Organizational Communication

Michael W. Kramer is emeritus Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma.Ryan S. Bisel is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors 1. IntroductionDefining CommunicationInformation TransferShared MeaningTransactional Meaning CreationApplying the Three Definitions of Communication Working DefinitionDefining OrganizationsA Legal Definition of OrganizationsA Social Definition of Organizations A Communicative Definition of Organizations The Complexity of Defining Communication in OrganizationsStrategic AmbiguityEthical Issue: Strategic AmbiguityNonverbal CommunicationApplying the Three Nonverbal CriteriaCommunication Challenge: Office DesignPerspectives on Organizational CommunicationA Post-Positivist PerspectiveAn Interpretive PerspectiveA Critical PerspectiveOther PerspectivesApplication to Different Types of OrganizationsSummaryGlossary 2. Communication and Anticipatory SocializationAnticipatory Role SocializationFamilyEducationCommunication Challenge: Realistic ExpectationsPeersPrevious ExperienceCommunication Challenge: Comparing WorkplacesMediaApplicationThe <"Real Job> " ColloquialismEthical Issue: Deconstructing Our LabelsAnticipatory Role Socialization for VolunteersSummary of Anticipatory Role SocializationAnticipatory Organizational SocializationPerson-Job FitRecruitmentSelection ProcessRésumés and Cover LettersScreening InterviewsCommunication Challenge: Improving InterviewsFollow-up or Second InterviewsEthical Issue: Inappropriate Interview QuestionsRealistic Job PreviewsAnticipatory Organizational Socialization for VolunteersSummary Glossary 3. Communication and Organizational EncounterUncertainty Management TheoryNewcomer Socialization Through Orientation and TrainingSocialization StrategiesSocialization Strategy OutcomesEthical Issue: Mixed MessagesNewcomers and Communication ExchangeInformation SeekingInformation SourcesCommunication Challenge: Trusted ColleagueInformation GivingCommunication ExchangeEncounter OutcomesOrganizational BoundariesFunctional BoundariesHierarchical BoundariesInclusionary BoundariesEthical Issue: Vocabulary of HierarchyDifferences Between Expectations and ExperiencesNewcomer AdaptationNewcomers in Volunteer OrganizationsSummaryGlossary 4. Communication and Management TheoryClassical Management TheoryContextFrederick Taylor's Classical Management TheoryHenri Fayol's General Management TheoryCommunication Challenge: Communication and Span of ControlWeber's Bureaucratic TheoryDouglas McGregor's Theory XClassical Management TodayHuman Relations ManagementContextHawthorne StudiesCommunication Challenge: Are Happy Workers Productive Workers?Human Relations Management TodayHuman Resource ManagementContextEthical Issue: Humans as ResourcesSome Roots of Human Resource Management: McGregor's Theory YPrinciples of Human Resource ManagementHuman Resource Management TodayCommunication Challenge: Motivation at Despair, Inc.Teamwork or Theory Z ManagementContextEthical Issue: Top-Level Management and Organizing for the Short Term?Principles of TeamworkTeamwork and Concertive ControlEthical Issue: Is Control Ethical?Teamwork Management TodayManagement Approaches to VolunteersCommunication Challenge: Communicating to Reduce Volunteer TurnoverApplying the Three Organizational Perspectives to Management TheorySummaryGlossary 5. Communication Channels and StructuresTraditional Communication Channels and StructuresFormal Downward CommunicationIssues with Downward CommunicationAmount of InformationNature of FeedbackInformation DistributionFormal Upward CommunicationCommunication Challenge: Technology Application for Suggestions BoxesIssues with Upward CommunicationLack of ReceptivityPower DifferentialsCommunication Challenge: Dealing with the Normal Alteration of Upward CommunicationUpward <"Distortion> "Self-promotion or IngratiationHorizontal or Lateral CommunicationIssues with Lateral CommunicationCompetitionSpecializationTerritorialityLack of IncentiveInformal CommunicationIssues with Informal CommunicationAccuracyEthical Issue: Gossip's MessinessSpeedMid-Level Employee ParticipationAccountabilityThe Competence NetworkIntegrative Communication StructuresCommitteesProject TeamsAfter Action Reviews (AARs)Limitations of Traditional Communication Channels ApproachCommunication NetworksCollecting Network DataCharacteristics of NetworksLinkage CharacteristicsIndividual RolesGroup Level-CharacteristicsCommunication Challenge: Reducing Employee Turnover by Cultivating Network DensityOrganizational or System-Level CharacteristicsImpact of Communication NetworksLimitations of Network AnalysisNonprofit Organizations and VolunteersSummaryGlossary 6. Communication and Organizational CultureDefining Organizational CultureArtifactsValuesAssumptionsInteractions of Various MembersStructuration Theory and CultureCommunication Challenge: Communicating a New ValueOrganizational NormsTypes of NormsCommunication NormsNorm DevelopmentCreating Conformity to NormsThree Approaches to CultureAn Integrated PerspectiveA Differentiated PerspectiveA Fragmented PerspectiveApplying Martin's Three Perspectives on Organizational CultureA Critique of Applying the Three PerspectivesExternal Influences on Organizational CultureAnalyzing Organizational CultureScript (or Narrative) AnalysisRitual AnalysisMetaphor AnalysisEthical Issue: Enron's MetaphorsEthnographyA Comparison of Four Methods of Cultural AnalysisApplying Three Research Perspectives to Organizational CultureSummaryGlossary 7. Communication and Workplace RelationshipsPeer Communication and RelationshipsPeer Social SupportTypes of Peer Communication RelationshipsOutcomes of Peer CommunicationWorkplace FriendshipsSummary of Peer and Friendship RelationsManager-Direct Report CommunicationCommon Manager-Direct Report Relationship PatternsPerceptions of Interaction PatternsEffective Versus Ineffective SupervisorsOpenness to CommunicationPelz EffectSemantic Information DistanceUpward DistortionCommunication Challenge: The Pelz EffectFeedback ReluctanceCommunication Challenge: <"Living> " Versus <"Having> " an Open Door PolicySystemic FactorsDifferentiated Manager Communication and Relationships: Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) TheoryPartnership RelationshipsOverseer RelationshipsMiddle-Group RelationshipsRelationship DevelopmentOutcomes of Manager-Direct Report CommunicationSummary of Manager-Direct Report Communication PatternsInteraction of Peer and Manager CommunicationSummary of Manager-Peer Relationship InteractionMentor(ing) CommunicationCommunication Challenge: Mentoring CommunicationCommunication Challenge: Upside Down Mentoring?Summary of MentoringEmotion Management in Interpersonal InteractionsThe Nature of Emotions in InteractionsEthical Issue: The Moral <"Signaling> " Function of EmotionsTypes of EmotionsEmotion ManagementCommunication Challenge: Peer Communication and Emotion ManagementVolunteers and Interpersonal RelationshipsSummaryGlossary 8. Communication and LeadershipManagerial or Group LeadershipManagerial Leadership as TraitsModels of Management StylesContingency Models of Managerial LeadingExternal Communication Focus of ManagersDialectical Theory and Managerial LeadershipCommunication Challenge: African American Women Executives' Leadership CommunicationManagerial Leadership and VolunteersSummary of Managerial LeadershipOrganizational LeadershipCharismatic LeadershipVisionary LeadershipTransformational (and Transactional) LeadershipInstitutional LeadershipSensemaking TheoryFraming TheoryCommunication Challenge: Framing and Managerial LeadershipOrganizational Leadership of VolunteersEthical Issue: Leaders' Moral Talk Is Contagious (in a Good Way)The Dark Side of Managerial and Organizational LeadershipComparing Managerial and Organizational LeadershipSummaryGlossary 9. Communication and Decision-MakingA Prescriptive Model of Decision-MakingThe ModelCommunication Challenge: Improving Decision-Making Through BrainstormingDescriptive Models of Decision-MakingPhase ModelsAlternative Descriptive ModelsThe Spiral ModelCommunication Challenge: Leading Group DecisionsVigilant Interaction TheoryAlternative Decision-Making ProcessesSatisficingGarbage Can ModelRetrospective RationalityEthical Issue: Retrospective RationalityFaulty Decision-MakingGroupthinkOther Characteristics of Ineffective Decision-MakingCommunication Challenge: Avoiding Groupthink and Ineffective Decision-Making PracticesOvercoming Faulty Decision Making: HRO TheoryDecision-Making in Volunteer OrganizationsSummaryGlossary 10. Communication and ConflictDefining ConflictTypologies of ConflictLevel of ConflictsIntrapersonal ConflictInterpersonal ConflictsIntergroup ConflictsInterorganizational ConflictsContent of ConflictsVisibility of ConflictsApplicationConflict as Dysfunctional and FunctionalConflict StylesBargaining and Negotiation in ConflictEthical Issue: Ethical BargainingManaging Conflict Through Third PartiesCommunication and Conflict with Abusive CoworkersWorkplace BullyingDefining Workplace BullyingEthical Issue: Wanting to Belong and Participation in Social BullyingCausesCharacteristics of PerpetratorsCharacteristics of TargetsEnvironmental FactorsEffects of BullyingCoping with BullyingAddressing BullyingSexual HarassmentDefining Sexual HarassmentEthical Issue: Sender or Receiver PriorityCauses of Sexual HarassmentEffects of Sexual HarassmentCoping with Sexual HarassmentAddressing Sexual HarassmentConflict in Nonprofit/Volunteer SettingsSummaryGlossary 11. Communication, Power, and ResistanceDefinitionsPower and InfluenceIdeology (or Ideologies)Surface and Deep Structure PowerSurface Level PowerTypes of PowerCommunication Challenge: Increasing Personal PowerReasons for Power RelationshipsPower as Resource DependencyPower as Social ExchangePower and Personal CharacteristicsDeep Structure PowerCommunication Challenge: Muting Voices of the MistreatedResistance to PowerEthical Issue: Ethics and Decaf ResistanceVoice and ResistanceEthical Issue: Boat Rocking and WhistleblowingSilence, Resistance, and VoicePower and Resistance in Nonprofits and VolunteersSummaryGlossary 12. Communication and Work-Nonwork IssuesThe Changing WorkplaceGeneral Causes of Work-Life ConflictTime-Based ConflictStrain-Based ConflictBehavior-Based ConflictSpecific Causes of Work-Life ConflictSocial Norms That Increase Work-Life ConflictEthical Issue: To Work or Not to Work, That Is the QuestionOutcomes of Work-Life ConflictManaging Work-Life BoundariesCommunication Challenge: Choosing Communication Media for Boundary Management in Global Virtual OrganizingEthical Issue: Segmenting Salaried WorkersFamily-Friendly Work PoliciesCommunication Challenge: Unintended Consequences of Family-Life PoliciesPositive Effects of Family-Friendly PoliciesProblematic Issues of Family-Friendly PoliciesCareer RepercussionsDifficulty Negotiating Leave PoliciesPeer Pressure Against Using the PolicyResistance to Work-Life IntegrationWork-Family Third-Place (Life Enrichment) BalanceVolunteer RolesTypes of VolunteeringWork-Family-Life Enrichment BalanceEthical Issue: Disingenuous Volunteering?SummaryGlossary 13. Communication and the Changing Work Environment: Technology, Diversity, and GlobalizationSystems TheoryDefining ChangeReactions to ChangeCommunication Challenge: Resisting Changes or Change CommunicationCommunication and ChangeCommunication Challenge: Design a CeremonyChanging Communication TechnologyMedia Richness TheoryChanges in Communication ExpectationsChanging How Meaning Is EstablishedEthical Issue: Organizational Image Versus Personal Social Media UseChanging Decision-Making ExpectationsCommunication Challenge: Creating a Collaborative Organizational Policy of Internet UsageChanging Interpersonal Communication InteractionsEthical Issue: Using Social Media to Convey and Express Private OpinionsSummary of Changing Communication TechnologyCultural Diversity: The Changing WorkforceCultural Diversity and CommunicationCultural Diversity in the WorkplaceEthical Issue: Creating TeamsInfluence of Diversity on Group and Organizational EffectivenessSummary of Cultural DiversityGlobalizationChange and Nonprofit Organizations and VolunteersChanges in Funding and CollaborationChanging VolunteersCulturally Diverse Understandings of VolunteersGlobalization and VolunteersSummaryGlossary 14. Communication During Career and Organizational TransitionsCommunicative Theory of ResilienceIndividual Career TransitionsCommunication and PromotionsPromotion Selection ContextEthical Issue: Promotion Types and BiasThe Selection Process for PromotionsPromotion ProcessPromotions, Biological Sex, and Communication StyleCommunication and Job TransfersCommunication and Domestic Job TransfersPurposes of Domestic Job TransfersThe Process for Job TransfersEffects on the WorkgroupCommunication and International Job TransfersCommunication and Career PlateausOrganizational TransitionsMergers and AcquisitionsThe M&A ProcessThe Pre-Merger PhaseThe In-Play PhaseCommunication Challenge: Rumors and SensemakingTransition PhaseEthical Issue: Leading the Combining of Two CulturesThe Stabilization PhaseReductions-in-Force or LayoffsPre-Announcement PhaseAnnouncement PhasePost-Layoff PhaseIndividual and Organizational Transitions for VolunteersSummaryGlossary 15. Communication During Organizational ExitSocial Exchange TheoryVoluntary ExitPlanned ExitsShocksGradual DisenchantmentMixed Reasons for Voluntary TurnoverNetwork LocationCareer OpportunitiesCareer ChangesRetirementThe Voluntary Exit ProcessThe Preannouncement PhaseThe Announcement PhaseThe Exit PhaseExit InterviewsCommunication Challenge: Exit Interviews with College InternsInvoluntary ExitImmediate or Summary DismissalProgressive DisciplineEthical Issue: Fired over FacebookCommunication Challenge: The EAGR Approach to Giving Corrective FeedbackA Third Form of ExitExit and VolunteersSummaryEpilogueA Dark Side of Organizational MembershipSocialization and IndividualizationConclusionGlossary ReferencesCreditsIndex