CB MEETS OCM

I feel like I’ve just trained for track and field again—sore feet, stiff neck, lower back pain, strained muscles. I did not run ten laps straight or gotten myself into a fight—I watched a concert. Other DLSU students must have also seen the Chris Brown and Rihanna concert in The Fort Open Field yesterday and I’m sure at least one of their body parts must be aching right now. It was actually amazing. Well that is if you don’t count the gruesome physical torment of standing for three hours straight, craning your neck while tiptoeing and taking a bath in your own sweat (plus the ten other people cramped beside you) just so that you could get a good view of Chris Brown’s abs. So if I judge it based solely on the production and their performances, well I could say that saving my two weeks worth of allowance was well spent.

Since I’ve used up seventy-eight percent of the word limit by announcing my verdict on the concert, now let’s sort of digress a bit and go to the connection between Org. Comm. and the concert.

As seen in our elective for next term, organizational communication practitioners may also deal with organizing events that vary in purpose and scope. From what I’ve observed and gathered so far, they are mostly responsible for coming up with concrete ideas on how an event would possibly be a medium to say promote an organization or probably be a venue for achieving the goals they have set to exercise corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, this task entails designating people and specific tasks, overseeing the progress of the needed activities and constantly communicating and reporting to the organization holding the event. An org. comm. practitioner must also be able to provide contingency plans since any event would always have the possibility to not go as planned. In coming up with such plans, of course not only the organization’s wellbeing should be taken into consideration bust most especially its audience who will be participating in the particular activity. As one would see, a successful event may it be a concert or a fund-raising activity imperatively needs proper organizing of persons and duties and also of the sequence and the detailed execution of the different segments of the event.

As for the concert I’ve watched, I’ve observed that it was quite organized and that there were enough security personnel present to ensure everyone’s safety. Signs were also huge and clear enough to be seen and the organizers implemented systematic processes in arranging the lines and also in designating specific portions of the concert area.

Marshall "the medium is the message" McLuhan for President?

Since the U.S has just recently elected their 44th president, and our own presidential election is nearly only a year away, it would be apt to discuss it in relation to organizational communication.

Firstly, like many others, I despise the Philippine electoral system for the qualifications for acquiring the most powerful position in the land could very well fit any ordinary person. Moreover, our policies on forming political parties also seem to be very inefficient and outdated. Although my opinion are solely based on observations and newscasts, I believe that it doesn’t take a political analyst to at least say that there is something wrong with the way we form political parties that build up and present the candidates.

Of course, the two dominating parties would be that of the administration and the opposition. However, I’ve also noticed the many party-list organizations that spring out whenever election season comes around. Such a huge number of party-lists to choose from may leave voters confused and misinformed. Hence, I would prefer a system that would allow only a prescribed number of party-list organizations. This way, voters would only be presented with a limited number of organizations to choose from that would allow a clearer communication of information. In line with narrowing down the number of allowed parties, Org. Comm. practitioners may also get involved in forming a political party or party-list’s image. For example, a party may hire practitioners to provide the service of overseeing the consistent dissemination of information through communication materials and channels such as the fliers, posters, website and even the publicity events to be conducted. Consequently, the party would be able to build a consistent and clear image that would help the voters identify their key principles and political leanings. The public would be given complete and proper information that would guide them in making educated choices. Moreover, the Org. Comm. practitioners would also be able to provide contingency plans and interventions during crises and risk situations.

We may never know, organizational communication may have the possibilities of playing a crucial role in such an important national event such as deciding on our country’s future course.

Crossing Boarders

Being a LIA-COM major, I’ve had and still am encountering Org. Comm. through my business subjects. Though the familiar communication theories my professors have imprinted carefully in my system are slowly being taken over by marketing principles and statistics, amazingly, I’m still able to apply basic Org. Comm. theories in the business field. As I hear familiar words such as “organization”, “message”, “channel”, “proximity” and “culture” echo in the foreign walls of the LS building, I am constantly reminded of Org. Comm.’s extensive scope.

For instance, in my Market1 class, we’ve just finished discussing how marketing managers should be able to specifically describe their target audience from their basic interests down to the radio station they listen to at what specific time of the day. So how does Org. Comm. come into the picture? Our professor discussed that one way of segmenting a target market is through their location. Now this variable does not only pertain to an address or a particular place, but also involves a certain kind of culture that is developed by a group of people in a particular site. By identifying both the usual location and culture of a specific target market, marketing managers would have more detailed information on their needs, characteristics, routine activities and purchasing priority. All these data would lead to proper market segmentation and proper product development.

In relation to Org. Comm., the concept of culture is very important as it gives any organization an identity and a sense of belonging into a unique institution. It is also a significant factor in communicating messages and information within and outside the organization for culture encompasses both the formal and informal processes that organizational members always adhere to. Most importantly, since people are the most important elements to any institution, they also have control over creating and establishing specific behaviors that mirror their own subjective perceptions and also the company’s mission and vision.

As I’ve said earlier, the reach and the practicality of Org. Comm. theories allow me to also have a broader perspective and deeper understanding on how it is used in almost any field.