Download Communication and Power, Fleanca et al.

COMMUNICATION – THE CORNESTONE OF EXERCISING POWER
A study on Romanian IT Project Managers
Anca Alexandra Purcarea
Elena Fleaca
University “Politehnica” of Bucharest
Splaiul Independentei street, 313, sector 6, Bucharest, Romania
Tel: 004 – 021 – 4029 528/316
Fax.: 004 – 021 – 316 96 44
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
BIOGRAPHY
Anca Alexandra Purcarea, Ph.D., is a professor in Management Department at University
"Politehnica" of Bucharest in Romania She is also Head of Industrial Management Chair,
Director of School for Academic Postgraduate Studies in Management – SAM from
University "Politehnica" of Bucharest. She holds a Ph.D. in Management and Industrial
Engineering. She teaches postgraduate courses, being involved in numerous study visits in
USA and Europe. She is the coordinator of master programme in business management and
engineering. She has published 12 books, over 60 articles and 40 scientific papers presented
at national and international conferences. She has a rich activity in national and
international research projects. Main areas of expertise: management, human resources
management, marketing, industrial engineering, business communication.
Elena Fleaca is a lecturer in Management Department at University "Politehnica" of
Bucharest, teaching courses on management and organizational behaviour. She earned a
master's degree in Marketing Management and also holds an international certification as
PMP® (Project Management Professional) in Project Management area.
She is actively involved in numerous training programmes and research projects, publishing
numerous articles and books, as well as presenting papers at different conferences.
Ms. Fleaca's major fields of interests are management, marketing, organizational behaviour,
business communication, and project management. Her current research areas are the issues
of human resources communication in project management environment.
PAPER ABSTRACT
Globalization has led to important changes in the business environment in which the
companies operate, affecting the workplaces for greater interdependency and greater
interaction of employees. These changes in the business world stress the increased
importance of communication for the success of individuals and the companies in which
they work.
The pressures created by globalization require managers to move the focus from planning,
organizing, and coordinating, to communication. The old command –and-control
managerial model, grounded in formal authority, has been replaced with interpersonal
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communication aiming at building professional relationships between different interest
groups.
Today, the modern workplaces represent a complex configuration of authority and
interpersonal influence. In this context, managers are required to exercise the power aiming
at gaining people commitment. Thus, the role of interpersonal communication becomes
critical in attempting to effectively persuade the employees for obtaining their compliance.
The paper presents the results of the empirical study, undertaken by authors, on Romanian
project managers, active in IT sector. It approaches the interpersonal communication from
the persuasion standpoint and explores the managers' exercise of power in attempting to
achieve the business objectives.
The methodological approach is twofold: first, a qualitative approach of communication
challenges in the modern workplace, and, second a descriptive research aiming at:
 Assessing the current practices of exercising power – such as power sources and
influence tactics;
 Examining whether the differences based on social variables – such as gender, age,
education etc. – affect significantly the practices of exercising power.
Finally, based on the research results, the authors share their views regarding how
exercising power are shaped by the cultural values, taking into account the Romanian
employees' cultural values, as well.
Deciphering the managers’ mind-set through a constant effort of research is a requirement
of professional responsibility because this yields clues for the benefit of the community.
Key words: communication, interpersonal communication, persuasion, influence,
power
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