EMBRACING TOP-DOWN INFORMATION COMMUNICATION AS A MEANS OF ENHANCING INNOVATION IN ORGANIZATIONS

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literatures that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in three sub-headings:

• Conceptual Framework
• Theoretical Framework
• Empirical Review

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.1.1 Communication

Ramah (1985) defines communication as “the transmission and reception of ideas, feelings and attitudes verbally or non-verbally to produce a favourable response”. Draft (2000) defines communication as “the process by which information is exchanged and understood by two or more people usually with the intention to motivate on influence behavior”. Communication refers to the exchange of information between a sender (source) and a receiver (destination) so that it is received, understood and leads to action (Obamiro, 2008). Obilade (1989) defines communication as “a process that involves the transmission of message from a sender to the receiver. Folarin (2003) defines communication as “any means by which a thought is transferred from one person to another”. Communication is the process by which any person or a group shares and impacts information with/to another person (or group) so that both people (or groups) clearly understood one another (Soola, 2000).

Not just giving information, it is the giving of understandable information and receiving and therefore, the transferring of a message to another party so that it can be understood and acted upon (Ode, 1999). Ugbojah (2001) defines communication as “the process which involves all acts of transmitting messages to channels which link people to the languages and symbolic ……… which are used to transmit such messages. It is also the means by which such messages are received and stored. It includes the rules, customs and conventions which define and regulate human relationship and events”. In its simplest form, however, communication is the transmission of a message from a source to a receiver… or the process of creating shared meaning (Baran, 2004:4). It has been shown that there exists various definitions for communication, as there are different disciplines. While some definitions are human centred, others are not. For example, communication system may incorporate computers, as well as less soplusticated reproducing devices such as photocopiers. A photocopier may see communication as meaning different thing from the way a marketer preconceives it. Similarly, a gospel preacher may think communication is something, which is of course different from what a journalist thinks it is. Therefore, there is no single definition of communication agreed upon by scholars. Psychologists, sociologists, medical practioners, philosophies and communication specialists, all define communication based on their orientations and perspectives. Psychologists defined communication as “the process by which an individual (the communicator) transmits stimuli (usually verbal symbols) to modify the behaviours of the other individuals (communicates)”. This definition describes what many extension workers and change agents hope to achieve. Sociologists see communications “as the mechanism through which human relations exit and develop”. Some people define communication rather narrowly, saying “communication is the process whereby one person tells another something through the written or spoken word”. This definition, from a book written by a journalist, seems reasonable for those in that field. So, there are definitions of communication as there are various disciplines. Communication is from a latin word-communis, which means common or shared understanding. Communication therefore is a purposeful effect to establish commonness between a source and receiver (Schramn, 1965). Whatever is being shared could be associated with knowledge, experience, thought, ideas, suggestions, opinions, feelings etc.

For the purpose of this paper, communication is defined as the process of exchanging or sharing information, ideas and feeling between the sender and the receiver.

2.1.2 Role of Communication in Business Organisation

In order to maintain a business organisation it has been necessary to incorporate certain employees along with the proper management to get the best effectual consequences of the business. Hence, if in the setting of the business organisation there would not be any types of the communication between the employees and the management or the administration, then as a result misunderstanding would definitely take place. Breevaart et al. (2014, p.157) notified that in the recent context of the business, most of the organisation needs to conduct various campaign, various strategies for improving their entire service by creating a strong relationship with the customers for the betterment of the business. It has been observed that most of the communication happens among the various organisations. Therefore, it is crucial part to have an effectual communication procedure in the organisational setting. Clutterbuck and Hirst (2012, p.78) remarked that communication can be considered as an art to connect with each of the employees of the concerned organisation or might be the other organisation as well. The managers of the organisation in modern context should inculcate this art. Thus, it can be said that, communication could help the managers of the organisation to execute their responsibilities towards their employees and organisation as well. However, Beer (2014, p.143) commented if a manager is to implement or recognise any strategies or requirement of the strategies, then that managerial figure must communicate with the other managerial bodies or the employees to discuss about it. On the other side, the managers must communicate with their subordinates to maintain the job task within the organisational setting or to set the team goals to accomplish it, which is somewhat impossible without any types of communication. Therefore, as a result the successful implementation of the strategies could enhance the service offered by them to the customers. In this context Shuck and Herd (2012, p.30) has mentioned about two internal communication that include Top-down and bottom-up communication. On one hand, topdown communication provides the increasing application of the various workplace communications in order to make the employees aware regarding their availability, accessibility with the management supports and programme values (Cooren, 2012, p.20). On the other hand, bottom up communication describes the requirements of employees, their perspective regarding the job task and their valuable opinion. From this very aspect, it can be concluded that with the incorporation of both communication have been very fruitful to accomplish the organisational objective in very noteworthy comportment. In this framework to have the understanding regarding the employee communication strategies, that organisation could implement in the business settings. Welch (2012, p.250) opined that offering the employees a regular opportunities to provide feedback management could augment the effectiveness of communication between the management and the employees. In communication vehicles, such as group meetings, hall meetings, employee survey, and suggestion boxes could be incorporated to have the significant upshot. Apart from that, through making organisation’s goals and assessment of employees’ requirements, upper section of the organisation could get the effective connecting procedures.

Types of Communication

Organizational communication is a system of networks linking the three hierarchical levels (management, union and staff) together in order to enhance productivity. The two major types of communication channel within an organization are: formal and informal patterns of communication.

Formal Pattern of Communication

Formal patterns of communication are the official paths recognized by management. They follow the established chain of command or line of authority. Formal information can be transmitted internally or externally.

1. Internal Communication

Internal communication takes place within an organizational framework to coordinate organizational resources. It conveys information through letters, memos, circulars, etc, to employees. It is divided into three broad parts.

a. Horizontal Communication: This is also called lateral communication. It is the transmission of message along the same lateral or similar level in an organization. This occurs between team members, between different teams and employees on the same or similar level. The use of horizontal communication is on the increase because of the interactive electronic communication technologies such as e-mail and phone messages that greatly enhance horizontal communication by making it possible to establish leaning communities and virtual teams of employees who work together even different locations.

b. Vertical Communication: Vertical communication is an organization communication that involves two different movements, that is, from “up down” and from “down to up” along the organizational hierarchy. It comprises downward and upward communication.

i Downward Communication: this refers to movement of information from the top management to the lowest officers.

ii Upward Communication: this is the pattern trough which superior gets necessary feedback on surbodinates’ actions.

Forms of Communication

The three major forms of communication commonly used by managers in organization are:

a. Written Communication: it involves the use of letters, memos, bulletin, procedures/ policy manuals, notices, books, etc., to transmit information in an organization.

b. Oral communication: this refers to verbal conversation between two or more persons in an organization. It is a face-to-face interaction and most frequently used kind of communication channel during conferences, seminars, meetings, interviews,etc. It is rich in content, because there is a high level of interaction between the sender and the receiver.

c. Non-Verbal Communication: this means using any form other than written and oral communication to transmit information. This includes the use of facial expressions, body movement and personal appearance to pass information. Important categories are Kinetic behavior, physical distance, tone of voice and object language.

2.1.3 Top-down communication

There are two types of internal communication such as top-down and bottom-up. In this study, main variables’ has focused on the understanding of the top-down communication in the field of the business and employee engagement (Lewis, 2015, p.24). Thus, it has been crucial to evaluate the top-down management communication. In a very simplistic way, top-down communication can be termed as the communication procedure from the part of the management of the concerned organisation towards the employees of that very organisation (Amaladoss, and Manohar, 2013, p.75). Therefore, to have the better consequences of the top-down communication, concerned management or administration should have to be very careful. Bakker et al. (2012, p.55) preached that in a very brief way, top-down communication could be defined a s the process of flowing the information or the messages from the upper level of the organisation to down-level that is employees of the organisation. It is applied to inform them regarding the accessibility of the service or make them aware about their job oriented task and their expected contribution. From the managerial point of view, it was stated that this is an approach to have proper decision taken by the boards or the administration to accomplish the goals of organisation through a particular method. This very communication involves the hierarchical structure within the organisation to communicate with the employees (Reich and Benbasat, 2013, p.265). In this very context, Cooren (2012, p.15) has argued that, this can be termed as a method through which economical trend are scrutinised in order to get the effectual benefit from the service of the organisation. This top-down communication has been termed as the downward communication as well. Magilvy and Thomas (2009, p.300) mentioned that during this conscientious communication, it is expected to have efficient responses from the side of employees, which is one directional and not reciprocal. In this perspective, one instance for the top-own communication could include the explanation and stating the organisation’s mission and vision as well the relevant strategies to accomplish those goals for the betterment of the organisation. In addition Crowther and Lancaster (2012, p.20) noted that through the effective downward communication, employees could receive and understand the messages or information, which upper level management has offered. Whether illuminating or persuading, fruitful sliding correspondence results in making employees ready for a move or for the most part going about according to the communicators' craving. Thus, from this very perspective it could be stated that downward communication could be fruitful enough to gain the profit from the service that the organisation is offering to the customers in the current business settings (Daft, 2012, p.36). Communication expert in business field, Anderson and Dale opined that downward communication could offer the organisation different types of profit, such as, developed morale, enhanced performance and industrial relationship, efficient co-ordination and communication with employees and customers; and all theses aspects are indeed important for the further development of the organisation.

Top-Down Communication Process

Top-down Communication process components involve the following:

a. Sender: The sender/encoder is the initiator of the message. The sender can be an individual, group or organization with ideas, desires, needs to transmit to other party or parties.

b. Encoding: This is a process that selects the appropriate language that the receiver understands. Making signals to another person, using shared symbols or putting one’s thoughts into a letter are examples of encoding.

c. Message: Message refers to idea, thought, needs, emotions etc, put into a symbol, figure, sign, etc. It is the actual physical product being encoded by the source.

d. Channel: The channel is a means by which a message is conveyed. The sender must make sure that the appropriate channel is used to transmit message. Evans (1978) is of the opinion that the choice of a medium depends upon proximity.

e. Receiver: The receiver is the person(s) the message is targeted at. That is, the recipient(s) of the transmitted information. If the information is not received by receiver, there is no communication.

f. Decoding: Decoding is a process that occurs at the reception level where impulses, figures and symbols are interpreted and translated into meaningful information. Effective communication can only occur when both the encoder (sender) and decoder(receiver) attach the same or at least similar meanings to the symbols that make up the message.

2.1.4 Communication challenges in modern organisation

The implication of the effective communication strategies in the organisational context is helpful enough for the development of the entire organisational service, though in the modern context, certain challenges have been implicated (Ruck and Welch, 2012, p.302). Those challenges include the following:

Not all employees being kept informed

In the organisational structure, most of the time it has been notified that often employees are not kept informed regarding certain matters (Schaufeli and Taris, 2014, p.68). It is the fundamental factor for the communication process in the organisational setting to inform all the employees or send the important messages and each of the employees should be informed in the most approachable manner. However, the management misses it.

Employees are not receiving the message on time:

Information has been regarded as the important message to be delivered to the right person and at the right time (Schaufeli, 2012, p.10). However, in the modern organisational context it was observed that right information is not reached to the person on time and as a result, that very person or employees could not be able to provide the service to the concerned people as it was expected due to the miscommunication.

Employees are not receiving the consistent messages from the management:

As commented by Sonenshein and Dholakia (2012, p.23) to be active in the performance, employees must be informed with the important messages regarding the organisational strategies or aspects. However, due to the least communication or the lack of proper communication skill often the employees are not informed consistently or they are not updated with the entire system of the organisation.

Plan is unknown for future:

Due to the least up gradation of the organisational service, employees are not known of the plan and therefore those employees would not be able to take up the essential and important strategies for the better development of their performances and the organisation’s performances as well.

Functional area not collaborating:

In organisational structure, there are various departments, which work in its different situational context and the requirement by the organisation. In this scaffold, it has been notified that these departments are not even are collaborating with each other, they are competing instead (Welch, 2012, p.246). As a result, then people or the employees to instigate the performances do not receive important information.

Communication hampered by Distance between units:

It has been earlier told that distance create distance. However, it can be denied completely. When an organisation is situated in different locations, therefore it becomes impossible to communicate with each of the individual related with the organisation with the effective approach (Hurn and Tomalin, 2013, p.21). Therefore, it becomes harder to make a proper collaboration between the management and employees. However, with theses above-mentioned challenges organisation cannot go on for a very long time; and thus it is required to settle down the as soon as possible with bets effective strategies.

Concept of Innovation

Innovation is commonly defined as the "carrying out of new combinations” that include “the introduction of new goods, ... new methods of production, ... the opening of new markets, ... the conquest of new sources of supply ... and the carrying out of a new organization of any industry”[1] However, many scholars and governmental organizations has given their own definition of the concept. Some common element in the different definitions is a focus on newness, improvement and spread. It is also often viewed as taking place through the provision of more-effective products, processes, services, technologies, artworksor business models that innovators makeavailableto markets, governments and society. An innovation is something original and more effective and, as a consequence, new, that "breaks into" the market or society. Innovation is related to, but not the same as, invention: innovation is more apt to involve the practical implementation of an invention (i.e. new / improved ability) to make a meaningful impact in a market or society, and not all innovations require a new invention. Technical Innovation oftenmanifests itself via the engineering process when the problem being solved is of a technical or scientific nature. The opposite of innovation is exnovation.

In economics, management science, and other fields of practice and analysis, innovation is generally considered to be the result of a process that brings together various novel ideas in such a way that they affect society. In industrial economics, innovations are created and found[ empirically from services to meet growing consumerdemand.

Surveys of the literature on innovation have found a large variety of definitions. In 2009, Baregheh et al found around 60 definitions in different scientific papers, while a 2014 survey found over 40.[10]. Based on their survey, Baragheh et al attempted to define a multidisciplinary definition and arrived at the following definition:

"Innovation is the multi-stage process whereby organizations transform ideas into new/improved products, service or processes, in order to advance, compete and differentiate themselves successfully in their marketplace”

In an industrial survey of how the software industry defined innovation, the following definition given by Crossan and Apaydin was considered to be the most complete, which builds on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) manual's definition:

Innovation is production or adoption, assimilation, and exploitation of a value-added novelty in economic and social spheres; renewal and enlargement of products, services, and markets; development of new methods of production; and the establishment of new management systems. It is both a process and an outcome.

Influential scholar Everett Rogers, defines it as follows:

"An idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption"

According to Kanter, innovation includes original invention and creative use and defines innovation as a generation, admission and realization of new ideas, products, services and processes.

Two main dimensions of innovation were degree of [novelty] (i.e. whether an innovation is new to the firm, new to the market, new to the industry, or new to the world) and kind of innovation (i.e. whether it is processor product-service system innovation). In recent organizational scholarship, researchers of workplaces have also distinguished innovation to be separate from creativity, by providing an updated definition of these two related but distinct constructs:

Workplace creativity concerns the cognitive and behavioral processes applied when attempting to generate novel ideas. Workplace innovation concerns the processes applied when attempting to implement new ideas. Specifically, innovation involves some combination of problem/opportunity identification, the introduction, adoption or modification of new ideas germane to organizational needs, the promotion of these ideas, and the practical implementation of these ideas.

Peter Drucker wrote:

Innovation is the specific function of entrepreneurship, whether in an existing business, a public service institution, or a new venture started by a lone individual in the family kitchen. It is the means by which the entrepreneur either creates new wealth-producing resources or endows existing resources with enhanced potential for creating wealth.

Processes of Innovation

One of the early models included only 3 basic phases for innovation. According to Utterback (1971), these phases were: 1) idea generation, 2) problem solving, and 3) implementation. By the time one completed phase 2, one had an invention, but until one got it to the point of having an economic impact, one didn't have an innovation. Diffusion wasn't considered a phase of innovation heavy. Focus at this point in time was on manufacturing.

All organizations can innovate, including for example hospitals, universities, and local governments. The organization requires a proper structure in order to retain competitive advantage. Organizations can also improve profits and performance by providing work groups opportunities and resources to innovate, in addition to employee's core job tasks. It is necessary to create and nurture an environment of innovation. Executives and managers have been advised to break away from traditional ways of thinking and use change to their advantage. The world of work is changing with the increase in the use of technology and both companies and businesses are becoming increasingly competitive. Companies will have to downsize or reengineer their operations to remain competitive. This will affect employment as businesses will be forced to reduce the number of people employed while accomplishing the same amount of work if not more.

For instance, former Mayor Martin O’Malley pushed the City of Baltimore to use CitiStat, a performance-measurement data and management system that allows city officials to maintain statistics on several areas from crime trends to the conditions of potholes. This system aided in better evaluation of policies and procedures with accountability and efficiency in terms of time and money. In its first year, CitiStat saved the city $13.2 million.[43] Even mass transit systems have innovated with hybrid bus fleets to real-time tracking at bus stands. In addition, the growing use of mobile data terminals in vehicles, that serve as communication hubs between vehicles and a control center, automatically send data on location, passenger counts, engine performance, mileage and other information. This tool helps to deliver and manage transportation systems.

Still other innovative strategies include hospitals digitizing medical information in electronic medical records. For example, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's HOPE VI initiatives turned severely distressed public housing in urban areas into revitalized, mixed-income environments; the Harlem Children’s Zone used a community-based approach to educate local area children; and the Environmental Protection Agency's brownfield grants facilitates turning over brownfields for environmental protection, green spaces, community and commercial development.

Sources of Innovation

Innovation may occur as a result of a focus effort by a range of different agents, by chance, or as a result of a major system failure. According to Peter F. Drucker, the general sources of innovations are different changes in industry structure, in market structure, in local and global demographics, in human perception, mood and meaning, in the amount of already available scientific knowledge, etc.[15]

Original model of three phases of the process of Technological Change

In the simplest linear model of innovation the traditionally recognized source is manufacturer innovation. This is where an agent (person or business) innovates in order to sell the innovation. Specifically, R&D measurement is the commonly used input for innovation, in particular in the business sector, named Business Expenditure on R&D (BERD) that grew over the years on the expenses of the declining R&D invested by the public sector.

Another source of innovation, only now becoming widely recognized, is end-user innovation. This is where an agent (person or company) develops an innovation for their own (personal or in-house) use because existing products do not meet their needs. MIT economist Eric von Hippel has identified end-user innovation as, by far, the most important and critical in his classic book on the subject, "The Sources of Innovation".

The robotics engineer Joseph F. Engelberger asserts that innovations require only three things:

1. a recognized need
2. competent people with relevant technology
3. financial support

Innovation processes usually involve: identifying customer needs, macro and meso trends, developing competences, and finding financial support.

The Kline chain-linked model of innovationplaces emphasis on potential market needs as drivers of the innovation process, and describes the complex and often iterative feedback loops between marketing, design, manufacturing, and R&D.

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Conversation theory

In order to evaluate the, communication approaches in the working setting it has been cleared to have the lucid understanding of the theory of the conversation. Talk speculation is a modernized and contention framework that offers a coherent theory to reveal how associations lead to improvement of data, or knowing wishing to spare both the component/dynamic quality, and the requirement for there to be a "knower". Gordon Pask proposed this work in 1970.

Conversation theory is arranged to Pask's most prominent point of interest in software engineering. Counterfeit consciousness can be portrayed as the theoretical examination of control strategies in electronic, mechanical, and characteristic structures. Panneerselvam (2014, p.25) described it as the examination of correspondence and control in the animal and the machine, or the correspondence within an onlooker and between the observer and his environment. The focal thought about the theory was that learning happens through dialogs around a subject, which serves to make, data express.

2.3 EMPIRICAL REVIEW

Shonubi and Akintaro (2018) carried out a study with the main objective to look at the impact of Effective Communication flow on Organizational Performance. The discussion was based on series of empirical studies of communication and organizational performance. The research findings validated the synerginous relationship between communication flow approach and efficient organizational performance. They also recommended that there can still be more room for improvement and consequently better performance if management give more clarity of ideas before attempting to communicate to the workers.

In the research conducted by Tabrej (2016) on an analysis of the impact of top-down communication on the employee engagement, after having augmented knowledge from theoretical underpinnings and conceptual model the researcher designed sample size including 40 low-level employees and 4 mangers from 2 different stores of Tesco using simple random sampling limiting biases for the survey and interview. Using statistical and mathematical calculation, numeric values was transformed to percentage form for and was interpretated. The study found out that top-down information communication enhances employee engagement and that one way communication flow, minimal chance for feedback and slow feedback hinders effectiveness of top-down communication so employee engagement. The findings suggest that how feedback and access of information play crucial roles in order to accelerate the process of employee engagement with the organisation facilitating top-down communication.

Leif et al (2014) design a laboratory experiment to identify causal performance effects of top-down communication between managers and their subordinates. The focus was on communication that resolves uncertainty about the work environment but does not provide task-specific knowledge. The results found out that top-down communication is a profitable way for managers to increase employee performance in the presence of uncertainty. Specifically, it showed that non-communication is the worst option for managers. However, 50 percent of the experimental managers use top-down communication too restrictively. Overall, managers forego 30 percent of their potential profits through non-communication. The study showed that organizations can overcome this problem by adopting automated information procedures, which are equally effective.

Luis (2018) research paper studied how communication allows for the specialized acquisition of knowledge. It showed that a knowledge-based hierarchy is a natural way to organize the acquisition of knowledge when matching problems with those who know how to solve them is costly. In such an organization, production workers acquire knowledge about the most common or easiest problems confronted, and specialized problem solvers deal with the more exceptional or harder problems. The paper showed that the model is consistent with stylized facts in the theory of organizations and uses it to analyze the impact of changes in production and information technology on organizational design.