Course notes Communication and Organizations (CM1014)

What are the 3 types of communication within organizations? (p.3)

Antwort: 1. Line communication → very direct, from manager to subordinates or the other way around. 2. Parallel information → provided for supporting organizational communication 3. ‘Grapevine’ → gossips, informal communication, does not follow the rules of organizations, personal understandings/ views, it is considered to be the hidden part of communication

What is an organization? (p.3)

Antwort: There is not a unique definition to describe organizations. But they all have 4 features, Charles Redding: 1. Interdependence (responsibility is a shared value, reliability of individuals, teamwork) 2. Differentiation of tasks and functions (division of labor, roles, and responsibilities) 3. Goal orientation (for everyone to strive toward) 4. Control (to achieve coordinated, goal-oriented behavior) → mechanisms of control. Control never disappears from an organization

WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION? (p.4)

Antwort: 2 perspectives: 1. Communication IN organizations -> this model fails (S - M - C - R model. Sender, Message, Channel, Receiver) 2. Organizations AS communication -> approved by our course (Organizations are about creating and interpreting meanings)

What are the types of organizational control? (p.5)

Antwort: - Direct control - Technological control - Bureaucratic control - Ideological control - Biocratic control

What does gig economy mean? (p. 5)

Antwort: free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments

Features of Fordist organization (p.6)

Antwort: - Highly bureaucratic structure - Highly differentiated labor process - Large economies of scale - Standardization of products

What are the principles of scientific management ? (p.7)

Antwort: 1. scientific job design 2. scientific selection and training 3. cooperation between management & workers 4. equal division of work between management & workers

Who talked about bureaucracy? (p.7)

Antwort: Max Weber

What are the different types of authority? (p.8)

Antwort: - Charismatic authority (“Gift of grace\") - Traditional authority (inherited right) - Rational-legal authority (\"rule of the bureau\")

Key elements of bureaucracy (p.8)

Antwort: ● Chain of command with appropriately assigned responsibilities ● Clearly defined division of labor with specialization of tasks ● Written regulations describing rights and duties of members ● Written documentation; use of a file system that stores information upon which decision-making is carried out ● System of impersonal rules governing office holders ● Employees make decisions based on rules of their position not personal ties to others