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Communication Theory > The Organization > Flashcards

The Organization Flashcards

1
Q

Please list Gareth Morgans 7 metaphors for organizations.

A
  • Brain (Organizations process information and are a control system - like the brain)
  • Machine (Organizations have different parts to produce different objects)
  • Organisms (Organizations are born, grow and adapts to their environment)
  • Flux and transformation (Because of adjustment to new information, feedback and force)
  • Political system (Power is distributed in organizations)
  • Psychic prison (People are constrained within organizations)
  • Culture (Culture has identity because of shared rules, values, norms and beliefs. Organizations have the same thing.)
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2
Q

Please list the main characteristics for a bureaucratic organization and an example of one.

A

Communication goes from the top down.
Difficult for the bottom to talk up.
This is seen as oppression of the subordinates.
Aarhus University is an example of the sort of organization.

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3
Q

Please list the main characteristics for a matrix organization and an example hereof.

A 
Different people have the same job. 
Projects overlap.
No top-down process. 
A very modern type of organization. 
A study group could be an example of this.
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4
Q

Please list the main characteristics for a network and an example of one.

A

Networks in general come and go.
People often does not follow the possible structure.
Some talk to everybody, some only talk to one other.
It is all about who is communication with who.
An example is students at a university.

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5
Q

Please list the main characteristics for a loosely coupled network organization and an example of it.

A

In this organization you have the right to do something on your own.
You are much more self-reliant and you can add self-structuration.
A group of friends is an example.

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6
Q

Please mention the 3 types of communication flows in organizations.

A
  • Linear
  • Internal mass communication
  • Narrative flow
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7
Q

In which organization would you use linear communication and why?

A

In a bureaucratic organization, because there is top-down communication, which is a form of linear communication.
In a matrix organization because push-pull is also a form of linear communication.

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8
Q

Please elaborate on the different forms of linear communication.

A
  • Push (you can ask but don’t do it (transmission)
  • Pull (you require an answer (transaction)
  • Push-pull (dialogue (interaction)
  • Top-down
  • Bottom-up
  • Criss-cross (e.g. talking to older students or students from other courses)
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9
Q

Can you please give an example of internal mass communication?

A

It could be an e-mail send out to the entire organization.

It could be a message from the director given to the subordinates through the managers.

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10
Q

Who is behind the discourse of suspicion theory?

A

Dennis Mumby

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11
Q

Please mention the main points in the discourse of suspicion theory.

A

It uncovers how surface meanings and behaviour conceal deep structure conflict that limit of the possibility of democratic security in an organization.

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12
Q

Mumby questions moral, structure, function and culture in organization with discourse of suspicion. What is his main tool for doing this?

A

Mumby uses hegemony.

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13
Q

Please elaborate on the concept hegemony.

A

Hegemony in organizations involve the relations of domination in which subordinated groups actively consent to and support the belief system and structures of power relations - even if it goes against their own interests.
Hegemony is a set of understandings that promote the interests of one group over the interest of another.

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14
Q

How does Mumby define power in organizations (Discourse of Suspicion)?

A

Power is established within the organization through the domination of one group’s ideology over another’s

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15
Q

How is hegemony seen differently in this theory than others (Discourse of Suspicion)?

A

Because it is normally seen as something negative, but Mumby gives it a more nuanced value.

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16
Q

Please elaborate on what hegemony can add to an analysis of the power relations in an organization according to Mumby.

A

Hegemony can provide a more nuanced way of understanding the conflicting interests in organizations.
Hegemony shows the struggle for domination rather than the state of it – this is where Mumby believes the more dynamic way of discussing the process lies, because it catches the power relations as they emerge from the active process of a multi-group organization.

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17
Q

Who is behind the theory of corporate colonization?

A

Stanley Deetz

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18
Q

Please mention the main points in Corporate Colonization.

A
  • The theory refers to the domination of corporate interests over those of the individual employees.
  • It has a special focus on the functions that corporations have taken which used to be dominant in ordinary life (e.g. family, religion and community).
  • It believes democracy should occur in the daily practice of communication in the organization
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19
Q

What is Stanley Deetz focus in Corporate Colonization and why?

A

Deetz has a focus on democracy, he sees this as the way participators can claim an re-claim responsibility and agency in the organization.

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20
Q

Please mention Deetz’ 4 dimensions of domination (Corporate Colonization).

A

Naturalization. Neutralization. Legitimation.
Socialization.

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21
Q

Please elaborate on the term naturalization (Corporate Colonization, Deetz).

A

People within the organization assume the things they believe about the organization, like its goals, values and structure, is natural and that everyone accepts this.

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22
Q

Please elaborate on the term neutralization (Corporate Colonization, Deetz).

A

The understanding that information is neutral and value free. This can be seen as oppression in disguise.

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23
Q

Please elaborate on the term legitimation (Corporate Colonization, Deetz).

A

This is the attempt of the organization to privilege one form of discourse as the voice of authority within the organization.

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24
Q

Please elaborate on the term socialization (Corporate Colonization, Deetz).

A

The on-going process of training and teaching employees to accept and follow the rules, values and structure of the organization.

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25
Q

What does the 4 dimensions of domination (Deetz) establish in the organization (Corporate Colonization)?

A

They establish what Deetz refers to as managerial capitalism.

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26
Q

Please elaborate on the concept managerial capitalism.

A
  • Managerial capitalism infuses the modern organization and wants to reproduce the organization for the ultimate survival of management.
  • Managerialism is an overlay of arrangement that prevents conflicts.
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27
Q

What effect does managerial capitalism have on the communication of the organization?

A

It makes what Deetz calls emancipatory democracy impossible. This should always exists for communication to be efficient.

28
Q

How can managerial capitalism be avoided? (Corporate colonization)

A
  • Through an ideal speech situation in the organization.
  • This is an ideal for communication in society, where all - discourses are legitimized in open and free dialogue.
  • Real democracy is a necessity in order to achieve the ideal for communication in society.
29
Q

Who is behind the idea of an ideal speech situation?

A

Jürgen Habermas

30
Q

Please give an example of what can be done in a corporate organization to ensure an ideal speech situation.

A

An example for this could be a manager inviting employees to work together on setting goals and making priorities.

31
Q

Who said organizations are fundamentally gendered social formations?

A

Joan Acker

32
Q

Who went into organizations to ask women about how it felt being a woman in an organization and what did she find?

A

Angela Tretheway.

The women would tell her that for example revealing the female body would compromise their credibility.

33
Q

Who looked at race in organizations and what did they find?

A

Karen Ashcraft and Brenda Allen looked at race in organizations.
- They found were that race only was an interesting matter to people of colour and that racial differences were equal to international differences, they also found the discrimination within organizations were worse the smaller the organization was and there would be fewer people of different races.

34
Q

Who looked at voice and silence regarding gender and what did she find?

A

Robin Clair.
She had her focus on a male nurse who was sexually harassed by the female nurses as a way to protect themselves against male infiltration – oppression becomes resistance for the women.

35
Q

What does an organisations culture consist of?

A

Shared rules, norms, values, and practices most commonly used within the organization.

36
Q

Who is behind the theory of organizational culture?

A

John Van Maanen and Stephen Barley.

37
Q

What is the main focus point of the organizational culture theory?

A

The main focus are the ways people construct an organizational reality.

38
Q

Van Maanen and Barley outline 4 domains of organizational culture, which helps provide a starting point for understanding organizational culture approach. Please list these and elaborate on them.

A
  • Ecological context (Physical world, incl. Location, time and history and the social context in which the organization operates)
  • Differential interaction (Consists of networks, e.g. you act differently towards people you don’t know, or colleagues higher up in you branch)
  • Collective understanding (Common ways of interpreting events. The content of the culture - ideas, ideals, values and practices)
  • Individual domain (Practices or actions of individuals)
39
Q

Who is behind the theory of performances in an organization?

A

Pacanowsky and O’Donnel-Trujillo

40
Q

Please explain the term performances.

A
  • Interactions by which members constitute and reveal their culture to themselves.
  • Culture is made through every day interaction.
41
Q

Please mention Pacanowsky and O’Donnel-Trujillo’s 4 characteristics of communication performances.

A
  • Interactional (Dialogues, social actions, something people participate in together)
  • Contextual (cannot be viewed as independent)
  • Episodes (events with a beginning and an end)
  • Improvised (flexibility, the same performance is never done twice, even though it is a similar situation)
42
Q

Please elaborate on the form of communication performance called rituals and give an example of person rituals, task rituals and social rituals.

A
  • Repeated regularly
  • Give common experience
  • Renew understanding of common experience
  • Person rituals, e.g. Mail from manager to front liners,
  • Task ritual Repeated activity which help members do their job, e.g.
  • Social rituals - e.g. Company picnic
43
Q

Please elaborate on the form of communication performance called passion and give an example of it.

A
  • Ways to make you feel better about the organization
  • It happens through storytelling
  • These tend to be repeated many times
  • Can be personal stories, collegial stories or corporate stories.
44
Q

Please elaborate on the form of communication performance called sociality and give an example of it.

A
  • Sociabilities are performances that create a group sense of identification
  • Reinforces a common sense of propriety
  • Makes use of social rules within organization.
  • E.g. Courtesies, pleasantries, privacy limits
  • E.g. Joking, “bitching”, and “talking shop”
  • E.g. When you are telling your manager or colleague Monday morning about your teenage daughter
45
Q

Please elaborate on the form of communication performance called organizational politics and give an example of it.

A
  • Creates and reinforces notions of power and influence
  • The goal here is to strategically position oneself in a certain way within the organization for political reasons.
  • E.g. bargaining, showing personal strength
46
Q

Please elaborate on the form of communication performance called enculturation and give an example of it.

A
  • Process of teaching the culture to organizational members, it
  • Is on-going
  • Often happens trough metacommunication
  • E.g. Telling newcomers how things are done
47
Q

Who is behind the structuration theory?

A

Anthony Giddens.

48
Q

Please mention the main point of the structuration theory.

A

Structuration theory is based on the notion that human activity is the source that creates and re-creates the social environment we exist in.

49
Q

Who is behind the adaptive structuration theory?

A

Marshall Scott Poole

50
Q

Please explain why adaptive structuration theory is not the same as structuration theory.

A
  • Giddens drew his attention to organizational structures.
  • Poole used the structuration principles to other contexts, among other things the communication field.
  • Adaptive Structuration theory tries to explain how task groups use and strategically adapt information technology, rules and resources to accomplish organizational goals.
  • Structuration theory describes the structure within an organization.
51
Q

Please mention the main components in the structuration theory.

A
  • Agent
  • Agency
  • Reflexivity
  • System
  • Structure
  • Duality of structure
  • Resources
  • Power
52
Q

Please elaborate on the concept systems (structuration theory).

A
  • It is the group or organization itself
  • It is also the behaviours it engages in to pursue its goals. – Every system is part of an environment
  • A system can be as small as a study group and as big as a nation.
  • Within each system there are structures.
53
Q

Please elaborate on the concept structure (structuration theory).

A
  • Consists of different rules that the members of the organization use as guidelines for their behaviour and communication.
  • This is how they know what they can expect from the other members.
54
Q

Why is structure important in our everyday lives? (structuration theory)

A

We all need this kind of structure when we interact with others, so we know how to behave and how others might behave. Many people become uncomfortable if the structure is uncertain.

55
Q

Please give an example, where structure is important in real life.

A

E.g. In a firm it is important to know the structure, if there for instance is a hierarchy the employees must be aware of this in order to act properly around superiors. If an employee was not aware of the hierarchy, and forces his opinion through in front of the boss, it could in the worst case end with him being fired.

56
Q

Please elaborate on the concept agency (structuration theory).

A
  • The specific behaviour and activities that human engage in, guided by the rules and contexts in which interactions take place.
57
Q

Please elaborate on the concept agent and give an example of it (structuration theory).

A
  • The individuals in the organization
  • The person who then engages in the agency.
  • E.g. we as students can be agents who engage in the agency of attending lectures at Aarhus University.
58
Q

Please elaborate on the concept reflexivity (structuration theory).

A
  • Shows a person’s ability to monitor their own behaviours and actions
  • it is important that the agent knows the reasons behind his or her choice of behaviour as well as their ability to identify their goals
59
Q

The awareness of reflexivity comes on 2 levels: discursive consciousness and practical consciousness. Please elaborate on these. (structuration theory)

A
  • Discursive consciousness is the knowledge that can be expressed through words to others.
  • Practical consciousness can not be put into words.
60
Q

Why is reflexivity important? (structuration theory)

A

It is important for the agents in an organization to be aware of the structures that emerges in their system, in that way they can have more control over what they do in groups.

61
Q

Please give an example of reflexivity (structuration theory).

A

E.g. If a boss tries to introduce casual Fridays to work, he can engage in reflexivity by describing his past supervisory experiences. “I have worked in a law firm before where casual Fridays loosened the mood and made the employees work closer together in general due to their more personal relationship to one another”. Here the boss uses discursive consciousness, because he expresses his former experiences through words. But It might be harder for him to express the practical consciousness, his internal feelings. He might also introduce casual Friday due to the fact that he wants to create a softer image of himself for his colleagues, so they will see him as more than just a strict boss in a suit.

62
Q

Please elaborate on the concept duality of structure (structuration theory).

A
  • The basis of the duality lies in the relationship between Agency and the Structure.
  • They can not be analyzed separately and only exist as a duality
  • The structure are both the medium and the outcome of the practices that create them (agency).
  • Rules and resources are sued to guide organizational decisions about behaviour or actions.
63
Q

Please elaborate on the concept resources (structuration theory).

A
  • The power individuals bring to the organization
  • Helps the organization reach its goals
  • Allocative resources is material assistance
  • Authoritative resources are interpersonal assistance
64
Q

Please mention the 5 different types of power in an organization and elaborate on them (structuration theory).

A
  • Reward (Belief that another person can provide positive outcomes)
  • Coercive (Belief that another person has the ability to punish you)
  • Referent (Belief that another person have the ability to achieve compliance because of a personal relationship)
  • Legitimate (Belief that another person has the ability to exert influence because of their title or position)
  • Expert (Belief that another person has the ability to exert influence because of expertise)
65
Q

Please elaborate on power in an organization according to Giddens (structuration theory).

A
  • Agents can employ power to get what they want
  • When individuals are oppressed they still have resources and can therefore overcome status quo
  • Power can be affected by the duality of structure

Communication Theory (2 decks)

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