A First Look At Communication Theory, 10e (Griffin)
Chapter 21 Critical Theory of Communication in Organizations
1) Deetz’ communication model emphasizes:
A) Shannon and Weaver’s theory that communication is the transmission of information.
B) language’s role in shaping social reality.
C) gender and ethnic aspects of managerialism.
D) nonverbal elements of corporate culture.
2) Deetz’ critical theory of communication:
A) emphasizes the structure of corporate culture.
B) requires that researchers observe, but not influence, the corporations they study.
C) suggests that belief will follow behavior.
D) seeks to balance corporate and human interests.
3) Encroachment of modern corporations into every area of life outside the workplace is called
________.
A) corporate colonization
B) discursive closure
C) codetermination
D) managerialism
4) Which of the following is NOT one of the four different ways corporate decisions can be
made?
A) strategy
B) involvement
C) critique
D) participation
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5) Through the process of consent, employees of a corporation:
A) reach the highest level of fulfillment.
B) are forced to follow the company’s dictates or quit.
C) speak their minds openly, but do not participate in decision making.
D) accomplish the interests of management in the faulty attempt to fulfill their own interests.
6) Deetz is convinced that meaningful democratic participation in corporate decision making:
A) is impossible in a capitalistic society.
B) benefits both the employees and the corporation.
C) systematically undermines managers’ credibility.
D) is more important in the earlier stages of an organization than in its maturity.
7) In the context of the four corporate practices for decision making, ________ refers to
stakeholders’ free expression of ideas that may, or may not, affect managerial decisions.
A) involvement
B) participation
C) consent
D) strategy
8) Corporate decision processes that invite open dialogue among all stakeholders are called:
A) managerial control.
B) consent.
C) strategy.
D) codetermination.
9) The process through which a corporation suppresses potential conflict is called:
A) managerialism.
B) corporate colonization.
C) discursive closure.
D) consent.
10) According to Deetz, the process by which all stakeholders in an organization negotiate power
and openly reach collaborative decisions is called ________.
A) attentive constructionism
B) discursive closure
C) corporate democracy
D) generative democracy
11) The communication model is a view that communication is merely a conduit for the
transmission of information about the real world.
12) Systematically distorted communication is an open and deliberate process that involves
employee participation in decision making.
13) Deetz has developed a critical theory of communication aimed at ensuring the financial
health of corporations while increasing the representation of diverse human interests.
14) Unfortunately, the conduit model of communication has been largely discredited in
organizations and in everyday life.
15) Deetz’ analysis of strategy, consent, involvement, and participation provides the core of his
critique of managerialism.
16) Codetermination represents the collaborative constructions of self, other, and the world.
17) Through the process of consent, most employees are richly rewarded for their loyalty.
18) If involvement does not lead to participation, it can create worker cynicism.
19) Deetz envisions at least six classes of stakeholders with multiple needs and desires.
20) Deetz believes that there is no legitimate basis for privileging one group of stakeholders over
another.
21) The ________ is a collaborative view of communication based in stakeholder conflict.
22) The ________ model regards language as the principal medium to create and sustain reality.
23) Managerialism promotes workers’ unwitting consent through a process of ________.
24) Discuss Deetz’ claims that nature did not create corporations—we did.
25) Based on your experience of corporate America, how realistic is Deetz’ critical theory of
organizational communication?
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26) Explain two of Deetz’ four different ways a corporate decision is made. Be sure to compare
how they are similar where they are divergent.
27) Compare managerial control with codetermination.
28) Consider an organization whose culture is known to you (your college or university, for
example). Do the organization’s managers/leaders/administrators practice discursive disclosure?
What kinds of systematically distorted communication result?
29) Focusing particularly on issues of communication, describe the major strengths and
weaknesses of Deetz’ concept of participation.
30) Assuming the role of Stanley Deetz, write a response to Griffin’s critique of the critical
theory of communication in organizations.
31) Is Deetz’ contribution to communication studies truly a theory, or is it a political perspective
(or, to use Griffin’s phrases, an “approach to corporate decision making,” a “reform agenda,” “a
positive alternative to managerialism,” or a “critique”)? Or is this distinction worth pursuing?
32) How might Deetz interpret the dime-on-the-wall ritual in Dixie’s classified advertising
department described in the previous chapter? In general, how might Deetz respond to
Pacanowsky’s approach to corporate culture? How might Pacanowsky (and Geertz) respond to
him?
33) To what extent is Deetz’ stakeholder democracy an extension of Pearce and Cronen’s
coordinated management of meaning? What do the two approaches to conflict have in common?
Are there any important differences between them?
34) Imagine that Hirokawa and Deetz work in a communication program that’s suffering from
overcrowded classes. How would they go about discussing/solving the problem? Whose
approach would you prefer?