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Organizational Communication in an Age of Globalization

Issues, Reflections, Practices, Second Edition

George Cheney, Lars Thøger Christensen, Theodore E. Zorn, Jr., and Shiv Ganesh

The thought-provoking, timely second edition continues to offer a comprehensive, global perspective on organizational communication. The authors’ multinational experience, consulting and teaching expertise, enthusiasm for their subject, and engaging style of writing create an inviting foundation for the exploration of this multifaceted topic. Each chapter demonstrates the practicality of theory and how practice contributes to the development of theory, while challenging readers to build on established knowledge to develop new approaches to the pressing problems in complex, multicultural organizations.

The text is organized topically around the most important issues in organizational communication. Five themes recur throughout the chapters: the interdependence of internal and external forms of organizational communication, the “disciplinarity” and multidisciplinarity of organizational communication, global and multicultural perspectives of organizational communication, the unity of theory and practice, and critical thinking in the analysis of organizational messages and discourses.

$61.95 list, 515 pages

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57766-640-0

10-digit ISBN: 1-57766-640-2

© 2011

Instructor materials available at www.organizationalcommunication.com

Praise for the previous edition:

“Organizational Communication in an Age of Globalization makes an important, refreshing, new contribution to the study, teaching, and application of organizational communication. As one of the few textbooks to provide a comprehensive and self-reflexive global perspective on organizational communication, it offers teachers and students new in-sights into the opportunities and challenges of communicating in today’s complex, multicultural organizations.” —Steven May, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

“These authors have crafted a must read for students of organizational communication! With an impressive research translation, it covers the field in a way that is practical, timely and, most of all, thought provoking. I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the central role that communication plays in the ways that organizations build, maintain and change themselves” —Gail Fairhurst, University of Cincinnati

“One of the greatest strengths of this textbook is the multinational, diverse, and outstanding teaching, researching, and practice experiences of the four authors. It is indeed an organizational communication textbook with an international scope. The reading of each chapter has been a relearning experience for me on issues that I have been teaching for many years. Each section in each chapter is discussed with such a depth and novelty in terms of perspectives that I could not stop the reading.” —Federico Varona, San José State University

“This book clearly fills a gap. Cheney et al. have managed to write a highly readable and engaging text that not only presents theory in ways understandable to students but also challenges them to think past already developed solutions to what might be needed in the near future and beyond. The style of writing is captivating and the content is superb!” —Patrice Buzzanell, Purdue University
 

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

How We Think and Talk about Organizations / What Is Communication? / Why Theory? / Thinking Critically

2. Organizational Structure and Process

Defining Organizational Structures / Key Elements of Organizational Structure / Putting Structure and Process Together / Systems, Structures, and Processes / Bureaucracy: The Structure We Know Best and Like the Least / Searching for Alternative Organizational Structures / Emergent Structures and Self-Organizing Systems

3. Rationality, Decision Making, and (Ab)uses of Information

The Idea of Rationality / Making Management Systematic and Scientific / Decisions, Decisions / Models of Group Decision Making and Communication / Constructing Rationality / Organizational Goals and Ways to Achieve Them / From Rationality to Rationalities / Emotionality in Organizational Life

4. Culture, Subcultures, and Organizational Socialization

Defining Culture / Organizations as Cultures / Studying Culture / Culture and Communication in Organizations / On Doing Culture: Reproducing and Altering Culture

5. Communicating Identity Individually and Collectively

Defining Organizational Identity / Identity in Historical Context / Organizational Identification / Challenges to Organizational Identity / Managing Organizational Identity / Ironies and Paradoxes in Corporate Identity Management

6. Connecting through Social Relationships and Networks

Workplace Relationships / Communication Networks

7. Leadership Old and New: Direction, Coordination, Facilitation, and Inspiration

The Importance of Leadership / What Is Leadership? / The Confusion about Leadership / "Visions" of Leadership in Recent History / Characteristics of Contemporary Social Life and Their Implications for Leadership / Framing: Vision, Values, and Symbolism / Leadership Alternatives

8. Participation, Teams, and Democracy at Work

A Broad Democratic Trend? / Defining Our Terms / Employee Participation / Teamwork / Participation: Civil Society and Volunteerism / Democracy and Participation in Alternative Organizations / A Case for Consideration / Ironies, Paradoxes, and Limits of Work Participation and Democracy

9. Power and Control in Organizational Life

Encountering Power / Sources of Power / Getting a Handle on Power / Negotiating Power / Systems or Patterns of Control in the Organization / Resistance

10. Encountering, Interpreting, and Managing Conflict: Harmony and Discord in Organizational Life

The Nature of Conflict / Explaining Conflict / Sources of Conflict and Communication / Conflict as a Process / The Context of Conflict / Managing Conflict / Intergroup Conflict / Stress, Burnout, and Support / Interorganizational Conflict

11. Organizational Change and Change-Related Communication

What Is Change? / The Social-Historical Context of Change / A Model of the Change-Related Communication Process / Dimensions of Change / How Do We Judge the Success of Organizational Change? / Communicating and Managing Change Effectively / Strategies for Encouraging Innovation / Responding to Change Initiatives

12. The Meanings and Uses of Organizational Communication Technologies

Understanding Communication Technologies / Features of Communication Technologies / Using Communication Technologies / Interpreting the Effects of Organizational Communication Technologies / New Organizations?

13. Communicating in Global and Multicultural Contexts

Confronting and Defining Globalization / The Global and the Local (and in between) / Forces of Convergence / Expanding Our Ideas about Globalization / Intercultural Communication and Diversity in Organizations

14. Speaking of Ethics and Values in Organizations

Coming to Terms with Ethics / Why Ethical Reflections Matter / Ethics as a Contemporary Issue in the Communication of Organizations / Thinking about and across Different Ethical Perspectives / What Can Communication Add to Our Understanding of Ethics at Work? / Postmodern Challenges to Ethics / Organizational Culture and Ethics

15. Analyzing Organizational Communication

What's in "Communication"? / Dimensions of Organizational Messages / Language and Other Symbols / Some Purposes/Reasons for Analyses of Communication / Data Gathering / Data Analysis / Features of the Language Itself / Analyzing Discourse Strategies / Overall Research Orientations / Epilogue