Includes new and revised case studies for a fresh view on perennial topics, incorporating a global focus throughou
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Unit I Underlying Concepts 1
Chapter 1 Strategic Organizational Communication 3
Organizational Communication as Strategic Discourse 5
Case Study 1.1. How to Handle the Scarlet Email 7
The Fundamental Paradox 10
Thinking Strategically About Organizing and Communicating 12
Case Study 1.2. Can You Trust Anyone Under Thirty? 14
Creating Socio-Economic Spaces 18
Making Organizations Look Alike 20
Strategies of Organizing 23
Strategic Communication for Individual Members of Organizations 24
Summary: The Complexities of Organizational Communication 26
Chapter 2 Keys to Strategic Organizational Communication 30
Seeing Connections: The Importance of Systems Thinking 32
Case Study 2.1. There Go the Lights, Here Come the Babies? 40
Uncovering Assumptions: The Importance of Critical Thinking 43
Valuing Differences: The Advantages of Diversity 47
Thinking Globally: The Challenges of Globalization 49
Understanding Technology: A Radical Force for Change 52
Case Study 2.2. Working in the Virtual Future: An Optimistic View (Looking Back) 58
Summary 66
Unit II Strategies of Organizing 71
Chapter 3 Traditional Strategies of Organizing 73
Traditional Strategies of Organizational Design 75
Case Study 3.1. Feel Safer Now? 83
Traditional Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 89
Case Study 3.2. The Power of Rewards at Industry International 92
Traditional Strategies of Leadership 98
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Traditional Strategies of Organizing 99
Case Study 3.3. Scenes From the Electronic Sweatshop 104
Conclusion: Communication and Traditional Strategies of Organizing 107
Chapter 4 Relational Strategies of Organizing 113
Relational Strategies of Organizational Design 114
Case Study 4.1. Going South? 118
Relational Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 127
Case Study 4.2. Empowerment or Iron Cage? 133
Relational Strategies of Leadership 136
Information and Communication Technology and the Relational Strategy 139
Assessing Relational Strategies 142
Thinking Critically About Relational Strategies 146
Chapter 5 Cultural Strategies of Organizing 155
Defining Key Terms: Cultures and Organizational Cultures 157
Cultural Strategies of Organizational Design 159
Cultural Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 161
Organizational Symbolism and Cultural Strategies of Motivation and Control 166
Case Study 5.1. It’s My Party and I’ll Do What I Want To 171
Case Study 5.2. Resistance and Control in Three Service Organizations 175
Cultural Strategies of Leadership 178
Technology and Cultural Strategies of Organizing 181
Thinking Critically About Cultural Strategies 183
Chapter 6 Network Strategies of Organizing 191
Network Strategies of Organizational Design 193
Box 6.1. Choosing Communication Media 202
Box 6.2. What Might Have Been 208
Case Study 6.1. al-Qaeda: A Network Organization? 209
Case Study 6.2. Evolving Into a Network Organization 213
Network Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 215
Challenges for Control Systems in Network Organizations 218
Leadership in Network Organizations 219
Challenges and Problems for Network Organizations 221
Beyond Networks: Alternative Strategies of Organizing 222
Box 6.3. Postmodern Organizations? 225
Conclusion 227
Postscript to Unit II Contingency Perspective on Organizing Strategies 231
Task 232
Case Study P.1. Steeling Away Into a Different Structure 236
Interrelationships Among the Contingency Variables 237
Conclusion and Transition 238
Unit III Challenges in the Twenty-First Century 241
Chapter 7 Communication, Power, and Politics in Organizations 243
A Perspective on Organizational Power 245
Case Study 7.1. On Death and Dying 247
Societal Assumptions and the Bases of Organizational Power 251
Case Study 7.2. The Playground Never Ends 263
Organizational Politics: Overt Power in the Communicative Process 266
Box 7.1. An Exploration of Life in Systems of Power 274
Conclusion 278
Chapter 8 Communication, Decision Making, and Conflict in Organizations 284
Communication and Organizational Decision Making 286
Box 8.1. Making a Green Decision 291
Case Study 8.1. Managing the Ambiguity 304
Case Study 8.2. Koalas and Roos Flying Through Chaos 313
Communication and the Management of Organizational Conflict 316
Case Study 8.3. The Bargaining Case 327
Conclusion 335
Chapter 9 Organizational Change 339
Innovation 343
Box 9.1 Organizing for Creativity 344
Adoption 348
Implementation 355
Case Study 9.1. Implementing a Moving Target: Quality Improvement at TopHill Hospital System 356
Case Study 9.2. Storytelling Journeys into Change 368
Conclusion 376
Chapter 10 Communication and Diverse Workplaces 380
Resisting “Others” 382
Case Study 10.1. Sequestering Sexual Harassment 387
Confronting the Dominant Perspective 398
Box 10.1. Feminist Strategies for Organizing 399
Case Study 10.2. Trying to Stay Balanced 402
Case Study 10.3. Is That Term “Childless” or “Childfree”? 406
Taking a Holistic Perspective 409
Conclusion 412
Chapter 11 Communication, Organizations, and Globalization 418
Culture, Difference, and Organizational Communication 421
Increasing Cultural Understanding 426
Case Study 11.1. Can You Trust Anyone Under Thirty, Part 2? 427
Economics, Globalization, and Organizational Communication 431
Case Study 11.2. Small Companies, Global Approaches 438
Chapter 12 Communication, Ethics, and Organizational Rhetoric 447
Ethics, Organizations, and Social Control 450
Societal Assumptions and Organizational Rhetoric 452
Rhetoric and Organizational Crisis and Image Management 455
Case Study 12.1. Lanxess Cleans Up Its Act 461
Public Policy making and Organizational Rhetoric 463
Case Study 12.2. Ike the Prophet 467
Systems, Actions, and Ethics 469
Conclusions and Implications for Ethics 480
Postscript to Unit III Epilogue 489
Index 491
