Question

Business communicationDownward communication is like water streaming down from a waterfall or streamhead. It pours easily with greater force and wets a large area while upward communication is like a small spurt of water shooting up from a fountain against the pull of gravity. the higher it travels , the more it losses its force. Elucidate

Accepted Answer

I think the point of this metaphor is that it is hard for people lower in an organization to get information to people at the top.  Likewise, if a person high in the organization wants information from those at the lowest levels, it will be hard to come by.  Think of the show Undercover Boss.  Conversely, a person high up in the hierarchy makes decisions that affect everyone.

Answer

When a person receives a communication from his boss or someone higher up in the organization he or she tends to give greater importance as compared to communication coming up from people at lower levels. Greater the number of organization levels for which a communication has travelled down, greater is its importance for the recipient. Thus we can say that downward communication, like water falling down a water fall gains greater force as it comes down the organization levels.
Similarly a communication looses its force when it travels up the organization levels. This happens because people at higher levels may command more credibility and confidence of their superiors. Another reason for upward communication loosing it force is because of the difficulty managers may face in listening directly to all the communication generated at lower levels because of is sheer volume. Therefore they may rely on managers at lower levels to filter out and summarize information from lower levels before it is passed up.

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