Exam #1

Question 1

Define Organization

Answer 1

A Group of people who interact with each other, through work.

Question 2

Define Organizational Communication

Answer 2

A process when organizational members help create, maintain, and change the organization

Question 3

Define Organizational Culture

Answer 3

Patterns of interpretation, what the culture is, known by the employees within the organization.

Question 4

What are the 5 “Core Characteristics” of Organizational Culture?

Answer 4

1. Inextricably linked to organizational matters
2. Dynamic, Not static
3. Competing Values and assumptions
4. Emotionally charged
5. Foreground and background

Question 5

How does JK conceptualize the relationship between OC and organizational communication?

Answer 5

Organizational Members use symbols, Messages, and meanings, that are part of the culture, in order to communicate.

Question 6

Sense-Makeing

Answer 6

Explains how individuals make plausible, coherent, and reasonable accounts of what happens in the work environment.

Question 7

4 functions of Symbols?

Answer 7

1. Reflect of Organizational Culture
2. Influences behavior, by triggering internalized values and norms.
3. Facilitate Organizational Members
4. Integrate organizational systems of meanings

Question 8

10 Examples that explain what Organizational Culture is NOT (MYTHS)

Answer 8

1. What works as culture in one organization will work in another.
2. Organizational Culture is the responsibility of top management.
3. Organizational culture is the key to success.
4. Talking about changes to the culture will change the culture.
5. Everyone needs to see culture similarly in order for culture to exist.
6. Organizational Culture is not real.
7. Organizational Culture does not matter
8. It is easy to see all aspects of organizational culture.
9. It is easy to see or know the culture of an organization.
10. All aspects or elements of organizational culture are positive.

Question 9

Where did Mae come from, before the Circle?

Answer 9

Mae’s last job was at a Utility Company, where she didn’t find any need there for ambitiousness, Nothing new was happening, it was static.

Question 10

How did Mae get to the Circle?

Answer 10

Mae’s friend Annie helped Mae get the job in customer support.

Question 11

What are some key features of the circle’s natural and built environment (e.g., landscaping, interior design, etc.)? How do they work to convey certain norms, values, and beliefs that are unique to this organizational culture?

Answer 11

Circle is a social media company at heart, the campus is huge and built for the employees in mind, which a giant amount of positive and group activities, and things to do. The company works to make sure that their employees are connecting with each other as much as they can through social media, and through community.

Question 12

Who are the initial figures that Mae encounters? How does her interaction with them work to convey those distinctive norms, values, and beliefs?

Answer 12

Mae found out that the people at Circle, especially the people she met from HR work to make sure their employees are talking to each other, and make sure that the community is strong through communication.

Question 13

What do managers typically believe about ‘Practicing Control’ in a functionalist Organizational Culture?

Answer 13

Used for improving operating efficiencies, enhancing the bottom line, or creating satisfied customers.

Question 14

What do Managers typically believe about ‘Employee Selection’ in a Functionalist Organizational Culture?

Answer 14

Managers view it as a screening device in selecting employees.

Question 15

What do Managers typically believe about ‘Organizational Success’ in a Functionalist Organizational Culture?

Answer 15

Managers would argue, that organization culture is the product of its decision making, which is done mainly by the managers themselves.

Question 16

What do managers typically believe about ‘Achieving and Maintaining Competitive Advantage’ in a functionalist organizational culture?

Answer 16

Managers view is as the element that distinguishes it from other similar organizations and as, a result, provides a competitive advantage.

Question 17

What are the three steps of Culture under Functionalism.

Answer 17

1. Culture is seen through symbols, rituals, and other organization event.
2. Culture is reflected in how people think, behave within the organization.
3. Defines culture as the identity of a company as perceived by its best customers.

Question 18

What are 6 reasons why people work

Answer 18

1. Play
2. Purpose
3. Potantial
4. Economical Pressure
5. Emotional Pressure
6. Inertia

Question 19

What are the 3 perspectives on ballpark culture, from the Nick Trujillo Article?

Answer 19

1. Site of Capitalist Work
2. Community of symbolic Family Members
3. Theater for social Drama

Question 20

For the Nick Trujillo article, what are the Artifacts, values, and assumptions associated with “Site of Capitalist Work”?

Answer 20

Artifacts - Ballpark, Teams, Workers

Values - Workers, whom push values

Assumptions - The ballpark itself, being an industrial site.

Question 21

For the Nick Trujillo article, what are the Artifacts, values, and assumptions associated with “Community of Symbolic Family”?

Answer 21

Artifacts - Family that owns the team

Values - Families that go to the game perpetuate the values.

Assumptions - Community Oriented

Question 22

For the Nick Trujillo article, what are the Artifacts, values, and assumptions associated with “Theater for social Drama”

Answer 22

Artifacts - Stadium, Team, Game history

Values - Personal investment of the team itself

Assumptions - Everything is staged, the employees, players, fans, everyone comes together to create the community.

Question 23

Why does Eggers want us to see Mae experiencing nature and solitude?

Answer 23

Eggers does have mae enjoying her solitude every once in a while. I think that is because she shows that the company has everything you really need in life to be at work, there for you are at work more often. Having Mae off in nature when she can, shows that she needs it, I think it is a hidden message that tells us that we ned to be in nature when we can to keep a normal said life.

Question 24

What – if anything – is Francis teaching Mae about the Circle’s OC?

Answer 24

He teaches her that the culture at circle is open for everyone to see who you you are. I would say an example of this is when Francis goes up on stage and tells the world who he is dating. He also shows mae that Circle is a very social culture, through the internet, as well as the events that they have almost every day.

Question 25

Who is Kalden? what is he up to?

Answer 25

We don’t know yet, we just know him as the random character that shows up everyone in a while in Mae’s life. In this part of the book he was the one that was looking over Mae’s shoulder as she was typing. Possibly just using Mae for the Sex.

Question 26

What does Mae learn from Gina about the relationship between communication and community? What are we learning about the importance of communication to work in the Circle’s OC?

Answer 26

Gena makes is vividly obvious to Mae that they are a communication culture there. It is almost her job to be social on the web. Almost taking away from her job of being a Customer Experience individual.

Question 27

What are the 4 ways that power can manifest itself in organizations?

Answer 27

1. Can Exist in organizational members ability perceived by others (ex - Others take the standard off of other co workers that are doing the best job. )
2. Power can exist in the interactions among organizational members
3. Power may be structural because it is build into the design of the organization. (example - Status attached to certain organizational functions)
4. Sociopolitical power - such as racism, sexism and classism

Question 28

What are some common ways that employees and management can be politically divided?

Answer 28

• Employees experiencing abuse from their superiors can resist by taking days off, or focusing energy away from work.
• Supervisors are charged with the organizational responsibility of evaluating employees and their performance.

Question 29

What is “concertive control”? How does it operate?

Answer 29

Occurs when employees adopt management interpretation of values and objectives in support of the organizations mission, Subtle things that can control an employee (Example - Mae needing to do more tasks at work, in order to be at work more often.

Question 30

What are some common ways that power can shape the significance of race and gender differences in an OC?

Answer 30

Many organizations have programs.

The absence or presence of such policies and programs is an artifact of the values and assumptions of the country.

Question 31

How are power and control “designed” into the structure of Amazon – for example, its formal policies, job descriptions, hierarchical relationships, and technology systems?

Answer 31

Amazon has Employees who work long hrs, Private anonymous feedback, and pushes work to the point of breaking people down emotionally. For Formal Policies, They don’t have paid leave. For technology, employees are constantly tracked.

Question 32

How are these control systems actually practiced (i.e., communicated verbally and nonverbally) between Amazon employees?

Answer 32

There is the ability to talk about other Amazon employees anominosly to others bosses.

Question 33

Does this appear to be a case of “concertive control” At Amazon?

Answer 33

Yes, Because of the added stress of others possibly going straight to your boss about you, and the work ethic as a whole, it has been found that people tend to control themselves.

Question 34

What are the possibilities for Amazon employees to resist this control? What examples do we see?

Answer 34

By leaving the company

Question 35

How do the metaphors of “jigsaw puzzle” and “landscape” help us to understand the process of doing OC analysis?

Answer 35

The pieces fit together one by one until a complete picture.

You keep working at it until the pieces work together correctly.

Question 36

What are risks likely to be considered by organizations when responding to your proposal to study them?

Answer 36

1. The analysis of the culture may be incorrect or incomplete
2. Organizational Members may not be ready to receive your analytical findings even through they agreed to support your investigation.
3. Providing feedback about an organizations culture is tricky when your findings are delivered to a group of organizational members.

Question 37

How does Dan’s handling of the “incident” involving Mae and Alistair depict the Circle’s cultural attitude towards conflict?

Answer 37

Dan perpetuated the “Social” culture at the Circle. By doing so he gave positive feedback to both Mae, saying that you have to absolutely
connect and convert with people all the time, especially within the company.

Question 38

What does Annie’s sequence of messages on pp. 114 suggest about the unanticipated effects of an OC valuing total “transparency”?

Answer 38

Because of the “Social” culture that is at the Circle, it is out of the ordinary that one would not text back other right away, Or not have their phone on person. In this case Annie because very worried, and combative because Mae was not texting her back right away.

Question 39

What does Mae’s experience in Dream Friday suggest about how the Circle’s culture affects organizational romance?

Answer 39

Organizational Romance, With Dream Friday, its like the employees are zombies, and they fall right into the trap, they all are ‘Ohhh’ and Ahhh’ ing the new products with no concern.

Question 40

Mae’s argument with Mercer offers two important things: 1) Explicit opposition to the Circle – and by extension, to its OC: and 2) Mae’s reaction to that opposition. What can we learn here?

Answer 40

I would say that Mae, has been ‘Consertivly controlled’ by her company, and has no idea. She only sees the positive aspects of social media, where she frames the opposition to be against positive introductions to their global society.

Question 41

Dan suggests that the company’s motives for adding “more layers” to her job is partly to ensure that she won’t get “bored.” How might a critical scholar of OC assess that claim?

Answer 41

I critical scholar would say, it is so she does more work, or to make it so Mae is more progressively controlled

Question 42

When you say “Symbols” in the work place, what is that referring too?

Answer 42

stories, logos and ceremonies, a company can reinforce it ideals in the minds of the employees.