The Good Dialogue: The Good Dialogue - A Theoretical Analysis of the Applicability of Protreptical Conversations in Companies

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical study regarding whether or not protreptics can be used to increase the profitability of companies. That is if it can do so in other ways than through the already established coaching capabilities of the protreptic field. Protreptic dialogue can help individuals obtain a better understanding of themselves and what they might mean. Protreptic dialogue requires at least one of the parts in said dialogue to be knowledgeable about protreptics. To learn protreptic presents a challenge but less so to employees with high competencies. The real hurdle to applying protreptic dialogue is the fact that it takes a long time. Protreptics tells us that an individual does not know what he means until he hears what he says. Furthermore every word he says is entangled in multiple hegemonic connections. Thus to gain the insight from protreptic dialogue into what oneself means one must conduct dialogue about specific topics for a lengthy period of time. The paper uses theory as empiric evidence to make new conclusions about the protreptic field. Protreptic dialogue can be useful in facilitating internalisation of external motivation of employees. It can also help lead employees to areasof work in which the have more internal or external motivation. In relation to recruiting,protreptic dialogue can strengthen a realistic job preview. The paper concludes that since protreptic dialogue costs resources mostly in the form of time and the fact that companies are profit maximizers, protreptic dialogue may only be beneficial to a company when it produces more value than it costs. Finally the paper presents companies with a new model. The model is a tool for estimating the likelihood that applying protreptic dialogue to a given activity will increase the overall profitability of the company. The model uses two parameters to estimate this likelihood. One parameter is how complex the given activity is to comprehend. The more difficult to comprehend the activity is, the higher the probability that protreptic dialogue will be profitable. The other parameter is how much economic weight the given activity carries. An activity that embodies a significant economic value to the company will be more likely to produce profitable results if protreptic dialogue is applied to attempt to improve the activity. Thus activities that are complex to comprehend and carries a large economic weight are most likely to result in increased profitability should the company apply protreptic dialogue to the activity.