Download COMM 4170-01: Applied Organizational Communication

COMM 4170-01:
Applied Organizational Communication
Instructor: Dan Lair
Day Six: Systems Thinking
Approaches to Organizational
Communication
September 14, 2005
Today’s Agenda
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Overview of Systems Thinking
Discussion of Byrd, Senge
Application of Systems Thinking and
Classical/HR approaches to case study, “A
Matter of Perspective”
Three Views of the Nature of
Organizational Culture
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Culture is something that an organization
“has”: The variable approach
Culture is something that an organization
“is”: The root metaphor approach
Culture is something that an organization is
“in”: The contextual approach
Culture as Something an Organization
“Has”
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Culture as a variable
Two key 1982 management books:
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Deal & Kennedy’s Corporate Cultures
Peters & Waterman’s In Search of Excellence
Focus on developing “strong” vs. “weak”
organizational cultures.
Functionalist perspective on organizational
culture
Culture as Something an Organization
“Is”
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Symbolist perspective on organizational culture.
“More things are going on in organizations than getting the job
done. People do get the job done, true (though probably not
with the singleminded task-orientation that organizational
communication texts would have us believe); but people in
organizations also gossip, joke, knife one another, initiate
romantic involvements, cue new employees to ways of doing
the least amount of work that still avoids hassles from a
supervisor, talk sports, arrange picnics” (Pacanowsky and
O’Donnell-Trujillo, 1982)
Organizational culture cannot be intentionally manipulated by
managers
Culture as Something an Organization
is “In”
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Modernist Perspective
Geert Hofstede and
“national culture”
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Power distance
Uncertainty avoidance
Individualism
Masculinity
Postmodern Perspective
 Influence of Cultural
Studies (Taylor)
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“Host” cultures
Effect of broad culture on
organizational life
“Cultural
communication about
organization”
Three Lenses to “Look” at an
Organizational Culture
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Joanne Martin (1992)
Integration Perspective: unity and consensus
Differentiation Perspective: inconsistency,
subcultures
Fragmentation Perspective: complexity, multiplicity
These perspectives describe the
researcher/consultant’s viewpoint, not the culture
itself!!!
The Cultural Approach:
Conception of Communication
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Ongoing activity creating, expressing,
maintaining, and transforming organizational
reality
Communication’s function is maintenance
and innovation (of meaning).
Informal, emergent, multidirectional
Discussion of Pacanowsky and
O’Donnell-Trujillo
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What is the “managerial bias” of “traditional” org.
comm. research? What are the potential problems
of that view?
What are the implications of the “web” metaphor for
organizational culture? How does it help us to “see”
organizations differently?
Nuts and Bolts: From the cultural perspective, what
do you look for when you study an organization?
What are the advantages of the cultural viewpoints?
What weaknesses might you identify?
Case Study:
“A Matter of Perspective”
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In your theory specialization groups, work through this case
study in the following four steps:
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Describe the case in general, from your theoretical perspective
Diagnose the central communication problem in the case, based
on your “reading” of both broad patterns and specific details.
Suggest potential solutions for that problem, based on the
Classical/HR perspective.
Assess the appropriateness of the Classical/HR perspective for
this particular case. Are there weaknesses/blind spots that hinder
your ability to suggest adequate solutions?
Be prepared to return to the full class to discuss the case indepth, based upon the conclusions you have reached as a
group.