INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL TO
A
CCOMPANY
ORGANIZATIONAL
C
OMMUNICATION
Balancing Creativity and
Constraint
ERIC M. EISENBERG
University of South Florida
H. L. GOODALL JR.
Late of Arizona State University
ANGELA TRETHEWEY
Arizona State University
MARIANNE LEGRECO
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Bedford / St. Martin’s
Boston New York
All rights reserved.
Instructors who have adopted Organizational Communication, Eighth Edition as a textbook for a
course are authorized to duplicate portions of this manual for their students.
For information, write: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116
(617-399-4000)
Contents
Preface
Creating a Productive Classroom Environment
Suggested Course Outlines
Suggested Course Assignments and Descriptions
PART I APPROACHINGORGANIZATIONALCOMMUNICATION
CHAPTER 1: Communication and the Changing World of Work
CHAPTER 2:
Defining Organizational Communication
PART II THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER 3:
Three Early Perspectives on Organizations and Communication
CHAPTER 4:
The Systems Perspective on Organizations and Communication
CHAPTER 5: Cultural Studies of Organizations and Communication
CHAPTER 6:
Critical Approaches to Organizations and Communication
PART III CONTEXTS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER 7:
CHAPTER 8:
CHAPTER 9:
CHAPTER 10:
PART IV
A
PPENDICES
Identity and Difference in Organizational Life
Teams and Networks: Communication and Collaborative Work
Communicating Leadership
Organizational Alignment: Managing the Total Enterprise
APPENDIX A: Organizational Communication Questionnaire
APPENDIX B: Supplemental Materials for Chapter 6, Classroom Exercises and Assignments,
Exercise 1
APPENDIX C: Additional Case Studies
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Preface
This Instructor’s Manual is designed as a pedagogical aid for instructors using the text
Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint, eighth edition. This manual is
intended to create an active learning atmosphere within the classroom. Active learning is based on
the idea that students take away more from an environment in which they have been participants in
exercises and discussions. The suggestions and ideas in this manual facilitate the teaching process
by providing new instructors with a starting point and experienced instructors with some new ideas.
We have continued to receive an overwhelmingly positive response to the changes made in the
previous two editions of the Instructor’s Manual; therefore, we have decided to preserve many of
the changes that we added to the sixth and seventh editions while still adding new material and
suggestions to keep the resource fresh. The Classroom Media Resources and Online Resources have
been updated to reflect new content, while still retaining some of our favorite suggestions from the
sixth and seventh editions. For example, we continue to suggest the Ocean’s Eleven movie franchise
as a top resource for teaching systems theory, primarily because Marianne’s students repeatedly
identify watching this film series as the moment they finally “get it.” You may show short clips from
these Media Resources or the movie and television shows in their entirety. The clips were chosen
based on their ability to exemplify the ideas in the chapters and to spark conversations about
those concepts. Additionally, the Online Resources have been checked and verified to ensure that
Web links and URLs are working at the time of publication.
You can still access supplemental materials and the Test Bank via the Web, and those materials
have been updated to reflect the changes in the eighth edition. You can receive these materials as well
as additional multiple-choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions by contacting your local
Bedford/St. Martin’s representative or by visiting the book’s catalog page at
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/orgcomm/catalog.
This Instructor’s Manual follows a fairly standard format. Initially, it provides some sample
syllabi and general assignment ideas. Next, each chapter contains a summary, teaching goals, teaching
challenges, exercises and assignments, media resources, online resources, essay and discussion
questions, key terms, and lecture notes. Finally, Appendix A provides an organizational
communication questionnaire that may be helpful to use on the first day of class. Appendix B
includes supplemental material for an exercise in Chapter 6. Appendix C offers case studies from
previous editions that can be used inside or outside of class.
Some of the ideas and activities in this Instructor’s Manual come to you by way of Drs.
Kami Kosenko, Karen Myers, Clifton Scott, Sarah Tracy, and Kurt Lindemann, as well as the three
authors of Organizational Communication themselves. I would like to thank all of them for their
cooperation and assistance. I would also like to thank Raina Massand, the author of the fourth –edition
Instructor’s Manual, for writing several excellent exercises and activities, some of which remain a
key part of the eighth-edition manual. If you have any questions about the Instructor’s Manual, or
iv
© 2017 Bedford/St. Martin’s. All rights reserved.
would like to share your ideas, suggestions, additions, or improvements, please feel free to e –mail me
at melegrec@uncg.edu.
CREATING A PRODUCTIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
An organizational communication course is an interesting opportunity to implement a more
businesslike environment in the classroom, especially since students are learning about how to
organize. It might be useful to explain to students that the class will be conducted within an
organizational framework. This means that there will be some individual assignments, but there will
also be a fair amount of group or team interaction. Placing students in teams allows them to
experience and explore many of the concepts from the text. It is important to emphasize that, just
as in a work team within an organization, every member must be committed to doing his or her fair
share of the work.
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SUGGESTED COURSE OUTLINES
Here are suggestions for designing an organizational communication course using Organizational
Communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint, eighth edition. Samples of course outlines are
provided for a standard sixteen-week semester, a ten-week quarter, a five-week summer session, and
a
fifteen-week semester with suggested media clips.
Sixteen-Week Semester
Week Topic Assignments
1 Introduction to the course Preface and Chapter 1
Communication and the changing world of
work
2 Defining organizational communication Chapter 2
3 Three early perspectives on organizations and Chapter 3
communication
ORGANIZATIONAL INTERVIEW PAPERS DUE
4 The systems perspective on organizations and communication Chapter 4
5 Cultural studies of organizations and communication Chapter 5
6 Critical approaches to organizations and communication Chapter 6
7 View The Corporation
8 MIDTERM EXAM
Identity and difference in organizational life Chapter 7
PERSONAL WORK EXPERIENCE PAPERS
DUE
9 Teams and networks: Communication and collaborative work Chapter 8
v
10 Communicating leadership Chapter 9
11 Group work
12 GROUP PRESENTATIONS
INDIVIDUAL GROUP ANALYSIS PAPERS DUE
13 View In Good Company
14 Organizational alignment: Managing the total enterprise Chapter 10
15 Working with integrity Revisit Chapters 1 and 2
16 FINAL EXAM
Ten-Week Quarter
Week Topic Assignments
1 Introduction to the course and explanation of the Preface and Chapter 1
syllabus
Communication and the changing world of work
Chapter 2
2 Approaches to the study of communication in organizations;
three foundational models; the concept of dialogue; the idea
of a situated individual
6
3 Early perspectives of the study of organizational Chapters 3 and 4
communication: classical management approaches, the
human relations approach, the human resources approach,
and the systems approach
4 Cultures in organizations Chapter 5
PERSONAL WORK EXPERIENCE PAPERS DUE
5 Critical theory; power, ideology, and hegemony; discipline Chapter 6
and resistance
MIDTERM EXAM
6 Identity and difference and consumption at work Chapter 7
7 Communication and collaborative work Chapter 8
8 Communicating leadership Chapter 9
9 The “business” of communication in Chapter 10
organizations; communication and strategic
change
ORGANIZATIONAL INTERVIEW PAPERS
DUE
10 Organizational communication as a disciplined practice;
review of the course; preparation for the final exam
Five-Week Summer Session
Week Topic Assignments
1 Orientation; the changing world of work; early perspectives Chapters 1, 2, and 3
INTERVIEW PAPERS DUE
2 Systems perspective, organizational Chapters 4 and 5
culture
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3 Critical approaches; identity and difference Chapters 6 and 7
4 Democracy and participation; leadership Chapters 8 and 9
CULTURAL COMPARISON PROJECTS
DUE
Chapter 10
5 Organizational alignment
PERSONAL WORK EXPERIENCE PAPERS
DUE
Organizational Communication at the Movies: Fifteen-Week Semester
Wk. Day Topic Assignments
1.2 The changing world of work Chapter 1
Show: The Corporation (Chapters 1-
4)
2.1 Defining organizational Chapter 2
communication
Show: Chopped
2.2 Dialogue Chapter 2
Show: Iconoclasts
8
3.1 Classical approaches to
management
Show: I Love Lucy: “Job Switching”
3.2 Human relations and human resources approaches
Show: Up In the Air
4.1 The systems perspective
Show: Ocean’s Thirteen
4.2 Continue showing: Ocean’s Thirteen
ORGANIZATIONAL INTERVIEW PAPERS DUE
5.1 Cultural studies of organizations and communication
Show: Scrubs: “My Life in Four Cameras”
5.2 Organizational socialization
Show: Ugly Betty: “The Box and the Bunny”
6.1 Critical theory, power, and
ideology
Show: Inside Job
6.2 Discipline and resistance
Show: Office Space (Chapters 9-15)
7 Fieldwork for cultural comparison project
CULTURAL COMPARISON PROJECTS
8.1 MIDTERM EXAM
Critical/cultural intersections in organizations
9.1 Identity and
consumption
Show: Herb and Dorothy
9.2 Images of identity
Show: A Small Act
10.1 Democratic practices
Show: Capitalism: A Love Story
10.2 Teamwork and collaborative
work
Show: Pitch Perfect
11.1 Leadership
Show: The Intern
11.2 The dark side of organizational communication
Show: Kitchen Nightmares: “Amy’s Baking Company”
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Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Carlone and
Taylor*
Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 9
12.1 Competitive strategy Chapter 10
Show: Kinky Boots
12.2 Technology and Chapter 10
alignment
Show: The Social Network
* Carlone and Taylor refers to an article by David Carlone and Bryan Taylor entitled “Organizational
Communication and Cultural Studies: A Review Essay.” This article can be found in Communication
Theory, 1998, volume 8, issue 3. The article provides the foundational arguments for the organizations and
popular culture paper due at the end of the semester. Please see the assignment description for more
information on this paper.
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13.1 Course review
Show: The Corporation (Chapters 5–14)
13.2 Continue showing: The Corporation (Chapters 15-24)
14.1 NEW DIRECTIONS IN
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
DISCUSSION
14.2 ORGANIZATIONS AND POPULAR CULTURE PAPERS DUE
15 FINAL EXAM
SUGGESTED COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND DESCRIPTIONS
The following are some suggestions for course assignments. As an instructor, you will need to decide
how much time you have and choose your assignments accordingly. For example, if you are
teaching a five-week summer–session course, you probably won’t have time for students to perform
an in-depth organizational study, so you might want to substitute it with the cultural comparison
project or in-class group assignments. Personal experience papers could substitute for midterm and
final exams.
Class Projects
In-depth organizational study
Over the course of the semester, your group will work together to understand a locally headquartered
business and its internal and external communication. Specifically, you will follow these steps:
Part I: Conduct an analysis of the company’s external communication and image.
Part II: Conduct an analysis of the company’s internal communication through interviews
and observation.
Combine the two sections, and write an introduction and conclusion.
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Every member of a group will receive the same grade. Therefore, each group will design a “group
grade contract,” which is a binding document outlining expectations for participation, conditions for
success, and conditions for point reduction or elimination from credit. (Examples: The workload will be
shared equally by all members. Points will be deducted for absence or substandard work. Participation
in decision making will include research, idea generation, and evaluation by all involved.) Each member
will sign this contract.
Cultural comparison project
You and a partner should choose two competing organizations (e.g., Peet’s Coffee and Starbucks or
Target and Walmart). Each of you should collect data from one of the two organizations. Data might
include interviews and observations, texts, advertisements, general environmental scans, Internet
materials, and pictures. (Note: It is wise to obtain permission from a supervisor or manager before
conducting interviews or taking pictures.) Once the data have been collected, you should meet to
compare and contrast the two competing organizations. Using the concepts from either Chapter 5 or
Chapter 10, you should analyze how each organization crafts its culture or how each organization
strategically positions its product or service. The cultural comparison project is particularly unique
because it does NOT ask you to report your findings in a paper. Rather, you should construct a
PowerPoint storyboard that compares and contrasts the two organizations. It is important to note
that the final product is a storyboard, NOT a presentation; therefore, you will probably include
more text and pictures on an individual slide than you might in a traditional PowerPoint
presentation. The PowerPoint storyboard should have a background, written text that demonstrates
the comparisons and contrasts between the organizations, and pictures and graphics that illustrate
the text.
xii
Teaching through self–directed teams
During the second half of the semester, you will participate in a self-directed team with the
responsibility of teaching a thirty–minute portion of class. You will be given very broad guidelines,
but
the responsibility will be yours to coordinate with other groups in order to divide up the time and
the
subjects to be covered. Your instructor will serve as an organizational consultant to answer
questions and offer suggestions, but the ultimate decisions are left to the groups.
Discussion leaders
You and a partner will be responsible for leading discussions for each chapter. As a basis for your
discussions, you can use the questions at the end of each text chapter.
New directions in organizational communication discussion
It is important for advanced students to know the resources that are available to them. A useful
resource for staying current on organizational communication and the changing world of work is
Management Communication Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal that features cross-disciplinary
research. Your job is to peruse the two most recent volumes (i.e., eight issues) available at the time of
the course. Find the article that interests you most, read it, and be prepared to talk about it in a
discussion about new directions and trends in organizational communication. Your grade will be
based on finding an appropriate article and the contributions that you make to the in–class discussion.
Personal Experience Papers
Organizational interview
Purpose: This exercise will provide you with an opportunity to articulate—through written
examples—how the material you are reading applies to your work experiences.
Process: Choose one or more concepts from class and think about how they apply to your own
working experience. Next, choose someone you think is successful in business and interview that
person about the concepts you have chosen. Your paper should make a persuasive argument that
articulates how both you and your interviewee interpret the material.
Mini-ethnography
Purpose: This paper will give you the opportunity both to apply the cultural perspective to your own
xiii
experience and to gain insight into the meaningful social practices of a chosen organization.
Process: You will be performing a mini–ethnography. Remember, an ethnography involves the
study of culture. There are two parts to ethnographic research: the doing and the writing.
1. The doing. Choose an organization that you will be able to gain access to. Some suggestions
are a restaurant, a public library, the department of motor vehicles, an emergency room, or
the organization where you work. Next, become a cultural detective. Look for clues. Do the
employees use any kind of jargon? How do they decorate their work space? Do they use
personal items from home? Cartoons on the wall? Signs or other materials? Take rigorous
notes, and ask questions to gain others’ interpretations. Plan to spend a significant amount of
time at your research site. The time will vary, but allow for at least four to six hours of
observation.
2. The writing. Organize your notes. Due to the scope of the paper, you will have to narrow
your focus to two or three well-developed aspects of the organizational culture. Refer to
your text to review the different ways of writing an ethnography.
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