Coms 213 Org Comm Review Questions

Major Differences between human relations and human resources approach

Human relations approach concerned mainly with satisfaction of the customer , leading to higher productivity. Human resources concerned with employee satisfaction as well as individual labor to meet organizational goals -employees motivated by financial gain and higher order needs -requires fundamental changes in assumptions

What is the analogical approach to decision making?

Intuitive decision making, not logical, using past experiences to guide process in similar context. ex) when i worked for... this worked well

Why is the prescriptive approach to organizational culture problematic?

It only views the company as having 1 culture. This is problematic because culture is always changing, depending on individual values/beliefs.

Explain how a message from a speaker in an organization would evolve through the degree of separation in the scaling up.

Through distinciation, meaning is created between text (Discourse) and conversation (discourse) which can make difference in situations beyond initial interaction, is scaled up through its transfer to text. Scaling up is where the message continues to change through each scale/series of steps or degrees of separation.

According to Putnam and Kolb, a feminist view of conflicts is based on?

co-construction through collaboration, transformation, sharing experiences, mutual understanding

Flaming

sending out anonymous messages

Why could Globalization be a negative thing? In what ways is it negative? How can it be positive?

-**outsourcing--consumer rights vs. worker rights, bad working conditions, decrease in quality, products more expensive made in America, takes jobs away from Americans -enhances multicultural understanding and provides jobs to those around the world -help people communicate effectively

What are the individual and organizational coping strategies?

-problem-centered coping -appraisal-centered coping -->changing ones outlook -emotion-centered coping -->dealing with negative outcomes

What are the phases of the socialization process?

1. Anticipatory socializaton- occurs before entering 2. Encounter 3. Metamorphosis- occurs when new employee made transition from outsider to insider. accepting new behaviors of org culture and take them as your own

Research points to 3 patterns of interview recruitments and screening. What are these patterns?

1. Gathering information in relatively structured ways- that will better predict your future job performance ex) erin barokovich interview 2. Interviews often "cue" applicants about appropriating responses ex) this job requires you to live in SLO, are you willing to relocate? 3. Variability in content of Qs ex) scenarios, relationship, brainteasers

What are the four major phases of the Hawthorne Studies?

1. Illumination Studies- found no change in worker productivity in lighting differences 2. Relay Assembly- social affiliation contributed to higher productivity 3. Interview Program- employees were more interested in talking about their feelings and attitudes rather than work itself. 4. Bank Wiring Room- social group had more influence on work behavior than the organization did -systematic soldering, steady pace so you can do no less/more

What are the 3 components of Putnam and Poole's definition of conflict?

1. Interaction-between 2 people, interpersonal 2. Interdependent- dependent on one another 3. Perceived-opposition of aims, goals, and values

What are Maslow's Hierarchy of needs? How are they used today?

1. Physiological: money to buy food, clothes, shelter 2. Safety- protection, free from danger 3. Affiliation- social setting with tasks 4. Esteem- internal--gaining confidence, external--public recognitions 5. Need for Self-Actualization- being all that you can be, reaching full potential

What 3 messages did Sandberg stress in her speech? From a critical perspective, how might we view leadership?

1. Sit at the table-make yourself present. Take initiative. You are important. 2. Make partner a real parter-coworker/parter-those relationships really matter. Equality, positive outlook on contributions. Everything matters in what you do. 3. Don't leave before you leave-maternity example. Don't check out. Critical perspective- leadership as hegemonic pressure/social construction guiding leadership behaviors

What three types of authority did Weber identify? What are examples of each type? Which type did he advocate for effective function and why?

1. Traditional-long standing beliefs ex) queen 2. Charismatic-appealing, personality and likability ex) obama 3. **Rational-legal authority, power through info and expertise ex)presidents, supreme, judicial, executive courts ---> dominates in bureaucratic systems

Clampitt gave 5 managerial strategies for communicating about change. Which of these strategies was found to be the most effective and which were found to be less effective?

1. Underscore and explore -management focuses on fundamental issues related to change success, allows employees the creative freedom to explore possibilities 2. Identify and reply-management listens to and identifies key concerns of employees, responds to them as they are brought up. 3. Tell and sell-management selects limit amount of messages regarding issues, tells employees about them then sells employees the chosen approach 4. Spray and pray-management showers employees with all kinds of info hoping that they will sort of in/significant info 5. Withhold and uphold-management withholds info, when confronted with questions/rumors management upholds party line Most effective: underscore and explore and identify and reply Least effective: withhold and uphold and spray and pray

What are the 3 stages of crisis?

1. pre crisis 2. crisis 3. post crisis

What is the difference between first generation and second generation affirmative action/

1st generation affirmative action-setting quotas, getting numbers, need a certain percent of each minority 2nd generation affirmative action-goals of the differences, supporting women and minorities

What is the systems metaphor and its components?

A company is a complex environment that functions as an assemblage of parts. 1. Hierarchical: top to bottom, chain of command 2. Interdependent-rely on each other for survival 3. Permeability-boundaries for letting info in and out of the organization Systems Properties: -Holism-interdependent on each other, -Equifinity- variety of paths to achieve goal -Negative entropy-open system because able to sustain and grow for the environment and system -Requisite Variety-how one is adaptable to complexity, being flexible and solution oriented

What's the difference between the affective and cognitive model for employee participation in the decision making process?

Affective model-human relations approach. satisfying higher needs leads to greater production. Cognitive model-human resources approach. participation and productivity increases organizational knowledge.

What approach should we take when examining organizational cultures?

Alternative approach--Descriptive and Explanatory Approach: 1. Org. cultures are complicated -->combination of values, resources, beliefs, ceremonies, rules 2. Org. cultures are emergent -->socially created 3. Org. cultures are NOT unitary -->have more than 1 culture 4. Org. cultures are often ambiguous -->not always clear picture of the orgs culture

What is the role of communication in classical approaches? Human relations? and Human resources?

Classical: content: task direction: vertical (downward) channel: written, no emotion style: formal Human Relations: content: task and social direction: horizontal channel: face to face, informal style: informal Human resources: content: task and social (innovation focus) direction:all channel: all channels, match coms channel to task/job type style: all, mostly informal

What is Craig's Model of Communication Theory? What are the different approaches to studying communication? How does this model increase our understanding of communication?

Constitutive model! It looks at how an organization impacts identity, perception, fulfillment, etc. 1. Rhetorical-how it reacts in crisis 2. Semiotic-organization symbols/corporate identity 3. Phenomenological- dialogue to mediate conflict 4. Cybernetic- virtual aspects 5. Sociopsychological- personality style in conflict management 6. Sociocultural- ethnicity/diversity in multinational organizations 7. Critical- confronting the issue. what is wrong and how do we fix it? This model produces and reproduces shared meaning. Introduced hierarchy, chain of command. Proposes that there should be a metamodel to communication with different avenues for theory and research and practical challenges in organizations.

What is the rational decision making process?

Define the problem Generate possible solutions Evaluate alternative solutions Select best solution Implement the solution

What is the difference between distributive and integrative bargaining? When would you use these tactics to resolve a conflict?

Distributive bargaining-mostly taken route, based on idea of scarce resources ex) win/lose situation communication--> deceptive, used with hidden strategies when one company wins Integrative bargaining-win/win or lose/lose, coming to the best solution communication-->time consuming (yrs), open coms, engagement

Taylor would like to sign up for an org coms class and she wants to decide who is the single best instructor int he department from which to take the class. Taylor's decisions making process would be best characterized as?

Optimizing model-select the best solution, number 4 of rational model

According to Weick, the primary goal of organizations is to...

Reduce equivocality aka uncertainty by making sense.

Explain how relational barriers lead to different experiences for women and minorities in the workplace

Relational barriers: -limited access/exclusion from coms networks -lack of mentorship -tokenism

Wendy manages a fast food restaurant and never worries about treating employees well because she knows there are plenty of students willing to work for minimum wage. What principle of the machine metaphor does wendy's attitude exemplify?

Replacability

What are two classes of information that must be grasped during the socialization process?

Role related information-ex)using poly learn as a student, job description Org. Culture information-ex) what is revealed or concealed, norms

What is surface acting and deep acting and when would they be evident in the workplace? Provide and example of each.

Surface acting: superficial emotions. smiling when you're not happy. ex) service job, waitressing, flight attendant Deep acting-showing a deep level of compassion. requires acting. ex) nonprofit, healthcare There are times when workers feel genuine emotion on the job.

What are turning points and how do they relate to the socialization process?

Turning points are defined as a change in one's through process. For ex) being fired and restructuring your life. It is related to the socialization process because it is a process through which employees/individuals adapt to org life are complicated.

What are the 3 different conflict frames of references?

Unitary Frame of Reference-conflict is rare and power lies in management. Prescriptive. Common org. goals. Pluralist Frame of Reference-many groups with divergent interests, conflict is positive and natural. systems.cultural approach. Radical Frame of Reference-conflict/power result from larger class struggles, critical/feminist approaches

What are Waldron's aspects of work relationships that create intense emotions?

Waldron's aspects of work relationships create intense emotions: 1. Tension between public and private life 2. Emotional buzzing-spread of emotions based on one persons interactions 3. Conflicting allegiances-company might support something against your own values 4. Emotional rights and obligations at work

What role does organizational discourse and Discourse play in creating and recreating power structures within the workplace?

discourse-ongoing interaction among individuals using language. Discourse-product of conversational language. ex) mission statement, syllabus, etc. ' Together they form a self-organizing loop! *but how do the create and recreate power structures?

Tokenism

having to teach whites about ethnic experiences -->outlet is affinity groups