THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION ON THE MIDDLE- AND LOWER-LEVEL MANAGERS' PARTICIPATION IN THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IN SAUDI ARABIA.

Abstract

Managers spend seventy-five to eighty percent of their time communicating interpersonally. Ironically, communication skills are often listed as a major weakness of today's managers. The decision-making component of the managerial task requires the abilities to gather and analyze necessary information, consult with and involve the expertise of peers and subordinates in the decision-making process, and implement the final decisions through the aid of those effected by them. Communication, therefore, is the prerequisite for sound decisions and effective management. A strong and effective organizational communication system allows the "receiver" to express his needs and thoughts to the "sender." Renis Likert, echoed by numerous writers, considered communication a central key force in the decisional participation process. The hypothesis of this study was that the more effective the system of organizational communication is, the more involved the managers in middle- and lower-levels of the hierarchy will get. Communication effectiveness was measured through four components: Upward communication, downward communication, content of communication, and the sources of information. The impact of these components on the degree of decisional participation among the middle- and lower-level managers in Saudi Arabian governmental agencies was measured and analyzed. A multiple regression analysis was performed to assess this causal relationship between the four components of organizational communication and managers' decisional participation in strategic as well as operational decisions. The results indicated no significant relationship among the variables. Except for upward communication, the other three components of the organizational communication system did not seem to have a direct significant effect on the managers' reported participation in Saudi Arabia. The exploratory research suggested several implications for future research.