Write a report for the Board of Directors of Blossom Corners that applies the theory from your Business Communication module to the case study in order to analyse the communication the staff and make recommendations to the Board.

This paper deals with making a business report on a case study that deals with the Board of Directors of Blossom Corners that applies the theory from your Business Communication module to the case study in order to analyse the communication the staff and make recommendations to the Board. Additionally, discuss the communication skills present among the staff and the cultural and communication elements that cause communication gap.

Instructions 

Module Title: Business Communications

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION

Investigate the case study on pages 3-4, as well as the theory from lectures and the reading list.

Write a report for the Board of Directors of Blossom Corners that applies the theory from your Business Communication module to the case study in order to analyse the communication the staff and make recommendations to the Board. The report should have the correct format. The analysis part of the report should have 3 sections

1: Identify and explain the communication skills already present among the staff

2: Identify and explain the cultural and communication factors that may have caused the communication breakdown

3: Identify and justify actions that managers can take to improve the staff’s communication Your research should begin by focusing on the Business Communications textbook edited by Mike Raith, and the reading list in the module guide.

Case Study

Case Study Part 1:

Your Role in Blossom Corners Blossom Corners is an industry leader in the field of care industry. They believe the primary reason for their success is their policy of diverse recruitment of expert staff who come from many different cultures. The Board of Directors know from experience that managing a team with a mix of different cultures can present challenges that companies without diversity might not face. You work in the head office of Blossom Corners. Your role is to monitor the communication of different teams and report back. You have been assigned to investigate the communication of the staff. There is no question that they are highly trained experts and respect each other. Their feedback from clients has been consistently positive, and the Board of Directors is impressed with their work and results. However, like most groups made up of diverse staff, there are some issues among the group that have recently led to tensions and frustrations. These issues recently resulted in a communication breakdown among the staff, as well as between staff and some service users.

Case Study Part 2: A summary of the testimonials gathered from the staff

These issues are typical of all staff in the care home.

David (service user)

“Don’t treat me like I’m stupid. The healers in my country knows that a kidney infection is because it is too hot. The only way for me to cure it is to cool it down with fruit. I can’t believe you don’t know this in the UK. Julia is just rude. She speaks quickly with short and direct sentences. She never asks questions about how I feel and she never sits down for a conversation. She should know that my opinion counts. I used to be the manager of a multi-national company in my country.”

Elena (daughter-in-law of service user)

“If I’m honest, I don’t know why David insists that the staff are rude. I think they are very clear. But there is a problem. Me and my husband are tired of being called at 3am by my father-in-law. The staff should solve the problem. I don’t want to be involved in the discussion. I just want to be told what the solution is. They talk too much. I never see the staff taking notes when talking to people, and the emails they send me are completely disorganised. Sometimes it’s just one big paragraph, or one long sentence. I can’t make out the point they are trying to make. Except for Alex. His emails are always clear.”

Julia (Operations Staff)

David always has a friendly face and is a lovely old man. But I can’t make exceptions to the rules. There is a specific schedule for meals and certain activities like television programmes. David can’t just show up an hour late to lunch, and he can’t demand that he be fed only cold fruit. What the service users don’t understand is that they see a decision like that as a simple one-time thing, but it’s not. The schedule has been planned out five years in advance. Page 4 of 6 Don’t get me wrong, I want service users to feel included in the decision making of the organisation. Once a year, we invite service users and their families to discuss operations. But their opinions must be listened to carefully. We need to examine the logic and the implications of their request. Then, once a decision is made, everyone must stick to it.

Alan (night duty care worker)

“David asked for a bowl of fruit at 3am. I don’t care what time it was in South America; it was the middle of the night in England. And his care plan clearly said that his diet was to be strictly controlled. I know that Julia and Alex like to involve the service users in conversations about their needs as individuals and the decisions of the care home, but in my experience, it isn’t necessary. Especially not at 3am with two members of staff off sick. I don’t care what time it is in South America. I wasn’t in the mood to discuss it. I just tried to explain to him that it wasn’t possible. I hope that this doesn’t lead to things changing. Things have worked very well this way for years.

Alex (nurse)

“I don’t see why the daughter-in-law of the service user is getting involved. It’s not her place. I can understand the son maybe having a problem. I do understand David sometimes showing up late to meals. It’s normal. But he can’t ignore the doctor’s instructions about what to eat and which medication to take. There are strict rules that must be followed with no questions asked. He can discuss his individual needs with the doctor and with us, but he must also recognise that his problems are individual and are being individually treated. The problem is made worse by Alan’s writing. Every time he fills in the handover, or writes a report, he describes absolutely everything in the smallest detail. It is not clear what the main points are. Everyone is told during induction that they need to decide the key points before they start writing and then organise everything around that. It’s what I always do. He doesn’t do that and it’s confusing. Maybe if the care home would stop hiring immigrants and only hire people from Western countries, then there wouldn’t be this problem. Julia’s reports are always well organised with clear points. I can read them so quickly.”