During a regional flood management operation, an Assistant District Magistrate observes that crucial technical directives issued from the state headquarters are undergoing significant delay and selective filtering as they pass downward through multiple intermediate administrative tiers. To maintain administrative integrity while enabling immediate, direct coordination between the technical experts at the headquarters and field officers on the ground without permanently altering the official hierarchy, which organizational communication channel should be activated?
- Establishing a temporary horizontal or diagonal bridge (Gangplank) authorized for emergency operational coordination.Answer
- BBypassing official record-keeping entirely by instructing field officers to rely exclusively on unverified informal grapevine messaging.
- CIssuing aggressive disciplinary warnings to intermediate supervisors to force immediate downward transmission.
- DTreating the hierarchical delay strictly as an external environmental noise barrier and taking no procedural action.
Answer
Establishing a temporary horizontal or diagonal bridge (Gangplank) authorized for emergency operational coordination.
The correct option correctly identifies the 'Gangplank' mechanism. In organizational theory and public administration, a Gangplank provides a direct horizontal or diagonal communication bridge between officers of different departments or levels to bypass scalar delays during urgent situations without undermining administrative ethics.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Organizational Communication Channels and Fayol's Gangplank Principle