Organisational Communication in Clarence Primary School

1. Organisational Communication in Clarence Primary School.
Short Research proposal
Andile Andries Ndlovu
2015

2. Step 1
Research topic:
Lack of communication from the Principal to the support staff in Clarence
Primary School.
Clarence Primary School was founded in 1905 by the local stakeholders of
Greyville, it is one of the oldest schools around Durban. According to ones
observation in Clarence Primary school was the lack of communication from the
principal to the support staff members, but rather the principal only focuses on
the academic staff in terms of proper communication. On the basis of theoretical
studies written by scholars about lack of communication in an organisation
somehow causes a plight which requires thorough improvement, however Joseph
adds in ones observation by stating that “Lack of communication in the workplace
can occur on a large scale, such as between management and employees, as well
as on a smaller scale between individual employees” (Joseph 1999:56).
Furthermore failure to communicate effectively often leads to conflict, which can
harm an organization. The care takers, Clarks, administrators and other support
staff members are alienated in the formal and informal communication
engagements, in that way this somehow makes them feel as outcast within the
institution that they work for and amongst the academic staff members that are
treated with dignity and involved in every conversation for the improvement of
the school. This is indeed a major issue because the school cannot by any chance
be able to function fluently without the support staff members, but they are
alienated from any sort of communication.
Step 2
Literature review:

3. Through the past decades vast scholars have argued about the exact definition of
Organisational communication. According to Robbins organisational
communication basically means that in the social constructionist approach,
organizational communication can be defined as the way language is used to
create different kinds of social structures, such as relationships, teams, and
networks (Robbins 2005:245). However Kyle Argues stating that organisational
communication is based on a process of activities in a society that are collected
and coordinated to reach the goals of both individuals and the collective group
thus it is a subfield of general communications studies and is often a component
to effective management in a workplace environment (Kyle 2008: 14).
According to one’s empirical understanding of the definition of organisational
communication is the process of creating a platform of exchanging ideas and
coming up with a solid decision and also for having a good relationship in an
organisation. As definition of organisational communication have been
discussed, we focus on the lack of communication and the impact of lack of
communication in an organisation based on the views of scholars. Smith adds on
by stating that companies often rely on teams to complete special projects or even
to carry out the routine functions of a department, If members of the team do not
communicate well with each other, it may not be clear what roles and
responsibilities each member must assume, Some tasks might overlap while
others might be overlooked completely, leading to confusion and conflict
between team members and the ultimate failure to achieve objectives (Smith
1984:78).
Furthermore Kroeber also adds value to the theory of lack of communication in
an organisation stating that Poor communication can lead to the spread of
rumours and gossip, which can create tension among employees, if management
fails to address speculation that the institution may be downsizing, for example,
rumours may spread about certain employees or departments to be eliminated

4. (Kroeber 2009:10). According to one’s understanding lack of communication
can create uncertainty that leads to stress and conflict. For instance, one worker
may be waiting for a colleague to deliver key information so he can complete a
task on time. If the colleague does not respond to the worker's request for a status
report or the colleague neglects to keep the worker "in the loop," the worker may
begin to worry that the colleague will not deliver in a timely manner. As a result,
conflict between the two may occur.
Step 3
Formulating hypotheses or research questions
In this step one will formulate a set of questionnaires for the alienated group of
people in one’s research problem of which is the support staff members in
Clarence Primary School. These questions will contain the age, gender,
occupation, monthly salary and few questions based on how they feel about being
alienated in their workplace.
1. Age: ………………….
2. Gender: …………………..
3. Occupation: ……………………..
4. Years of service in Clarence Primary School: ……………………………
5. Monthly salary: ………………
6. What can you say about the communication process of the principal and
the support staff?...........................................................................................
7. During general meeting that do not only have the management, are you’ll
invited to come and lay your opinions?.........................................................
8. How do you feel about this treatment of alienation in your work
place?...................................................................................................
9. Who do you report to? ………………………………………………….

5. 10.Do you’ll have a union that represents you’ll in your
grievances?...................................................................................................
Step 4
Selecting or developing the research design
The research design is based on the topic that one chose that needs thorough
improvement in terms of the Lack of communication from the Principal of
Clarence Primary School to the support staff members. I will use the applied
research based on the type of research in so doing on the information needs I will
use the explanatory, exploratory and casual, lastly on the methodology I will use
the qualitative research methodology which will involve questionnaires that will
be used to get responses from the alienated support staff members to complete
this research.
Step 5
Writing the research proposal
The title of this research proposal is “Lack of communication from the principal
to the support staff member in Clarence primary School” the literature review
firstly defines the definition of organisational communication based on different
perspective from various scholars, however the literature review also looks at the
lack of communication in an organisation like Clarence Primary School and the
negative impact that it plays. Furthermore the research proposal also contains
questionnaires for the formulation of the hypotheses or research questions in so
doing the questionnaires contain a set of 10 questions that require respondents to
respond to. The selection of the research design is based on the applied research,
and also consist of the explanatory, exploratory and causal information needs, on
the research methodology one chose the qualitative research methodology.

6. Journal entry
1) I encountered a predominant plight that majority of black South Africans
experience when they go to places that have a large number of white
people. On the first day when I came to observe I somehow felt unwelcome
because I was asked to wait for hours before I was attended to, plus the
educators and the principal was not open enough regarding my
observations to view improvements based on the communication issues.
2) When I was conducting my observations I pointed out few loop holes that
need to be dealt with, for instance the tone and pace in which the principal
communicates with his staff members is unacceptable and it is not good for
communication purposes. At times he use to shout at the employees, which
made them feel as if they are not doing their work correctly.

7. Reference
1. Joseph K (1999): Back to Ethics in Organisations. Killarney Publishers.
2. Kroeber F (2009): Communication culture. Heidelberg University in
Germany.
3. Kyle C G (2008): Impact of communication in an organisation. Pearson
University press.
4. Robbins S P (2005): Organisational behaviour. Pearson University Press.
5. Smith S (1984): Organisational functionality. Chicago University.