Airframe Structure Failure and Survivability Essay Example for Free

Airframe Structure Failure and Survivability Essay There are many different variables that come into play during an aircraft accident. It is an investigators job to find out what caused the failure. Failure of an aircraft primary structure is ranked high on the list of risks aircrews would rather not face. Mechanical component failure which can lead to loss of control of the aircraft is not far behind. Another issue which must be addressed in any aircraft accident is the question and of crash survivability. Even if no one was injured the investigator must find out what worked and what didnt. If there were injuries, several questions should be asked. The chapters I will be covering will give the investigator a look into what causes structural failure, and how to determine crash survivability. An aircraft accident investigators job is to determine what caused the crash. Structural failure is a vital part of the investigation. The term structure failure means where the material fails to carry below it was intended to carry. A structure can fail in one of two general ways. One way is it can be fractured, which means broken into two or more pieces. Another way is when the structure shape is changed so that it can no longer carry its load. With this kind of failure, the structure is still in one piece. It could be bent, stretched, corroded, or so worn that it can no longer do its intended job. Over the next few pages, I will be going into detail about the different ways structures can fail. There are many reasons why an airplane structure can fail. As I have just gone over a few in the last paragraph, there are many different ways this can happen. In chapter 35, the book talks about overload. This is, when an in-flight load exceeds the weight the part was designed for. All structures to include bridges, buildings or airplanes are created to withstand only specific loads. It is unrealistic to assume that airplanes can be designed and built to withstand any conceivable load it can experience. If a structure is exposed to a load greater than which it was designed for, it will structurally fail. Be it deforming, or fracturing into two or more pieces. These are two general reasons why aircraft structures fail. Aircraft structures are designed to withstand loads generated by air at some maximum airspeed and the loads generated while maneuvering at some G load. Most aircraft can be flown at speeds and G loads which can place excessive loads on the aircraft structure. Aircraft that is directly exposed to onrushing air could be damaged as the dynamic pressure of the air stream is converted to static pressure pressing inward on the structure. Excessive speed can reduce the airplanes stability. The bottom line is that a lot of bad things can happen when an aircraft exceeds it’s redline airspeed. One of the clearest reasons for failure of a structural component is that the component lacked the proper strength to withstand the loads created while the aircraft is flown at its normal operating limits. There are numerous reasons why a structural component could be understrength. It is possible that the engineering of the structure was inadequate. The designer could have possibly made an error which was not caught during the testing phase. Another reason could be that wear and tear caused a weakening to the structure. Service life issues are normally divided into four sub areas; fatigue cracking, corrosion, wear and creep. The four of these progressive failures which cannot be undone as the aircraft accumulates flight hours ground-air-ground cycles. An aircraft structure can be weakened in a somewhat short period of time. Exposure to heat can greatly reduce a metals strength. For example, some aluminum alloys that are exposed to temperatures of 400Â ° for 5 minutes can reduce the alloys strength by 80%. Jet engine hot sections and compressor bleed airlines are made of materials such as stainless steel or titanium alloys which maintain most of their strength in relatively high temperatures. This problem happens when structure which is not been designed for high temperature is exposed to high temperatures. Some aircraft which can reach high supersonic speeds require the leading edge structures to be able to withstand the extremely high temperatures generated at these speeds. There are two general areas when it comes to aircraft structures. You have a primary structure, and a secondary structure. The primary structure is parts of the aircraft that are necessary to safely fly its mission. The following components are normally considered to be part of the primary structure: wing structure, fuselage structure carrying flight, ground and cabin pressurization loads, empennage, landing gear structure, engine mounts and supporting structure. The primary structures can be further sub categorized as either critical structure or principal structure elements. Critical elements are those whose failure would result in catastrophic failure of the aircraft. Principal elements are those that contribute significantly to carrying flight, ground and pressurization loads whose failure could or could not result in catastrophic failure. The following components are considered to be the secondary structure: aerodynamic fairings, tail cones, and landing gear doors. There are other mechanical components which carry flight critical loads. Even though these components have failure modes that are closely related to those exhibited by the primary and secondary structures, they do not fall into either of those categories. Components like hydraulic pressure lines, drive shafts, electric alternators, and gear teeth in transmissions all have modes of failure which can give clues concerning the nature of the loads which caused them to fail. In aircraft accident investigator will have a firm understanding of the loads that airplane structured caries and the physical evidence that these loads leaves behind when they fail. The many types of loads are vectors and have both magnitude and direction. You can change the load by either changing its magnitude, for example increasing or decreasing the pounds of force being applied, or by changing its direction by applying force upward instead of down. Loads can take a finite length of time to be imposed. Even though loads can be applied in a very short period of time they can be applied or changed instantaneously. The fact that loads take time to apply and or change is important for the accident investigator understand. The book separates loads into three general areas; static loads, dynamic loads, and repeated loads. Knowing the difference between the three types is important because the nature of the load has a lot to do with the failure of the structure and the evidence left behind. If a load were applied so slowly that the structure to which the load was being applied to stayed equal at all times the load would be considered a static load. A static load can be either for short or long period of time. A dynamic load happens when the loads are applied fast enough to prevent the structure from carrying the load while remaining in equilibrium as the load is being applied. Dynamic loads can be divided into two subcategories, sudden, and impact. A sudden load will impose stronger internal stresses in the structure. Components such as landing gear are tested with dynamic loads. Impact loads are applied at faster rates than sudden, causing the structure to fracture almost every time. Impact loads are usually limited to high-speed bird impacts and crash tests. Repeated loads are just like they sound, loads that are repeated over and over again. Due to the behavior of dynamic impacts and longtime static loads, it makes them unlikely candidates for repeated loads. Short time static and sudden dynamic loads can be repeated over and over again. If a component goes through lots of repeated load cycles before it fails due to fatigue cracking it is said to have experienced high cycle fatigue. By lots of cycles the book means hundreds of thousands or millions or tens of millions of cycles. One of the ways investigators look at structure failure is to consider the time it took for the failure to occur. If the failure happened at the instance of a single load, it is called an instantaneous failure. If the failure took a period of time to occur, that is called a progressive failure. If a structural component contained a load that caused significant distortion, but did not exceed the materials yield stress, and the structure springs back to its original shape after the load is removed is called an elastic deformation/distortion failure. Now if the same events occur and the structure does not spring back to its original shape after the load is removed, that is called plastic deformation/distortion. This is a permanent shape change, unlike the elastic which is a temporary shape change. Now if the load reaches the point where internal stresses not only cause significant plastic deformation, they exceed the materials ultimate stress, the structure will then fracture and separate into two or more pieces. This is called a fracture failure. An experienced investigator can tell the difference between the five different types of structural failure. Another form that causes structural failures is corrosion. Corrosion is the natural disintegration of material as it is attacked by one or more substances in its environment. During the refining process, energy is added to metal ores and other raw materials in order to produce the mechanical properties necessary in structural components. Mother Nature the great equalizer, doesnt like variances in energy levels and sets to work trying to bring the material back to the low energy levels existing in the products of corrosion. When it comes to aircraft structural components, mother natures attack will reduce the strength and ductility of components turning strong metals into meek metallic oxides, hydroxides or sulfates. If these compounds are not removed from the structure they can worsen the problem by providing an environment which is ever more favorable to continued corrosion. There are many different forms of corrosion. Some can be the result of a direct chemical attack by reactive substances in the environment. Pitting is a common form of corrosion. Small holes that are randomly located across the metal surface are called pits and sometimes may be accompanied with a powdery residue. Even though pits may appear to have damaged only a small percentage of the surface, they penetrate deeply in a branching matter causing loss of strength and ductility which is way out of proportion to metals surface appearance. Chemical corrosion involves the reaction between a metal structure and some chemical agent. If you introduce corrosive acid on a metal wing, the acid and the metal will react to form new and undesirable compounds. A selective attack is when corrosive actions seem to favor one part of the components or assembly above another. The primary type of selective attack is intergranular corrosion. This type of attack centers on the grain boundaries with in a metal component before consuming the grains themselves. Similar to pitting the damage from this kind of attack causes a loss of strength and ductility which is out of portion the amount of metal that is corroded. Another form intergranular corrosion is exfoliation, whose progress and go undetected until all structural integrity is lost. Grain boundaries attacked by this type of corrosion are normally flattened and or elongated grains of extruded or rolled metals. This type of corrosion can move undetected along the grain boundaries. Slow removal of material from the surface of the component by a mechanical action is referred to as wear. In most cases wear is undesirable, wear during break in on new or overhauled equipment is often a necessary ingredient in establishing proper operation and long service life. The type of wear the book talks about is the kind that leads to premature failure and breakdown. Abrasive wear happens when small abrasive particles cut into and remove material from surfaces of two components which are held together while moving. When this type of wear happens one question an investigator must ask is, where did the particles come from? Adhesive wear occurs when microscopic projections of the surfaces of the two components which are sliding across each other may contact, weld together and break off. A question that an investigator can ask is was the surface lubricated? Erosive wear is similar to abrasive wear in that foreign particles are cutting tiny chunks out of the surface. Its a little different from abrasive wear in that the abrasive particles gain their penetrating energy by a fluid that is carrying them along. How did the particles enter into the fluids is a question an investigator could pose. To prevent structure failure, the components go through an inspection called non-destructive inspection (NDI). NDI are inspection techniques which will not do significant harm to the object being inspected. Other names for this type of inspection is called non-destructive evaluation (NDE) or non-destructive testing (NDT). There are six specific techniques for these inspections. First, visual inspection is the simplest form and most common of the NDI process and uses your God-given gift of sight. To assist this type of inspection, illumination, magnification, and remote viewing are used to help. Another type is dye penetrant. This inspection is used to detect small surface cracks and discontinuities which may not be visible during strictly visual inspections. This technique is simple, but time-consuming. The component being inspected is covered with a colored liquid which is absorbed into surface cracks. The liquid includes a phosphorescent material which when exposed to ultraviolet light glows in the dark so small surface cracks are visible to the naked eye. Magnetic particle inspection provides another way to assist the eye by increasing the conspicuity of a surface crack. This process requires more specialized equipment then the dye penetrant process, it makes the crack even more obvious if properly used. This inspection makes use of the fact that when a magnetic field is induced in a component made of Ferro-magnetic material, surface cracks will alter the components magnetic field. When magnetic particles are placed on a magnetized surface it will align themselves along the magnetic field showing any variations caused by the cracks. If the magnetic particles are phosphorescent and viewed in a dark room under an ultraviolet light pattern around the cracks will be more visible. Eddy current is the first technique that is discussed that does not require direct viewing of the crack. This process involves the use of a probe to generate both an electromagnetic field and sense and evaluate the Eddy current generated in the material being inspected. When either or surface or near surface cracks are in the material it will alter the shape of the Eddy current and magnetic field it generates. This can be as simple as a twitch on a meters needle. The equipment needed for this type of inspection must be calibrated for the specific design being inspected and the size of the crack being search. Ultrasonic inspections make use of high-frequency sound to find surface and subsurface defects. The high-frequency sound waves are generated by a transducer and then beamed through the part being inspected. The reflective waves or the remnants of waves which penetrate the part are being measured with a receiver and electronically evaluated. There are two different ways the sound waves can be applied to and retrieved from the part being inspected; immersion of the part into a fluid which carries the sound waves to and from the part and direct contact inspection where the transducer and receiver are in direct contact with the part. The direct contact technique is much more mobile allowing use in the field of the aircraft or major fabrications. Radiographic inspection in its simplest form is not much different than that of an x-ray. Very short wave electromagnetic radiation are generated and directed through the part being inspected and towards unexposed radiographic film. Rays passing through cracks, flaws, voids and corroded areas will not be attenuated as much as raise passing through sound material. To the untrained eye, cracks, flaws, voids and corrosion may appear to be just another shadow on the film. Orientation of the x-rays so as to illuminate the discontinuities and proper interpretation of the film are therefore important aspects in ensuring the thoroughness of the inspection. One of the issues which must be addressed in any aircraft accident is a question of crash survivability. Even if no one was injured, the question of what worked and what didnt work should always be asked. Did the restraint systems operate as designed? Whether or not escape hatches were needed, could they have been opened if needed? Did the emergency lighting system work? How crash survival equipment is designed is based on experience, history, and sound engineering judgment. To know if these components work correctly design requires an accident for verification. The accident is a chance to validate our judgment and we cannot afford to pass it up. To make investigation of aircraft crashes a little easier requires a systematic approach by breaking down a complicated series of events into smaller, more digestible bites. The approach chapter 36 goes over is the CREEP method. CREEP stands for: Container, Restraint, Energy absorption, Environment, and Post-crash factors. The first four of the five CREEP elements relate to the dynamic portion of the crash itself. These four factors are concerned with the initial and any subsequent impacts with the terrain, the associated deceleration forces acting on the aircraft and its current occupants, and the deformation and dislocation of aircraft structure and its contents. The fifth factor relates to the occupants attempts to egress the aircraft before suffering additional injuries not directly resulting from the dynamic portion of the crash. In order to survive a crash it is first necessary to provide a living space for the occupants during the dynamic portion of the crash. If the space is crushed or punctured, the chances of survival fall drastically. This factor is container. Now if the occupants have been provided with adequate living space, the next series of questions should deal with the restraint of the crew and its passengers and equipment and components around them. Occupants of any moving vehicle must be protected from injuring collisions with in the vehicle, for example being thrown against the sides of the living space or having objects such as cargo or equipment thrown at them. The strength of all restraints should be sufficient to prevent injury at the force levels which can be expected during the most severe but survivable crash. The investigator should examine all restraints system failures to determine if there failure contributed to injuries experienced by the crew or passengers. The deceleration forces created during a crash may be high enough to cause fatal or serious injuries, even if a safe living space, adequate crew and passenger restraints, and a delethalized flailing envelope are provided. Since crew and passenger bodies are not strongly attached to the airframe, the design of the aircraft structure and seeds may cause the acceleration forces experienced by the crew and passengers to be either amplified or attenuated. A soft deep seat cushion can greatly amplified the vertical Gs experienced by someone sitting in the seat. The deep seat cushion deforms at high loads absorbing energy as it gives can greatly reduce the vertical crash loads to which a seat occupant is subjected. Hopefully, the designers will build a secure box around the crew and passengers and secure them to it. Although we may be able to restrain the torso, it is normally impractical to secure the head and limbs of the crew and passengers. The volume through which the unrestrained extremities can be expected to move shouldve been the legalized to the maximum degree possible. Obstructions which could cause injury should either remove from within the flailing envelope or padded to reduce the severity or probability of injury. This is the environment that the creep method covers. All too commonly, crew or passengers survived the dynamic portion of the crash, only to suffer additional injuries or death when they are unable to safely exit the aircraft in a timely manner. The two primary factors in the causation of fatalities during otherwise survivable crashes is, post-crash fire and inability to quickly exit the damaged aircraft. Fire is the most significant post-crash hazard by a long shot. Not only can the fire kill and injure directly through heat, the toxic fumes and smoke produced when material and the aircraft interior burn are more often the direct cause of death. This post-crash condition is a top priority in controlling to prevent death. Design of airplane exits is predicated on the normal parked attitude and configuration. Obviously, this is not always the case. Sometimes occupants will have to exit from an airplane that is an abnormal attitude and perhaps in a very unusual configuration. Part 125 airplanes have specific emergency exit acquirements levied on them, many general aviation airplanes have only one exit which can be easily jammed in the airplane ends up inverted. In conclusion, nobody is expert on all types of structural failures. With so many different variables, it takes a highly detailed investigator to pinpoint what kind of failure causes a crash. And without a systematic approach of investigation of a crash, the investigators are left with an accident that is difficult to determine whether or not the occupants should have survived the impact.

Whats in a Portrait? :: essays research papers fc

What’s in a Portrait?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What’s in a portrait? Is it simply just a photographic image of a person only done in oil paints, or is there much more to it? Is a portrait a way of peeling away the layers of a person and visually representing who they really are? Gericault’s Monomania: Portrait of an Excessively Jealous Woman and Cezanne’s Madame Cezanne in the Conservatory are both portraits of women. Even though these paintings are portraits of women they are completely different portraits. These are not just paintings depicting two different women. They show us who they really are, or what they meant to the artist. The artists paint them in a way that represents how history and time period affect the way and artists paints.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Gericault’s Monomania: Portrait of and Excessively Jealous Woman, the artist captures the pure emotion of a woman suffering from a debilitating mental disease. The composition is symmetrical for the most part and the subject is positioned in the center of the canvas, which emphasizes her more as a point of focus. The brushwork is visible, but disappears around her face where there is great detail to clearly show her emotional state. The rest of her contains very visible brushwork, and it’s very sketchy. Most of her body doesn’t even seem to be brushed, but more like the paint has been blocked in with a palette knife, thus making the details of the face stand out more. Contours have been completely eliminated in this painting; he uses direct tone and color instead to convey the painting. There seems to be no direct light source everything seems to be in the dark, perhaps hinting at the subject’s mental state of mind. The only thing th at seems remotely lit up is the women’s face drawing more attention to the expression on it. The colors are of a darker palette, and there is a slight sense of complimentary colors with the red and a very deep dark green. The repetition of the color red in her clothes and again in her eyes is a very strong emphasis in this painting. It helps draw more attention to her expression thus adding more emotional content to the painitng. Plus, the red in her eyes alludes to her instability. There is no sense of deep space. The women seems have been painted from straight on, although there is something to the right of the artist that is drawing her attention that way, quite possibly making her have her present expression.

Miracle of the Crib at Greccio

Name: Marco Yu Ming Chan Date: 6 September, 2012 Professor Kate Dimitrova The Work of Art. The Miracle of the Crib at Greccio (Legend of St. Francis- 13. Institution of the Crib at Greccio), Portrait by Giotto Di Bondone, 1297-1300, church of St. Francis, Assisi, Italy. Book Resources Cynthia Ho, Beth A. Mulvaney, and John K. Downey. Finding Saint Francis in literature and art. New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. The three authors created and edited this book a big collection of essays, which they are about St.Francis, and some art works and texts about him, with the knowledge, tools and technics now-a-days, to study his life in a different view. William R. Cook. The art of the Franciscan Order in Italy. Leiden ; Boston : Brill 2005. Though the book is not directly about â€Å"The Miracle of the Crib at Greecio†, It’s about all the works related to St Francis. There are also some article that talks about this piece of work, and the different background of it. It’ s combined by essays from The United States and The Great Britain, studying franciscan art in late medieval and early Renaissance Italy.Essays Rosenthal Erwin, â€Å"The Crib of Greccio and Franciscan Realism† The Art Bulletin (Mar 1954): 57-60. This article begins with a research in 1926, explaining the differences of the view of the relationships between St. Francis, Nature and Art before and after the first quarter of the twentieth century. It talks about the old idea of how St. Francis respected and instructed nature (animals) and thinks it’s all connected with God, and how some art works like â€Å"The Cribs of Greecio† are so different and a new interpretation of his influence on arts.Ursula Schlegel, â€Å"The Christchild as Devotional Image in Medieval Italian Sculpture: A Contribution to Ambrogio Lorenzetti Studies† The Art Bulletin (March 1970): 1-10. This article introduces and compare some pieces of art works that are related to St. Francis it self and the Christ. Some of them made St Francis to be the â€Å"second Christ† and some of them are showing the picture that he’s holding the Christ (the miracle in Greecio).It talks a lot about what the relationship between those art works and the piece â€Å"Christchild†, but still, there are some informations and background about â€Å"The Miracle of the crib at Greecio†. Web Sites N/A. â€Å"Saint Francis cycle in the Upper Church of San Francesco at Assisi† wikimedia commons, March 2012.

Communication in Organisational Behaviour - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2613 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The purpose of this report is to understand the concepts of communication in organizational behaviour and afterwards evaluate an article based on the current understanding of the subject. The term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"communicationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ refers to the transmission of information and exchange of meaning between at least two people with the aim of having an impact on the recipient. What is the need for effective and appropriate communication? Communication affects the performance and individual performance within an organisation as well as the overall performance. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Communication in Organisational Behaviour" essay for you Create order As many people do not work alone, managers interact with many people which takes up a great deal of their time. Society today is very diverse and multi-cultural, due to this sensitivity of other cultures is crucial to achieve effective cross-cultural communication. Every important thing that happens within an organization involves some degree of communication. Some of these include purchasing supplies, providing feedback, hiring/ training staff, customer service, strategy, meetings and overcoming problems. As communication is crucial to these operations , interruptions to this can have detrimental effects. These interruptions include hierarchies, power differences , the nature of employment and rules. Ineffective communication can cause many problems that can impact relationships, productivity, job satisfaction, and morale as we interact in organizations. Gerald Goldhaber summarizes Osmo Wiioà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“lawsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  of communication that are go od to remember as you interact in increasingly complex organizations. Wiio pessimistically warns that: 1) If communication can fail, it will fail, 2) If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be misunderstood in the manner that does the most damage, 3) The more communication there is, the more tricky it is for the communication to be successful, and 4) There is always someone who thinks they know better what you said than you do. Cultural differences Non-verbal and verbal communication differs from culture to culture. In japan, the gestures of smiling and nodding show an understanding but not necessarily agreement. In various Asian cultures, it is impolite to give superiors direct and prolonged eye contact; a bowed head shows deference and not a lack of self-confidence or defensiveness. In Australia, when people raise the pitch of their voice at the end of a sentence, it signifies openness to a challenge or question. Northern European cultures like a lot of per sonal space and rarely touch each other. In contrast to this, Italians and Latin Americans stand closer together and touch more to indicate friendship and agreement. There are many other variations within other cultures. When cultural differences are understood, it is easy to make people feel included/engaged as well as making sure the information you are giving them is not misunderstood. Vertical Communication Vertical communication happens between people in hierarchy positions and can involve downward and upward communications. Larkin and Larkin (1994) suggest that downward communication is more effective when top managers communicate with immediate supervisors and immediate supervisors communicate with their staff. A range of evidence shows that that increasing the power of immediate supervisors increases both satisfaction and performance among employees. This was proposed by Donald Pelz (1952) and is referred to as the Pelz effect.Jablin (1980), after looking at 30 year s of research, pronounced the Pelz effect to be à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“one of the most widely accepted propositions about organizational communication.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Downward communication This is more than just sending information to subordinates. It can involve managing the tone of the message and showing skill in delegation to make sure the job is done well by the right person. There is a degree of certainty that the best approach to downward communication (Jablin 1980 ) is: Top managers should communicate directly with immediate supervisors. Immediate supervisors should communicate with their direct reports. With issues of importance, top management should follow up by directly communicating with staff. Upward Communication Less is known about upward communication, however one finding thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s consistent is that staff satisfaction with upward communication is lower that their satisfaction with downward communication. Larkin and Larkin (1994) discovered a low level of satisfaction with all the methods used to improve upward communication. These methods included staff surveys, grievance programs and staff participation programs. McCelland (1988) found a number of employee-based reasons why upward communication tends to be poor, including: fear of reprisal, filters and time. Lateral communication Lateral communication entails communication with people who donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t belong in a hierarchical relation to each other. Studies regarding lateral communication are still behind those studies of vertical communication. It is thought that lateral communication at the employee worker level have less problems, at least within a functional area. However, with more importance on teams, extra attention is now being aimed at team members communicating. Lateral communications between workers in different functional areas is also becoming a greater concern as more attention is being directed at increasing the speed of producti on through simultaneous, as opposed to sequential, work processes. Diagonal Communication Diagonal communication is where information is sent between two employees of different departments and different levels. Some experts in this area define diagonal communication as the method of sharing information between various structural levels in an organization. Verbal communication relies of spoken or written words to pass on information with others. It is a process where people have a discussion and are exposed to new information Verbal communication: Verbal communication refers to oral or written responses, which are both contrasted to non-verbal communications. The way people get the information they need during verbal communication is through various questioning techniques: Open à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" This technique introduces a subject to enable a further discussion Closed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" To retrieve factual information in the form of yes/no Probe à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢ €Å" This follows an open question to retrieve more information Reflective à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" This is used to display concern/interest Multiple à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" This technique gives the listener a choice of questions to respond to Leading à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" To get the answer that you expect to hear Hypothetical à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" This technique encourages creative thoughts By using and understanding these range of techniques it is easy to analyse techniques used by others and put across your response more effectively. Non-verbal communication : When people communicate face to face, signs, expressions, gestures, postures and vocal mannerisms are constantly sending and receiving messages. Factual information is mainly coded and transmitted by verbal methods. Feelings and emotions as well as the strength of these feelings are coded and transmitted through non-verbal communication. A more popular term for non-verbal communication is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"body languag eà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Maureen Guirdham (1995, p.165) lists 136 non-verbal communications in 9 categories: mouth behaviour, eyelids/eyes, eyebrows, gaze, facial expression, head movements, hands/arms, lower limbs and trunk movements. The mouth category has 40 behaviours (grin, yawn, smile, sneer etc.) The technical terms for non-verbal communications are: Occulesics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å"eye behaviour Kinesics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Body and limb movements Proxemics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the use of space Paralanguage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the tone and pitch of voice Facial expression Posture Chromatics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" use of colour Chronemics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" use of time Haptics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" bodily contacts Overall the following channels are in order from lean to rich. Rich meaning a higher personal presence: Intranet/shared drive Fax Letter Voice mail Pager E-mail Instant message Phone call Face-to-face (two people) Teleco nference (internal and external participants) Videoconference (internal and external participants) Meeting (entire team) Formal communication: messages that are being transferred on regulated, preset channels, of an organization is formal communication. The content of the communication is related to the organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s activity, to the work and to anything which is related to those. formal communicationcan contain a verbal or nonverbal message, written, under the shape of letters, telephone messages. There can also be gestures within formal communication. The messages are sent by the authorized people: via official channels. Normally, formal communicationsis recorded and kept within an organization. Copies of these are kept by the transmitter, by the receiver, by all of the desks from the organization which need to know and keep the information. Informal communication: Informal communication comes from all the channels that exist outside of the f ormal channels, also knows as a grapevine. It exists around the social affiliation of people from the organization. Authority lines do not follow informal communication where they do with formal communication Due to the individual needs of people from an organization informal communication takes place. Normally this communication is oral and may be express via a simple glance, sign or silence. It is spontaneous, multi-dimensional, diverse and implicit. It usually works in groups of people where one person has some interesting information; they then pass it on to their informal group and so on. Organizations can use informal channels efficiently to fortify the channels or communication. It acts as an effective way of expressing specific information that canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be transferred via formal channels. This satisfies peoples desires to identify what is happening in an organization and provides opportunities to express worries, dreads and complaints. Informal communi cation also facilitates to ameliorate managerial decisions as more people are involved in the process of decision-making. Impression management In an organisation it is very important to control the image and impressions that others perceive, this can be achieved through impression management. Paul Rosenfeld (2001) observed that impression management methods include: what we do/how we say it, what we say/ how we say it, the furnishings and arrangements of offices, physical appearance, facial expressions and posture. To achieve good impression management, it involves always being aware of cues that are sent through verbal and non-verbal communication. How to choose an appropriate channel There are many channels available for communication but to choose an appropriate one it is important to understand a few factors Firstly you should consider the elements within the message you wish to send. If the message is personal then a channel such as a telephone call or fac e to face should be chosen. If it is informal then it is appropriate to use email or a letter. Secondly speed of feedback should be considered. If a fast reply is required then use a telephone call or instant message. If it is not important then use an email or arrange a meeting. Thirdly if a permanent record of communication is needed (mainly for a business purpose) then a message should be given via email, memo or letters. Barriers Language à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" It can be within just one country where language/accent variations make communication more difficult Differences in gender à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" communication styles are different between men and women Physical surroundings à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the size/layout of rooms affect the ability to see other people and readiness to partake in conversations Cultural diversity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" cultures have different expectations towards formal and informal communication; a lack of these understandings can cause misun derstanding Power differences à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" employees distort upward communication, also those higher up the hierarchy have a limited understanding to those in lower ranks. How to improve communication Face to face à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" When someone is able to talk to somebody directly, feedback can be used to check the coding and decoding processes, and to correct mistakes and misunderstandings. Place time à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" If a message is given at the wrong time or the wrong place it is likely to not be interpreted correctly, or could be ignored. So the time and place should be chosen with care. Reality check à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" people should not assume that others will understand messages in the way others intend, it should also be checked how messages have been interpreted. Empathetic listening à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" It is important to see and understand other peoples points of view The article recommends the following points to improve organizational communi cation Shared purpose à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" The purpose of an organisation is to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"express the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s primary value. It is the end to which the strategy is directed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å" (Ellsworth 2002) therefore it is important to establish what employees understand their organisations purpose. If employees have a shared purpose they all know what they are striving towards and feel closer to higher management as they are working towards the same goal. Whereas management donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t usually understand the roles of those lower in the hierarchy, this will help to resolve this as they have a common goal; making communication easier. Where management and employees are brought closer together due to a shared goal, this helps to overcome the barrier of power differences described earlier. Where organisations do not have this shared sense of purpose and make decisions in private with just the highest management it is unlikely to reach other e mployees , resulting in a breakdown of communication. Due to this a shared purpose does show to improve communication Engage your people This verdict and definition forwarded by Institute of Employment Studies gives a clear insight that employee engagement is the result of two-way relationship between employer and employee pointing out that there are things to be done by both sides. Furthermore, Fernandez (2007) shows the distinction between job satisfaction, the well-known construct in management, and engagement contending that employee satisfaction is not the same as employee engagement and since managers can not rely on employee satisfaction to help retain the best and the brightest, employee engagement becomes a critical concept. Managers should promote two-way communication. Clear and consistent communication of what is expected of them paves the way for engaged workforce. Development Dimensions International (DDI, 2005) states that a manager must do five things to create a highly engaged workforce. They are: Align efforts with strategy Empower Promote and encourage teamwork and collaboration Help people grow and develop Provide support and recognition where appropriate After surveying 10,000 NHS employees in Great Britain, Institute of Employment Studies (Robinson et al., 2004) points out that the key driver of employee engagement is a sense of feeling valued and involved, which has the components such as involvement in decision making, the extent to which employees feel able to voice their ideas and have better communication, the opportunities employees have to develop their jobs and the extent to which the organization is concerned for employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ health and well-being. Cultural differences should also be taken into account to make sure all employees achieve effective communication and therefore feel more engaged, some of these cultures are described earlier. Consider your channels à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the article in question suggests that considering channels is important in improving overall communication. Referring to the theory mentioned earlier it is important to recognise what you want to get from a conversation/discussion. If you are seeking information then you should use the appropriate questioning techniques. By considering channels, messages can be successfully coded and decoded between the sender and receiver. Information will not be misinterpreted or ignored and can be passed on effectively. This all improves communication Measure communication measurement is possible with some discipline before a project begins and after it is completed. Award-winning business communicator, Ann Wylie, says an alternative to proving cause and effect is to demonstrate a correlation between our efforts and the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s success by establishing that communication was received, believed and acted upon. There are several ways to quantify a communic ation effort. One is to establish clear goals at the beginning of the project: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Active participation in Open Enrollment will increase by 30 percentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ; or you could conduct a content analysis. Wylie recommends using a matrix to determine the percentage of your publicationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s content devoted to a particular message in order to get to quantitative data about the number of times the message was created and delivered. Gibson, J.W., and R.M. Hodgetts. 1991. Organizational Communication à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" A Managerial Perspective. 2nd Edition. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Argyris, C. (2011). Organizational traps: Leadership, culture, organizational design. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Canary, H. (2011). Communication and organizational knowledge: Contemporary issues for theory and practice. Florence, KY: Taylor Francis. Greenberg, J., Baron, R. A. (2010). Behavior in organizations (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Jablin, F. M., Sias, P. M. (2001). Communication competence. In F. M. Jablin L. L. Putnam (Eds.), The new handbook of organizational communication: Advances in theory, research, and methods (pp. 819-864). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.