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Chapter 12
Communicating in Organizations
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
•
Describe and compare approaches to managing an organization
•
Describe ways in which organizational culture is communicated
− It depends on a division of labor, or the assumption that each part of an organization (and
each person involved) must carry out a specialized task in order for the organization to run
smoothly.
− It favors hierarchy, or layers of power within the organization, with power flowing from
the top (management) down to the bottom (lowest level workers).
− It uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which asserts that workers will be more productive if
the organization considers both higher-level (self-worth) and lower-level (safety) needs.
o The Systems Approach views an organization as a whole made up of members who have
interdependent relationships.
− Openness, or an organization’s awareness of its own imbalances and problems, is one
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
o Organizational storytelling is externally and internally communicating a company’s values
through stories and accounts as a way of developing and maintaining support for the
organization.
− It includes metaphors to help communicate a message, such as Trader Joe’s “We are a
ship.”
− Organizational heroes are individuals who have achieved great things for the
organization through persistence and commitment.
o Learning About Organizational Culture
− Organizational assimilation is the way newcomers learn the nuances of the organization
and determine if they fit in.
− When an employee wants to improve his or her relationship with the boss, they might
want to consider the following:
• Think about what they want to talk about ahead of time.
• Rehearse what they plan to say.
• Avoid being emotional.
− Peer relationships are friendships that form between organizational colleagues.
feel more engaged in their work.
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
− A diverse workplace requires employees to be able to work with a variety of colleagues
who may differ in culture, religion, race, ethnicity, age, gender, and sexual orientation.
− Global social enterprises (GSE) is an attempt to help underdeveloped economies reach
greater potential through:
• Improved innovation
• Entrepreneurship
• Regional stability
− Sexual harassment costs organizations millions of dollars each year. Many organizations
offer training to help employees identify harassing behavior.
− If a person finds him- or herself a victim of harassment, he or she should clearly and
firmly tell the harasser to stop, immediately report the incident, document it in writing,
and have any witnesses do the same.
1.
How does communication function in your everyday life? Where do you see yourself having
strengths in communication? Weaknesses?
2.
In Chapter 12 of Real Communication, the authors discuss how some schools have a
mentoring program in which incoming students are mentored by older students. Does your
school have such a program? If so, is it valuable? Why or why not? If not, do you think one
would be valuable? Why or why not?
3.
Have you (or has anyone you know) been sexually harassed on the job? How did that affect
your performance at work? What steps can be made to eliminate sexual harassment?
1. Organizational Storytelling
and explain the functions of the story. Be sure to include your sources.
2. Name That Approach
Watch a television show that centers around an organization, such as The Office, Silicon Valley,
or Good Girls Revolt. What kind of organizational approach is most prominent in this show?
Do you think this is an effective way to run an organization? Why or why not? Give support
3. Are You in Balance?
1.
What Is Sexual Harassment?
2.
Student interviewers should ask their subjects to define behaviors that would constitute
sexual harassment.
3.
Have students compile and analyze the answers they received and then bring them to class
to share with others.
© 2018 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
Debriefing: In discussing their various findings, students will generally find that men and
women define sexual harassment very differently. Lead a discussion about how this might lead
to misunderstandings in the workplace. Help students to brainstorm ways that organizations
might prevent this misunderstanding in their workforce.
2.
All Work and No Play
Goal: To have students understand the importance of work–life balance
1.
Have students interview friends about how they balance school, work, and personal or other
2.
Students should write up their findings, including their own strategies, and bring them to
class to share with others.
3.
How Do You Relate?
2. Ask each group to write a script that details a relationship one of the group members has
at work. These could include a supervisor–employee, mentor–protégé, or peer relationship.
3. Have two of the group members use the script to act out the relationship in front of the
class.
4. The other students in the class should watch each skit, noticing what they can tell about the
relationship or the organization from the exchange. Students should be encouraged to use
terms from the text.
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4.
Analyzing a Website
Goal: To have students take concepts from the text and be able to apply them to a real
2. Have students go through their organization’s website at home and answer the following
questions:
•
What kind of managerial structure do you notice in this organization? What leads you
to believe this?
•
What is the organizational culture or vibe you are getting from the website? What are
some clues that bring you to this conclusion?
•
What are some challenges that are (or may be) faced by this organization? How does it
address these challenges? How is that evidenced on its website?
1. Define what scholars mean by organizational communication.
3. How can adaptability be used within organizations?
4. What is organizational storytelling, and what are some methods of organizational storytelling?
5. List some tips that the authors suggest for communicating with a boss.
6. How have advances in technology changed organization policies on internet usage?
8. What is work–life balance, and why is it important?
9. Explain how harassment can be harmful to organizations.
10. State why you believe effective communication is crucial to organizational management. Use
the textbook for support.
MEDIA
Lincoln
(Disney, 2012)
Adapted from Doris Kearns Goodwin’s acclaimed political biography Team of Rivals, this
impressive film illustrates how President Abraham Lincoln used favors, pressure, and
tactics to force passage of the Constitutional amendment that outlawed slavery. With
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meticulous detail, the film shows how Lincoln employed what’s now considered the
sometimes Lincoln meets other political leaders on a level playing field because he needs
their participation. Similar power dynamics are shown in Lincoln’s home life through his
fraught relationship with his formidable wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. Ask students to discuss
why leaders must have adaptability and openness.
North Country
(Warner Bros. Pictures, 2005)
was won in the United States. Ask students to keep track of the steps Aimes and her co-
workers take to end the harassment.
This cult classic sharply lampoons organizational culture. It takes on the mind-numbing
cubicle culture at a generic software company, where employees are coerced into working
weekends on reports that nobody will read, the fax machine is a source of constant
frustration, and consultants are brought in to interview each staffer to determine whether
his or her position can be outsourced or eliminated. Ask students to identify which
management styles are spoofed within the film. How do existing employees of the software
company communicate the company’s organizational culture?
emotionally challenging work by focusing on the pleasure of traveling, so when his lifestyle is
challenged by the introduction of a computer system that can facilitate mass firings without
travel, he fights to protect his job. The threat to Bingham’s status quo also forces him to realize
he wants a committed romantic relationship. Use this film to have students discuss work–life
balance, as well as the mentor–protégé relationship as it manifests through Bingham’s
interaction with Natalie Keener, the coworker who proposes the use of the computer system.
various approaches to management, dramatic supervisor–supervisee relationships and peer
relationships, and sexual harassment.
