Communication management in a millennium of chaos and change

Abstract

Changes occur in organisations because of changes in the environment.Conflicts arise between the organisation and internal and externalstakeholders of the organisation because of these uncontrolledinfluences. Small points of disorder may easily escalate into disorderedcrises and chaos (bifurcations and the butterfly effect). Communicationmanagement - and specifically constructive conflict management - couldlead to 'positive chaos' and a culture (strange attractor) of constantchange. Positive chaos implies an unstable, seemingly disorderedsituation that could bring about productive, creative, and improvedresults. Communication management could be used by organisations toreorganise themselves out of disorder and chaos by facilitating conflictsand diversity. Strategic planning will become even more important, butwill have to change from the basic premise of control and prediction toscenario planning, and the emphasis will be on relationship building.