GROUP COMMUNICATION

Question 1

Cultural Approach to Organizations

What are the Hawthorne Studies?

Answer 1

“A series of experiments conducted in the 1920s at the Hawthorne manufacturing plant in Illinoisto investigate the impact of various working conditions”

Question 2

Cultural Approach to Organizations

What is the Hawthorne Effect?

Answer 2

• Social attention leads to increased productivity
• “Tendency for individuals to perform differently when they know they are being observed, which often led to increased productivity”

Question 3

What are examples of corporate values that reveal emphasis placed on human resources?

Question 4

Organizational Culture Theory

What are important aspects of Zappos corporate culture?

Question 5

Organizational Culture Theory

What is Zappos #1 priority as a company

BOTH what it is not AND what it is

Answer 5

NOT Customer Service, BUT Company Culture

Question 6

Organizational Culture Theory

What is the amount of money Zappos will pay it’s employees to leave the company within the first 4 weeks of hiring?

Answer 6

2k

Question 7

Organizational Culture Theory

What is the flip “side of the same coin” with branding, according to Tony Hsieh and Zappos?

Answer 7

A company’s brand and culture

Question 8

Organizational Culture Theory

Whats is #3, #6, and #7 on the list of Zappos’ “Ten Committable Core Values” ?

Answer 8

• 3: Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
• 6: Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
• 7: Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit

Question 9

Organizational Culture Theory

Define: Organizational “Culture”

Answer 9

• The shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that characterize a company
• “The cohesive patterns of making sense
  of the world that characterize a
  particular group of people in a particular
  time and place”

Question 10

Organizational Culture Theory

What is the importance of “symbols” and the 3 types of organizational symbols—physical, behavioral, and verbal symbols—in creating and maintaining organizational values

Answer 10

• Symbols represent the meanings that are common by members of an org
• Create & sustain a shared sense of organizational reality
• They communicate organizational values
• Physical, Behavioral, and Verbal

Question 11

Organizational Culture Theory

What are “Actors” in the context of Organizational Culture Theory?

Answer 11

Organization members who engage in communative “performances”

Question 12

Organizational Culture Theory

What are “Cultural Performances” in the context of Organizational Culture Theory?

Answer 12

A metaphor that represents the symbolic process of understanding human behavior in an organization

Question 13

Organizational Culture Theory

What are the 5 types of “Performances”?

Answer 13

1. Ritual - comm performances that occur on a regular basis (ex: graduation)
2. Passion - Org stories members share w/ one another, often and repeatedly (ex: memorials)
3. Sociality - NOT regular, Comm extentions of politeness & courtesies in an attempt to gain cooperation among members
4. Political - Membs comm attempts to influence other peoples behaviors (ex: stripe effect for fb game)
5. Enculturation - Ways membs obtain necessary info & skills to perform their jobs in the org (ex: transfer hokie experience)

Question 14

Organizational Culture Theory

What are the 4 types of Rituals?

Answer 14

1. Personal - Routine personal behaviors in the workplace
2. Task - Routine job-related behaviors
3. Social - Routine verbal & non-verbal interactions with others
4. Organizational - Routinely occuring org events