Organizational Communication Midterm
Human Resource Management Theory Y
-took the view that employees ARE IMPORTANT RESOURCES Provide creativity and innovation Participation in decision-making made DECISIONS BETTER Involvement of employees BOTH made them happier and more satisfied AND improved the organization Tactics Employees involved in deeper ways Employees might have greater job autonomy Power to make decisions themselves Long-term job security and investment in employees Self-managed teams Open sharing of information Extensive training
Eisenberg's study of the strategic use of ambiguity suggests that it has 5 possible positive outcomes
1. Create unified diversity → exists when different people have different understandings of the same words or ideas but think that they are in agreement. - All endorse the mission statement (example) and create the impression of unity despite diverse thinking. Most mission statements are strategically ambiguous because a clearly worded one would create problems for the organization, as different groups may be unwilling to support it or because they do not agree with its specific focus 2. Allows for adaptability to change → a very specific goal can be difficult to change, whereas an ambiguous one is easier to change. 3. Maintain relationships → we often use SA to avoid complete honest and save face for ourselves and others. A more honest comment would likely strain the relationship. 4. Maintain power → a supervisor loses the ability to make decisions about all employees if they create a clearly stated policy because the policy determines the outcome instead. 5. Allow for plausible deniability at a later time
Fayols GMT critiques
Again, clear a transmission model of communication being promoted, which has a top down focus with managers giving orders to workings via the chain of command Workers still motivated by pay and stability Expected to follow directions He suggests more concern for employees than Taylor however the goal still seems largely to improve productivity for the benefit of management Managers are thinkers and workers are doer
5 characteristics of teamwork approach
Become decision facilitators instead of decision makers Developed mutual performance monitoring Practiced backup behavior → assist others on tasks Developed the ability to adapt Develop a team orientation rather than individual
Encounter Outcomes: Boundary Passages
Boundary passages → psychological or socially constructed boundaries that separate social spheres and groups of individuals Functional Org. divided into different department Each department has their own work to complete Hierarchical Rank and status of the organization Some departments considered higher than others Inclusionary Not so clear Concern the social fabric or interpersonal domain of organizational life and whether the person is on the periphery of the organization or at the center Who is involved in the decision making and who is on the edge of the group
Problems with these family-friendly policies
Career repercussions → many think they will receive smaller raises and be overlooked for promotions if they take family leave Difficulty negotiating leave policies Peer pressure against using the policy Resistance to work life integration
Differences between expectations and experiences
Changes Objective differences - office is larger than old office Contrasts Subjective differences - wow this is more or less than what I expected Surprises Emotional reaction - I feel disrespected that this office is so small
Teamwork and concertive control
Clan mentality" → can be hostile to alternate perspectives and resistant to newcomers Teams are not necessarily more creative than individuals Pressures to conform to peer norms → affects productivity Concertive control: Issue of peer pressure Is a form of implicit, team-based, value consensus that disciplines team members to conform to team-based norms Concertive control creates harsh controls that surpass authoritative or bureaucratic control
Constitutive model
Communication creates our social world Communication doesn't just express our social world Emphasis placed on organizing rather than organizations
Upward distortion
Communication to supervisors is often overly positive and tends to consist of softened negative information Most likely to occur when subordinates do not trust the supervisor, supervisor has power over their career advancement, and when the subordinate has high aspirations for advancement An entire organization's ability to learn can be hindered
Frederick Taylor's Classical Management Theory
Concerned with increasing productivity by increasing the efficiency of workers Observed systematic soldiering → a communication process in which vertan works would influence newcomers to slow down their work output to level more manageable by all Example of how organizational comm was recognized early on as important to understanding workplace experiences Search for scientific means of knowing how much work should be accomplished so that standards could be set accordingly Time and motion studies
Weber's Bureaucratic Theory
Considered larger organizations → he saw the need for them to work in machine-like precision and he focused his writing on administrative workers rather than productive workers like Taylor Used the term bureaucracy as the focus of his work → refers to a system of management established through policy and crafting Depersonalizes the workplace and emphasizes the governance of activity, rewards, and process by a system of clearly defined rules, policies, and processes
Managing WL boundaries
Coping strategies range along a continuum from high segmentation to high integration. Many are not at the extreme end and instead use a combination of strategies based on situational factors. Each approach has pros and cons. Individuals who use a high segmentation strategy attempt to make very clear and distinct boundaries between their work and nonwork lives.
Strategy outcomes: 4 main outcomes
Custodial,caretaker,team member → simply accept the values and practices Content innovators → conform but look for opportunities to improve their work Role innovators → go a step further and look for ways to change their roles to better suit their interests and needs Rebels → reject values and practices
Henry Fayol's General Management Theory 14 PRINCIPLES
Division of labor → each person should have only one job to increase productivity by reducing effort Authority & responsibility → those in authority should give orders and expect workers to comply but authority involved responsibility but could be enhanced by personal characteristics Discipline → managers should have clear and fair policies Unity of command → each employee should receive directions from only one manager Unity of direction → there should be only 1 head of the plan to coordinate action toward 1 unified goal. Placing functional areas together in the same unit Subordination of individual interests → the interests of the organization are more important Remuneration → employees should be paid fairly Centralization → whether decision making should be centralized or decentralized depends on the circumstances of the organization such as its size and the quality of its manager Scalar chain → related to unity of command, a clear hierarchy with clear lines of communication should exist from level to level of decision making authority. There can be horizontal communication if peers and their supervisors are in agreement Order → there should be a place for every material object in the organization and each employee should also have a designated place Equity → employees should be treated well Stability in tenure → employees should be retained once they demonstrate competence in performing their job after an adequate period of time Initiative → the ability to plan and execute the plan are important skills Esprit de corps → management should promote a sense of unity, harmony and cohesion
Human Relations Management Context
Emerged from classical management theory Began after WW2 as women remained in the workforce Roethlisberger's Hawthorne Studies Illumination studies Relay assembly experiments People aren't just motivated by money, they are also motivated by the fact that people are attending to them Made people think theory X is not accurate
4 principles that are common to the human relations approach to management
Employees are motivated by their social relationships with managers and coworkers in addition to financial concerns When managers communicate with their workers and accept input from them, it improves their morale and productivity Managers need to listen to their employees to talk about what is important to them to understand their concerns Effective managers use persuasion to gain compliance and control rather than coercion
Weber's Emphasized 10 main principles
Employees are the only subject to the authority of the management concerning their official obligations Employees should be organized into a clear hierarchical system of offices or authority Work should be clearly defined by rules and separated among workers based on competence Employees enter freely into their contractual relationships Employees are appointed to positions based on technical qualification They receive fixed salaries based on their rank The workplace should be their primary occupation The workplace should be a career with promotion opportunities according to achievement and seniority The employee is not an owner The employee is subject to strict, systematic discipline and control
Classical Management Theory Context
First management theory Originated in the early 1900s during industrialization and urbanization Attempt to standardize human labor
Interpretive Perspective
Focus on the subjective meaning that individuals assign to their organization to their organizational experiences Interactions with symbols is key Recognition that there are multiple meanings attached to a symbol Typically use qualitative research → interviews, observation, ethnography Do not adopt a relativistic perspective This suggests that any interpretation is acceptable because meaning is completely subjective. Interpretive researchers reject the idea that any one claim is as good as the next and there is no way to establish knowledge claims There must be some level of intersubjective, or shared meaning, in which multiple individuals agree on the "reality" of the situation based on their communication interactions This means that the researcher does not accept any single individuals subjective meaning but seeks to discover some level of agreement within a group of people. To gain an understanding of the shared meaning, interpretive scholars typically say that they start with the data and then develop theory and understanding based on their analysis of it. Through careful, systematic data analysis, the researcher gains an understanding of how participants make sense of their lived experience. View organizations as cultures rather than as machines or organism
Henry Fayol's General Management Theory
Focused on organizing the organizations, issues of structure and management
Anticipatory Organizational Socialization
Focuses on how people choose which organization to join It is divided into 2 areas of discussion: the recruitment and reconnaissance process and the selection process. Both are concerned with the issue of person to job fit Person-Job Fit: Concerns the management goal of finding the right employee to fill an open position Involves matching the attributes & personality of the person to the requirements of the job. Having the wrong persons leads to problems Person-organization fit concerns a match between the employee and the organization's values and beliefs (org culture) Both P-J and P-O are positively related to job satisfaction and negatively related to the intention to quit. When an orgs recruitment and selection process favors a concern for PJ then there is an assumption that new members will learn the job quickly and adjust to the org culture over time When it favors a concern for PO fit, then there is an assumption at play that new members can be taught the specifics that they don't know
Social definition of organizations
Focuses on the social responsibility of organizations and the expectations that they be responsible and responsive to the public Need to create a sense of identity or self for the organization in relationship to the community Looks broadly at all the stakeholders to understand the organization and its context
Semantic information distance
Gap that can exist between how supervisors and subordinates attribute meanings to their words, ideas, and events When they share a similar understanding, there is very little semantic information distance, and subordinates have a higher morale Due to lack of effective communication, semantic information distance can be quite large, especially when the communication is ambiguous
Webers critiques
He focuses on the need for impersonal contractual relationships Term bureaucracy prob has a negative connotation in the 21st century Weber's conceptualization was positive in that the bureaucratic ideal enhanced the transparency, fairness, and justice of organizations because decisions were made in reference to pre-established policy and not managements' whim Iron cage: predicted that bureaucracies could become so steeped in policy that rapid adjustment to new needs and situations would be difficult Red tape: over emphasis on structures Negative outcomes of this approach relates to the creation of "iron cages" of red tape where individual circumstances, characteristics, and freedoms are ignored. Put in place to solve problems, but also creates problems
Management under Classical Approach
Heavy structure Chain of command - hierarchy Span of control limited → each manager has a small set of employees who directly report to him/her Motivation/productivity driven by money rewards All other motivations set aside → don't care about the work Dissention should not be permitted
2. Shared Meaning
If there is a shared meaning among the people involved Focuses attention on the receiver Meaning can be assigned to unintended messages
Middle-group relationships
In between the 2 extremes of partnership and overseer More information exchange and more personal information than overseer, but it would not be as personal as the partnership relationship Subordinate not likely to participate in decision-making but may find the supervisor listens when approached because the power distance is somewhat ambiguous Might be short-lived
Taylors CMT Critiques
Interaction from manager to employee is rough talk Communication is largely a one-way transmission process from management Employees are primarily motivated by money Communication is highly manipulative Some can lose their job if more efficiency reduces the number of employees
Supervisor-Subordinate Communication
Interpersonal relationship between the supervisor and various subordinates Interactive Patterns Openness to communication → a willingness of both to be clear, candid, and honest in their communication
Lateral / horizontal
Involves communication between peers or people of equal or nearly equal status in the organizational hierarchy Includes within-group communication → 2 coworkers in a department talking to each other Between-group communication → managers of 2 departments meet Serves the primary functions: Information sharing Task coordination Problem-solving Employee growth, development, and mentoring Social support and relationship communication Addresses much of the uncertainty that organizational members experience Issues: Competition Specialization Departments often have group restricted codes or language they use Territoriality → departments competing with each other for limited organizational resources Lack of incentive
Overseer relationships
Low LMX relationships Formal, relatively impersonal Generally only share necessary information for the subordinate to complete their job Supervisor does not take personal interest in the subordinate May be unaware of their career aspirations Unlikely to make subordinates aware of opportunities for advancement Communication is brief Power distance maintained
Outcomes of WL conflict
Lower levels of job satisfaction Increases of work alienation Lower morale Job stress Burnout Low level of life satisfaction Depression, health issues, sleeping disorders
Douglas McGregor's Theory X
Managers had assumptions about human nature and that managers express those assumptions in their communication with workers Theory X manager's assumptions about human nature with the following characteristics: Management is responsible for organizing and directing people and resources to achieve economic goals Management must direct people by controlling, directing, and modifying their efforts to meet organizational needs Management must persuade, reward, punish, and control employees or they would be passive and unproductive Employees are generally not smart, dislike work and responsibility, and lack ambition, they are self-centered, indifferent to organizational needs and resistant to change Applying these principles in a harsh manner - through coercion, tight control and supervision, and threats - results in an antagonistic resistance to management, militant unionism, and efforts by employees to sabotage management objections, but too soft of an approach leads to employees taking advantage of the organization
Theory Y Managers need to practice these 4 principles
Managers need to decentralize and delegate control to employees → freedom to assume responsibility Provide opportunities for job enlargement Practice participatory decision-making Performance evaluation needs to move away from the typical economic rewards or punishments of classical management to allow employees to develop their own targets and conduct self evaluations
high integration strategy
Minimize overlap between activities Separation accomplished communicatively Called "high segmenters" Separate email accounts "Keep work at work" Avoid checking work email on the weekends and personal email during the workday Might have a long commute to switch roles Might change clothes right when they get home to communicate to others that they are not longer in their work roles May have separate calendars Pros: Able to focus on one role at a time without distractions Cons: They become unsettled when another role interferes with the current role
Social norms that increase WL conflict
Motherhood norm → women expected to raise a child Ideal worker norm → workers should prioritize work over family and friends Individualism norm → we should be able to manage challenges on our own Consumerism norm → we are constantly encouraged through personal and mediated communication to purchase more and better material goods and to do more elaborate and lavish activities Technology norm → people expected to have constant access to communication technology through a smartphone. People expected to be available 24/7
Realistic Job Preview
Not uncommon for new employees to experience unmet expectations that lead to high turnover rates During the recruitment process, organizations are involved in image enhancement as they attempt to attract the best candidates Performing actual tasks required in the position Shows positives and negatives about job Negatively associated with dissatisfaction and turnover Positively associated with accurate expectation and job performance
Improving the recruitment process involves considering three factors:
Objectives More than just getting good applicants Strategies Determining where to advertise positions Activities When and where the recruitment/interviews take place
Principles of Teamwork prerequisites
Organizational identification Understanding entire work process Collective autonomy Teams make decisions through consensus and have control over resources
TQM Approach
Orgs using TQM focus on project-based teamwork and team-based problem solving, with teams empowered to communicate openly in both horizontal and vertical directions across the formal org structure Created a more relaxed hierarchy TQM → increased training, flexibility, focus on process improvement Implementation of TQM likely increases integrative communication
Teamwork or Theory Z Management Context
Originated due to globalization Influenced by Japanese management approach Focus on self-managed teams
Upward
Originates with people who are lower in organizational authority and moves up the chain of command 4 important purposes Job performance Task procedures → communicates to managers the procedures subordinates use to accomplish tasks Problem reports Policy responses/feedback Provides either input into decision-making or participation in decision-making Can be a creative way to obtain creative ideas from employees Issues Lack or receptivity Power differentials Upward "distortion" Reporting only positive news due to fear of retribution and the normal rules of impression management Self promotion or ingratiation
Downward
Originates with those higher in organizational authority and is directed at those with less authority 5 types of important downward communication Job instructions Job rationales Procedure and practice information Feedback indoctrination/culture information Issues Amount of information Information overload Nature of feedback Positive feedback is associated with positive commitment Negative feedback is associated with defensive feelings and counterproductive behaviors Information distribution
Information seeking strategies
Overt questions → ask the source of uncertainty for information Indirect questions → make a statement that implies a question Disguising conversations → talk about a topic in hopes of gaining info Third-party inquiry → ask someone else Observation Surveillance → be alert for information in general Testing → break a norm to gain information Consult documents
UMT indicates that 2 main additions to the basic premises of UR are needed
People manage their U through cognitive processes without information seeking Previous knowledge may or may not be correct in a new organization Due to competing motives people often do not seek information actively The need for impression management may cause them to avoid asking for the information so they don't seem incompetent Goal: manage uncertainty rather than reduce it so that it does not create problems May include accepting or tolerating uncertainty
Low integration
People who use low integration strategies observe few, if any, boundaries between work and the rest of their lives Believe it is important to address work or personal issues as they arise Flexible and permeable boundaries between work and personal lives Separate emails but both forwarded to their phones and access them regardless of whether they are at work or not May live near work to make both easy accessible May regularly check their messages Pro: Able to switch roles when something is urgent Con: Might struggle with focusing on completing the activities of one role because of the routine interruptions that occur and redirect their attention to another
Why some develop partnerships while others develop overseer relationships. 2 explanations
Personal characteristics determine the likelihood of developing personal relationships Subordinates who are dependable, competent, have a desire to experience growth. They have an internal locus of control and self-efficacy → they believe they can control their situation Simply takes time for partnerships to develop Overseers because they have not have the time to develop trust with their supervisor who is a stranger
theory y Related to hierarchy of needs
Physiological needs - food, clothing, shelter Safety needs - free from dangerous situations Belonging - relationships, need for acceptance Esteem / ego needs - feel good about ourselves, achievement, recognition, status Self-actualization - the feeling of self-fulfillment and achieving our full potential
Linkage characteristics
Reciprocity People report same link Intensity How much the link is used Uniplexity and multiplexity Links of different types
Hawthorne Studies
Researchers conducted a series of studies to determine how to maximize employee productivity under the leadership of Fritz Roethlisberger Illumination Studies → the researchers attempted to determine the optimal lighting needed to maximize workers' productivity When they increased the lighting, productivity increased They reduced the lighting to verify their findings, but productivity increased again when lighting was dimmed Only when it was so dark they could not perform their jobs did productivity finally go down Employee output was unrelated to lighting
Relay Assembly Experiments
Researchers conducted an extensive study of a group of woman over 2 years Manipulated the number of breaks, length of breaks, the food eaten during breaks, and the length of the workday There was no relationship between the changes in the work environment and the actual output of the workers They eventually determined that the workers changed their productivity because it meant that someone was paying attention to them
1. Information Transfer
Sending encodes message Transfer message through a channel Receiver decodes message Effective communication is hindered by noise → music, background noise, traffic Emphasis is on the sender's role IT is a cyclical process of sending and receiving messages through feedback This model implies that communication: Is the process of people coming to a shared understanding of communication Happens when the receiver "gets" the message Happens when the "right" meaning is attached to a symbol or nonverbal cue Although there are no "fixed" meanings to nonverbals
2 dimensions concerned with the pattern of training
Sequential → newcomers taught tasks and information in a particular order Good if each skill is built on the next Random → taught information without concern for sequence Learn the information when it is important instead of forgetting it because it is not important at the time it is taught
Taylors CMT 4 principles of management
Should develop a science for each person's work Managers should select and train workers scientifically Managers should gain cooperation from employees to ensure work is done according to the scientific principles Managers should divide work between managers and workers
Post-Positivism Perspective
Soft version of the view reality as "objective" and knowable Reality is objective; our view of it is socially biased Focus on learning how things work, making adjustments, making things work better Working better could mean different things to different stakeholders (employees, managers, owners, customers) Tendency to favor quantitative research How many employees were used in producing the final product, how many resources were purchased Oldest perspective Researchers who embrace this view reality as an objective phenomena and perceive that their role as researchers is to measure and examine organizations much like scientists conducting experiments To improve its functioning and efficiency by understanding how the organization worked Try to measure concepts and establish cause-effect relationships
human relations approach critique
Some might view this approach as a clandestine method of control The managers are using social relationships to achieve management goals Illusion of participation in decisions while managers still maintain control of the decisions manipulates employees into being more productive for the benefits of management without actually giving them any other personal benefits other than making them feel good about themselves
Anticipatory Role Socialization
Sources: family, peers, education, media, direct experiences
Comm network roles
Stars Well connected in network Liaison People who link 2 sets of others together Bridge link People who are in 2 groups isolate/isolate pairs Linked to no one but each other
Strategic Ambiguity
Strategic ambiguity = meaning is deliberately not clear
Outcomes of supervisor-subordinate communication
Subordinates with more open communication relationships with their supervisors → more effective, satisfied, more productive, higher morale, less likely to leave their organization Subordinates in partnership relationships demonstrate more prosocial and extra-role activities on behalf of the organization and more positive attitudes about job climate, procedural justice in organizations, and their own sense of empowerment High LMX relationship = higher job performance evaluation and are more innovative and creative
Differentiated supervisor communication style
Supervisors treat their subordinates differently Originally called vertical dyad linking → this approach to studying supervisor-subordinate communication has focused on describing how supervisors communicate and maintain different types of relationships with different groups of subordinates
UMT 4 topics newcomers seek to know/learn
Task-related uncertainties → what their job actually entails, whether there are specific procedures or norms for doing the tasks,and how they will be evaluated for doing their job Relational uncertainties → how to relate to their peers, supervisors About the broader organization → they do not know its culture and norms About the power relations
CMT Classical Approaches
The Machine Metaphor Key theorists: Fayol, Weber, & Taylor Specialization - every part has a function Standardization - every person does that job the same Replaceability - every person can be replaced Predictable - everyday is the same; every action repeats
Upward influence
The amount of influence supervisors have with their supervisors has an influence on their supervisor-subordinate communication Subordinates tend to be more satisfied and more likely to communicate to supervisors who are perceived as having strong upward influence with their own supervisors This so-called Pelz effect is true for subordinates who also perceive their supervisors as supportive, but limited effect for those who perceive their supervisor was unsupportive
Informal Communication
The most common channel of org comm Often called "grapevine" communication Does not follow the channels of the formal org chart but instead travels from person to person based on personal relationships and contacts Addresses 3 primary functions: Satisfying social and personal interests Addressing gaps in formal communication Managing a threatening and insecure environment Issues: Accuracy Speed Faster than formal Incorrect info can be rapidly distributed Mid-level employee participation Most people absorb the information but don't repeat it Accountability The competence network
3 primary causes for conflict and stress between work and other life roles
Time-based conflict → not enough time Expectations for the amount of time spent on each role are not met Occurs in 2 forms: time pressures of one role make it physically impossible to comply with the time pressures of another role and when pressures in one role leads to a preoccupation with that role while attempting to fulfill another role halfheartedly. Strain-based conflict → challenges of completing one role makes it difficult or challenging to fulfill the other roles Behavior-based conflict → occurs when the behaviors in one role are not appropriate in the other role, but the individual fails to adapt behaviors appropriate to the other situation
The Bank Wiring Room Experiments
To see if workers are motivated primarily by financial incentives Researchers tried various changes in compensating employees Productivity went down with individual incentives, due to suspicion of management Group productivity tended to be the same even when individual productivity changed Results → money is not the only form of recognition that is important to them, people gain security through a combo of being socially accepted and recognized by their work associates Workers respond positively to attention from management and are influenced by group norms These lessons led to the development of Human Relations Management
Principles of HR Management
Training opportunities Participation Employment security Job descriptions Result-oriented appraisal Internal career opportunities profit/stock sharings
Human Resource Management Theory Y Context
U.S. economy shifted from manufacturing to service Less job security More employee mobility
Critical Perspective
View organizations as systems of economic and political exploitation in which some individuals hold power over others People in power use that power in ways that benefit themselves over other organizational members Issues of domination and oppression are of keen interest Critical scholars use a wide range of methods to demonstrate, illustrate, describe their critiques of organizational power Critiques: In providing a critique of others, critical scholars are themselves becoming dominant and elitist when they attempt to impose their perspective on others Failing to offer viable solutions to their negative evaluations
Communicative definition of organization
View them as being created and maintained through communication Organizations are constituted and exist only through communication Organizations are created and maintained in at least four kinds of messaging 1. Activity coordination → working interdependently with others to complete tasks requires people to communicate to get work done 2. Self-structuring → discussing and deciding how roles will be divided 3. Membership negotiation → determining who belongs and who does not 4. Institutional positioning → representing the organizations' image to those who are not members requires messages such as PR or marketing
Integrative Communication Structure: Quality circles
Were created with people across departments, divisions, and hierarchical levels Their task was to find ways to improve the quality of the output of the organization whether it was a product or service Effectiveness increased at first, but after the novelty of the process faded, it no longer had an effect Although the use of quality circles to integrate communication has generally disappeared, some of the ideas behind them continued to be relevant as organizations adopted a total quality management (TQM) approach
These conflicts employees experience are influenced by a number of specific work, life, and personal characteristics.
Work factors → include the type of work, work schedules, level of autonomy, and work group relationships. Life factors → family characteristics such as the nature of the household, sources of income, and status of children Personal factors → how central the work or family role is to an individual's identity, and personal characteristics such as emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness
Information sources
Workplace sources → peers, supervisors Other organizational sources → staff or admin Impersonal sources → employee handbooks External sources → customers, clients, friends, fam
3. Transactional meaning creation
a process inn which communication generates meaning within social, relational, and cultural contexts This model includes participants who are simultaneously senders and receivers → Interactive process The combination of messages produced, perception of those messages, resulting messages, and context all contribute to meaning Emphasizes that communication is the process by which individuals assign meaning in a comm situation through mutual interaction and influence Meaning is co-created and there are no distinctions between senders and receivers
Serial socialization
a role model or mentor is available to help newcomers learn their jobs
Communication networks
a way to depict communication links and patterns Explores the way communication occurs in an organization Does not make a distinction between formal and informal Organizations only have 1 chart prescribing how communication should flow, a network approach does not assume a single communication network exists but allows for the possibility that multiple comm networks can emerge across time Attempts to examine who actually communicates with who
Partnership relationships
also known as high LMX relationships describe the close,personal relationship that supervisors have with some of their subordinates Share more information than in other relationships Communication includes task-relation information and more Consults with the subordinate on decision-making and may work jointly on projects May give career advice and guidance May include personal communication High LMX tends to receive more trust, information, and promotional opportunities Little power distance
Integrative Communication Structures: Committees
any organizations use committees to integrate org activities Standing committees → address a certain topic or issue that is ongoing Ad hoc (to or for this) → meet for a limited time period to accomplish some specific task or goal
Theory Y beliefs about people
arrange things so people can achieve their own goals and accomplish the organization's goals at the same time
Informal, individual
common in smaller organizations Put into work right away and trained on the job if they are only hiring 1 or 2 people at a time
3 Traditional Channels
downward, upward,lateral
All 3 writers agree that
employees should have clearly defined, specific jobs They all stress the importance of employees having technical skills Financial benefits to keep employees motivated Management makes the rules and decisions and communicates those policies, rules, and practices to the employees
Disjunctive
have to learn on their own
"The Hawthorne Effect"
idea that people will behave differently if they know they are being watched Generally temporary - people tend to revert back to their normal behaviors They followed up with the women for the relay assembly experiments and what improved their morale and productivity was that they felt like human beings rather than objects and had someone to talk to
Three definitions of communication
info transfer, shared meaning, transactional meaning creation
Formal group training
makes sure they mastered the practice Surgeon, police officer
Fixed socialization
newcomers know how long it will take to complete a particular type of training
What are policies / practices that assist with work-other life challenges?
onsite/affordable daycare for children/eldercare Flexible schedules Job sharing Telecommuting Parental leave Facilities for lactating mothers to express milk Child-friendly workspaces where children may visit on certain days
3 types
partner, overseer, middle-group
Anticipatory Socialization
refers to the experiences prior to joining an organization including deciding on the type of work that a person is interested in doing (anticipatory role socialization) and selecting an organization in which to perform those activities (anticipatory organizational socialization)
Divestiture
seeks to deny and strip away certain personal trains of the recruit Military training
Investiture
seeks to ratify and document the viability and usefulness of those characteristics
Variable
they are not told how long the process may take
Integrative Communication Structure: Project team
used by many different divisions or companies including research and development organizations, engineering firms, product development divisions, and PR firms Essense of project teams is to integrate across departments by having individuals from different departments being assigned to teams typically to produce some new product or outcome When practiced consistently and systematically → it creates what can be called a "matrix organization" There is a project leader, and people from various departments assigned to a given project
Newcomer socialization through orientation and training Socialization Strategies
vary on 6 dimensions and grouped into three general areas: context, patterns, goals
Group socialization versus individual socialization refers to
whether newcomers are put through orientation collectively as a group or experience it separately
Formal vs. informal refers to
whether they are trained away from the work site where they can receive training on the job situations where what they do has consequences for the organization
Theory Y managers assumes that
workers are not massive people, motivated only by money; they are motivated by their internal needs