Communications Final

Mircroblog

A combination of blogging and texting supported by the website Twitter

Majority Rule

A decision making process that follows the will of the majority - reflects what most people want

V chip

A device allowing television owners to block access to certain types of programs, such as those featuring excessive violence or adult themes.

Expert power

A form of power that stems from having expertise in a particular area

Grapevine

A metaphor used to indicate that informal messages are often conveyed in upward, downward, and lateral directions simultaneously.

Extroversion

A personality trait shared by people who are friendly, assertive, and outgoing with others Leadership is inherently social, so extroverts tend to be good leaders as communication comes easy to them

Introversion

A personality trait shared by people who are shy, reserved, and aloof Often experience communication apprehension → anxiety or fear about communicating with others

Selective exposure

A process by which we seek media messages that match our values rather than those who do not.

Brainstorming

Allows group members to freely offer any ideas they wish and create a list of all the proposed ideas before any are evaluated

Product placement

An advertising strategy involving featuring particular brands in the storyline of a movie, television show, book, or comic.

Centralized power structure

An organizational structure in which a small number of people — such as a company president and board of directors— holds the majority of the decision-making ability.

Diffused power structure

An organizational structure in which decision-making ability is spread evenly among the organization's members, with no one member or group holding excessive power.

Theory of Structuration

Anthony Gidden's theory that all human behavior, including communication behavior, is influenced by an ever-present tension between creativity and constraint A fundamental to organizational communication

Information Transfer model

Assumes that receivers will assign the same meanings to a sender's words that the sender did→ communication is a pipeline that flows from sender to receiver Room for error

Information overload

Can prevent us from listening effectively When we feel bombarded with information The person is not giving you only the important stuff

Closed System

Closed systems such a secret societies interact little with people or groups outside the organization

Informal communication

Communication that is not sanctioned by an organization but arises from the social interactions of its members They travel along the grapevine and take unpredictable paths just like a grapevine

Authority Rule

Decision is in the hands of the team leader

Time orientation affects decision making

Different cultures view time differently: Monochronic vs polychronic A groups preferred decision-making method may depend on whether its culture is monochronic or polychronic For example, monochronic cultures may opt for majority rule because it uses time efficiently

Rite of Integration

Enhance feelings of inclusion and community in an organization.

Minority Rule

Few people in the group make the decision

Informal

Functions that are adopted by specific people rather than dictated by the organization

Citizens United vs Federal Election Commission

In January, 2010, the US Supreme Court decided in the case that corporate funding of political broadcasts is protected under the First Amendment and cannot be limited.

Nominal Group Technique

Initial ideas are generated silently and independently → comfortable for shy people so more will contribute

Political advertising

Media messages designed to influence people's political decision (biased, channel lean)

Upward communication

Messages we send to people at higher levels of the organizational hierarchy that we occupy

Downward communication

Messages we send to people at lower levels of the organizational hierarchy, such as subordinates, interns, and staff members who report to us.

Lateral communication

Messages we share with peers or anyone who occupies the same position in the hierarchy as we do.

Strategic Control

Model of organizational communication that recognizes that people in an organization can use communication to control their environments and act in organized and mutually satisfying ways

Transactional approach

No distinction between senders and receivers Everyone is encoding and decoding simultaneously

Open system

Open systems such as public service agencies communicate and share information with other people or groups, including the government offices, media outlets, advertisers, and benefactors.

Self-monitors

Our awareness of our own behavior and its effects on others Strongly related to leadership emergence in groups

Expert Opinion

Recommendations of individuals who have expertise in a particular area that are sometimes the basis of a group's decision-making process.

Social rituals

Recurring events that reinforce personal relationships among organizational members

Media Oversight

Regulations that exist to reduce the potentially negative effects of media messages

Enhancement Rites

Relate to consequences for superior performance.

Task Rituals

Repeated activities that enhance people's abilities to do their jobs.

Equal time rule

Requires stations to offer competing political parties equal access to the airwaves

Formal

Roles that involve functions prescribed by the organization itself Serve organizations professional needs

Rites of Passage

Signify people's advancement to a higher status or level in an organization.

Balance of Creativity and Constraint

Some communication tasks seem to present a conflict between creativity —your freedom to make independent choices—and constraint—the limitations imposed on that freedom by the context in which you are operating.

Personal Stories

Stories in which people describe how they see themselves and how they want others to see them.

Corporate Stories

Stories that organizations tell about their histories, goals, and identities Organizations tell stories just like families tell stories reflecting their history and values

Collegial Stories

Stories that people tell about other people in their organization, often to comment on their positive and negative attributes.

Power

The ability to influence or control people or events

Hierarchy

The division of people into levels of authority A structure an organization has

Media convergence

The increasing interconnection of media content and communication technology

Desensitization theory

The theory that people's acceptance of real-life violence grows as they see more violence reflected in the media

Cultivation theory

The theory that television encourages or cultivates a distorted view of the world among heavy viewers.

Agenda-setting theory

The theory that the media tell people what to think about by determining what they watch, hear, and read.

Catalytic theory

The theory that watching violence in the media can encourage real-life violence, but only if other influences are also present.

Organizational Culture

The values, customs, and communication behaviors that organization members share and that reflect the organization's distinct identity

Renewal Rites

They update and revitalize an organization

Consensus

Uncontested support for a decision - general agreement

Sexual harassment

Unsolicited, unwelcome, behavior of a sexual nature in the workplace → a communication challenge

Media

a collection of various channels of communication

Stalemate

an outcome where members' opinions are so sharply divided that consensus is impossible to achieve

Media activism

coordinated efforts to express displeasure with media messages and to force changes in their content

Ideawriting

encourages members to generate and evaluate ideas in writing while working independently and then systematically evaluate one another's ideas before they are considered by the whole group

Democratic Leader

every member of a group has the right to participate in decision making

Reward power

form of power based on the leader's ability to reward another for doing what the leader says

Legitimate power

form of power in which leaders' status or position gives them the right to make requests with which others must comply

Coercive power

form of power that comes from the ability to punish

Referent Power

form of power that derives from attraction to the leader

Accommodating

high concern for the other but a low concern for the self

Collaborating

high concern for the self and for the other

Laissez-faire Leader

leaders offer minimal supervision

Autocratic Leader

leaders see themselves as having both the authority and the responsibility to take action on a group's behalf

Avoiding

low concern for the self and other

Compromising

moderate concern for everyone's needs and desires

Groupthink- AVOID IT!

situation in which group members seek unanimous agreement despite their individual doubts Most likely to occur when a group has a strong authoritarian leader, is composed of members with similar backgrounds, and is isolated from outside influence

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

the government agency charged with regulating all nongovernmental use of television and radio. It determines what can and cannot be broadcasted.