Question:
Answer:
Leadership is the all pervading quality that leads all organisations and top executives who have gained the position to lead the corporate world. Communication is considered to be the most important characteristic of a leader which supports all the other competencies (Hackman and Johnson 2013). Technical expertise and knowledge of advance technology are indispensible tools to sustain in the market. There is always a debate over the predominance of communication skills and technical knowledge in leadership functions. Corporate leaders like managers lead their teams towards goals and there is continuous exchange of information between them. It can be pointed out that leadership functions cannot be carried out without communication. Technology helps the managers to communicate with their teams while communication is very support system on which teams stand. Thus, communication is more important than technology when it comes to leaders (Johnston and Marshall 2016).
The first argument that can be given against the motion is that communication is the very essence of leadership. Leaders need to planning, organise, staff, control and communicate in order to lead (Hashem 2017). It can be pointed out that managers set targets based on the communication with the management and the market. The managers interact with their teams and planning the strategies. The managers organise the tasks according to the skills and expertise which have inspired scientific management. The departmental heads control the flow of tasks in order to ensure that the targets are achieved within the deadlines. Thus, it can be mentioned that communication is present in all these steps and connects them. Technology today has strengthened organisational communication between the organisations and the society (Lauring and Klitmøller 2015). The advancement of technology has made operations like production, communication and marketing easier. Video chat, cloud communication and teleconferencing system and other advanced technology has made communication and decision making easier, accurate and faster. This helps the management and the departmental heads take decisions and make strategies, once again which are leadership responsibilities. Thus, it can be pointed from the above discussion that communication is the very lifeline of leadership functions while technology has evolved to help organisations operations. Thus, communication is more important to leaders than technology (Bharadwaj et al. 2013).
Intense market competition has forced the companies to adapt to the market conditions to acquire leading positions in the market. The companies today have to maintain communication with external stakeholders like governments, financial institutions, supply chain management and so on. This requires them to possess a power to communicate strategic information with these parties. For example, the companies have to communicate with the financial institutions about their financial needs and so on. They need to do it in order to gain information to choose the best asset classes to invest in and multiply their available financial capital. Communication helps companies to interact with the outside identities like suppliers and financial institutions to get resources, both materials and financial (Hashim 2015). Technology has advanced a great deal and provides the companies to invest in overseas capital markets over the internet. Hence, it proves that communication is the very force which helps the companies to acquire resources to operate while technology helps in converting the resources into capital, like interest earned from foreign investments. It can also be pointed out that the power of the leading companies to communicate with financial and material sources is responsible for their huge resources. This leads them to operate in economies of scale and acquire leadership in the market. This forms the second argument to prove that communication is the essential power every organisation needs to possess to gain market leadership (Manova, Wei and Zhang 2015).
The next argument that proves that communication is more important than technology is the business operation methods of the organisations. The organisations like Unilever and Procter & Gamble are present in all the big markets by the virtue of their strong communication power. They lead the world market with their brands worth billions of dollars. They communicate with the suppliers all over the world which enable them to get raw materials at economic rate. This allows them to keep their cost of production low and offer goods at affordable prices. Once again they find ready market because of their transparent communication policies. The consumers are aware of the high quality of their products which gain them their own identities and become brands. Again, the multinational companies are able to distribute their products through intricate networks of wholesalers and retailers. They supply networks and the distributor chains are always eager to work with these companies owing to their transparent communication of payment policies and terms. The suppliers and distributors can gain information regarding the invoices, outstanding payments and so on from the companies’ official website. Thus communication helps in creating a powerful supply and distribution channel which help the companies to conduct business all over the world. The official websites and advanced technology only help these leading companies to communicate with these parties. Thus, communication is the very crux of production and distribution of goods around the world while technology provides it a powerful support.
The next argument that proves the predominance of communication over technical expertise is that marketing is all about communication. Companies gain edge in marketing due to their technical power while communication remains in the centre. Companies invest huge amount money to operate and produce goods and services on a large scale. They need to create awareness in the market to sell their products. The companies communicate their products to the consumers through promotion. It can again be pointed out that the technical expertises of the companies help them to promote their products both in the digital markets and physical markets. It is this power of communication that leads to acquisition of large consumer base to which the companies sell their products to generate huge revenue. Hence, communication remains in the very centre of promotion activities while technology provides it the digital platform. Promotion is limited without technology but impossible without communication.
Communication plays a very role in following the corporate social responsibilities of the companies. Corporate social responsibilities have necessitated the companies to use innovative technology to benefit the society. Thus, technology carries communication on its shoulders, reiterating its predominance of the latter, proving the motion incorrect. Today, all the leading companies are required to frame policies to benefit the society. They are regarded as social members who have their own psychologies and identities. The leading companies today communicate their concern for the society by taking up charitable activities. They use advanced technology to manage their production and waste handling process to reduce pollution which again forms a part of their CSR. They communicate their social responsibilities by these activities (Andreu, Casado-Díaz and Mattila 2015). The laws of all the countries require the companies to frame policies to reduce pollution. The CSR of the companies are the very expression of those policies. Thus, it can be said once again that communication helps the companies to stay connected to the society and retain their goodwill.
The next opinion to establish the predominance of communication over technical expertise is the role of the former in motivating employees. Leaders like departmental heads lead their departments towards achieve of goal. The departmental heads need to communicate with their teams to build healthy relations among the employees. This raises the self esteem of the employees and motivates them to work harder (Hou 2015). Communication promotes healthy relationships and conflict management. Thus, communication helps the managers lead their teams towards attainment of goals and reduces the chances of conflict. It can be opined that advanced technology like video conferencing and email has made communication easier which has increased group dynamics (Crowley and Heyer 2015). It can again be pointed out that verbal communication and gesture still play a major role in helping leaders motivate their teams. It is this power of communication which helps leaders increases the efficiency of their employees which in turn increases the efficiency of the company (Dietz et al. 2014). Thus, two things can be said from the above discussion to prove that communication skills are of primary importance to effective leadership. First, leaders can motivate their teams even verbally without using technology and secondly, technology aids in communication which is the very centre of leadership activities (Berson et al. 2015). It is a fact that the highly efficiently human resources aligned to the business objectives play strategic role in the market leadership of the companies.
The above discussion reinstate that communication is the very spirit and power behind leadership. Communication acts platform where companies interact with the external market factors to formulate strategies. It connects and synchronises the departments, managers and the teams of employees to form the fabric of organisational culture. Technology merely supports communication and is secondary as far as leadership is concerned. Communication today transverses leadership qualities at both organisational and individual levels. It helps companies to communicate with other entities to invest its capital and generate income. It is the very medium which helps companies to sell their products to generate revenue to gain market leadership. Technology merely provides platform for this interaction thus merely supporting communication. Leadership will become weak without technology but cease to exist without communication.
References:
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Berson, Y., Halevy, N., Shamir, B. and Erez, M., 2015. Leading from different psychological distances: A construal-level perspective on vision communication, goal setting, and follower motivation. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(2), pp.143-155.
Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O.A., Pavlou, P.A. and Venkatraman, N.V., 2013. Digital business strategy: toward a next generation of insights.
Crowley, D. and Heyer, P., 2015. Communication in history: Technology, culture, society. Routledge.
Dietz, A.S., Pronovost, P.J., Mendez-Tellez, P.A., Wyskiel, R., Marsteller, J.A., Thompson, D.A. and Rosen, M.A., 2014. A systematic review of teamwork in the intensive care unit: What do we know about teamwork, team tasks, and improvement strategies?. Journal of critical care, 29(6), pp.908-914.
Hackman, M.Z. and Johnson, C.E., 2013. Leadership: A communication perspective. Waveland Press.
Hashem, M. 2017. Communication: The Most Important Key to Leadership Success – Thayer Development Group. [online] Thayerleaderdevelopment.com. Available at: https://www.thayerleaderdevelopment.com/blog/2017/communication-the-most-important-key-to-leadership-success [Accessed 4 May 2017].
Hashim, J., 2015. Information communication technology (ICT) adoption among SME owners in Malaysia. International Journal of Business and Information, 2(2).
Hou, A.C., 2015, September. Switching Motivations on Instant Messaging: A Study Based on Two Factor Theory. In International Conference on Multidisciplinary Social Networks Research (pp. 3-15). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Johnston, M.W. and Marshall, G.W., 2016. Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology. Routledge.
Lauring, J. and Klitmøller, A., 2015. Corporate language-based communication avoidance in MNCs: A multi-sited ethnography approach. Journal of World Business, 50(1), pp.46-55.
Manova, K., Wei, S.J. and Zhang, Z., 2015. Firm exports and multinational activity under credit constraints. Review of Economics and Statistics, 97(3), pp.574-588.
