`
Classical Approaches
Human Relations & Human Resources
Communication and Organisations Theoretical Concepts For Managers
Systems Approaches Critical Approaches Nicholas McLean
Constitutive Approaches
Socialisation Process
This book has been created by Nicholas McLean (Bchlr. Marketing & Communications - University of South Australia) to serve as theoretical guide for organisational managers. The book begins with an overview of classical understandings of organisational communication and finishes with contemporary communication issues, detailing many communication processes along the way. The author would like to thank Katherine Miller, whose text Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes (Cengage, 2014) has been cited throughout the book.
Contents Classical Approaches Human Relations & Human Resources Systems Approaches Constitutive Approaches Critical Approaches Socialisation Processes Decision Making Processes Conflict Management Organisational Change Emotional Processes Organisational Diversity Technological Processes
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Classical Approaches The rise of the industrial revolution in the nineteenth centaury saw small cottage size work groups become industrialised factory-line organisations. With this revolution came a number of theories to assist those in management positions to organise workers. Miller (2014) outlines three key theories that arose over the period, Henry Fayol’s Theory of Classical Management, Max Weber’s Theory of Bureaucracy and Fredrick Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management, all of which sharing a common comparison between
Table1: Classical Management Theories Prescriptive Theory
Fayol’s Theory of Classical Management
Strict Hierarchical Ordering Centralised Power All behaviour is for the good of the organisation Closed Systems – Isolated from Outside World Strict Hierarchical Ordering
Weber’s Theory of Bureaucracy
Centralised Power Rules and Policies are Important Individuality Discouraged The best way to do a job should be found scientifically Workers trained based on these studies
Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management Strict Hierarchical Ordering
Strict Distinction between Management and Workers 2
organisations and machines. All theories from Table 1 can be metaphorically linked to machines such as car engines as they understand workers in organisations as standard and replaceable parts who each have a specific role. While these theories seemed like effect models for management at the time it was such characteristics as centralised power, lack of individuality and separation between managers and workers that lead to concerns of underproductive workers. Whilst trying to overcome a productivity issue, Henry Landsberger tested the productivity of workers at Hawthorne Works in relation to increased
lighting in their factory department (Pepper, 1995). While the workers responded positively in the departments where lighting was increased, it was later found that it was receiving additional attention from management that initiated the higher work rate rather than lighting changes. What would later be known as the Hawthorne studies opened up schools of thought that understood workers as needs driven individuals and began Human Relations models of management.
3
Human Relations and Human Resources The first quarter of the twentieth centaury saw the emergence of Human Relations theorists who recognised the benefits of non-financial rewards, social interactions and employee contribution. These Human Relations theories were established through understanding of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (figure 1), which suggests that as higher levels of needs are met, the workers motivation increases (Benson & Dundis, 2003). These needs can be translated into a business context, wherein
Figure 1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
physiological needs are wages and fair pay, safety needs are union contracts, training and adequate benefits, social needs are pleasant relationships with co-workers, esteem needs are performance appraisals, rewards and recognition and self-actualisation needs are training for new skills, taking risks and growing confidence. However not all managers agreed that the satisfaction of needs correlated 4
Table 2: McGregor’s Theory X and Y Managers Theory X Managers
Theory Y Managers Believes in Maslow’s Theory
Assume negative traits from Classical Theories Believe management is strictly in control of finance and controlling people to meet organisational needs
Understands that workers value the work they do Workers posses innovation, responsibilities and motivation, management must simply encourage it
Believe that without motivation from above, workers are passive and even resistant to Organisational conditions should be armeeting organisational needs ranged to allow workers to achieve personal goals through meeting organisational needs
with increased productivity and so based on these understandings managers can be grouped according to McGregor’s (2000) Theory X and Y Managers (Table 2). Miller explains that while adopting Human Relations models certainly improved worker satisfaction, these models have been criticised for a lack of evidence that job satisfaction correlates with increased productivity. It was from here that theorists began to develop Human Resource models of management. Resource models see managers continue to understand the need for worker satisfaction, but in addition there is emphasis on the intellectual contributions that workers can make to an organisation. It recognises that all workers in the organisation have innovative ideas that should be listened to and harnessed to improve the organisations productivity. Furthermore it sees a shift from strictly top-down communication in Classical Approaches and encourages a flow of communication from all locations in the organisation.
5
Systems Approaches In the late twentieth centaury understandings of organisations shifted further from being thought of as predictable, self-sufficient machines when theorists began to explain that organisations are complex organisms that must interact with their environment to survive. Central to this new understanding was Systems Theory, which explains that organisations consist of several interdependent parts that have permeable boundaries and exist in a hierarchical ordering. The systems metaphor compares organisations with the human body that is made of such parts as a brain, heart and lungs. The brain controls many functions of the body and as at the top of the hierarchy, however it is dependent on the heart to give it blood, while the heart needs the lungs for oxygen. All parts exist in what can be seen as a network.
6
Organisations similarly have networks, however these networks exchange
communication rather than blood and oxygen. Organisational communication networks are characterised by content, modes and density. Content is information, feelings and influence. Modes are the means of exchange such as face-to-face communication or emails. Density refers to whether the organisation has many interconnections or loosely connected members. These communication networks do not come into existence meaninglessly. They are generated for reasons such as their proximity as in workers in a small office finding that they have shared interests; the organisations departments may be dependent on each other or two parties may find that they have potential for a collective action such as companies who share office space. As previously explained, organisations exist in environments and must interact with them to survive. However the environments are not strictly physical in nature but can be made of information. Karl Weick’s (2005) Theory of Organising explains that organisations exist in information environments that are created collectively by the individuals within it. The information environment is inherently unpredictable and it is the goal of Organising to understand the environment. Understanding is obtained through the process of sense making where cues such as organisational circumstances are extracted from the environment and turned into words and conversations that act as the media that shapes organisational conduct. It is through explicit attempts at sense making that organisational culture can be constructed.
7
Constitutive Approaches So far this book has looked at communication through machine metaphors, parent-child models and systems theory, which highlight the underlying regulator processes of organisations, human’s levels of needs for motivation and the complexity of communication between interdependent groups. However, Miller (2014) makes the distinctive note that communication does not necessarily exist within a specific physical area, the Organisation, but within an ongoing process, Organising. The Communicative Constitution of Organisations (CCO) rejects the idea that communication sits within a container, and instead sees it as a process wherein actions create, re-create and change the organisation. The notion of socially generating the organisation can be explained through Structuration theory, defined by Anthony Giddens (1984), where people are an agency who choose how to act in situations creating a social world through their actions. While people have a choice to act freely, there are rules and resources, known as structures, that guide how we interact. For example, when dining in a restaurant there are explicit rules such as having to pay or adhering to a dress code and there are implicit rules such as waiting for the waiter or waitress to come to your table before ordering. These rules are structures that guide the way the agency chooses to act within the organisation. However, a patron at the restaurant may choose to act outside of the rules by calling a waiter over to their table so they can order. This change in structure could remain only in the present time or could potential change the way patrons order in the future. 8
The Cultural Result Ezdgar H Schein (1990) explains “culture is what a group learns over a period of time as that group solves its problems of survival in an external environment and its problems of internal integration”. It can therefore be seen that communication attempts to gain understanding, thus fulfilling the main goal of organising. Communication can be played out in the form of sense making, which is a reaction to cues that come from an agency’s participation in Structuration, turning the cues into words and conversation that ask ‘why?’ an attempt to gain understanding. It is the answer to this question ‘why?’ that shapes the organisations culture. For example, if a manager acts disrespectfully to workers, they will converse about this action and come to an understanding that they are not appreciated and so a negative culture will take shape. 9
Critical Approaches Critical approaches to organisational communication argue that through social structures and processes, organisations have inherent imbalances in power that lead to alienation and oppression of certain social classes or groups. However, critical theorists also argue that if the oppressed group are made aware of imbalances, then they are able to overcome the negative situation through the process of emancipation. However before detailing Miller’s (2014) explanation of emancipation, it is wise to understand the construction of power in organisations. The two key ways in which power is constructed in organisations is through controlling the means of production and controlling the discourse. Firstly, means of production are controlled by technologies and processes that disassociate workers from the products they produce and make the worker easily replaceable. Secondly, power is constructed socially through the process of Organising. The organisational reality is created through conversations that generate meaning supporting the domination by a certain organisational coalition. Emancipation is the ultimate goal of the critical model. Emancipation is the liberation of people from restrictive power relations that inhibit autonomy and clarification of genuine needs and wants, which in turn leads to greater satisfaction. For Emancipation to occur, people must be able to participate in free and open conversations about power and control in their organisations. It is through Emancipation that avenues of resistance are revealed. Resistance is often played out in strikes, boycotts and most recently in online formats such as anti-company websites and social media pages. 10
Early in 2014, public bus drivers in Adelaide threatened their bosses with strike and refused to take ticket fares from passengers, after inadequate pay rises and a lack of driver safety (Robertson, 2014). The inadequate benefits provided by the bosses are a display power and control as it leaves the drivers feeling underappreciated and dissociated from their work. Once aware of this, the drivers began Emancipation, which lead to actions of resistance in the form of strike threats and fare waiving.
11
Socialisation Process Given that people rarely stay with one organisation for their entire career nowadays, people’s adaptation to new workplaces, the socialisation process, has become an interesting area of study. Miller (2014) explains that this process consists of three phases that sees people move from an outsider to an accepted member of an organisation. While Table 3 shows how the Socialisation process can be simply divided into three phases, the process however is often complicated, stressful and recurring. People are often misled by the information gathered in the
Table 3: 3 Phases of Socialisation Learning about what work is Anticipation
Learning what work you want to do Learning about a specific organisation Begins once you enter the organisation
Encounter
Organisation provides worker with role-related and cultural information The worker seeks out additional information The worker becomes an insider of the organisation
Metamorphosis
The worker is an accepted and participating member Attitudes and behaviour is learnt and modified to fit the organisation
anticipatory phase. Not many people actually become what they decide they want to be when they grow up and so expectations are commonly false. Later on when people research the organisation they are applying for, the information 12
on the organisations website and social media accounts frequently doesn’t accurately represent the organisations realities. The encounter phase can too be problematic and stressful as early encounters such as interviews can provide ambiguous job descriptions. Many organisations provide inadequate orientation and induction programs which can lead to unsatisfied workers and high employee turnover. The metamorphosis phase is often not a smooth process either. It can take months, even years before workers feel like accepted members of an organisation. Once reached, metamorphosis is not static either, as new workers and managers enter and organisational changes are made workers find themselves repeating the process. Table 4 outlines the communication processes that occur during Socialisation.
Table 4: Communication Processes in Socialisation Type of Comm.
Interviewing and Recruiting
Processes Interviewing as a Recruitment/Screening Tool
Overt Questions Indirect Questions Testing Limits Observations
Role-taking Role Development
The interviewer asks questions to determine whether the person is appropriate for the roll
The interviewee gathers information on the roll to Interviewing as an see if it will suite them Information Gathering Tool Interviewing as a Tool for Socialization
Newcomer Information Seeking Tactics
Examples
Role-making Role-routinization
The interviewer provides a realistic job preview to ease the socialisation process Newcomer asks direct questions to gather information Newcomer hints to gather information Newcomer breaks rules to see what is accepted Newcomer observes co-workers to find norms Newcomer tries various roles while leader observes skills Newcomer negotiates the nature of the role Both parties agree on the role 13
Decision Making Processes Miller (2014) explains that the decision making process is one that is highly important for leaders to understand as ineffective decisions can lead to the detriment of the organisation. There are various models of decisionmaking that can assist our understanding of how and why decisions are made. In classical approaches, decisions were thought to follow a rational model. The leader would identify a problem, search for relevant information, develop an appropriate decision and then evaluate its effectiveness. In theory this would be a perfect model for leaders to follow, however in reality it does not accurate represent how decisions are made. More contemporary attempts to analyse decision-making have been done through the optimizing model where the leader aims to find the absolute best solution. However there are often time and motivational constraints that impede on the possibility of this actually happening. It has therefore been found that
14
the most accurate model of decision-making is the satisficing model where leaders seek an appropriate solution that will meet organisational goals. Rather than researching every single option, the leader analyses just a few options and selects the most appropriate. In some situations, when time is strictly of the essence, leaders will be forced to adopt an intuitive model of decision-making, as there is no time to debate any information. Central to decision-making is communication and organisational knowledge. Decisions should not be thought of as isolated incidents but as a part of the ongoing generation of the organisation (see Constitutive Approaches). Decision-making stems from the Organising process where leaders utilize knowledge in the form of physical documents, rules and regulations, cultural knowledge and improvised knowledge to make a decision to generate meaning in the organisational narrative.
15
Conflict Management Conflicts are a part or organisational life and can be summarised by the three I’s of conflict, incompatible goals, interdependence and interaction. Incompatible goals stem from two or more parties having contradicting ideas about such things as how resources should be used, how procedures should be done or having different personal values and can be a precursor for conflict. These incompatibilities however do not cause conflict until the parties develop interdependence on each other, for example being asked to work on a project together. Finally once the parties engage in interaction with each other, the conflict is expressed.
Kenneth W. Thomas (1976, in Miller, 2014) developed a grid (Figure 2) that has become a frame work for conflict management. The grid determines the likely conflict management style based on the individuals levels of concern for self and concern for others.
Figure 2: Conflict Management Styles
16
The grid shows that compromising and certainly collaboration styles of conflict management are optimal as they allow individuals to achieve or minimise damages to their own goals, whilst doing likewise for the goals held by peers. People are likely to adapt the way the deal with a conflict, depending on their relationship with the other conflicting party. If a person has a conflict with subordinate they are likely to use a confronting style, whereas if it is with a peer they are likely to use an accommodating or avoidance style and if they have conflict with a manager they are likely to adopt a accommodating or collaborating style. Conflict management is a complex process, however Table 5 (Myatt, 2012) provides 4 key techniques for dealing with conflict.
Table 5: Key Ways to Deal With Conflict Clear Rules and Behaviour Expectations Define Acceptable Behaviour
Encourage collaboration Articulated chain of command Seek out potential conflicts
Prevent Conflict When Possible
Intervene as soon as possible Identify why tensions have occurred Understand motivations
Understand Goals of Conflicting Parties
Help them both achieve objectives Results in fewer obstacles Some conflicts are not worth intervention Others may be detrimental to the organisation
Understand Importance of Conflict
Understand which conflicts to get involved in Conflict has potential for learning and growth
Organisational Change As Shona Brown and Kathleen Eisenhardt (1998) explain in their Competing on the Edge theory, business organisations exist in markets that behave like stochastic systems, they are altered randomly and continuously and so rhythmic organisational change is essential to stay relevant and survive. Change however can be life altering for organisations and the people who inhibit them and so effective communication is necessary. Miller (2014) suggests that despite the beliefs held amongst many senior managers, employees are not resistant to change. They are however resistant to new ideas that do not make sense or fit their expectations. This is why communication is such an important part of the change process. There are a number of ways to communicate change, but the most ideal technique is known as Underscore and Explore. In this technique, leaders focus their attention on a few key issues relating to the change and explain them to employees to give
18
meaning to the need for change within the organisations narrative. It is extremely important that employees understand meanings for change, as often these changes can be life altering. Some decisions that may seem small and easy to a manager could have significant impact on certain employees. For example, if a grocery store manager decided that have new stock arriving in the morning as opposed to the evenings, the shopfloor workers would have to rearrange or sacrifice external commitments they have in the mornings.
19
Emotional Processes As Miller (2014) explains in Chapter 11, most organisational theory assumes that workplaces are governed by strict logic and rationality. Such logic and rationality is highly sought after by many managers, who believe it is synonymous with success. However, as we all know, many of our interactions are guided by emotions. While many managers do not like to show emotions, for fear displaying vulnerability; it is possible to become emotionally intelligent, through understanding of personal feelings and the ability to use them in your favour. As Stephanie Mitrano explained in her TED Talk (2014), Emotions Augmented Managers use the emotions to become more powerful, influential, efficient and empathic. These managers use their emotions to fulfil many concepts
20
outlined in this book, including change, conflict management and socialisation. Managers can channel their anger to motivate organisational change. They can show empathy towards those involved in conflicts, thus disarming them and restoring relationships. And they can explain organisational processes in relation to their feelings towards them, creating a human relationship with a new employee. While emotions indeed can be beneficial in the workplace, they do come with downsides. One of the key downsides is their influence on stress and burnout. Table 6 outlines how managers can overcome the important task of reducing workplace stress.
Table 6: Sustainable Stress Solutions (Ruglass, 2014) Provide reasonable work demands Reduce overload, job insecurity and limited resources
Promote worker participation in organisational decisions that relate to them Enhance social support in the workplace Organise regular programs with professional advisors
Offer Stress Management Programs
Teach the importance of time management, conflict resolution & work-life balance Allow time for workers to exercise
Promote Healthy Lifestyles
Promote yoga, provide equipment such as balls Promote healthy diet, initiate ‘Fresh Fruit Friday’ program Clearly explain the nature of the job in the interview process
Do Not Give Ambiguous Job Descriptions
Allows workers to manage expectations
Talk About Stress
Identifying what is stressful is the first step towards resolution
21
Organisational Diversity Chapter 12 of Miller (2014) explains how the 21st Century has seen an enormous increase in organisational diversity, with minority demographics accounting for much larger portions of the working world. The key demographical factors that are changing organisations are gender, ethnicity and cultural heritage, age, sexual orientation ad disability. The significant change in organisational diversity over the past few decades has been the increasing female presence in the workplace. Labour force participation for women in Australia is currently 57% compared with 34% in 1961 (ABS, 2014). Despite the growth of female workers, women still struggle to reach high levels within organisations such as CEO and leadership positions. Many argue that organisations have an invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from climbing the hierarchy. This barrier is created by senior
22
managers holding perceptions that promoting a women is a much greater risk, because they have to compromise their career for childcare and that they are less ambitious than men (Snowdon, 2011). Organisational diversity is now seen as a key factor driving corporate growth (Llopis, 2011). However, many managers are criticised for simply making up the numbers rather than understanding the differences and individualities down the line of the organisation. Table 7 shows how managers can cultivate an authentically diverse workplace.
Table 7: Managing Diversity: Advice from IBM, Sodexo & KPMG LLP (Llopis, 2011) Cannot just employ a few demographics Must authentically understand and relate to them Make it Real
People see through false attempts at diversity Clients are diverse, employees should be too Accessibility to multicultural markets Unique ideas and thinking
Understand the Benefits
New Problems = New Learning Chance to refresh business models Diversity is like IT; 20 years ago was considered a cost centre, now considered a profit centre
Diversity is the Future
Diversity creates opportunities for all workers Diverse employment should centre around talent
23
Technological Processes It is no secret that technology is now a huge part of organisational life, with the last decade witnessing major shifts in the way we communicate. Particular advances in Email and Internet communication have drastically changed communication processes both internally and externally. Miller (2014) provides three key changes that these technologies have brought; firstly, faster message transmission, introduction of geographically dispersed participants and asynchronous communication (communication occurring at different times). While technological processes are certainly creating great advancements in the way contemporary organisations operate, it important to understand and control certain negative changes technology has introduced. Technology has made it increasingly difficult for many workers to enjoy a break from work, feeling it is necessary to continue to respond to emails and work towards deadlines at home
24
until late at night (Stone, 2014). The new phenomenon of the 9pm to 11pm shift has resulted in higher levels of anxiety and depression, as workers can simply never switch off. Technology has opened our front doors to work and allowed it to overtake important personal hours. It is important that managers encourage a work-life balance and give employees a chance to disconnect from work. Placing bans on emailing and texting between colleagues between 6pm and 9am provides workers a chance to remove themselves from the work environment and enjoy relaxation (de Castella, 2014). Discouraging time wasting technologies such as social media within work hours also removes the need to work at home.
Since the adoption of social media sites, it is has been a goal of many organisations to go viral, receiving widespread publicity for minimal cost. However it must be understood that going viral can destroy an organisation. Recently workers of a courier company were caught careless handling parcels at an international airport. The incident was filmed on a bystander’s smart phone, shared online and reposted 30,000 times in an hour (Cook, 2014). This shows how organisations are never hidden from technology, nor are they immune to it. 25
Literature ABS (2014), Labour force, Australia, Jun 2014, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6202.0/ Benson, SG Phd and Dundis, SP Phd 2003, ‘Understanding and motivating health care employees: integrating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, training and technology’, Journal of Nursing Management, vol. 11. Brown, S and Eisenhardt, K 1998, ‘Strategic Challenge of Change’, Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, pp. 3 – 24. Cook, C 2014, ‘Investigation Underway as Shocking Video Emerges of Freight Handlers Tossing Parcels’, The Advertiser, 4th November 2014. de Castella,T 2014, ‘Could work emails be banned after 6pm?’, BBC News Magazine, 10th April 2014. Llopis, G 2011, ‘Diversity Management is the Key to Growth: Make It Authentic’, Forbes, 13th June 2011. McGregor, D 2000, ‘The Human Side of Enterprise’, Reflections, 2, 1, pp. 6-15, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 17 October 2014. Miller, K 2014, Organizational communication: approaches and processes , 7th, Cengage, USA. Mitrano, S 2014, ‘Emotions At Work’,TEDx Talks, September 12th 2014, accessed 24th October 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtDf6YIS_gM Myatt, M 2012, ‘5 Keys of Dealing With Organisational Conflict’, Forbes, viewed 3rd October 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/02/22/5-keys-to-dealing-with-workplace-conflict/ Pepper, GL 1995, Communicating in organisations. A cultural approach, McGraw-Hill, New York (seminal). Robertson, D 2014, ‘Fed-up Adelaide Metro bus drivers threaten strike on Australia Day long weekend’,The Advertiser, 9th January 2014. Ruglass, LM 2014, ‘Workplace Stress: Sustainable Solutions for Stress Management’, Huffington Post, 30th October 2014. Schein, EH 1990, ‘Organizational Culture’, American Psychologist, vol. 45, no. 2, accessed 17th October 2014. Snowdon, G 2011, ‘Women Still Face a Glass Ceiling’,The Guardian, 21st February 2011. Stone, B 2014, ‘Work-Life Balance and the New Night Shift’, Business Week, 7th August 2014. Weick, KE, Sutcliffe, KM and Obstfeld, D 2005, ‘Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking’, Organization Science, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 409 – 421.
Images Business 2 Community 2014, ‘Explaining Effective Applicant Communication To Decision Makers’, Business 2 Community, accessed 10th November 2014, http://www.business2community.com/human-resources/explaining-effective-applicant-communication-decision-makers-01040030 Chamonix Vue 2014, ‘Decision Making and Change’, Chamonix Vue, 10th November 2014, http:// chamonixvue.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/decision-making/ Cross Pollinate 2014, ‘Sciopero Generale – General Strike’, Cross Pollinate, accessed 10th November 2014, http://www.cross-pollinate.com/blog/349/sciopero-generale-general-strike/ James Irvine Foundation 2014, ‘Sense Making’, James Irvine Foundation, accessed 10th November 2014, http://irvinenewleadershipnetwork.org/sense-making/ Scannell & Kurz 2014, ‘Planning Decision Making and Good Communication’, Scannell & Kurz, accessed 10th November 2014, http://scannellkurz.com/blog/good_communication_monday_musings Tanveer Naseer 2014, ‘Empathy in Leadership’,Tanveer Naseer, accessed 10th November 2014, http://www.tanveernaseer.com/why-empathy-matters-in-leadership/
Conflict Management
Organisational Change
Emotional Processes Organisational Diversity
Decision Making Processes
Technological Processes
Nicholas McLean, 2014