Chapter 3: Organizational Analysis Flashcards
What are the 2 basic dimensions of organizations?
- Structure* describes the underlying framework that shapes an organization over time, and includes three key elements: hierarchy, differentiation and specialization, and formalization
- Process* the actual substance erected upon the framework of the organization (the structure)
container = structure and the contents of the container can vary greatly and is somewhat constrained by the container
Def hierarchy
Hierarchy: the specific arrangement of job roles and positions based upon authority within an organization
Def differentiation and specialization
Differentiation and specialization: accounts for the division of companies into units, departments, and positions, each of which performs specific tasks
Def professionals
Professionals are individuals who possess expertise in a particular area or field that allows them to accomplish the distinctive tasks of their position
Def formalization
Formalization: the degree to which specific practices must conform to accepted organizational and professional conventions
How does a media critic with an organizational approach think?
is interested in the precise ways that structure and process mutually influence one another within a media organization
Analyze the communicative practices that occur within organizations and how it creates and maintains a particular type of organizational culture
Def Organizational culture
o Organizational culture: the set(s) of norms and customs, artifacts and events, and values and assumptions that emerge as a consequence of organizational members’ communicative practices
List the 5 ways to study an organization’s culture
performance, narrative, textual, management, and technology
Explain performance
Performance: expressive (productive and purposeful) displays (both process and product) that carry symbolic significance (meaning and implication) in a particular context
4 kinds of performance:
Ritual, sociality, politics, and enculturation
What is ritual performance?
- Ritual: personal or organizational behaviors that members engage in on a regular or routine basis (ex. Personal ritual= drinking coffee every morning; organizational ritual = attending weekly faculty meetings)
The “sacred” character of some organizational rituals can reveal an organization’s culture
What is Sociality performance?
Sociality: to the codes of etiquette that are enacted with regard to friendliness, small talk, joking, and privacy within an organization
What is politics performance?
Politics are performed differently in every organization and influence the type and degree of independence, negotiating, and coalition building that are acceptable
What is enculturation performance?
• Enculturation, emphasizes those “communicative performances wherein the newcomer learns the social knowledge and skills of the culture.”
Explain narratives
Narratives: stories members tell about their workplace experiences are another way to evaluate the endless (re)creation of an organization’s culture
3 classifications of narratives:
- Personal: covey indiv subjective experiences
- Collegial: told about other organizational members
- Corporate stories: told about the organization itself
Explain textual
Textual: written or electronic documents such as company bylaws, policy manuals, procedure handbooks, training manuals, office memos, newsletters, mission statements, reports, etc.
formal texts = the managerial or company “line,” informal texts = the views of those in the “trenches.”
Purpose: explicitly identify what are considered to be acceptable and unacceptable actions and activities within an organization
Explain management
Management: how “organizational culture is developed and directed by managers for the purpose of improving operating efficiencies, enhancing the bottom line, or creating satisfied customers.”
to evaluate the political consequences of managerial practices
Explain Technology in terms of studying organization culture
Technology: examine the ways in which technology structures work activities, as well as “influences organizational members’ work roles and work relationships.”
as it is the very environment in which one does one’s job
Difference between organizational culture and professional culture
Organizational cutlure is unique to a specific organization and its practices
professional culture may extend across many orgnizations
Professional culture, then, refers to sets of norms and customs, artifacts and events, and values and assumptions that emerge as a consequence of formal training (i.e. education, apprenticeships, internships, etc.), membership and participation (i.e. professional associations, conferences, workshops, licenses, etc.), and recognition (i.e. industry awards and honors) within a profession
Def conventions
Conventions describe the norms that govern the technical and creative choices made by workers in the execution of their duties, art, or craft
Conventions are motivated, shared, naturalized, resilient, and directive
Def professionalization
• Professionalization or the socialization of workers to do their work in certain ways and to produce certain kinds of products
the internalization of professional conventions as common sense
