THE CORPORATE NEWSLETTER & THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE: A STUDY ON KAUNLARAN AND THE DOMINANT LEARNING ORGANIZATION METHODS OF THE SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION

Abstract

The San Miguel Corporation is an organization that stands to benefit greatly from the application of the learning organization. A learning organization is one where communication of new ideas, and sharing of knowledge takes place at a democratic and rapid pace. Its art and practice are also branded as “The fifth Discipline” by Peter Senge, the author of the book with the same name. Since SMC has managed to expand its territories to Southeast Asia and Australia, applying the learning organization methods is a key component of its organizational goals that requires a constant communication of ideas, learning and strategics. In order to allow the flow of learning within the organization, the organization must maximize its communication tools, such as the corporate newsletter. It is a periodical published by the corporation to disseminate important events, and other necessary information. One example of such a corporate newsletter is Kaunlaran by the San Miguel Corporation. As a communication tool, Kaunlaran has the potential to both communicate and enact certain ideas, methods and disciplines of the learning organization. This study aimed to determine the dominant methods, disciplines and ideas of a learning organization ot the San Miguel Corporation that were communicated using its corporate newsletter, Kaunlaran. This was achieved through a content analysis of the issues of Kaunlaran from January 2005-December 2006, key informant interviews, and an audit of the communication climate of the San Miguel Corporate Affairs Office using the Peterson & Pace Communication Climate Inventory. The unit of analysis was the lead of each article, which provides a summary or gateway of the main idea of an article. The study determined that the main objectives of Kaunlaran were the communication and strengthening of support for fiscal and company goals, such as the BHAG of becoming a $10 billion company by December 2007, and the consolidation of the employees for continued growth and progress of the San Miguel Corporation. The systematic level of knowledge is the most dominant level communicated by the management, based on the leads of the articles. Knowledge is one of the key components in a learning organization, and determining its purpose is key to meeting organizational goals. This level of knowledge is concerned with revealing how problems arc solved and goals are met. Determining the main speech act used in the leads is also important to facilitate organizational learning. The constantive speech act is the most dominant speech act featured in the leads of the articles of Kaunlaran. This speech act is key to making knowledge explicit to the recipient of the speech act, thus resulting in communicating information that is vital to the organization’s development. Determining the dominant organizational climate of the Corporate Affairs Office is also key, since it is responsible or publishing the newsletter, and managing the communication within SMC. The organizational climate of the CAO is one that encourages an organizational concern for meeting high performance goals, open communication from the administration to the employees, trust and the openness ot the management to insights from employees, through open communication and listening. This is harnessed through communication tools, such as the corporate newsletter Kaunlaran, and cascading information for the continued growth and development of the San Miguel Corporation. Therefore, the goal of the study to prove that the corporate newsletter is more than a glorified brochure of a company or organization has been fulfilled. Kaunlaran is an example of a corporate newsletter that serves a catalyst for progressive learning, communication and idealism.