LM.1: Approaches to Organizational Communication
Putnam & Boys (2006): Revisiting metaphors of organizational communication.
Mumby (2013): Organizations as Communication systems.
1.1 Mumby (2013): Organizations as Communication systems.
1. Why are metaphors of organizational communication important?
→ A metaphor is a way of seeing something as if it were something else. Forming
insights about one thing in light of another.
2. What do the basic principles of systems theory entail?
In this chapter, we explore a perspective on organizational communication that rejects the
reductionist approach and instead examines organizations from a systems perspective.
Before: Determinism and Reductionism = the belief that human behaviour can be explained
by breaking it down in simpler component parts. Mechanistic worldview: belief that natural
wholes (living things) are like complicated machines or artifacts. Composed of parts lacking
any intrinsic relationship to each other.
Shift: mechanical to biological/organic metaphor for viewing organizations
Shift to indeterminacy and perspectivism, not certainty and absolutism.
Indeterminacy: the belief that not all events are causally determined;
General system theory (Bertalanffy, 1968): In contrast to reductionism we have
perspectivism (= the view that perception, experience, and reason change according to the
viewer's relative perspective and interpretation.)
The GST represents a shift from the dominance of the ‘machine’ metaphor in understanding
human behaviour (including organizations) to the dominance of the ‘organism’ metaphor.
Systems thinking shifts science away from studying objects to studying processes and
transformations. Speaking about the world in terms of a ‘great organization’
Central principles of the systems theory
, 1. Interrelatedness and interdependence, of all things, human and natural
- Change in a system is not linear but influences all
components in the system. → butterfly effect.
2. Holism - the whole is different than the sum of the parts.
3. Input, Transformation and Output of Energy -
- All open systems exchange information and energy with their environments
- Inputs to an open system are transformed through various processes into
something different → anything that is not chaos”
An open system is one that freely allows both energy and matter to be transferred in an out
of a system.
4. Negative Entropy
- Entropy is measure of disorder in a system; an open system counters disorder
(negative entropy)
- Closed systems are entropic; cannot counter disintegration (e.g.,
- cults)
- Open” and “closed” are relative terms; no human system is completely open or
closed
5. Equilibrium, Homeostasis and Feedback
- Open systems maintain equilibrium through homeostasis (“steady state”)
- Permeability (door dringbraarheid) of system boundaries allows information sharing
with environment, allowing corrections in system performance
- Systems receive both negative (deviation counteracting) and positive (deviation
amplifying) feedback; the latter produces system growth
6. Hierarchy
- Systems process information on multiple levels
- All hierarchically ordered levels are interrelated
- Subsystems, systems and suprasystems work in an interdependent manner, each
level influencing and being influenced by the other
7. Goal Orientation
- All open systems are goal-oriented
, - Feedback (positive and negative) enables adjustment to goals in large organizations
goals can conflict (e.g., Research&Development vs. marketing)
8. Equifinality and Multifinality
- Equifinality: an open system can reach the same final state from multiple initial
conditions and paths
- Multifinality: an open system can reach multiple goals and states from the same initial
conditions
- Both principles capture the complexity and dynamism of open systems
What are implications for the systems theory? → for the way we think
about communication?
- Focuses on social actors’ meaning and sense- making processes, examining
communication as something that is meaningful only within – and, indeed, creates –
a larger social context”
Organizations as Communication Systems (CCO)
Features of a systems approach to communication (Watzlawick et al.) :
1. All behavior is communicative
2. Intent is not necessary for communication to occur
3. Communication is relational and contextual
4. Punctuation of communication is key to the sense-making process
How does systems theory affect our way of thinking about organizational
communication?
1.2 Putnam & Boys (2006): Revisiting metaphors of organizational communication.
Paradigm shift in organizational communication research. The shift moves the study of
communication from linear transmission within organizations to the way that social
interaction, incursive processes and symbolic meanings constitute organizations.
Communication as transmission metaphor: conduit, information processing, linkage.
, Communication as social interaction, meaning and discourse metaphors: performance,
discourse, symbol, voice, contradiction.
Organizational communication → paradigm; 7 metaphors for organizational
communication.
1) the coduit (leiding)
2) the lens
3) linkage
4) performance
5) symbol
6) voice
7) discourse
A metaphor is a way of seeing something as if it were something else. 3 shortscommings
using metaphors;
1. by highlighting only similarities, metaphors may only shed light on certain parts of the
organization/concept.
2. imprecise
3. could trap discourses in ideological images and maintain status quo power
relationships (page 543)
LM.2: Organizational Policies - flexible work arrangements
(FWAs), Global work and work-family policies
Work design for global professionals
- Nurmi & hinds (2020), Work characteristics of global professionals
Work Design for Global Professionals: Connectivity demands, connectivity behaviors,
and their effects on psychological and behavioral outcomes
Policties regarding workplace flexibility
- De Menezes & Kelliher (2011). Flexible working and performance
- Putnam at al. (2014). Examining the tensions in workplace flexibility
Policies regaring work-family support
Putnam & Boys (2006): Revisiting metaphors of organizational communication.
Mumby (2013): Organizations as Communication systems.
1.1 Mumby (2013): Organizations as Communication systems.
1. Why are metaphors of organizational communication important?
→ A metaphor is a way of seeing something as if it were something else. Forming
insights about one thing in light of another.
2. What do the basic principles of systems theory entail?
In this chapter, we explore a perspective on organizational communication that rejects the
reductionist approach and instead examines organizations from a systems perspective.
Before: Determinism and Reductionism = the belief that human behaviour can be explained
by breaking it down in simpler component parts. Mechanistic worldview: belief that natural
wholes (living things) are like complicated machines or artifacts. Composed of parts lacking
any intrinsic relationship to each other.
Shift: mechanical to biological/organic metaphor for viewing organizations
Shift to indeterminacy and perspectivism, not certainty and absolutism.
Indeterminacy: the belief that not all events are causally determined;
General system theory (Bertalanffy, 1968): In contrast to reductionism we have
perspectivism (= the view that perception, experience, and reason change according to the
viewer's relative perspective and interpretation.)
The GST represents a shift from the dominance of the ‘machine’ metaphor in understanding
human behaviour (including organizations) to the dominance of the ‘organism’ metaphor.
Systems thinking shifts science away from studying objects to studying processes and
transformations. Speaking about the world in terms of a ‘great organization’
Central principles of the systems theory
, 1. Interrelatedness and interdependence, of all things, human and natural
- Change in a system is not linear but influences all
components in the system. → butterfly effect.
2. Holism - the whole is different than the sum of the parts.
3. Input, Transformation and Output of Energy -
- All open systems exchange information and energy with their environments
- Inputs to an open system are transformed through various processes into
something different → anything that is not chaos”
An open system is one that freely allows both energy and matter to be transferred in an out
of a system.
4. Negative Entropy
- Entropy is measure of disorder in a system; an open system counters disorder
(negative entropy)
- Closed systems are entropic; cannot counter disintegration (e.g.,
- cults)
- Open” and “closed” are relative terms; no human system is completely open or
closed
5. Equilibrium, Homeostasis and Feedback
- Open systems maintain equilibrium through homeostasis (“steady state”)
- Permeability (door dringbraarheid) of system boundaries allows information sharing
with environment, allowing corrections in system performance
- Systems receive both negative (deviation counteracting) and positive (deviation
amplifying) feedback; the latter produces system growth
6. Hierarchy
- Systems process information on multiple levels
- All hierarchically ordered levels are interrelated
- Subsystems, systems and suprasystems work in an interdependent manner, each
level influencing and being influenced by the other
7. Goal Orientation
- All open systems are goal-oriented
, - Feedback (positive and negative) enables adjustment to goals in large organizations
goals can conflict (e.g., Research&Development vs. marketing)
8. Equifinality and Multifinality
- Equifinality: an open system can reach the same final state from multiple initial
conditions and paths
- Multifinality: an open system can reach multiple goals and states from the same initial
conditions
- Both principles capture the complexity and dynamism of open systems
What are implications for the systems theory? → for the way we think
about communication?
- Focuses on social actors’ meaning and sense- making processes, examining
communication as something that is meaningful only within – and, indeed, creates –
a larger social context”
Organizations as Communication Systems (CCO)
Features of a systems approach to communication (Watzlawick et al.) :
1. All behavior is communicative
2. Intent is not necessary for communication to occur
3. Communication is relational and contextual
4. Punctuation of communication is key to the sense-making process
How does systems theory affect our way of thinking about organizational
communication?
1.2 Putnam & Boys (2006): Revisiting metaphors of organizational communication.
Paradigm shift in organizational communication research. The shift moves the study of
communication from linear transmission within organizations to the way that social
interaction, incursive processes and symbolic meanings constitute organizations.
Communication as transmission metaphor: conduit, information processing, linkage.
, Communication as social interaction, meaning and discourse metaphors: performance,
discourse, symbol, voice, contradiction.
Organizational communication → paradigm; 7 metaphors for organizational
communication.
1) the coduit (leiding)
2) the lens
3) linkage
4) performance
5) symbol
6) voice
7) discourse
A metaphor is a way of seeing something as if it were something else. 3 shortscommings
using metaphors;
1. by highlighting only similarities, metaphors may only shed light on certain parts of the
organization/concept.
2. imprecise
3. could trap discourses in ideological images and maintain status quo power
relationships (page 543)
LM.2: Organizational Policies - flexible work arrangements
(FWAs), Global work and work-family policies
Work design for global professionals
- Nurmi & hinds (2020), Work characteristics of global professionals
Work Design for Global Professionals: Connectivity demands, connectivity behaviors,
and their effects on psychological and behavioral outcomes
Policties regarding workplace flexibility
- De Menezes & Kelliher (2011). Flexible working and performance
- Putnam at al. (2014). Examining the tensions in workplace flexibility
Policies regaring work-family support
