TRANSACTIONAL AND CONSTRUCTIVIST COMMUNICATION MODELS

 

QUESTION

With relevant examples, describe in detail any two communication models used in the business environment.

    Look at those red new leaves! Beautiful! The leaves are red when young, starting to turn green from about one to one-and-a-half weeks. 
 

SUGGESTED ANSWER

Communication is the exchange of meanings between individuals through a shared system of sounds, signs and other forms of message.

                       The Transactional Model of Communication

In the transactional model of communication, at one point party A is the sender and party B is the receiver; in the next moment, party B becomes the sender and party A becomes the receiver. That is, the sender/receiver status alternates between the two parties. In other words, when one party receives a message from the sender, they become the sender themselves when they give feedback. The original sender now becomes the receiver (the feedback is the message they receive).

As a result of the switching of status from sender to receiver and back, parties A and B are referred to as communicators rather than sender and receiver. This also explains why the model is said to be “transactional”, whichis a word normally associated with the commercial activities of buying andselling. Indeed, in business transactions, there is something to give and also something to receiver for each of the parties (who we call C and D). We give an example of a business transaction in the next paragraph.

C is selling a wrist watch and D is buying the wrist watch at $25. One set of actions involves C physically offering the watch to D and D taking possession of the watch (in which C could be called the sender and D the receiver). There is then a second set of actions in which D physically offers $25 to C and C accepts the money (this now makes D the sender and C the receiver). This is how transactional communication mirrors a commercial exchange.

            Transactional communication is two-way interaction. It is real-time exchange of messages. As a result, both parties are normally present, though not necessarily in the same place. Examples of transactional communication include face-to-face speaking, a skype talk and a message exchange in a chat room.

Diagram 1, below, illustrates transactional communication.

 

Criticism of the transactional model

·         A response is a necessity. Without a verbal response, it is not easy for the sender to be confident the message has been received as intended.

·         Since the message exchange is concomitant, interference is a big possibility.

 

The Constructivist Model of Communication

Constructivism was first used by Jean Piaget to describe the learning and cognitive processes of children. The constructivist model of communication is, in the general sense, much in line with that, as it is based on the principle that the real meaning of what has to be conveyed in messages comes out through the social process of communication.

The constructivist model focuses on the common ground or negotiated meaning reached as the communicators (sender and receiver) clarify the key components of the messages going in each direction.

Constructivist communication is exchange of meanings that develops through reaching a common understanding on different things. It is bout people getting to a stage where they start getting the same meaning from particular signals, sounds and other kinds of communication package. The way a child learns to communicate is indeed one example of a constructivist model of communication.

Constructivism learning is influenced by past experience of the learners/teachers which enables them to ascribe meaning to different motions, sounds, and other specific types of communication effort.

To further help one conceptualise constructivist communication, one could imagine two people who spoke completely different languages coming to live together and somehow finding ways to understand each other.

 

Figure 2 illustrates the concept of constructivist communication.

 Significance of the constructivist model of communication

Constructivism in communication provides the basis for mutual understanding. The constructivist model is a reminder that there may not be effective communication if the communicating parties do not ensure that what one word or phrase means to party X is what it also means to party Y.

A lot of communication requires that action be taken by the sender/receiver in accordance with the message sent/received. No action is likely to address the expectation if the sender/receiver do not have a common interpretation of the ideas exchanged in the communication.

Criticism of the constructivist approach

A constructivist approach to communication, among students, could mean an undirected, principle-less study system that eventually leaves learners frustrated and ending up nowhere (as they may not know exactly where they are supposed to go).

Conclusion

The transactional and the constructivist communication models are not the only models of communication identified by different researchers on the subject. However, they are among the most basic and, in that way, could help set the foundation that scholars of communication can build on to uncover or create new perspectives on the subject.  

CENTRALISED VS DECENTRALISED MANAGEMENT

 

QUESTION

Briefly analyse the merits and demerits of centralisation and decentralisation.

 

SUGGESTED ANSWER

Centralisation

Centralisation is a management approach in which the top level of an organisation makes all the material decisions.

Advantages of centralised management

·         The command framework is clear. There is little confusion as to who directs what activity.

·         In times of emergency, response can be quick owing to plainness of authority and responsibility structure.

·         Employees tend to concentrate on developing a smaller skill set, which they tend to polish up well. They do not have to master any real management skills, which could simply be a strain on their obviously scarce time.

·         It is more likely the firm will operate as a single unit with minimal pulling in different directions.

Disadvantages of centralised management

·         Where a situation needs detailed information from a specific locality, top management

may not fully understand the situation. As a result, any action taken may also not be good enough.

·         Workers may not have enough motivation to work if everything appears dictated down to them by top management.

·         Repetitive and limited scope of work can be a disadvantage to employees interested in grown by way of learning and management responsibilities, especially as the organization expands.  

·         Overall company performance may go down when workers feel they are simply carrying out someone else’s instructions and not what they are part of.

·         Total centralisation may deny the organisation valuable input from talented people in lower echelons.

 

Decentralisation

This is when top management and lower-levels share management authority and responsibilities.

Advantages of decentralisation

·         Overall organisational levels of knowledge and effectiveness are raised because of marrying central and local-level perspectives.

·         Workers are more motivated because they feel they have a say in the running of the firm.

·         It reduces the potential of top management being overloaded.

·         Lower level employees become more alert as they feel they could be partly responsible as well if anything went wrong.

 

Disadvantages of decentralisation

·         Reporting lines can cause uncertainty and frustration as to who is in charge of what domain.

·         Passing the buck. More managers means the blame-game is easier to play.

·         Complex processes. It takes long for decisions to move through the established stages: in business, it is said that time is money.

 

Conclusion

Centralised and decentralised management each have positives and negatives. The best situation is probably leaving it to managers to decide whether their unique business situation will work better with centralisation or with decentralisation.  This means looking at such factors as type of business, size of organisation and capacity of human resource.

POLITICAL SCIENCE - Constitution Amendments Zambia

 MAJOR CONSTITUTION AMENDMENTS IN ZAMBIA SINCE 1964 - IN BRIEF

QUESTION

Zambia has been undergoing constitutional reforms since independence. The current constitutional reforms involve the contentious BILL 10. Trace the origins of BILL 10, in so doing, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this BILL.

ABSTRACT

BILL 10 is the sixth major post-independence constitutional change that could be made in Zambia. Proposals in the bill include bringing back the office of Deputy Minister and enabling government to contract debt independent of National Assembly. The main advantage of the bill is that it is a chance to address any weakness from previous constitution-amendment processes. However, some see the bill as promoting the interests of the current government, such as weakening the Presidential two-term limit clause. Overall, Bill 10 seems - so far - unable to attain universality of acceptance, just like the constitution reviews of the past.

 

INTRODUCTION

The Republic of Zambia has since 2019 been discussing the Constitution of Zambia Amendment Bill, 2019, known simply as Bill 10. The essay traces the roots of Bill 10 and also examine its advantages and disadvantages.

 

DEFINITIONS

A constitution is a collection of rules which aim at regulating the allocation of responsibilities, powers and functions among the various units and proxies of the government and explain the ties between these and the people at large.

An amendment is an addition, a deduction or other form of change made to an established  rule, law or agreement.

TRACING THE ORIGINS OF BILL 10

The road to Bill 10 appears to stretch all the way from the time of Zambia's independence. One effort to reform the constitution eventually led to another because of a weakness or weaknesses in it. This is what the next few passages attempt to show.

THE INDEPENDENCE CONSTITUTION

A glaring weakness of the Independence constitution, enacted in 1965, was that it stated that Kenneth Kaunda shall be the Republican President.  

 

THE CHONA CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW COMMISSION

The Mainza Chona Constitution Review Commission was set up by then President Kenneth Kaunda in 1972. The terms of reference were to establish a one-party participatory democracy, seen by some as a stifling of real democracy.

 

THE MVUNGA CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMISSION

The Mvunga constitution review commission, formed in 1990, included only the basic clauses required to conduct free and fair elections in 1991. In this way, the Mvunga Commission, like the others before, remained a work-in-progress.  

 

THE MWANAKATWE CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMISSION

The Mwanakatwe Constitution Review Commission – 1996 - was about promoting the holding of free and fair elections, impartiality of the judiciary and the contentious Presidential parentage clause (candidate shall have both parents born in Zambia), seen as a targeting of Kenneth Kaunda by Frederick Chiluba.  

 

THE MUNGOMBA CONSTITUTION REVIEW COMMISSION

It was set up in 2003 by Levy Mwanawasa in the hope of addressing past inadequacies. One of its challenges was how the constitution was to be adopted. Another was that Mwanawasa was seen as a minority leader who had won elections with only 28.8% of valid votes cast.

 

THE CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT ACT NO. 2 OF 2016

One major change in this constitution was absence of the position of Deputy Minister. The Act introduced ambiguity regarding the Presidential two-term limit.

THE CONSTITUTION OF ZAMBIA (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2019 - BILL 10 This is the current proposed constitutional amendment.

 

Main advantages of Bill 10

                           i.            The period of 30 days (from 14 days) in which to hear a presidential petition gives ample time for the Constitutional Court to fully deliberate (Article 101-104).

                         ii.         Bill 10 proposes reviewing the composition of Cabinet. It could be a chance to legislate to make Cabinet more regionally-representative.

                       iii.            Bill 10 proposes inclusion of members of parliament into councils. This could make for better coordination of development programmes.

 

Main disadvantages of Bill 10

                           i.            The Bill could lengthen the rule of the current Patriotic Front (PF) government

                       ii.            Article 107 could create a life President as it proposes to bar National Assembly from inquiring into the well-being of the President.

                     iii.  Re-introducing the office of Deputy Minister would not be a cost-effective way to run government (Article 17).

             iv.   The National Assembly could lose powers of oversight on contracting debt (Article 114).

             v.  There is no guidance as to how a coalition government could be formed (Articles 101 - 104).

          vi.  The period of 7 days within which to submit a petition to the Constitutional Court is too short (Article 101 - 104).

CONCLUSION

The Constitution of Zambia (amendment) Bill, 2019 (Bill 10) could be a chance to strengthen the Zambian constitution. The problem, however, is that it appears to contain elements seen as promoting partisan rather than national interests.

ECONOMICS - Concentrated/Non-concentrated Markets

CONCENTRATED AND NON-CONCENTRATED MARKETS 

Question

 

Why do some markets become concentrated and others do not?

 

Increased or decreased market concentration often signifies one or more of the following factors:

 

Stronger or weaker market entry barriers. Both government and existing competitors can make it more difficult or favourable to enter a market. Government could, for instance, make things more, or less, challenging, if it created cumbersome licencing requirements, or business-friendlier ones. Competitors could make entry by new players harder by, for example, entering into exclusive contracts with customers.

Another way to weaken barriers to entry is legislating for common industry standards by government rather than allowing an industry player to set the standards, as they could easily be manipulated by the supplier to their own benefit and to the detriment of others. This is especially important in the case of technical products.

 

 Making anti-trust laws more or less effective. Anti-trust laws are meant to prevent any single player, or a few, entirely dominating the market. One result of lax anti-trust laws is mergers and acquisitions that eliminate all competition. In Zambia, the acquisition of Northern Breweries by Zambian Breweries may not have been allowed if a pro-competition stand had been stronger.

 

Unfavourable or favourable start-upcosts. When starting a business is highly capital-intensive, there are greater chances of the market being concentrated than when initial costs are low. Some industries, such as underground mining and airline, by their very nature are - in general - inherently concentrated. In Zambia, there are, at the moment, only four cement-manufacturing companies. That is to be contrasted with the market for soft drinks and juices where there are numerous suppliers and entry capital is relatively low.

 

Rent-seeking. This refers to tendency to manipulate the established system to gain in some way. For example, a firm paying a government official to preserve or improve its market power. In the idealistic environment, there is much less rent-seeking. Existing companies are not able to get away with rent-seeking manoeuvres: they let new competitors enter the market unhindered - and only maintain or improve their position by creating, innovating, investing and raising productivity (output per unit of investment, which represents falling costs).   

 

LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR PARADIGMS OF DEVELOPMENT

QUESTION: BRIEFLY DISCUSS THE LINEAR AND NON-LINEAR PARADIGMS TO DEVELOPMENT. WHICH PARADIGM DO YOU THINK IS MORE APPLICABLE IN UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPMENT TODAY?

ABSTRACT

The linear-stages economic development paradigm and the non-linear paradigm are the two main realms of economic thought. The linear paradigm is the argument that all nations have to go through five stages in the development process. The non-linear paradigm promotes development thinking that does not espouse any specific successive steps. The main non-linear models include structural-change theories and international-dependence views. Each of the paradigms provides a valuable aspect in the study of development economics and in solving economic problems.

INTRODUCTION

Development, according to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (2000:3),

… is the process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy. … Development requires the removal of major sources of unfreedom: poverty as well as tyranny, poor economic opportunities as well as a systematic social deprivation, neglect of public facilities as well as intolerance or over-activity of repressive state.

The two paradigms on development are the linear-stages-of-growth and the non-linear (Todaro and Smith 2012: 110).

    

THE LINEAR STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

The thinking of the 1950’s and 1960’s was that nations had to pass through a set of successive steps to development, and that all the developed nations of the time had passed through the stages. The argument was that development only required the right combination of savings, investment and aid.

Rostow’s Five Stages Linear Growth

American economic historian Walt W. Rostow (1960) listed five stages as follows:

1.      Traditional society, characterized by subsistence and agricultural production, little or no trade, and limited, low-level capital stock with accompanying low productivity.

2.      Pre-conditions for take-off. Use of machines in agriculture increases and so does trade. Savings and investment are higher but still generally low as a portion of national income.

3.      Take-off. There is greater manufacturing and the relative size of agriculture shrinks even though it is still big and employs a huge part of the population.

4.      Drive to maturity. There is greater diversity in manufacturing. Innovation levels rise and are a source of real per capita income growth as opposed to higher input of factors.

5.      Age of mass production. Output and consumer expenditure rise. The economy has an expanding middle class which keeps the economy growing. Tertiary activity increases.

The Harrod-Domar growth model.

The Harrod-Domar model proposes that a portion of national income should be set aside as savings for investment (Harrod 1939). Growth, it is argued, is proportionate to the level of savings and investment. The linear-stages-of-growth paradigm is premised on four golden principles: (i) Order, meaning known causes lead to known outcomes any time, anywhere; (ii) Deductionism, meaning the whole can be deduced if the constituent parts are known and understood; (iii) Predictability, meaning by adding relevant ingredients to the model, the future causes of events can be worked out IF the whole is known, and (iv) Determinism, meaning that previously existing conditions are the causes of future happenings. There is a linear and orderly manner of happenings. 

Criticism of the growth model

The basic criticism if that while savings is necessary, it is not a sufficient condition.

NON-LINEAR PARADIGM OF DEVELOPMENT

1.      Structural Change Models

These growth models emphasise structure.

The Lewis Theory of Development

W. Arthur Lewis (1954), Nobel Prize recipient, theorised a two-sector transformation model that showed labour transfer from the surplus-labour, low-income agricultural sector to the better-paying industrial sector. It dominated development thought in the 1960’s and early 1970’s (Todaro and Smith 2012: 115).

One frailty of the Lewis model is in the assumption that capitalists will reinvest all their profits in more capital; and that the rate of labour transfer will be proportionate to the rate of capital formation. The problem is that cost-sensitive capitalists might invest in labour-saving capital, so that not so many people are absorbed into the industrial sector.

Structural change and patterns of development   

It is a comprehensive look at a cross-section of structural elements including resource use, international and domestic trade and socio-economic issues like urbanisation and changes in consumer demand. Proponents of this model, like Hollis B. Chenery (1960), argue that development can be hampered by both domestic and international factors. One criticism of the structural change and patterns of development model is that emphasis is placed on structure and patterns rather than on what is supposed to be done. That is, the cart is placed before the horse.

       

      2.      The International Dependence Revolution

It is a predominantly later-1970’s argument, that underdeveloped nations have institutional rigidities and are caught up in a dependence and dominance model with advanced economies.  

Neo-colonial dependence model

This dependence model feeds into Marxist thinking that the rich and poor worlds are bound in an economic relationship that makes rich nations richer and poor countries worse off.

The False Paradigm Model

It states that solutions offered to developing nations are devised by foreign experts who do not know the practical realities of the under-developed societies, such as influence of social class.

The Dualistic Development Model

The model openly recognises that there is a rich world and a poor world internationally and locally, with possibly increasing differences.

One weakness of dependence theories is that even though they offer good insights into reasons for under-development, they do not explain ways to start and sustain development.

3.      The Neo-classical Counter-revolution

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, thinking on development based on the magic of the market place and the invisible hand of capitalistic practice emerged. This model, according to Todaro and Smith (2012: 127) has three variants called free market analysis, Public choice and market-friendly approaches. Robert Solow (1956) provided a defining contribution to the neo-classical growth model by adding labour and technology to the  Harrod-Domar model.

CONCLUSION: WHICH IS MORE APPLICABLE IN UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPMENT TODAY?  

In the view of this writer, neither of the two paradigms can be said to be the better one. They each have positives and negatives in understanding development and devising policy. There should be, in other words, complementarity in their application to understanding development theory.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chenery, Hollis, B. (1960) Patterns of Industrial Growth. American Economic Review, Vol. 50, No. 3 (September 1960), pp. 624-54.

Harrod, Roy, F. (1939) Essay in Dynamic Theory. The Economic Journal, Vol. 49, No. 193 (Mar., 1939), pp. 14-33. New Jersey: Blackwell Publishing. Available online at: http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Harrod1939.pdf. Retrieved May 14, 2020.

Lawrence, E. and Sargent, Thomas (2014) Harrod 1939. Available online at: http://www.tomsargent.com/research/Harrod_tom_6.pdf. Retrieved May 17, 2020.

Lewis, W., Arthur (1954) Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour. Manchester: Wiley. Available online at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9957.1954.tb00021.x. Retrieved April 30, 2020.

Rostow, W. Walt (1960) The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto. Cambridge University Press.

Sen, Amartya (2000) Development as Freedom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Solow, M. Robert (1956) A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 70, No. 1. (Feb., 1956), pp. 65-94. Available online at: https://www.econ.nyu.edu/user/debraj/Courses/Readings/Solow.pdf. Retrieved May 11, 2020.

Todaro, Michael, P., and Smith, Stephen, C. (2012) Economic Development 11^th Ed. Boston: Addison-Wesley.