Strategic Organizational Communication : In a Global Economy

by Conrad, Charles; Poole, Marshall Scott

• ISBN13: 9781444338638
• ISBN10: 1444338633
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-20
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Surveying a wide variety of disciplines, this fully-revised 7th edition offers a sophisticated and engaging treatment of the rapidly expanding field of organizational communication Places organizations and organizational communication within a broader social, economic, and cultural context Applies a global perspective throughout, including thoughtful consideration of non-Western forms of leadership, as well as global economic contexts Offers a level of sophistication and integration of ideas from a variety of disciplines that makes this treatment definitive Updated seventh edition: Updated to include recent events and their ethical dimensions, including the bank crisis and bailouts in the US and UK Offers a nuanced, in-depth discussion of technology, and a new chapter on organizational change Includes new and revised case studies for a fresh view on perennial topics, incorporating a global focus throughout

Author Biography

Charles Conrad is Professor of Organizational Communication at Texas AM University. He has received more than a dozen college- and university-level teaching awards, including the National Communication Association's Donald Ecroyd Award. He is the author or editor of nine books, the most recent of which are Organizational Rhetoric (2011) and Global Engineering (2010). Marshall Scott Poole is Professor of Communication and Director of the Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has received several teaching awards and multiple research awards, including the Steven Chaffee Lifetime Productivity Award from the International Communication Association. He is the author or editor of eleven books, including Working Through Conflict (2008) and Handbook of Organizational Change and Innovation (2004).

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Underlying Concepts	p. 1
Strategic Organizational Communication	p. 3
Organizational Communication as Strategic Discourse	p. 5
How to Handle the Scarlet Email	p. 7
The Fundamental Paradox	p. 10
Thinking Strategically About Organizing and Communicating	p. 12
Can You Trust Anyone Under Thirty?	p. 14
Creating Socio-Economic Spaces	p. 18
Making Organizations Look Alike	p. 20
Strategies of Organizing	p. 23
Strategic Communication for Individual Members of Organizations	p. 24
Summary: The Complexities of Organizational Communication	p. 26
Keys to Strategic Organizational Communication	p. 30
Seeing Connections: The Importance of Systems Thinking	p. 32
There Go the Lights, Here Come the Babies?	p. 40
Uncovering Assumptions: The Importance of Critical Thinking	p. 43
Valuing Differences: The Advantages of Diversity	p. 47
Thinking Globally: The Challenges of Globalization	p. 49
Understanding Technology: A Radical Force for Change	p. 52
Working in the Virtual Future: An Optimistic View (Looking Back)	p. 58
Summary	p. 66
Strategies of Organizing	p. 71
Traditional Strategies of Organizing	p. 73
Traditional Strategies of Organizational Design	p. 75
Feel Safer Now?	p. 83
Traditional Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance	p. 89
The Power of Rewards at Industry International	p. 92
Traditional Strategies of Leadership	p. 98
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Traditional Strategies of Organizing	p. 99
Scenes From the Electronic Sweatshop	p. 104
Conclusion: Communication and Traditional Strategies of Organizing	p. 107
Relational Strategies of Organizing	p. 113
Relational Strategies of Organizational Design	p. 114
Going South?	p. 118
Relational Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance	p. 127
Empowerment or Iron Cage?	p. 133
Relational Strategies of Leadership	p. 136
Information and Communication Technology and the Relational Strategy	p. 139
Assessing Relational Strategies	p. 142
Thinking Critically About Relational Strategies	p. 146
Cultural Strategies of Organizing	p. 155
Defining Key Terms: Cultures and Organizational Cultures	p. 157
Cultural Strategies of Organizational Design	p. 159
Cultural Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance	p. 161
Organizational Symbolism and Cultural Strategies of Motivation and Control	p. 166
It's My Party and I'll Do What I Want To	p. 171
Resistance and Control in Three Service Organizations	p. 175
Cultural Strategies of Leadership	p. 178
Technology and Cultural Strategies of Organizing	p. 181
Thinking Critically About Cultural Strategies	p. 183
Network Strategies of Organizing	p. 191
Network Strategies of Organizational Design	p. 193
Choosing Communication Media	p. 202
What Might Have Been	p. 208
al-Qaeda: A Network Organization?	p. 209
Evolving Into a Network Organization	p. 213
Network Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance	p. 215
Challenges for Control Systems in Network Organizations	p. 218
Leadership in Network Organizations	p. 219
Challenges and Problems for Network Organizations	p. 221
Beyond Networks: Alternative Strategies of Organizing	p. 222
Box 6.3 Postmodern Organizations?	p. 225
Conclusion	p. 227
Contingency Perspective on Organizing Strategies	p. 231
Task	p. 232
Steeling Away Into a Different Structure	p. 236
Interrelationships Among the Contingency Variables	p. 237
Conclusion and Transition	p. 238
Challenges in the Twenty-First Century	p. 241
Communication, Power, and Politics in Organizations	p. 243
A Perspective on Organizational Power	p. 245
On Death and Dying	p. 247
Societal Assumptions and the Bases of Organizational Power	p. 251
The Playground Never Ends	p. 263
Organizational Politics: Overt Power in the Communicative Process	p. 266
Box 7.1 An Exploration of Life in Systems of Power	p. 274
Conclusion	p. 278
Communication, Decision Making, and Conflict in Organizations	p. 284
Communication and Organizational Decision Making	p. 286
Making a Green Decision	p. 291
Managing the Ambiguity	p. 304
Koalas and Roos Flying Through Chaos	p. 313
Communication and the Management of Organizational Conflict	p. 316
The Bargaining Case	p. 327
Conclusion	p. 335
Organizational Change	p. 339
Innovation	p. 343
Organizing for Creativity	p. 344
Adoption	p. 348
Implementation	p. 355
Implementing a Moving Target: Quality Improvement at TopHill Hospital System	p. 356
Storyteling Journeys into Change	p. 368
Conclusion	p. 376
Communication and Diverse Workplaces	p. 380
Resisting "Others"	p. 382
Sequestering Sexual Harassment	p. 387
Confronting the Dominant Perspective	p. 398
Feminist Strategies for Organizing	p. 399
Trying to Stay Balanced	p. 402
Is that Term "Childless" or "Childfree"?	p. 406
Taking a Holistic Perspective	p. 409
Conclusion	p. 412
Communication, Organizations, and Globalization	p. 418
Culture, Difference, and Organizational Communication	p. 421
Increasing Cultural Understanding	p. 426
Can You Trust Anyone Under Thirty, Part 2?	p. 427
Economics, Globalization, and Organizational Communication	p. 431
Small Companies, Global Approaches	p. 438
Communication, Ethics, and Organizational Rhetoric	p. 447
Ethics, Organizations, and Social Control	p. 450
Societal Assumptions and Organizational Rhetoric	p. 452
Rhetoric and Organizational Crisis and Image Management	p. 455
Lanxess Cleans Up Its Act	p. 461
Public Policy making and Organizational Rhetoric	p. 463
Ike the Prophet	p. 467
Systems, Actions, and Ethics	p. 469
Conclusions and Implications for Ethics	p. 480
Postscript to Unit III Epilogue	p. 489
Index	p. 491
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