The Beard Buster: Applying the Theory of Independent Mindedness to the Barbasol Company

Sample

If you have ever worked in an organization where you have been fearful of communicating to/with those in hierarchically-superior positions, believe us: you are not alone. The more important questions, however, are why employees are fearful of upward communication and what can be done to increase the likelihood of what Spencer (1986) calls employee voice and what Kassing (1997) calls dissent. This chapter will focus on a theory, the Theory of Independent Mindedness (Infante, 1987a; Infante, 1987b), that has been used as a guiding framework to answer the previous queries. The chapter will begin with a brief overview of the Theory of Independent Mindedness, inclusive of its major claims and the links that it makes among intentions to communicate with superiors and (a) argumentativeness, (b) verbal aggressiveness, and (c) communicator style. You will then read a case study about Barbasol, an Ohio-based manufacturing organization responsible for the creation, distribution, and sales of its shaving products (i.e. razors, shave cream), whose culture and employees might open the path for effective superior-subordinate communication. Finally, the chapter concludes with an explanation of how, specifically, the case study can be understood and analyzed through the lens of independent mindedness. By the conclusion of this chapter, you will better understand how organizational conditions (i.e. the organization’s culture), coupled with individual trait characteristics (i.e. argumentativeness, verbal aggressiveness), combine to create the context necessary for upward, superior-subordinate communication.