Vertical Communication: Effects on Morale, Ethics, and Performance - Essay Sample

Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations

Assumptions

As the focus of the research emphasizes on critical evaluation of vertical communication between leaders and subordinates in the banking industry and its subsequent effects on employees’ morale and ethics and performance, it significantly makes noteworthy assumptions. For instance, it contends that the employees’ morale is actively dependent on the communication skills and models that the managers portray within the company. As employees perform their duties within the banking organizations, it is the role of subsequent employers or managers to facilitate effective communication to motivate them and push them to achieve the stipulated goals in respective fields. It may not be the reality in the banking industry as employees’ morale is substantially affected by numerous factors unrelated to the communication strategies or prowess. For instance, the nature of work that employees perform within the banking industry critically influences the attitude and morale since individuals are susceptible to growing bored due to the monotonous nature of work when subjected to the same routine. While other work prompt challenging experience which keeps employees more engaged and positively challenged, some tedious paperwork in the banking industry can demoralize and impact employee morale. Additionally, although independent and unrelated to communication between leaders and employees, the level of job satisfaction, age, and level of education also plays an inordinate role in influencing many employees’ morale patterns within the industry. Despite the effort that an employer or manager may put in ensuring effective communication, such independent phenomena may considerably deviate from the envisioned objective. Therefore, the study assumes that only poor communication between the managers and their subsequent subordinates impacts the employees’ morale.

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Moreover, the study assumption also covers the extensive range of employees’ ethics within the organization, precluding that the work ethics that employees adopt in a company substantially depend on the communication prowess of the leader. While the leaders have a responsibility to direct and redirect or send messages on organizational ethics effectively, their communication relationship does not always dictate the ethical behaviors of employees in the company. For example, regardless of the communication strategies that an organization adopts, some employees still tend to violate the ethical standards, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Many researchers have continuously linked such behaviors to numerous internal and external factors such as individuals’ socio-cultural background, and personal traits such as selfishness, greed, and condescending attitude towards others. Although the leaders many strive to motivate, encourage, or even propagate measures to ensure high ethical standards within the banking industry, the ethical behavior of employees within an organization actively depends on their knowledge, personal values, personality, cultural norms, and social interaction with friends and family. Such factors are unconnected to the communication between leaders and their subordinates since they have much influence on individuals’ ability to respect and adhere to the organizational rules, which the manager strives to implement and enforce. Nevertheless, in the study, the research insists that poor communication substantially influences the employees’ ethics within the banking industry and different banking institutions. Therefore, it may place unprecedented pressure on managers to try to improve the ethical behaviors of employees.

Consequently, the research assumes that the employer’s communication ability, skills, and strategy influence the employees’ performance within the banking industry. While employers play a role in ensuring high performance in a company or organization, they have an insignificant impact on the performance or productivity of the employees. Employees’ performance and productivity not only in the banking industry but also in all professions depend on educational and technical training, personal morale, availability of resources, and job environment, which are unrelated to the effective or poor communication between employees and employers. For example, a dedicated worker with a personal ambition to grow and a passionate employee would frequently realize high professional performance and productivity compared to unsatisfied and unqualified individuals regardless of the communication ability, skills, or frequency between such employees and employers. However, the research insists that the communication model or style that employers in the banking industry have with their subordinates influences their performance. Hence, when such employers have poor communication, employees’ performance is expected to reduce irrespective of other factors that affect the phenomenon directly or more than the employer’s communication.

Limitations

The study presents some limitations in its area of focus. Although some factors affect the morale, ethics, and performance among workers within the banking industry, it only focuses on the impacts of poor vertical communication of such elements. Nevertheless, the study was also limited based on the resources required to access multidimensional information relevant to the research. Whether financial or simply authority, the strict nature of the industry only allowed access to some areas while others were strictly for approved personnel only. It actively limited the information that could be accessed and verified during the research. Additionally, with the current international coronavirus epidemic, many managers and employees work in a shift, which significantly affects the attainment of information on the effect of poor communication among bosses and their employees. The study also faced difficulty due to resistance among employees who view the research questions as detrimental paint on the managers.

Delimitations

Due to the multimodal constraints faced in the research, changing strategy and the scope of the study was vital to ensure the attainment of authentic information. Under delineation, focus within a specific boundary during the study help in transcending above or going around the uncontrollable limitations. For instance, the research resorted to a single case study design to understand the unique leadership and communication phenomena. It focused on a single case study that explored the impact of communication between managers and subordinates in the banking industry in developing countries. Unlike the U.S which experiences stagnation and closure of banks within the industry, developing countries like India and Africa experience flourishing growth in the banking industry, which makes the case study a useful piece in revealing the information required to expose and understand the effect of poor communication between leaders and employees on ethics, morale, and performance. The study also sorts to uncover the unique strategies of how companies can utilize the interface to improve employees’ performance, ethics, and morale within the banking industry.

Significance of The Study

Although multimodal research exists about different elements in the banking industry ranging from customer loyalty, employee effectiveness, employee incentive strategies, innovativeness, and brand image, investigation on communication effectiveness and influence on employees’ morale, ethics, and performance is relatively insignificant. Researching how ineffective communication between managers and their subordinates affects employees’ morale, ethics, and performance within the banking industry is essential as it gives a comprehensive layout of how the banking industry could ensure efficacy in the relationship between managers and subordinates to propel high profitability. With the current demand on online banking services across the globe, many banks are devising strategies to ensure they attract more consumers to propagate increased productivity, while the poor relationship between some employees and their subsequent employers may negatively paint the industry and tarnish its reputation. The research resort to expose the role that leaders play not only in delegating duties or directing the company towards the required direction but also in fostering productive relationships with their employees and develop a healthy work relation. For instance, adopting effective communication plays a critical in motivating and boosting employees’ morale within the industry to enable then to succumb to diverse challenges that dominate the banking profession. As the banking industry continued to adopt more sophisticated strategies to attract consumers and protect the already existing customers, employees may be overwhelmed in their duties, which calls for effective vertical communication for motivation and encouragement. Therefore, by exposing the negative impact that poor communication has on employees’ morale, it challenges employers to change and adopt effective communication strategies.

Furthermore, the study is essential in its exposure to the effects of poor vertical organizational communication on employees’ ethical behaviors and performance in the banking industry. Since the success of any business depends on effective communication which inspires workers to respect the rules and organizational regulations, the study offers a platform that would help managers to adopt the most effective alternatives in communicating company laws, policies and regulations to employees, which would inspire them to follow such declarations without resistance. Moreover, since many scholars and researchers acknowledge that poor communication skills among managers continue to derail employees, the study would comprehensively deconstruct professional leadership models that can help employers boost the ethical, moral competence and professional performance among employees to drive the organizations towards achieving its goals and objectives. The study provides an essential platform for empowering and instigating effective communication skills among individuals in key leadership positions, whether students, researchers, or bank CEOs. With the current emphasis on healthy workplace relationships, addressing the issue of poor communication between leaders and followers aids in bridging the professional gap and restore the cohesive relationship between people regardless of the position. It would also help in boosting the outcome of employees as they relate to their respective clients who are often sensitive about the financial informants and information they acquire from the banks and bank representatives. Therefore, the study is massively essential in the contemporary society not only in the banking industry but also in diverse professional fields since it addresses the predominant and silent poor vertical communication issues within the organization, which is rampant in many companies, organizations, and professional institutions.

Reduction of Gaps in the Literature

Although key publications have consistently focused on researching different phenomena in the industry, their focus has been directed towards customer loyalty, employee effectiveness, employee incentive strategies, innovativeness, and brand image in the banking industry. The research, however, contributes to reducing the research gap by exploring a different area that researchers have actively ignored in the...