While previous studies have attributed military success to technology, personnel, and training, recent accounts have added organizational culture on top of the list. According to the military organization theory, organizational culture is composed of shared language, symbols, among other factors, each with unique meaning critical for a military organization's success. Therefore, communication plays a significant role in shaping up the culture and military success or any other organization seeking success. Even though human communication was previously viewed as a transmission process whereby one individual sends a message directly to one another, in reality, communication is more complex ( Çakar & Ertürk, 2010) . Communication is transactional-based. An individual sends a message to one party that synthesizes the information based on their understanding, previous experiences, and other factors and then sends feedback to the sender. Today, organizations face huge challenges due to miscommunication, leading to confusion among workmates, misunderstanding, and even animosity. For example, in military organizations, a commander is a powerful tool that the system uses to achieve success by outlining procedures, values, and systems that units use to succeed. Without effective organizational culture and communication strategies, the system is bound to fail and lose to its enemies. Therefore, this study seeks to introduce communication concepts and the effects of miscommunication within a military organization and its application to other businesses seeking success.
While the basic concept of communication involving a sender, recipient, and the message may seem simple, the actual process is complex. The transmission of the message from the sender to the recipient could be affected by various external factors such as emotions, cultural influences, the medium of communication, and even location. Therefore, the complexity of communication led to the introduction of theories that elaborates on the process and factors that lead to successful communication in any context. According to an organizational culture within a military organization, individuals are compared to animals suspended to the web they created ( Soeters, 2018) . In this case, webs symbolize organizational culture. While specific elements within a military organizational culture increase the chances of success, assumptions create constrains and unstated boundaries that limit success ( Bowers et al., 2017) . These assumptions are sources of miscommunication in both military and other organizations' context. Whether in war or peace missions, the organization's success or failure largely depends on the communication strategies employed. These strategies are formed around organizational cultures: shared beliefs and meaning systems co-created by individual behavior patterns. In a military organization, values and purpose are equal to missions. These values guide all individuals on what is right and what ought not to be done. They form a bedrock of culture upon which other elements are based. Therefore, an organizational culture within a military organization defines success in terms of purpose and values.
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The organizational culture within a military organization, just like any other communication theory, has strengths and weaknesses. Culture is a critical part of any organization since it provides the purpose and instills values that dictate the type of structure that an organization should adopt ( Yiing & Ahmad, 2009) . Since organizations adopt a system that supports their purpose, the organizational culture within a military organization is useful in unifying all organization's components that require leaders to devote significant effort to managing culture. It also provides a human aspect that unites people, systems, and structures within the organization. Even though the culture theory has specific strengths, it is the most difficult organizational component to quantify, manage, and control.
In conclusion, the organizational culture theory within a military organization can resolve miscommunication in the workplace. As the theory contends that people are like animals suspended in the web they created, they are supposed to use those webs to instill cultural values of effective communication within the workplace. Adopting a culture that involves clearly outlined communication procedures will improve performance and increase customer loyalty and employee retention.
References
Bowers, M. R., Hall, J. R., & Srinivasan, M. M. (2017). Organizational culture and leadership style: The missing combination for selecting the right leader for effective crisis management. Business Horizons , 60 (4), 551-563.
Çakar, N. D., & Ertürk, A. (2010). Comparing innovation capability of small and medium‐sized enterprises: examining the effects of organizational culture and empowerment. Journal of small business management , 48 (3), 325-359.
Soeters, J. (2018). Organizational cultures in the military. In Handbook of the sociology of the military (pp. 251-272). Springer, Cham.
Yiing, L. H., & Ahmad, K. Z. B. (2009). The moderating effects of organizational culture on the relationships between leadership behaviour and organizational commitment and between organizational commitment and job satisfaction and performance. Leadership & Organization Development Journal .
