business communication assignment
In this assignment students will be required to demonstrate an understanding of communications theory and the importance of effective communications within an organisational context. Essay question: Discuss how leadership communication may impact upon organisational culture in the context change management due to the Covid 19 Pandemic? 2000 words excluding reference Please draw upon subject literature and use examples to support your ideas. The question asks you to discuss the statement. This means that you need to consider multiple perspectives in the academic literature on the main topic (Leadership Communication) and, on the basis of the evidence, draw on conclusion as to whether you agree or disagree (this will be your main argument for your essay). The main issues in the essay are set out in topic 3 and topic 7. Please draw upon the Schein reading and Ruben & Gigliotti reading on Canvas, which is a good place to start, as it will give you a good idea of the key issues and the different approaches to them. These two readings should be included in your reference list. It will give you some key points to use in your wider literature research on the topics identified to address the specifics of the essay question. In order to demonstrate a full knowledge of the theoretical issues, you will need to read at least 6 -8 quality academic references. Academic references include both textbooks and academic journal articles but more engagement with journal articles will demonstrate a deeper engagement with subject theory. One Reference list in APA style at the end is required to support your citations in your content. Communication International Journal of Business Communication 1 –19 © The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/2329488416675447 job.sagepub.com Article Communication: Sine Qua Non of Organizational Leadership Theory and Practice Brent D. Ruben1 and Ralph A. Gigliotti1 Abstract Much has been written about the nature of leadership communication; however, the linkage often is limited to a view of communication as a strategic mechanism—or technique—to be employed by leaders in efforts to achieve specific purposes. This limited conceptualization of leadership communication does not fully capture the pervasive role of communication, and it fails to provide a nuanced view of the role communication plays in organizational dynamics, and in business settings, in particular. This article begins with an overview of various dichotomies raised in the leadership literature that have tended to impede rather than advance our understanding. We then discuss the evolution of thinking about communication and conclude with a discussion of several principles that can enhance contemporary organizational and business communication theory and practice. Keywords leadership, communication, communication theory, business communication, social influence Interest in the nature of leadership has grown substantially in recent years in profes- sional as well as academic literature. This interest spans disciplines and sectors, and the topic is of particular interest to those involved in the study and practice of organi- zational and business communication. Communication is a topic frequently linked to leadership; however, the linkage often is limited to a view of communication as a strategic mechanism—or technique—to be employed by leaders in efforts to achieve 1Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA Corresponding Author: Brent D. Ruben, Rutgers University, 4 Huntington St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. Email:
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[email protected] http://job.sagepub.com/ 2 International Journal of Business Communication specific purposes (Ruben & Gigliotti, 2016). This view of communication is perva- sive, in part because it is easy to understand and operationalize. However, as discussed in this article, this limited conceptualization of leadership communication does not fully capture the pervasive role of communication, and it fails to provide a nuanced view of the role communication plays in organizational dynamics, and in business set- tings, in particular. Recent scholarship has begun to reexamine the important relationship between leadership and communication (e.g., Fairhurst & Connaughton, 2014a, 2014b; Tourish, 2014), but there is a need to further explore and articulate these connections in a way that acknowledges the limitations of traditional models of communication. As there is a need for an integrative view of leadership (Eberly, Johnson, Hernandez, & Avolio, 2011), we believe that there is also a need to advance a more expansive view of com- munication, one that represents communication as a symbolic process that shapes the human experience. In much the same way as Thayer (2003) characterized communication as the “sine qua non” of the behavioral sciences, we also recognize communication to be a simi- larly essential and indispensable condition of leadership. A communication orientation allows us to better understand leadership as planned and unplanned, intentional, and unintentional, shaped by both the leader and the follower (Ruben & Gigliotti, 2016). The existing emphasis on the role of discourse in the writing on leadership communi- cation, while very useful in a number of respects, also has had the effect of diminishing attention to the impact of the material and nonverbal components of communication in leadership influence processes. As will be discussed in this article, the fragmented past of communication theory and practice has tremendous implications for the study and practice of leadership. This more nuanced understanding of communication theory is critical to influencing our understanding of leadership as a communicative process of social influence, an important pivot that enriches our understanding of the scope and role of leadership in a business context. In this conceptual article, we focus on the communication process and its current and potential contributions to leadership knowledge and practice. We begin with an overview of various dichotomies raised in the leadership literature that permeate the scholarly and professional literature on organizational and business leadership, and in our view, have tended to impede rather than advance our understanding. We go on to explore the evolution of thinking about communication and three distinct ways of understanding leadership communication based on these perspectives—a classical lin- ear model, an interactional model, and a systems model, with the latter being most consistent with a characterization of leadership as a process of social influence. We conclude with a discussion of several principles for leadership communication think- ing that can enhance contemporary organizational and business communication. By thinking more deeply about the nature of communication, the principles offered at the conclusion of this essay can inform the practice of leadership communication in orga- nizational life and business practice, in particular. by guest on November 10, 2016job.sagepub.comDownloaded from http://job.sagepub.com/ Ruben and Gigliotti 3 Leadership Literature Dichotomies Many leadership authors in both the scholarly and professional literature wrestle with a series of dichotomies, defined by Merriam-Webster (2016) as a “division into two especially mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities.” This approach to leadership thinking carries both assets and liabilities. The dichotomous way of think- ing about leadership has been popular within the leadership literature, particularly as applied to organizational and business contexts. In our review of the literature,1 we have identified a number of frequently noted dichotomies, including the following: •• Leadership or management: Is management—the knowledge—and skill-set associated with providing effective day-to-day supervision, guidance, coordi- nation, and oversight in an organizational setting—a critical aspect of leader- ship? Or, does leadership extend beyond management, focusing upon the importance of vision, charisma, creativity, and transformation—perhaps as something even antithetical to those activities typically associated with man- agement and the capabilities needed in managers? •• Leader or follower: What distinguishes the role of the leader from the role of the follower, and in what ways does the very existence of leadership require followers? •• Formal or informal: Does leadership refer only to situations in which someone with a formalized role, title, or position guides, oversees, or pursues goals? Or, is leadership a phenomenon that can occur without regard to formal roles or titles? Or, as others have characterized this dichotomy, is leadership assigned or emerged (Northouse, 2015)? •• Science or art: Can leadership be studied systematically in a manner that will lead to valid and reliable descriptions and explanations and the emergence of generalized concepts and theories? Can these ultimately be used for predicting and controlling leadership and leadership outcomes? Or, is leadership funda- mentally an art form—one that is idiosyncratic, a matter of personal expression, largely indescribable, largely unpredictable, and wholly uncontrollable? •• Academic field or common sense: Is leadership a complex topic and an appro- priate area for academic study? Or, is understanding leadership, and doing it well, essentially a matter of common sense? •• Natural or learned: Is leadership a natural capacity or an intuitive capability which some have and some do not—or is it learned over time? What role then do leadership development programs play in leadership knowledge and practice? •• Theory or practice: Should leadership learning be focused on identifying abstract characterizations, representations, or models of a particular phenome- non? Or, should the investigation of leadership center on the world of practice, where leadership is manifest, where concepts come to life, and where profes- sionals strive to translate their insights into practice? by guest on November 10, 2016job.sagepub.comDownloaded from http://job.sagepub.com/ 4 International Journal of Business Communication •• Context specific or context general: Does the uniqueness of every organization, community, setting, sector, or discipline mean that the nature of and require- ments for leadership in each setting must also be unique? Or, are commonalities across organizations, communities, settings, and sectors, such that general or universal concepts of leadership are cross-cutting and applicable across all social structures and circumstances. •• Content area knowledge or personal skill: Does leadership, first and foremost, require knowledge, subject-matter expertise, and experience about a specific domain or sector? Or, is leadership fundamentally about personal competencies and one’s relationship with others, including the ability to listen and learn quickly and work well in team and group settings? •• Transparent or opaque: Should leaders and leadership be open, transparent, candid, and marked by free-flowing communication behaviors? Or, are secrecy, partial disclosure, and indirection necessary characteristics of leadership? •• Authentic or calculating: Should leaders and leadership be about “being one- self” and “letting people see the real you” as an authentic individual? Or, is the concept of authenticity antithetical to leadership because it creates vulnerabili- ties and eliminates strategic possibilities for the leader? •• Planning or execution: Is leadership fundamentally about deliberation and the methodical development of plans? Or