1.

Large organizations where there are many people working closely, create
unofficial and informal channels of communication. This kind of communication
which is largely found in organisations is known as Grapevine Communication. It
is found between the members of the organisation of the same level, rank or
position which develops an informal and personal relationship between them. It is
a complex web of oral information flow that takes place within the organisation as
a result of either some gossip or a rumour.

The purpose of Grapevine Communication in large organisation is described

below.
a. It acts as a supplement to formal channels of communication of the
organisation.
b. It creates a strong bond between the peer groups of the organisation
working under same level or position.
c. It also allows the employees to provide informal feedback on the changes
complemented by the management of the organisation.
d. Grapevine communication boosts the morale of the employees because it
can be used effectively by the management for transmitting good and
positive idea.

The different types of Grapevine Communication are as follows-

a. Single Strand Chain- The Single Strand Chain is the process of passing the
information through a line of individuals to the ultimate receiver. In this form
of communication, A passes information to B, B passes it to C, C passes to D
and so on to make the final information reach the ultimate reviver that is F.

A►B►C►D►E►F

b. Gossip Chain- In Gossip Chain, one individual seeks the information and
passes it to the other individuals working in the organisation. In other words, a
person in this kind of communication stays at the centre (A) and passes the
information obtained by him/her to others (B,C,D,E,F).

E F

D B
C
c. Probability Chain- This kind of communication is a random process, where an
individual communicates information without any constraint to all those
individuals with whom he/she comes in contact. The probability chain is
shown below.
 B C

A D

d. Cluster Chain- In this communication, one individual passes the information

to a few selected associates who in turn passes the information to the same
level or to other selected persons. Here A passes the information to B, C and
D, wherein B, C and D passes to other selected groups or individuals E, F, G,
H. I etc.

A B
E
F
C G

D H
I

2. The various forms that non-verbal communication takes which impacts cultural
aspect of communication are as follows.
a. Gesture- These are movements or signals that are very important way to
communicating the meaning of the message without the use of the words. It
includes waving, indicating, pointing and use of hand to argue or speak
animatedly.
b. Eye Contact- Eye contact also plays a very important role because visual sense
is dominant for most people. The way of looking at others communicates the
nonverbal cues like interest, attraction, affection etc. It acts as a regulator as it
regulates the flow of conversations, provides information, and contributes
positively in task fulfilment.
c. Facial Expressions- Human faces are capable of communicating a wide range
of expressions and emotions. A smile conveys good humour, raised eyebrows
denote questioning and disbelief and a frown denotes upset or worry.
d. Posture- Postures too communicate a lot about the person. It reflects a lot
about his confidence and energy. The ability to interpret such signals and act
as necessary is important in developing good human relations.
 e. Touch- It is an important tool to convey warmth, reassurance, support,
encouragement and comfort. In some cultures there are very strict rules that
govern who may touch whom and how because touching implies intimacy and
familiarity. These norms of behaviour may change according to age, status,
and cultural backgrounds.
f. Space- The distance that we maintain with others speaks about the relationship
that we have with that individual or group. Depending upon the special zone
we are in, we tend to change the rest of our behaviour.

The relationship of verbal communication and non-verbal communication can

be dependent on each other as can be independent of each other. Gestures,
posture, eye contact are some of the vital elements of non-verbal
communication which supplement the verbal communication in transmitting
information to others. There are many ways in which the relationship between
verbal and non-verbal communication can be characterized.
a. One relationship can be of a supplementary role that is played by the non-
verbal acts to supplement the verbal acts. For example, in many verbal
speeches, one notices an accompaniment of one or more nonverbal acts,
such as gestures, facial expressions, and movement towards or away from
the addressee, to transmit the true meaning of the former to the receivers.
b. Another relationship can be of a supplementary role that is played by the
verbal acts to supplement the non-verbal acts. The use of nonverbal, acts
such as pantomime and gestures for aesthetic purposes, and for purposes of
coded (secret) communication.
c. The relation between the verbal and non-verbal communication can be
correspondence as well. There are several nonverbal acts that can be
accurately translated into words in the language of a culture in which such
nonverbal acts are performed. Handshakes, shaking a fist at someone, a
smile etc., are nonverbal acts translatable into verbal medium in a
particular language.
d. Verbal and nonverbal acts can be dependent of one another. A nonverbal
act may depend for its correct interpretation entirely on a verbal act. In
extreme circumstances, the former is caused because of deliberate
distortion of the verbal act, or because of the difficulty in listening clearly
to the verbal act.
e. Yet another relationship between verbal and non-verbal communication is
one of independence. That is, in a single communicative act, part of the
message may be in verbal form and the rest in nonverbal, in an alternating
way. Each part is independent of the other.

3. (a) Zenstar Technologies should use the Survey Method which will be most
suitable tool to collect information for it requirements. Since the organisation
needs to collect the feedback its customers before the launch of its new product
next fortnight, conducting Survey method will be the most time-efficient for
collecting information from the customers. Survey includes filling up the
questionnaires which involves yes/no questions or questions on likert scale (rate 1
to 5) or a few open-ended questions. They can be easily administered though
sending mails or by phones and collect standardised data from a large group of
customers. Using the survey method, can also help to easily summarise the
responses from the customers with frequencies and means. It also facilitates easy
comparison between groups, subgroups of customers and data so obtained can be
visually displayed as well.

(b) Zenstar Technologies should conduct the whole exercise of gathering feedback
from their customers in the following way-

1. In the first step they should decide the research goals, the clear picture in the
mind of the expected outcome and the target audience.
2. In the next step, the origination should create a list of questions to be surveyed
to collect the information related the research. There are many different types of
questions that can be used on a survey, like open questions, closed questions,
matrix table questions, and single- or multi-response questions.
3. In this next step, the organisation invites the participant of the target audience to
give their valuable feedback.
4. After collecting the feedbacks from the customer it is necessary to gather the
information and analyse the responses. The data so obtained can be done by
visualising your data by presenting the results in charts and graphs, as this will
help the organisation to quickly reference results in the reports.
5. The final step in conducting surveys is to write a report explaining the findings
and whether they have met the research goals. A successful survey will provide
reliable answers to the questions to improvise and make any last minute course
corrections to garner the best response for the product launch.