WHO IS AN EFFECTIVE MANAGER?
The Karpin Taskforce, commissioned in 1994 by the Australian Government, details its findings in the
2015 edition of Samson & Daft (pp. 38-40). The vision statement of the report (Australia 2010) detailed
some key focal points issues for Australian managers. These provide a benchmark for Australian
managers to strive for and need reiterating in this Study Guide. They are:
By 2010, Australian Enterprises and their managers should be focused on:
• Knowledge
• The ability to learn, change and innovate in the new marketplace, as the accepted
manager selection criteria, rather than gender, ethnicity or even prior experience
• The learning organisation as a standard philosophy for many Australian
enterprises, and as a major way to cope with change and turbulence
• Managers creating conditions conducive to learning for both individuals and the
enterprise as a whole, both across individual units and between the enterprise as a
whole, both across individual business units and between enterprises and their
external environments
• Employees being more motivated and skilled
• Quality acting as a guiding light within all organisations, with a customer-first
mentality being all pervasive.
(Commonwealth of Australia Enterprising Nation, 1995)
Each of these aspirations for the management of Australian organisations has, at its core, the practical
application of communication skills and models. Indeed, the greatest asset a manager may have in
today’s business environment is not how well they can build a car, but how well they can drive
communication, build relationships, actively listen and apply their emotional intelligence to interpret the
best way to transport their organisation safely towards its vision and goals.
An enormous part of a modern manager’s role is the management of communication.
These aspirations guide the journey of this Unit. The aim is to guide you through a number of learning
Modules that should assist you as an individual to be a more effective manager and communicator.
Mintzberg states that ‘quiet managers don’t empower their people – ‘empowerment’ is taken for
granted’. He identifies the ‘quiet words’ of managing as:
• Inspiring by creating the conditions that foster openness and release energy
• Caring by not slicing away problems, but by preventing and fixing problems and knowing
how and when to intervene and mediate
• Infusing by challenging things slowly, steadily and profoundly, rather than thrusting
change upon followers dramatically and in superficial episodes
• Initiating by finding out what is going on in the organisation, connecting with those at the
base and all levels, rather than parachuting directions from the top levels.’ (Mintzberg
1999, pp. 224-230)
COM21 Management Communication
8
REALITY CHECK. Students should read the ‘Sharpstyle Salons’ Case for Critical Analysis in Samson ,
Donnet & Daft (2018, p. 43; Samson & Daft 2015, p. 44). This case gives a good insight into the
complexity of management and communication issues you will encounter in the workplace.
A NOTE ON REALITY CHECKS. These Reality Checks are designed to lead students back to real world
connections to ‘value add’ to this week’s topic. Sometimes this will be a case study or it may be YouTube
links or other media.
These Reality Checks are not part of any assessment, however we hope you gain some further insights
through participating in them.