Philippine E-Journals

Converlogical Management Theory: Towards the Development of the Communicative Competence of an Organization

Marife C. Posadas

Discipline: Management

 

Abstract:

Management practice has been evolving from a very rigid and behavioristic practice into something more flexible and humanistic. Critical Management Studies (CMS) is, partly, inspiring such move. In the same vein, I attempted to combine and “mutually animate” Management by Objective (MBO) popularized by great management guru Peter Drucker and the Theory of Communicative Action (TCA) by Jurgen Habermas. The result of which is a novel management theory called “Converlogical” (Conversational/Dialogical) Management Theory. I used concept analysis and deductive approach on various materials to build the theory. The whole MBO process was animated by embedding the validity claims of Habermas’ truth, rightness, intelligibility and sincerity. The fusion of the vision of Drucker and Habermas highlights the moral and transformative function of business organizations today. Such organization requires the development of communicative competence to be embedded in the organization’s core values, structures, staffing, capability building programs, organizational culture, communication processes, and performance management system. This paper provides practical recommendations how communicative competence can be operationalized in an organization. Such humanistic vision for organizations provided by Drucker and Habermas should not be ignored even when organizations are pressured to privilege strategic rationality in its attempt to adapt and thrive within an increasingly complex business environment.