• How does communication differ if the other party is internal (partner, owner, supervisor, worker) rather than external (customer, lender, supplier, competitor)? Can a person (such as a lender) be "internal" for some topics but "external" for other topics?
• Types of business communication:  phone conversations, e-mails, letters, formal proposals, presentations (visuals), informal meetings, formal meetings (parliamentary procedure), promotional brochures, web sites, negotiations, reports.

What practices will you use to assure effective communication?

 

A web site that may be interesting: "Effective communication is critical in boosting employee confidence" at http://www.internalcommshub.com/open/news/thresholdresearch.shtml.

2. Leadership Daft Chapter 15 (pp. 552-554, 568-577)

• Leadership v. management
  • What is leadership? How does leadership differ from management?
• Leadership traits -- ???
• Visionary leadership; transformational leadership (state a vision, shape values, trust colleagues, build relationships, involve others)

• Does leadership come from "position power" or "personal power" (expertise, respect)?
• Level 5 leadership (p. 575)
• Interactive leadership, E-leadership, moral leadership

Additional Thoughts about Leadership

• Leadership is not limited to guiding employees.  This section poses the challenge of leading among peers; the topic of leading employees is addressed in another section.

• You become a leader when you are willing to work towards a goal that benefits others.  Those who will benefit from the leader's efforts will likely allow that person to be the leader once the beneficiaries understand and accept that the leader is doing something that will benefit them.
  • A person will not be allowed to lead if their actions are only for their own benefit. 
  • A challenge for the potential leader is to pursue a goal that benefits the group as well as him- or herself. 
    • The benefit for the leader or the group does not need to be monetary; it could be self-satisfaction.
  • Another challenge is that each person may define "benefit" differently; some may view the goal as acceptable only if the benefit provides them a monetary reward, while others may strive for a benefit in some other form (such as a better community as a result of the project).  The variety of definitions not only challenges the potential leaders, but also the existence of the group.
    • One aspect of being a leader is the challenge of the group goal setting process; that is, the process by which a group sets its goals.
    • A question a leader needs to be ready to answer for others in the group is "why should we let you lead us; what or how will the group benefit from your leadership."
    • Note the critical role of communication within leadership.
    • Note that also embedded in this thought process is the critical role of leadership within the modern definition of management.

       

• A leader is persistent in achieving the goal that will benefits others (as well as him- or herself). A leader is patient in their persistence; although the leader wants to achieve the goal as quickly as possible, the leader will not abandon the effort just because the goal is not achieved immediately.  Instead, the leader will explore alternatives -- if one strategy did not lead to fulfilling the goal, a leader will look for another strategy.
  • A person will not be allowed to lead if their strategy is not well-reasoned.

     

• A leader develops their successor; no one will last forever but a person who is committed to the goal that benefits a group (as well as him- or herself), will take steps to assure the group continues to strive for the goal even after the leadership has transferred to other people.
  • A leader is not willing to have the effort end with their departure.

     

• Empowerment (empowering others)
  • A leader provides others an opportunity to use their abilities and skills; help them understand how they are contributing to an overall goal; help them understand the overall goal.

     

• A person does not need to be in a position of authority or power to be a leader.

   

• "Everyone needs to be a leader sometime"
  • If you are not willing and able to lead at some point for some activity, you are not using your human trait of intelligence; you then are no different than an animal, plant, mineral or machine.
  • The world needs thinkers and to be thinking means you should have a thought or understanding that no one else has and when that understanding is needed to make a decision, you are then "leading" the thought process.
  • Example -- a machine operator knows that machine, how to operate it, how to maintain it, its limitations and its capabilities. When the question arises whether to replace the machine, the operator needs to take a leadership role in that conversation to decide whether the current machine will continue to meet the business' needs in the future. Even though the operator may lead this one conversation for only a few moments, that is that person's "time to lead."
  • Others in the organization must recognize and allow others to lead at the appropriate times; for example, the business manager allows the operator to explain what the machine can do and indicate whether the machine will continue to meet the business' needs.
  • Leadership means knowing when to lead and when to allow others to lead.

 

• Lead by example.

What practices will you use to assure effective leadership?

 

A web site that points to some interesting ideas:  "Strategic Communications" at http://www.fuelnet.com/tag/strategic-communications/.

3. Ability and Willingness to Accommodate Change and Development Daft Chapter 11 (p. 393-413)

Forces for change

• External (environment) -- consumers, competition, technology, suppliers
  • This may be a good time to think about advances in production, communication and transportation technologies. This is also an opportunity to think about the implications of technological advances. Can those implications be explained with economic concepts such as demand, supply, and level of competition? Can these implications be discussed at both the macro- and micro-levels?
• Internal -- experience, goals

 

• Examples of change
  • Product -- Let's produce B, rather than A.
  • Technology -- Let's produce A by doing X, rather than Y.
  • Goals -- Let's work to have more time with our families, rather than just expanding the business.
  • Organization/structure -- Let's reorganize so M and N are working together and R and S are working together, rather than having M teamed with S, and R teamed with N.
  • Affiliations/partners -- Let's do business with K, rather than L.
  • Resources -- Let's no longer lease that land. Let's buy those three truck. Let's replace you with T.

     

• Need for change -- performance gap; role of goals, benchmarks, monitoring
  • Alternatively, the need to change may stem from new opportunities, not shortfalls in current activities.
    • "The need to change is a prediction of the future, not a judgment of the past."
• Searching for ideas -- role of information
• Creating ideas -- strategy of empowerment and communication; also look for ideas from sources outside the business

   

• Project champion -- every project needs someone who believes in it -- persistent and determined, but informed
  
• Reasons for resistance to change -- self-interest; lack of understanding and trust; uncertainty; different assessments, assumptions, and goals
  • How to overcome resistance? Require or force change? Take the time to inform and for others to understand? What if time is not available?

     

• Implementing change -- communication/education (professional development); participation (input and feedback from others involved in or impacted by the change); negotiation; coercion; top-down (force/require)
  • Provide collaborators a reason to change.
  • How do you help someone else accept change?
  • Can a manager help remove the risks associated with change?
  • Do managers need to explain the risks associated with not changing?

     

• Role of training and development in creating and implementing change.

  What practices will you use to assure that change is facilitated?

4. A Sense of Ethics Daft chapter 5 (pp. 156-158, 161-182)

• Ethics -- moral principles and values that govern behavior; different than law
  • Balancing social responsibility against achieving the goal of business success.
  • Examples of ethical values and practices --
    • honesty;
    • integrity (will not compromise moral and ethical principles);
    • being respectful of others, e.g., employees, customers, local and global community;
    • taking responsibility when a task needs attention;
    • striving to achieve the group's goals, not just personal goals;
    • protecting confidential information;
    • acknowledging the accomplishments and contributions of others (rather than taking credit for the accomplishments);
    • accepting responsibility when something has gone wrong (rather than "pointing the finger" at others);
    • respecting others and accepting that their values, goals and practices will be different than yours, but that their practices are no less valuable;
    • practicing open communication (not gossiping; informing people when they need to be informed).

• Environmental impacts -- practicing sustainable resource usage by the business

• Protecting the safety and integrity of employees
  • "Social Accountability International (SAI) works to improve workplaces and combat sweatshops through the expansion and further development of the international workplace standard, SA8000, and the associated SA8000 verification system."
    • SA 8000

• An ethical issue is likely to arise when our alternative or decision will have a significantly different or opposing outcome on our goals of equal priority.
  • "Do I reveal this unlikely (low-probability) problem that could affect our customers' health or do I not reveal this unlikely problem?  Revealing the problem assures we will incur a cost (e.g., cash cost and possibility poor public relations) to assure the unlikely problem will not occur. On the other had, not revealing the problem avoids the sure cost but exposes us and others to possible costs (e.g., cash cost and poor public relationships plus health cost to customers who fall ill) if the unlikely event does occur. I do not want ill customers but I do not want to incur the unnecessary cost of solving a 'non-problem.'  What do I do?"
    • cost/benefit analysis for everyone who could be affected?
    • decision maker considers only his or her long-term interests?
    • consider the impact your decision will have on others' fundamental rights?
    • make decision on basis of equity, fairness and impartiality

       

• Personal values v. organization's values
  • Ethical ideas need to be personal values and practices before they will become the values and practices of the organization/business.
  • What is the organization's social responsibility?
    • Minimize externalities even if not legal obligated to do so? 
    • Invest into the community and society even if the investment is not legally mandated or necessary to promote production and sales of the business product? 
    • Recognize that business profit is not the goal, but a tool for achieving the goal (e.g., an improved standard of living for all) and that profit is not the only tool for achieving the goal.
  • Who establishes the organization's values? Who are the stakeholders?
  • Ethical leaders and workers, ethical leadership and work, formal code of ethics?

How is an organization's value implemented and maintained?

Economic responsibilities (goal of business is to earn a profit),

Legal responsibilities (goal of business is to "not violate the law"),

Ethical responsibilities (does a business have a goal with respect to ethics?)

What practices will you use to assure the business is operated ethically?

Do any of these articles help our thought processes? Ethical decision making and Business ethics -- both sites are maintained by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University.

In summary

• Managers need to be able to communicate; both in terms of sending information and receiving information.
• Managers must provide leadership.
• Managers must be accepting of change and to help others change.
• Managers need to be ethical; there is more to life than profit.

The next section addresses using information presented in financial statements.

Last Updated December 23, 2009