Running Head: IT 520 f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f 1
IT-520-Q1484 Technical Communication
Module 2 Assignment
SNHU
ITC520 f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f 2
Background and Area of Focus
BOLDFlash, the manufacturer of flash memory parts for electrical equipment has
been facing a wide array of challenges in its Mobile division. The former Vice President of
the division named Jim Harrison had died unexpectedly. His role was of paramount
importance as his vision acted as the catalyst that drove the Mobile Division. After his
demise, Roger Cahill has identified a number of communication issues that exist in the
division and adversely affect the performance of the members. The poor communication
model had a negative impact on the teamwork and the productivity of the internal members.
The main focus is on the issues that arise in the mobile division of BOLDFlash due to
the poor technical service communication model. This issue gave rise to the lack of cohesion
in the work setting leads to the poor performance of the division. It was observed by Cahill
that the team lacked a strong and influential leadership approach and this affected the
communication environment. The objective is to identify the key stakeholders that are
involved in the Mobile division and include them in the communication framework so that it
can create value for them. The changes in the communication approach would make sure that
all the important members of the division were on the same page and they knew what was
expected of them.
Key stakeholders
The Mobile division of BOLDFlash has been facing challenges relating to the
technical communication which has impacted the communication environment and the team
outcome. The various stakeholders that are involved in the Mobile division including the
manufacturing unit, the marketing unit, the sales unit, and the product development unit are
the major stakeholders that have a direct connection with the division and its performance. In
order to deal with the communication issues, Roger Cahill has introduced a number of
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changes so that the stakeholders could be more involved in the work process and the
employee morale could be positively influenced in the process.
The changes that have been introduced by Cahill include the division of the marking
unit and the sales unit which was previously operating together. He appointed Kavita Patel
and retained Brian so that they could head the Marketing and Sakes units respectively.
Another vital change that was introduced by him was that he consolidated the non-
manufacturing employees in the process so that all the employees that were working in the
Mobile division would be on the same page (Virtaluoto, 2013). These changes were done so
that the friction that existed among the division members could be resolved and a transparent
communication network could be introduced. The changes that have been made would have a
major implication on the major stakeholders that have been identified. The inclusion of all
the members would make sure that there was a robust engagement among the employees and
they would work as a single division and help BOLDFlash to perform better in the dynamic
market setting (Virtaluoto, 2013). f In order to strengthen the technical service communication
at the divisional level, it is necessary to involve all the heads of the divisional units so that
they could respect and understand each other’s work and contribution in the work level. This
unique communication framework would positively influence the collaboration and
facilitation among the members.
Established communication strategies
The established communication practices that would influence the prevailing scenario
in the Mobile division of BOLDFlash and make sure that the key stakeholders are on the
same page include the high level of engagement among the divisional units, the inclusion of
the measurable objectives and goals and the overall alignment of the organizational and
divisional objective. At present, the major issues that are arising before the Mobile division
of BOLDFlash are because of the lack of proper coordination and interaction with the
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divisional members which is not only adversely affecting the employee moral but adversely
affecting the divisional performance (Continue.uottawa.ca, 2018). In order to deal with the
core issue relating to the poor technical service communication model, it is vital to make sure
that all the units work together as a single team so that the ultimate product that is designed
can be positively received in the highly competitive market setting (Jacobsen et al., 2016).
The increase in the number of interactions via meetings would help to drive alignment
at the team level. This would make sure that all the members and stakeholders understand the
fact that the role and contribution of all the involved personnel are necessary to help the
mobile division move forward and create value for BOLDFlash. Some of the key features of
the communication practices that would be introduced at the Mobile division level of the
business entity have been presented below.
Alignment of the organizational goal and the divisional objectives – The new
communication model would make sure that all the mobile divisional units would get a better
understanding of how their roles and responsibilities would impact the divisional
performance and the organizational performance. This would help them to value their
contribution and thus positively influence their morale and confidence in the organizational
setting. f
The inclusion of the clearly defined and measurable objectives – The sound
communication model would make sure that all the units that influence the mobile division
would be on the same page and they would work in a coordinated fashion in the dynamic
organisational setting (Continue.uottawa.ca, 2018).
Incorporation of both the technical and the non-technical communication approaches
– One of the most important features of the new communication model that would be
introduced in the mobile division would be the inclusion of the technical and the non-
technical elements. A major change that has been introduced by Roger Cahill after taking up
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the role of the Vice President of the Mobile division is the consolidation of the non-
manufacturing employees in the work process so that they would understand how their
contribution influences and affects the division’s performance. Thus the combination of the
communication approach would make sure that it would be valuable for all the stakeholders
of the mobile division of the BOLDFlash organization (Beer & Shelton, 2012).
Framework for communication
The framework for the communication model in the mobile division of BOLDFlash
would involve both the technical and non-technical elements so that the stakeholders that
come from technical and non-technical background would be interested in it and it would
create value for all of them. Roger Cahill is a scientist at heart and he definitely believes in
sharing his message in a technical and scientific language but in the new communication
model, since the members and stakeholders would be involved from different units, it is
necessary to use both the communication and engagement strategic approaches. Some of the
core non-technical communication elements that could be incorporated in the framework
include the cooperative approach, interpreting the emotions of others, being sensitive to the
mobile divisional members and interacting in a clear and concise manner. All these elements
would be valuable and positively influence the morale of the employees and the involved
stakeholders (Frankel & Mollenkopf, 2015). The inclusion of the technical and the non-
technical attributes in the newly introduced communication framework in the work division
would make sure that the division is able to focus on the product development process and at
the same time, the morale of the employees is not adversely affected. Such a holistic
communication framework would help the Mobile division to work in a coordinated manner
and improve its performance.
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Conclusion
A wide range of cross-functional issues is being faced by the mobile division of
BOLDFlash that need to be resolved on priority so that it can enhance the level of the
performance. Here, the core issue that has been identified to be solved is the poor technical
service communication model. Due to a weak communication network that exists in the
Mobile division, there is a lack of coordination, unity in the work setting which adversely
affects the communication environment. It adversely affects the employee morale and also
reflects on the poor performance of the division of the organization. The key stakeholders
that would be affected by the new communication framework have been identified. The
communication practices would involve all the mobile division units so that the alignment of
the divisional work would be possible. The framework for the communication has been
carefully designed so that both the technical and the non-technical aspects could be
highlighted in the process. Such a model has e designed so that the interaction and
engagement would have value for all the stakeholders irrespective of the fact that they have
the technical knowledge or not. Such an approach would gradually help the mobile division
to inculcate the cohesive behaviour that would reflect in its performance.
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References
Beer, M., & Shelton, R. (2012). BoldFlash: Cross-Functional Challenges in the Mobile
Division.
Continue.uottawa.ca (2018). Best! Practices! in! Strategic!Communications! Planning.
Retrieved from
https://continue.uottawa.ca/sites/cce/files/best_practices_in_strategic_communications_
.pdf
Frankel, R., & Mollenkopf, D. A. (2015). Cross‐functional integration revisited: Exploring
the conceptual elephant. Journal of Business Logistics, 36(1), 18-24.
Jacobsen, L., van Trijp, H., Wagner, K., & Lähteenmäki, L. (2016). Implementation
challenges of cross-functional communication between marketing and technology in
the innovation process. In R&D Management Conference 2016.
Virtaluoto, J. (2013). “It’sa strange little business”–issues in technical communication.
AFinLA-e: Soveltavan kielitieteen tutkimuksia, (5), 200-213.
