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Organizational Communication: Foundations, Challenges, and Misunderstandings, 2/E
Daniel P. Modaff, Ohio University
Sue DeWine, Hanover College
Jennifer Butler, Ohio University

ISBN-10: 0205493491
ISBN-13: 9780205493494

Publisher: Allyn & Bacon
Copyright: 2008
Format: Paper; 322 pp
Published: 05/16/2007

Suggested retail price: $77.40
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Organizational Communication utilizes interviews to explore communication and misunderstandings at all levels of the organization.    

 

This text offers a unique perspective on the field of internal organizational communication. The authors review the foundational material, but intersperse the discussions with excerpts from interviews conducted with more than 100 leaders and workers in a variety of organizations. Unlike other texts in the field, Organizational Communication explores organizational communication from the perspective of all organizational members, not just management.

 

A central feature of the text is the concept of misunderstandings, which highlights the idea that organizations are inherently problematic. This focus positions communication at the center of organizational life, and shows the reader how and why communication can serve to create and resolve misunderstandings of all types.  The authors advance a model, the Communicative Organization, which allows the reader to see the significance of communication to every aspect of organizational functioning.

  • Each chapter contains segments from interviews with different organizational members, ranging from minority voices and those in lower positions of the organization to the management. These examples allow students to see how theory translates into practice.
  • Communication is central to each chapter, not just discussed in an ancillary fashion at the end of the chapter. After reading each chapter, students will understand how communication is relevant and critical to each of the concepts discussed.  
  • “The Communicative Organization Model,” proposed by the authors (ch. 6), highlights the central role of communication in organizations and its relevance to all organizational members. This theoretically-based model equips students with a method of creating practical prescriptions.
  • Most every chapter is related to the concept of “misunderstandings” or the inherently problematic nature of organizational life. This major organizing feature runs throughout the book and offers students a concept to return in every chapter.  
  • Realistic recruitment practices and problems, presented in chapter seven, are not available in most texts in the field. This chapter will show students how organizational communication begins before a person enters the organization.

 

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Defining the Study and Practice of Organizational Communication

The Prevalence of Misunderstandings

The Changing Nature of Organizations

The Realities of a Diverse Workforce

Ethical Frameworks and Organizational Communication

Three Important Constructs

Summary

 

CHAPTER TWO: CLASSICAL THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONS

The Metaphor of the Machine

Minimizing Misunderstandings

Taylor’s Theory of Scientific Management

Fayol’s Administrative Theory

Weber’s Theory of Bureaucracy

Summary

 

CHAPTER THREE: HUMANISTIC THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONS

Human Relations Theory

Human Resources Theory

Summary

 

CHAPTER FOUR: SYSTEMS THEORY

Misunderstandings and the Organization as a System

Systems Framework

Principles of General Systems Theory

Characteristics of Organizations as Systems

Contingency Theory

The Learning Organization

Summary

 

CHAPTER FIVE: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND CRITICAL THEORY

Organizational Culture Theory

Critical Theory

Summary

 

CHAPTER SIX: THE COMMUNICATIVE ORGANIZATION

Talk as Action: Structuration and the Communicative Organization

The Communicative Organization Model

Summary

 

PART TWO: CHALLENGES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS

CHAPTER SEVEN: REALISTIC RECRUITMENT

When Applicants and Organizations Misrepresent Themselves

The Costs of Traditional Recruiting

Addressing the Problem: Realistic Recruitment

Realistic Recruitment and the Communicative Organization

Summary

 

CHAPTER EIGHT: SOCIALIZATION OF NEW MEMBERS

The Need for Information

Organizational Assimilation

Organizational Socialization

Emotions in Organizational Settings

The Challenges of Work and Family

Summary

 

CHAPTER 9: CONFLICT IN THE ORGANIZATION

Defining Conflict

How Does Conflict Start?

Consequences of Conflict

Individual Conflict Styles

Organizational Responses to Conflict

Individual and Organizational Conflict Management and Resolution Strategies

Summary

 

CHAPTER 10: SUPERIOR-SUBORDINATE COMMUNICATION

Nature and Importance of the Superior-Subordinate Relationship

The Prevalence of Misunderstandings in the Superior-Subordinate Relationship

A Dyadic View of the Superior-Subordinate Relationship

Communication Activities: Superior to Subordinate

Communication Activities: Subordinate to Superior

Women and the Superior-Subordinate Relationship

Summary

 

CHAPTER 11: PEER AND CO-WORKER COMMUNICATION

Nature of Relationships in Organizations

Relationship Development in the Workplace

Positive Consequences of Workplace Relationships

Negative Consequences of Workplace Relationships

Romantic Relationships in the Workplace

Relationship Deterioration

Strengthening Workplace Relationships

Summary

 

CHAPTER 12: ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMS

Characteristics of Teams

Teams at Work

Self-Managed Work Teams

Virtual Teams

Effective Teams

Misunderstandings and Organizational Teams

Summary

 

CHAPTER 13: LEADERS AND LEADERSHIP

Overview of Leadership

Development of Leadership Theories

Communication Concepts and Effective Leadership

Responsibilities of Leadership

Power and Ethics in Leadership

Final Thought: Passion

Summary

 

CHAPTER 14: COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE ORGANIZATION

Overview of Communication Technology

Communication Technology and Virtual Ways of Working

Applying Organizational Theory to Communication Technology

Summary

 

 

Organizational Communication:

Foundations, Challenges, and Misunderstandings, Second Edition

Daniel P. Modaff

Sue DeWine
Jennifer Butler

 

Organizational Communication uses interviews to explore communication and misunderstandings at all levels of an organization.    

 

This text offers a unique perspective on the field of internal organizational communication. The authors review the foundational material but also intersperse the discussions with excerpts from interviews conducted with more than 100 leaders and workers in a variety of organizations. Unlike other texts in the field, Organizational Communication explores organizational communication from the perspective of all organizational members, not just management.

 

Features:

  • Contains segments in each chapter from interviews with different organizational members, including those in positions from the bottom of the organization to the management.
  • Includes communication as central to each chapter, not just as an ancillary discussion, so that students will understand how communication is relevant and critical to each of the concepts discussed.  
  • Highlights the central role of communication in organizations and its relevance to all organizational members through the “The Communicative Organization Model,” proposed by the authors (Chapter 6).
  • Relates almost every chapter to the concept of “misunderstandings,” the inherently problematic nature of organizational life.  
  • Shows how organizational communication begins before a person enters the organization, by sharing realistic recruitment practices and problems (Chapter 7).

Quotes from Reviewers:

 

“It offers a solid coverage of the fundamentals of organizational communication theory while engaging the reader through real-world examples and cases. Students will love the easy-to-read delivery of complex information!”

                                                                                                    — Sandy H. Hanson, University of North Carolina

 

“First, the book is well-written, detailed, and fits the level of my students without being too scholarly or too simplistic. Second, the book is based on a solid foundation of relevant research in the communication field as well as related fields.” 

                                                                                                    — Calvin Brant Short, Northern Arizona University

 

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    Modaff, DeWine & Butler
    © 2008 | Allyn & Bacon | Electronic Book; 322 pages | Estimated Availability: 06/01/2008
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