Gender Semiotics and Communication - Coursework Example

Communication and Organizational Practices Name: Student Number: Course Code: Word Count: Date of Submission: Communication and Organizational Practices Experimental Analysis Communication is something that happens in our everyday life and it is the tool that makes people understands each other by intentions and implications. However, the mode, manner and even style of communication vary from one setting to another. The setting could be at the community level, learning class room, entertain event like soccer, or even workplace. This discussiontakes interest in the communication that takes place at the workplace – organization, hence organizational practice. At our organizational level, I find that there are various factors the way of communication and organization practice. Some of these factors include cultural backgrounds, interpersonal relationship skills and conflict management. The organization operates in the business industry, therefore, proper and effective communication is vital for success achievement and realization of organizational objectives. Equally found important to smooth communication within the organizations is use of appropriate leadership styles. This one has close relations to interpersonal relationship skills, as the paper details in subsequent discussion. The staffs have to relate and interact in ways through which they communicate to each other, hence relations that make organizations social institutions. Relationships are interactive constructs of human social acts and they indicate the probability and ease with which one person socializes with another within the organization. These relationships that form between workers are, by default, in definition by the aspects that bring them together in form of on-work or off-work activities. In the business industry, and in our organization, there is a desire that any relationships should be defined in only by relationships that are informative, goal oriented and supportive to business. Critical self-reflection of the organization and individually is about analysis and challenging of factors that validate a person’s presumption. It helps to map the progress of the organization and that of the group members on matters of effective communication and adherence to acceptable organizational practice. It also assesses the appropriateness of our knowledge, comprehension, beliefs, and perception, as group members, of the present context in the organization. This is a view brought forward by Kenny (2010), but Brookfield (1990) postulations support and cement the opinion above. According to Brookfield (1990), critical self-reflection involves three major stages which include; identification of assumptions, assessment and scrutiny of the validity of these assumptions as per real life experiences, and finally, transformation of these assumptions into both integral and inclusive actual ideas. For that reason, I think that for the group members and the organization, critical self-reflection is an essential element and should be about consideration of the self-conscious feature. This feature will enable the members to comprehend themselves as well as others around them, hence appropriate register of communication. The objective of self-reflection is to enhance self-awareness in an insightful manner that appreciates the influence that social contexts have on an individual’s behavioural patterns. As such, in applied human resource management, acceptable organizational behaviour and business, critical self-reflection plays a significant role in developing the above-mentioned self-awareness and business related skills. Analysis Gender Semiotics and Communication Acceptable organizational practice is something that has to be designed by the leadership and needs to be communicated to the juniors through appropriate channels. However, communication between opposite gender is one thing that organizations are yet to define by standards. In most cases, it is impossible to control such communication and organization practice that in influenced by cross-gender interaction, association or communication. With it, the organization will always depend on the integrity, adherence to codes of conduct and general respect that the employees possess. In most cases, the female gender is always viewed as the victim in every issue that arises out of such communication complication scenarios. For that reason, analysis and study of symbolism in communication in relation to gender is an essential aspect of enhancing proper organizational practice. Gender semiotics, therefore, can be viewed as a theoretical approach to communication in an organization with its aim of establishing applicable principles in a social feature of the organization. An all effective framework of analysis approaches gender semiotics as a tool that depends on both discourse and the isolated signs, to augment understanding between message sender and recipient, hence communication. Consequently, a discussion on the semiotics of gender is always necessary, so as to identify or explore the unconscious motives as related to social aspects that give rise to the concepts of gender(Cobley, 2003). Basically, the social attributes of semiotics are evidence of its importance in the analysis of cross-gender communication concepts.Gender is a social reality with signs and symbols that form part of realm of signs in the reality context of humanity (Collin 2011). For that reason, study of semiotics improves awareness of reality as a construction of meanings of the signs. From a philosophical perspective, semiotics theorises the role of signs to construct reality, which gender is part of, as encountered in the form of textual analysis. Kordajazi (2012) demonstrates the usefulness of investigating semiotic resources which situate gender unfairly, in the visual discourse. In this sense, text refers to the message in existent without external force from a source or receiver. The semiotic dimension that treats photographic materials as textual data, lights the functions of advertising to explore notions of gender roles through the visuals. Male and female genders are represented differently in all aspects of organization practice and business strategies.Semiotics helps to establish this by analysing the different aspects of advertisements. Such aspects include relative size, the feminine touch, function ranking and rituals of subordination, amongst others. These, generally reveal a comparison between male and female in a world of increased visual signs and so the evident importance of functional semiotics. As noted by Kress (2003) in Literacy in the New Media Age, semiotics of gender has been employed repeatedly in different researches to establish facts and clear out controversial issues around the gender theme. Such issues include the differences in pay between men and women of the same job levels or even how promotion awards are affected by gender knowledge. Theories of semiotic analysis have been employed to provide information through campaign that bring into the cognitive map, the ideas to be adopted and social actions deemed necessary. All these factors affect the society which engulfs the gender factor. Semiotics helps to answer the question of the relationship between individuals and the society. To cement this argument, the discussion takes into consideration The Theory of Constraints, which has typical attributes of improving communication, planning and capacity for analysis, through complex setups and cross-gender interactions. Essentially, the theory restricts organization members to focus on objective activities geared towards achieving full implementation of company strategies and plans. This then ensures to delineate underlying policy limitations from conflicting actions. The theory presents a thinking process (Andersen, 2006) that gives a sneak preview of the solution in proposal so as to map out the extent of problem or conflict resolution. It also enables noting of missing elements without which a desired outcome may not be realized. It is the basic technique with which the theory of constraints views any manageable system as a limited system with at least a constraint. The idea is to identify the restraint and redesign the system configuration around it so as to maximize on the concept. An appropriate communication strategy ensures that the intended message is passed effectively to the intended audience. The mentality of authoritative communication unnecessarily turns messages ineffective. The culture of communication that is shaped and adopted by a company influences the interpretation, perception and evaluation of the politeness strategy. This interpretation lies with the audience for which the message is meant. Chueng (2009) explains that the politeness theory is linked to social environment and appropriateness of choices which may differ depending on the situation.The correct usage of these communication strategies is realizable if every member of the company adheres to them. As such, the productivity of the members is immensely affected by the mode of the relationship between male and female genders. Perceived interpersonal relations and conflict management In relation to interpersonal relations within the organization, our group sees the organization social subject. Therefore, the set standards of organizational practice take social nature of group members into account. Relational-Cultural Theory applies the design of desirable organizational practice, and this is meant to facilitate achievement of organizational goals. Any interaction between one person and another has its roots in the social nature of the two, given that people are social by the environment. The expression of how the group members interact with one another is defined by the nature or type of social relationship between them (Aula &Siira, 2010). Therefore, relational practice, which the organization advocates for, expresses how the memberscommunicateas well as the ways in which they accept or disregard relational interdependence. An individual has the power to choose how they will talk to another, the rate at which they will interact with people and the subjects that they engage in with different people. At the end of the day, this becomes a practice as embedded in their personality. Thus, the relational practice that one develops over time becomes the definition of their perceptions of relational interdependence. So conflict is under the influence of the kinds and types of relations between individuals or entities. The organization operates in an environment where social and economic aspects are more relevant compared to the political and other demographic issues. As such, there is need to appreciate the fact that conflicts, disagreements and feuds are inevitable in any working environment. As highlighted earlier, the organization is of a social nature and so positive interactions and communication mannerisms outline the desirable organizational practice. In a socio-economic society, it is evident that our organization has to study the same society with basis on the fundamental causes of conflict. Viewing this organization as an element of society, the organization has to borrow from the socially acceptable moral standards while designing ethical organizational practice. The policies of the organization for practice must be to the benefit of everyone from the employees, customers and to the society. Organizational practice that, for instance, favours customers but frustrates employees creates conflicts between the implementers of these strategies and the employees or associates. From the experience with the organization, evidently conflict more is an inevitable outcome of interactions and communications. Conflict is a regular occurrence that our organization has to deal with more often than not. Interpersonal and inter-organizational interaction is just enough recipes for conflicts within the organization itself or with the industry of operation. Therefore, the more central reaction to conflicts is an amicable resolution of these. The way that our organization approaches conflicts is determined by the organizational practice. Nonetheless, in as much as conflicts are inevitable, they are manageable and sometimes avoidable when preempted and effective counter-measures put in place. At least, according to the Organizational Conflict Theory as postulated by Aula and Siira (2010), a conflict will always be a characteristic of life in human society, which is the basis of our organization anyway. From this, it is important for the leadership, management and group members to note that there are various types of conflicts and that the management of each requiresa different approach. Culture and communication In our organization, there are members with different cultural backgrounds and this necessitated intercultural communication skills. Intercultural communication is an interactive exercise that takes place when persons from different cultures engage in a communication process. Intercultural communication techniques recognize that individual languages and registers lack exactness (Jandt, 2006). Cultural correlation depends on messages sent and media used for communication as well the register adopted. Communication is realized because of the relative cultures have defined the ways of communicating particular messages. Schlesinger (2006) claims that this relation between the messages sent and the relative culture of the sender determine the response of the receiver. Intercultural communication is thus important to bridge language gaps, help organizations to bar conflicts and foster respect. Misunderstandings and consequential conflicts in intercultural communication result from the language differences since words or expressions in a culture may have different meanings in another. Working in intercultural environment may be challenging but intercultural communication skills provide a way of addressing the same in the future. (Svendsen, 2008). The goal of communication is to effectively pass and share information. When this goal is analysed by the scales of cultural differences between the communicators, the competences that are necessary to learn are; ability to adjust and accept differences in culture, understand the extents to which the aspects of life like behaviour and reactions are under conditioning by culture, and the skills of identifying and solving problems in intercultural communication (Redmond, 2000). Application of communication ideas and concepts to effective practice in intercultural communication becomes the prime objective of learning intercultural communication. In the business scenario, as written by Lewis (2004), the techniques communicating across cultures reconcile the differing cultures and identities so as to contain the decisive factors that establish success in a commercial relationship. Apart from language differences, communication also happens differently in the various cultures; that which is acceptable in one culture is not necessarily as okay in the next. For that reason, it is requisite that people in interaction also take into account the differences in Conclusions and Recommendations From of point reflective breakdown, there is a realization thatthere will always be social issues in any setting where one person interacts with another. As such, the discussion finds that the organization is a social institution. The social nature of the institution greatly influences the organizational practices and the communication between the members. Nevertheless, the essay dwells on gender, perceived interpersonal relations, conflict in the organization and cultural differences as the greatest influencers of communication in the organization.The business industry, in which the organization operates, involves a lot of interpersonal and inter-organizational interactions relations both within and without the industry. As such, there is a lot of communication of different forms that takes place, hence the necessity of good communication skills and acceptable organizational practice and behaviour. For the organization to define a comprehensive code of practice and acceptable organizational behaviour, there is need to factor in these three factors and, overall, the social aspects. The organization should define common register of communication in a culturally diverse environment, if the process is to be effective and for proper organizational practice. The skill and knowledge required to operate business is that which achieves the goals and objectives of the business person. Communication is a vital element of achieving goals, be they personal or organizational. Therefore, there should be an effort to improve and master the art of communication in various settings and situations. Cultural differences are inevitable in organization, respect for this diversity and appreciation of the same eases business and operations within References Andersen, A. 2006. Theory of Constraints: Management System Fundamentals. Montvale: Aula, P. and Siira, K. 2010. Organizational Communication and Conflict Management Systems.A Social Complexity Approach, 31. Brookfield, S. D. 1990. Using critical incidents to explore learners’ assumptions.In J. 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