Strategic Organizational Communication: In a Global Economy

Table of Contents:
Preface xi Unit I Underlying Concepts 1 Chapter 1 Strategic Organizational Communication 3 Organizational Communication as Strategic Discourse 5 Case Study 1.1. How to Handle the Scarlet Email 7 The Fundamental Paradox 10 Thinking Strategically About Organizing and Communicating 12 Case Study 1.2. Can You Trust Anyone Under Thirty? 14 Creating Socio-Economic Spaces 18 Making Organizations Look Alike 20 Strategies of Organizing 23 Strategic Communication for Individual Members of Organizations 24 Summary: The Complexities of Organizational Communication 26 Chapter 2 Keys to Strategic Organizational Communication 30 Seeing Connections: The Importance of Systems Thinking 32 Case Study 2.1. There Go the Lights, Here Come the Babies? 40 Uncovering Assumptions: The Importance of Critical Thinking 43 Valuing Differences: The Advantages of Diversity 47 Thinking Globally: The Challenges of Globalization 49 Understanding Technology: A Radical Force for Change 52 Case Study 2.2. Working in the Virtual Future: An Optimistic View (Looking Back) 58 Summary 66 Unit II Strategies of Organizing 71 Chapter 3 Traditional Strategies of Organizing 73 Traditional Strategies of Organizational Design 75 Case Study 3.1. Feel Safer Now? 83 Traditional Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 89 Case Study 3.2. The Power of Rewards at Industry International 92 Traditional Strategies of Leadership 98 Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Traditional Strategies of Organizing 99 Case Study 3.3. Scenes From the Electronic Sweatshop 104 Conclusion: Communication and Traditional Strategies of Organizing 107 Chapter 4 Relational Strategies of Organizing 113 Relational Strategies of Organizational Design 114 Case Study 4.1. Going South? 118 Relational Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 127 Case Study 4.2. Empowerment or Iron Cage? 133 Relational Strategies of Leadership 136 Information and Communication Technology and the Relational Strategy 139 Assessing Relational Strategies 142 Thinking Critically About Relational Strategies 146 Chapter 5 Cultural Strategies of Organizing 155 Defining Key Terms: Cultures and Organizational Cultures 157 Cultural Strategies of Organizational Design 159 Cultural Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 161 Organizational Symbolism and Cultural Strategies of Motivation and Control 166 Case Study 5.1. It’s My Party and I’ll Do What I Want To 171 Case Study 5.2. Resistance and Control in Three Service Organizations 175 Cultural Strategies of Leadership 178 Technology and Cultural Strategies of Organizing 181 Thinking Critically About Cultural Strategies 183 Chapter 6 Network Strategies of Organizing 191 Network Strategies of Organizational Design 193 Box 6.1. Choosing Communication Media 202 Box 6.2. What Might Have Been 208 Case Study 6.1. al-Qaeda: A Network Organization? 209 Case Study 6.2. Evolving Into a Network Organization 213 Network Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 215 Challenges for Control Systems in Network Organizations 218 Leadership in Network Organizations 219 Challenges and Problems for Network Organizations 221 Beyond Networks: Alternative Strategies of Organizing 222 Box 6.3. Postmodern Organizations? 225 Conclusion 227 Postscript to Unit II Contingency Perspective on Organizing Strategies 231 Task 232 Case Study P.1. Steeling Away Into a Different Structure 236 Interrelationships Among the Contingency Variables 237 Conclusion and Transition 238 Unit III Challenges in the Twenty-First Century 241 Chapter 7 Communication, Power, and Politics in Organizations 243 A Perspective on Organizational Power 245 Case Study 7.1. On Death and Dying 247 Societal Assumptions and the Bases of Organizational Power 251 Case Study 7.2. The Playground Never Ends 263 Organizational Politics: Overt Power in the Communicative Process 266 Box 7.1. An Exploration of Life in Systems of Power 274 Conclusion 278 Chapter 8 Communication, Decision Making, and Conflict in Organizations 284 Communication and Organizational Decision Making 286 Box 8.1. Making a Green Decision 291 Case Study 8.1. Managing the Ambiguity 304 Case Study 8.2. Koalas and Roos Flying Through Chaos 313 Communication and the Management of Organizational Conflict 316 Case Study 8.3. The Bargaining Case 327 Conclusion 335 Chapter 9 Organizational Change 339 Innovation 343 Box 9.1 Organizing for Creativity 344 Adoption 348 Implementation 355 Case Study 9.1. Implementing a Moving Target: Quality Improvement at TopHill Hospital System 356 Case Study 9.2. Storytelling Journeys into Change 368 Conclusion 376 Chapter 10 Communication and Diverse Workplaces 380 Resisting “Others” 382 Case Study 10.1. Sequestering Sexual Harassment 387 Confronting the Dominant Perspective 398 Box 10.1. Feminist Strategies for Organizing 399 Case Study 10.2. Trying to Stay Balanced 402 Case Study 10.3. Is That Term “Childless” or “Childfree”? 406 Taking a Holistic Perspective 409 Conclusion 412 Chapter 11 Communication, Organizations, and Globalization 418 Culture, Difference, and Organizational Communication 421 Increasing Cultural Understanding 426 Case Study 11.1. Can You Trust Anyone Under Thirty, Part 2? 427 Economics, Globalization, and Organizational Communication 431 Case Study 11.2. Small Companies, Global Approaches 438 Chapter 12 Communication, Ethics, and Organizational Rhetoric 447 Ethics, Organizations, and Social Control 450 Societal Assumptions and Organizational Rhetoric 452 Rhetoric and Organizational Crisis and Image Management 455 Case Study 12.1. Lanxess Cleans Up Its Act 461 Public Policy making and Organizational Rhetoric 463 Case Study 12.2. Ike the Prophet 467 Systems, Actions, and Ethics 469 Conclusions and Implications for Ethics 480 Postscript to Unit III Epilogue 489 Index 491

About the Author :
Charles Conrad is Professor of Organizational Communication at Texas A&M University. He has received more than a dozen college- and university-level teaching awards, including the National Communication Association's Donald Ecroyd Award. He is the author or editor of nine books, the most recent of which are Organizational Rhetoric (2011) and Global Engineering (2010). Marshall Scott Poole is Professor of Communication and Director of the Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has received several teaching awards and multiple research awards, including the Steven Chaffee Lifetime Productivity Award from the International Communication Association. He is the author or editor of eleven books, including Working Through Conflict (2008) and Handbook of Organizational Change and Innovation (2004).