questions, your answer has to be in an essay format divided into introduction, body and conclusion. In all questions, you have to refer to relevant B628 course material; the case and external resources when needed. You have to provide critical analysis and be innovative in your answer and not only descriptive.

CASE STUDY

Barry and Communication Barriers

Effective Communication as a Motivator

One common complaint employees voice about supervisors is inconsistent messages – meaning one supervisor tells them one thing and another tells them something different. Imagine you are the supervisor/manager for each of the employees described below. As you read their case, give consideration to how you might help communicate with the employee to remedy the conflict.

Barry is a 27-year old who is a foodservice manager at a casual dining restaurant. Barry is responsible for supervising and managing all employees in the back of the house. Employees working in the back of the house range in age from 16 years old to 55 years old. In addition, the employees come from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. For many, English is not their primary language.

Barry is ServSafe® certified and tries his best to keep up with food safety issues in the kitchen but he admits it’s not easy. Employees receive “on the job training” about food safety basics (for example, appropriate hygiene and handwashing, time/temperature, and cleaning and sanitizing). But with high turnover of employees, training is often rushed and some new employees are put right into the job without training if it is a busy day. Eventually, most employees get some kind of food safety training. The owners of the restaurant are supportive of Barry in his food safety efforts because they know if a food safety outbreak were ever linked to their restaurant; it would likely put them out of business. Still, the owners note there are additional costs for training and making sure food is handled safely.

One day Barry comes to work and is rather upset even before he steps into the restaurant. Things haven’t been going well at home and he was lucky to rummage through some of the dirty laundry and find a relatively clean outfit to wear for work. He admits he needs a haircut and a good hand scrubbing, especially after working on his car last evening. When he walks into the kitchen he notices several trays of uncooked meat sitting out in the kitchen area. It appears these have been sitting at room temperature for quite some time. Barry is frustrated and doesn’t know what to do. He feels like he is beating his head against a brick wall when it comes to getting employees to practice food safety.

Barry has taken many efforts to get employees to be safe in how they handle food. He has huge signs posted all over the kitchen with these words: KEEP HOT FOOD HOT AND COLD FOOD COLD and WASH YOUR HANDS ALWAYS AND OFTEN. All employees are given a thermometer when they start so that they can temp food. Hand sinks, soap, and paper towels are available for employees so that they are encouraged to wash their hands frequently.

QUESTIONS

Question 1 (34 Marks) (Word limit: 500 words)

What are the communication barriers and challenges that Barry is facing?

Question 2 (33 Marks) (Word limit: 500 words)

What would you consider Barry is more implementing: an open climate communication behavior or a closed climate communication behavior?

Question 3 (33 marks) (Word limit: 500 words)

Based on your course knowledge and external resources, propose ways that could help Barry to address the challenges and barriers is facing.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS

1. Cut-off date: Week 11 (specific date to be determined by the deanship). If you feel that you are unable to meet the cut-off date of the TMA because of unusual circumstances, please contact your tutor as soon as possible to discuss a possible extension to the cut-off date. The exact cut-off date will be assigned in due date.

TMA weight: 20% of total course grade.

2. Course material:

· Chapter 2. Students can refer to other course material if needed.

3. Format: You are expected to write your answers in essay format. You may, however, use bullet points, diagrams, tables, or any graphs to support your arguments. Failing to do so could result in grade deduction from presentation marks up to 5 marks.

4. Plagiarism: It’s imperative that you write your answers using your own words. Plagiarism will be penalized depending on its severity and according to AOU plagiarism policy (Enclosed after these instructions you will find the Arab Open University rules of cheating and plagiarism).

5. Word count: your answers are expected to be within the specified word count. A 10% deviation from word count limit is acceptable. Not adhering to specified word count could result in grade deduction from word count marks up to 5 marks.

6. Referencing: You are expected to use the Harvard referencing style for in-text referencing and list of reference at the end. Failing to do so could result grade deduction of referencing marks up to 5 marks. In addition, although text books assigned in the course may be used freely as references, you are required to use a minimum of 2 external sources . It is recommended that you use scholarly studies found in the E-library link at the LMS. Failing to do so could result in grade deduction of referencing marks up to 5 marks.

The Arab Open University Rules about Plagiarism

The Arab Open University Definitions of cheating and plagiarism

According to the Arab Open University By-laws, “The following acts represent studies of cheating and plagiarism:

· Verbatim copying of printed material and submitting them as part of TMAs without proper academic acknowledgement and documentation.

· Verbatim copying of material from the Internet, including tables and graphics.

· Copying other students’ notes or reports.

· Using paid or unpaid material prepared for the student by individuals or firms.

· Utilization of, or proceeding to utilize, contraband materials or devices in examinations.”

Examples of Plagiarism

Copying from a single or multiple sources, this is where the student uses one or more of the following as the basis for the whole, or a good part, of the assignment:

1. Published or unpublished books, studies or reports

2. The Internet

3. The media (e.g.TV programmes, radio programmes or newspaper studies)

4. An essay from an essay bank

5. A piece of work previously submitted by another student

6. Copying from a text which is about to be submitted for the same assignment

B628 TMA – Spring 2020 –LY Page 6