How Implementing An Environmental Policy Relies On Stakeholders Awareness Business Essay Example

as a specific way of using language and other symbolic forms to shape relationships (Leskinen, 2004).

Typically, stakeholders responsible for keeping people informed tend to emphasize certain aspects while overlooking others in order to align with popular opinion, which is heavily influenced by various indirect communication channels (Scholz and Suda, 1998). However, the importance of face-to-face or peer-to-peer communication cannot be ignored, especially when communication barriers exist due to mistrust or limited understanding (Hujala and Tikkanen, 2008).Several sociological studies have been conducted on the Romanian woods and Foresters, specifically focusing on the local struggles caused by forest damages process (Dorondel, 2009; Sikor et al., 2009). These studies also explored the social aspect of forestry and forest-related businesses in rural areas (Vasile, 2007), the unique characteristics of traditional community woods in Romania (Mantescu and Vasile, 2009), the relationship between local identity and forest ownership (Mantescu, 2009), and the value systems influenced by the damages process (Lawrence and Szabo, 2005). Communication assessment has utilized transactional analysis (TA) as a method, particularly in tourism to improve interaction between employees and customers (Wachtel, 1980), in modeling and enhancing relationships within supply chain networks (Dani, 2004), in analyzing worker discourse during organizational changes (F. De Zanet, 2004), and in improving communication skills of human resources in pharmaceutical activities (Lawrence, 2007). Additionally, a theoretical perspective on the interaction between biological behavioral systems and their environment was also developed (Germana, 1996).This survey aims to identify the main obstacles in institutional communication within the forestry sector in Romania using transactional analysis. These obstacles arise from the different approaches that stakeholders take towards the institutional and legal model. The following section discusses important issues in

Romanian forestry and the challenges faced by relevant structures. As this is the first application of transactional analysis to study communication constraints in forestry, the third section provides a brief introduction to the core theories of transactional analysis. The results are presented in the fourth section, while comments and discussions are included in the fifth section. The conclusions are drawn in the final section.

A snapshot on Romanian forestry - potential sources of communication traps

The most significant change in Romanian forestry over the past two decades has been the shift in ownership (Figure 1). Since 1989, when the Communist regime fell, forests have been returned to the families and communities that owned them before they were nationalized by the Communist government in 1948.The damages procedure has been significantly delayed due to the issuance of three separate laws on this topic between 1991 and 2005, when the final law on land damages was issued (Strimbu et al., 2005). Depending on the complexity of each case and the political context, the damages procedure could have lasted for about a year or more. During this period, the state and the National Forest Administration - Romsilva still owned the forests, and the NFA was legally authorized to harvest trees in accordance with the forest management plan (Sandulescu et al., 2007). The stakeholders involved in the damages procedure include wood owners (often represented by forest owner associations), NFA representatives, Territorial Inspectorates of Forest Regime and Hunting (TIFRH), and local government representatives. The NFA's rights to harvest trees during the damages procedure have caused frustration among the wood owners and have also led to instances of abuse by NFA representatives,

which have been extensively reported by the media. Throughout the ownership damages procedure, little has been done to adjust the NFA's organizational structure to accommodate the constantly changing ownership pattern.The province Foresters, as the sole professionals responsible for sustainable forest management, often disregarded societal issues and public perception of their activities. This lack of attention has resulted in surprises and challenges faced by the Foresters, such as the decline in workforce needed to maintain the state-owned forest area. Additionally, political parties have shown little interest in reorganizing the NFA, as it provides vital logistic support for politicians during elections. Consequently, the entire system is highly unstable, particularly at the beginning of each election cycle, making it difficult to consistently implement any wood policy envisioned by the public authority. The creation of the nine TIFRHs in 2005, as outlined in Government Decision 333/2005, is an important aspect to highlight. These nine TIFRHs are responsible for various activities, with forest governance implementation being the most significant one.According to the new Forest Act ( [Anon], 2008), the concept of wood government encompasses not only norms and standards for sustainable forest management, but also the provision of forest services by forestry professional structures only. This concept serves as a bridge between the evolving terms of wood, forestry, and Forester, which are closely connected (Helms, 2002). The inspectors in the TIFRHs network often lack professional experience or are products of the reorganized NFA structures, making them inexperienced in dealing with timber harvesters and illegal logging, or overexperienced in preventing or tracking down illegal cutting [3] ([Anon], 2005). The potential conflicts between NFA and TIFRH also extend to differences in wages.

While the NFA forces have historically negotiated wages independently from a financial standpoint, the forest inspectors are paid as regular governmental employees or even worse. As a result, the NFA attracts the best graduates, leaving the TIFRH with remaining labor market options, even though the former structure is declining while the latter is emerging.The ongoing hidden conflict between the two dominant professional stakeholders has led to defeat on both sides. The research method and basic concepts of Transactional Analysis (TA) help analyze and improve communication. TA, coined by Eric Berne in the late 1950s, is a social psychology tool that examines how we develop and treat ourselves, as well as how we interact with others. The key concepts of TA are the three states of the ego - Child, Adult, and Parent - which influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The Parent state consists of beliefs and behaviors copied from parents or caretakers and operates with rules and norms. The Parent state is activated when attempting to control something, with two types: the Nurturing Parent and the Controlling or Critical Parent.The Adult province is responsible for processing various information and data, and it becomes active when decisions need to be made. According to Elisabeth Pitman (1984), the Adult state is not an independent state but acts as a mediator between the Parent and Child states, stepping in whenever there are internal conflicts between them. An emotionally mature and independent individual is considered an Adult, who engages in moderate discussions without seeking control or reacting impulsively. The Child province is associated with emotional and affectionate reactions in response to different situations. Typically, this state is characterized

by uncertainties, fears, and doubts, with statements like "I don't know how to proceed..." or "I don't know what to do..." being common for individuals in this state. Similar to the two types of Parent states, the Child state can manifest as a Rebel or a Natural Child. These different ego states are activated and interact whenever a group of people discusses a specific topic.The general term used to refer to any exchange of thoughts is called "dealing," which can be described as an expressed commitment to a specific course of action. According to Berne (1964, 1972) and Wachtel (1980), dealing is seen as the fundamental unit of study and social interaction when one person interacts with another through words or actions. Berne identifies two major types of transactions: complementary transactions, which occur at a social (verbal) level, and duplex transactions, which occur at both the social and psychological (non-verbal) levels. Simple transactions can be further categorized as complementary, angular, or crossed. Complementary transactions happen when both individuals are addressing the state the other person is already in. Angular transactions occur when a stimulus is meant to trigger a different state of the ego, resulting in a mismatch between the verbal and psychological messages. Crossed transactions happen when the ego state being addressed is not the one that responds. These types of transactions can lead to communication failures. Duplex transactions involve incongruence between verbal and non-verbal messages and typically involve three or four ego states.These types of transactions, known as redefining transactions, can be either barricading or digressive. In a digressive transaction, the respondent changes the topic being discussed, while in a barricading transaction, the

respondent tries to redefine the issue. According to Berne (1972), communication processes are governed by these basic concepts. As long as transactions are complementary, people continue to communicate. However, if a crossed transaction occurs, communication stops and one of the partners should change their ego state in order to restart the dialogue. The outcome of a duplex transaction depends on the psychological level, not the social level. When a Child state is triggered in a respondent, they are inclined to address the Parent state of the other person.

In this particular case study, the input information for evaluating communication patterns in Romanian forestry consisted of recordings from nine workshops held by the TIFRHs in the summer of 2007. Each event had an average of 40 participants, representing key stakeholders directly involved in forestry, forest management, and nature preservation. These meetings followed a three-day agenda.The forest inspectors received a brief training on communication, including with media representatives, during the first 24 hours. This training taught them to quickly switch between different mindsets to avoid conflicts with journalists.

The second day consisted of discussions among professionals, including foresters, government officials, and private and state forest managers, on three predetermined topics: forest management planning, daily wood management, and responsible use of wood.

On the third day, local and regional stakeholders joined the initial group of wood owners and professionals. The focus of the discussions shifted towards improving communication with local organizations such as the police, gendarmerie, and environmental protection agencies.

Stakeholders' profiles were established based on their dialogues, and their predominant mindset was recorded for further analysis. The default mindset assumed for any stakeholder was adult, unless there

was a specific reason for them to have a different mindset. However, once the discussions began, most stakeholders switched their mindsets.Thus, the parent province is mainly associated with those seeking various forms of authorization, such as professional, legal, or legislative authorization for land ownership. On the other hand, the child province is linked to ignorance and lack of support from local governments. Forest proprietors, who often lack essential knowledge about different concepts and norms they must adhere to, fall into this category. They attempt to fill these knowledge gaps through interactions with forestry professionals such as Texas Rangers, inspectors, directors, and planners. This state of uncertainty and fear is commonly depicted in literature through expressions like "I don't know how to proceed..." or "I don't know what to do..." Since these attitudes are generally expressed through raised questions rather than answered ones, the prevailing ego states were identified using the correspondences outlined in Table 1. TIFRH inspectors, acting as representatives of state authority, assume a parental role while discussing various issues.The NFA forest applied scientists continue to believe and act like adults, while the Child province prevails when the wood owners address various issues they are facing. The forest owners frequently complain about various issues, including the unjust enforcement of laws, lack of support, having to follow certain rules imposed by the Texas Rangers, and more. The NFA forest applied scientists have the most experience in managing the woods because of a sophisticated information system where all technical details are reported in a timely manner. Their approach, known as "Adult manner," heavily relies on this information system, particularly in legal matters such as land usage,

preventing illegal logging, and budget cuts. However, it is not widely used in other areas such as forest regeneration, forest management planning, lumber cruising, outsourcing services, and dealing with the bureaucracy created by a centralized system. Although only scientists from NFA attended the workshops, individual wood owners extensively discussed their conflicts with the forest Texas Rangers who always act as authoritative figures and take on many responsibilities related to lumber cruising that is preferentially planned and carried out.It is not surprising that the Texas Rangers, who are responsible for enforcing laws in the forest, have been accused of participating in illegal film editing. This discontent has been expressed or suggested during the 27 meetings held with the wood proprietors. The forest inspectors employed by the TIFRH act like parents, overseeing and enforcing the legal provisions. They often try to provoke or elicit a response from the individuals they are speaking with regarding forestry and forest management. Each workshop identified the difficult issues that all stakeholders have to deal with and the moderators attempted to categorize them as technical (T), legal (L), managerial (M), or communicational (C) problems. The importance of each issue has been assessed and agreed upon by stakeholders during the workshop, and this assessment is documented in the workshop memos.

Consequences

Workshop Discussions on Transactional Analyses

During the workshops, stakeholders faced various challenges and difficulties in responding to inquiries raised by other speakers. As a result, they shifted from an adult state to a parent or child state in their communication. These shifts were triggered by the problems mentioned in Mistake: Reference beginning non found. The records were analyzed according

to transactional analysis principles, but only the main topics or transactions were further examined. The goal of this study was to identify how communication barriers can be avoided or, if unavoidable, to determine the primary causes of poor communication. Table 3 summarizes the main communication problems identified during the workshops. The degree to which each problem was technical, legal, or simply a communication failure was determined based on the consensus among all participants. The transactions that caused communication obstacles are presented and briefly discussed. The type of transaction was later diagnosed, taking into account additional questions or comments raised by moderators.

Transactional analysis of the campaign slogan

So far, the focus has been on analyzing transactions in dialogues between stakeholders expressing their thoughts and feelings. However, the campaign slogan is simply a standardized message intended to evoke a reaction from the target audience.When the slogan is displayed on a poster, a piece of paper, an envelope, or a booklet, it indicates certain information and attitudes behind it. This message serves as a stimulus, typically originating from an individual who is an adult. The resulting reaction and mindset can either adopt the characteristics of an adult, child, or parent.

Regardless of the chosen province, the person will respond in some way. If the child province is activated, they will seek further information. If the adult province is triggered, they will try to connect the pieces of existing knowledge related to the subject. On the other hand, if the parent province is activated, they will embrace a new sense of duty.

The current slogan being used is "Forest means more than lumber." From a psychological perspective, this message

sparks curiosity which is typical for a child's mindset. In most situations, the child will turn to a parent figure and ask for further details about what lies beyond "more." This can result in a dynamic interaction (AA(AC)-CP), unless nothing interesting is revealed behind that "more," leading to a fruitless conversation (Figure 6).

The original slogan, "Forest means life," would have triggered a sense of responsibility typical for the parent province. The psychological message conveyed that life should always be prioritized and protected at any cost. This would have led to a different interactive scenario (AA(AP)-PP) (Figure 7). Unfortunately, this message was deemed too similar to the WWF motto and was not adopted.

Discussions

The lack of effective communication between TIFRH inspectors and NFA Foresters is due to various situations where their responsibilities overlap, as well as a mutual lack of confidence. Forest inspectors frequently question the competence of their colleagues, while forestry staff complains about the inadequate professional experience sometimes demonstrated by the forest inspectors. The bureaucratic process of reporting different information to both the NFA and the wood inspectorates also leads to communication constraints. If the NFA staff only had to report to TIFRH, disregarding the intermediate structures of county NFA subdivisions, it would save a significant amount of effort and prevent most of the misunderstandings that currently occur. These intermediate structures, the county subdivisions of the NFA, serve little functional or institutional purpose other than being intermediaries between the forest territories and the NFA national central office. The current compensation system exacerbates poor communication and even conflicts between forest owners and authorities. Under the existing legal framework, only individual forest owners are compensated for the

opportunity cost of complying with mandatory logging bans in protected areas, disregarding the forest owners' associations.The investigation revealed that Putna Natural Park, a protected area, completely overlaps with a cluster of mature woods owned by a community in Vrancea County. The regional Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), responsible for enforcing environmental laws, has ignored the needs of the local residents who heavily rely on logging as one of the few economic activities in the area. When communicating with nature protection authorities, forest owners usually act maturely and aim to convey their concerns, although they may feel differently internally. The EPA representative has taken a controlling approach both socially and psychologically, resulting in inevitable conflicts in these circumstances. The crossing of deals between forest owners and forestry engineers, specifically on the topic of small-scale forest management plans, is due to their differing perceptions on the importance and outcomes of having such a plan.The Foresters view the forest management program as essential for the existence of the forest. They believe that an unmanaged forest will eventually lead to the cutting down of all trees. On the other hand, the forest owner sees the management program as a requirement for the right to selectively cut down trees. The owner does not consider sustainability a concern and views the management program as an additional cost. The owner's attitude towards the program is similar to that of a child seeking guidance from a parent. This reaction can be seen as a counter-transfer. The topic of managerial programs has resulted in conflicting transactions between planners and forest owners. The small-scale management programs are seen as a tradeoff between implementing and not implementing

forest governance. They are viewed as imitative solutions since no technical argument can support such an option, except for cadastral aspects. The duplex transaction between planners and owners (PC-CP) is not a conflicting one, as both transactions complement each other in both social and psychological registers.A forest inspector proposed a swap between valuable ash wood and an equivalent amount of fuel-wood to the maneuvering commission of an association involved in the lumber market. The proposition aimed to avoid the burning of valuable wood and instead use it for veneer, while providing fuel-wood in return. The forest inspectorate suggested promoting this proposition to logging companies or the TIRSH to develop regional markets or stock exchange, while maintaining independence in commercial activities. Communication regarding this proposition was responsible and professional. However, one wood proprietor's skeptical comment led to mistrust within the maneuvering commission, causing them to reject the proposal. This decision reflected a rebellious stance by the association. The NFA organization in charge of forestry has faced communication challenges as it adapts to changes according to the latest Forest Act provisions.The current internal information system is outdated and hierarchically structured, while people are required to apply the same type of research to the newly established organizations, authorized by the legal model to monitor all activities related to timber flow. Additionally, the incorrect format of public transportation documents that certify the legal origin of the lumber contributes to misunderstandings. This issue needs careful analysis and modification in accordance with current market conditions. The lack of confidence in professional Foresters is extremely dangerous as it undermines efforts to provide essential forest extension services. Despite the ongoing need for firewood

for household use, individuals must interact with the Foresters' professional body. However, they primarily engage with the forest Texas Rangers, who have the least interest in changing their own established ways. The information obtained from this channel is meant to distort the entire communication chain, leading to numerous fraudulent transactions.

Decisions

The arguments and treatments above illustrate how forest inspectors, professional foresters, and wood proprietors interact. Many forest proprietors feel overwhelmed by the complex game they are playing and are unaware of their responsibilities. They are mistrustful of foresters because they do not understand the rules for cutting trees, which are too complicated for them to learn. As a result, some wood proprietors rebel against the foresters. The only solution is to teach basic forestry to some wood proprietors to bridge the communication gap between institutional stakeholders (foresters) and societal stakeholders (wood proprietors). The state forestry sector, focused solely on sustainable forestry and ignoring social and ecological perspectives, is resistant to change. This lack of flexibility may be a major barrier to communication between the state wood sector and society as a whole.The main issue with private forestry is its inadequate infrastructure, which negatively affects how forest owners engage with institutional stakeholders. Many discussions focused on technical and managerial topics, indicating that Romania's wood policy has not yet adapted to the country's new ownership structure. In technical terms, Romanian forestry is lacking.