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Case study number two is a four-page article written by Marian L. Houser and Astrid Sheil, and it’s titled “How Do You Get Anything Done Around Here?” The article focuses on the concept of real organizational experiences, but primarily Kate Elliot’s experience and dissatisfaction with her job at Donaldson Family Foods, Inc. Kate’s a hard-working, educated woman who is initially impressed with the Donaldson Food, Inc., especially at the opportunity that she has to become the national brand manager. As time goes on, and her first project’s assigned, Kate notices countless negatives within the organization, including how the company remains a low-growth business, its employees’ lack of competitiveness and hurry, and the SMART group’s “Black Hole,” a term referring to the grinding halt that’s applied to all initiatives, ideas, and proposals. In this case, Kate’s cooking bag project faces the dueling black hole. Throughout my paper, I will relate and apply Kate’s experience to organizational culture and socialization, how the conflict is handled, both verbal and nonverbal communication, and possible suggestions for Kate. In this particular case, there are innumerable characteristics of organizational culture and socialization that are present. According to “Introduction to Organizational Communication,” organizational culture is defined as “a way of thinking, acting and viewing work shared by members of an organization that reflects the organization’s identity.” In accordance to this definition, the Donald Food, Inc. is a lax and comfortable environment; most of the employees don’t even show up until 9:00 A.M., “This company was founded by my grandfather 100 years ago on the simple premise of neighbors working toge... ... middle of paper ... ..., Kate was trying to make her deadline and she was upset about the lack of communication within the organization, so she called Jeff. Kate was directed to his assistant, and she was told that her appointment request would have to wait, again, because Jeff was in the Bahamas all week. If I had to make a suggestion to better manage the situation, I’d probably suggest the organization to practice and use collaborating as a management strategy. I’d propose that Kate and Tom get together with their other willing co-workers and come up with an appropriate solution to the organization’s problems. When they feel comfortable and satisfied with their possible solutions and proposal, they should then pitch it to the hierarchy of the organization: Jeff Donaldson, Rick Clark, etc. This would hopefully produce a mutually and completely satisfactory solution.

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