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Chapter 01
- 2. +
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter you should:
1.
Understand the idea of organizations as
communicative structures of control
2.
Understand the defining elements of organizations
3.
Be able to define “organizational communication”
4.
Understand the multiple theoretical perspectives in
the field of organizational communication
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
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Organizations as Communicative
Structures of Control
Capitalism
as dominant economic system
Problem
of addressing “human relations” in
authoritarian settings
Tensions
between individual and organizational
goals
Central
role of control in resolving tensions
History
of management thought as history of
development of increasingly complex forms of
control
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 4. +
Organizations as Communicative
Structures of Control (Continued)
Organization
implies control (Tannenbaum)
But
control always implies struggle
Dialectical process of struggle between
organizational control mechanisms and
employee autonomy and creativity
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 5. +
Defining “Organizational
Communication”
Interdependence
All
complex organizations made up of intricate
webs of communication activities
No member can function without affecting, or
being affected by, other members
Differentiation
of Tasks and Functions
Division of labor as defining principle
Adam Smith and manufacturing pins
Goal
Orientation
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 6. + Defining “Organizational
Communication” (Continued)
Control
1.
2.
3.
Mechanisms
Direct Control
close supervision of employees
Technological Control
Controls speed of work
Ford’s moving production line
Both workers and customers subject to
technological control
Bureaucratic Control
System of rules and formal structures
Defining feature of modern organizations
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 7. + Defining “Organizational
Communication” (Continued)
Control
4.
5.
Mechanisms (Continued)
Ideological Control
Identification with beliefs & values
Little direct supervision necessary
“Corporate culture”
Disciplinary Control
“Bottom-up” form of control
Focus on “self” as a project
Self as “subject” and “object” of knowledge
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 8. + Defining “Organizational
Communication” (Continued)
Communication
Processes
“Communication constitutes organization”
Definition of communication:
The dynamic, ongoing process of creating and
negotiating meanings through interactional
symbolic (verbal and nonverbal) practices,
including conversation, metaphors, rituals, stories,
dress, and space”
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
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Defining “Organizational
Communication” (Continued)
Communication
Processes (continued)
Definition of Organizational Communication
The process of creating and negotiating
collective, coordinated structures of meaning
through symbolic practices oriented towards
the achievement of organizational goals
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 10. +
Framing Theories of Organizational
Communication
Develop
“Metatheoretical Framework” to make
sense of different theoretical perspectives
What assumptions are made about knowledge?
What assumptions are made about
communication?
What assumptions are made about reality?
“Crisis
of Representation” occurs at 2 levels:
Epistemology
(What do we know?)
Voice (Who gets to speak about what we know?)
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 11. + Framing Theories of Organizational
Communication
1.
Functionalism—Discourse of Representation
Focus on process of discovery
Dominant discourse of social sciences
Perspective of most management theory
Predict, control and generalize about human
behavior
Conduit model of communication dominates
Communication as information transfer
E.g., Shannon & Weaver
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 12. +
Framing Theories of Organizational
Communication
2.
Interpretivism—Discourse of Understanding
Social constructionist perspective
Humans create realities collectively as they interact
together
Communication does not occur in organizations;
communication creates organizations
Research focus on organizational cultures
Use of qualitative methods
Focus on stories, symbols, metaphors, etc.
Study of members’everyday sense-making
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 13. + Framing Theories of Organizational
Communication
3.
Critical Theory—Discourse of Suspicion
Social constructionist perspective
Focus on power
Organizations as political structures
Critique of how organizations create systems of
control
Examination of “corporate colonization”
processes (Deetz)
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 14. + Framing Theories of Organizational
Communication
4.
Postmodernism—Discourse of Vulnerability
Rejection of universal truth
Postmodernity=historical period after
modernity
Demise of rational planning of modernity
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 15. +
Framing Theories of Organizational
Communication
4.
Postmodernism—Discourse of Vulnerability
(Continued)
Postmodernism=way of thinking about the world
Challenges idea that science leads to progress
“No foundations”
Challenge to Western canon of knowledge
No single “grand narrative”; many “little stories”
“There is nothing outside the text”
E.g., Paris Hilton/Kim Kardashiam
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 16. +
Framing Theories of Organizational
Communication
4.
Postmodernism—Discourse of Vulnerability
(Continued)
Study
of Organizations as sites of discipline
“Post-Fordist” Organizations (see Ch. 8)
Focus on “culture of enterprise” (self-branding of
employees)
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012
- 17. + Framing Theories of Organizational
Communication
5.
Feminism—Discourse of Empowerment
Focus on gender and voice
Address traditional exclusion of women’s voices from
organizations
Focus on relation of gender, power and organization
Explore how both men and women are “prisoners of
gender”
Multiple feminist perspectives (see Ch. 9)
Organizational Communication: A Critical Approach ©SAGE Publications 2012