Organizational Communication Balancing Creativity and Constraint

by Eisenberg, Eric M.; Trethewey, Angela; LeGreco, Marianne; Goodall, Jr., H. L.

• ISBN13: 9781319052348
• ISBN10: 1319052347
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2016-11-11
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

Learn to balance creativity and constraint as Organizational Communication helps you become a better ogranizational commmunicator, particularly within conversatioms related to diversity, technology, ethics and the global economy.

Author Biography

Eric M. Eisenberg is Professor of Communication and since 2007 has served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida.  Eisenberg graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers University in 1977 and received his doctorate in Organizational Communication from Michigan State University in 1982.  Dr. Eisenberg twice received the National Communication Association award for the outstanding research publication in organizational communication, as well as the Burlington Foundation award for excellence in teaching.  Dr. Eisenberg is the author of over 70 articles, chapters, and books on the subjects of organizational communication, health communication, and communication theory. As Dean of the largest college at USF—with nearly 600 faculty, 18,000 students, and a budget of nearly $100M-- Eisenberg has sharpened the focus of faculty work through the creation of 3 interdisciplinary schools, 11 interdisciplinary centers, and the identification of 5 areas of research excellence.  Even in the most difficult of economic times, he has been successful in recruiting world class faculty talent.  In addition, he has played a major role in the university’s strategic efforts to measurably improve student success through transformed pedagogy.  Working closely with faculty, staff, and academic advisors, he has successfully applied a combination of policy and process changes, course redesign, and intrusive advising to significantly impact rates of progression, graduation, and employment.

 

Angela Trethewey is Professor of Communication and since 2014 has served as the Dean of the College of Communication and Education at California State University, Chico. Trethewey graduated, suma cum laude, from Chico State in 1988 and received her doctorate in communication, with a specialty in organizational communication, from Purdue University in 1994.  Before returning to her Alma Mater to serve as Dean, she was on the faculty at University of Washington and later served as Professor and Director of the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University.  There, she was a founding and active member of the Project for Wellness and Work life and the Center for Strategic Communication. She has devoted her career to the study and teaching of communication, particularly as it impacts our individual, organizational and national identities.  As a scholar, she is the author of thirty articles and book chapters and three books.  As a leader, Trethewey routinely draws upon her training in organizational communication theory and critical research methods to help her analyze problems and opportunities, cultivate a culture of innovation, inclusion and participation, and foster the leadership potential of faculty and students.

 

Marianne LeGreco is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. LeGreco graduated from Bradley University in 2000 where she competed for the national champion Bradley Speech Team. She received her Master’s and Doctorate from Arizona State University in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Dr. LeGreco is the 2013 recipient of the Service Engagement Award from the Organizational Communication Division of the National Communication Association. Her work focuses on food systems, discourse analysis, and community engagement, and her research has appeared in journals including the Journal of Applied Communication Research and the American Journal of Public Health. LeGreco has also played a key role in organizing the Guilford Food Council, the Mobile Oasis Farmers Market, and the Warnersville Urban Farm – all in an effort to promote vibrant local food communities. In both 2014 and 2015, she presented talks for TEDxGreensboro chronicling these experiences.

The late H. L. (Bud) Goodall, Jr. (PhD, Penn State) was Professor of Communication in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University, where he also served as a Senior Fellow in the Consortium for Strategic Communication and as an affiliated faculty member in the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict.  He was the author or coauthor of many books and articles on organizational and strategic communication, narrative, and ethnography, Counter-Narrative: How Academics Can Challenge Extremists and Promote Social Justice (Left Coast Press, 2010), and with Jeffry Halverson and Steven R. Corman, Master Narratives of Islamist Extremism (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2010).  With coauthors Steven R. Corman and Angela Trethewey, their volume Weapons of Mass Persuasion: Strategic Communication to Combat Violent Extremism won the Best Book award from the Applied Communication Division of the National Communication Association in 2009, and his autoethnographic memoir, A Need to Know: The Clandestine History of a CIA Family won the Best Book award from the Ethnography Division of NCA in 2007. Goodall worked as an organizational consultant for over thirty years.  His clients included high technology organizations, educational institutions, and U. S. military, intelligence, and diplomatic services.  He was listed in Who’s Who in the Social Sciences and was the recipient of the Gerald M. Phillips lifetime achievement award in applied communication scholarship from the National Communication Association in 2003.

Table of Contents

PART I                        APPROACHING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

CHAPTER 1               Communication and the Changing World of Work 

THE INEVITABILITY OF CHANGE 

THE IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON ORGANIZING 

Outsourcing 

The Rise of the Global Company 

Challenges of Managing a Multicultural Workforce 

Global Economic Concerns 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Religious Differences in the Classroom 

Potential Abuses of Power in the Global Marketplace 

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 

Globalization and You 

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

 

Transcending Space and Time 

Contemplating Security Concerns 

Understanding Urgent Organizations 

Relying on Communication Networks 

CHANGES IN THE MEANING OF WORK 

The New Social Contract 

Ethical Concerns 

Quality-of-Life Issues 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Organizational Structure and Employee Well-Being 

SUMMARY 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

KEY TERMS 

CASE STUDY: THE CASE OF THE “ITALIAN” SHOES 

CHAPTER 2               Defining Organizational Communication 

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION DEFINITIONS AND APPROACHES 

APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 

Communication as Information Transfer 

Communication as Transactional Process 

Communication as Strategic Control 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  It’s Not Personal, It’s Just Policy:

 

Organizational Ambiguity in Action 

Communication as a Balance of Creativity and Constraint

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 

 

Online Networking Profiles: Balancing Creativity and Constraint 

ORGANIZATIONS AS DIALOGUES 

Dialogue and the Situated Individual 

Definitions of Dialogue 

       Dialogue as Mindful Communication 

       Dialogue as Equitable Transaction 

       Dialogue as Empathic Conversation 

       Dialogue as Real Meeting 

INTEGRITY AND ETHICS IN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 

SUMMARY 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

KEY TERMS 

CASE STUDY: THE MANY ROBERT SMITHS 

PART II          THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 

CHAPTER 3        Three Early Perspectives on Organizations and Communication 

WHY THEORY? 

Theories Are Partial 

Theories Are Partisan 

Theories Are Problematic 

CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT APPROACHES 

From Empire to Hierarchy 

 

From Resistance to Domination 

The Industrial Revolution 

Scientific Management 

Fayol’s Classical Management 

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

 Scientific Management at the Gym 

Bureaucracy 

 

Implications for Organizational Communication 

 

 

THE HUMAN RELATIONS APPROACH 

 

 

Historical and Cultural Background 

 

 

What Is Human Relations? 

 

 

The Hawthorne Studies 

 

 

Reflections on Human Relations 

 

 

THE HUMAN RESOURCES APPROACH 

 

 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 

 

 

McGregor’s Theory Y Management 

 

 

Likert’s Principle of Supportive Relationships 

 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Managing the Kitchen 

 

 

SUMMARY 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

 

 

KEY TERMS 

 

 

CASE STUDY: RIVERSIDE STATE HOSPITAL 

 

 

CHAPTER 4          The Systems Perspective on Organizations and Communication 

 

 

THE SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE 

 

 

The Origins of Systems Theory in the Sciences 

 

 

Biology and General Systems Theory 

 

 

From Biology to Organizational Communication 

 

 

WHAT IS A SYSTEM? 

 

 

Environment and Open Systems 

 

 

Interdependence 

 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Locavores, Sustainability, and Systems

 

 

 

Goals 

 

 

 

Processes and Feedback 

 

 

Openness, Order, and Contingency 

 

THE APPEAL OF SYSTEMS THEORY FOR ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 

 

 

Peter Senge’s Learning Organization 

 

 

Karl Weick’s Sense-Making Model 

 

 

Retrospective Sense Making 

 

 

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION  Making Sense of Your Equivocal

Past 

 

 

Loose Coupling 

 

 

Partial Inclusion 

 

 

SUMMARY 

 

 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

 

 

KEY TERMS 

 

 

CASE STUDY: CRISIS IN THE ZION EMERGENCY ROOM 

 

 

CHAPTER 5         Cultural Studies of Organizations and Communication

 

 

THE CULTURAL APPROACH 

 

 

Cultures as Symbolic Constructions 

 

 

Cultural Elements 

 

 

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND 

 

 

Competitive Pressures 

 

 

Interpretive Methodology 

 

 

Social Trends 

 

THREE VIEWS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE 

 

 

The Practical View 

 

 

The Interpretive View 

 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  “Shooting” Employees with Motivation 

 

 

Critical and Postmodern Views 

 

 

Integration 

 

 

Differentiation 

 

 

Fragmentation 

 

 

SOCIALIZATION: INTEGRATING NEW MEMBERS INTO ORGANIZATIONAL

 

CULTURES 

 

 

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION  College Radio and Community

 

 

 

Socialization 

 

 

Anticipatory Socialization 

 

 

Organizational Assimilation 

 

 

Socialization and High-Reliability Organizations 

 

 

Socialization and Technology 

 

 

A COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVE ON ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE 

 

 

SUMMARY 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

 

 

KEY TERMS 

 

 

CASE STUDY I: STUDYING THE CULTURE OF MEETINGS 

 

 

CASE STUDY II: CULTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN

 

COLLEGE FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES

 

 

CHAPTER 6                Critical Approaches to Organizations and Communication 

 

 

CRITICAL THEORY 

 

 

Historical and Cultural Background 

 

 

The Rise of Critical Theorizing in the United States 

 

 

The Centrality of Power 

 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  The (Im)possibilities of a Living Wage 

 

 

 

POWER AND IDEOLOGY 

 

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

 

Gender, Ideology, and Power in Career Paths 

 

 

The Hidden Power of Culture: Myths, Stories, and Metaphors 

 

 

The Hidden Power of Legitimation: Manufactured Consent and Concertive Control 

 

 

DISCOURSE AND DISCIPLINE 

 

 

The Hidden Power of Knowledge: Surveillance, the Panopticon, and Disciplinary Power 

 

 

The Technological Panopticon 

 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Unintentional Surveillance? 

 

 

RECENT TRENDS IN CRITICAL ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION SCHOLARSHIP 

 

 

Healthy Organizations 

 

 

Resistance: Challenging Organizational Power and Control 177

 

 

The Role of the Critical Theorist 

 

 

SUMMARY 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

 

KEY TERMS 

 

 

CASE STUDY I: RISKY BUSINESS: CONSENT, SAFETY, AND FIREFIGHTER

CULTURE 

 

 

CASE STUDY II: RACING THROUGH THE HURRICANE OF AIRPORT SECURITY:

 

 

 

ORGANIZATIONAL METAPHORS AND STANDING IN LINE 

 

 

PART III             CONTEXTS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 

 

 

CHAPTER 7           Identity and Difference in Organizational Life 

 

 

THE HISTORY OF IDENTITY IN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 194

 

 

IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES AND

 

 

 

PERFORMANCES 

 

 

Identity Regulation 

 

 

Identity Work 

 

 

Self-Doubter 

 

 

Struggler 

 

 

Surfer 

 

 

Storyteller 

 

 

Strategist 

 

 

Stencil 

 

 

Soldier 

 

 

IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS FIXED ASPECTS OF THE SELF 206

 

 

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION  Images of Identity: Making Sense

of Yourself in College 

 

 

IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS ORGANIZATIONAL FEATURES THAT INFLUENCE

 

MEMBERS 

 

 

IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS POPULAR CULTURE NARRATIVES 

 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  The Secret Identity of an English Professor 

 

 

COMMUNICATING IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE 

 

 

SUMMARY 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

 

 

KEY TERMS 

 

 

CASE STUDY: VALUING IDENTITIES ACROSS FIVE GENERATIONS 

 

 

CHAPTER 8              Teams and Networks: Communication and Collaborative Work 

 

 

DEMOCRACY IN THE WORKPLACE 

 

 

COMMUNICATING IN TEAMS 

 

 

Types of Teams 

 

 

Project Teams 

 

 

Work Teams 

 

 

Quality-Improvement Teams 

 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  The Dilemmas of Participative Management at a University 

 

 

 

Virtual Teams 

 

 

Communicative Dimensions of Teamwork 

 

 

Roles 

 

 

Norms 

 

 

Decision-Making Processes 

 

 

Management of Conflict and Consensus 

 

 

 

Cultural Diversity in Teams 

 

 

Team Learning 

 

 

A Retreat from Teams? 

 

 

Positive Collaboration 

 

 

COMMUNICATING IN NETWORKS 

 

 

Small-Group Communication Networks 

 

 

Emergent Communication Networks 

 

 

 

Analyses of Communication Networks 

 

 

Patterns of Interaction 

 

 

Communication Network Roles 

 

 

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

 

 Networking on Campus: Communication, Identity, and Empowerment 

 

 

Content of Communication Networks 

 

 

Interorganizational Communication Networks 

 

 

 

The Digital Networked Society 

 

 

CREATIVITY AND CONSTRAINT IN TEAMS AND NETWORKS 

 

 

SUMMARY 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

 

 

KEY TERMS 

 

 

CASE STUDY I: SPELLMAN GARDENS 

 

 

CASE STUDY II: THE NETWORKED COMMUNITY 

 

 

CHAPTER 9                Communicating Leadership 

 

 

LAYING THE FOUNDATION: USEFUL INSIGHTS FROM PRIOR LEADERSHIP THEORIES 

 

 

Trait Leadership 

 

 

Leadership Style 

 

 

Situational Leadership® 

 

 

Transformational Leadership 

 

 

Discursive Leadership 

 

 

LEADERSHIP RECONSIDERED: EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP HABITS 

 

 

 

Habits of Mind 

 

 

 

Habits of Character 

 

 

Habits of Authentic Communicative Performance 

 

 

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION  Grooming Servant Leaders through

 

Service Learning and Community Engagement

 

 

LEADING THE ORGANIZATION: COMMUNICATING WITH EMPLOYEES 

 

 

Openness 

 

 

Supportiveness 

 

 

Motivation 

 

 

Empowerment 

 

 

THE DARK SIDE OF LEADERSHIP: BULLYING AND HARASSMENT 

 

 

Bullying in the Workplace 

 

 

Harassment and Sexual Harassment 

 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Effective Responses to Bullies, Harassers, and Bosses Who

Mistreat Subordinates 

 

 

SUMMARY 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

 

 

KEY TERMS 

 

 

CASE STUDY: WHEN LEADERSHIP STYLES COLLIDE 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 10          Organizational Alignment: Managing the Total Enterprise 

 

 

POSITIONING THE ORGANIZATION 

 

 

 

Competitive Strategy 

 

 

Types of Business Strategies 

 

 

Strategy and the Business Life Cycle 

 

 

 

STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT 

 

 

HUMAN RESOURCES 

 

 

Talent 

 

 

 

EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

 

 

Helping Colleges and Universities Do What They Do Best 

 

 

Targeted Selection 

 

 

Performance Management 

 

 

Training and Development 

 

 

 

Organizational Development 

 

 

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING 

 

 

Learning Basic Skills 

 

 

Learning New Technologies 

 

 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Blogaholics and Twitterphiles 

 

 

 

EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY 

 

 

Synchronicity and Media Richness 

 

 

Social Media and the Urgent Organization 

 

 

Secrecy and Privacy 

 

 

Mediated Interpersonal Communication 

 

 

SUMMARY 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 

 

 

KEY TERMS 

 

 

CASE STUDY: STRATEGICALLY ALIGNING SCHOOL FOOD POLICIES 

 

 

APPENDIX A       Field Guide to Studying Organizational Communication 

References 

Author Index 
Subject Index