An experimental study of organisational change and communication management

More than ever, organisations are recognising that they need to build and sustain healthy relationships with stakeholders in order to survive, grow and be successful. When an organisation is threatened by environmental changes – such as a crisis or competition as a result of information technology developments, increased customer demands, new legislations, even the threat of AIDS – the need for better communication increases. Successful organisations use the potential of communication management, not only to ease the transformation process, but also to improve their relationships with key stakeholders and the environment, and uphold their reputation. In this sense, communication practitioners are playing managerial, ethical and strategic roles during times of instability because change complexities involve having to deal with stakeholders’ trust and commitment. This thesis attempts to clarify the growing importance of communication management, particularly the role of relationship management. Proposed here is a different way of thinking about change communication strategies and building healthy relationships when organisations and their stakeholders have to make or adjust to change. Existing literature shows that most organisations tend to take a planned approach to change which is structured, consists of specific goals and objectives, and tightly controlled by management. Management sees its role within this paradigm as reducing conflict, creating order, controlling chaos and simplifying all the complexities created by the environment. Possible outcomes are predicted and alternatives for action are planned. Structures determine the information needed, and perceptions are managed by feeding the ‘right’ information or withholding information that might give rise to disorder and chaos. An alternative paradigm is the postmodern perspective, drawing specifically from chaos and complexity theories. These ‘emergent’ approaches to management consider organisations as living and holistic systems, more organic and ecological, seeking less control and more freedom. Organisations that operate like living systems are open, flexible, creative, caring and willing to adjust their strategies to adapt to the environment. While strategic planning is still considered important within the positivistic paradigms of management, it is nevertheless moving from the basic premise of control and prediction to scenario planning and processes of open communication, facilitation and networking. The emphasis is on relationship building via the full participation of the stakeholders involved. This two-way, symmetrical approach is also considered the more ethical. When an organisation is confronted by a problem, and if the constraints on communication are low, the organisation’s publics (employees/stakeholders) tend to feel connected to the problem and want to do something about it. Their need to actively seek information about the problem opens up many communication potentialities, including a willingness to change their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours. The result is a culture of shared responsibility, participation in decision-making, open and honest communication, which leads to a positive working climate and higher productivity. So an important assumption that can be made here is that an empowered public will strive for a positive relationship with the organisation. It can further be derived that a positive relationship between an organisation and its publics, particularly its internal stakeholders (employees), will lead to greater communication and a greater willingness to change. These assumptions were tested in this study. The research questions were: (1) What is the connection between the communication management strategy followed during change in organisations and the relationship and behavioural effects on internal stakeholders (employees)? (2) What are the effects of the communication management strategy followed during high change on relationships and behaviours with internal stakeholders (employees)? The methodology was an experimental approach which allows for the manipulation of independent variables and measurement of influences thereof on dependent variables. The independent variables were the communication and change strategies followed in organisations; the dependent variables were the relationship characteristics (trust, control mutuality, commitment, and satisfaction). The use of scenarios was most effective in this experimental context because different scenarios can project different outcomes. The researcher, therefore, had the opportunity to analyse the effects of the change strategies, as well as the changes that would take place. Data collection from 9 different organisations resulted in, more or less, 10–40 employees from different levels of management and non-management of each organisation. Each respondent evaluated 2 different scenarios, which resulted in 372 evaluations in total (186 for each scenario). The scenarios addressed changes in general and were about various issues. Basic descriptive statistics, as well as hypotheses testing using MANOVA (to test for meaningful differences between groups), were conducted. Other data analyses included testing for validity and reliability, analysis of variance and the Scheffe’s Test for significance of correlations. The findings showed significant proof of the internal validity of the experimental design used, indicating that: (a) the experimental manipulation (the two different change management strategies) had a definite effect on the relationship that internal stakeholders would have with organisations, and that except for the size of the organisation and the educational level of the employees, no other variables had an influence; (b) strong correlations exist between the strategy followed during change and the resulting projected relationships with internal stakeholders of the organisation; (c) high participation during high change led to significantly more positive overall relationships between an organisation and its internal stakeholders, as compared to low participation with a planned approach. In brief, the findings support a strong participative, two-way public relations strategy to be followed when organisations go through major change processes. The significance of these findings calls for a new paradigm in strategic communication and relationship management. Change cannot be solely based on plans and projections, but rather on understanding the complexities of situations and weighing different options available. Well-developed organisational change, therefore, is a strategically managed process that takes into consideration all the possibilities of change in the environment. Traditional studies and models of change management have either ignored the importance of strategic communication as a contribution to successful change, or saw communication as only a tool in the first stages of ransformation. However, to facilitate successful strategic change management is to recognise communication management as contributing significantly to guiding the complete transformation process in building important relationships internally and externally. Alternative emergent approaches to change recognise that change and, more specifically, transformation should be viewed as a continuous process linking to the complexities of the changing market, nature of work environments, new management approaches, organisational boundaries and relationships. Chaos and complexity theories, in particular, stress the importance of interconnectivity between subsystems of societies and organisations. Central to these theories is the observation that relationships built on open communication have the potential of producing something greater for an organisation. The complex and dynamic nature of the environment, structural alteration, and the need for employee flexibility are all recognised. Another important insight is the view that organisations can create visions and perform strategic planning around scenarios that guide actions. Another way of adapting to change is to influence back on change, that is, steer change through relationship building and participative decision-making. To become a true learning organisation requires the building of knowledge architecture with a strong supporting technical infrastructure. The main function of the communication manager, therefore, is to establish networks and structures for the collection and dissemination of information, and ultimately, the translation to knowledge. Communication leaders can connect teams and workgroups by driving communication and building trust. Involving staff in change management decision-making stimulates debate and criticisms, thus creates opportunities for innovation and revolutionary change. These are some of the main preconditions for sustainable change, and all can be achieved through sound communication management and the building of relationships with stakeholders.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2006.Communication ManagementPhDUnrestricte

Communication management research in South Africa : an exploratory study of the current state of affairs

Since the notion of strategic communication management had become popular in literature and as a result of the Excellence study (Dozier, Grunig & Grunig,1995), many practitioners and communication management departments have attempted to implement all or some of the elements of the Excellence theory in order to change the negative reputation of communication management research. Improving the theoretical and practical knowledge within the communication management department is one way of rectifying the aforementioned situation. The new knowledge base would include a far better understanding of the strategic management process as well as basic and advanced research practices. This exploratory study is aimed at describing the nature of communication management research and its function within the communication management department, as well as the value thereof within the greater organisation. Communication management research theory forms the basis of this project, while exploratory qualitative research was conducted within the South African corporate context in order to supplement these theoretical perspectives

Transcending diversity : the communication manager as ethical/moral ombudsperson in the postmodern organisational setting

Although the philosophy of ethical and socially responsible communication management practices has a long history and has been described in great detail, the notion of the communication manager as an ethical / moral ombudsperson is relatively new. With increasing numbers of communication managers now forming part of the dominant coalition / strategic decision-making team in many organisations, the real influence that these individuals have over the values that organisations accept should be critically assessed. The new role of the communication manager is conceptualised as constituting two spheres of responsibility. Internally the communication manager should be facilitating the establishment and acceptance of ethically / morally acceptable organisational values. These values will then figure in external organisational behaviour, while the communication manager will act as the eyes and ears of the society in which he / she operates

Communicating on the edge of chaos : a transformation and change management perspective

'What is chaos, that we should be mindful of it?' (Josepth Ford). Chaos will always be a mystery. Perhaps the ultimate, allencompassing mystery. To paraphrase Churchill's famous remark, it is a paradox hidden inside a puzzle shrouded by an enigma. It is visible proof of existence and uniqueness without predictability. In the Greco-Roman tradition philosophers used logic and introspection to impose mental order on the universe. Newton, Francis Bacon and the scientists of the Renaissance chose a different path when attempting to find truth and understanding nature. In the twentieth century Einstein, Bohr and others (with quantum physics and mechanics) changed the path again, making reality even more subtle and complicated. Then, in the past twenty years, along came chaos theory. This theory, and the ways that natural processes move between order and disorder, brings us closer to understanding the planetary orbits, the shape of clouds, that phenomena never repeat themselves exactly, and even the complexity of changing and learning organisations. It is the insights and extensions of chaos theory that could carry us technologically, philosophically, socially and individually into the Age of Aquarius and possibly through our own African Renaissance. Most managers are naturally susceptible to wishful thinking. They believe what they want to believe in spite of obvious evidence to the contrary. They try to forcefully manage and control to create balance and order in the workplace. The time has arrived for South African business leaders, managers and corporate communicators to buy into the notion that a butterfly stirring the air in Johannesburg can create a twister in New York! This article describes chaos theory and examines how it can be utilised to provide insights into managing and communicating during times of change in chaotic organisations

A structure-guided mutation in the major capsid protein retargets BK polyomavirus.

Viruses within a family often vary in their cellular tropism and pathogenicity. In many cases, these variations are due to viruses switching their specificity from one cell surface receptor to another. The structural requirements that underlie such receptor switching are not well understood especially for carbohydrate-binding viruses, as methods capable of structure-specificity studies are only relatively recently being developed for carbohydrates. We have characterized the receptor specificity, structure and infectivity of the human polyomavirus BKPyV, the causative agent of polyomavirus-associated nephropathy, and uncover a molecular switch for binding different carbohydrate receptors. We show that the b-series gangliosides GD3, GD2, GD1b and GT1b all can serve as receptors for BKPyV. The crystal structure of the BKPyV capsid protein VP1 in complex with GD3 reveals contacts with two sialic acid moieties in the receptor, providing a basis for the observed specificity. Comparison with the structure of simian virus 40 (SV40) VP1 bound to ganglioside GM1 identifies the amino acid at position 68 as a determinant of specificity. Mutation of this residue from lysine in BKPyV to serine in SV40 switches the receptor specificity of BKPyV from GD3 to GM1 both in vitro and in cell culture. Our findings highlight the plasticity of viral receptor binding sites and form a template to retarget viruses to different receptors and cell types

The K68S mutation targets BKPyV to the SV40 receptor GM1.

<p>STD difference spectra of (A) BKPyV K68S with GD3, (B and C, respectively) BKPyV K68S and SV40 with GM1. (D) SV40-GM1 off-resonance spectrum. A 50-fold excess of oligosaccharide was used for each spectrum. The off-resonance spectrum was scaled to 3%. Resonances labeled in the difference spectra with GM1 (B and C) receive considerable saturation transfer from BKPyV K68S and SV40. Regions with strong signal overlap are not labeled because they cannot be unambiguously assigned. Binding of BKPyV K68S to GD3, previously seen for WT BKPyV (<a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003688#ppat-1003688-g001" target="_blank">Fig. 1C</a>), is abolished by the mutation (A). Carbohydrate microarray analyses of recombinant VP1 of (E) BKPyV, (F) BKPyV K68S and (G) SV40 using 21 ganglioside-related saccharide probes, which included the b-series gangliosides as well as GM1 variants NeuNAc-GM1 and NeuNGc-GM1. The doses of probes arrayed per spot are indicated. Numerical scores of the binding signals are means of duplicate spots (with error bars). The complete list of probes and their sequences are in Supplemental <a href="http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003688#ppat.1003688.s003" target="_blank">Table S1</a>.</p

Carbohydrate binding sites of BKPyV, JCPyV and SV40.

<p>Recognition of carbohydrate receptors by BKPyV (A), SV40 (B), and JCPyV (C). Only residues making direct hydrogen bonds or van der Waals interactions are shown. Residues that make conserved interactions are colored in yellow, side chains whose positions are not conserved are shown in green (BKPyV), blue (SV40) and pink (JCPyV). (D) Comparison of carbohydrate ligands of BKPyV, SV40 and JCPyV. The oligosaccharides are colored green, blue and pink for the BKPyV, SV40 and JCPyV ligands, respectively. The structures were aligned using the protein main chain.</p