Organizational communication
Miller
Chapter 1
The Challenge of Organizational Communication
- 21st century
• relationships, family, work, politics etc. have become ‘complicated’
➔ complexity visible in communication processes, organisations/social
groupings
- Mark Penn:
• Age of ford -> age of starbucks
• World now is a lot more complicated than 100, 50 or 20 years ago
➔ Past taught us to understand and strategies for the complexity
- Four aspects that now play a bigger role than decades ago
• Globalization:
➔ Transportation/telecommunication -> world becomes more connected
➔ Political changes (cold war) -> need for global economy
➔ Global economy -> need for regulations (WTO, IMF)
In a global economy:
➔ Businesses practice outsourcing
➔ Businesses multi/international presence
➔ Businesses are spread among nations in the developing world
Complexity: collapse of national economies effect the whole world.
Globalization:
➔ Offers exciting opportunities
➔ Causes domestic job loss
➔ Causes exploitation
- Complex interconnections between business, political and cultural systems
make it harder to understand how globalization can ‘work’ effectively
• Ex. US capitalism exported to countries with different governmental/cultural
systems
- Joseph Stiglitz: globalization doesn’t have to be bad
,- Terrorism:
• Terrorists have been around for many centuries, this will remain
• Terrorism: set of strategies, not an ideology
• Unpredicted violence to create fear and suspicion
• Effectiveness enhanced by:
➔ Technical tools
➔ Environments with many resident/mass transportation
Understanding how terrorist networks work:
• How they recruit members
• Decisions/leadership
• How they make interconnections through technology/interpersonal contact h
War on terror and homeland security
• War on terror
➔ Military interventions
➔ Organizational communication (military actions, bureaucracy, military
personnel/family, political negotiations)
• Government entities + organizational rhetoric -> connect institutional goals
with public opinion
• Homeland security -> problem of organizational communication
➔ Communication system for border security
➔ Tracking of terrorist activities
➔ Development of first response organizations
- Individual citizens:
• Public relations/crisis communication
➔ How to frame and conveys homeland security issues to large groups of
people
➔ Airport security
➔ Enhancing understanding by debates (security vs. civil liberties)
- Climate change
• Changes in climate caused by global warming can be attributed to humanity
- Effects from climate change:
• Sea levels are rising
• Glaciers are shrinking
• Growth patterns in plant and animal life change due to environmental change
➔ Weather events (hurricanes)
, ➔ Changes aren’t consistent or predictable
- Human contribution:
• Comes from industrial revolution
➔ Industrial organizations are key
➔ Debates about global warming
➔ Economic opportunities vs. environmental health
➔ Debates/spokespersons
➔ Effect of global warming (hurricane)
➔ Opportunities for businesses to become ‘green’
- Changing demographics:
• Statistical descriptions of characteristics of a population (who we are/how we
communicate)
- A countries demographics can change
• This causes different experiences in organizations and the communication
within them
➔ Generation WWII: long term employment/dependability
➔ Generation baby boomer: ambitious/cynicism
➔ Generation Y: technical savvy/spoiled
- Karel Weick:
• Requisite variety: an organization should be as complicated as the problem
they want to solve
- Complicating our thinking about organizational communication:
• 5 features of organizations
➔ Social collectivity
➔ Organizational/personal goals
➔ Coordinating activity
➔ Organizational structure
➔ Embedding organizations in environment or other organizations
• To complicate our thinking -> stretch our understanding
➔ Goals of an organization: not just economic, but changing the world
- Organizational types:
• First: businesses -> entities to make money
• Now: non-profit/service organizations
• NGO’s -> social justice, global responsibility
- Virtual organizations
- Family/friends -> also organizations
- Complicating our thinking about communication:
, • Complicate our thinking to deal with a complicated world
• First: S-M-C-R
• Now:
➔ Intricate networks, computers linked to other computers
➔ Creation of meaning systems (family/cult)
➔ Understanding market to increase sales
➔ Multiple ways to provide info when disaster strikes
➔ Framing information about threat
- Craig:
• Transmission model: way of modelling information
➔ Metamodel: will help deal with practical challenges
• Constitutive: process and produces and reproduces shared meaning
Miller
Chapter 1
The Challenge of Organizational Communication
- 21st century
• relationships, family, work, politics etc. have become ‘complicated’
➔ complexity visible in communication processes, organisations/social
groupings
- Mark Penn:
• Age of ford -> age of starbucks
• World now is a lot more complicated than 100, 50 or 20 years ago
➔ Past taught us to understand and strategies for the complexity
- Four aspects that now play a bigger role than decades ago
• Globalization:
➔ Transportation/telecommunication -> world becomes more connected
➔ Political changes (cold war) -> need for global economy
➔ Global economy -> need for regulations (WTO, IMF)
In a global economy:
➔ Businesses practice outsourcing
➔ Businesses multi/international presence
➔ Businesses are spread among nations in the developing world
Complexity: collapse of national economies effect the whole world.
Globalization:
➔ Offers exciting opportunities
➔ Causes domestic job loss
➔ Causes exploitation
- Complex interconnections between business, political and cultural systems
make it harder to understand how globalization can ‘work’ effectively
• Ex. US capitalism exported to countries with different governmental/cultural
systems
- Joseph Stiglitz: globalization doesn’t have to be bad
,- Terrorism:
• Terrorists have been around for many centuries, this will remain
• Terrorism: set of strategies, not an ideology
• Unpredicted violence to create fear and suspicion
• Effectiveness enhanced by:
➔ Technical tools
➔ Environments with many resident/mass transportation
Understanding how terrorist networks work:
• How they recruit members
• Decisions/leadership
• How they make interconnections through technology/interpersonal contact h
War on terror and homeland security
• War on terror
➔ Military interventions
➔ Organizational communication (military actions, bureaucracy, military
personnel/family, political negotiations)
• Government entities + organizational rhetoric -> connect institutional goals
with public opinion
• Homeland security -> problem of organizational communication
➔ Communication system for border security
➔ Tracking of terrorist activities
➔ Development of first response organizations
- Individual citizens:
• Public relations/crisis communication
➔ How to frame and conveys homeland security issues to large groups of
people
➔ Airport security
➔ Enhancing understanding by debates (security vs. civil liberties)
- Climate change
• Changes in climate caused by global warming can be attributed to humanity
- Effects from climate change:
• Sea levels are rising
• Glaciers are shrinking
• Growth patterns in plant and animal life change due to environmental change
➔ Weather events (hurricanes)
, ➔ Changes aren’t consistent or predictable
- Human contribution:
• Comes from industrial revolution
➔ Industrial organizations are key
➔ Debates about global warming
➔ Economic opportunities vs. environmental health
➔ Debates/spokespersons
➔ Effect of global warming (hurricane)
➔ Opportunities for businesses to become ‘green’
- Changing demographics:
• Statistical descriptions of characteristics of a population (who we are/how we
communicate)
- A countries demographics can change
• This causes different experiences in organizations and the communication
within them
➔ Generation WWII: long term employment/dependability
➔ Generation baby boomer: ambitious/cynicism
➔ Generation Y: technical savvy/spoiled
- Karel Weick:
• Requisite variety: an organization should be as complicated as the problem
they want to solve
- Complicating our thinking about organizational communication:
• 5 features of organizations
➔ Social collectivity
➔ Organizational/personal goals
➔ Coordinating activity
➔ Organizational structure
➔ Embedding organizations in environment or other organizations
• To complicate our thinking -> stretch our understanding
➔ Goals of an organization: not just economic, but changing the world
- Organizational types:
• First: businesses -> entities to make money
• Now: non-profit/service organizations
• NGO’s -> social justice, global responsibility
- Virtual organizations
- Family/friends -> also organizations
- Complicating our thinking about communication:
, • Complicate our thinking to deal with a complicated world
• First: S-M-C-R
• Now:
➔ Intricate networks, computers linked to other computers
➔ Creation of meaning systems (family/cult)
➔ Understanding market to increase sales
➔ Multiple ways to provide info when disaster strikes
➔ Framing information about threat
- Craig:
• Transmission model: way of modelling information
➔ Metamodel: will help deal with practical challenges
• Constitutive: process and produces and reproduces shared meaning
