Organizational communication a critical approach pdf

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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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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PART III: CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND THE NEW WORKPLACE

7 Power and Resistance at Work

Perspectives on Power and Organizations Power as Social Influence The One-Dimensional Model of Power The Two-Dimensional Model of Power The Three-Dimensional Model of Power

Organizational Communication and Ideology Critical Case Study 7.1: Ideology and Storytelling

Ideology Represents Particular Group Interests as Universal Ideology Obscures or Denies Contradictions in Society Ideology Functions to Reify Social Relations

Examining Organizational Communication Through the Lens of Power and Ideology

Organizational Communication and Corporate Colonization Engineering Culture

Resisting Corporate Colonization The Hidden Resistance of Flight Attendants

Critical Technologies 7.1: Social Media as Resistance Conclusion Critical Applications Key Terms

8 The Postmodern Workplace: Teams, Emotions, and No-Collar Work

Disciplinary Power and the Postmodern Organization The Postmodern Organization: From Fordism to Post-Fordism

The Fordist Organization The Post-Fordist Organization

The Post-Fordist Organization: Teams, Emotions, and No-Collar Work Teams at Work

Critiquing Work Teams Critical Technologies 8.1: Virtual Teams

Emotions at Work Critical Case Study 8.1: What Does Drinking Coffee Have to Do With Organizational Communication?

Doing “No-Collar” Work Conclusion

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Critical Application Key Terms

9 Communicating Gender at Work

Feminist Perspectives on Organizational Communication Liberal Feminism: Creating a Level Playing Field Radical Feminism: Constructing Alternative Organizational Forms Critical Feminism: Viewing Organizations as Gendered

Critical Technologies 9.1: Gender, Technology, and Power Masculinity and Organizational Communication Critical Case Study 9.1: Why My Mom Isn’t a Feminist Conclusion Critical Applications Key Terms

10 Communicating Difference at Work

Defining Difference Race and Organizational Communication

Putting Race and Organization in Historical Context Race and the Contemporary Workplace Interrogating Whiteness and Organizational Communication

Critical Case Study 10.1: Interrogating Mumby Family Whiteness The Body, Sexuality, and Organizational Communication

Instrumental Uses of the Body and Sexuality Critical Technologies 10.1: Technologies of the Body Critical Case Study 10.2: Sexing up the Corporate Experience

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Resistant/Emancipatory Forms of Sexuality

Gay Workers and “Heteronormativity” Conclusion Critical Applications Key Terms

11 Leadership Communication in the New Workplace

Traditional Perspectives on Leadership The Trait Approach The Style Approach The Situational Approach Summary

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New Approaches to Leadership Leadership as Symbolic Action Transformational Leadership Followership

Critical Case Study 11.1: Leadership Lessons From “Dancing Guy” Critical Technologies 11.1: E-Leadership A Critical Communication Perspective on Leadership

Leadership and Disciplinary Power Resistance Leadership Narrative Leadership Gender and Leadership

Conclusion Critical Applications Key Terms

12 Branding and Consumption

Branding Critical Case Study 12.1: Diamonds Are Forever? Branding and Identity Critical Case Study 12.2: When Brands Run Amok Marketing, “Murketing,” and Corporate Colonization Organizations, Branding, and the Entrepreneurial Self Critical Technologies 12.1: Do You Have Klout? The Ethics of Branding Conclusion Critical Applications Key Terms

13 Organizational Communication, Globalization, and Democracy

Defining Globalization Spheres of Globalization

Globalization and Economics Globalization and Politics

Globalization and Resistance Globalization and Culture

Critical Case Study 13.1: Culture Jamming Nike The Globalization of Nothing

Gender, Work, and Globalization Critical Technologies 13.1: Work, Technology, and Globalization in the Call

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Center Communication and Organizational Democracy

Mason’s Theory of Workplace Participatory Democracy Stohl and Cheney’s Paradoxes of Participation

Paradoxes of Structure Paradoxes of Agency Paradoxes of Identity Paradoxes of Power

Deetz’s Stakeholder Model of Organizational Democracy Conclusion Critical Applications Key Terms

14 Communication, Meaningful Work, and Personal Identity

Meaningful Work A Sense of Agency Enhances Belonging or Relationships Creates Opportunities for Influence

Critical Technologies 14.1: How Does Communication Technology Affect Our Experience of Work?

Permits Use and Development of Talents Offers a Sense of Contribution to a Greater Good Provides Income Adequate for a Decent Living

Managing Work Identity: Some Historical Context Creating and Managing Work Identities

Identity, Identification, and Disidentification Conformist Selves Dramaturgical Selves Resistant Selves

No Collar, No Life Critical Case Study 14.1: A Tale of Two Countries Conclusion Critical Applications Key Terms

Glossary References Index About the Author

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Preface

I have a confession to make (well, two actually). I have never been a huge fan of textbooks. So, you may legitimately ask, what on earth am I doing authoring one? Good question. The simple answer (only partially true) might be that I finally caved to student-consumer pressure to provide something that makes a bit more sense than all those interminable academic articles I assign to students. If I am to be “coerced” into adopting a textbook, I thought, at least I can write one that I actually like!

Okay, so that was just a minor consideration. There are actually several good organizational communication textbooks available, though none of them really fits the way I like to teach this class. In fact, one of my major problems with the typical textbook is that it’s written as if from nowhere. It’s hard to tell from reading the book if the author even has a particular perspective or set of assumptions that he or she brings to the study of organizational communication. Every textbook reads as though it’s an objective, authoritative account of a particular body of knowledge; the author’s voice almost never appears. But the truth is that every theory and every program of research you’ve ever read about in your college career operates according to a set of principles—a perspective, if you like—that shapes the very nature of the knowledge claims made by that research.

Now, this does not mean that all research is biased in the sense of simply being the expression of a researcher’s opinions and prejudices; all good research is rigorous and systematic in its exploration of the world around us. Rather, I’m saying that all researchers are trained according to the principles and assumptions of a particular academic community (of which there are many), and academic communities differ in their beliefs about what makes good research. That’s why there are debates in all fields of research. Sometimes those debates are over facts (this or that is or isn’t true), but more often those debates are really about what assumptions and theoretical perspectives provide the most useful and insightful way to study a particular phenomenon.

Certainly, the field of organizational communication is no different. In the 1980s our field went through “paradigm debates” in which a lot of time was spent arguing over the “best” perspective from which to study organizations—a debate in which I participated (Corman & Poole, 2000; Mumby, 1993, 2000). Fortunately, the result of these debates was a richer and more interesting field of study; some disciplines are not so lucky and end up divided into oppositional camps, sometimes for many decades.