Managing in Ambiguity and Change - Essay Example

Managing in Ambiguity and Change Student’s Name Institution Managing in Ambiguity and Change This paper will discuss ambiguity and change, it evaluates the challenges that results due to oversimplification of information or lack of, the reasons why people treat complex issues as simple issues, the critical thinking and approaches and the role of self-managing in enabling a manager to deal with complex issues. Ambiguity is a condition whereby information has more than one interpretation (Dopson, 1997). It is unclear communication amongst the parties involved. It brings costs to the organizations or business. The costs are both monetary and non-monetary loss; the non-monetary loss includes time and good will. The cause of ambiguity is attributed to over-simplification of complex issues; the information that is being put across loses the initial meaning. There are various tools that can be used in the management of ambiguity (Dopson, 1997). They include extensive use of research and use of self-assessment of the employees though human resource personnel. The oversimplification of information is caused by lack of information on an issue (Gilley, 2001). The shallow knowledge about something will prompt in making wrong conclusions about something. Managers that continually use ambiguous information tends to make wrong decisions on behalf of the firm (Booher, 2007). In addition the managers are inclined to treat complex issues as simple issues, this may be because they believe that the causes are complex and the solutions are easy to solve (Dopson, 1997). Managers are also inspiration agents in a company and must motivate and inspire their employees, they should look at complex issues as simple issues and should give amicable solutions to the problems underway (Verweij, 2006). Undoubtedly unclear communication in corporate organizations is a major and a complex issue that has been over-simplified and the consequences resulted in increased costs for business practices. Only clear communication can get an audience to understand something of valid importance hence a barrier to effective communication can result to disastrous consequences (Kidwell, 2005).A good example of the company that has experienced the challenge of communication is the Apple Inc. The company has not been able to disseminate the communication effectively to its employees. This has made the company to incur the communication cost which would have been evaded initially. The major problem when it comes to communication is that the sender perceives to have relayed the message quite effectively and promptly whereas the recipient is confused and not properly converted with the message itself. The message remains clear to the sender but remains vague to the receiver. It is therefore important that the communication be made clear so that the information that is passed across can be understood. Achieving clarity requires more than verbal skills but a systematic management effort (Pondy, 1988). Following this further, unclear communication is a complex problem since corporatecommunicators have expressed that the messages to be conveyed are ever increasing, makingtheir communication efforts even more demanding for example, they need to explain issues likelabor disputes to the general public, gender equity, inform activists of their corporate social responsibility activities and convey the importance of their research and development strategies to their investors and analysts (Dopson,1997). These are all examples of complex issues that arenot easy to clarify especially when internal sources and other people want to contribute or be apart of these messages. The message that the communicators have is usually targeted to differentgroups of people that have a different attention span yet they expect lively and clear communication. The current generation expects that the essence of a message is received in the shortest time possible and that increases the attention of the economy (Vecchio, 1997). This means that communication must be quick and consistent across different channels and formats. The information that is given is usually exaggerated and important details are left out. On the other hand, the issue of gender equity is a complex issue that has been oversimplifiedin many companies including Apple Inc. Most of the managers in the decision making platform are male. This does not give the women a good opportunity to actively be involved in decision. The historical trends and cultures of many people in the world have always treated males with dominance. This has been passed down from one generation to another. The issue in today’s society is being simplified in that it is possible to acquire gender equality. The challenge is being addressed amicably by various groups in the society; women aregiven some positions and jobs that are equal to men but not salaries. However, the gender equality has not been achieved in many parts of the work force. The issue of gender equality is anexample of a complex issue that has been over-simplified in today’s society. The process is frustrated by the historical nature of male chauvinism in society. In light of these issues it is easy to see that, communication professionals have an undertaking of managing clarity of information within an organization (Drucker, 2008). They areoften accused of complicating issues; such accusations are often unfounded since the public relations community all over the world wants to improve the fame of the entire communication productiveness. However, the corporate managers in most cases communicate vaguely in alanguage that is not clear to the employee (Booher, 2007). This happens when they want to hid their interests, corporate communicators should seek to understand and put into use the extensive research available on clarity and translate their findings into actionable advice. . Pursuing this further, employees and managers in particular are inclined to treat complexissues as simple ones since they believe that the causes for the problems may be complicated, butthe solutions are incredibly simple, and that nearly all complex problems have simple solutions (Booher, 2007). People are inclined to treat complex issues as simple ones so as to enable them togain control of their problems since they may be within or out of their reach but still affect theircircumstances and their situations. In order to regain their lost jobs and careers, they are forced tore-train to fit into different careers or to move from their usual homes to settle in places wherebythey can secure new employment and find a new source of livelihood (Beech, 2012). Managerson the other hand treat complex issues with simplicity since they need to find the most amicableway to deal with the problems they are facing and hence will seek easier alternatives than gettingstuck in their current situation. In the case of Apple Inc. the Company had not been effectively been able to keep up with competing industries in the market. This is because of higher cost than substitute goods produced by similar companies. The cost of production is much higher for Apple Inc. The company is left with the option of treating this complex issue as simple issue. The other reason why complex issues are treated as simple issuesby the managers is to respond to problem of panic by the employees and the stakeholders in thebusiness. The manager is the driver of the company, when faced with complex issues he she musttreat them as simple issues so as to give hope to people. The managers inspire the people they lead (Kidwell, 2005). In the year 2008, the Toyota company in Japan experienced very complex issues where the cars in which they manufactured and exported experienced anomalies, the chief executive director managed this complex issue as a simple issue so that he would ensure that the company would not lose the market. He offered the cars be taken back to the warehouses and the company catered for the losses incurred by the customers. However organizations are complex interaction of systems that work together to achieve or accomplish a unified goal and hence each component that makes up the system must contribute towards the growth and expansion of the whole organization. Critical thinking involves coming up with measures aimed at streamlining the organization based on the complexissue at hand and solving the issue at the lowest cost for the firm (Beech, 2012). A company manager has to ensure that barriers to effective communication are eradicated since they can result in temporary or permanent damage; managers also ought to seek to prevent the risks andthe high costs associated with unclear communication for the firm (Booher, 2007). Likewise, the role of self-management will enables manager to deal with complexissues geared towards ensuring that companies have employees who fit into their operations rather than those who cause major problems for the company. Self-management skills enable amanager to be able to communicate with workers in an efficient manner and make rationaldecisions, plans working time properly and keep the employees fit for their designated jobs (Gilley, 2001). Self-management is developed by organizing special self-assessment training conducted by the human resource department of the organization. The organization will benefit from the abilities and self-management skills attained by the employee which range from communication, problem solving skills, time management in the work place, the ability tocommit to memory important company events and daily tasks and ensure that the physicalactivity of the employees is adequate to cope with the job current challenges (Kidwell, 2005). The good management also needs the employees to be emotionally intelligent and motivation. The motivation comes from the management of the company treating their employees with dignity and giving them fair remunerations. There can also be arrangement where the workers are rewarded for hitting the target goals set by the individuals. There are various tools that can be used in the management of ambiguity incommunication. The tools are geared to solving complex issues that come about due tooversimplification of information that brings absurdity (Drucker, 2008). For instance toolsinclude the use of research in order to determine effective ways in which the information can beconveyed without altering the initial meaning, this exposés the individuals in determination of thecorrect use of language the complexity of issues is sometimes brought about by the use oflanguage.This brings systematic thinking in the arrangement of thoughts due to the extensive knowledge acquired during the process of research. The research brings sustainability in the There are various ways in which the use of language can complicate issues theproblem can be solved through use of clear application of language. The wrong application ofwords and use of metaphor is the beginning of the problem (Arduini, 2007). The ambiguity effectively copes with changes in the environment, it can shift with the changing environment and it can also remain with the current situation in the environment (Booher, 2007). The problem arises when the mangers dwell in that ambiguity and they becomeused to the ambiguous information when making decisions. They face the challenge of makingsupposed decisions that do not help in arriving at the required decision. The company willtherefore suffer losses in monetary terms and goodwill (Beech, 2012). Managers need to inspire trust; trust brings out the best in individuals and changes the dynamics of communication. Little trust generates resistance, whether it is produced by unethical conduct or by ethical but incompetent conduct. As a result, communication plays a very important role in the way the information ispassed from one person to another. Unclear communication brings about vagueness in theinformation that is being passed across it is brought about by over simplification of theinformation. This increases the cost of the business practice it also brings misunderstanding between the sender and receiver of the message. This happens when the message is oversimplified and the intended purpose of the message is distorted. The complex issues like labor disputes to the general public, social activists and genderequity tend to be oversimplified, the information that is conveyed requires a lot of messages and a lot of clarification targeted to different groups of people. They have different interests in the subject matter (Drucker, 2008). The current generation preferred the simplified information thatis clear. During the simplification of the information important message might be lost, this willmake the communication become ambiguous. Corporate managers are accused of intentionallyfailing to give clear communication, the businesses usually have their own self-interest and that isthe reason that they present vague information that will make the users of the informationconfused. In some cases they are not aware of the clarity of the information that they convey. Inorder to ensure that they are efficient they should also develop insights to complex issues whenthey come up with training materials, use of checklists and diagnostic tools as an approach toclarity information (Gilley, 2001). Establish clear company goals and broadcast them. It is human nature to want to work towards something and to feel as though they have accomplished the objectives.When everyone feels like they are part of a team working towards the same objective, they are much less likely to experience feelings of ambiguity. In conclusion, some managers treat complex issues as simple issues. They may believethat the causes of these complex issues are difficult to solve and they deliberate on the solutions.The communication managers come up with various ways to eradicate the barriers to effectivecommunication, they are also obliged to prevent or alleviate the risks, and high costs associated with unclear information and embrace the research in communication that seeks to improve the communication skills. Also managers can minimize the risk of unclear information through self-managementskills it enables the mangers to work effectively through communicating the information needed tothe employees. The company hires human resource personnel in order to conduct self-assessment training determining the quality of skill and personalities that are required within the company. It becomes easy to communicate with the employees that fit the job hence communication becomes easier. Unnecessary ambiguity is obstructive and recognition of this will avert an organization and its people from delivery of the business strategy. People and organizations are merely effective when they distinguish where they are heading and what needs to be accomplished. In addition, in order to evade taking the incorrect turn in advertently this needs to be done on a shortand long-term basis. References Arduini, S. (2007).Metaphors. Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura. Beech, N., &MacIntosh, R. (2012).Managing Change: Enquiry and Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Booher, D. D. (2007). The voice of authority: 10 communication strategies every leader needs to know. New York: McGraw-Hill. Dopson, S. (1997).Managing Ambiguity and Change: Case of the NHS. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Drucker, P. F., &Maciariello, J. A. (2008).Management. New York, NY: Collins. Gilley, J. W. (2001). The manager as change agent: A practical guide for developing highperformance people and organizations. Cambridge, Mass: Perseus Pub. Kidwell, R. E., & Martin, C. L. (2005).Managing organizational deviance. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. Melbourne City Mission.(1982). Self-management. North Fitzroy [Vic.: Melbourne City Mission. McCaskey, M. B. (1982). The executive challenge: Managing change and ambiguity. Boston: Pitman. Pondy, L. R., Boland, R., & Thomas, H. (1988).Managing ambiguity and change. Chichester [England: Wiley. TerjeAven, OrtwinRenn. (2010). Risk Management and Governance.Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Vecchio, R. P. (1997). Leadership: Understanding the dynamics of power and influence in organizations. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press. Verweij, M., & Thompson, M. (2006).Clumsy solutions for a complex world: Governance, politics and plural perceptions. Basingstoke [England: Palgrave Macmillan. Read More