Power Structures and Patterns of Interaction in the Malaysian Army

Marcus Khoo Ghee Han, Bahiyah Abdul Hamid

Abstract


Study on power structures and their influences on the patterns of interaction used in the military is a rare phenomenon due to strong gatekeeping. Many past researchers have delved only into military culture and organisational communication. The aim of this paper is to present findings of this research gap i.e., on the patterns of interaction used by both commissioned officers and enlisted personnel in the Malaysian Army. It discusses how power structures influence the patterns of interaction used by them. The study investigates how rank structure and chain of command in the military (legitimised authority) influence both commissioned officers and enlisted personnel in deriving their patterns of interaction. It also investigates how the dominant ideology and organisational culture (hegemony) derive their patterns of interaction. This study analyses the transcripts of three audio recordings among commissioned officers and enlisted personnel which were audio recorded from a meet up, meeting and drill training session. The findings indicate that members of the Malaysian Army derive their patterns of interaction through different means. Those different means are not just through coercive means contrary to popular belief but also through regulatory and subtle means. Those different means are determined by the context and speakers. The findings reveal that command and control are essentially linked to many contributing factor and not just merely power per se.

 

Keywords: power; power structures; verbal interaction; coercion; Malaysian Army


Full Text:

PDF

References


Abduljalil, N. T., Noraini Ibrahim & Nor Fariza Mohd Nor. (2014). Discursive legitimation of human values: Local-global power relations in global media discourse. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies. Vol. 14(1), 171-187.

Althuwaimer, K. M. & Alqahtani, A. A. (2016). Clarifying the fuzzy nature of politeness and power: A literature review. The International Journal of Applied Business and Economic Research. Vol. 14(5), 2757-2764.

Arina Anis Azlan & Samsudin A. Rahim. (2017). Situation complexity: Delineating situational factors affecting individual communicative action in problem solving. Malaysian Journal of Communication. Vol. 33(1), 242-260.

Ault, R. T. (2003). Encouraging Risk and Embracing Uncertainty. Fort Leavenworth, US: US Army School of Advanced Military Studies.

Azlina Abdul Aziz. (2017). Agreement strategies among Malaysian Chinese speakers of English. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies. Vol. 22(1), 168-189.

Barber, J. P. & Walczak, K. K. (2009). Conscience and critic: Peer debriefing strategies in grounded theory research. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. at San Diego,

California. US: University of Michigan, April.

Breslin, C. B. (2000). Organisational Culture and the Military. Carlisle, US: US Army War College.

Chua, Y. P. (2016). Mastering Research Methods. (2nd ed.). Shah Alam, Malaysia: McGraw Hill Publications.

Clegg, S. R. (1989). Frameworks of Power. California, US: SAGE Publications.

Collins, J. (1998). The complex context of American military culture: A practitioner’s view. Orbis. Vol. 21(4), 213-223.

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. (4th ed.). London, UK: Pearson.

Cresswell, J. W. & Miller, D. L. (2000). Determining validity in qualitative inquiry. Theory into Practice. Vol. 39(3), 124-130.

Defence Council. (1996). The Queen’s Regulations for the Army 1975. (25th Amendment). London, UK: Ministry of Defence.

Doorewaard, H. (2008). Hegemonic Power and Locality. 4th Organisation, Identity and Locality symposium on critical organisation studies. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago.

Dunivin, K. O. (1994). Military culture: change and continuity. Armed Forces and Society. Vol. 20(4), 531-547.

Fontana, B. (1993). Hegemony and Power: On the Relation between Gramsci and Machiavelli. Minneapolis, US: University of Minnesota Press.

Foucault, M. (1981). Questions of method: An interview with Michael Foucault. Ideology and Consciousness. Vol. 8, 1-14.

Frankfort-Nachmias, C. & Nachmias, D. (2000). Research Methods in the Social Sciences. (6th ed.). New York, US: Worth Publishers.

Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in Ethnomethodology. New Jersey, US: Prentice-Hall.

Goffman, E. (1955). On face work. Psychiatry. Vol. 18, 213-231.

Goffman, E. (1983). The interaction order. American Sociological Review. Vol. 48, 1-17.

Goldhaber, G. M. (1990). Organizational Communication. (5th ed.). Dubuque, US: WM. C. Brown Publishers.

Gramsci, A. (1971). Prison notebooks. New York, US: International Publishers.

Guillemin, M. & Gillam, L. (2004). Ethics, reflexivity, and “ethically important moments” in research. Qualitative Inquiry. Vol. 10(2), 261-280.

Hage, J., Aiken, M. & Marrett, C. B. (1971). Organization Structure and Communications. American Sociological Review. Vol. 36(5), 860-871.

Halvorson, A. (2010). Understanding the Military: The Institution, the Culture, and the People. Rockville, US: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

Hashem, S. (2017). Communication: The most important key to leadership success. Retrieved July 13, 2017 from https://www.thayerleaderdevelopment.com/blog/2017/communication-the-most-important-key-to-leadership-success.

Hobbes, T. (1962). Leviathan, (Ed.) M. Oakeshott, with an introduction by R. S. Peters. New York, US: Collier-Macmillan.

Hofmann, E.; Hartl, B.; Gangl, K.; Hartner-Tiefenthaler, M. & Kirchler, E. (2017). Authorities’ coercive and legitimate power: The impact on cognitions underlying cooperation. Frontiers in Psychology. Vol. 8(5). 1-15.

Hughes, R. L.; Ginnett, R. C. & Curphy, G. J. (2006). Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. (5th ed.). New York, US: McGraw-Hill.

Janowitz, M. (1959). Changing patterns of organisational authority: The military establishment. Administrative Science Quarterly. Vol. 3(4), 473-493.

Johansson, C. (2007). Research on Organizational Communication: The Case of Sweden. Nordicom Review. Vol. 28(1), 93-110.

Kantor, J. H. (2016). 10 Common Misconceptions about the US Military. Retrieved July 14, 2017 from http://listverse.com/2016/07/18/10-common-misconceptions-about-the-us-military/

Khoo, M. G. H. (2019). Power Structures and the Patterns of Interaction in the Malaysian Army. Master’s thesis, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia.

Lee, S. K. (2003). Exploring the relationship between language, culture and identity. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies. Vol. 3(2), ISSN1675-8021

Luckwaldt, A. (2017). What is a Commissioned Officer? Retrieved July 16, 2017 from https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-a-commissioned-officer-2356519.

Lukes, S. (1974). Power: A Radical View. London, UK: Macmillan.

Machiavelli, N. (1950). The Prince and the Discourses. New York, US: Modern Library.

Machiavelli, N. (1958). The Prince. London, UK: Everyman.

MAF. (1972). Armed Forces Act. Kuala Lumpur: Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Berhad.

Martins, L. C. X. & Lopes, C. S. (2012). Military hierarchy, job stress and mental health in peacetime. Occupational Medicine. Vol. 62, 182-187.

Merrington, J. (1969). Theory and practice in Gramsci’s Marxism. The Socialist Register (pp. 145-176). Talgarth, UK: Merlin Press.

Mohd Muzhafar Idrus & Nor Fariza Mohd Nor. (2016). Legitimation Analysis: Exploring Decision-Making and Power in Hot Bench. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies. Vol. 16(2), 33-52.

Morand, D. A. (2000). Language and power: An empirical analysis of linguistic strategies used in superior-subordinate communication. Journal of Organisational Behaviour. Vol. 21(3), 235-248.

Neustupny, J. V. (2002). Language and Power into the 21st Century. Paper presented at the Language and Empowerment Conference. Kuala Lumpur: Petaling Jaya Hilton.

Nuppenau, R. M. (1993). The Influence of Organizational Factors on the Activities of a Process Improvement Team. Master’s thesis, US Army Medical Department Centre and School, Fort Sam Houston, US.

Redding, W. C. & Sanborn. G. (1964). Business and International Communication. New York, US: Harper & Row.

Reid, W. (1957). Federal Constitution - Article 41. Kuala Lumpur: Laws of Malaysia.

Redmond, S. A.; Wilcox, S. L.; Campbell, S.; Kim, A.; Finney, K.; Barr, K. & Hassan, A. M. (2015). A brief introduction to the military workplace culture. Work. Vol. 50(1), 9-20.

Schiffrin, A. (1994). Approaches to Discourse. New Jersey, US: Blackwell Publishers.

Shaw, J. A. (2011). Officers and Gentlemen: Gentlemanly Mystique and Military Effectiveness in the Nineteen-Century British Army. 14 May 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2017 from http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/general/articles/officersandgentlemen.aspx.

Spall, S. (1998). Peer debriefing in qualitative research: Emerging operational models. Qualitative Inquiry. Vol. 4(2), 280-292.

Suhaili, P.; Ahmad, E. & Aminah, M. J. A. (2015). Soft skills construct for architecture graduate in accordance with industries requirement. International Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Vol. 1(30), 113-117.

Talbot, M.; Atkinson, K. & Atkinson, D. (2003). Language and power in the modern world. Tuscaloosa, US: University of Alabama Press.

Tinoco, J. K. & Arnaud, A. (2013). The Transfer of Military Culture to Private Sector Organizations: A Sense of Duty Emerges. Journal of Organisational Culture, Communications and Conflict. Vol. 17(2), 37-61.

Tran, T. Q. (2007). Basis of Power Effects on Method of Communication. West Point, US: United States Military Academy.

Voos, H. (1967). Organizational Commuunication: A Bibiliography. New Jersey, US: Rutgers University Press.

Watson, B. D. (2006). A Look Down the Slippery Slope: Domestic Operations, Outsourcing, and the Erosion of Military Culture. Alabama, US: Air University Press.

Wilson, P. E. (2008). Defining military culture. The Journal of Military History. Vol. 72(1), 11-41.

Winsor, R. D. (1996). Military perspectives on organisation. Journal of Organisational Change Management. Vol. 9, 34-42.

Wray, A., Trott, K. & Bloomer, A. (1998). Projects in Linguistics: A Practical Guide to Researching Language. London, UK: Arnold.

Zelko, H. & Dance, F. (1965). Business and Professional Speech Communication. New York, US: Holt.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/3L-2019-2503-04

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

 

 

eISSN : 2550-2247

ISSN : 0128-5157