strategic ambiguity
Most researchers are confused with the concept of effective “optimal” model of communication with clarity and openness (Eisenberg, 1984) and they also view “competent communication as the strategic use of symbols to accomplish goal” (p. ... Eisenberg emphasized on the multiple and often conflicting goals people in the organizations need to confront under multiple situation, they do not always minimize the ambiguity in order to achieve the goals but rather they will employ strategies that are ambiguous to accomplish their goals. ... Eisenberg’s proposition on the shift in emphasis away from an overly ideological adherence to clarity toward a more contingent, strategic orientation in influential in organizational communication field for his work edified scholars to explore the strategic use of ambiguity in achieving multiple goals in organization. This paper is going to review Eisenberg’s theory on strategic ambiguity in organizational communication and then explore the applications based on the theory. Definition Strategic Ambiguity Eisenberg (1984) view on strategic ambiguity was the “direct outgrowth of the relativist view of meaning … the relativist position does not consider ambiguity to be a special problem, since meanings are constituted by individuals, not inherent in discourse” (p. ... “Clarity (and conversely, ambiguity) is not an attribute of messages; it is a relational variable” (p. ... The scope of strategic ambiguity limited to the instances where individual use ambiguity purposefully to accomplish their goals. Strategic ambiguity is essential to organizing because it allows multiple interpretations to exist among people who contend that they are attending to the same message. ... Effective leaders use ambiguity strategically to encourage creativity and guard against the acceptance of one standard way of viewing organizational reality (Eisenberg, 1984). Unified diversity is one of the outcomes brought about by the function of strategic ambiguity. ... In order to balance the emphasize on consensus in organizations and the inevitable multiple interpretations happen inside organizations, ambiguity can be injected and it allows for both agreement in the abstract and the preservation of diverse viewpoints. Strategic ambiguity facilitates organizational change Strategic ambiguity facilitates change through two levels: organizational level and interpersonal level. At the organizational level, strategic ambiguity facilitates change through shifting interpretations of organizational goals and central metaphors. ... The strategic use of ambiguity aids in the effective statement of this goal. ... Strategic ambiguity may be used inclusively and exclusively in organizing. Ambiguity may be used inclusively to build the cohesiveness of an in-group and exclusively to allow certain people access to the intended interpretation, while purposefully mystifying or alienating others. ... Contractor and Ehrlich (1993) conducted a research on strategic ambiguity in the birth of a loosely coupled organization.