Organizational Communication

573 Pages·2012·5.8 MB·English

ORGANIZATIONAL
COMMUNICATION
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ORGANIZATIONAL
COMMUNICATION
A Critical Approach
Dennis K. Mumby
The University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
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Copyright © 2013 by SAGE Publications, Inc.
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Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mumby, Dennis K.
Organizational communication: a critical approach /Dennis K. Mumby.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4129-6315-2 (pbk.)
1. Communication in organizations. I. Title.
HD30.3.M863 2013
306.44—dc23 2012018541
This book is printed on acid-free paper.

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Brief Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
PART I: D EVELOPING A CRITICAL APPROACH TO
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
1 Introducing Organizational Communication
2 The Critical Approach
PART II: THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND
THE MODERN ORGANIZATION
3 Scientific Management, Bureaucracy, and the Emergence of the Modern
Organization
4 The Human Relations School
5 Organizations as Communication Systems
6 Communication, Culture, and Organizing
PART III: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONAL
COMMUNICATION AND THE NEW WORKPLACE
7 Power and Resistance at Work
8 The Postmodern Workplace: Teams, Emotions, and No-Collar Work
9 Communicating Gender at Work
10 Communicating Difference at Work
11 Leadership Communication in the New Workplace
12 Branding and Consumption
13 Organizational Communication, Globalization, and Democracy
14 Communication, Meaningful Work, and Personal Identity
Glossary
References
Index
About the Author
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Detailed Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
PART I: DEVELOPING A CRITICAL APPROACH TO ORGANIZATIONAL
COMMUNICATION
1 Introducing Organizational Communication
Organizations as Communicative Structures of Control
Defining “Organizational Communication”
Interdependence
Differentiation of Tasks and Functions
Goal Orientation
Control Mechanisms
Direct Control
Technological Control
Critical Technologies 1.1: Defining Communication Technology
Bureaucratic Control
Ideological Control
Disciplinary Control
Communication Processes
Framing Theories of Organizational Communication
Functionalism: The Discourse of Representation
Interpretivism: The Discourse of Understanding
Critical Case Study 1.1: A Conduit Model of Education
Critical Theory: The Discourse of Suspicion
Postmodernism: The Discourse of Vulnerability
Feminism: The Discourse of Empowerment
Conclusion
Critical Applications
Key Terms
2 The Critical Approach
The Critical Approach: A History
Karl Marx
Marx’s Key Issues
Critiquing Marx
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The Institute for Social Research (the Frankfurt School)
Critical Theory and the Critique of Capitalism
Critical Theory and the Critique of Enlightenment Thought
Critical Case Study 2.1: McDonaldizing “Fridays”
Critiquing the Frankfurt School
Cultural Studies
Understanding Organizational Communication From a Critical Perspective
Organizations Are Socially Constructed Through Communication Processes
Critical Technologies 2.1: Mediating Everyday Life
Organizations Are Political Sites of Power and Control
Organizations Are Key Sites of Human Identity Formation in Modern Society
Organizations Are Important Sites of Collective Decision Making and
Democracy
Organizations Are Sites of Ethical Issues and Dilemmas
Conclusion
Critical Applications
Key Terms
PART II: THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND
THE MODERN ORGANIZATION
3 Scientific Management, Bureaucracy, and the Emergence of the Modern
Organization
The Emergence of the Modern Organization
Time, Space, and the Mechanization of Travel
Time, Space, and the Industrial Worker
Critical Technologies 3.1: Timepieces and Punch Clocks
Scientific Management: “Tayloring” the Worker to the Job
Taylor’s Principles: The “One Best Way”
The Contributions of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
A Critical Assessment of Scientific Management
The Legacy of Scientific Management
Bureaucratic Theory: Max Weber and Organizational Communication
Weber’s Types of Authority
Charismatic Authority
Traditional Authority
Rational–Legal Authority
Weber’s Critique of Bureaucracy and the Process of “Rationalization”
The Legacy of Bureaucracy
Critical Case Study 3.1: Rationalizing Emotions
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Conclusion: A Critical Assessment of “Classic” Theories of Organization
Critical Applications
Key Terms
4 The Human Relations School
Placing the Human Relations Movement in Its Historical and Political Context
Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne Studies
The Hawthorne Studies
The Illumination Studies (1924–1927)
The Relay Assembly Test Room (RATR) Studies (April 1927–February
1933)
The Interview Program (September 1928–January 1931)
The Bank Wiring Observation Room Study (November 1931–May 1932)
Implications of the Hawthorne Studies
Critical Case Study 4.1: Reframing Happiness at Zappos
A Critique of the Hawthorne Studies
Reexamining the Empirical Data
Critiquing the Ideology of the Hawthorne Researchers
The Wholly Negative Role of Conflict
Rational Manager Versus “Sentimental” Worker
Gender Bias in the Hawthorne Studies
Summary
Mary Parker Follett: Bridging Theory and Practice
Follett’s Theory of Organization
The Strange Case of the Disappearing Theorist
Human Resource Management
Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Critical Technologies 4.1: “Wilfing” Your Life Away
Rensis Likert’s Four Systems Approach
Critiquing Human Resource Management
Conclusion
Critical Applications
Key Terms
5 Organizations as Communication Systems
Situating the Systems Perspective
The Principles of the Systems Perspective
Interrelationship and Interdependence of Parts
Holism
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Input, Transformation (Throughput), and Output of Energy
Negative Entropy
Equilibrium, Homeostasis, and Feedback
Hierarchy
Goal Orientation
Equifinality and Multifinality
Organizations as Systems of Communication
Critical Technologies 5.1: Organizing Food
Karl Weick and Organizational Sense Making
Weick’s Model of Organizing: Enactment, Selection, and Retention
A Critical Perspective on Weick
Critical Case Study 5.1: Airlines and Equivocality
Niklas Luhmann and the Autopoietic Organization
A Critical Perspective on the Autopoietic Organization
Conclusion
Critical Applications
Key Terms
6 Communication, Culture, and Organizing
The Emergence of the Cultural Approach
Two Perspectives on Organizational Culture
The Pragmatist Approach: Organizational Culture as a Variable
Critical Technologies 6.1: Communication Technology and Organizational
Culture
The Purist Approach: Organizational Culture as a Root Metaphor
A Broader Conception of “Organization”
The Use of Interpretive, Ethnographic Methods
The Study of Organizational Symbols, Talk, and Artifacts
Relevant Constructs
Facts
Practices
Vocabulary
Metaphors
Critical Case Study 6.1: Organizational Culture and Metaphors
Rites and Rituals
Organizational Stories
Summarizing the Two Perspectives
Conclusion
Critical Applications
Key Terms
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