Organizational Communication for Survival : Making Work, Work

by Richmond, Virginia Peck; McCroskey, James C.; McCroskey, Linda L.

• ISBN13: 9780205408009
• ISBN10: 0205408001
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

Assuming a unique perspective for an organizational communication text, this "handbook" focuses students on how to communicate with managers and peers to survive, thrive and prosper in organizational environments. Taking a "subordinate" approach, this "survival guide for employees" centers on understanding how and why managers communicate the ways they do and how employees can adapt their own communication skills to be more effective in the organizational environment. In fifteen simple chapters, this text provides clear and concise guidelines, along with a foundation of theory and scholarship, to help students learn to become more effective communicators in today's workforce.

Table of Contents

Preface

The Nature of Organizations

Types of Organizations

Common Characteristics of All Organizations

Organizational Environments

Preliminary Principles for Peons

The Nature of Communication in Organizations

Myths and Misconceptions about Communication in Organizations

Organizational Communication Defined

Components of Communication

Functions of Communication in Organizations

Organizational Communication Networks

Formal Communication Flow and Impact

Nonverbal Behavior and Communication

Significance of Nonverbal Communication in Organizations

Functions of Nonverbal Messages

Categories of Nonverbal Messages

Immediacy and Organizational Communication

Outcomes of Immediacy Behavior

Drawbacks of Immediacy

Administration, Supervision, and Communication

Supervisors' Duties: Subordinates' Views

Why Aren't Managers Doing Their Jobs? To Supervise or to Administer? That Is the Question

What Kind of Manager Do You Have?

Barriers to Effective Communication

Climate Control

Status

Communication Overload

Defensiveness

Communication and Individual Differences

Organizational Types

Personality Types

Perceptions of People in Organizations

Source Credibility

Interpersonal Attractiveness

Homophily

Other Interpersonal Perceptions

Approaches to Management

Early Orientations

Leadership Approaches

Socio-Communicative Orientations and Styles

The Ideal Leader?

Management Communication Styles and Decision-Making

Management Communication Styles (MCS)

Why Managers Select One MCS over Another

Identifying the MCS

Power and Status

Nature of Status

Status Symbols

Communication and Status

Power

From the Peon's Perspective

Organizational Culture

Defining Culture

Culture and Communication

Cultural Terminology

Organizations and Cultures

Ethnocentrism

Communication and Change

Why People Resist Change in Organizations

Informal Communication Network Roles

Innovativeness: The Willingness to Adopt

Introducing Change

Stages of the Adoption Process

Characteristics or Attributes of Innovations

Six Conditions Necessary for Successful Change

Disagreement, Conflict, and Groupthink

Disagreement and Conflict

Tolerance for Disagreement

Conflict Prevention

Conflict Management

Groupthink: Too Much Agreement for the Good of the Organization

Effective Supervisory and Subordinate Relationships

Why Some Do Not Survive: Ten Common Communication Mistakes

How to Survive: Common Communication Strategies for Survival

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.