Silvi 1

Gina Silvi
Who Has the Control?

In the year 2011, approximately $52.3 million worth of monetary benefits were
distributed in the United States due to sexual harassment discrimination charges; approximately
$3.9 million more than the amount that was distributed in 2010 (as cited by U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission). As unnerving as the previous statistic may be, it sadly,
only accounts for up to 15% of sexual harassment cases that are filed within the workplace the
rest go undocumented (as cited in Work Harassment). In Navigating the Limits of a Smile, a
publication composed by Sarah J. Tracy a recognized scholar and author whom obtained her
PhD through Arizona State University organizational communication among crewmembers on
a cruise ship is observed with a bona fide perspective. While looking at the organizational
communication structure of Radiant Spirit (one of the largest cruise ships of the Spirit Cruise
Line), Cassie Donners experience holds the primary focus of the piece. Being a 24-year-old,
blonde female from Oklahoma, Cassie and her co-worker, Sally, were largely the minority group
amongst the rest of the crewmembers. Being an eager employee who was new to the
organization, Cassie had prior expectations of what her position entailed, and she was vaguely
informed about what was to be expected of her; however, she quickly learned that her
expectations didnt meet her reality. Through out her experience as a crewmember on Radiant
Spirit, Cassie quickly realized that there were many faults within the organizational
communication system of which she was employed the assimilation process, gender roles,
status and power, and workplace bulling/sexual harassment being among the most prevalent.
Prior to accepting the cruise lines offer to work onboard of the Radiant Spirit, Cassie
was in phase one of the organizational assimilation process. Organizational assimilation is a
three-step process in which an individual becomes apart of an organization and its culture
Silvi 2
(Miller, 2011). Phase one of the assimilation process comes before commitments have been
made; therefore, any preconceived notions and/or prior information that one gathers from
secondary sources through out his or her life, works to influence job expectations along with the
cultures of said jobs (also known as vocational anticipatory socialization) (as cited in
Socialization Powerpoint). When deciding whether or not to work for Spirit Cruise Lines, Cassie
ultimately decided she wanted to because, She was hoping to improve her communication
skills, acquire international experience, and visit exotic locales (Tracy, 2003, 374). When told
that she would not be able to reach the land-based director directly, Cassies first thought was,
What would anyone have to complain about? (Tracy, 2003, 375) Due to vocational
anticipatory socialization, or what she believed the job was made out to be, it came as much of a
surprise when Cassie realized that there were in fact many faults to the organizational
communication structure of the ship.
The first fault within the organizational communication structure of Radiant Spirit dealt
largely with gender roles that the workers assumed combined with a lack of diversity amongst
the crewmembers. In noticing these faults, Cassie estimated that there was a 6:1 ratio of male to
female workers, along with being only one of five American workers onboard the ship (Tracy,
2003, 376). The problem with an organizational communication system, one of which lacks a
diverse population, is that the culture of the organization may become narrow-minded and allow
little room for different ways of thinking. This happens because similar people also tend to share
similar beliefs, values, and ways of thinking. As Walter Lipmann once said, When we think
alike then no one is thinking (Beebe, Beebe, & Ivy, 2012, 206). Lipmann a qualified
American journalist, political commentator, and public commentator held a belief that when an
organization lacks diversity, it lacks creativity and healthy communication practices.
Silvi 3
With majority of the crewmembers being of the male gender, gender roles/sex differences
were naturally magnified onboard Radiant Spirit. Sex differences within the workplace and the
stigmas surrounding the differences tend to follow societal norms. Instead of focusing on the
actual task that is being performed, and the degree in which it is performed to, society tends to
focus on the roles we expect certain genders to perform (Mottet, Vogl-Baur, & Houser, 2012).
Historically speaking, women have always been the minority group within the workplace;
however, as the percentage of working women continues to rise, the way in which society views
them continues to change as well. Within the workplace, women are stereotypically recognized
as objects of sex instead of what they should be recognized for their wealth of knowledge, their
contributions to the company they work for, and the skills they hold (Mottet et. al, 2012).
Onboard the Radiant Spirit, Tim the cruise director of the ship put on a Fifties Sock Hop
theme night in which he required Cassie and Sally to wear denim blue miniskirts and cheap
white tee-shirts, along with giving them the names of Bambi and Trixie for the night
(Tracy, 2003, 383). In order to keep passengers engaged and buying drinks, the two girls were
made out to look and sound like prostitutes, which is essentially what they are prostitutes at the
ships expense. By changing their names (even if it was just for the night) into porn-star-like
names, requiring them to wear revealing outfits, and demanding that they do as they are told, all
for the sake of making the cruise ship money, Tim is exploiting the girls gender roles amongst
the rest of the crew. In exploiting the girls gender roles, Tim is abusing his status and power
the third fault of the organizational communication structure onboard the ship.
Tim, being the cruise director of Radiant Spirit, has both recognized status and power
within the organizational communication structure of the ship. Because Tim has status in the
organization, he is considered important and prestigious and his word has influence upon most of
Silvi 4
the other people within the organization (Modaff, Butler & Dewine 2012). If a person has status,
it does not automatically mean that they also have power within the same organization; however,
Tim has both. The difference between status and power is that a person in power has the ability
to change others behavior, whereas status refers to the way in which others view him or her.
Holding a coercive power over Cassie the power to be able to punish (Beebe et. al, 2012)
Tim makes it difficult for her to feel a sense of confidence in regards to her job security;
therefore, she is left feeling primary tension. Primary tension is tension that results from
uncertainty and discomfort when put into new and/or different situations (Beebe et. al, 2012,
206). In a moment of infuriation, Cassie explained the way she felt by saying, I may not be part
of [Tims] little group of friends, but I dont want to have to be a brown-noser to get there
(Tracy, 2003, 381). After purposely sabotaging a game in which she was made to simulate sexual
intercourse, Cassie was confronted by Tim with, Are you so stupid that you didnt see you were
popping the balloons twice as quickly as Blakes? Are you blind? Stupid? Or both? (Tracy,
2003, 383) In the situation above, Tim was using his status and power in a downward
communication style, but he was using it in an abusive way being a bully. Workplace bullying
is when unwarranted or undesired negative communication behaviors occur on a regular-basis,
having potential harmful physical, psychological, and/or emotional effects to the target(s) of said
behaviors (Mottet et. al, 2012), and more often than not, persons in power are the ones accused.
The assimilation process, gender roles, power and status, and workplace bullying are four
faults within the organizational communication system of Radiant Spirit, all of which
collectively warrant unwanted advances or behaviors that are sexual in nature; more specifically,
towards Cassie (Mottet et. al, 2012). Because Cassie is the newcomer to the organization,
because she is a female, and because she is has an out-group status, other crewmembers and
Silvi 5
even her superior feel as if they have complete control over her and her actions. Not only do they
feel as if they have complete control over Cassie, but also they voice their thoughts as well.
When commenting on the degree to which she felt uncomfortable being whistled at by her co-
workers, Blake Cassies mentor said, Well, you dont have any control over it, so Id just
learn to live with it (Tracy, 2003, 380). By forcing herself to accept these types of behaviors
from her co-workers, the fine-line of what is right and what is wrong began to slowly dissipate
and Cassie began to accept that type of behavior from the passengers of the ship as well. After
accepting a drink and a dance from Fred, a sixty-year-old male passenger, Cassie was put into a
position of which she did not know how to react. Fred pulled her close again and, brushing his
lips to her ear it was more difficult to ignore his gyrating body pressed against hers (Tracy,
2003, 386). From the very beginning, before Cassie accepted the job offer to work onboard
Radiant Spirit, sexual harassment was the last thing on her mind she was allowing herself to be
nave. As a member of the organizational communication system of Spirit Cruise Lines, Cassie
should have never found herself in the numerous situations that she did, for the amount of times
that she did. If the organizational communication system were stronger and promoted healthy
interpersonal communication techniques, cohesiveness amongst crewmembers, and diversity,
Spirit Cruise Lines would see overall improvements.
The first thing that needs to be done in order to repair the organizational communication
structure of Radiant Spirit, is to allow for conflict but also allow for everyones voice to be
heard. Having more of a diverse workforce will also allow for this process to be successful,
because more thoughts and opinions will be generated and more creativity will be produced.
Having a diverse workforce (i.e., age, race, gender, etc.) will also help to broaden the in-group
and out-group populations, allowing for less of a hostile environment and for positive attitudes
Silvi 6
to supersede any negativity that had previously been there before, amongst the crewmembers.
Another thing that would be beneficial to the organizational communication of the crew would
be to eliminate the passenger comment cards, or at least eliminate the amount of weight that they
carry for crewmembers. If the comment cards were eliminated, the environment would be more
welcoming to all passengers and crewmembers because more of an emphasis would be
placed on being one cohesive group, instead of every individual worker having an I in team
attitude.
Although there were several faults within the organizational communication system,
many of those issues can be resolved in an appropriate manner. If more voices were heard,
gender roles were respected, and the atmosphere promoted cohesiveness, Radiant Spirit would
see major improvements within their workers and their attitudes, as well as improvements in the
number of satisfied passengers.
Silvi 7
Paper References

Beebe S., Beebe, S., & Ivy, D. (2012). Communication: Principles for a lifetime. Boston, MA:
Allyn & Bacon.


Beebe S., Beebe, S., & Ivy, D. (2012). Communication: Principles for a lifetime. Boston, MA:
Allyn & Bacon.


Modaff, D. P., Butler, J. A., & DeWine, S. (2012). Organizational communication: Foundations,
challenges, & misunderstandings. Boston, MA: Pearson.


Modaff, D. P., Butler, J. A., & DeWine, S. (2012). Organizational communication: Foundations,
challenges, & misunderstandings. Boston, MA: Pearson.


Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (2012). Organizational communication for survival.
Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.


Mottet, T. P., Vogl-Baur, S., & Houser, M. L. (2012). Your interpersonal communication.
Boston, MA: Pearson.


Miller, K. (2011). Organizational communication: Approaches and process. Independence, KY:
Cengage.


Tracy, S. J. (2003). Case studies for organizational communication: Understanding
communication processes (pp. 374-388). Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing.

www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/sexual_harassment.cfm (U.S Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission)


www.workharassment.net/index.php/sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace.html (Work
Harassment)