Expert answer:Week 5 Organizational Communication Theories OCT
Solved by verified expert:PLEASE read Chapter 16 notes and OCT pages 713-716 before doing the OCT task. Which is my job description as a DOD contractor working for a unit that supports a higher headquarters with designating and moving combat equipment and personnel, coordinating critical training requirements and in establishing area beautification and landscaping details.
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Organizational Communication
CHAPTER 16: Organizational Culture Theory
Chapter Outline
I.
Introduction
A. The life cycle of an organization is characterized by change and complexity
B. Change often results in confusion, anxiety, frustration, or excitement among the
organization’s members
C. Pacanowsky and O’Donnell-Trujillo (1982, 1983) developed Organizational Culture
Theory (OCT) as a way of examining how an organization and its members evolve
over time
D. OCT proposes that researchers should observe, record, and make sense out of an
organization by examining the communication among its members
E. Pacanowsky and O’Donnell-Trujillo state that “culture is not something an
organization has; a culture is something an organization is”
II. The cultural metaphor
A. Organizational culture is the essence of organizational life
B. Geertz (1973) applied the analogy of a spider web to explain organizational culture
from a symbolic-interpretive approach
1. Cultures are intricate, much like the designs of spider webs, which need
constant maintenance
2. Each strand of the web represents a discrete aspect of the organization
3. People are critical to the organization, just as spiders are to the web. Thus, it
is important to examine their interactions with one another to determine the
impact on the organization
4. Various types of communication are used in creating the “web” (e.g., stories,
gossip, jokes)
III. Assumptions of OCT
A. Assumption 1: Organizational members create and maintain a shared sense of
organizational reality, resulting in a better understanding of the values of the
organization
1. Organizational members at all levels (superior and subordinate) contribute to
the development of an organization. They are part of its reality
2. Organizational values are used to inform members about what standards and
principles are viewed as being important
B. Assumption 2: The use and interpretation of symbols are critical to an organization’s
culture
1. Symbols represent the meanings that are held by members of an organization.
These include the verbal and nonverbal communication that takes place
within an organization
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2.
Members of an organization create, use, and interpret symbols in order to
create and sustain their sense of organizational reality
3. Organizational values may be communicated through a variety of symbols
a. Physical symbols – buildings, decor, material objects, logos
b. Behavioral symbols – ceremonies, rituals, communication patterns,
rewards or punishments
c. Verbal symbols – jokes, jargon, nicknames, stories, metaphors
C. Assumption 3: Cultures vary across organizations, and the interpretations of actions
within these cultures are diverse
1. Organizational cultures vary greatly
2. How members interpret the communication that takes place within an
organization will differ as they move from one organization to another
IV. Ethnographic understanding
A. Geertz (1973) points out that, in order to understand an organizational culture, one
must attempt to experience it from the members’ viewpoint
B. Ethnography refers to a qualitative methodology that uses the stories, rituals, and
artifacts shared by an organization’s members to reveal how meaning is assigned
within that culture
C. Different methods of investigation may be employed in ethnography
1. Direct observation
2. Interviews
3. Participant observation
D. In ethnography, field journals, or notes taken during and after interactions, are used
to record the experiences of an organization’s members
1. The goal of ethnography is to provide a “thick description” of the various
layers of meaning within an organization’s culture
2. A balance must be struck between naturally observing and recording
behavior and integrating a researcher’s values into the process to “figure out
what the devil they think they are up to” (Geertz, 1983)
V. The communicative performance
A. Pacanowsky and O’Donnell-Trujillo propose that organization members serve as
“actors” who are part of the communicative performances that create a unique
organizational culture
B. “Performance” is a metaphor that represents the symbolic process of understanding
human behavior in an organization
C. Five types of performances take place in organizations according to Pacanowsky and
O’Donnell- Trujillo
1. Ritual performances are communication performances that occur on a regular
and recurring basis. There are four types of rituals
a. Personal rituals include those behaviors that an individual routinely
does every day in the workplace (e.g., checking voicemail)
b. Task rituals include routinized behaviors that are associated with a
person’s job (e.g., balancing the cash register)
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c.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Social rituals include the verbal and nonverbal routines that involve
interactions with others (e.g., going to “happy hour” with co-workers
each Friday)
d. Organizational rituals include routinely occurring company events
(e.g., team meetings, annual company picnics, monthly employee
birthday parties)
Passion performances are the organizational stories that members
enthusiastically share with one another, often telling the stories numerous
times
Sociality performances are the common extensions of civility, politeness, and
courtesies in an attempt to gain cooperation among an organization’s
members (e.g., smiling and greeting one another each morning)
Politics performances involve members’ communicative attempts to
influence one another in the organization
a. Acquiring and maintaining power is central in any organization
b. The hierarchical nature of most organizations implies that someone
must be in a position to communicate power in order to accomplish
goals
Enculturation performances are the ways in which members obtain the
necessary information and skills to perform their jobs within the organization
VI. Integration, critique, and closing
A. Communication tradition: Socio-cultural
B. Communication context: Organizational
C. Approach to knowing: Interpretive/hermeneutic
D. Evaluating OCT
1. Logical consistency
a. The theory possesses a high degree of logical consistency, given the
theorists’ commitment to the concept of organizations as rich and
diverse cultures, reflected throughout the theory
b. Some criticize the theory as relying too heavily on shared meaning,
putting consistency in jeopardy
i. The theory maintains that stories contribute to the culture, but
they may not have shared meaning among all organizational
members
ii. Different organizational narrators contribute to differing
meanings
2. Utility
a. The theory is applauded for its usefulness in explaining the
experiences of nearly all employees in an organization
b. The concepts are directly relevant to how employees work in and
identify with a work environment
3. Heurism
a. OCT has been applied far and wide, resulting in high heuristic value
b. It has framed research in a variety of contexts and on a variety of
topics, including Muslim employees, law enforcement officers,
IM – 16 | 3
pregnant employees, teaching approaches, and how college students
“fit in”
IM – 16 | 4
Organizational Culture
Taylor, J. R., & Cooren, F. (2006). Making worldview
sense: And paying retrospective homage to Algirdas
Greimas. In F. Cooren, J. R. Taylor, & E. J. Van
Every (Eds.), Communication as organizing: Empirical
explorations of the dynamic of text and conversation
(pp. 115–138). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Taylor, J. R., Groleau, C., Heaton, L., & Van Every, E. J.
(2001). The computerization of work: A
communication perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Taylor, J. R., & Robichaud, D. (2007). Management as
meta-conversation: The search for closure. In
F. Cooren & L. Putnam, (Eds.), Interacting and
organizing: Analyses of a board meeting (pp. 5–30),
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Taylor, J. R., & Van Every, E. J. (2000). The emergent
organization: Communication as its site and surface.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Von Neumann, J., & Morgenstern, O. (1947). Theory of
games and economic behavior. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.
Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophical investigations
(G. E. M. Anscombe, Trans.). Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press.
Organizational Culture
Organizational culture can be defined as the shared
assumptions, values, beliefs, language, symbols,
and meanings systems in an organization. This
approach views organizations as a set of loosely
structured symbols that are maintained and cocreated by a pattern of individual psychological factors
and various interactional factors (such as language,
behaviors, espoused values and physical artifacts)
that shape shared (and unshared) values, beliefs,
and assumptions within a given organization.
This entry overviews the history of the concept,
the interpretive and management approaches, and
the way organizational cultures vary by level and
type. A discussion of cultural management reveals
a focus on the inculcation of values and norms
through communication processes of organizational identification visioning and framing. The
entry closes with ongoing controversies about the
theoretical approach.
History
The organizational culture movement rose in the
early 1980s in response to previous system-oriented
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explanations. Researchers began to move beyond
the transmission model of communication to
instead examine how relationships, cultures, and
organizations are constituted by communication.
This linguistic turn signified not only a methodological shift from studying communication as
a measurable outcome, but also a fundamental
change in the way organizations were interpreted
and known. Communication came to be viewed
not just as another organizational variable to control, but as an important phenomenon in and of
itself. From this point of view, researchers began to
see how meanings do not reside in messages, channels, or screens, but they rather are socially constructed through interaction and sense-making
activities.
Management and Interpretive Approaches
Organizational culture stems from two different
camps. The management approach focuses on the
way organizations can control and improve their
corporate culture. From this approach, culture and
communication are things the organization has.
The interpretive approach, in contrast, views and
studies organizations as cultures constituted by
communication. Communication is what the organization is.
In the 1980s, managers began to notice that
organizations with strong cultures—such as
Disneyland, Coca-Cola, IBM, and Japanese car
manufacturers—were extremely successful. This
spurred the notion that by being able to engineer
an appropriate corporate culture, managers could
increase productivity. A number of groundbreaking management books encouraged American corporate leaders to focus on organizational values,
visions, rites and rituals, and leadership. Perhaps
most popular was Tom Peters and Robert
Waterman’s In Search of Excellence, which featured organizations that were extremely successful
at the time and found that they had in common
strong cultures with close customer relations,
employee empowerment, clear missions, and a flat
organizational hierarchy.
Pioneering players for the communication study
of organizational culture drew on Clifford Geertz’s
interpretivism. An interpretive approach examines
organizations as tribes and views the familiar as
strange, wondrous, and exotic. Specialized meaning
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Organizational Culture
is not waiting to be discovered, but is socially constructed through organizational values, folk tales,
rituals, and practices. The interpretive approach
frames the organizations as a stage or a text.
Understanding comes through analyzing performances, scripts, and props from the point of view
of participants.
Cultural Levels and Types
Cultural Levels
Organizational cultural levels include nationalregional cultures, professional cultures, corporate
cultures, and subcultures. At the macrolevel, leaders are aware of the national or regional context.
The values and norms of a company based in
Argentina, where it is normal for employees to
take an afternoon siesta, will be much different
than those in Japan, where long hours are testament to employee loyalty.
Professions have unique cultures. Engineers
value precision, managers value leadership, and
salespeople value good publicity. Such values
are taught in graduate school and reinforced by
day-to-day activities, rituals, and ceremonies.
Corporations have distinct cultures as well. Disney
is well known to value fun, performance, and creativity; 3M corporation rewards employee risk
taking (as evidenced by the invention of post-it
notes), and IBM values consistency.
Subcultures emerge across hierarchical levels,
departments, and social groups—sometimes for
reasons as simple as a group of employees attending the same church or joining the company softball team. High-ranking executives may value
posh presentation, as evidenced by their business
attire and fancy lunchtime reservations. Union
workers may value hard work, as evidenced by
ritualized overtime and boxed lunches.
Types of Culture
Cultures also vary by type. Power cultures are
found in organizations where power is centralized
in several founders, managers, or executives. Power
cultures have easily identified leaders who make
quick dramatic changes based on intuition. Such
cultures thrive on personal loyalty with reward
and punishment structures often reflecting favoritism and perceived loyalties.
Role cultures are bureaucratic and emphasize
logic, rationality, achievement, and efficiency.
Policy manuals and one’s predefined role are key
constituents of meaning. Role-culture employees
are status conscious and competitive. Such cultures
are especially resistant to change and often do not
adapt well to new environmental conditions.
In achievement cultures, the task is the primary
organizing feature and team decision making is
valued. Such cultures are characterized by flexibility, high levels of autonomy, and few formal structures. Control and coordination tend to be ad hoc,
aiding innovation and challenging quick response,
especially in times of crises.
Finally, person-support cultures are egalitarian,
emphasizing personal growth and development as
equally important as business objectives. Such cultures value and invest in employees over the long
term. Decision making is collective and based on
multiple needs.
Leading Organizational Culture
A good cultural leader is charismatic, playing the
roles of cheerleader, nurturer, and coach. Cultural
leaders strategically consider how to manage
intrinsic values such as employees’ underlying
beliefs, assumptions, and unconscious mental
frameworks. Leaders manage values through
understanding and communicatively shaping external factors through strategic use of everyday language, rituals, and vision statements. Culture is
implicated in both what employees and leaders say
they do (espoused values) and what they actually
do (values in use). Cultural leaders determine
espoused values through visioning and help determine values in use through framing.
Visioning
Visioning refers to formal mission or goal statements—the espoused values of an organization.
Organizational visions reflect the organization’s
future. For years, the vision of Bill Gates at
Microsoft was to put a computer on every desk, in
every home, all running Microsoft software.
Visions serve a coordinating function, providing
a framework that allows organizational members
to make sense of the particular tasks that they are
responsible for performing. A vision is designed to
Organizational Culture
inspire, motivate, and create a sense of purpose that
organizational members can buy into. Furthermore,
a vision is meant to complement ongoing activities
and behaviors in the organization.
Framing
Framing refers to communication that leads
others to accept one meaning over another. Framing
is accomplished by cultural leaders’ strategic use of
a variety of organizational symbols, including
metaphor, stories and myths, rituals and ceremonies, jargon, and strategic use of artifacts. All of
these symbols are created and maintained through
communication.
One of the most complex organizational symbols is the metaphor, a word or phrase that shows
a subject’s or program’s likeness with something
else. Examples of metaphors may include suggesting that a new program is only a Band-Aid on the
problem—or a baby step. These metaphors draw
attention to some aspects of the situation and hide
other aspects. The Band-Aid metaphor connotes a
plan that is simplistic, plastic, and short term,
while the baby-step metaphor connotes hope and
new beginnings. The metaphor used frames the
situation in very different ways.
Stories and myths provide vivid images or social
maps about how things should be done. Whether
or not they are really true, stories teach valuable
lessons and warn others about potentially dangerous topics and behaviors. Stories also justify beliefs
and paths of action—they explain why certain
behaviors are more acceptable than others.
Rituals, rites, ceremonies, and celebrations symbolically pattern and define organizational values.
Rituals are informal routine traditions, such as the
boss walking around and saying good morning to
every employee. Employees engage in personal rituals to define themselves, such as a Disney employee
doing a cartwheel to differentiate herself or himself
from other employees. Social rituals are standardized performances that affirm relationships among
members of organizations, such as going out to
lunch with the same group each day. Task rituals
are repeated activities—such as the weekly team
meeting—that help employees perform their jobs.
Rites and ceremonies are dramatic planned sets
of activities that bring together various aspects of
an organizational culture in a single event. Rites of
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passage—such as moving into a bigger office—
mark entry into a different hierarchical level. Rites
of integration, such as holiday parties, affirm and
enhance the sense of community in an organization. Rites of degradation, such as being put on
probation, punish members and show disapproval.
Enhancement rites, through activities such as
employee of the month, show praise and glory.
Renewal rites, such as retreats, aim to revitalize.
Jargon, catch-phrases, and slogans also communicate organizational values. Such symbols
bring about a familiar, insider meaning and differentiate one group from another. Slang is useful and
interesting precisely because usually it is not controlled by management. However, cultural leaders
use specialized terminology to strategically change
meaning, as evidenced in the following examples:
clients versus customers, janitors versus custodians, secretary versus office manager, a house versus a home.
Finally, organizational artifacts—or the physical
features of an organization such as the building,
the office layout, or the types of products offered—
say a lot about organizational culture. Simple
material items and structural elements, such as the
shape of a boardroom table, communicate the
degree to which an organization values creativity,
control, teamwork, and hierarchy. By varying such
symbols, leaders can engage in cultural control.
Unobtrusive Cultural Control
From a cultural approach, employees are controlled through organizational identification, considered to be loyalty, commitment, feeling of belonging,
and pride in a certain group. Cultural leaders aim for
identification by creating a team atmosphere, recognizing employee contributions, talking up the
company, and providing frequent integration and
enhancement ceremonies (e.g., retreats, parties).
Because identification is strongest when there is
something to identify against, leaders may also purposely create a company enemy (e.g., the big three
American automakers vs. the …
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