Organizational Communication Balancing Creativity and Constraint

Organizational Communication covers the core theories and skills that organizational communication students need, sharing the very best of current scholarship, particularly as it relates to rapidly
evolving topics like diversity, economics, and technology.

Throughout, the book asks students to put what they’re learning into practice, always considering both the enabling and constraining aspects of communication. Striking this balance between creativity and constraint helps people achieve their professional and personal goals.

Perhaps the most notable addition to the new edition is a new co-author. Marianne LeGreco, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. LaGreco is an Associate Professor in their Department of Communication Studies. Her expertise in organizational policy, community organizing, and the intersections of health and organizing add a new and exciting dimension to the text. 

Eric M. Eisenberg is Professor of Communication and since 2007 has served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida.  Eisenberg graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers University in 1977 and received his doctorate in Organizational Communication from Michigan State University in 1982.  Dr. Eisenberg twice received the National Communication Association award for the outstanding research publication in organizational communication, as well as the Burlington Foundation award for excellence in teaching.  Dr. Eisenberg is the author of over 70 articles, chapters, and books on the subjects of organizational communication, health communication, and communication theory. As Dean of the largest college at USF—with nearly 600 faculty, 18,000 students, and a budget of nearly $100M-- Eisenberg has sharpened the focus of faculty work through the creation of 3 interdisciplinary schools, 11 interdisciplinary centers, and the identification of 5 areas of research excellence.  Even in the most difficult of economic times, he has been successful in recruiting world class faculty talent.  In addition, he has played a major role in the university’s strategic efforts to measurably improve student success through transformed pedagogy.  Working closely with faculty, staff, and academic advisors, he has successfully applied a combination of policy and process changes, course redesign, and intrusive advising to significantly impact rates of progression, graduation, and employment. Angela Trethewey is Professor of Communication and since 2014 has served as the Dean of the College of Communication and Education at California State University, Chico. Trethewey graduated, suma cum laude, from Chico State in 1988 and received her doctorate in communication, with a specialty in organizational communication, from Purdue University in 1994.  Before returning to her Alma Mater to serve as Dean, she was on the faculty at University of Washington and later served as Professor and Director of the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University.  There, she was a founding and active member of the Project for Wellness and Work life and the Center for Strategic Communication. She has devoted her career to the study and teaching of communication, particularly as it impacts our individual, organizational and national identities.  As a scholar, she is the author of thirty articles and book chapters and three books.  As a leader, Trethewey routinely draws upon her training in organizational communication theory and critical research methods to help her analyze problems and opportunities, cultivate a culture of innovation, inclusion and participation, and foster the leadership potential of faculty and students.  Marianne LeGreco is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. LeGreco graduated from Bradley University in 2000 where she competed for the national champion Bradley Speech Team. She received her Master’s and Doctorate from Arizona State University in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Dr. LeGreco is the 2013 recipient of the Service Engagement Award from the Organizational Communication Division of the National Communication Association. Her work focuses on food systems, discourse analysis, and community engagement, and her research has appeared in journals including the Journal of Applied Communication Research and the American Journal of Public Health. LeGreco has also played a key role in organizing the Guilford Food Council, the Mobile Oasis Farmers Market, and the Warnersville Urban Farm – all in an effort to promote vibrant local food communities. In both 2014 and 2015, she presented talks for TEDxGreensboro chronicling these experiences.The late H. L. (Bud) Goodall, Jr. (PhD, Penn State) was Professor of Communication in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University, where he also served as a Senior Fellow in the Consortium for Strategic Communication and as an affiliated faculty member in the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict.  He was the author or coauthor of many books and articles on organizational and strategic communication, narrative, and ethnography, Counter-Narrative: How Academics Can Challenge Extremists and Promote Social Justice (Left Coast Press, 2010), and with Jeffry Halverson and Steven R. Corman, Master Narratives of Islamist Extremism (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2010).  With coauthors Steven R. Corman and Angela Trethewey, their volume Weapons of Mass Persuasion: Strategic Communication to Combat Violent Extremism won the Best Book award from the Applied Communication Division of the National Communication Association in 2009, and his autoethnographic memoir, A Need to Know: The Clandestine History of a CIA Family won the Best Book award from the Ethnography Division of NCA in 2007. Goodall worked as an organizational consultant for over thirty years.  His clients included high technology organizations, educational institutions, and U. S. military, intelligence, and diplomatic services.  He was listed in Who’s Who in the Social Sciences and was the recipient of the Gerald M. Phillips lifetime achievement award in applied communication scholarship from the National Communication Association in 2003.

PART I                        APPROACHING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER 1               Communication and the Changing World of Work 
THE INEVITABILITY OF CHANGE 
THE IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON ORGANIZING 
Outsourcing 
The Rise of the Global Company 
Challenges of Managing a Multicultural Workforce 
Global Economic Concerns 
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Religious Differences in the Classroom 
Potential Abuses of Power in the Global Marketplace 
EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 
Globalization and You 
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Transcending Space and Time 
Contemplating Security Concerns 
Understanding Urgent Organizations 
Relying on Communication Networks 
CHANGES IN THE MEANING OF WORK 
The New Social Contract 
Ethical Concerns 
Quality-of-Life Issues 
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Organizational Structure and Employee Well-Being 
SUMMARY 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
KEY TERMS 
CASE STUDY: THE CASE OF THE “ITALIAN” SHOES 

CHAPTER 2               Defining Organizational Communication 
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION DEFINITIONS AND APPROACHES 
APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 
Communication as Information Transfer 
Communication as Transactional Process 
Communication as Strategic Control 
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  It’s Not Personal, It’s Just Policy:  Organizational Ambiguity in Action 
Communication as a Balance of Creativity and Constraint
EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION   Online Networking Profiles: Balancing Creativity and Constraint 
ORGANIZATIONS AS DIALOGUES 
Dialogue and the Situated Individual 
Definitions of Dialogue 
       Dialogue as Mindful Communication 
       Dialogue as Equitable Transaction 
       Dialogue as Empathic Conversation 
       Dialogue as Real Meeting 
INTEGRITY AND ETHICS IN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 
SUMMARY 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
KEY TERMS 
CASE STUDY: THE MANY ROBERT SMITHS 
PART II          THEORIES OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 

CHAPTER 3        Three Early Perspectives on Organizations and Communication 
WHY THEORY? 
Theories Are Partial 
Theories Are Partisan 
Theories Are Problematic 
CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT APPROACHES 
From Empire to Hierarchy  From Resistance to Domination 
The Industrial Revolution 
Scientific Management 
Fayol’s Classical Management 
EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION Scientific Management at the Gym 
Bureaucracy 
 Implications for Organizational Communication 
  THE HUMAN RELATIONS APPROACH 
  Historical and Cultural Background 
  What Is Human Relations? 
  The Hawthorne Studies 
  Reflections on Human Relations 
  THE HUMAN RESOURCES APPROACH 
  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 
  McGregor’s Theory Y Management 
  Likert’s Principle of Supportive Relationships 
  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Managing the Kitchen 
  SUMMARY 
  QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
  KEY TERMS 
  CASE STUDY: RIVERSIDE STATE HOSPITAL 

  CHAPTER 4          The Systems Perspective on Organizations and Communication 
  THE SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE 
  The Origins of Systems Theory in the Sciences  
 Biology and General Systems Theory 
  From Biology to Organizational Communication 
  WHAT IS A SYSTEM? 
  Environment and Open Systems 
  Interdependence 
  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Locavores, Sustainability, and Systems
   Goals    Processes and Feedback 
  Openness, Order, and Contingency 
 THE APPEAL OF SYSTEMS THEORY FOR ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 
  Peter Senge’s Learning Organization 
  Karl Weick’s Sense-Making Model 
  Retrospective Sense Making 
  EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION  Making Sense of Your Equivocal Past 
  Loose Coupling 
  Partial Inclusion 
  SUMMARY 
    QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
  KEY TERMS 
  CASE STUDY: CRISIS IN THE ZION EMERGENCY ROOM 

  CHAPTER 5         Cultural Studies of Organizations and Communication
  THE CULTURAL APPROACH 
  Cultures as Symbolic Constructions 
  Cultural Elements 
  HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND 
  Competitive Pressures 
  Interpretive Methodology 
  Social Trends 
 THREE VIEWS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE 
  The Practical View 
  The Interpretive View 
  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  “Shooting” Employees with Motivation 
  Critical and Postmodern Views 
  Integration 
  Differentiation 
  Fragmentation 
  SOCIALIZATION: INTEGRATING NEW MEMBERS INTO ORGANIZATIONAL  CULTURES 
  EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION  College Radio and Community    Socialization 
  Anticipatory Socialization 
  Organizational Assimilation 
  Socialization and High-Reliability Organizations 
  Socialization and Technology 
  A COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVE ON ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE 
  SUMMARY 
  QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
  KEY TERMS 
  CASE STUDY I: STUDYING THE CULTURE OF MEETINGS 
  CASE STUDY II: CULTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN  COLLEGE FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES

  CHAPTER 6                Critical Approaches to Organizations and Communication 
  CRITICAL THEORY 
  Historical and Cultural Background 
  The Rise of Critical Theorizing in the United States 
  The Centrality of Power 
  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  The (Im)possibilities of a Living Wage 

   POWER AND IDEOLOGY 
 EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
 Gender, Ideology, and Power in Career Paths 
  The Hidden Power of Culture: Myths, Stories, and Metaphors 
  The Hidden Power of Legitimation: Manufactured Consent and Concertive Control 
  DISCOURSE AND DISCIPLINE 
  The Hidden Power of Knowledge: Surveillance, the Panopticon, and Disciplinary Power 
  The Technological Panopticon 
  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Unintentional Surveillance? 
  RECENT TRENDS IN CRITICAL ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION SCHOLARSHIP 
  Healthy Organizations 
  Resistance: Challenging Organizational Power and Control 177
  The Role of the Critical Theorist 
  SUMMARY 
  QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
 KEY TERMS 
  CASE STUDY I: RISKY BUSINESS: CONSENT, SAFETY, AND FIREFIGHTER CULTURE 
  CASE STUDY II: RACING THROUGH THE HURRICANE OF AIRPORT SECURITY:    ORGANIZATIONAL METAPHORS AND STANDING IN LINE 
  PART III             CONTEXTS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 

  CHAPTER 7           Identity and Difference in Organizational Life 
  THE HISTORY OF IDENTITY IN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION 194
  IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES AND    PERFORMANCES 
  Identity Regulation 
  Identity Work 
  Self-Doubter 
  Struggler 
  Surfer 
  Storyteller 
  Strategist 
  Stencil 
  Soldier 
  IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS FIXED ASPECTS OF THE SELF 206
  EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION  Images of Identity: Making Sense of Yourself in College 
  IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS ORGANIZATIONAL FEATURES THAT INFLUENCE  MEMBERS 
  IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE AS POPULAR CULTURE NARRATIVES 
  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  The Secret Identity of an English Professor 
  COMMUNICATING IDENTITY AND DIFFERENCE 
  SUMMARY 
  QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
  KEY TERMS 
  CASE STUDY: VALUING IDENTITIES ACROSS FIVE GENERATIONS 
  CHAPTER 8              Teams and Networks: Communication and Collaborative Work 
  DEMOCRACY IN THE WORKPLACE 
  COMMUNICATING IN TEAMS 
  Types of Teams 
  Project Teams 
  Work Teams 
  Quality-Improvement Teams 
  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  The Dilemmas of Participative Management at a University 
   Virtual Teams 
  Communicative Dimensions of Teamwork 
  Roles 
  Norms 
  Decision-Making Processes 
  Management of Conflict and Consensus 
   Cultural Diversity in Teams 
  Team Learning 
  A Retreat from Teams? 
  Positive Collaboration 
  COMMUNICATING IN NETWORKS 
  Small-Group Communication Networks 
  Emergent Communication Networks 
   Analyses of Communication Networks 
  Patterns of Interaction 
  Communication Network Roles 
  EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION  Networking on Campus: Communication, Identity, and Empowerment 
  Content of Communication Networks 
  Interorganizational Communication Networks 
   The Digital Networked Society 
  CREATIVITY AND CONSTRAINT IN TEAMS AND NETWORKS 
  SUMMARY 
  QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
  KEY TERMS 
  CASE STUDY I: SPELLMAN GARDENS 
  CASE STUDY II: THE NETWORKED COMMUNITY 
  CHAPTER 9                Communicating Leadership 
  LAYING THE FOUNDATION: USEFUL INSIGHTS FROM PRIOR LEADERSHIP THEORIES 
  Trait Leadership 
  Leadership Style 
  Situational Leadership® 
  Transformational Leadership 
  Discursive Leadership 
  LEADERSHIP RECONSIDERED: EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP HABITS    Habits of Mind 
   Habits of Character 
  Habits of Authentic Communicative Performance 
  EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION  Grooming Servant Leaders through  Service Learning and Community Engagement
  LEADING THE ORGANIZATION: COMMUNICATING WITH EMPLOYEES 
  Openness 
  Supportiveness 
  Motivation 
  Empowerment 
  THE DARK SIDE OF LEADERSHIP: BULLYING AND HARASSMENT 
  Bullying in the Workplace 
  Harassment and Sexual Harassment 
  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Effective Responses to Bullies, Harassers, and Bosses Who Mistreat Subordinates 
  SUMMARY 
  QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
  KEY TERMS 
  CASE STUDY: WHEN LEADERSHIP STYLES COLLIDE 
   CHAPTER 10          Organizational Alignment: Managing the Total Enterprise 
  POSITIONING THE ORGANIZATION    Competitive Strategy 
  Types of Business Strategies 
  Strategy and the Business Life Cycle 
   STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT 
  HUMAN RESOURCES 
  Talent 
   EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
  Helping Colleges and Universities Do What They Do Best 
  Targeted Selection 
  Performance Management 
  Training and Development 
   Organizational Development 
  ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING 
  Learning Basic Skills 
  Learning New Technologies 
  WHAT WOULD YOU DO?  Blogaholics and Twitterphiles 
   EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY 
  Synchronicity and Media Richness 
  Social Media and the Urgent Organization 
  Secrecy and Privacy 
  Mediated Interpersonal Communication 
  SUMMARY 
  QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 
  KEY TERMS 
  CASE STUDY: STRATEGICALLY ALIGNING SCHOOL FOOD POLICIES 
  APPENDIX A       Field Guide to Studying Organizational Communication References 
Author Index 
Subject Index