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CMA Foundation · Fundamentals of Business Laws and Business Communication · Barriers to Business Communication

A manager at a Chennai firm gives an oral instruction in a noisy workshop. The worker nods, but later does the wrong task because he heard only part of it. The manager never asked him to repeat the instruction. Which statement best identifies the situation?

Workshop noise, a physical barrier, distorted the message during transmission, and the manager's failure to obtain feedback meant the misunderstanding was never detected. The situation mentions no jargon or cultural difference, so semantic or cultural explanations are unsupported.

  1. ANoise distorted the message in transmission, and absence of feedback let the distortion go uncheckedCorrect
  2. BEncoding was perfect and the receiver alone is at fault, so no barrier exists
  3. CThe barrier is purely semantic because the manager used technical jargon
  4. DThe barrier is cultural because the worker and manager come from different regions

Explanation

Workshop noise is a physical barrier that distorted the message. The manager did not seek feedback, so the misunderstanding was not detected. No jargon or cultural difference is mentioned, so the semantic and cultural options are unsupported.

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