systems and organizing

The systems perspective provided a radical shift from earlier thinking about organizations and organizing. With roots in biology, the systems perspective views organizations a organisms. Einstein's theory of relativity was a major influence on the development of systems theory. McLuhan's concept of a global information society where perceptions are no longer mediated by static ideas of time and space and Prigogine's work in chemistry suggesting that disorder is a natural part of environmental change and renewal have their roots in systems theory.

I find Karl Weick's application of systems theory to organization the most compelling of all the ways in which this theory has been applied. From Weick's sense-making perspective, decision making in organizations is largely retrospective. That is, organization members make decisions and then come up with reasons for making them. Managers are symbol manipulators who encourage employees to make sense of their work lives.

In identity construction, one property of Weick's notion of sense making, how and what organization members think indicates who they are. Plausibility, another sense-making property, means that sufficiency and probability are more important than accuracy. Continuation suggests that what organization members say competes for attention with other ongoing projects.

Weick argues that organizations are communities that provides sites for socializing and storytelling. I'm especially interested in organizational storytelling and what stories reveal about organizational culture. Listening to the stories faculty told when I first arrived at SJSU helped be better understand the practices and norms in the department and the university.

Systems theory and Weick's sense-making approach encourage organizational communication scholars to examine how members interact in creating organizational life, quite a contrast from earlier views of organization.

~ Professor Cyborg

theory and organizing

Theory is often depicted as dry, boring, and useless, as with "that's just a theory." Yet theory provides a way for understanding and interpreting the world. In Chapter 3, Eisenberg et al. discuss the notion of theory and organization as well as early theoretical approaches to organization and communication.

The authors note that theories are metaphorical and historical as well as goal-oriented stories. For example, the authors use the empire metaphor to describe how organizations in the U.S. functioned from the 1700s to the early 1900s. Because theories are partial, they can never completely explain organizational communication. Theories are partisan in that events in organizations may be interpreted in multiple ways. The problematic nature of theories invites dialogue and questions about organizational communication.

Theories, then, are narratives of organization--theories provide a way of telling the story of organization and organizing. As you read Chapter 3, you'll note that theories focus primarily on management and telling the story of how to get people to do their work. So concern was (and still for the most part is) with theories that will help top management figure out the best way to facilitate employee productivity.

I'm particularly interested in narratives of organization. For example, domination narratives came out of the top-down flow of information in hierarchies found in classical management approaches. Narratives of resistance are told by the less powerful and the powerless who ordinarily have little or no voice in organizations. These narratives are a type of hidden transcript--information known to those who are oppressed but kept from those in power due to fear of reprisal.

The idea of narratives of resistance suggests that much of what is known about organizations comes from the top and little is known about the daily work done by the typical member of an organization. Consider all the information produced by organizations: press releases, quarterly reports, year-end financial statements. For me, the most interesting research in organizational communication focuses on revealing the overlooked stories of organizational life.

~ Professor Cyborg

dialogue in organizations

In Chapter 2, the authors discuss the notion of dialogue in organizations. I'm particularly interested in this concept as it provides a foundational basis for a small group text I'm writing. In this entry, I provide a brief summary of the main points associated with dialogue outlined in the chapter.

In the model of communication as a balance of creativity and constraint (depicted on p. 42), communication suggests the possibility of dialogue. The model also suggests that creativity informs new ways of organizing tasks and understanding relationships. The foundations of dialogue frame a large part of working as the interpretation of contexts. Eisenberg et al. identify several approaches to dialogue. In dialogue as equitable transaction all participants are able to voice their opinions and perspectives. Voice is the ability of an individual or group to participate in organizational dialogue. The suppression of employee voice in organizations can result in sabotage and violence.

Dialogue as empathic conversation involves collective mindfulness. Dialogue as real meeting is also called authentic dialogue. One advantage of promoting dialogue in organizations is greater innovation. One disadvantage is that organization members may feel that no right answer can be identified for a problem. The authors of your text observe that dialogue in organizations is rare.

Creating spaces for dialogue can prove challenging, particularly in times of scarce resources. However, organizations ignore dialogue to their detriment. Dialogue is essential for innovation and for encouraging collaboration. If organization members feel they don't have a voice, they will find alternative ways to express themselves, as Eisenberg et al. note.

~ Professor Cyborg

the changing world of work

Welcome to the first official day of class! If you haven't already, complete the Process Tasks so you can keep up to date on what's going on in the class as well as start your own blogging.

The Eisenberg et al. text was published in 2007, which means the authors likely finished writing it in 2006. I'm not sure they could have anticipated all the changes in the changing world of work, but they did identify several directions for workplace trajectories, particularly in terms of the global economy.

In Chapter 1, the authors note the problems with a market economy largely free from government regulation. Although the authors gave the International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies as an example of "an unreasonably optimistic belief in the self-regulating power of a market economy," (p. 8), the current state of the global financial system provides a current weakness with this line of thinking and action. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) lists failed banks and those needing emergency assistance dating back to 1991. The list is long for 2008 and includes IndyMac, Washington Mutual, and Downey Savings and Loan Association. Moreover, because economies world wide are interdependent, the problems have spread to Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and other places around the globe.

The authors conclude the chapter by observing that "traditional ways of doing business--and communicating--are no longer effective" (p. 24). The problems organizations are facing today suggest they haven't quite yet figured out what the news ways should be.

~ Professor Cyborg

turbulent times for organizations

Welcome to the New Year! 2008 was certainly a year in which organizations made front page news and that's probably going to be the case in 2009 as well.

The Eisenberg et al. book begins with the line, "The are strange times for organizational communication" (p. v). The authors go on to note in the same paragraph, "The horrific ethical missteps by corporations such as Enron continue to haunt the current business environment, as a series of denials and plea deals made by key executives in these cases makes the potential for real change unlikely" (p. v). The lack of any sort of ethical code has certainly pervaded the financial industry, where top executives made a lot money while their organizations collapsed and U.S. taxpayer dollars were used for executive bonuses. The continued unethical--and even illegal--behavior of a few have led to turbulent and dark times for many.

The main headline in the Mercury News Business section, "A Loss of Faith in Stock Markets," reflects the lack of confidence people have in organizational decision-makers. Who wants to invest money in companies when leading financial advisors such as Bernard Madoff admit to defrauding clients out of $50 billion? As the authors of the text point out, balancing individual and group goals is essential to effective organizing. It seems that today the balance has tipped in the direction of the individual (at least a few individuals) to the detriment of the many.

So why even bother to take a class in organizational communication? Becoming a more knowledgeable organizational member can help you make smarter professional choices and improve your communication competency across all the organizations in which you're embedded. Taking an organizational communication class may not prevent scandals such as Enron and the recent subprime mortgage debacle, but if more people had such a class, the likelihood of such events might decrease.

~ Professor Cyborg

welcome message sent

This morning I sent out the welcome message to the COMM 144 students. Winter session starts in a week, but it's quite short, so I wanted to get students involved with the class early. Several students have already contacted me and I've added two student blogs to the class blog roll.

There should be plenty of material for all of us to blog about. Much of the business section of the newspaper has moved to the front page: the meltdown of the U.S. (and now global) financial institutions, the precarious position of the Detroit automakers, the VP as Fry's who defrauded vendors, the massive layoffs in nearly all sectors of the U.S. workforce, and the continued offshoring of U.S. jobs. And of course all colleges and universities are facing budget cuts, layoffs, and higher tuitions as enrollments soar. These are grim times, yet current events stress the applicability of and need for a course in organizational communication.

I look forward to our blogging conversations about organizational communication concepts and theories. I'll likely post a few entries this week, but graded blogging doesn't start until January 5.

~ Professor Cyborg

class website launched

I launched the class website for Winter 2009 this morning. I wanted to get the site up early as the session is just two weeks this year. This will be the eighth time I've taught COMM 144 in the Winter session. It can seem daunting to students (and me), but the class really does work well in an abbreviated format. I still have to set up the Blackboard site with the quizzes; I'll do that when I return to Santa Cruz from Thanksgiving break in Massachusetts.

The class is full, although I'll likely accept a number of adds. Find more information about the class and how to add on the class website.

~ Professor Cyborg