Strategic Organizational Communication

Charles Conrad is Professor of Organizational Communication at Texas A&M University. He has received more than a dozen college- and university-level teaching awards, including the National Communication Association's Donald Ecroyd Award. He is the author or editor of nine books, the most recent of which are Organizational Rhetoric (2011) and Global Engineering (2010). Marshall Scott Poole is Professor of Communication and Director of the Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has received several teaching awards and multiple research awards, including the Steven Chaffee Lifetime Productivity Award from the International Communication Association. He is the author or editor of eleven books, including Working Through Conflict (2008) and Handbook of Organizational Change and Innovation (2004).

• Preface xiUnit I Underlying Concepts 1Chapter 1 Strategic Organizational Communication 3Organizational Communication as Strategic Discourse 5Case Study 1.1. How to Handle the Scarlet Email 7The Fundamental Paradox 10Thinking Strategically About Organizing and Communicating 12Case Study 1.2. Can You Trust Anyone Under Thirty? 14Creating Socio-Economic Spaces 18Making Organizations Look Alike 20Strategies of Organizing 23Strategic Communication for Individual Members of Organizations 24Summary: The Complexities of Organizational Communication 26Chapter 2 Keys to Strategic Organizational Communication 30Seeing Connections: The Importance of Systems Thinking 32Case Study 2.1. There Go the Lights, Here Come the Babies? 40Uncovering Assumptions: The Importance of Critical Thinking 43Valuing Differences: The Advantages of Diversity 47Thinking Globally: The Challenges of Globalization 49Understanding Technology: A Radical Force for Change 52Case Study 2.2. Working in the Virtual Future: An Optimistic View (Looking Back) 58Summary 66Unit II Strategies of Organizing 71Chapter 3 Traditional Strategies of Organizing 73Traditional Strategies of Organizational Design 75Case Study 3.1. Feel Safer Now? 83Traditional Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 89Case Study 3.2. The Power of Rewards at Industry International 92Traditional Strategies of Leadership 98Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Traditional Strategies of Organizing 99Case Study 3.3. Scenes From the Electronic Sweatshop 104Conclusion: Communication and Traditional Strategies of Organizing 107Chapter 4 Relational Strategies of Organizing 113Relational Strategies of Organizational Design 114Case Study 4.1. Going South? 118Relational Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 127Case Study 4.2. Empowerment or Iron Cage? 133Relational Strategies of Leadership 136Information and Communication Technology and the Relational Strategy 139Assessing Relational Strategies 142Thinking Critically About Relational Strategies 146Chapter 5 Cultural Strategies of Organizing 155Defining Key Terms: Cultures and Organizational Cultures 157Cultural Strategies of Organizational Design 159Cultural Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 161Organizational Symbolism and Cultural Strategies of Motivation and Control 166Case Study 5.1. It’s My Party and I’ll Do What I Want To 171Case Study 5.2. Resistance and Control in Three Service Organizations 175Cultural Strategies of Leadership 178Technology and Cultural Strategies of Organizing 181Thinking Critically About Cultural Strategies 183Chapter 6 Network Strategies of Organizing 191Network Strategies of Organizational Design 193Box 6.1. Choosing Communication Media 202Box 6.2. What Might Have Been 208Case Study 6.1. al-Qaeda: A Network Organization? 209Case Study 6.2. Evolving Into a Network Organization 213Network Strategies of Motivation, Control, and Surveillance 215Challenges for Control Systems in Network Organizations 218Leadership in Network Organizations 219Challenges and Problems for Network Organizations 221Beyond Networks: Alternative Strategies of Organizing 222Box 6.3. Postmodern Organizations? 225Conclusion 227Postscript to Unit II Contingency Perspective on Organizing Strategies 231Task 232Case Study P.1. Steeling Away Into a Different Structure 236Interrelationships Among the Contingency Variables 237Conclusion and Transition 238Unit III Challenges in the Twenty-First Century 241Chapter 7 Communication, Power, and Politics in Organizations 243A Perspective on Organizational Power 245Case Study 7.1. On Death and Dying 247Societal Assumptions and the Bases of Organizational Power 251Case Study 7.2. The Playground Never Ends 263Organizational Politics: Overt Power in the Communicative Process 266Box 7.1. An Exploration of Life in Systems of Power 274Conclusion 278Chapter 8 Communication, Decision Making, and Conflict in Organizations 284Communication and Organizational Decision Making 286Box 8.1. Making a Green Decision 291Case Study 8.1. Managing the Ambiguity 304Case Study 8.2. Koalas and Roos Flying Through Chaos 313Communication and the Management of Organizational Conflict 316Case Study 8.3. The Bargaining Case 327Conclusion 335Chapter 9 Organizational Change 339Innovation 343Box 9.1 Organizing for Creativity 344Adoption 348Implementation 355Case Study 9.1. Implementing a Moving Target: Quality Improvement at TopHill Hospital System 356Case Study 9.2. Storytelling Journeys into Change 368Conclusion 376Chapter 10 Communication and Diverse Workplaces 380Resisting “Others” 382Case Study 10.1. Sequestering Sexual Harassment 387Confronting the Dominant Perspective 398Box 10.1. Feminist Strategies for Organizing 399Case Study 10.2. Trying to Stay Balanced 402Case Study 10.3. Is That Term “Childless” or “Childfree”? 406Taking a Holistic Perspective 409Conclusion 412Chapter 11 Communication, Organizations, and Globalization 418Culture, Difference, and Organizational Communication 421Increasing Cultural Understanding 426Case Study 11.1. Can You Trust Anyone Under Thirty, Part 2? 427Economics, Globalization, and Organizational Communication 431Case Study 11.2. Small Companies, Global Approaches 438Chapter 12 Communication, Ethics, and Organizational Rhetoric 447Ethics, Organizations, and Social Control 450Societal Assumptions and Organizational Rhetoric 452Rhetoric and Organizational Crisis and Image Management 455Case Study 12.1. Lanxess Cleans Up Its Act 461Public Policy making and Organizational Rhetoric 463Case Study 12.2. Ike the Prophet 467Systems, Actions, and Ethics 469Conclusions and Implications for Ethics 480Postscript to Unit III Epilogue 489Index 491