Organizational Communication

Organizational Communication: A Lifespan Approach is a student-focused introduction to the field. Featuring real-world stories, helpful and unique illustrations, and practical applications of theory, this text engages students and shows them how to apply concepts, theories, and perspectives in every chapter. Organizational Communication helps students understand their communication as participants in organizations throughout their lifetimes. It begins with how pre-career experiences influence our expectations for organizational experiences and ends with organizational exits, including retirement. This approach provides a seamless integration of theory and application while helping students at any stage of life reflect on past experiences, prepare for new endeavors and roles, and understand vital organizational theories and perspectives in new and concrete ways.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments About the Authors 1. Introduction Defining Communication Information Transfer Shared Meaning Transactional Meaning Creation --Applying the Three Definitions of Communication Working Definition Defining Organizations A Legal Definition of Organizations A Communicative Definition of Organizations A Social Definition of Organizations The Complexity of Defining Communication in Organizations Strategic Ambiguity --Ethical Issue: Strategic Ambiguity Nonverbal Communication --Applying the Three Nonverbal Criteria --Communication Challenge: Office Design Perspectives on Organizational Communication A Post-Positivist Perspective An Interpretive Perspective A Critical Perspective --Applying the Three Organizational Perspectives Other Perspectives Application to Different Types of Organizations Preview of the Book Summary Key Terms 2. Communication and Anticipatory Socialization Anticipatory Role Socialization Family Education --Communication Challenge: Realistic Expectations Peers Previous Experience --Communication Challenge: Comparing Workplaces Media Application The "Real Job" Colloquialism --Ethical Issue: Deconstructing Our Labels Anticipatory Role Socialization for Volunteers Summary of Anticipatory Role Socialization Anticipatory Organizational Socialization Person-Job Fit Recruitment Selection Process --Résumés and Cover Letters --Screening Interviews --Communication Challenge: Improving Interviews Follow-up or Second Interviews Realistic Job Previews --Ethical Issue: Inappropriate Interview Questions --Communication Challenge: The New Technology of the Job Search Anticipatory Organizational Socialization for Volunteers Summary of Anticipatory Organizational Socialization Key Terms 3. Communication and Organizational Encounter Uncertainty Management Theory Newcomer Socialization Through Orientation and Training Socialization Strategies Socialization Strategy Outcomes --Ethical Issue: Mixed Messages Newcomers and Communication Exchange Information Seeking Information Sources --Communication Challenge: Trusted Colleague Information Giving Communication Exchange Encounter Outcomes Boundary Passages --Functional Boundaries --Hierarchical Boundaries --Inclusionary Boundaries --Ethical Issue: Vocabulary of Hierarchy Differences Between Expectations and Experiences General Newcomer Adaptation Newcomers in Volunteer Organizations Summary Key Terms 4. Communication and Management Theory Classical Management Theory Context Frederick Taylor's Classical Management Theory Henri Fayol's General Management Theory --Communication Challenge: Communication and Span of Control Weber's Bureaucratic Theory Douglas McGregor's Theory X Classical Management Today Human Relations Management Context Hawthorne Studies --Communication Challenge: Are Happy Workers Productive Workers? Human Relations Management Today Human Resource Management Context --Ethical Issue: Humans as Resources Some Roots of Human Resource Management: McGregor's Theory Y Principles of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management Today --Communication Challenge: Motivation at Despair, Inc. Teamwork or Theory Z Management Context --Ethical Issue: Top-Level Management and Organizing for the Short Term? Principles of Teamwork Teamwork and Concertive Control --Ethical Issue: Is Control Ethical? Teamwork Management Today Management Approaches to Volunteers --Communication Challenge: Communicating to Reduce Volunteer Turnover --Applying the Three Organizational Perspectives to Management Theory Summary Key Terms 5. Communication Channels and Structures Traditional Communication Channels and Structures Formal Downward Communication Issues with Downward Communication --Amount of Information --Nature of Feedback --Information Distribution Formal Upward Communication Issues with Upward Communication --Communication Challenge: Technology Application for Suggestions Boxes --Lack of Receptivity --Power Differentials --Communication Challenge: Dealing with the Normal Alteration of Upward Communication --Upward "Distortion" --Self-Promotion or Ingratiation Horizontal or Lateral Communication Issues with Lateral Communication --Competition --Specialization --Territoriality --Lack of Incentive Informal Communication Issues with Informal Communication --Accuracy --Speed --Ethical Issue: Gossip's Messiness --Mid-Level Employee Participation --Accountability --The Competence Network Integrative Communication Structures --Committees --Quality Circles --Project Teams Limitations of Traditional Communication Channels Approach Communication Networks Collecting Network Data Characteristics of Networks --Linkage Characteristics --Individual Roles --Communication Challenge: Reducing Employee Turnover by Cultivating Network Density --Group-Level Characteristics --Organizational or System-Level Characteristics Impact of Communication Networks Limitations of Network Analysis Nonprofit Organizations and Volunteers Summary Key Terms 6. Communication and Organizational Culture Defining Organizational Culture Artifacts Values Assumptions Interactions of Various Members Structuration Theory and Culture --Communication Challenge: Communicating a New Value Organizational Norms Types of Norms Communication Norms Norm Development Creating Conformity to Norms Three Approaches to Culture An Integrated Perspective A Differentiated Perspective A Fragmented Perspective --Applying Martin's Three Perspectives on Organizational Culture A Critique of Applying the Three Perspectives Analyzing Organizational Culture Script (or Narrative) Analysis Ritual Analysis Metaphor Analysis --Ethical Issue: Enron's Metaphors Reflective Comment Analysis Ethnography A Comparison of Five Methods of Cultural Analysis --Applying Three Research Perspectives to Organizational Culture Summary Key Terms 7. Communication with Organizational Members Supervisor-Subordinate Communication Average Supervisor Communication Style --Interaction Patterns --Openness to Communication --Upward Distortion --Upward Influence --Semantic Information Distance --Communication Challenge: The Pelz Effect --Effective Versus Ineffective Supervisors --Feedback --Systemic Factors --Communication Challenge: "Living" Versus "Having" an Open-Door Policy Differentiated Supervisor Communication Style --Partnership Relationships --Overseer Relationships --Middle-Group Relationships --Relationship Development Outcomes of Supervisor-Subordinate Communication Summary of Supervisor-Subordinate Communication Peer Communication Peer Social Support Types of Peer Communication Relationships Outcomes of Peer Communication Workplace Friendships Summary of Peer and Friendship Relations Interaction of Supervisor and Peer Communication Summary of Supervisor-Peer Relationship Interaction Mentor(ing) Communication --Communication Challenge: Mentoring Communication Summary of Mentoring --Communication Challenge: Upside Down Mentoring? Emotion Management in Interpersonal Interactions The Nature of Emotions in Interactions --Ethical Issue: The Moral "Signaling" Function of Emotions Types of Emotions Emotion Management --Communication Challenge: Peer Communication and Emotion Management Volunteers and Interpersonal Relationships Summary Key Terms 8. Communication and Leadership Managerial or Group Leadership Managerial Leadership as Traits Models of Management Styles Situational Models of Managerial Leadership Contingency Models of Managerial Leading External Communication Focus of Managers Dialectical Theory and Managerial Leadership --Communication Challenge: African American Women Executives' Leadership Communication Managerial Leadership and Volunteers Summary of Managerial Leadership Organizational Leadership Charismatic Leadership Visionary Leadership Transformational (versus Transactional) Leadership Institutional Leadership Framing Theory --Communication Challenge: Framing and Managerial Leadership Organizational Leadership of Volunteers --Ethical Issue: Leaders' Moral Talk Is Contagious (in a Good Way) The Dark Side of Managerial and Organizational Leadership Comparing Managerial and Organizational Leadership Summary Key Terms 9. Communication and Decision-Making A Prescriptive Model of Decision-Making The Model --Communication Challenge: Improving Decision-Making Through Brainstorming Descriptive Models of Decision-Making Phase Models Alternative Descriptive Models The Spiral Model Vigilant Interaction Theory --Communication Challenge: Leading Group Decisions Multiple Sequence Model Alternative Decision-Making Processes Satisficing Garbage Can Model Retrospective Rationality --Ethical Issue: Retrospective Rationality Faulty Decision-Making Groupthink Other Characteristics of Ineffective Decision-Making --Communication Challenge: Avoiding Groupthink and Ineffective Decision-Making Practices Overcoming Faulty Decision Making: HRO Theory Decision-Making in Volunteer Organizations Summary Key Terms 10. Communication and Conflict Defining Conflict Typologies of Conflict Level of Conflicts --Intrapersonal Conflict --Interpersonal Conflicts --Intergroup Conflicts --Interorganizational Conflicts Content of Conflicts Visibility of Conflicts Application Conflict as Dysfunctional and Functional Conflict Styles Bargaining and Negotiation in Conflict --Ethical Issue: Ethical Bargaining Managing Conflict Through Third Parties Communication and Conflict with Abusive Coworkers Workplace Bullying --Defining Workplace Bullying --Ethical Issue: Wanting to Belong and Participation in Social Bullying --Causes --Characteristics of Perpetrators --Characteristics of Targets --Environmental Factors --Effects of Bullying --Coping with Bullying --Addressing Bullying Sexual Harassment --Defining Sexual Harassment --Ethical Issue: Sender or Receiver Priority --Causes of Sexual Harassment --Effects of Sexual Harassment --Coping with Sexual Harassment --Addressing Sexual Harassment Conflict in Nonprofit/Volunteer Settings Summary Key Terms 11. Communication, Power, and Resistance Definitions Power and Influence Ideology (or Ideologies) Surface and Deep Structure Power Surface Level Power Types of Power --Communication Challenge: Increasing Personal Power Reasons for Power Relationships --Power as Resource Dependency --Power as Social Exchange --Power and Personal Characteristics Deep Structure Power --Communication Challenge: Muting Voices of the Mistreated Resistance to Power --Ethical Issue: Ethics and Decaf Resistance Voice and Resistance --Ethical Issue: Boat Rocking and Whistleblowing Upward Dissent Strategies Silence, Resistance, and Voice Power and Resistance in Nonprofits and Volunteers Summary Key Terms 12. Communication and Work-Nonwork Issues The Changing Workplace General Causes of Work-Life Conflict --Time-Based Conflict --Strain-Based Conflict --Behavior-Based Conflict Specific Causes of Work-Life Conflict Social Norms That Increase Work-Life Conflict --Ethical Issue: To Work or Not to Work, That Is the Question Outcomes of Work-Life Conflict Managing Work-Life Boundaries --Communication Challenge: Choosing Communication Media for Boundary Management in Global Virtual Organizing --Ethical Issue: Segmenting Salaried Workers Family-Friendly Work Policies Positive Effects of Family-Friendly Policies --Communication Challenge: Unintended Consequences of Family-Life Policies Problematic Issues of Family-Friendly Policies --Career Repercussions --Difficulty Negotiating Leave Policies --Peer Pressure Against Using the Policy --Resistance to Work-Life Integration Work-Family Third-Place (Life Enrichment) Balance Volunteer Roles Types of Volunteering Work-Family-Life Enrichment Balance --Ethical Issue: Disingenuous Volunteering? Summary Key Terms 13. Communication and the Changing Work Environment: Technology, Diversity, and Globalization Systems Theory Defining Change Reactions to Change Diffusion of Innovation Change and Emotion Resistance --Communication Challenge: Resisting Changes or Change Communication Communication and Change --Communication Challenge: Design a Ceremony Changing Communication Technology Media Richness Theory Changes in Communication Expectations --Changing How Meaning Is Established --Ethical Issue: Organizational Image Versus Personal Social Media Use --Changing Decision-Making Expectations --Communication Challenge: Creating a Collaborative Organizational Policy of Internet Usage --Changing Interpersonal Communication Interactions --Ethical Issue: Using Social Media to Convey and Express Private Opinions Summary of Changing Communication Technology Cultural Diversity: The Changing Workforce Cultural Diversity and Communication Cultural Diversity in the Workplace --Ethical Issue: Creating Teams Influence of Diversity on Group and Organizational Effectiveness Summary of Cultural Diversity Globalization Change and Nonprofit Organizations and Volunteers Changes in Funding and Collaboration Changing Volunteers Culturally Diverse Understandings of Volunteers Globalization and Volunteers Summary Key Terms 14. Communication During Career and Organizational Transitions Sensemaking Theory Individual Career Transitions Communication and Promotions Promotion Selection Context --Ethical Issue: Promotion Types and Bias The Selection Process for Promotions Promotion Process Communication and Job Transfers Communication and Domestic Job Transfers --Purposes of Domestic Job Transfers --The Process for Job Transfers --Pre-Move or Loosening Phase --Effects on the Workgroup Communication and International Job Transfers Communication and Career Plateaus Organizational Transitions Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) The M&A Process --The Pre-Merger Phase --The In-Play Phase --Communication Challenge: Rumors and Sensemaking --Transition Phase --Ethical Issue: Leading the Combining of Two Cultures --The Stabilization Phase Reductions-in-Force or Layoffs Pre-Announcement Phase Announcement Phase Post-Layoff Phase Individual and Organizational Transitions for Volunteers Summary Key Terms 15. Communication During Organizational Exit Social Exchange Theory Voluntary Exit Planned Exits Shocks Gradual Disenchantment Mixed Reasons for Voluntary Turnover --Network Location --Career Opportunities --Career Changes --Retirement The Voluntary Exit Process --The Preannouncement Phase --The Announcement Phase --The Exit Phase --Exit Interviews --Communication Challenge: Exit Interviews with College Interns Involuntary Exit Immediate or Summary Dismissal Progressive Discipline --Ethical Issue: Fired over Facebook --Communication Challenge: The EAGR Approach to Giving Corrective Feedback A Third Form of Exit Exit and Volunteers Summary Key Terms Epilogue A Dark Side of Organizational Membership Socialization and Individualization Conclusion References Credits Index

About the Author :
Michael W. Kramer is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Ryan S. Bisel is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma.

Review :
"Organized around a life-span approach to organizational entry, participation, and exit, this text integrates theory, research, and application in an accessible, engaging format. This text provides ample opportunity for critical thinking; offers multiple examples to illustrate concepts; and treats organizational communication issues in for-profit and not-for-profit contexts."--Janie Harden Fritz, Duquesne University