Management Communication

GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES

OPEN UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA

COM21

Management Communication

STUDY GUIDE

 

 

 

© Griffith University 2013/3 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-copying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission. These materials may only be distributed to students enrolled in this course. Published by Digitisation and Distribution, INS, Griffith University CRICOS Provider: 00233E

 

 

 

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CONTENTS

Unit Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1

Unit Aim ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1

How to use this Study Guide …………………………………………………………………………………………. 2

MODULE 1 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3

Week One: Management and Communication ………………………………………………………………………. 3

1.1   Introduction: Managers in Organisations ………………………………………………………………… 4

1.2   Who is an Effective Manager? ……………………………………………………………………………… 7

1.3   Strategic Management Communication …………………………………………………………………. 8

1.4   Strategic Conversations ………………………………………………………………………………………. 8

1.5   Leadership, Management and Communication: A Symbiotic Relationship ………………… 10

1.6   Applying Key Communication Themes ………………………………………………………………… 10   1.6.1   Cultural Ethos ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

1.6.2   Adaptive Management Behaviours …………………………………………………………… 12

1.6.3   Cultural Leadership ……………………………………………………………………………….. 12

Week Two: Management Ethics and Social Responsibility ………………………………………………….. 15

2.1   Your Own Ethics ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16

2.2   Making Your Ethics Clear …………………………………………………………………………………… 18

2.3   Ethical Decisions ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19

2.4   Behavioural Traits …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 22

2.5   Social Responsibility …………………………………………………………………………………………. 22

2.6   Applying Key Themes to Communication …………………………………………………………….. 23

MODULE 2 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25

Week Three: Evolution of Management Thinking ………………………………………………………………… 25

3.1   Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 26

3.2   The Evolution of Management Thinking ……………………………………………………………….. 27

3.3   The Classical Perspective ………………………………………………………………………………….. 29

3.4   Humanist Perspective ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 31

3.5   Learning Organisations ……………………………………………………………………………………… 32

3.6   Sustainable Development ………………………………………………………………………………….. 35

3.7   Applying Key Themes to Communication …………………………………………………………….. 36

 

 

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Week Four: Communication Networks ……………………………………………………………………………….. 38

4.1   Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 39

4.2   Workplace Relationships ……………………………………………………………………………………. 40

4.3   Defining Relational Situations …………………………………………………………………………….. 41

4.4   Communication Competencies …………………………………………………………………………… 44

4.5   Different Types of Workplace Relationship …………………………………………………………… 45   4.5.1   Superior/Subordinate Relationships …………………………………………………………. 45

4.5.2   Peer Relationships ………………………………………………………………………………… 46

4.5.3   Problematic Relationships ………………………………………………………………………. 47

4.6   Applying Key Themes To Communication ……………………………………………………………. 49

MODULE 3 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 51

Week Five: More Communication Networks ……………………………………………………………………….. 51

5.1   Communication Networks ………………………………………………………………………………….. 52

5.2   Network Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 53

5.3   Key Concepts In Network Analysis ……………………………………………………………………… 54

5.4   Communities of Practice ……………………………………………………………………………………. 55

5.5   Inter-Organisational Relationships and Networks ………………………………………………….. 57

5.6   Network Organisations ………………………………………………………………………………………. 58

5.7   Applying Some Key Communication Themes ……………………………………………………….. 59

MODULE 4 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 63

Week Six: Managing Communication and Diversity ……………………………………………………………. 63

6.1   Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 64

6.2   Valuing Diversity ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 66

6.3   Ethnocentrism and Monoculture ………………………………………………………………………….. 68

6.4   Ethnorelativism and Pluralism …………………………………………………………………………….. 69

6.5   The Changing Workplace …………………………………………………………………………………… 69

6.6   Minority Groups in the Workplace ……………………………………………………………………….. 71

6.7   Communication Challenges ……………………………………………………………………………….. 72

6.8   Applying Some Key Communication Themes ……………………………………………………….. 72

Week Seven: More Managing Communication and Diversity ………………………………………………. 74

7.1   Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 75

7.2   The Glass Ceiling ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 75

7.3   Cultural Ethos …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 78   7.3.1   Recruitment Initiatives ……………………………………………………………………………. 78

7.3.2   Career Advancement ……………………………………………………………………………… 79

 

 

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7.3.3   Diversity Training …………………………………………………………………………………… 80

7.4   Indentifying Strategies for Awareness ………………………………………………………………….. 81

7.5   Multicultural Teams …………………………………………………………………………………………… 82

7.6   Applying Some Key Communication Themes ……………………………………………………….. 82

MODULE 5 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 85

Week Eight: Managing Change Related Communication …………………………………………………….. 85

8.1   Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 86

8.2   What Is Organisational Change? ………………………………………………………………………… 86

8.3   Products and Technology …………………………………………………………………………………… 87   8.3.1   Exploration ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 88

8.3.2   Cooperation ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 89

8.3.3   Ideas and Communication Champions ……………………………………………………… 90

8.4   Changing People and Culture …………………………………………………………………………….. 90   8.4.1   Approaches to Implementing Change ………………………………………………………. 91

8.5   Applying Key Themes to Communication …………………………………………………………….. 92

Week Nine: More on Managing Change Related Communication ………………………………………… 95

9.1   Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 96

9.2   The Need For Change ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 96   9.2.1   SWOT Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………….. 97

9.3   Resistance to Change ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 97   9.3.1   Force-Field Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………. 98

9.4   Change Implementation Tactics ………………………………………………………………………….. 98

9.5   Creating Environments for Change Communication …………………………………………….. 100

9.6   Glossary ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 101

9.7   Applying Key Themes to Communication …………………………………………………………… 102

MODULE 6 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 105

Week Ten: The Integration of Strategic Planning and Communication ………………………………. 105

10.1   Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 106

10.2   Goals, Plans and Performance of Communication ………………………………………………. 106

10.3   The Right Messages ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 108

10.4   Criteria for Effective Goals ……………………………………………………………………………….. 110

10.5   Applying Key Themes to Communication …………………………………………………………… 111

 

 

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Week Eleven: Communicating in Difficult Times and Crisis Situations ………………………………. 113

11.1   Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 114

11.2   Planning in Turbulent Times ……………………………………………………………………………… 115   11.2.1   Contingency Plans ……………………………………………………………………………….. 115

11.2.2   Scenario Building …………………………………………………………………………………. 116

11.3   Shaping a Crisis Plan ………………………………………………………………………………………. 117   11.3.1   Prevention ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 117

11.3.2   Preparation …………………………………………………………………………………………. 117

11.3.3   Containment ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 118

11.4   Applying Key Themes to Crisis Communication ………………………………………………….. 119

MODULE 7 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 121

Week Twelve: Understanding Public Relations …………………………………………………………………. 121

12.1   Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 122

12.2   Identifying and Defining Publics ………………………………………………………………………… 122   12.2.1   Internal Publics ……………………………………………………………………………………. 123

12.2.2   External Publics …………………………………………………………………………………… 123

12.3   Prioritising Publics …………………………………………………………………………………………… 124

12.4   Perceptions and Public Opinion ………………………………………………………………………… 125

12.5   Perceptions of the Organisation ………………………………………………………………………… 126   12.5.1   Internal Publics ……………………………………………………………………………………. 126

12.5.2   External Publics …………………………………………………………………………………… 126

12.6   Women and Minorities ……………………………………………………………………………………… 127

12.7   Points to Remember ………………………………………………………………………………………… 127

12.8   Applying Key Themes to Communication …………………………………………………………… 128

Week Thirteen: Where Have We Been? …………………………………………………………………………….. 129

 

 

 

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UNIT INTRODUCTION

UNIT AIM

Whether you work as a junior or middle manager or as the Chief Executive Officer, to operate efficiently you need well developed management communication skills. COM21 Management Communication is a second level unit in the Business Communication major that is part of the Griffith University Bachelor of Communication degree introduced in 2012.

This unit will provide a detailed understanding of the principles of management communication and develop the capacity to communicate effectively as a professional. There is a strong emphasis on practical communication skills which will be framed within an unfolding theoretical discourse.

The unit emphasises key elements of communication processes that are vital to working effectively and ethically in a global society. It will familiarise students with emerging communication issues and strategies, and the challenges and opportunities these bring to any management task.

This Study Guide is broken into seven modules:

• Managers in organisations

• Evolution of management thinking

• Communication networks

• Communication and diversity

• Managing change related communication

• The convergence of planning and management in the face of crisis

• Understanding external communication.

On completion of this unit, students should have developed an understanding of the following core skills, policies and theories:

• The role of communication in a manager’s job

• The Learning Organisation

• Communication networks and analysis

• Communities of practice and network organisations

• Valuing diversity

• Managing change related communication

• Implementing change communication and strategies for innovation

• Managing and communicating in crisis

• Managing team conflict

• Understanding external communications

• Managing perceptions and public opinion – internally and externally.

After successfully completing this course students will have developed a solid knowledge of the principles of effective management communication and their application in the following key areas:

 

 

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• Communicating as an effective manager

• Understanding the relationships between leadership, management and communication

• Understanding personal and organisational realities of management ethics

• Understanding evolutionary trends in management thinking

• Recognising glass ceilings as a metaphor for minority issues and discrimination

• Recognising ethnocentrism and ethnorelativism and their impact on workplaces

• Converging planning and communication in response to difficult times.

• Developing strategies for effective management communication

• Understanding meanings for Publics and public opinion.

HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDE

The study guide is broken into weekly sections and the information regarding the set reading(s) for each week is detailed at the beginning of each week. The textbook, readings and study guide are designed to work together to provide a broader view of the topics being discussed. You will notice we have included some ‘recommended’ rather than ‘required’ readings. These are for students who are particularly interested in the topic being discussed and provide additional relevant material useful for assessment tasks.

In COM21 Management Communication the textbook is Management, Fourth Asia Pacific edition written by Danny Samson and Richard L Daft. It is available through Unibooks.

We have also provided a range of Independent Learning Tasks (ILTs) for each week. These tasks are designed to encourage you to take a deeper approach to your study and help you to explore the key concepts and tangent issues. These tasks are also designed to work as an online tutorial that will build your skills and understanding in preparation for completion of your major assessment items. The ILTs are a compulsory part of your study and form part of your overall assessment.

We believe these ILTs are important in enhancing your learning experience and in providing an opportunity for you to work with your peers, we have allocated marks for their completion. As you work through each task, share your ideas with your peers on the Discussion Board. Don’t just post your thoughts, read through the comments made by other students and respond to their ideas. This will help you to see other perspectives on the topic being discussed and may alert you to ideas you had not considered. The aim is for you to debate and unpack concepts with your peers. Your tutor will oversee these discussions but will not be actively involved. They will provide general weekly feedback on this work. They will provide marks and specific, private feedback on the 2 of the 12 week interactions nominated by you.

In addition to your learning tasks you are required to produce a 2000 word essay (Assessment 2, due Monday Week 7) and a 2000 word report (Assessment 3, due Monday Week 14). More information on Assessments 2 and 3 are also included in the Unit Outline.

 

 

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MODULE 1

WEEK ONE: MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION

By the end of this week, students will be familiar with some of the basic elements of management communication. These include:

• Overview of the responsibilities of managers

• Definition of management communication

• Understanding the elements that create effective management communication

• Understanding the role of communication as the manager’s constant daily activity

• Understanding how leadership, management and communication share a symbiotic relationship.

REQUIRED READING

Samson, D & Daft, R L, 2015, 2012, Management, 5th or 4th Asia Pacific Edition, Cengage Learning, Australia. Chapter 1, Chapter 17.

Dwyer, J, 2011, Communication in Business: Strategies and Skills, 4th Edition, Pearson Education, Australia. pp.249 – 254.

RECOMMENDED READING

O’Hair, D, Dixon, L, & Friedrich, G, 2005, ‘Leadership and Management Skills, Strategic Communication in Business and the Professions, 5th Edition, Houghton Mifflin, Boston. pp. 148 – 176.

 

INDEPENDENT LEARNING TASK 1*

The Samson & Daft textbook presents a New Manager Self-test on page 3 (2015; 2012).

1. Complete the questionnaire and score yourself.

2. Write a short piece (100–200 words) about what you have learned from the Questionnaire about your own management skills.

 

Post your response on the Discussion Board and comment on the work of your peers in the ILT1 thread under the link ‘Post your response to ILT1 here.’

 

 

 

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* A NOTE ABOUT INDEPENDENT LEARNING TASKS

The Independent Learning Tasks (ILTs) are peer-learning activities and while your tutor will give weekly feedback, it will be general in its nature and not specific to individual students.

The idea of these tasks is to give you an opportunity to practice some elements of analysis or delve more deeply into some aspect of theory that will help you develop a deeper understanding of the Unit content. It may also help you respond to your assignment tasks. The more you get involved with your peers the better your collective and ind

ividual understanding is likely to be.

Part of your mark will be based on your own responses and your responses to other students. These Independent Learning Tasks represent an important part of Assessment 1. To access all the information on Assessment 1, go to your Unit Outline.

 

1.1 INTRODUCTION: MANAGERS IN ORGANISATIONS

In business, Managers are responsible for effectively managing, informing, mentoring, motivating, coaching, instructing, supporting and reporting on all activities conducted by the organisation. All of these tasks are driven by communication.

Making a difference as a manager today and tomorrow requires integrating tried and true management skills with innovative approaches that emphasise the human touch, enhance flexibility and engage employee’s hearts and minds as well as their bodies (Samson & Daft 2009, p. 4).

Much has changed in the workplace over fifty years. Earlier concepts of traditional, hierarchical mechanistic management structures, predominately using a top down communication style, are now balanced by more organic structures. Organic structures tend to have a flatter management structure and communications are often vertical, horizontal and lateral, allowing for a more creative response to innovation across the organisation.

In reality, many contemporary organisations are a hybrid of mechanistic and organic management structures and styles, modelled to fit the needs of the organisation and as a reflection of their work culture. Nonetheless, the enduring notion that management is the process of planning and coordinating work activities and tasks to be completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people remains the constant principle.

 

 

 

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DISCUSSION POINT. Mechanistic organisational structures are pyramid shaped, with decision making and power concentrated at the top. They have rigid communication lines with authority based on position. Organic organisational structures have a flattened horizontal shape. Decision making is at all levels. Communication flows are based on current needs. Authority is based on expertise. They are fluid, dynamic and ever-changing.

Think about your own workplace experiences and reflect on which of those organisations were more mechanistic or more organic in their structure. What did that feel like? How are they different?

 

*A NOTE ABOUT DISCUSSION POINTS.

Throughout this study guide you will find these discussion points. They are there for you to follow through as a personal and reflective moment about the issue at hand. Sometimes they will direct you to specific short reading or to a YouTube clip.

They are presented as an extra thinking exercise which will help you gain further insights into the principles and concepts being discussed throughout the semester.

 

A manager’s responsibilities are many and varied, but include:

• Being the corporate face, representative or point of contact for an organisation or a work team within an organisation

• Monitoring information and its flow

• Networking both internally and externally

• Entering into transactions and negotiations with workers, leaders and other managers within the organisation to effectively coordinate activities

• Planning and scheduling work activities

• Allocating physical and human resources to different work teams and activities

• Directing and monitoring the work of team members

• Monitoring and informing human resources management activities

• Adapting to changing situations and unexpected events that may directly affect work flow or the workplace

• Engaging with innovation within the workplace on product and management levels

• Remaining current within your professional or functional expertise.

Management can be defined as having four main roles. These are:

• Assessing and monitoring. The first task of a manager is to ensure that the current activities of the organisation are functional and under control. Systems need to be developed and monitored to ensure the organisation is meeting its current targets and vision. Failure to do so can stifle any other future vision, goals and aspirations of the organisation. Business runs on cash flow and day to day production and management detail must be strictly adhered to. Monitoring operations is an ongoing process.

 

 

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• Planning. An organisation needs managers who can set out its future goals and develop detailed strategies about how the organisation may achieve growth. In these days of globalisation and turbulent finance, this planning has become both regular and crucial to securing the organisation’s future.

We are surrounded by stories of organisations that failed to make the right moves resulting in their markets and clients moving away, either locally or offshore. In the age of information, we see tastes and trends moving rapidly. Many times these changing trends and tastes are predictable. Today, managers need to be more than content experts. Not only do they need to be able to motivate, innovate, communicate and build solid workplace relationships with their colleagues in order to succeed, they need to be across their internal and external communication in order to be able to adapt quickly to changing business environments.

• Organising. The current management ‘buzz’ is transactional management. This term describes how the vision of the organisation transforms into processes, systems and work activities that are going to be effective within the organisation’s available resources. This responsibility rests with the Board, often developed in tandem with a small leadership team from within the organisation. Their role is to fulfil the ‘big picture’, deliver vision and mission statements, aims and objectives. ‘Organising involves the assignment of tasks, the grouping of tasks into departments, and the allocation of resources to departments’ (Samson & Daft 2015, 2012, p. 13). Managers work with the leadership team and the wider organisation to transform that vision in reality through negotiation and transactional processes, systems and work activities to implement this vision.

These transactions, by necessity, may lead to the development of a new structural design for the organisation or even the engagement of innovative management models resulting in the integration of new work teams, either structured or self-managed.

The term transactional management implies and requires the constant engagement of communication skills and models: messages sent and received, identification of noise and interference, feedback techniques, emotional intelligence, active listening, an understanding of non-verbal communication, together with an understanding of the organisational culture. The many wider cultural backgrounds of employees also need to be consistently and sensitively engaged. People from other cultures often work to a non- mainstream set of social and workplace values.

• Leading. In any event, these innovations, new systems and processes are then fed back up into the leadership team and discussed, changed, tested and ultimately verified. The role of the manager then becomes the implementation of change, potentially establishing or rebuilding teams towards the development of functional new systems and processes.

In modern organisations, change is the only certainty. Organisations run the risk of being left behind in today’s global market and business environment which is ‘morphing’ itself faster than at any time in human history.

Managing for change and communicating these changes is the challenge for modern managers.

 

 

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1.2 WHO IS AN EFFECTIVE MANAGER?

The course textbook details the findings of the Karpin Taskforce, commissioned in 1994 by the Australian Government (Samson & Daft 2015, pp. 38-40; 2012, pp. 36-38). The vision statement of the report (Australia 2010) detailed some issues for Australian managers to focus on. These provide a benchmark for Australian managers to strive for and need reiterating in this Study Guide. They are:

By 2010, Australian Enterprises and their managers should be focused on:

• Knowledge • The ability to learn, change and innovate in the new marketplace, as the accepted

manager selection criteria, rather than gender, ethnicity or even prior experience • The learning organisation as a standard philosophy for many Australian

enterprises, and as a major way to cope with change and turbulence • Managers creating conditions conducive to learning for both individuals and the

enterprise as a whole, both across individual units and between the enterprise as a whole, both across individual business units and between enterprises and their external environments

• Employees being more motivated and skilled • Quality acting as a guiding light within all organisations, with a customer-first

mentality being all pervasive. (Commonwealth of Australia Enterprising Nation, 1995)

Each of these aspirations for the management of Australian organisations has, at its core, the practical application of communication skills and models. Indeed, the greatest asset a manager may have in today’s business environment is not how well they can build a car, but how well they can drive communication, build relationships, actively listen and apply their emotional intelligence to interpret the best way to transport their organisation safely towards its vision and goals.

An enormous part of a modern manager’s role is the management of communication.

These aspirations guide the journey of this Unit. The aim is to guide you through a number of learning Modules that should assist you as an individual to be a more effective manager and communicator.

Mintzberg states that ‘quiet managers don’t empower their people – ‘empowerment’ is taken for granted’. He identifies the ‘quiet words’ of managing as:

• Inspiring by creating the conditions that foster openness and release energy

• Caring by not slicing away problems, but by preventing and fixing problems and knowing how and when to intervene and mediate

• Infusing by challenging things slowly, steadily and profoundly, rather than thrusting change upon followers dramatically and in superficial episodes

• Initiating by finding out what is going on in the organisation, connecting with those at the base and all levels, rather than parachuting directions from the top levels.’ (Mintzberg 1999, pp. 224-230).

 

 

 

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REALITY CHECK. Students should read the ‘Sharpstyle Salons’ Case for Critical Analysis in Samson & Daft (2015, p. 44). This case gives a good insight into the complexity of management and communication issues you will encounter in the workplace.

 

A NOTE ON REALITY CHECKS. These Reality Checks are designed to lead students back to real world connections to ‘value add’ to this week’s topic. Sometimes this will be a case study or it may be YouTube links or other media.

These Reality Checks are not part of any assessment, however we hope you gain some further insights through participating in them.

 

1.3 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION

Communication is everywhere. It is everything we say, see, hear, feel, touch and feedback to others. Strong messages can also be delivered through silence, posture, facial expression, language, interference, misinterpretation and sometimes, mischief. We spend most of our lives engaged in all sorts of communication in an effort to understand our lives, both personally and in our work relationships.

What makes management communication paramount is that managers must have a clear purpose and strategy around how and what they intend to communicate. They must be active and adaptive in order to make the message clear and concise. No matter whether the message is as simple as a health and safety briefing or as complex as a discussion around vision for a multi-national organisation, the basic premise is the same – your message must influence colleagues to act in ways that achieve the vision, values and goals of the organisation. Your job as a manager/communicator is to keep everyone on message. The aim of this course is to impart theory, skills and tools that will help keep you on message.

1.4 STRATEGIC CONVERSATIONS

It can be argued that once you are effectively engaged in management communication, every conversation is a strategic conversation. If you are on message as a manager, it often follows that your team workers are also on message.

It’s not that you have to be robotic in your responses. Indeed it is the opposite. You need to be actively listening, using open and inclusive communication lines, engaging with others and integrating feedback and innovative ideas into the organisational structure and culture.

Strategic conversations constitute the managed implementation or modification of vertical, horizontal and lateral communication mechanisms with integrity and acknowledgement of the value of everyone’s voice. It is critical for managers to ensure that these communication lines are open and supportive within the corporate culture of an organisation.

 

 

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Many organisations have charts that lay out formalised communication lines. These lines must be managed in the same way as the production line is managed – with efficiency and economy. Many times work culture or (sometimes work overload) means that the formalised communication lines have become dysfunctional. This may be because they are no longer appropriate to the daily life of the business or they have become overpowered by personality, or perhaps they were never a true reflection of how communication worked within the organisation. Unfortunately, this failure is not uncommon within organisations, especially older ones.

Dysfunctional communication lines need to be addressed quickly. All processes need to be in balance or manafers will risk leadership, management and communication issues that can cripple innovation or perhaps even cripple day to day operation of an organisation. Each strategic conversation, at its core, should aim to break down any barriers to effective communication.

Your strategic conversations should be inclusive of the more informal, shadow networks that happen in every workplace without any formal structure or charter. They are the chat and rumour circles and they are powerful. Many of the most creative and innovative ideas in an organisation are discussed in lunch rooms, coffee shops, smoking enclaves or at the pub. Part of your communication brief would be to set up appropriate systems within your organisation to harvest this information. Some managers see these shadow networks as suspicious and, indeed, they can become a complaints’ club, but experience has shown that inclusion and respect work just as well in the shadow networks as they do in formal ones. People do change if they know that their voices are being heard.

Simmons contends that about 80 per cent of grapevine communications are on business related topics rather than personal, vicious gossip. Moreover, from 70 to 90 per cent of the details passed through a grapevine are accurate (Samson & Daft 2015, p. 708; 2012, p. 645). This would suggest that the ‘grapevine’ is a powerful and accurate force and must always be considered within your strategies.

Another important element to consider is the use of strategic conversations to identify your knowledge workers within the organisation. Knowledge workers are the natural allies of a communicator and manager. Often, they are the embodiment of the workplace culture. They are most likely to be the ten per cent who pass on accurate information and they are usually respected and listened to by their work colleagues.

Knowledge is not impersonal like money. Knowledge does not reside in a book, a database, or a software program; these contain only information. Knowledge is embodied in a person; applied by a person, taught and passed on by a person. (Drucker 2003, p. 287)

Once you start engaging in strategic conversations with a clearly defined purpose, you will soon know the state of communication within the organisation. An application of the communications models and tools covered in COM 12 Business Communications will help you identify what is going on (or not). People will communicate their position to you because communication takes up most of your work time.

 

 

 

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1.5 LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION: A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP

Although Leadership, Communication and Management Communication have different definitions, they must work symbiotically to achieve the outcomes of the vision and goals of the business.

Leadership Communication is fed by the leadership’s character and the organisation’s values. It sets the emotional climate of an organisation and is an expression of its work culture. Leadership communication involves itself with setting the vision and mission by letting people know where the organisation is headed and what it stands for. It drives innovation by making people comfortable with doing things differently. It defines a pathway to success for people to follow. It places people within the mission, culture and values of the organisation.

Management Communication has been defined as ‘purpose-directed, in that it directs everyone’s attention towards the vision, values and desired goals of the team or organisation and influences to act in a way to achieve those goals. (Samson & Daft 2012, p. 628)

Management Communication involves the implementation of the vision of an organisation as expressed through its mission statement and strategy plan by the practical application of negotiating and transacting communication skills. It involves relationship and network building as instruments to benefit the organisation, workers and other stakeholders.

Leadership Communication and Management Communication by definition must inform each other to be effective. If the vision is unachievable or the transactions to achieve it are unworkable, the organisation is headed for turbulent times. Clear, consistent communication is the best way to ensure the success of an organisation.

It sounds simple enough but many managers find it daunting. Dealing with embedded work cultures, difficult leadership and management styles, the politics of power, a lack of established networks, poor morale, poor or out-dated policies and work practice and the inevitable fear of change – all go to make management communication the biggest challenge facing managers today in our global marketplace in our turbulent times.

1.6 APPLYING KEY COMMUNICATION THEMES

At the end of each week, we will regularly return to the key management and communication themes in order to discuss them in the context of the week’s topic. This week we are setting up the base-line information about these key communication themes.

1.6.1 CULTURAL ETHOS

Every organisation, whether a business enterprise or a Not for Profit (NFP), establishes a corporate identity or more simply, a public face, in order to position itself within the relevant sector of its chosen field of operation. This public face is built from the first basic decisions which become the foundational building blocks of the organisation. These include, but are not limited to, the selection of a business name, the product or services the organisation will provide, the extent of its operation (local, national or transnational), the number and type of staff required, its suppliers and target market.

 

 

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The style of management and the nature of relationships across internal and external stakeholders will often emerge from the constant processes of negotiation and exchange that characterised or governed the organisation’s early struggles to become a viable business or reputable service.

According to the economist John Kay, there are several main sources of distinctive capabilities that help us understand the positioning and operations of a company: its architecture, reputation, innovation and the ability to exploit strategic assets (Kay 1993, p. 65). This architecture is based on its operational structure, its internal culture and the special knowledges that have been built through past and present activities, its personnel, products and business practice.

This structural identity is also expressed in a series of networks of internal and external relationships, between companies, government and social institutions, and also between individual players (staff, clients, collaborators) that create long-term value (Galligan 2007, pp. 34-5).

Across every level of an organisation’s structure, complex communication initiatives and negotiations are required and an organisation cannot succeed, will not build a recognised niche for itself or its products and/or services, if effective communication strategies are not employed. This is such a basic truism that it is too often neglected in Management and Business theory.

Since it is essential for an organisation to manage its operations and this requires relaying and responding to information of various orders of complexity, it is expected that staff know the best way of doing this. This can be a dangerous assumption.

However, the first step in understanding management communication processes is in understanding how the organization speaks or communicates about itself. This dialectic of the organization, which might at first glance seem straight forward, can combine quite complex elements of business, professional, aesthetic and economic objectives.

The language an organisation adopts to speak its position becomes embedded in its history and its own organisational culture. A legal firm such as Clewitt, Whithall and Associates aims to present a professional, prestigious service to its public, whereas a litigation law firm such as Trilby Misso or Shine Lawyers positions itself to assist a more financially challenged clientele. Bob Jane TMart, with the smiling, capable but approachable face of the proprietor sends a message of reliability and reassurance. The choice of a name, symbol, logo or colour can immediately communicate a powerful message which is reinforced or adapted as the history of that organization unfolds.

These languages can become a powerful mechanism to build a reputation, legitimacy and professional credibility for the organization and for its products. It will also impact the internal dialogue and daily routines affecting the behaviour and conversations between management and staff, between peers and colleagues. It helps to build the cultural ethos of an organization which, over time, can become a major strategic asset of the company (Kay 1993, p. 65; Galligan 2007, p. 35).

An expressive organisation takes advantage of its corporate language to engage its stakeholders, and here we will focus on the internal network, in an ongoing conversation. Mobilising the specific histories and stories of people and events, challenges and triumphs is an incredibly creative way of engaging staff as players in the unfolding organisational operations. It can inspire and motivate, establish or redefine boundaries, instil pride and workplace security.

The Mission Statement, Annual Report or company newsletter provides an opportunity for an organisation to express its story, its vision, goals and aspirations. The choice of language in these

 

 

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statements or narratives needs to be carefully selected because key words and phrases can form a long term dialogue among staff and across its multiple publics. It is a major building block of an organisational culture which infuses its behaviour, relationships and dialogue (stories, symbols, languages), policies and procedures.

1.6.2 ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOURS

Managers who display real care about their customers and employees and have a strong commitment to the value of people and fair and equitable processes within their internal and external work environments are considered to be adaptive managers. It seems obvious that they will find it easier to transact, negotiate and communicate more effectively because they respect others’ viewpoints and trust their expertise. This is particularly true in turbulent times and in response to unexpected events when managers often have to ask employees to take on the extra load.

Managers who are insular and who misuse power, politics and ‘the system’ to distance themselves from their clients and employees are termed maladaptive managers. They are often risk-averse and care mainly about themselves and their immediate clique. Innovative ideas and change are ‘not their friends’.

We may refer in the Unit to adaptive or maladaptive behaviours if referring to an individual manager, or as an adaptive or maladaptive culture if referring to an entire organisation.

1.6.3 CULTURAL LEADERSHIP

Managers transact all their outcomes entirely within the internal culture of their organisation. Often successful navigation of work culture by managers is their unique advantage over their competitors and is often measurable in cheaper prices, better service, quicker turnaround times and returning customers.

These days managers not only have to be content experts, they need to negotiate with their internal networks to make multiple transactions within the organisation. These transactions should not only fit into its very distinctive and certainly ingrained work culture, but also meet the needs of the external client base.

In its widest definition, culture is a set of key values, beliefs, understandings and norms common to a group of people within an environment. Work Culture is all of that applied to an organisation.

Culture can be seen on a visible level – dress, symbols, slogans, ceremonies. It can be as apparent as the office layout. It is a mistake though, for a manager to be complacent with a ‘she’ll be right, that’s how it’s always worked here’ attitude, because culture is usually embedded within any workplace through shared values, underlying assumptions and often, deeply felt beliefs.

The workplace culture sets the emotional temperature of an organisation. We have all had experiences of workplaces that are angry and maladaptive, as well as places where respect and inclusion make it a pleasure to go to work. This is culture at work.

 

 

 

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Culture generally works through a set of mechanisms. These are:

• Symbols. Objects, acts or events that convey a specific meaning to others. This can be as simple as ‘Employee of the Month’ or a ‘Bloopers’ Trophy. It must be real and it must be genuine and meaningful.

• Stories. ‘Celebrating every victory no matter how small’ is a good way of incorporating a narrative into the workplace. Storytelling is a great way of enshrining values and beliefs and testing underlying assumptions. Team or staff meetings and newsletters are good places to honour these stories.

• Heroes. People who are well known and respected within an organisation and who are considered to display the set of attributes and attitudes that reflect the corporate culture of an organisation are its heroes. Often the hero is the founder, inventor or salesman, someone who has made a breakthrough in tough times – sometimes even the tea lady can be a hero.

• Slogans. This applies to a set of words and phrases that express shared workplace values. This can be as glib as ‘Woolworths the Fresh Food People’, or it can be as focused as ‘Marketing – the Overachievers’ to signify shared values with the rest of the organisation. In every case, they are most effective when they are true.

• Ceremonies. A significant event that reinforces shared values and acknowledges the key participation of employees. It might be an awards presentation at the Christmas Party or it may be a ten year service pin. A celebration should be made so that respect and acknowledgement are the messages sent.

Good managers use all of these opportunities as ways of communicating value, respect, inclusion and acknowledgement.

Managers may be described as effective cultural leaders when they are using a full set of words, symbols, stories, slogans, heroes and ceremonies within their communication with others. In reality, anyone who defines and communicates the core values of an organisation is a cultural leader. The role of the manager is to keep the focus on this shared vision as part of everyone’s everyday activity.

MORE THOUGHTS

Communication, in all its forms, is the human face of an organisation. It is its thoughts, words, symbols, signs, body language, tone and message. As managers, innovation and change starts internally with our own thoughts and feelings, then those of our work colleagues and on to the outside world.

It is all about what people see, hear and feel in, and about, their workplace. It is how they interpret and understand your messages that will inform their opinions and actions. Your success as a manager will be in direct relation to your ability to use communication tools to make your message understood and accepted – first time, every time.

Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them. (Paul Hawken, Natural Capitalism)

 

 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Drucker, P F, 2003, The Essential Drucker, Harper Business, New York.

Commonwealth of Australia, 1995, Enterprising Nation: Report of the Industry Task Force on Leadership and Management Skills, http://www.aim.com.au/research/EN_ReportonSkills.pdf

Galligan, Anne, 2007, ‘Structure and Strategies: The Publishing Industry in Australia’, Making Books: Contemporary Australian Publishing, St Lucia Brisbane, UQP.

Kay, John, 1993, Foundations of Corporate Success, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Hawken, Paul, Lovins, Amory B & Lovins, L Hunter, 1999, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. Little, Brown & Company, United States.

Mintzberg, H, 1999, ‘Managing quietly’, Leader to Leader, Vol 12, pp. 224-230.

Robbins, S P, Judge, T A, Millett, B & Walters-Marsh, T, 2008, Organisational Behaviour, 5th Edition, Pearson Education, Australia.

 

 

 

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WEEK TWO: MANAGEMENT ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

By the end of this week, students will be familiar with issues concerning ethics and social responsibility. This will include:

• Issues concerning your personal ethics

• Setting ethical standards

• Frameworks for the consideration of ethical decision making

• Issues concerning social responsibilities

• Review of ethics and social responsibility within an organisation’s cultural context.

REQUIRED READING

Samson, D & Daft, R. L, 2015, 2012, Management, 5th or 4th Asia Pacific Edition, Cengage Learning, Australia. Chapter 5.

RECOMMENDED READING

Trevino, L K & Nelson, K A, 2011, Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk About How To Do It Right, 5th Edition, Chapter 5, John Wiley & Sons, USA. pp. 292–319.

 

INDEPENDENT LEARNING TASK 2

One key factor in this week’s study is an analysis of an individual’s specific personality and behaviour traits and how this may influence their communication skills in the workplace. Within the Study Guide, you will discover that these traits are divided into three levels. The third level is called post-conventional and these individuals are described as following their own set of principles of justice and rights. They are aware that people hold different values and they seek creative solutions to ethical dilemmas. They demonstrate a balanced concern for individuals and for the common good.

Think back through your work or life experiences and name an individual who fits this set of traits and write a short piece (100 – 200 words) on why you have chosen them.

 

Post your response to the Discussion Board and comment on the work of your peers under the thread heading ‘Post responses to ILT2 here’.

 

 

 

 

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2.1 YOUR OWN ETHICS

What does it take to grow good flowers, fruit and vegetables? It takes good soil, and that’s what a manager tries to create by being sensitive, nurturing, and trying to bring out the best in people. (Prof Grosman qtd in Samson & Daft 2012, p.19)

Today, you will hear CEOs taking about the triple bottom line. It is one of those much-heard catchphrases that may have lost meaning through overuse. Yet it is an important facet of any progressive business environment.

It involves the development of reporting mechanisms that measure performance from three perspectives: economic, social and environmental. Progressive managers are required to not only look to the organisation’s specific product and its production costs, growth and profit, but to their organisation’s ethical and social and environmental responsibilities. To use another, perhaps hackneyed, term – organisations are expected to be good corporate citizens.

The notion that organisations may be held accountable for their ethical, social and environmental responsibilities represents a major point of change from traditional, more mechanistic models. Certainly, it would have been laughable fifty years ago to hold a company liable for things like pulling out mangroves and destroying fish habitats at a local level or, indeed, global warming on a planetary level.

Oil spills, coal dust and asbestos issues were never considered as the responsibility of businesses –

except by a very small percentage of the population who were mostly considered eccentric. They were just things that happened. Such destructive and wasteful environmental fallout was an accepted consequence of the expansion of business production.

The world has changed. Web 2.0, social media and 24 hour global news cycles have given the public an opportunity to hear and see social and environmental events live to air and, more importantly, see and hear them over and over again. Additionally, we are all better educated and more articulate thanmany of our forebears. This brings with it an ability to seek out real information and deconstruct the spin that surrounds events and misadventure that only adds to the cynicism about the motives of corporations.

Worldwide movements like Occupy Wall Street and its many offshoots highlight this unrest and disappointment with the corporate world’s failure to meet their ethical and social responsibilities and it is not particularly difficult to proffer compelling evidence to these failures. It surrounds us all in the media every day.

Yet that is not the full story.

Many managers today seek to embrace change and, though they may not be aware of it, sit comfortably within Ghandi’s philosophy of ‘be the change you want to see’.

This week’s study is about putting aside negatives such as conspicuous corporate greed, exploitation of third world counties on a global level and the rise of fixed contracts and casualization on a local level.

We will be looking at how managers can integrate sound ethical and social responsibilities into their systems and processes, and how they may use communication techniques to deliver fairer outcomes

 

 

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– internally and externally, locally and globally. Some fairer outcomes might include resolving equity issues within a workplace internally; being a good corporate citizen and meeting community needs externally; being environmentally responsible locally and making an effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions globally.

REALITY CHECK. Follow this link to YouTube. This excellent, short discussion successfully defines business ethics and social responsibility.

 

The Samson and Daft text details the 60 Minute Test (2012 p.181; p.192 2015). It assumes that a TV interviewer and crew have landed on your front porch and are asking you questions about an ethical dilemma you are facing. The range of questions is well worth reiterating here:

• Is the problem or dilemma really what it appears to be? If you are not sure, find out. • Is the action you are considering legal? Is it ethical? If you are not sure, find out.

• Do you understand the position of those who oppose the action you are considering? Is it reasonable?

• Who does the action benefit? Who does it harm? How much? How long?

• Would you be willing to allow everyone to do what you are considering doing?

• Have you sought the opinion of others who are knowledgeable on the subject and who would be objective?

• Would your action be embarrassing to you if it were made known to your family, friends, co-workers or superiors?

(Samson & Daft 2012, p. 181; 2015, p.192)

Applying these questions and analysing the situation in the context of communication models and techniques will greatly facilitate the decision making process. Let’s quickly look at some of the communication theory you might use:

• Applying the elements of modelling: messages sent/messages received, an analysis of noise, interference and feedback and other elements.

• Applying emotional intelligence to understand not only your position but that of others. • Applying active listening skills by making sure you are taking the best opportunity to hear

everything that is being said. • Being inclusive by engaging with all those who may be affected.

• Observing non-verbal responses and being sensitive to what is being felt, not only what is being said.

• Being adaptive to changing issues and being responsive to the needs of everyone.

Management scholar Mary Parker Follett, described management as ‘the art of getting things done through people’ (qtd in Samson & Daft 2012, p. 10). The work of Mary Parker Follett is discussed in detail in the 2015 edition (p. 61).

Progressive managers understand that they are a two way mirror within an organisation through which employees view the organisation and through which senior management view their employees.

As a manager, you are the conduit for communicating the work culture of an organisation. It is you who is up close and personal on a day to day basis with the vertical, horizontal and lateral

 

 

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communication conduits within your organisation. How you conduct yourself will directly affect both the productivity and the emotional climate in the workplace.

 

REALITY CHECK. Follow this link to a YouTube clip, ‘Paper Cuts to the Soul’ in which Steve Slap talks about the real effect and nature of organisational morals and ethics on individuals.

 

2.2 MAKING YOUR ETHICS CLEAR

Earlier, we discussed strategic conversations. Make no mistake about this, you need to understand that when employees talk with you or report issues to you, they are looking to you for guidance, approval and possibly an active intervention (if required0. You need to be constantly reflecting on your own standards because employees are looking to you for certainty and consistency. You will be the one who is setting the example. Personal advice received over 35 years ago from a colleague has stood the test of time. He said, ‘whoever you are will be reflected by your crew. If you are lazy, they will be lazy. If you swear, they will swear. If you are fair and honest, they will be fair and honest’. This remains great advice.

The best way for a manager to gain credibility for themselves and certainty and consistency for their employees is to set clearly articulated standards. By communicating these standards and adhering to them, you will gain their support.

Be aware that setting standards is a two-way process. Your employees will be watching and commenting amongst themselves on whether you stand by (and for) the standards you have set for them. You will be familiar with the terms ‘walking the walk’ and ‘talking the talk’. Each has its own merits, but it is ‘walking the talk’ that really matters most in developing your workplace relationships and communication networks.

Be completely honest and ethical in all aspects of your work up and down the organisation. Be honest about your own abilities, the information you provide, and about whether deadlines are achievable. If you do these things, so will your employees. In that environment, adaptive solutions can be found and plans made that will produce the best outcomes economically and ethically.

Remembering that communication theory suggests that not communicating is also communication, failure to set your standards sends a message to employees that they are working within a ‘laissez- faire’ system where they will be left to set their own standards. Usually, ‘laissez-faire’ can be associated with anarchy. If you do not engage in considered, strategic conversations with your employees, you will be out of the information loop.

 

REALITY CHECK

Follow this YouTube link to meet Gordon Gecko the main character in the 1987 movie Wall Street. Gordon is the opposite of everything we are talking about this week.

 

 

 

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2.3 ETHICAL DECISIONS

Managers face a range of decisions that involve ethical and social responsibilities. Some of these might be:

• Health and safety issues in the workplace including duty of care to employees and the invasion of individual rights

• Issues with products or services in the light of current medical or environmental commentary

• Environmental issues to do with the product itself or with waste products as a result of production

• Divisive issues within the workplace involving situations or issues where decisions may meet the needs of some part of the organisation but not others. An example may be a conflict between production who need employees to work long hours to complete an important order and the Health and Safety Officers who perceive danger to employees in that action.

Ethical decisions must involve economic issues (costs, profits, growth) and ethical and social responsibilities. Decisions need to be made using accepted norms and values, internally and externally. Normative ethics is a philosophical standard that can be universally applied.

In business, four different approaches are commonly used in tandem: Utilitarian, Individualism, Moral Rights and Justice. These approaches, like communication models, often represented the accepted solution from and for their era and in any discussion you should be considering them as a continuum, rather than as being better or worse than each another. In most situations, it would be wise to consider each approach as part of your process and let each part inform the whole.

Utilitarian. This old model dating back to the 19th century is still relevant today. In its first manifestation it was based on concepts about supporting moral behaviour that produces the greatest good for the greatest number.

Over time, it has gained critics who believe that it is often used to oversimplify issues and, as such, is a dangerous approach. Its critics maintain that it is only the organisation that gets to decide who will or won’t be directly affected, even within an organisation or any external stakeholders. Consequently, they are seen to be controlling ‘who is in the room.’

In reality, this may be harsh criticism as these sorts of decisions are entirely at the discretion of those dealing with the ethical issue. However, it has certainly picked up a less than favourable reputation by association.

Critics of the utilitarian ethic fear a developing tendency towards a ‘Big Brother’ and question whether the common good is squeezing the life out of the Individual (Beckham & Wong qtd in Samson & Daft 2012, p. 177).

 

 

 

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REALITY CHECK. Follow the link to a trailer of a movie version of George Orwell’s 1984 where the term ‘Big Brother is watching you’ emanates.

 

Being the first approach, the Utilitarian has weathered the evolution of businesses over hundreds of years. A good debate could be made that, in hindsight, many business practices over centuries were insensitive to environmental and social issues. The question might be whether the ‘framework’ around how ethical decisions were traditionally made was more about the ethics of the individuals making them, than the framework itself. Though this may just be a ‘chicken and egg’ debate.

Individualism. This approach maintains that acts are moral when they promote the individual’s best long-term interests, ultimately leading to the greater good for the individual, the corporation and the nation. At its basic level, Individualists believe any action that produces a greater proportion of good becomes the right action to perform.

Individualism reflects a value for a loosely knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves. Collectivism means a preference for a tightly knit social framework in which individuals look after one another and organisations protect their members’ interests. (Samson & Daft 2012, p.145; 2015, p.159)

This debate is one that currently faces Australian society as we become more ‘Americanised’, attuned to a society where individualism is enshrined within the American constitution.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (Thomas Jefferson, American Constitution)

This is much more of an element in American society than Australian society. Generally speaking, Americans believe that individuals have a paramount right to self-determination and that the common good will manifest itself by everyone’s individual rights becoming a norm through some sort of ‘osmosis’ of collective self-interest.

An Australian critic might argue that this approach ultimately supports self-interest and has no place in more societally orientated cultures like Australia. Nonetheless, it is an effective test.

So where do our rights as an individual begin and end and our social responsibilities take over? This is a much bigger question than just an economic one. It has significant political and social impacts.

Moral rights. This approach maintains that moral decisions are those that best maintain the rights of those affected. Within this approach, you are asked to consider the dilemma from the aspect of a number of basic human rights: freedom of consent, rights to privacy, freedom of conscience, free speech, due process, and health and safety.

These are the most cherished human rights setting the fabric of our society. There is no reason to assume that these rights do not apply to corporate entities.

 

 

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Social Justice. This approach maintains that all moral decisions must be based on standards of equity, fairness and impartiality. In Australia, these sorts of rights are enshrined within Human Rights and Equal Opportunity State and Commonwealth legislation.

It is the Commonwealth Government that decides whether or not to take on obligations to observe international human rights standards. But the fact that the Commonwealth Government agrees to observe international standards does not make those standards legally enforceable within Australia. This requires specific Australian legislation. Without such legislation there is no legal way within the Australian court system to ensure that the rights in any international Human Rights treaty will take precedence over any state or territory legislation that is inconsistent with the treaty.

State governments have the responsibility to make and administer many of the laws that are relevant to human rights observance. These include laws relating to the administration of justice, land matters, health and education issues, among others. In international law, a federal system does not justify a failure to observe internationally-accepted human rights. But in practical terms, a federal system can make the task of guaranteeing that people are able to access their rights more complicated.

Historically, Australia has been an active participant in the development of international human rights standards. Prime Minister Billy Hughes helped draft the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights following the first World War. As new international standards have been developed, Australia has either endorsed non-binding instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, or has ratified binding legal instruments such as the Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Conventions on Racial Discrimination, Discrimination against Women, and the Rights of the Child; and the Convention Against Torture. Australia has also ratified three of the mechanisms that give individuals the right to complain to United Nations bodies about violations of their rights.

Social Justice is what faces you in the morning. It is awakening in a house with an adequate water supply, cooking facilities and sanitation. It is the ability to nourish your children and send them to school where their education not only equips them for employment but reinforces their knowledge and appreciation of their cultural inheritance. It is the prospect of genuine employment and good health: a life of choices and opportunity. A life free from discrimination. (Mick Dodson, Social Justice Commissioner 1993 – 1998, Indigenous Elder, http://australianmuseum.net.au/indigenous-australia-social-justice).

 

DISCUSSION POINT. Read ‘Challenging the Boss on Ethical Issues’ in the Samson & Daft text (2012, p.179; 2015, p.190) to gain a perspective of the complexities of taking up ethical issues in the workplace.

How would you feel about talking to your boss about an ethical issue within the organisation?

 

 

 

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2.4 BEHAVIOURAL TRAITS

Another way to observe individuals is to be mindful of specific behavioural traits. We all bring our own personality to the workplace. Our behaviours are shaped by our families, needs, and a range of cultural and perhaps subcultural norms. We bring our personal strengths and weaknesses with us.

A very important personal trait is the level of moral development as described below:

• Preconventional. This refers to quite an immature set of traits based around childlike responses to the avoidance of punishment, obedience for its own sake and self- absorption. As leaders these personalities tend toward being autocrats; as employees they do the job, but not much more.

• Conventional. These are the average workers. They try to live up to other’s expectations, work hard and meet their social obligations. They can be great team workers and collaborators in the workplace.

• Post conventional. These may be your heroes or knowledge workers. They often have a well-developed sense of fairness and equity. They value people, cultural diversity and differing skill sets. They can come up with ethical solutions as they arise and adaptive processes for change.

(Adapted from Samson& Daft 2009, p.179; 2015, p.191)

However, it should be acknowledged that, as Samson & Daft (2009, p.179; 2015, p.189) observe:

The great majority of managers operate at level two. A few have not advanced beyond level one. Only about 20 per cent of adults reach the level three stage of moral development. People at level three are able to act in an independent, ethical manner regardless of expectations from others inside or outside the Organisation.

2.5 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

How does an organisation become a good corporate citizen? The answer is to take all the ethics techniques and strategies we have discussed this week and apply them to your organisation’s interaction with the wider community and society.

It is as simple as that. Yet it can become complex because different people have different beliefs about right and wrong, different value systems. This is compounded by the fact that many issues will have ambiguous or even contradictory versions of what is right.

As an example, let’s look at the issues that surround the tourism and commercial fishing industries on the Great Barrier Reef. It is a great source of income for many regional Queenslanders and has seen our coastal cities grow and become prosperous where once they were just dusty ports for primary industries (coal, sugarcane, grain, and beef and sheep). The Barrier Reef is the envy of the world. It provides both great work opportunities and a wonderful, tropical place to raise a family.

Environmentalists maintain, however, that the tourism and fishing industries are having a negative effect on the Reef. In essence, meeting the needs of the tourism and fishing industries is destroying the reef and there is strong independent data to support this case. Various management plans have

 

 

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been instituted by government to protect the Reef, but these invariably stunt the growth and viability of the tourism and fishing industries.

Fewer tourists and smaller fish hauls equals higher prices for consumers of both fish and tourism, and threatens both industries by limiting their abilities to operate under increasingly strict regulation. Of course, in the wider community, many would support regulation to protect the Barrier Reef until it comes to planning a holiday or having fresh local prawns for Christmas Day!

There are many shades of right and wrong in this debate. The important thing though is to come to any negotiation table with an open mind and a will to take actions that will contribute to the welfare and interests of society as well as the organisation.

Negotiation can only succeed if all parties are prepared to negotiate mutually agreed outcomes and stand by those transactions.

Ultimately, managers need to position their organisations and negotiate outcomes that will ensure a sustainable future based on the needs of the organisational financial bottom line, society and the environment.

 

DISCUSSION POINT. Consider the different economic, social and political aspects of the Barrier Reef example above. Consider the many shades of right and wrong.

Do you know about a similar situation? What are the issues? How might you approach the complexities of your issue?

 

2.6 APPLYING KEY THEMES TO COMMUNICATION

In Week One we framed some key themes that we might reflect on at the end of each week’s work. This week we have been exploring ethics and social responsibility. It is important at the start of this Unit to focus on your own values as a manager and as a human being. Knowing yourself is an important part of leading and managing. Each message you send is a reflection of who you are and what you stand for. Colleagues will be watching for consistency in what is said and done. Later in the course we will be exploring working relationships, but at their core relationships are based on honesty and certainty in day to day transactions. Let’s look at some of the key themes in the context of ethics and social responsibility.

• Symbols, Stories, Heroes, Slogans, Ceremonies. Explore these key devices to communicate your ethical and social responsibilities as an organisation. They have an important role to play in assisting managers in the consistent setting of standards. When ethical behaviours and social responsibilities are engaged, celebrate them as importantly as a productivity achievement. Look for opportunities to acknowledge your employees for doing the right thing – no matter how small it might be.

Celebrating victories no matter how small is an important credo reinforcing desirable behaviour and asserting positive work culture values. Acknowledging the honesty and integrity of your workers is just as important as meeting production deadlines. In

 

 

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summary, show them how you want them to behave by being the change you want to see in the workplace.

• Adaptive Management Behaviours. No matter how difficult it may be or how much work it might be in the short term, be open and honest in your dealings. This is particularly important in the setting of ethical standards and the meeting of social responsibilities. Management is a two way mirror and your employees are watching to make sure that you live up to the expectations you have set for them. Your senior management is looking at how you manage your team. Sometimes you will need to make hard decisions as a manager and sometimes it might be more politic to reach a compromise position as the best solution to a problem. It is very much a matter of degree – everyone faces these situations in the workplace – but that is an entirely different situation from being dishonest or duplicitous with your colleagues. If you have worked to build trust, people will respect you for your honesty and candour, even if it is uncomfortable for you and for them.

• Cultural Leadership. The transmission of your standards and your positioning around your ethical and social responsibilities is at the core of cultural leadership. This should naturally flow through to making negotiating, transacting and communicating easier because they know where you stand and they know what your expectations are. This style of leadership creates a two way communication dynamic that is particularly valuable when employees need to address management about their workplace concerns or personal issues.

MORE THOUGHTS

This discussion may have made you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Yet it can be easily built into your own workplace ethics and becomes a natural outworking of this if you use some ancient wisdom. ‘Know thyself’ sits at the core of Sophist philosophy in ancient Greece and is still a philosophical cornerstone of our culture today. Interestingly, Confucian and other eastern philosophies all contain this basic philosophical building block.

‘The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.’ (Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Peace Prize Winner 1952)

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Samson, D & Daft, R L, 2015, Management, 5th Asia Pacific edition, Cengage Learning, Australia.

Samson, D & Daft, R L, 2012, Management, 4th Asia Pacific edition, Cengage Learning, Australia.

Samson, D & Daft, R L, 2009, Management, 3rd Asia Pacific edition, Cengage Learning, Australia.

Mick Dodson, Commission Website: Information for Students – Human Rights in Australia. Accessed 17 July 2015. http://australianmuseum.net.au/indigenous-australia-social-justice

 

 

 

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MODULE 2

WEEK THREE: EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THINKING

This week we will be looking at the evolution of management thinking from historical, social and political perspectives. This will include:

• Understanding classical and humanistic perspectives of management

• Understanding the connection between politics, society and management

• Definition of learning organisations

• Understanding the challenge of sustainability.

REQUIRED READING

Samson, D & Daft, R L, 2012, 2015, Management, 4th or 5th Asia Pacific Edition, Cengage Learning Australia. Chapter 2.

 

INDEPENDENT LEARNING TASK 3

Take the ‘New Management Self-Test” in the Samson and Daft textbook (2012, p.78; 2015, p.49). Enter your responses into the Discussion Board together with some observations that emerge from the exercise.

 

Post your piece to the Discussion Board and comments on work of two peers under the thread heading ‘Post responses to ILT3 here’.

 

 

 

 

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3.1 INTRODUCTION

Futurist, Alvin Toffler predicted in the 1970s that, ‘the acceleration of change in our time is an elemental force’ (1970, pp. 1 – 2).

 

REALITY CHECK. Follow this link to YouTube and view a 1972 video series on Future Shock. Hosted by Orson Wells, it gives a great insight into the start of rapid technological change. While it is somewhat dated, the questions posed are perhaps as current today as they were then. This is quite a long video, but if you are interested, it poses some interesting issues for debate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVJrJk3q3MA

 

In the past 50 years we have seen an unprecedented explosion of birth rates, global business activity, information and technology. The net effect of globalisation has seen business activity growing at a rate that has even exceeded Toffler’s predictions, but does it bring stability to our lives? Change is constant and relentless, but is it also chaotic?

When we look around us, we see examples of how this rapid change is having a negative effect on Australian society. For example, the Australian economy is often termed ‘two speed’ in reference to the strange nexus of the biggest mining boom in our history running parallel to the worst downturn in manufacturing ever. This has resulted in the closure of key industries like vehicle manufacture and the death of once prosperous factory towns in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Manufacturers are turning to cheaper labour options overseas at the expense of families and communities. This seems particularly ironic when you understand that much of the raw materials used in manufacturing for big industry is mined in Australia and exported and built in China.

Retail in Australia is another conspicuous victim of technology with a global reach, experiencing a huge downturn in revenue and many closures because it cannot compete against on-line shopping.

 

REALITY CHECK. This link will take you to the Commonwealth Treasury paper, The mining boom and the two speed economy. It gives a statistical breakdown of these effects on industry, community and employment.

http://archive.treasury.gov.au/documents/1421/PDF/02_Resources_boom_two_speed_economy.pdf

 

It is important when looking at this current business evolutionary starburst not to be dazzled by its brilliance. There needs to be a much longer, deeper look at its historical background, and social and political contexts.

Progressive managers today face paradoxically difficult issues when trying to set up processes and systems to best supply their products or services cost effectively and ethically, while still meeting their local and global social responsibilities. Is this achievable? Or have we swung from one extreme to another?

 

 

 

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DISCUSSION POINT. Some major global business leaders like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are using their vast wealth to make the world a fairer place. Read the Case Study in the Samson and Daft textbook, ‘Philanthropy Goes up a Gear’ (2012, p.187; 2015, p.186) to find out more about these Foundations and some worthwhile outcomes. Also read the Case Study in the textbook ‘A Crisis in Milk’ (2012, p.190; 2015, p.209) to find out about a recent fatal failure to meet social responsibilities.

What is your reaction to these two stories?

 

3.2 THE EVOLUTION OF MANAGEMENT THINKING

This week we will consider the history of ideas, theories and philosophies that have blended together to become modern management. We will not be ‘doing’ history as a record of dates and times, rather we will look at the interwoven social, political and economic forces that continue to drive and shape it.

The development of the basic social contract between workers and employers right through to the advent of the knowledge worker has taken less than two hundred years. This is a relatively short time span from the time of the Industrial Revolution when Charles Dickens wrote his much loved social commentaries (Oliver Twist, Bleak House, A Christmas Carol) up until the present day. Society has changed radically and work culture has changed with it.

 

REALITY CHECK. Follow this link to a BBC Documentary, The Children of the Revolution, which chronicles the lives of children forced to work in appalling conditions during the Industrial Revolution.

 

Post-war workers expected to stay in the same job all of their lives. For example, when my father left his long term employer in the 1970s to set up his own business, the CEO of the major company he worked for came down and spoke to him personally. He wanted to know how the company had let him down. This story often makes younger workers scratch their heads and smile today. They have grown up in a world of high occupational mobility where many attituses surrounding the social contract between employers and employees have been broken down by casualization and fixed term contracts all fed by a burgeoning cult of individuality. This focus on individuality is a global reflection of the attitudes and mores of the major market leader in this era, America.

Politically, we have seen the end of the Cold War and, possibly, of western Communism as a powerful ideology. Globally, people are demanding to be more empowered as individuals in their work lives. For managers today, this means that respect and power are something to be earned, rather than just being rights that are bestowed as part of a managerial position.

 

 

 

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REALITY CHECK. The Berlin Wall became the symbol of the Cold War. When it came down in 1989, it marked the end of Communism as an alternate social, economic and political force in the West. This video looks at this historic event.

 

The Samson and Daft text book (2015, p. 677; 2012, pp. 618-19) Includes an artticle ‘Resonse to the Management Challenge’. This is a good example of how respect can be a two-way street within an organisation leading to mutual respect, engagement and innovation.

Alongside this shift in work practice, we have witnessed an acceleration of market driven capitalism. Policies like protectionism and industry subsidies have been frowned upon as pointless in the belief that the market is the only mechanism required to decide the fate of organisations or industries. Apparently, we live in a somewhat paradoxical market-driven, free trade utopia. Or do we?

Perhaps not. Right now, we find ourselves in a state of evolutionary flux following the Global Financial Crisis which has decided that market forces apply, unless you are too big to fail. This may be the biggest evolutionary challenge facing business today.

On 4 November 2011, the Financial Stability Board released a list of 29 banks worldwide that it considered ‘systemically important financial institutions’, that is, financial organisations whose size and role meant that any failure could cause serious systemic economic problems. Of the list, 17 are based in Europe, 8 in the U.S., and the other four in Asia.

§ Bank of America

§ Bank of China

§ Bank of New York Mellon

§ Banque Populaire CdE

§ Barclays

§ BNP Paribas

§ Citigroup

§ Commerzbank

§ Credit Suisse

§ Deutsche Bank

§ Dexia

§ Goldman Sachs

§ Group Crédit Agricole

§ HSBC

§ ING Bank

§ JPMorgan Chase

§ Lloyds Banking Group

§ Mitsubishi UFJ FG

§ Mizuho FG

§ Morgan Stanley

§ Nordea

§ Royal Bank of Scotland

§ Santander

§ Société Générale

§ State Street

§ Sumitomo Mitsui FG

§ UBS

§ Unicredit Group

§ Wells Fargo

(Policy Measures to Address Systemically Important Financial Institutions, Financial Stability Board, 4 /11/2011)

The term ‘too big to fail’ dates back to the 1980s. It is based around a belief that, as a result of their economic importance, some organisations should effectively be shielded from collapse through beneficial financial and economic policies from governments or central banks. Effectively these organisations need to be protected because their collapse, it is theorised, would set off a destructive economic domino effect.

 

 

 

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DISCUSSION POINT. Is there a moral hazard if a company that benefits from these protective policies seeks to profit by it? This protection might allow (and some argue that it does allow) them to take positions that are high-risk high-return, as they are able to leverage these risks based on the policy preference and protection they receive (eg taxpayer bail-outs by government).

Is this legislated protection of big business counterproductive in a market driven economy and should large banks or other organisations be left to fail if the management of their own risk has not been effective? If any organisation is too big to fail, are they just too big?

What is your reaction?

 

Ultimately though all this, economic forces are driven by the supply of resources whether human or material, built or natural, physical or cognitive, and by market demand.

Ideas, information and knowledge form an important part of today’s economy. Globally, places like Silicon Valley in California have been so fabulously successful as incubators of ideas that they are now considered to be economic indicators. A decrease in the number of start-up innovation companies in Silicon Valley is read by commentators as indicating an economic down turn – even if they are starting up in coffee shops and garages.

Have a look at the graphs in the Samson and Daft text (2015, pp. 53, 73; 2012,.pp.56, 57) and note the proliferation of management, perspectives and tools. Today we live in technology-driven workplaces that are learning organisations vigorously striving to keep in touch with change.

3.3 THE CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVE

Of course, people have been managing workplaces since we began to craft tools with iron in fires. Not long after that, we began selling our wares and produce in market places and commerce was born.

In the 19th century, the invention of the steam engine and the growth of large machine-driven factories lead to a rapid revolution in industry. Factories grew and so did the problems with running them. It was a time of great social and political upheaval with the rise in power of both ‘capital’ and ‘labour’ as diametrically opposed forces.

The classical perspective focuses on a scientific approach to management and, at its core, strove to make whole enterprises into huge, efficient machines. Hence the notion of the mechanistic organisation that still permeates today as a legitimate paradigm. In COM31, you will study the notion of machine theory in more detail. In this unit will discuss how these different theories translated into management styles and communication.

It worked bybeing based around three slightly different perspectives: a scientific (rather than humanistic) approach to management, the rise and rise of bureaucracy, and the application of administrative principles.

Perhaps it reached its apex in America at the turn of the 20th century with industrialists like Henry Ford embracing time and management processes. The Ford Factory produced the Model T Ford on long

 

 

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production lines where each worker might have just one simple, repetitive, mechanical task to do. The car being built would then move forward in the production line for another worker to do another menial task.

 

REALITY CHECK. Click on the link to see a silent film of work being done at the Ford factory in 1919.

 

From a wider societal and cultural perspective, it led to films like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis which envisaged a world where common man is slave to the machine. From a political perspective, it lead to the rise of organised labour in the form of union movements and associated political parties.

 

DISCUSSION POINT. Click on the YouTube link to view footage from Fritz Lang’s 1928 film, Metropolis.

As Fritz Lang was attempting to foretell our times, did he get it right? Even partially?

 

Capitalism emerged as a result of the massive amounts of finance needed to power the expansion of business. The process of creating huge corporate financing operations to cover the costs of building factories, importing new machinery and merging related industries helped to create the banking systems and stock markets we are familiar with today.

At the time of the Great Depression in 1929 Henry Ford is credited with saying that this was the first generation that rode to the poor house in an automobile. This particular quote resonates down through time to the Global Financial Crisis we have just weathered.

Perhaps the triple bottom line of economy, ethics and social responsibility, and environmental costs exists in response to the mechanistic rather than any benevolent attributes of the Classical perspective.

Owing to the extensive use of machinery and to the division of labour, the work of the proletarians has lost all individual character, and, consequently, all charm for the workman. He becomes an appendage of the machine, and it is only the most simple, most monotonous and most easily acquired knack, that is required of him. Hence, the cost of production of a workman is restricted, almost entirely, to the means of subsistence that he requires for maintenance, and for the propagation of his race. But the price of a commodity, and therefore also of labour, is equal to its cost of production. In proportion, therefore, as the repulsiveness of the work increases, the wage decreases. What is more, in proportion as the use of machinery and division of labour increases, in the same proportion the burden of toil also increases, whether by prolongation of the working hours, by the increase of the work exacted in a given time, or by increased speed of machinery.

(Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto, 1888)

 

 

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3.4 HUMANIST PERSPECTIVE

Basically, this perspective started with a study of people and is linked inexorably with the growth of the study of psychology at the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th. It seeks to understand and use our behaviours, needs, attitudes and attributes to drive productivity. In its earliest manifestations, it argued that truly effective control of individuals cannot be imposed by strict, authoritarian measures, but through directly responding to social pressures on workers and through benevolent treatment.

At first it ran a very poor second to the harder mechanistic, scientific management regimes and was pilloried as simplistic. Perhaps contented cows give more milk, but do contented workers give more work? In an age where ethical and socially responsible positions would have been anathema to productivity and profit, we can see why it found many enemies amongst the big industrialists and industrial nations. Hard, unrelenting work was for the common good. In its harshest manifestations the classical perspective perceived people as merely machines.

Quite slowly, research was undertaken and data produced that established more humanistic notions of job design. You can follow this research in Samson & Daft (2015, pp. 62-64; 2012, pp. 62-4) starting with the Hawthorne Studies in 1924, through to the Relay Assembly Test Room research conducted by Harvard professors, Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger over six years between 1927 and 1933. However, it did eventually embed the idea that humans were a resource to organisations and that jobs could be designed in a way that some tasks were no longer considered demeaning and dehumanising. This more scientific approach was more ‘digestible’ for the big end of town and this approach became known as the human resources perspective. Other leading researchers were Abraham Maslow (1908–70) and Douglas McGregor (1906–64).

Academic Douglas McGregor showed his frustration with both the classical perspective and the early humanist perspectives and developed the Theory X and Theory Y model. They remain useful models to apply to organisations today.

Theory X is based around the classical perspective and is based on these assumptions:

• Humans have a dislike of work and will avoid it if possible.

• People need to be coerced, controlled, directed and threatened into making an adequate effort in the workplace.

• People prefer to be directed and want to avoid taking responsibility, lack ambition and seek security.

Theory Y is based around humanist perspectives and is based on these assumptions:

• People do not dislike work and that applying physical and mental effort at work is natural.

• People will exercise self-control and direction if they have a commitment to what they are doing in the workplace.

• People will learn to accept and seek responsibility under suitable work conditions.

• The capacity to be imaginative, creative and to solve problems is widely available within the populace.

• Under the current systems the intellectual potential of the average human is not being fully used.

(McGregor 1961, pp. 71)

 

 

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McGregor believed that Theory X was a representation of the Classical perspective and Theory Y represented a more realistic approach for managers today. Some organisations still use a Theory X model, but since the 1960s most organisations have been experimenting with the elements of Theory Y and encouraging workers to use their intellect and creativity to drive innovation.

 
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