Superior-Subordinate Communication

The goal of this study was to learn more about the communication behaviors of managers who use humor. More specifically, this study examined relationships among employees' perceptions of managers' humor orientation, assertiveness, responsiveness, avoidance strategies,
approach strategies, and overall manager satisfaction. Participants were 164 individuals that work 30 hours per week. Employees' perception of manager humor orientation (HO) was positively and significantly correlated with perceptions of manager responsiveness, satisfaction, and approach strategies. Manager HO was also negatively and significantly associated with avoidance strategies. Findings from this study were, for the most part, consistent with those from previous humor research in the corporate and educational contexts (Rizzo, Wanzer, & Booth-Butterfield, 2000; Wanzer & Frymier, 1999).

India is the world’s second largest producer of engineering and technical graduates. Unfortunately, many of these graduates are not immediately ‘employable’. Sangeeta Gupta, Senior Vice President, NASSCOM said, “Our engineers are not unemployable, they just don’t have industry-ready talent. In other words, they lack the skills required for the jobs that are available to them.”
Technical educations and Degrees alone do not suffice to the expanding needs and requirements of Industries. Many employers today look for a set of skills that are often developed on cross-functional assignments. The need today is of those ‘workers’, be it at unskilled, semi-skilled or skilled level, who are adequately trained and equally confident.
Unfortunately, many of the technical degrees and educational programs do not have a comprehensive curriculum along with a skill development plan that will make all their students ‘industry-ready’.
Deemed unfit in communication skills, confidence, presentation, problem-solving capabilities and generic abilities, many young people are trapped in low-productivity, temporary or other types of work that don't pave the way for better jobs. In developed economies, youth are increasingly employed in temporary and part-time jobs while in the developing world many perform low underpaying or unpaid work supporting informal family businesses or organizations.
An alarming figure presenting hard reality had been brought to the notice of the teachers, planners, executors and administrators in the education system. This called for immediate action and a ruffling up of the education system. It brought a thought about the problem and what was the ‘gap’ that was causing the mismatch between the demand and the supply of qualified and ‘technically able professionals’ for the industry.
The gap was felt to be in between the education and practical application of technical methods. There was a discrepancy seen when the theory learnt in the top institutes was not practiced well and when the same students joined the industry in their specific area of expertise. They were unable to go beyond the book and think of new and novel concepts. Many intelligent students often lack the best presentation skills, are not confident conversing in languages other than their mother tongue, lack initiative, do not display leadership and cannot adapt easily to new surroundings.
The system came up with the practical method of training, as suitable to the students which has potential to be developed to a greater extent relative to the traditional pedagogical means of teaching.
For training to be effective it has to be a planned activity conducted after a thorough need analysis and target at certain competencies. Focusing solely on skills defined as transferable, many experts have and continue to examine the development of communication, leadership, team working, and adaptability skills in technical education programmes at the undergraduate level. In particular, the potential contribution of mentors in providing feedback to students to help them develop and assess more clearly their skill levels in these areas is very important of late. Developing effective student-mentor relationships and highlighting the vital need for management students’ transferable skills to be developed to a greater extent relative to traditional pedagogical education is the focus.The problem lies mainly in the thought, planning, customization or execution of educational means and the currently evolving methods of training. 
The paper is primarily exploratory in nature. The paper gives a brief review of the professional educational system with analysis of a section of the technical institutions. Students’ views are briefly presented. It seeks to explore the industry’s needs and requirements from recruitment . It seeks to analyze challenges in the current educational system and how training aims to provide an able opportunity to bridge the ‘gap’ between the campus and the corporate.

Every organization has certain goals to achieve in order to sustain in the business world. Employees will be their significant asset within the organization. Superior-subordinate communication refers to the interactions between organizational leaders and their subordinates and how they work together to achieve personal and organizational goals. The superior and subordinate relationship is predominantly important for achieving the goals of the organization. The superior and subordinate relationships often fail to work in a organize manner due to their difference of opinion towards their job. The superior and subordinate determinedly analyze and understand the needs of themselves, they will be in a much better position to take advantage of superior/subordinate relationships. The various factors affecting the relationship between superior and subordinate and various challenges faced by superior and subordinate have been examined in this study. The present study was carried out in sattur taluk by selecting employees of textile mills.

This study investigated the relationship between subordinates’ socio‐communicative orientations and their use of organizational conflict strategies with their superiors. Socio‐communicative orientation is based on a person's assertiveness and responsiveness. There are four socio‐communicative orientations: competent, aggressive, submissive, and noncompetent. Subordinates (N = 228) completed a questionnaire of their socio‐communicative orientations and of their conflict strategies with supervisors. Noncompetents and submissives used nonconfrontation strategies more than competents and aggressives. Competents used collaboration strategies more than submissives and noncompetents. Aggressives and competents reported using control strategies more than submissives and noncompetents.

This study aims to investigate how the superior-subordinate communication mediates policy formulation and employees' dedication in work engagement among the serving bureaucracy in Punjab (province of Pakistan) government. The study used a cross-sectional design vis-à-vis survey method to collect data from a representative sample (n=250) of serving bureaucrats of the Punjab government. The findings showed that there was a positive association between policy formulation (PF) and dedication towards work engagement (WE). Furthermore, the findings revealed that the relationship between policy formulation (PF) and dedication towards work engagement (WE) was partially mediated by superior-subordinate communication (SSC). The study addressed the research gap regarding the association of the policy formulation (PF) and dedication towards work engagement (WE) by examining the mediation of superior-subordinate communication (SSC) in their association by progressing the LMX theory in a less researched context of Pakistan. The results explained how more sophisticated work engagement could be achieved in the implementation of the policies by improving the communication channels between superiors and subordinates among the different ranks of the bureaucrats.

he organization of command in the mechanized section on M80A infantry fighting vehicle is defined by the regulations and
textbooks of mechanized units. The problem that is not covered in the
regulations is the organization of subordination of soldiers of the
mounted crew when performing tasks outside the vehicle. The regulations stipulate in principle that command is executed by single seniority
and subordination, but that the mechanized section commanders organize their crews in the way they think is appropriate, in accordance
with a certain mission and tasks. The decision-making on transfering
commanding competencies and organization of subordinates in the
chain of subordination within the mechanized section is a dilemma
even for experienced commanders of mechanized units because this is
defined by general principles of performing activities, whereby it is not
known where the riflemen, sniper and machine gunners should be
when they are outside the fighting vehicle.
During preparation and execution of activities, the mechanized section commander should adapt the model of subordination in relation to
task, space, time and other factors that occur in combat operations.
Thus, it can happen that the commander or deputy commander divides
the mounted part of the mechanized section into several smaller units
(groups, teams) in order to perform some task.
The research performed by the analysis of content in regulations
and textbooks, observing the way of work during the performance of
activities, anticipating possible situations and discovering examples of
good practice of the mechanized section commanders, the models
presented in this paper have been formed.
After studying literature and questioning professional military personnel, the results of the research are the models of subordination in
the mechanized section when the mounted part of the section is outside the vehicle. The analyzed models are divided into groups of models, where the dismounted part of the section is divided into: 1) basic
model, 2) two groups and 3) three groups.

Syria-Palestine was occupied and ruled by foreign powers during most of the Late Bronze and Iron Ages (ca. 1600-600 BCE) due mainly to the strategic role this region played in geopolitical and commercial terms. In this paper, an attempt to draft a general scheme for the working of local socio-political subordination to foreign masters (Egypt and Ḫatti during the Late Bronze Age; Assyria in the Iron Age II) is offered, comparing particularities and noting similarities between the different stages of foreign domination. The critical use of perspectives and models belonging to political anthropology—especially the concept of patronage or patron-client relationships—is seen as most appropriate to enhance the interpretation of diplomatic epistolography and asymmetrical treaties, exchanged and established respectively, documenting political alliance and subordination between polities of different status and power.

Research identifies pleasure, affection, escape, relaxation, control, and inclusion as motives explaining why people communicate interpersonally. These motives are examined, along with a duty motive, in organizational relationships. Investi gated are employees' motives for communicating with coworkers or with superiors and their satisfaction with work, satisfaction with superiors, and commitment. Full-time workers (N = 202) report high satisfaction with superiors, as well as moderate satisfaction with work and commitment, when communicating with superiors from pleasure, affection, and inclusion needs but not for escape. Employees report high work satisfaction, along with moderate satisfaction with superiors and commitment, when communicating with coworkers for affection but not for escape. Females, more than males, communicate with their bosses for affection and relaxation. Males communicate with coworkers more from control needs, while females communicate for affection. Both communicate more with coworkers versus superiors on all of the motives except for duty. Females commu nicate more from the duty motive with superiors versus coworkers.

A theoretical framework involving argumentativeness, verbal aggressiveness, and affirming style is employed to predict the degrees of negative affect subordinates report their superiors are willing to stimulate by the use of compliance-gaining message strategies. A model of compliance-gaining message selection by Hunter and Boster was used to derive predictions. A study of subordinates' perceptions of their superiors was conducted to test a model that posits that high verbally aggressive traits of superiors, along with low argumentative and low affirming traits, increases superiors' willingness to stimulate negative affect by the use of compliance-gaining messages, which also reduces subordinates' satisfaction with their superiors. The results of the study produced considerable support for the speculations. The perceived communication traits of superiors predicted reports of the superiors' use of compliance-gaining strategies. These strategies attributed to superiors also predicted subordinates' satisfaction with their supervisors.

This study examines the emotional support from superiors that is perceived by subordinates. Of specific interest was the relationship between the superiors ' use of approach and avoidance strategies and the subordinates 'feelings of
emotional support. Participants (N = 203) completed a questionnaire that included measures of emotional support and verbal approach/avoidance strategies. The more frequently superiors were perceived as using avoidance
strategies, the less emotional support subordinates reported. The more frequently superiors were perceived as using approach strategies, the more emotional support subordinates reported. Future studies need to further explore the role of emotional support in interpersonal relationships and the
importance of emotional support in the superior-subordinate relationship.

This study explores the relationship between Machiavellianism and motives for communicating (pleasure, affection, inclusion, relaxation, control and escape) with satisfaction in the work place. Full-time employees (N
/319) in a wide-variety of
organizations reported their Machiavellianism and their interpersonal communication motives, as well as their satisfaction with their superiors. The study also seeks to answer
the question if the motives mediate the influence of Machiavellianism on communication satisfaction with superiors. The results suggest that Machiavellianism shares a negative relationship with the affection motive, whereas escape, relaxation, and control motives share a positive relationship with Machiavellianism. Further analysis reveals that
the affection motive mediates Machiavellianism in its relationship to satisfaction with superiors. The affection and pleasure motives share a direct relationship with satisfaction.