Read the given case study and answer the questions given at the end.

As a Senior Marketing Manager at SoftCo, Sadia has been tasked with the mentorship with the Marketing departments new hire, Shamsa. Despite the novelty of this task, Sadia is always up for a challenge and therefore accepts the responsibility with enthusiasm.

After that, Shamsa is called to the office so that she could be introduced to her mentor for the coming one year. Shamsa arrives a little later; ten minutes have passed since she had been called. Shuffling her feet, she enters the office and stands off to the side. she is very shifty; bouncing on the heels of her toes, and wringing her hands that are clasped in front of her body. Noticing the hesitation on her face, Sadia takes the initiative and extends a hand out to Shamsa while introducing herself: Hello there! I am Sadia, a senior marketing manager here at SoftCo, and your mentor for the next year. I hope well be able to work well together. Shamsa looks at her extended hand, and as her nervous fidgeting grows more pronounced, stares off to the side while murmuring something intelligible under her breath. Perplexed at the amount of shyness and anxiety radiating off Shamsa, Sadia tries to be gentle in her approach as she asks for clarification. Taking a deep breath, Shamsa, in a slightly louder voice, says, Its nice to meet you. Im Shamsa and I also hope well be able to work well together.

From then on, Sadia decides that one of her primary tasks as a mentor will be to help Shamsa break out of her shell and feel easy at her workplace. Her other tasks include, of course, ensuring that Shamsa performs the duties assigned to her completely and on time. As per Mr. Umairs, In-Charge of the Marketing department, instructions, Sadia is to check every single project that Shamsa completes, and provide quick, detailed, and honest feedback on it. Sadia aims to do just that, albeit in a more sugarcoated and positive manner.

During the first week of working as a mentor, Sadia notices that Shamsa has a tendency to stonewall criticism. She seems to listen well, and takes notes; but fails to fully incorporate the changes suggested by Sadia. Of course, she is allowed to disagree with, or contest, Sadias suggestions; but has to provide justification for why she believes her way is better. Sadia begins to feel as if she is talking to a brick wall when it comes to sharing feedback and suggestions. Still, she tries her best to maintain goodwill and be courteous in her criticism and feedback. As she does not want to offend or some off as a dictator, Sadia always begins her feedback with the words, I would suggest, and always adds the statement, You can disagree if you have a better solution in mind. Clearly, Shamsa has decided that she does know better and does not want to incorporate Sadias suggestions.

Things come to a head when Sadia is tasked with designing a marketing campaign for one of SoftCos oldest clients. Sadias entire team is working full-time, giving their all in ensuring quality and timely completion of their work. In the midst of completing her part of the job, Sadia is also constantly sharing feedback and suggesting changes to Shamsa, who is handling the design of the paper ad for the campaign. While working on her online campaign, Sadia fails to keep a complete check on Shamsas work and does not notice that Shamsa has not shared the edited draft of the paper ad.

When the deadline approaches, Sadia is taken aback to discover that Shamsa has not handed in the paper ad for the campaign. The entire project is due in the afternoon meeting with Mr. Umair, but Sadia does not have the paper ad that completes the project work. Moreover, Shamsa has called in sick and cannot be reached via phone calls. Panicking, Sadia brainstorms and decides to create a new ad from scratch. She quickly and efficiently works for four hours and by the time of the meeting, she has a basic plan for the paper ad ready to be submitted.

Fortunately, the meeting goes well. Sadias project is received well and gets the go-ahead to be shared with the client.

The next day, Sadia is called for a meeting with Mr. Umair, where he asks for her feedback on Shamsas performance. Sadia, not wanting to speak badly about a colleague on official terms, shares only positive feedback about Shamsas performance.

As a result, Sadia spends most of her time compensating for Shamsas missing work for the next year. The rest of her team members feel as if their work is being overlooked due to Sadias unavailability for timely feedback and corrections. The entire teams work, then, starts deteriorating in quality as time progresses.

Questions:i. Identify and define the interferences in the entire communication process described in the case study. How can they be minimized or reduced?

ii. Analyze the communication exchange between Sadia and Shamsa, and Sadia and Umair. Which ethical principles are being compromised and upheld in each scenario?