Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil.
An expanded conceptualisation of the marketing organisation includes all organisations which seek specific responses from other social units concerning
some social objects, where the response probability is not fixed, by the exchange of some values. A central problem facing all such organisations is the uncertainty of their environmental transactions in the attainment of desired responses. The degree. to which the uncertainty is reduced, is often associated with the organisation's
effectiveness. Little progress has been made in the identification of the determinants of organisational effectiveness. This study examines and identifies an appropriate theoretical framework within which to proceed with such an investigation; contributes to the clarification of the concepts "organisation" and "organisational effectiveness", and the role of communication therein; and lastly, determinants of the organisation’s ongoing. effectiveness are postulated. The systems approach is analysed as a framework for study of the social sciences. It is argued that the systems approach is of limited ontological value, but that it offers a valuable cluster of strategies for inquiry, offering an "organised space" within which theories may be developed and related.
The partially systems-derived view of Heidema is discussed. Heidema describes perceptions of real systems along spatial and temporal dimensions: as ahistorical,
inward-looking and structural; or as historical, outward-looking and changing. The formal organisation and prominent theoretical views on it are discussed. An attempt is made to describe a "true" open systems organisational perspective. Theory of organisation-environment relations, and communication in organisations are iscussed.
Organisational effectiveness is given a limited definition. It is argued that because effectiveness is known to exist only in the present and the past, the organisation's potential to maintain its effectiveness over time is best termed its "potential effectiveness". The marketing and public relations disciplines are discussed, and it is suggested that their principles of intra-organisational action, environmental awareness,
and actions within the environment are the principles of the potentially effective organisation. The study is concluded with an integration of the preceding work and the development of the active outward oriented perceptual paradigm. It is suggested that the
basic assumptions of organisational members determine the overt form of the organisation, that the existence of the active outward oriented basic assumption is a
necessary condition of the organisation's potential effectiveness, and that the process by which it is instituted and maintained is communication. It is postulated that there is a positive relationship between the potential effectiveness of organisations which seek uncertain environmental responses by the exchange of values, and the existence of an active outward orientation amongst the organisation's key members.