Org Comm

• Organization


  A social unit of people, systematically structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals on a continuing basis
• Organization


  • Has a management structure that determines relationships between functions and positions, and subdivides and delegates roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out defined tasks
  • Is an open system that affects and is affected by the environment beyond its boundaries
  • In its simplest form, is a person or group of people intentionally organized to accomplish an overall, common goal, or set of goals
• Organizational system


  Depicted by its legal documents, mission, goal and strategies, policies and procedures, operating manuals, etc. (maintained and controlled)
• Human communication


  Process of attempting to construct shared realities to create share meanings. It is dynamic and ever-changing.

  
• Types of human communication

  • Interpersonal
  • Group
  • Public or Mass
  • Organizational
• Organizing


  An attempt to bring order, out of chaos, or establish organizations, entities, in which purposeful and ordered activity takes place
• Organizations


  • Exhibit interdependence among components as well as with the external environment
  • Are dynamic systems where individuals engage in collective efforts for goal accomplishment
  • Can be understood as active and dynamic mergers of human behavior and technological operations
• Objective view of organization

  Organization means structure
• Subjective view of organization


  Organization means process
• 5 critical features of organizations

  • Two or more people
  • Goals
  • Coordinating activity
  • Structure
  • Environmental embeddedness
• Culture


  That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society
• Cross-cultural values: Americans


  • Freedom
  • Independence
  • Self-reliance
  • Equality
  • Individualism
  • Competition
  • Efficiency
  • Time
  • Directness
  • Openness
• Cross-cultural values: Japanese


  • Belonging
  • Group harmony
  • Collectiveness
  • Age/seniority
  • Group consciousness
  • Cooperation
  • Quality
  • Patience
  • Indirectness
  • Go-between
• High-context cultures


  Have long-lasting relationships, exploiting context, spoken agreements, insiders and outsiders clearly distinguished, cultural patterns ingrained and slow to change
• Low-context cultures


  Have shorter relationships, less dependent on context, written agreements, insiders and outsiders less clearly distinguished, cultural patterns change faster
• Examples of high-context cultures

  • Asia
  • Latin America
  • Middle East
• Examples of low-context cultures

  • U.S.
  • Germany
• High-context in business


  Business before friendship, credibility through relationships, agreements founded on trust, negotiations slow and ritualistic
• Low-context in business


  Business before friendship, credibility through expertise and performance, agreements by legal contract, negotiations efficient
• Organizational communication


  Communication as information transfer, transactional process, strategic control, balancing creativity and restraint
• Organizational communication


  • Is a process through which organizations are created and in turn create and shape events
  • Can be described as evolutionary and culturally dependent
  • Contributes to creating relationships and assists both individuals and organizations in achieving diverse purposes
  • Involves the creation and exchange of messages
  • Creates and shapes organizational events
  • Seeks to reduce environmental uncertainty
  • Involves people, messages and meaning
  • Involves intentional and unintentional messages explaining the workings of the organization
  • Is a process through which individuals and organizations attempt goal-oriented behavior in dealing with their environments
  • Is a more comprehensive process including but not limited to one-on-one and group exchanges
• Power


  The possession of controlling influence or possession of the qualities (esp. mental qualities) required to do something or get something done
• Commonly used types of power in business organizations

  • Reward power
  • Expert power
  • Legitimate power
  • Referent power
  • Coercive power
• Process of power


  • Compliance
  • Identification
  • Internalization
• Conflict


  An open clash between two opposing groups (or individuals), a state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests that go against, as of rules and laws
• Sources of conflict


  • Goal incompatibility
  • Decision-making requirements
  • Performance expectations
• Changes due to conflict: within groups

  • Cohesiveness increases between members
  • Group becomes more task-oriented
  • Increased emphasis on organization
  • Leadership becomes more autocratically-based
• Changes due to conflict: between conflicting groups

  • Hostility and negative attitude increases
  • Negative stereotype becomes dominant
  • Communication between activities are closely monitored
  • The other group activities are closely monitored
• Strategies for resolving conflict

  • Avoidance
  • Confrontation
  • Defusion
  • Power intervention
• Strategies for acquiring power


  • Contracting
  • Co-opting
  • Coalescing
• Power


  For the sociologist, principally exemplified within organizations by the process of control
• Authority


  Legitimate right to exercise power
• Weber's classification of organizations by nature of legitimacy

  • Charismatic authority
  • Traditional authority
  • Rational legal authority
• Perspectives of classical organizational theory

  • Scientific management
  • Administrative management
• Classical principles of formal organization may lead to work environments with minimal power for employees, subordination, passivity, and dependence expected, short-term perspective, mediocrity, and psychological failure
• Hawthorne studies


  Research investigations conducted at the Western Electric Company's Hawthorne plant in Illinois (1924-1933) by Elton Mayo and team, initially interested in how changes in the work environment would affect worker productivity
• The Hawthorne studies found that social satisfaction arising out of human association in work were more important determinants of work behavior and output than physical and economic aspects of the work situation
• Determine the influence of lighting level on worker productivity

  1. Control group (light held constant)

  2. Experimental group (lighting systematically raised and lowered)
• There was NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE in the productivity of the 2 groups; except when workers were laboring in NEAR DARKNESS, productivity tended to go up in both groups under all conditions
• The Relay Assembly Test Room Studies

  1. Isolation of a group of 6 women

  2. Introduced changes: incentive plans, rest pauses, temperature, humidity, work hours, refreshments

  3. All changes discussed with workers ahead of time

  4. Productivity went UP in a wide variety of situations