Critical Literacy in the Business World - Essay Example

I. Introduction Majority of educators are inclined to recommend books for youngsters that are more of a true story than an imagined one. In spite of the imaginary aspects of nonfiction literary works, educators still frequently pick out and instruct texts that portray actual events or real happenings as instances of truth. Likewise, teachers usually motivate students to recognize their selves with the protagonists in the stories (Cioffi, 1992). This reality only implies that students are socialized and taught not to go against the status quo and to be passive citizens who only accept and obey the command of those from the top (Comber, 2001). Hence, through enhancing critical perspectives towards texts, products and other symbols emergent in a society, students can transfer these abilities to the public, thus reading their society through a critical lens that directs to empowerment (Cioffi, 1992). Responding to the emerging need toward critical literacy, universities nowadays include communication curricula as an integral segment of the undergraduate and graduate courses of multitudes of business schools. These universities and colleges require that students gain knowledge on various interpersonal communication skills such as oral, reading and writing in addition to the major courses such as management, marketing and accounting skills (Muir, 1996). Nevertheless, there is no common agreement on the implication of business communication and the conventional manner to instructing business communication frequently presents a one-dimensional process framework that falls short in addressing critical thinking in order to perceive political and power relationships that are present in the workplace. Recently, there has been greater emphasis on the communication practices within the organization as well as inside the more significant economic, political and social environment of the workplace (ibid). II. The Business World and Critical Literacy/ Competitive Intelligence New college graduates are often surprised to discover that communication traditions in the workplace are more highly criticized than in the academic realm and that superior-subordinate interactions are very much complicated than the typical student-instructor relationship. Even though several organizations promote open communication and innovative capabilities, they are repressed by elements that may not appear obvious or sensible to the novice employee. For instance, it is not at all times apparent who the important actors are in the decision-making arena, and the novice may desire to obey traditional business communication approaches which may be inappropriate in every circumstance (Muir, 1996). Thus, students must develop the character required for efficiency in the workplace through learning skills that not merely entail a monotonous writing of memos, correspondences, or planning and conducting meetings and seminars and creating impressive presentations (ibid). The real picture of a business’s life can be achieved through data mining tools that permit organizations to capture all the essential information about customers, suppliers, various transactions and so forth. Apparently, the emphasis is on handling raw data, which are in fact billions of information that independently or collectively have small inherent relevance. The demand in the contemporary period and in the future will be the creation of a new business intelligence tools that facilitate decision makers to systematize, examine, and communicate about corporate information and knowledge. Associated to these tools are ever-changing Web sites for “business-to-business electronic commerce, or E-commerce” (Thierauf, 2001,3). These business intelligence instruments not only illustrate patterns on historical data but also present the capability to scheme out various prospects based upon changed inputs and provide for a comprehensive understanding of outcomes. Basically, there is need for a magical chemistry that would convert primary business data into workable business intelligence. Data transforms into business intelligence when it is in the dispersal of decision makers who have the knowledge on the appropriate situations it will be applied and used (Kalb, 2003). There are normally no cheerful surprises in the contemporary marketplace. Management failures are oftentimes related with the inability to anticipate drastic changes in markets, act in response to emerging and flourishing competition, or re-configure technologies and the planned direction of their business toward dynamic consumer demands and latest industry standards. Astonishingly, several of today allegedly well-educated business managers opt to pay no attention to competitor and business intelligence admonitions. Possibly, this intelligence is defected or their evaluation of this intelligence is incompetent; hence, the need for producing competitive intelligence. The advantages of effectively anticipating a competitor’s prospective plans and strategies are commonly plain (Fleisher, 2001). The consequences of creating decisions derived from information that is deficient, erroneous or delayed are no less severe. 2,400 years ago, in China, Sun-Tzu simply advocated the importance for intelligence. He stated that, “Now the reason the enlightened prince and the wise general conquer the enemy whenever they move, and their achievements surpass those of ordinary men, is foreknowledge” (Sun-Tzu, 1988). In modern-day practice and scholarship, the definitions of competitive intelligence assumed numerous forms. However, generally, competitive intelligence is the process by which organizations amass workable knowledge and information about competitors and the competitive context, and preferably appropriated it to their decision-making and forecasting procedures so as to enhance their performance (Fleisher & Blenkhorn, 2003). Competitive intelligence relates evidently isolated signals, occurrences, observations, and data into sequences and patterns regarding the business environment. Competitive intelligence can be plain and simple, such as scrutinizing a company’s yearly report and other public manuscripts, or detailed, such as executing a completely ‘digitized war-gaming exercise’ (Shaker & Gembicki, 1999, 17) throughout continents and periods of time. Competitive intelligence brings into play public resources to search and develop information on competition, business opponents and the market situation (McGonagle & Vella, 1987). However, competitive intelligence should not be thought as business surveillance; it is principled, lawful and justifiable, whereas business spying is absolutely dishonest, unlawful and does not belong to competitive intelligence’s professional description. III. Conclusion Universities can no longer escape the reality that they function and operate in a progressively more competitive marketplace. As the future impact of environmental hazards increase, universities will have to take advantage of the entire array of information collection and processing systems accessible in order to remain workable to their constituencies. The prospect to assume on long-standing competitive intelligence approaches to help them in assessing and alleviating the repercussions of these threats is obtainable to forward-looking higher education management and leaders. Nowadays, absolute competitive environments, pioneering stakeholders require more of their organizational managers and the strategies must be genuine threat-lessening techniques that must be integrated in the strategic preparation processes of managers and decision makers in higher education. In simple words, it is an exigency in the modern world to not merely become passive readers or thinkers but to be more critical. Works Cited Cioffi, G. (1992). Perspective and experience: Developing Critical Reading Abilities. Journal of Reading , 48- 52. Comber, B. (2001). Critical Literacy: Power and Pleasure with Language in the Early Years. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy , 168+. Fleisher, C. (2001). Managing Frontiers in Competitive Intelligence. (D. L. Blenkhorn, Ed.) Westport, CT: Quorum Books. Fleisher, C. & Blenkhorn, D.L. (2003). Controversies in Competitive Intelligence: The Enduring Issues. Westport, CT: Praeger Books. Kalb, C. (2003). Core Competencies: A Practitioners View. Competitive Intelligence Magazine , 6 (4). McGonagle, J. & Vella, C. (2002). A Case for Competitive Intelligence. The Information Management Journal , 37. Muir, C. (1996). Using Consulting Projects to Teach Critical-Thinking Skills in Business Communication. Business Communication Quarterly , 77+. Shaker, S., and M. Gembicki. (1999). The War Room Guide to Competitive Intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill. Sun-Tzu. (1988). The Art of War. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Thierauf, R. J. (2001). Effective Business Intelligence Systems. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. Read More