Chapter 5 : Cultural Approaches

Summary from Textbook:

This chapter looks at the cultural approach as a metaphor, regarding organizations as cultures. There are two different ways of thinking: culture as something an organization has, and culture as something an organization is.

Several people believe that a companies’ success or failure can be attributed to its cultures within.

Terrence Deal and Allen Kennedy believe that a successful business can be enhanced by the development of a strong and positive culture within, thus improving the workplace and performance of individuals and organizations. The following 4 aspects are key to this:

• Values of the members within the organization


• Heroes that represent the organization’s values


• Rites and rituals of celebrating the organization’s values


• Cultural network through which the values are instituted and reinforced

Tom Peters and Robert Waterman also identified several aspects of successful organizations. They believed the importance of organizational intangibles, such as values and heroes, moving away from the normal rational modes of organizing. However, they also mentioned that these themes could not be used solely to determine the success and failure of a company. These values were:

• A bias for action


• Close relations with the customers


• Autonomy and entrepreneurship


• Productivity through people


• Hands-on and value driven


• Stick to the knitting


• Simple form, lean staff


• Simultaneous loose-tight properties

However, scholars nowadays feel that this is no longer the case, and that cultures were not as simple as it seemed. This was seen through 4 distinctive aspects of culture within the organization: they are complicated, emergent, non-unitary and often ambiguous.

Edgar Schein came up with several ideas about culture. He believed that the human need for stability, consistency and meaning was important, and gave several definitions to culture:

• Culture as a group phenomenon dependent on communication, existing on many different levels, and is often fragmented.


• Patterns of basic assumptions


• Emergent and developmental process


• Highlighting the socializing aspect of it

He further came up with 3 different levels of the various elements of culture:

• Level 1: Artifacts and Behaviours


• Level 2: Espoused Organizational Values


• Level 3: Basic Assumptions of how everything worked

He referred to this as the Onion Model, where Level 3 was encompassed by Level 2, and Level 1 was the outside circle, encircling both levels. An example of a contemporary organizational culture, the high reliability culture, was used to illustrate the intersection of assumptions, values and behaviours.

Methods of analysing organizational cultures were then looked at, and it was found that most researchers believed that qualitative methods were the best way of obtaining an understanding of the complicated, fragmented and changing nature of cultural groups. The results of these observations were then communicated to their audiences through word of mouth.

This chapter highlights the importance of having traditions that are unique to the organization or person. Once a person is integrated into the culture, he will feel a sense of belonging, and will thus improve his work productivity.

Reference:

Miller, K 2009, Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes, 6^th edition, Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Chapter 4 : Systems Approaches

Summary from Textbook:

This chapter looks at another organizational metaphor, called the organismic or systems metaphor, which believes that organizations are not self-contained and self-sufficient, but are complex organisms that must interact with their environment to survive. In regards to this metaphor, 3 theoretical applications of systems concepts are analysed: cybernetics, Karl Weick’s theory of organizing, and the study of ‘new science’ systems.

The system theory originated from the field of biology and engineering, and was adopted by organizational theorists. The system is made up of components, in this case, the people and departments, and 3 concepts are used to characterize this:

• Hierarchical ordering- systems are embedded within a larger supersystem, and consists of smaller subsystems


• Interdependence- each component of the system is co-dependent on one-another.


• Permeability- information and materials flow between components of the system

These components function through a process called the input-throughput-output operation. The process is further characterized through two processes:

• Exchange- input and output of materials and information require an exchange process with the outside of the system


• Feedback- information that helps to facilitate interdependent functioning of system components. It is further divided into 2 types: negative/ corrective/ deviation-reducing feedback which maintains system functioning, and positive/ growth/ or deviation amplifying feedback that changes the system functioning through growth and development.

4 system properties result from the interactions between the components and processes:

• Holism- a system is worth more than the sum of its parts


• Equifinality- a system can reach the same final state from differing initial conditions, through a variety of paths


• Negative Entropy- interaction between systems and the outside environment can mean the difference between sustainability and failure


• Requisite variety- internal components of the system must be as diverse and complicated as the external environment

The cybernetic systems theory looks at the process through which physical, natural and organizational systems are steered towards reaching system goals. It was developed by Norbert Wiener, and was initially applied to self-regulation within physical systems, but has since then been adapted to organizational and human systems. It is consisted of several interrelated components: the goal of the system, the mechanisms used to maintain the system and feedback in order to reach the goal.

This theory emphasizes the importance and role of feedbacks and interdependence of system components. However, it does not account for the growth of the system, nor the importance of the external environment and its influences on the system.

Karl Weick’s Theory of Organizing treats environments as a physical and information environment in which organizations exist in. Individuals put different meanings to different information inputs, thus creating different information environments. This is due to their past experiences, goals and personalities. This causes unpredictability to occur within the information environment of an organization. This situation is known as equivocality, and reducing it is central to the process of organizing.

Two processes in which this can be carried out are: assembly rules that are set patterns used to guide members, communication cycles in which members introduce and react to ideas that helps to guide them. Retention in the form of causal map making can help to save these rules and cycles for future use.

The final theoretical application of the organismic metaphor is the ‘New Science’ System Theory, which believes that all organizations are not always logical and predictable. Instead, it embraces complexity, fluctuating information and innovativeness. 4 aspects are seen within the organizations: The importance of relationships, the importance of participation in organizational processes, the appreciation of organizational change and instability, and the importance of being open to the information environment.

Finally, three methods for studying organizational systems are analysed: the Network Analysis, the Modeling Techniques and the Case Analysis. These three methods provide avenues for understanding the complex nature of organizational communication systems.

I like this chapter as it shows that an organization consists of important parts, and not that only one part is important. This chapter clearly shows that regardless of the departments people are working in, they should all be expected to work together for the advancement of the organization.

Reference:

Miller, K 2009, Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes, 6^th edition, Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Week 4 Tutorial

This week’s tutorial started off with a group exercise where my group members and I were placed in a straight line and were required to communicate non-verbally indicating each other’s date of birth in order to arrange ourselves from the youngest to eldest. This group exercise showed that some of us are able to communicate non-verbally whereas some others are not able to do so. The second group exercise was given to arrange ourselves in the order of the furthest country we had visited accordingly. The time we took for communication during the second group exercise was much shorter as compared to the first one as we managed to develop a certain non-verbal system to communicate with each other. Different types of communication methods such as sign language, body language, visual language (facial expression), gestures (actions like thumbs up), oral tones (such as an angry or happy tone as a word differed based on the tone of expression) were discussed in relation to the group exercise. Some people had difficulties in communicating using this method, as individuals are different from one another, e.g. some are better at communicating verbally and vice versa. Since different people/organizations have different methods of communication, teamwork would be required and it applies in achieving a mutual goal. Besides, this group exercise represents a vertical hierarchy mentioned in Fayol’s theory as the back person in the line has a bigger picture towards the goal which helps in guiding the person at the front in achieving the common goal. Not forgetting, different individuals come from a different backgrounds thus they each have different perceptions towards the same thing and different solutions will be needed in order to achieve a common goal.

Chapter 3 : Human Relations and Human Resources Approaches

Summary from Textbook:

There are 2 approaches to organizational communication that were started around 80 years ago, and are still practised until now, the human relations and the human resources approach. Each have their own theorists.

The Human Relations Approach was inspired by a number of research investigations carried out by Elton Mayo of Harvard University. The aim was to explore the relationship between changes in the work environment and productivity of factory workers, and how aspects of the task environment could improve organizational efficiency. 4 series of studies were carried out, called the Hawthorne studies:

• Illumination Studies that explored the effects of lighting level


• Relay Assembly Test Room Studies that explored the various influences of social situations


• Interview Program that explored the impact of working conditions on productivity


• Bank Wiring Room Studies involving natural observation of workers in their normal situations

It was concluded that productivity increased when attention was paid to workers, resulting in what was known as the Hawthorne effect. Informal social factors and management styles accounted for the rest of the changes. The studies served to highlight the role of informal and group communication in organizational functioning. 2 other researchers noticed the importance of human relations on work productivity, and came up with their theories.

Abraham Maslow came up with the theory of Hierarchy of needs, proposing that humans were driven by several basic needs, and that they had to be satisfied before one could attempt to fulfil other needs. From most basic to more important needs, these were:

• Physiological needs involving the needs of the human body


• Safety needs involving shelter


• Affiliation needs involving social relationship


• Esteem needs involving a sense of achievement and accomplishment


• Need for self-actualization, involving individual characterization

Douglas McGregor came up with 2 conflicting theories, named Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X shows a typical assumption of most managers, who believe that people have to be controlled and motivated to fit organizational needs, and that without intervention and direction, people would be passive or resistant to the achievement of organizational needs. It provides straightforward examples of negative human nature.

Theory Y operates on a belief that managers should see workers as being motivated by the higher-order needs in Maslow’s theory, and that they are capable of independent achievement in the workplace. Hence, the job of the manager is to bring out the natural tendencies of these workers, leading to a more satisfied and productive workforce.

The Human Resources approach understands the needs for cognitive contributions that employees bring to organizations. 3 theorists subscribe to this approach: Robert Blake, Jane Mouton and Rensis Likert.

Robert Blake and Jane Mouton worked on a theory called the Managerial or Leadership Grid. It said that most managers were measured by the amount of concern they had for people and the concern they had for production. On this grid, there were five main prototypical management styles:

• Impoverished management- low concern for people and production


• Country club management- high concern for people and low concern for production


• Authority compliance management- high concern for production and low concern for people


• Team management- both high concern for people and production


• Middle-of-the-road management- balancing concerns for people and production

Likert came up with 4 organizational forms that are clearly differentiated by motivational factors, communication, decision-making, goal-setting, control, influence structure and performance:

• Exploitive authoritative organization


• Benevolent authoritative organization


• Consultative organization


• Participative organization

It was then analysed how Communication in Classical, Human Relations and Human Resource organizations differed, through 4 main ways: content, direction, channel and style.it was further analysed how human resource programs were utilized in the modern organizations through 4 different issues: Knowing when team-based managements are appropriate, Considering the attitudes of top management, Dealing with cynicism of change and Facilitation of the translation process.

In my opinion, this chapter is important as it talks about the effects and benefits of having a happy and healthy workforce in the organization. A happy worker will always have increased productivity in the workplace. Although there are many organizations out there who focus more on profit, and see people as an easily replaceable tool.

Reference:

Miller, K 2009, Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes, 6^th edition, Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Week 3 Tutorial

It was a discussion on communication issues, ways in solving them internally and externally, who to blame on this issue, and discussion on organizations – and how to make communication successful. We discussed the Individual Skills Audit as well during the second half of the tutorial. After I did my self-evaluation, the result showed that my strengths lie in my self-management and communication, whereas my weaknesses that need improvements are on people, relationships and also organization. This self-evaluation is fairly useful for me as a communication student who is undertaking this Communication and Organization subject, as this will give me a clearer understanding on what I should improve on with the help of the theories learnt. I will be able to apply the related skills and theories in my course assignments, tasks and also in the future working industry. Anyhow, this self-evaluation may not be very accurate, as it requires only a yes or no answer. This self-evaluation might be more useful and accurate if the grading system is based on a number scale of the effectiveness on me.

Lecture 2

Week 3’s lecture was on The Machine Metaphor of Organizing and the Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management was specifically discussed. A video on the Hamin building that caught fire in the year 1911 was shown in lecture. This video showcased the actual rights and laws in an organization that every employee deserves. What was shown in the video was that the workers had no rights in the organization, as they were being treated like machines. Thousands of employees were working on the same task that was given over and over again throughout the working hours provided, with limited rest time. This shows that they were being treated wrongly, much like a machine and that the organizations did not treat them humanely. They did not only lose a simple right as an employee in an organization, that right being the rest hour, they were also underpaid by said organization.

Chapter 2 : Classical Approaches

Summary from Textbook:

The chapter starts off by explaining that several organizations contained similar characteristics, and these attributes fell under a metaphor called the machine metaphor. This metaphor contains 3 key aspects: specialization of tasks or division of labour, standardization and interchangeable/replaceable parts of the organization, and predictability.

3 main theorists agreed with this metaphor, and came up with their own additional theories:

1. Henri Fayol- Classical Management Theory:

-Five elements of Management:

• Planning


• Organizing


• Command


• Coordination


• Control

-Principles of Management:

• Principles of Organizational Structure


• Principles of Organizational Power


• Principles of Organizational Reward


• Principles of Organizational Attitude

2. Max Weber- Bureaucracy Theory:

• Traditional authority/ legitimate authority


• Charismatic authority


• Rational-legal authority

3. Federick Taylor- Scientific Management Theory:

• One best way to do every job


• Proper selection and training of workers


• Inherent differences between management and workers

Communication in classical approaches and content of communication were also analysed, where it was found that communication in organizations usually involved only upwards and downwards direction, written and task–related communication, and a formal style of communication. Finally, we looked at how Classical Managements, Structures, Job design and rewards were practiced in current organizations.

This chapter is important, as it informs us of the basic styles and characteristics of management. It also briefly talks about the way in which information flows within the mentioned organizations, giving us a basic idea of what the rest of the book may be.

Reference:

Miller, K 2009, Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes, 6^th edition, Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Week 2 Tutorial

In the very first Communication and Organization tutorial, the class started off with a self-introduction to the whole class and getting to know each other as group mates. In the second session, a group exercise – Stranded Survival Exercise was given out and we were asked to discuss it within our own group. My group members and I started off the discussion by understanding the whole stranded survival scenario first as some of us had a different understanding towards the given scenario. After discussion and confirmation with the tutor on the scenario, we began by running through the stranded survival list individually and making our own choices and decisions before coming together and discussing it as a group. After completing the task individually, we shared our decisions and picked the best choices before presenting it to the class. Many difficult choices were to be made and we couldn’t settle on a choice thus we decided to have a voting system. This way, each group members had a say in making the decision and everyone’s point of view was taken into consideration. In my opinion, this group exercise was fairly important and useful as it gave me a chance to get to know my group mates better by exchanging our different views and opinions.