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Critical Thinking For Managers

How critical thinking can be utilized in

discourse

Name: Neha Yadav

Student ID: 216404883

Unit Code: MPM732

Unit Chair: Dr Sukanto Bhattacharya

Lecturer: Michael Stewart

Due Date: 19th April 2017

Word Count: 2138

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Contents

1)Introduction
. 3
2)Jawaharlal Nehru
Speech 5
3)Singtel CEO Statement
... 7
4)Two discourse different
outcomes.. 9
5)Conclusion

11
6)References

12
7)Appendix

14
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Introduction
The Primary aim of the study of Critical discourse analysis (CDA)
is to analyze the way supremacy, Social Power misuse and
discrimination are authorize, counterfeit and repelled by talk and
text in the Political and social context (Tannen, Hamilton and
Schiffrin, 2015).

The key Principles of CDA are as follows:

CDA focusses on Social issues

Power connections are discursive
Discourse Represents culture and society
Discourse undertakes ideological work
Discourse is ancient
The relationship between society and text is mediated
Discourse analysis is Illuminative and explanatory
Discourse is a kind of social action

According to Fairclough (1989), in perceiving language as

discourse and as social action, one is engaging oneself not
entirely to analyzing procedure of productions and elucidation,
nor just analyzing texts, but to analyzing the correlation between
processes, texts and their social conditions.

It is vital to recognize that there is no alternative method to

compare microlevel notions such as text, talk, meaning and
understanding with macrolevel believes such as society
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dominance and unfairness. Actually, the decisive idea of

reproduction, is required to spell out how discourse plays a part in
the reproduction of dominance, presumes an account that
connects discourse frameworks to social intelligence, and social
intelligence to social frameworks (Hart, 2008).

The objective of this Report is to analyze the speech given by first

Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru after Independence and
Singtel Heads statement in Annual Report. And then structurally
compare two pieces, using one or more critical thinking tools and
methods such as, Dilts Logical levels, Brookfields language tricks.
So, we will know whether their goal of getting their respective
ideas through to the predetermine target audiences succeeded or
not. Which will eventually help us to understand how various tools
and methods used in oral or written presentation act as a catalyst
to create long lasting impressions on others mind.
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The real philosophy behind Jawaharlal

Nehru Speech
At the parliament in Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru delivered the speech
Tryst with Destiny. One of the greatest speeches of 20 th century
in the world, on the eve of Independence, few minutes before the
clock struck 12 midnight of 14 August 1947 (Jain, 2016).
Jawaharlal Nehru with his speech wanted to influence the people
of India, so as to create a new and developed India through their
enthusiasm, avidity and hard work (IndiaCelebrating, 2017).

Nehru constructively accumulated ideas and depicted them in a

very patriotic and logical approach. The speech was delivered in
English although it was not the major language in India. Nehru
recognized the fact India being highly diverse country with more
than 20 different languages spoken in different parts of the
country, English would have greater influence. In Addition, acted
as a catalyst to send message outside India.

Nehru used very Objective tone to convey his ideology. In spite of

this it included cheery and gloomy tones here and there when
conveyed the different ideas of the past and present, which gave
substantial power to his speech. Nehru used a happy tone within
the speech by expressing words like adventure, freedom
celebrate, and used a sad tone while talking about the history
using words like, pain, sorrow and failures. This kept the
audience engaged throughout the speech by setting their mood
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patriotic and festive, which eventual forced people of India to

reflect on their past and present.

Furthermore, Nehru even talked about the poverty in India, so as

to ignite personal chord with the assembly. Throughout the
speech Nehru continue to pull on peoples line of thinking on a
personal level, and further imprinted in them a sense of
optimization for the time ahead. In addition, Nehru was careful
about the words he used, when asserted All of us, to whatever
religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with
equal rights, privileges and obligations. prompted a very
amusing atmosphere as he acknowledged every single person of
India and not just a certain caste or religion at a time when
Hinduism was exceptionally notable.

Nehru encouraged people of India by saying All of us, to

whatever religion we may belong, are equally shows that he
believes that everyone is equal irrespective of gender, religion,
caste they belong. Nehru not even at single point, made a remark
in the minds of people that they have gone through lot of struggle
during freedom movement, due to the inequity dispense by the
British, shows his forbearing nature.

With the matter of fact, speech clearly reflects how devotional he

was towards his country and its people. The ultimate purpose of
the Nehru by saying That future is not one of ease or resting but
of incessant striving was to remind the people of India that
freedom and power bring responsibility. India has to take its own
decision in future and have to work really hard without stopping,
they should rise to accept the challenge of the future and
opening of opportunity.
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Agenda behind Singtel CEO Statement

Simon Israel, who is the chairman of Singtel presented this
message in Singtels 2015 Annual Report which was released on
22 June 2015 (Anon, 2015). As it is compulsory for all the public
Company, by regulation, to release the Annual Report for the
public so as to contribute transparency. And to notify concerned
parties such as shareholders, Company employees and suppliers
on the performance of the companies (Chan, 2017).

The position of the chairmans statement within the Annual

Report was after the Financial Highlights, Strategy and global
presence of Singtel, appears to be the most suitable location.
When taking attributes such as the content, target and intent,
forms the ideal platform accessible to broadcast the information.
The Israel discourse intent was to set a promising tone for the
Annual Report, featured Companys profits, successful marketing
technique, campaigns, alterations in business condition and
advocacy on the Companys future plans.

Israel started his piece of writing by drawing readers attention

towards Singtel performance in year 2015, which was as
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expected. Furthermore, Israel highlighted how his prediction

about mobile revolution in 2011, has proved true today. In
addition, outlined the steps taken by Singtel such as investment
in network and spectrum Technology as well as changes in pricing
model.so that transition from voice centric to data centric world
would become easy to manage (Israel, 2015)

Major accomplishment of the Company was highlighted by Israel

using data. For Instance, according to Israel Singtel net profit rose
by 4%, in spite of weak Australian dollar and Indonesian Rupiah
during financial year 2015 (Israel, 2015).This information would
have definitely attracted shareholders, because it gives them
assurance that their money was in safe hands. Moreover, Israels
photograph attach to this message, depict how content Israel
feels after successfully achieving Singtels goals and target.

Israel appreciated and gave credit to all the staff members and
management Team for their continuous hard work and dedication
responsible for Singtel success (Israel, 2015). This statement of
Israel would have generated a wave among the employees of
Singtel to work even harder in future. Israel also thanked his
fellow directors for their contribution, as he knew all important
decisions of the Company are taken by directors, and disclosed
the news about two directors, who were about to leave Singtel
after Annual general meeting in his statement.

Although, it was a risky announcement, shareholders could have

lost their confidence on Singtel future performance because two
prominent members were replaced. However, it shows that the
chairman of the Company believes in transparency, and
sustainability of any Company could only be achieved through
changes. But no significant evidence has been offered to the
reader in the discourse, that how these changes in the Company
will be beneficial.
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Lucid method was used by Israel to make the statement easily

understandable, even for general public who may not be aware of
heavy technical words used in Telecommunication Industry.
Further, the length of the statement was appropriate, it was
neither too lengthy neither too short, it was concise covered all
key points. The Ultimate purpose of the Israel was to provide all
relevant information about the Company to all its stakeholders
and shareholders, and create a strong chord with them.

Two discourse different outcomes

Both Jawaharlal Nehru and Singtel chairmans Israel followed all
the rules of neuro-logical levels of Dilts, increased the Power.
Their speech and statement contained all the elements essential
for any successful discourse. The content of both discourse
evidently reflects, creators had a clear aim in their mind and
utilized their knowledge completely, which was gained through
experience in life. In case of Jawaharlal Nehru speech, although
the content of the speech was praiseworthy. However, it got
shaped out when delivered by first peoples elected Prime
Minister of India.

The audience of Nehrus speech at the time discourse was deliver

were newly elected Ministers of constituency and required to be
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pumped in because they were about to make decisions for the

entire Nation. The audience was attentive and believed in Nehrus
theory because he played prominent part in the Indias
independence struggle. Furthermore, each word of the Nehrus
speech was at a different level. Ministers were excited as India got
independence after 200 years at the same felt apprehensive
about the new journey. Certainly speech would not have had
same aforementioned impact, if it was delivered by any other
person.

Whereas, Simon Israel statement which was released in Singtels

Annual Report was based on facts and evidence and was tilted
towards Singtels achievements and future strategies. Israel has
extensive experience and held many position before finally
holding Chairman Position of Singtel in 2011 (Info.Singtel,
2016).Therefore, Information contained in his statement was true
and informative and signifies that he gathered all the details
about Singtel. But the credibility of his statement was decreased
when he was unable to clarify the reason of certain changes in
Singtel because according to Grice (1989) the presenter should
avoid situation of ambiguity in his statement .

The quality of the speech delivered by Nehru was unmatchable at

that particular moment, by addressing that Independence Day is
not the end but an opening to opportunities. He constantly asked
people of India to work hard in future for the betterment of
Country. Moreover, asserted that the service of India means
ending of poverty, ignorance, disease and inequality of
opportunity and said whatever religion people of India may
belong, they all are equally children of India and have equal
privileges, obligations and rights. Furthermore, asked not to
encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, because no
country can be great, if people of that country are narrow in their
mind and action. All these extract from the speech signify specific
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purpose of Nehru delivering this speech, which not only increased

its credibility but also the quality (theGuardian, 2007).

On the other hand, Israel after investigating and verifying the

details from all the departments of the Singtel gave his statement
in the Report, highlighted the current Technology they are working
on such as transfer to cloud services produced complex demands
on ICT services and confirmed that Singtel is already prepare to
meet consumer future demands. However, Israel didnt highlight
any blocking point that Company encountered in past financial
year.

Still it is interesting to note that both Nehru and Israel remained

on track during their discourse and the entire focus of the
discourse was on their target audience. The content of the
discourse was relevant and to the point in both the cases.
However, Israel statement lacked use of sufficient analytical data,
which could have had act as an icing on the cake.

Conclusion
Both the speech and statement are different in their own ways.
Nehrus speech emerged as one of the greatest speech in the
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world because it contained all the ingredients of successful

discourse. The style of the speech was coherent and did not lose
its path anywhere. Although, it was a formal ceremony of
Independence but Nehru delivery the speech in forthright
manner, which coincided with his persona and the speech came
out as natural talks instead of political statement. Hence, shows
that power is more important than cognitions (Wodak, 2009).

While, chairmans statement could be valuable just for those

people who are directly or indirectly associated with Singtel
because it incorporate information related to Company based on
facts and evidence. The audience was limited in this discourse
and therefore chairmans statement didnt came out as icebreaker
and will not be remembered as a Powerful discourse. Now it is
evident that discourse analysis requires investigating language in
the context of history, society, culture, institutions, identity
formation, power, politics and all the other things that language
assists us to process and which, in turn, render language relevant
in certain ways and able to accomplish certain purposes
(Fairclough, 2013). Therefore we can say that Critical discourse
analyses cite the use of a group of techniques for the study of
language and textual practice (Luke, 1999).
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References

Chan, K. (2017). We Look Into Singtel Annual Report. This Is What We

Found. [online] DollarsAndSense.sg. Available at:
http://dollarsandsense.sg/we-look-into-Singtel-Annual-Report-this-is-
what-we-found/ [Accessed 16 Apr. 2017].

Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. 1st ed. United States of

America: Longman Group UK Limited, p.26.

Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of

language. Routledge.

fulldhamaal (2017). Indian Independence History.. Very rare pictures

and Videos!!!!. [image] Available at:
http://www.fulldhamaal.com/image-gallery/Indian-independence-
history-very-rare-pictures-and-videos-19660.htm [Accessed 17 Apr.
2017].

Grice, H. (1989). Studies in the way of words. 1st ed. [ebook]

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, pp.26-27. Available at:
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.08428.0001.001 [Accessed 18 Apr.
2017].

Hart, C. (2008). Critical discourse analysis and metaphor: toward a

theoretical framework. Critical Discourse Studies, 5(2), pp.91-106.

IndiaCelebrating (2017). Jawaharlal Nehru's Speech to the Nation on

Independence Day. [online] Available at:
http://www.Indiacelebrating.com/speech/independence-day-speech-by-
Nehru/ [Accessed 15 Apr. 2017].

Info.Singtel.com. (2016). Singtel Annual Report 2016. [online] Available

at: http://info.Singtel.com/AnnualReport/2016/pages/overview/board-of-
directors.html [Accessed 17 Apr. 2017].

Jain, S. (2016). The story of our independence: 'Tryst With Destiny'

speech. [online] http://www.hindustantimes.com/. Available at:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/the-story-of-our-independence-
tryst-with-destiny-speech/story-DA7N4iKlwTJZwQ7A28Xx5J.html
[Accessed 15 Apr. 2017].
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Luke, A. (1999). Critical discourse analysis. Issues in educational

research, pp.161-173.Tannen, D., Hamilton, H. and Schiffrin, D. (2015).
The handbook of discourse analysis. 1st ed. Malden, MA:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p.352.

Singtel, (2015). Annual Report 2015. It's About You. [online] Singapore:
Singapore Telecommunications Limited, pp.10-11. Available at:
http://info.Singtel.com/AnnualReport/2015/assets/files/Singtel_AR2015.
pdf [Accessed 17 Apr. 2017].

theGuardian. (2007). Jawaharlal Nehru: A Tryst with Destiny. [online]

Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/may/01/greatspeeches
[Accessed 17 Apr. 2017].

Van Dijk, T. (2001). Critical Discourse Analysis. In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen, & H.

Hamilton (Eds.),The Handbook of Discourse Analysis (pp. 352-371). Oxford:
Blackwell.

Wodak, R. and Meyer, M. eds. (2009). Methods for critical discourse

analysis. Sage.
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Appendix A

Jawaharlal Nehru giving Tryst with Destiny speech

Source : fulldhamaal, 2017

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Appendix B

Simon Israel photograph in Annual Report

Source: (Singtel, 2015)