StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Business Communication - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This paper critically evaluates the view that in order to achieve power in management, women must change their communication strategies. It is easy to imagine what the business world would be like, were it dominated by men. That is because this was the case for several recent centuries…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.2% of users find it useful
Business Communication
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Business Communication"

?Running Head: Business Communication Business Communication [Institute’s Business Communication Critically evaluate the view that in order to achieve power in management, women must change their communication strategies It is easy to imagine what the business world would be like, were it dominated by men. That is because this was the case for several recent centuries. A larger challenge to the imagination would be the image of women dominating the business world. This is because not only is this a relatively unfamiliar sight in any country, but there are also several barriers that keep women from gaining such power in the workplace. One of the most relevant barriers that can help us understand this power disparity is the communication that women use in a workplace. Assessing the view that women need to alter their communication strategies in the workplace, we find several facts and theories that help strengthen this hypothesis. An in-depth study of women in management settings, conducted by Korac-Kakabadse and Kouzmin revealed several insights into how communication is often a key factor in women not achieving the same level of power as men in the workplace. It explored the differences in their manner of communication and the way that these differences lead them to have less power. He pointed out, for example, that even the terminologies used in a workplace used to be male-oriented. (Korac-Kakabadse and Kouzmin, 1997, pp. 190-193) As researchers have observed, several positions in an organization would have titles such as “chairman” or “salesman”, making them seem like jobs that are designed for males only. Furthermore, women occupied some positions so often that these job titles were associated only with women. Some of the most well known examples of this are “secretary” and “manager’s assistant. The reason why this point is essential to this critique is that these job titles, both the ones associated with males and the ones associated with females, were altered around the same time that the role of women in the workplace started gaining more power. Women, whom these stereotypes had suppressed for a long time, stood up and fought for change, and achieved it. They had the male associated positions changed to “chairperson” and “salesperson”. In addition, the women-associated job titles now stand replaced by more male-oriented titles such as “office manager” or “assistant manager” (Pringle, 1992, pp. 127-60). Even generic terms like “mankind” now stand replaced with less sexist words like “humankind”. This is an indicator of how women who seek power started by altering the communication strategies in the world around them, in both the workplace and otherwise. Thus, this supports the theory that communication strategies have a large bearing on the power that women possess in the workplace. Another important area in communication that affects the power that women have in the workplace is nonverbal communication. As researchers have found, even the difference in tones that women and men use often affects their power disparity in the workplace, regardless of the content of their speech. Due to the different roles men and women adopt in their lives, they often develop tones of speech accordingly. A man will more likely have a strong and confident voice whereas a woman will have a soothing and comforting tone (Willis, 1990, pp. 40-72). This difference makes it appear that the man is more capable of taking charge in the workplace, whereas the woman is more suited for a less power-oriented career. It would also explain why men are more likely to be trusted with managing and leading large workforces, while women are employed to work for them. This again supports the view that women need to alter their communication strategies if they wish to have more power in the workplace, even if it is their non-verbal communication. A few more studies have observed the communication strategies used by men and women, and have found some startling differences when it comes to staff meetings in an office. Unlike women, men tend to be more dominating in meetings, and tend to seek more chances to speak and express their opinion. This may be due to their greater experience in holding leading roles, leading them with the desire to control such formal social interactions as well. Women, on the other hand, prefer to understand and facilitate more than asserting their own opinion. (Zimmerman and West, 1975, pp. 78-94) They tend to reserve their participation in the meeting for acting as a catalyst, should the need arise. In addition, men tend to use instrumental communication and state facts more, while women are more expressive of their personal opinions and feelings. These differences in their manners of communication often lead to their managers and bosses perceiving them differently. Thus, they evaluate the man to be more capable of taking charge, and see the women as more of a facilitator or an assistant. Consequently, the power ends up in the hands of the male (Palmer and Kandasaami, 1993, pp. 10-15). This is an important trend for those women who seek empowerment in an organizational setting; it outlines a clear way in which they can alter their communication strategies to gain more power. Studies conducted by management experts have also revealed some finer details about how communication affects the image and power of women in a workplace. One study in particular explored the effect that men’s socialization in a workplace has on their ability to communicate effectively in a business setting (Marshall, 1993a, p. 317). It began with analyzing the mentalities that affect choices that employees make when they are working in collaboration with other employees. This revealed that employees usually prefer to work with people who have similar thinking processes as themselves. This means that an employee of one gender will most likely choose to collaborate with their own gender in the context of such business interactions. In addition, since males dominate most workplaces, this leads to more men being chosen by other men for collaborative work. Thus, men turn out to be much more socialized than women in business context are, and are thus better versed in the communicating with their employees. This man is more likely to be able to pick up small and sometimes implicit directions in the orders that they receive. For example, when they receive a short command from a supervisor, they will be able to interpret not only what needs to be done, but also how it needs to be done. The manager does not usually spell out the “how” component; they imply it. Thus, only an employee who has enough experience in dealing with such situations can read such a command for its explicit as well as implicit messages. A woman who does not have this much experience will not be able to detect the symbolic messages embedded in a message that is usual in the business culture (Marshall, 1993a, p. 317). Thus, this gives man an edge over women due to their more enhanced communication abilities, and makes them more likely to gain power in the workplace. Finally, one of the most important ways in which communication affects the power a woman has in an organization is the manner in which they participate in a workplace argument or debate (Reeves, 2010, pp. 145). As researchers observe, women adopt a more accommodating approach, as opposed to men, who choose to argue until they feel heard. Men will continue an argument until they feel that they have gotten their point across, whereas women will try to be more understanding. The female employee often does not fare well in negotiations, because she aims to reach an agreement, whereas the man will aim to convince others of his point of view. Resultantly, the woman ends up compromising, and the man receives what he was bargaining for. This is a highly problematic fact for women in workplaces, because they are unable to assert power over others when they are so willing to compromise and settle for less than they asked for initially (Lascheve and Babcock, 2003). Thus, they develop an image of being easy to dominate and control, and are consequently unable to convince their superiors that they would perform well as a leader in the organization. Thus, women need to address their communication differences and change them to match those of men, if they wish to gain power in the workplace. Conclusively, there is a lot of support for the view that women need to change their communication strategies in order to gain more power in an organizational setting (Baker, 1991, pp. 113-130). Considering how the world changes constantly and becomes more accommodating of women workers each day, it is reasonable to assume that women have a greater chance of securing power in an organization now than they did a few centuries ago. While it would be incorrect to claim that the only reason women have not had power in the past is because of their softer communication strategies, research has shown that communication is a large reason why they have been left behind in the organization. As numerous management experts have researched, men and women have very different communication strategies and thus achieve very different positions in the workplace. One should not ignore the several other factors, which have stunted the growth of a female in a workplace, such as social factors and family issues. However, one should also realize that communication had a large amount of significance in this process and thus, it should be addressed if women wish to have more power. Thus, while they may not be the only factor that women need to address while trying to achieve more power, communication strategies are one of the main problems that would serve them well to change. References Baker, Margeret Anne. 1991. “Reciprocal Accommodation: A Model for Reducing Gender Bias in Managerial Communication.” Journal of Business Communication. March 1991, No. 28, pp. 113-130. Korac-Kakabadse, Nada and Kouzmin, Alexandar. 1997. “Maintaining the rage: from “glass and concrete ceilings” and metaphorical sex changes to psychological audits and renegotiating organizational scripts - Part 1.” Women in Management Review. Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 182 – 195. Lascheve, Sara and Babcock, Linda. 2003. Women don't ask: negotiation and the gender divide. Princeton University Press. Marshall, J. 1993a. “Organizational culture and woman managers: exploring the dynamics of resilience.” Applied Psychology: An International Review. Vol. 42, No.4, pp. 313-22. Palmer, G., Kandasaami, T. 1993. “Gender and the management process: are we bounded by similarities or divided by differences?” Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management’s (ANZAM) Annual Conference, December, pp. 1-34. Pringle, J. 1992. “Survival or success: ways of ‘being’ for women in organizations.” The Gender Factor. Dunsmore Press. Reeves, Martha E. 2010. Women in Business: Theory, Case Studies, and Legal Challenges. Springer. Taylor & Francis. Willis, M. 1990. Proportional representation. Insight. Zimmerman, D., West, C. 1975. “Sex Roles, Interruptions, and Silences in Conversations.” Language and Sex: Difference and Domination. pp. 78-94. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Business Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/business/1395901-business-communication
(Business Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/business/1395901-business-communication.
“Business Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/business/1395901-business-communication.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Business Communication

Effectiveness of Business Communication

This essay aims to proffer pertinent issues relating to the analysis of Business Communication and the strategies to effectively communicate in teams by using the list of "Advantages and Disadvantages of Teams" that provides an example how teams have worked in one's workplace.... The essay "Effectiveness of Business Communication" paper aims to proffer pertinent issues relating to the analysis of Business Communication and the strategies to effectively communicate in teams by using the list of "Advantages and Disadvantages of Teams" that provides an example how teams have worked in one's workplace....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Effective Business Communication Routines

Effective Business Communication routines Name Institution Effective Business Communication routines Literature review Bovee and Thill (2008) defined communication as, “the passing of information,” “the exchange of ideas,” or the process of establishing a commonness or oneness of thought between a sender and a receiver.... hellip; Effective Business Communication can be perceived as a passage of information that is free of barriers.... In order to prepare an effective Business Communication message, there is a need to apply the three-step process of writing routine positive messages and replies....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Strategic Business Communication

trategic communications means using corporate or institutional communications to create, strengthen or preserve, among key Strategic Business Communication Faculty Strategic Business Communication Communication is a process involving three main component.... igure 1: Communication ProcessStrategic Business Communication is one of the most important tools for the business organizations today.... Strategic Business Communication decisions are one of the vital and important decisions....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Business Communication and Technology

In business, technology is used for various purposes such as the production process, performing transactions, making business projection and in Business Communication.... hellip; Integration of technology in Business Communication is vital since it makes communication not only cheaper but also fast.... Businesses have managed to effectively integrate benefits of technology in their communication systems (Castells, 2009) Business Communication and Technology Technology has been evolving at a high rate especially in the last two decades....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Business Communication Writing

In the paper “Business Communication Writing” the author analyzes the key difference between the direct and indirect approach.... Business Communication WritingResponse to Shanon's PostThe key difference between the direct and indirect approach is whether you know the audience will be receptive or skeptical to the message.... Business Communication Essentials....
1 Pages (250 words) Assignment

International Business Communication

The following essay will provide an overview and a basic understanding of Intercultural Business Communication and Business Etiquette.... Thus, the paper "International Business Communication" reviews a research article regarding the present topic in order to analyze the theme.... hellip; At present, the world is illustrated as a place where people belonging to different cultural backgrounds interact with each other to have effective communication do that they can exchange their ideas, thoughts and feelings (Bhardawaj, 2010)....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Intercultural Business Communication

This speech "Intercultural Business Communication" will focus on intercultural Business Communication, its history, vitality, strategies to achieve it with relevant examples, and outline recommendations to its implementation.... Intercultural Business Communication The need for communication in business cannot be overemphasized.... This speech will focus on intercultural Business Communication, its history, vitality, strategies to achieve it with relevant examples, and outline recommendations to its implementation....
2 Pages (500 words) Speech or Presentation

Global Business Communication Issues

From the essay "Global Business Communication Issues" it is clear that the international companies must develop databases of technical terms and products and provide the translations of these technical terms to the local distribution and marketing agencies.... Global Business Communication IssuesIntroductionThe global market brings with many opportunities for the international companies involved.... Addressing these inherent challenges in global Business Communication has proven costly, and only a few companies have addressed communication issues to reflect the needs of the markets in different countries....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us