Justino Apostol’s concerns, as stated at the end of the case, are (1) “what he can do to woo Benjamin Zamora back” and (2) the existence of grapevine in Choice Fine Furniture. Since Zamora’s resignation was concluded in the case to be caused by rumors, it is therefore the main problem. It is therefore more important to determine the actions Justino Apostol should take with regards to the existence of grapevine in his business. In this regard, there are four options we can consider. We can either (1) fully or (2) partially participate in the grapevine. We can likewise either (3) totally ignore it and instead, improve on managing communication within the organization or (4) suppress its existence by issuing office rules to this effect. Since researchers say that grapevine is inevitable in an organization and, as Jitendra Mishra states “organizations cannot fire the grapevine because they did not hire it,” we can rule out the fourth option as a possible solution.[1] Besides, it is said that the organization can benefit from it in several ways.[2] If, on the other hand, we ignore its existence and instead improve the flow of the communication, we can not take advantage of the possible benefits such as having an alternative source of information regarding health and morale of the organization.[3] We are therefore left with either full or partial participation, either of which, we get to gather information regarding the trends in the office. The advantage, however, of having partial participation is that we get to filter garbage data –those that are irrelevant and will not bear weight to the decisions of Apostol. Based on our analysis, the best option would be to take partial participation in grapevine in a sense that we have to select only those information pertaining specific issues and concerns. It is important to note that we need to be careful in absorbing all the information we receive and be critical in terms of its credibility. This does not preclude, however, that we have to complement it with proper dissemination of information through current and factual memos or newsletters to keep the employees updated in important issues. Furthermore, we can conduct seminars on the nature and ethics relative to rumors and at the same time, hold frequent meetings to clarify issues and receive feedback from the employees.

Number of words: 388

Note : I discussed the case with the following: Eugene Eugenio and Marian Isabel
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[1] Mishra, Jitendra. “Excerpts from … Managing the Grapevine.” September 19, 2009

[2] Crampton, Suzanne M. “The Informal Communication Network: Factors Influencing Grapevine Activity.“ (December 22,1988). September 19, 2009

[3] Mishra, Jitendra. “Excerpts from … Managing the Grapevine.” September 19, 2009