jan 13, 15, 20, 22

Jan. 13 four main definitions of organizational communication: 1. information transferred 2. transactional process 3. strategic control -communicator was unclear on message (sender can deny, deserve a privileged position, escape blame) 4. balance of creativity and constraint -communicators constrict social world and become constrained effective communication ambiguous = unclear communication as strategic control Developments in the world of work: -Occupational Structure -Technology -Rapid Turnover of Knowledge Jan. 15 Developments in the world of work continued: -Global Economy with Global Forces -?market driven economy? = market determines supply and demand -3rd world countries (China, Russia) becoming more and more civilized -Questionable Labor Practices and Multicultural Management of Customers, Suppliers and Employees -white collar office jobs -example: Dell, cell phone companies connect you to India for customer, technical assistance -not enough training on other cultures for employees to understand the foreign culture -Organizational Change -organizations are turbulent so communication practices aren?t always reliable -World Economic Crisis -our recession -housing crisis was brought on by 2 causes: 1. people bought in inflation and then couldn?t pay what they owed - defaulted on loans and other payments 2. people believed everyone deserved a home so anyone who wanted one got approved and received a loan but not everyone deserved the loan because not everyone is capable of paying and not everyone is made to own a house -foreign investors were buying worthless paper investments -oil wasn?t helpful either - high prices in Summer 2008 - because the 3rd world countries were buying oil too and supplier countries raised prices on buyers Customer and Employee Loyalty -Japan doesn?t lay people off when economic trouble/recession hits. They reduce hours and take pay cuts across the board - from janitors to CEOs. -USA downsizes by laying mass numbers of people off -It?s about an employee?s view and standpoint of the company that determines if they?re going to be loyal and trustworthy. When employees don?t trust a company, they don?t put forth all their effort, etc. Loyalty PowerPoint on BlackBoard. Jan. 22 McGregor created Theory X and Theory Y -both are management theories -both relate to the nature of workers Theory X -holds that people don?t like to work -only way for management to make them work is by threatening discipline; management enforces discipline -monetary rewards are the only motivation for/to get people to work -managers don?t allow decision making by employees -applies to teams/coaches, religious organizations/leaders, Greek organizations/leaders, students/principals Theory Y -holds that people are eager to work -people want to participate and help in decision making -management trusts employees to do tasks without constant checking in -management talks to/with employees when there?s a problem and works with person to correct instead of immediately turning to discipline ?direct reports? = employees Ouchi derived Theory Z from Japanese Style of Management in 1980 Theory Z -high degree of confidence in workers -authority/chain of command flows from highest to lowest but lower levels have the power to make executive decisions -management believes workers want relationships with coworkers and management -workers have to believe that management supports them and management has to support for a successful work atmosphere -workers are disciplined and feel obligated to organization -workers are trusted to perform jobs as well as management is trusted to support workers efforts -workers tend to stay with company for their entire careers when Theory Z is in place Organizational Design/Structure -chart authority; chain of command -delegation of jobs/tasks Differentiation vertical differentiation -hierarchy of chain of command; example: formal authority horizontal differentiation -division of labor and specializations for tasks and functions Integration internal integration -when specialists work together to achieve a common goal external integration -cooperation from external suppliers and customers and internal specialists Coordination -structure organization?s functions to achieve a balance between horizontal and vertical differentiations -strive to balance the chain of command with division of labor ?flattening out of an organization? -fewer levels of chain of command; not as many people in hierarchy Division of Labor -divide labor by what employees are good at Span of Control -amount of employees; number of people who report to a manager line positions - president and managers have authority to make decisions staff positions - advisors; don?t have authority to make decisions; only advise/counsel centralized power - power is centralized decentralized power - more people have power to make decisions Basic Types of Structures Functional - divides tasks by division Product - organizes by product and then by function within each product Matrix - workers report to functional manager and several product managers Boundaryless - no internal boundaries; people can cross lines because no lines really exist; lines are constantly changing; decentralized power