KTS Saving and Credit Society: managing communication Anne Christine Wanjiru Kabui Anne Christine Wanjiru Kabui is based at Department of Business and Entrepreneurship, South Eastern Kenya University,...

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KTS Saving and Credit Society: managing communication Anne Christine Wanjiru Kabui Anne Christine Wanjiru Kabui is based at Department of Business and Entrepreneurship, South Eastern Kenya University, Kitui, Kenya and Department of Business, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya. The growing trend in the Savings and Credit societies in Kenya has been tremendous and necessitating of new approaches to management and governance issues. Moving away from a small and personal business, to an elaborate modern business that requires professionalism has been a big challenge for us as an organization especially in the domain of communication among staff members, communication with the board, with the members and with other key stakeholders’, said Mr Cyrus, the acting CEO of KTS in May 2015. He went on to explain that the balance between time for work, meetings and individual consultations to ensure that none had been overdone at the expense of others and that none were overlooked. This balance was faced with the challenge that, when members do not feel listened to, or that their opinion does not count, the whole essence of communication and smooth management facilitation is lost: Substantial effort is being made toward these ends, especially following results of a recent study because, if all the members in KTS do not communicate, make themselves understood as well as understand relied messages, then managing the organization will be impossible so will be the achievement of its core mandate, he said. KTS visit On a beautiful and warm afternoon, Anne walked into the premises of KTS and was welcomed with a smile from the guard in charge. “Sir, I haven’t been here before, could you kindly assist me find my way to Mr Cyrus’ office? “Gladly, Japheth the guard walked Anne through the corridors explaining what each of the offices we walked along hosted. “Here we are”, Japheth resounded when we got to one of the offices and the far end of the corridor. “Feel at home and walk in once ready”, he said before he walked away. Cyrus was very busy with a stack of papers in one of his hands and a calculator in the other and, as Anne walked through the door, the secretary ushered her into his office. “Welcome, madam Anne, we have been expecting you”, Cyrus greeted. As they were about to progress, the phone rang and on the other end was another member of staff in need of his immediate attention. “The visitor we were expecting is already here. Allow me a few minutes with her and I will be right there”, Cyrus explained to the caller: Thank you for taking an interest in our organization and for wanting to review us for case study analysis for academic purposes. I am promising you our best cooperation and we also hope to learn from you about one or two thing we could do better, Cyrus said. We shall use boardroom two and you could have a chance to speak to management and members of staff plus a few of the owners/customers of our organization and this will hopefully give you an all-round picture of our organization. This will be important for us as an organization so we know where we are, what to work on and the challenges at hand. I wish to acknowledge the great assistance of Cyrus Mutinda during the interactions with the entire SACCO fraternity and his great assistance in facilitating my visits and interactions with the firm members. I would also want to acknowledge the immense assistance I have received from Dr Katuse while preparing this case study. Disclaimer: This case is written solely for educational purposes and is not intended to represent successful or unsuccessful managerial decision-making. The author/s may have disguised names; financial and other recognizable information to protect confidentiality. DOI 10.1108/EEMCS-03-2015-0044 VOL. 6 NO. 2 2016, pp. 1-13, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 1 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-03-2015-0044 Anne was impressed with the welcome, appreciated that, despite its busy schedule, the organization was open and willing to cooperate. The entire group of participants was not informed of the details of her visit in an effort to ensure that they carried on as natural and neutral as possible with no prior preparation of what to say or not to say: The findings will be availed to the management to facilitate improvement and to give an indication of what is already working. Value addition and continuous improvement is part and parcel of progressive growth in organizations, Anne was careful to explain to Cyrus. Background of KTS KTS is a saving and credit cooperative society (SACCO) operating in Kenya, where it is considered a large SACCO with an asset base of Kshs 2.4 billion and a large membership of above 13,000 members. It was registered in 1976 and started operations in 1978 with an initial membership of 11 who were all in one profession, but, over the years, there has been consideration to extend and accommodate members from other professions both in private and public sectors in an effort to raise their asset base and serve more people. The SACCO is located in the South Eastern region of Kenya, and all its five branches are in the same region. A SACCO is a microfinance institution where members come together to contribute for the common good of all, and it is unique because shareholders are the customers which gives them the democratic right to run the business. In most cases, the membership is drawn from members of the same profession. The SACCO is owned by members who make deposits and obtain loans from it, has a board of directors who are elected members to sit in the executive board, its operations are run by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), deputy CEO, Finance Manager, Marketing Manager, Front Office Service Activity Manager, Internal Audit Head, Head of Communication and Technology and Credit Section Head, each who has a deputy and a team of employees in each department. All these parties need to communicate in good time and effectively to enhance efficiency of the operations of the SACCO. Due to the socio-cultural factors that predominately govern behavior and interactions in Africa, the organization has specific dynamics in their internal communications that have blended culture and modern management. Internal communication in KTS Cyrus is the Deputy CEO and was sitting in for the CEO who was abroad on a business trip, and he was able to mobilize a random and representative sample of the entire team of the company comprising of managers, employees, board members and the SACCO members who are owners and customers of the business. For privacy, reduced intimidation and the ability to allow each member to talk freely, Anne met and spoke to each person alone in the boardroom, as the others continued to do their regular work. Anne promised confidentiality and anonymity of what was shared by the individual and explained that what was being undertaken was for academic purposes in teaching as an illustrative aid. Anne further explained that individuals were free to share what they felt comfortable with, and were able to decline if they were not comfortable with sharing information. The majority of those who partook were open and free, very engaging and asked Anne questions about the project; however, a few were quite hesitant and did not divulge much which was respected. Having come from a perspective where individuals got jobs because of who they knew and not due to their qualifications, there was a tricky tradeoff to balance, but substantial effort was being made by management toward this end, especially through staff meetings which deal with issues at lower levels before forwarding them to senior management. Previously, there has been a culture where individual employees sought the attention of the CEO on matters that could have sufficiently been addressed at departmental level, and sometimes, senior management or board members have given instructions to junior employees without allowing the communication to flow through the respective managers and departmental heads. PAGE 2 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 6 NO. 2 2016 The current team of management was trying to address this, and they acknowledged that, although it was not easy, it was doable. To ensure the smooth flow of operations in the daily running of the SACCO, departmental heads were encouraged to hold weekly staff meetings to ensure all members are at par and know what is expected of them on a real-time basis as well as a forum designed to address emerging issues was available to all members often enough during the staff meetings. These forums allow for the clarification of unclear issues and also the possibility of giving and receiving feedback from colleagues and supervisors. Individual consultations were also encouraged for private and personal issues. Communication within KTS was gauged differently by different employees, with some feeling it was fairly good and open, enabling the flow of information back and forth, as employees could walk into any office and seek direction which would be received immediately and, if any clarification was required, it was obtained immediately. The boss would also offer instructions verbally and expect results in any form, verbal or written. Others felt that too much verbal communication was used that had no reference points and documentation, and this leaves the discretion of owning information to the providers of the information. This was especially felt as a challenge where, in the case of the change of the officer in charge, points of reference would be scanty if not absent: When a new person joins the department and there is no documented communication, it is very challenging because you have to solicit verbal information which will sometimes not be the same from different parties that were involved, was a comment made by the communication officer. Some organizational members also felt that certain senior executives did not respect the organizational structure and chain of command and tended to make direct communication to junior staff members which caused confusion in the communication flow and created a sense of disrespect. KTS does not have one specific network of communication but instead uses a mixture of different networks depending with who is offering the message and for whom it is intended: When a member walks into my office with a complaint, and upon an enquiry from my junior official I am told they got direction from a board member on how to address the concerns, it leaves me at a loss. I do not know how to respond to the member without raising concerns while at the same time I cannot reprimand the junior because they only acted on instructions, it is a delicate balance. This is mainly because, outside of work, most of the people have other social relationships which makes it easier to talk to an individual on a personal level instead of following the formal channel recommended for all formal operation. Employees of KTS expressed a desire to have more free interactions with their management, both formal and informal, which they felt would enable and facilitate better
Answered 2 days AfterOct 07, 2021

Answer To: KTS Saving and Credit Society: managing communication Anne Christine Wanjiru Kabui Anne Christine...

Sanjukta answered on Oct 10 2021
126 Votes
MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction    3
Main Body    3
Conclusion    5
References    6
Introduction
It is needless to say that communication is the major tool for any organization. Whether the purpose revolves around updating t
he workers on new policies or handling the toughest situations effective communication is a vital issue concerning effective management. To be fruitful, associations ought to have far-reaching policies and techniques for speaking with their constituencies, workers, and partners just as well as with the community. Most HR experts and hierarchical leaders agree with the fact that connecting corporate communication to business procedures is vital for powerful and reliable business activities. Communication that is not at all effective might expand the opportunities for errors, harm connections, break trust, and increment outrage and antagonism. Furthermore, ineffective communication might originate from an ineffectively adjusted methodology, an inability to execute the technique, utilization of some unacceptable communication vehicle, awful planning, and even the choice of a word sometimes. This essay will be highlighting some of the major topics that are covered in the course by examining few credible sources for instance the importance of communication in a firm, the ways by which managers handle the toughest situations with the help of communication, and also some of the relevant management theories and concepts.
Main Body
In this article, it has been observed that the author showcased the prime role of communication in terms of redesigning internal procedures, implementing changes as well as establishing the strategy of the company in the work of the company’s manager. Right from the birth of communication as an inseparable part of social life as well as identifying communication is one of the most significant elements concerning the strategic advantage and competitiveness of the company. On the other hand, managerial communication is observed as the discipline in terms of the management that has appeared from the need for providing the managers with the ideal means of communication for fulfilling their roles and functions (Bucăţa and Rizescu, 2017). Arguably, efficient and effective managerial communication is one of...
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