The Role of Social Construction in the Making of Organisational Vision - Literature review Example

The Role of Social Construction in the Making of Organisational Vision Name Institutional Affiliation Instructor Date Introduction According to Jay (2011), theoretical models play an essential role in the success and achievement of sustainable performance excellence of a given organization. The continuous advancement in technology has had a synergistic impact on nearly all the areas of life. Organizational management, strategic policy formulation and effective implementation are some of the important trends that are responsible for the significant differences witnessed in modern companies (Hall, 2011). Nonetheless, managers are compelled to draw adequate reference, comparison and place more emphasis on the use of theoretical models when formulation evidence-based visions for their business firms. Wexler (2011) adds that social construction is unquestionably one of these major theoretical models that should be put into consideration. This model plays a critical role in developing the firm’s vision and acts as guidance towards achieving the company's set goals. Nevertheless, there exist a deep relationship between social construction and the vision of a given company. It is important to understand what is meant by these two intertwined terms before narrowing down to explain the role of social construction in the development of an organizational vision (Kopaneva, 2013). Social Construction versus Organizational Vision Hall (2011) chronicles that a vision statement is usually a declaration of a given firm’s objectives depending on the economic foresight with the aim of guiding its internal decision making. This statement often cuts across all the companies regardless of nature and type. A vision statement doesn’t consider whether an organization operates as a profit making or non-profit making entities such as the governmental institutions and parastatals. Social construction emphasizes on the notion, connotation, and the meaning put on a given object by a specific society (Camargo-Borges & Rasera, 2011). Consequently, this definition is adopted by the inhabitants of that community with the manner in which they not only perceive but also deal with the object or event (Kopaneva, 2013). This claim implies that a social construct as a conceptual idea would be broadly accepted to be a natural and a binding force for the incumbent society, but may fail to a given reality shared by individuals who are outside that society. Comparatively, a vision statement of a given firm remains binding to the stakeholders engaged in its efficient management but entirely separated from the external players (Jay, 2011). According to Hall (2011), social construction emphasizes at uncovering different strategies through which own organizations take an active role in building their perceived social reality. The model entails looking at the manner in which social phenomena are established, institutionalized, known, and eventually made into tradition by humans. This description fits all that the organizational vision statement seeks to create (Wexler, 2011; Camargo-Borges & Rasera, 2011). Vision statement, therefore, relies on the corporate social construction to evolve into what the firm wishes to look like in the future. An Overview of the Role of Social Construction in the Making of the Organizational Vision Research indicates that the world is currently experiencing rapid transformations that demand new methodologies and epistemologies, which can generate innovative forms of conducting business (Jay, 2011). An organizational vision statement shares a close relationship with its mission, and are all influenced by social construction that occurs at the firm level. First, social construction helps organizational managers to understand the type of contemporary world that they are living and operating. (Camargo-Borges & Rasera, 2011). According to Wexler (2011), the modern business world is characterized by rapid technological changes, globalization, and the effects of post-industrial economic transformations. These concepts of development have far-reaching implications for the manner in which organizations operate. The three factors, therefore, stipulate how the business firm needs to the device and revise their vision statements to suit their current and future expectations (Kopaneva, 2013). Social construction has transformed the modern business sector by making the economy to become less manufacture and production based on a more service, experience and knowledge based economy. Hall (2011) avers that social construction framework postulates that organizations are currently operating in a post-industrial world where information and knowledge are the main components to put into consideration as opposed to the labor and capital, which were the structural features of the industrial society. These tremendous changes compel business firms to device influential vision statements that are flexible and can appropriately suit the on-going changes (Kopaneva, 2013). This theoretical model has, therefore, established a new societal business setting that has direct effects on the organizational landscape. Camargo-Borges and Rasera (2011) argue that the modern societal context calls for new ways of unifying the work environment, its practices, and the people involved. Social construction results in the establishment of the organizational workforce, which is highly interconnected, informed, and more participatory society. This type of the organization chart inspires all employees and the corporate stakeholders to posit new understandings of the processes required when incurring organizational value creation (Wexler, 2011). Creating value for a given business firm is an essential strategy towards developing its vision and working cohesively towards the achievement of this vision. Today, consumers are highly interconnected regarding all transformation happening in the world as opposed to the traditional organizations that fabricated products and services with a value in being sold and consumed by people (Wexler, 2011; Jay, 2011). This traditional conceptual framework is known as the following and linear model. Modern consumers are highly knowledgeable and experienced; they want to have a voice and control over the products and services being manufactured and sold. Therefore, social construction results in the establishment of a more interactive role between organizations and customers (Camargo-Borges & Rasera, 2011; Kopaneva, 2013). This role, unquestionably, determines how the organizational develops its visions while helping to make accurate decisions regarding what is valuable or not, not in the organization but also the in the society and the lives of people (Kopaneva, 2013). This framework is referred to as the synchronous value creation model. For instance, the foretold model posits synergistic changes that affect the organizational structure as a whole (Jay, 2011; Hall, 2011). Subsequently, there is a need for the contemporary business managers to embrace a diverse and a more inclusive approach by putting into consideration the expressed needs and wishes of consumers. According to Hall (2011), adopting a unique approach will have the positive outcome of co-creating value with each and every member of the organization which may lead to the streamlining of the organizational vision after its inception. A comprehensive literature review regarding the relationship between value creations exists to support the role that social construction plays in the making of a firm’s vision. Today, the business world is transforming from the traditional forms of value creation referred to as “Goods-Dominant” (G-D) into a modern framework knows as the “Service-Dominant” (S-D) logic (Jay, 2011). Social construction helps the business organization to formulate their vision statements in a manner that they can suit the logics above (Wexler, 2011; Camargo-Borges & Rasera, 2011). The G-D logic contains the out-dated dichotomous notion, which postulates that an organization plays a critical in creating value, before being transferred and utilized by its targeted consumers at the time of the transaction. This interaction between the seller and the buyer is sometimes referred to as the purchase moment and is considered to be the most critical component of each and every business. (Camargo-Borges & Rasera, 2011). Wexler (2011) asserts that social construction helps organizations to enhance their vision statement by shifting to the S-D logic, which acts as an indicator of a highly interactive value creation. The model encourages each and every stakeholder of the organization to take an active role in the process of creating the value of the business enterprise. As such, social construction model provides multiple platforms through which consumers from different regions of the world share their views regarding the competence of the firm (Kopaneva, 2013). By so doing, customers and other stakeholders provide critical feedback that assists business organizations to formulate vision statements that align with the current organizational strategies. Jay (2011) adds that the well-established procedures result in the achievement of the organizational goals and general objectives. Social construction also helps firms to understand their current position and develop critical measures that will assist them to achieve sustainable performance excellence alongside remaining influential in the future. The engagement of the stakeholder in the process of value co-creation is the most significant moment of the S-D logic (Hall, 2011). This process enables the engaged stakeholder to produce something that is valuable for each and everyone in the organization. Consequently, a meaningful value and vision co-creation is what promises sustainability for modern businesses (Camargo-Borges & Rasera, 2011). Research reveals that co-creation of value and vision should always be the guiding principles in the contemporary organizations during a moment of a network or a participatory society. Social construction, therefore, encourages value co-creation to be at the heart of all corporate activity to ensure that each and every stakeholder brings his or her experience, knowledge, resources and technical skills to exchange, create, and determine the value and the vision of the firm together. According to Wexler (2011), social construction also uses the interactive value creation technique to help organizational managers in devising appropriate and evidence-based visions of the organization. This initiative takes place as a new frame of reference. However, companies must always be prepared to incur a plethora of challenges that they will face when deploying value co-creation with their customers. These problems are extensive and not limited to sharing of each and every expert’s knowledge and strategies (Kopaneva, 2013). However, managers should also acknowledge social construction as a unique opportunity that can not only empower but also inspire companies by moving them forward alongside their customers for the purpose of achieving their goals (Hall, 2011). Different knowledge areas continue to embrace social constructionism as a field of interest regarding the constructed nature of reality. Social constructionism is impacted by various philosophical, social perspectives, and psychological. Jay (2011) adds that social construction is also used to support a variety of practices in different fields such as healthcare, education, conflict resolution, and community work. This concept emphasizes on critical aspects that help the organization to create its desired vision. Some of these aspects include emphasizing on the strengths and opportunities as opposed to thinking about problems and how to fix them (Kopaneva, 2013). Other issues include an immense value for the diversity of perspectives as opposed to commonalities of ideas, having trans-disciplinary teams in the organization with increased flexibility concerning policies and approaches as well as exercising decentralized decision making (Camargo-Borges & Rasera, 2011). Wexler, (2011) avers that social construction encourages firms to have a multicultural and polyphonic environment when devising their vision statements so that the vision remains binding over the expected period. Social constructionism also helps organizations to develop their visions by providing adequate space used for staging a participatory dialogue (Camargo-Borges & Rasera, 2011). Different stakeholder with broad professional experience, technical skills and expertise knowledge regarding vision development are brought together in a fruitful dialogue to exchange critical ideas that will help in devising the firm’s vision statement. Conclusion Social construction is one of the best postmodern approaches used when developing a firm’s vision statement. This goal is achieved through the use of critical and creative resources such as dialogues, brain-storming, and co-creation actualized in the form of conversations and interactions. The three favour pluralism and leads to the emergence of multiple voices that encourage diversity that promotes the enhancement of the organizational vision. The entire model focuses on the need for people to gain meaning together as a strategy towards creating a compelling vision for their organization. References Camargo-Borges, C. & Rasera, E.F (2011). Social Constructionism in the Context of Organization Development Dialogue, Imagination, and Co-Creation as Resources of Change. Sage Publishing. Retrieved from: http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/3/2/2158244013487540. Hall, M. L. (2011). Sensing the Vision: Sense Making and the Social Construction of Leadership in the Branch Office of an Insurance Company. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 19(2), 65-78. Jay, C. L. (2011) "The social construction of organizations: Understanding the process of organizational development from a communicative perspective," Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association: Vol. 2010, Article 16. Available at: http://docs.rwu.edu/nyscaproceedings/vol2010/iss1/16. Kopaneva, I.M (2013). Employee Constructions of Organizational Mission and Vision. Washington State University. Retrieved from: https://research.libraries.wsu.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/2376/4756/Kopaneva_wsu_0251E_10716.pdf?sequence=1 Wexler, E.R (2011). Creating and Maintaining a Shared Organizational Vision through Effective Communication. University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Retrieved from: http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=od_theses_msod. Read More