ABB Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) is constantly attempting to streamline it
operation. (Pearce & Robinson, 2003) In 1997, the company had four core
business segments: industrial automation and robotic, electrical power
generation and distribution; oil, gas and petrochemicals and, industry and
building technology. In 2000, ABB underwent an expansion to six divisions.
These were: automation technology, electricity transmission, electricity
distribution, oil, gas, petrochemicals, building technology and financial
services.(Bierbaum, Kischewski, Kischewski, & Schmidt, 2001) In 2003, ABB
in a strategic shift in favor of specialization, has chosen to concentrate
its resources and research and development on two main core sectors of
power technology and automation technology.(ABBWebPage, 2003)
The organization has dedicated and committed leaders who are willing to
critically analyze the market they face and change the organization to make
it competitive in new and changing markets. Currently the company is
considering divesting its oil, gas and petrochemical division. (ABBWebPage,
2003) The leadership at ABB was willing to change the core business of the
company from a 'capital intensive and heavy engineering products to
knowledge and service based business and high-tech integrated solution'
business. The company success in managing this change would not have been
possible without the dedication and support of trained and expert talent
the company employed. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.
Constantly restructuring and changing the core competencies of ABB can be
confusing to the stakeholders (employees, shareholders, the community in
which ABB operates) of the organization. While many organizations are
priding themselves on their ability to change quickly and constantly to
maintain market share and earn profits, individuals are wary when constant
The role of communication within an organization cannot be stressed
enough. While external communication such as advertisements and public
relation play an important role for an organization, internal communication
is the glue that helps the company stay together and achieve it's
objectives. Various definitions of internal organizational communications
exits, from a formal definition standpoint it is defined as 'the processing
of data in message form into, through and out of channels formally
designated within defined organizations, including the study of all the non-
informational matters that shape the messages.' (Manning, 1992) There are
various factors that affect the communication setup in organizations the
important factors are organizational culture, organizational structure,
motivation of the employee, job stress and information exchange climate
Kreps and Hellweg identify two types of formal communications within
organizations: vertical and horizontal communications. (Byers, 1997;
Kreps, 1986) Both authors identified two subdivisions within the vertical
communication format: Downward communication and upward communication. In
downward communication, all information transfer is sent from the
management to the workers. The employees lower down the hierarchal chain
are constantly provided information with regards to what needs to get done,
how it should get done and the time frame within which it has to get done.
Little or no feedback is expected from the employee who receives the
message. In reality it is observed that very often the message can get
complicate and distorted as the level of complexity of the job increase or
the levels through which the information flows. ABB traditionally followed
When workers lower down the ranks inform their supervisors of situations
and conditions that exist as a result of the operation upward communication
takes place. The Toyota Company's approach initially introduced this form
of communication in industries. Toyota believed that the worker on the
shop flow was very knowledgeable with regards to how the task needed to be
accomplished and the best way to perform it. While directives still had to
be given from the topaˆ'the how to information was not essential and the
worker was supposed to provide that information to the supervisor or
manager requesting the task. In this 'bottom up' form of communication,
thinking is expected from all employees in the organization and interaction
In horizontal communication, individuals at different levels of the
organization interact to share information, tactics and discusses options.
The silo effect of organizational work can create extremely limited focus
in workers ABB learnt the pitfalls of the lack of horizontal communication
when they implemented the matrix type of organization. Horizontal
communication at equal levels helps the worker or manager or department
head understand how decisions and task undertaken by them affect the
organization as a whole. While downward communications are still
important, organizations are realizing that this type of information flow
can only be completely effective if the other two, upward and horizontal
communication flow also exist simultaneously and are given equal
importance. In the past, upward and horizontal communication flow was
limited. Identifying the direction of communication flow, the nodes and
the gatekeepers can help companies stay informed of all the changes taking
The grapevine is the informal internal communication that organizations
posses. The grapevine was always considered bad by the management but the
employees swore by the information obtained from this type of
communication. It is only since organizations have begun to value the
opinions and ideas of their workers has the grapevine become a new tool for
organizational communication by the management. The validity of the
information through the grapevine is never doubted as constant and periodic
confirmation of the information is obtained at every transfer point. The
strength of this type of communication is that anyone, at any level or
department within the organization can start the communication and this
type of communication is not restricted by vertical or horizontal direction
of communication flow when compared to formal communications within the
organization. Long-term vision and foresight from managers at all levels of
the organization is required to promote alternative methods of
In ABB, the systems based structure goals and objectives are the main
driving forces and the total organizational environment played an important
role in guiding and directing the organization towards fulfillment of these
specific goals and tasks. All individuals involved in such organizations
need access to all the information available to adequately carry out their
task. Personal liability and good decision-making are key requirements in
this type of setup. A system type of organization can reach its full
potential only if there is a good and efficient two-way communications
between all levels of the organization. The role of the manager is still
critical, however not as a supreme power. The manager remains at the
centre but new ideas and evaluation of worker feed back is considered
Abraham H. Maslow and Douglas M. McGregor both believed that in order for
people to work to their full potential, they're basic needs have to be
satisfied. (Maslow, 1954) Maslow suggested that worker disaffection was
due, not to something intrinsic to workers, but due to poor job design,
managerial behavior and too few opportunities for job satisfaction.
Motivation can only be done on a personal and interactive by humans.
Achievement in a specific field, recognition of the value of the work done,
pride in the work itself, responsibility for the work done, advancement and
growth in the work place act as stimulants. They motivate the worker to
improve the quality of their work. (Herzberg, 1964) 'Job enrichment' can
only be obtained if the worker can effectively communicate to the
organization his or her individual needs and wants.
Bibliography: ABBWebPage. (2003). Our Business. Retrieved October 18,, 2003, from the World Wide Web: http://www.abb.com/global/abbzh/abbzh251.nsf!OpenDatabase=/GLOBAL/AB BZH/abbzh252.nsf=76BA=us=A92797A76354298BC1256AEA00487BDB Bierbaum, H., Kischewski, J., Kischewski, S., & Schmidt, M. (2001). Analysis of the Organizational Reorientation of the ABB Group. Retrieved October 19,, 2003, from the World Wide Web: http://www.imfmetal.org/main/files/ABB-Report-english.PDF Byers, P. Y. (1997). Organizational communication : theory and behavior. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Herzberg, F. I. (1964). The Motivation-Hygiene Concept and Problems of Manpower. Personnel Administration, January- February(486-97). Kreps, G. L. (1986). Organizational communication : theory and practice. New York: Longman. Manning, P. K. (1992). Organizational communication. New York: A. de Gruyter. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row. Pearce, J. A., & Robinson, R. B. (2003). Strategic management : formulation, implementation, and control (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw- Hill/Irwin.