COMM 2100 - Exam 2 Review PDF

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COMM 2100 Exam 2 Study Guide Organizational Culture -

Org Theorists - Needed a better way to look at differences in organizations - Systems theory, etc. were not good enough to explain - differences within orgs - why would different groups within the same organization act differently or have different goals? - Differences between orgs - why were some organizations more successful, etc.? - So we start to look at organizational culture

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Much of your time on the job… - will be about learning and enacting the organization’s culture - culture is dynamic and changes over time - trying to see how an organization “molds” you - learning the culture of the organization - really important to consider during an interview or when looking at a job - the ideals you have should fit the ideals of the organization - Process of enculturation - “NetID” “Peoplesoft” at Uconn - learn cultural artifacts, words, jargon - successful management is directly related to enacting and “communicating” culture

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Organizational Culture - Culture originated from anthropology (study the rituals of groups of people) - often live with the group they’re studying - Culture provides a lens through which members interpret, interact with, and make sense of reality - generally communicated to you - when organizations merge, misunderstandings may result if cultures clash - Culture can be problematic - deeply entrenched values and behaviors may inhibit progress

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Definition - organizational Culture is: - Communicatively constructed, historically based system of assumptions, values, and interpretive frameworks that guide and constrain organizational members as they perform their organizational roles and confront the challenges in the environment

Characteristics of Cultures - Organizational culture involves something that is shared - cultures provide members with frameworks for understanding events - general debate about what things are actually shared. Is it values? Artifacts? (Does a dress code make a culture?) - Organizational culture is intangible

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Often confused with tangible objects (dress codes, stories, etc.) but these reflect the culture and are not the culture itself Organizational culture affects human behavior - How can you accentuate the culture? - What are the different things you can build up?

Conrad on Organizational Culture - Wrote “Strategic Organizational Communication” (1990) - Organizational Cultures are Communicative Creations - Influenced by human interaction - Storytelling, writing memos, having meetings, conducting rituals - But, human interaction within an organization is influenced by the values of the organization - The relationship between communication and culture is reciprocal - Organizational Cultures are Historical - Rooted in the history of events and actions Elements of Organizational Culture - 5 categories of elements - values - Common beliefs of a group - Espoused (articulated publicly) vs. Lived Culture (lived is more important) - Lived: Don’t match up with things that are espoused. - for example, someone was given a promotion and told that they couldn’t tell other people just yet because it might offend others. Culture of the organization wouldn’t allow them to tell. One of the espoused values was respect, but the lived value was we don’t want to offend others because this person hasn’t been here as long - lived value is what actually build - More important than espoused - Symbolic Elements - Includes symbols (e.g. mascots, logos), metaphors (org is like a “family”), stories, language/nonverbal elements - Symbols: Logos, things that are exactly what you think you are - Metaphors: “Welcome to the family”, building a welcoming atmosphere - Stories: History or story of the person who built the organization - Language: Jargon you might use - Role Elements - Heroes (people who are respected by a large group) and outlaws (people who def org. practices) - Interactive Elements - Rituals - planned and unplanned events - Informal cultural rules - unwritten rules of the culture (newcomers often notice these) - Organizational Communication style - the preference of the org for a certain communication channel - Context Elements - history and place. Knowing where, when, and how an organization came into being - History: Think about a college orientation

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Place: Where does the organization fit within the environment? If you’re working in an environment where people are making their name known, then you will probably believe that the culture around the workplace is one that is committed.

Culture as a root metaphor and culture as a variable (only what it says on the ppt) - Culture as a variable - Something the organization HAS - culture is a by-product of values, production, etc. - Culture is changeable - Culture can and should be managed - Strong organizations have strong cultures - Culture as a root metaphor - Something the organization IS - the essence of the organization is its culture - Culture is a process of sensemaking (not really a managerial tool) - Organizational culture is a COMPLEX multidimensional communicative construction - not something that is dictated by a manager - Consists of subcultures (cliques) and countercultures (groups that oppose the values of the dominant group) - Variable vs. Metaphor - Those that believe in the variable perspective do not believe in subcultures and countercultures, per se. - They believe the organization is one culture and everyone enacts the same one - Think of the metaphor as being more like a complicated web - Complicated with multiple levels - Think about New England Patriots before the Brady/Belichick dynasty. They changed the culture and suddenly the Pats are a winning team. That sees culture as a variable - Compare this to the Brows or Bills. They are what they are (metaphor) - Unchanging Edgar Schein’s levels of culture - Wrote “Organizational Culture and Leadership” (1985) - Outlined a model of organizational culture with three interrelated levels - Artifacts: Tangible, physical, or hearable things - Values: Sense of “what ought to be”, intangible - Basic assumptions: Beliefs regarding humanity’s relationship to nature, reality, and truth, human activity, human nature, and human relationships Socialization of New Members Structuration Theory (Giddens, 1979) -

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Very simply, building a structure through communication - Thoughts, feelings, beliefs, etc - The way the culture is built Main Assumption: Organizational structure is created through individuals’ daily actions and communication Structure allows for more organizational certainty (versus uncertainty) Agency - workers have some ability to control their actions and structure

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Power - Workers hold some degree of power (that power is usually “given” to them somehow - i.e. like a professor in a classroom) Reflexivity - people’s ability to monitor their actions and behaviors As individuals choose to accept or deny tasks, challenges, etc. new structures are being built Ever changing process - Power and agency changes - Think of a classroom with different professors, students, etc.

Duality of Structure -

If structured… - What happens in one part of the organization will influence the whole organization If not structure…. - Change in one area will have little impact on the organizational climate overall Social integration - Once people are used to working with each other, people rely on the structure of past interactions - This theory is useful in understanding organizational socialization

Organizational Assimilation (Jablin, 2001) -

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Assumes that individuals are “active agents” in the org. Umbrella term - Talks about how the organization tries to make you part of the culture (socialization) - Other part where you need to individualize yourself/set yourself apart Assimilation occurs in stages Assimilation is a dual process in which organizations and individuals influence one another - Organizations socialize newcomers - Newcomers attempt to “individualize” themselves by crossing boundaries in the org.

Stages of Assimilation - Vocational Socialization: People learn about different occupations (may be intentional or unintentional; happens throughout life) - Anticipatory Socialization: Process of job seeking; involves interviewing and preparing to enter the organization - Encounter Stage (entry stage): First few months - Role shock - when employees’ experiences do not match expectations - Role surprise - when reality and expectations match - Metamorphosis: experienced organizational members attempt to socialize the newcomer Information seeking tactics - Typically used in the encounter stage; depends on uncertainty level - How do you get and seek information? - Overt questioning: Direct - How do I do this? - Indirect questioning: Getting another to respond to hints - Taking gravity off of the situation

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- Maybe you make a joke about something to learn through that manner Third-party questioning: Asking someone else rather than the primary source - Asking a colleague Testing: Breaking a rule to monitor a response Disguising conversations: With jokes/self-disclosure to get info, without being obvious Observation: Watching others - Watching Surveillance: Reflecting retrospectively on conversations - Think of a surveillance tape. You let something happen and then maybe watch back - On your way home thinking about a conversation you had - Less about observation, more about reflection The use of information seeking behaviors depends on a few things - Employee’s uncertainty - Social costs It has also been found that some of these categories can be combined

What identification is correlated with - Typically happens during the encounter stage - An individual’s sense of membership with an org. - Difficult now - employers have less loyalty to worker - Different sources of identification - Intraorganizational sources: Department, union, lunch group, work, team, etc. - Extraorganizational sources: Media, customers, public figures - Targets: members a person looks to for connection - Pulls: Groups that seek to connect with the new member - Is identification realistic? - Do workers really want a high level of identification with their employer? - Do organizations have the resources to build identification with all of its workers? - Identification is positively correlated with motivation, job satisfaction, job performance, employee interaction, and length of service - Disidentification - purposefully fostering separateness and exclusion - Example: temp work - Related to isolation and negative attitudes - For example, you might not get your own office space Criticism of Assimilation - Some say that the term assimilation assumes that a person is being “absorbed into the whole” and this is negative - Some want to rename as socialization Predictors of socialization efforts - Motivation: Rank high on loyalty and obligation; easiest to socialize - Employer just needs to “maintain” these feelings - e.x. usually happens with first job, since they gave you your first position, benefits, etc. - Loyalist: Rank high on loyalty, but feel personal goals are incompatible

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employer may use guilt tactics to socialize employee e.x. been there for a while, you like them but one day an ad company decides they want to make an ad for tobacco Activists: Rank low on loyalty, but believe in the orgs. mission - Most effective socialization process for this type is a “utilization” focus (emphasize what is most important for the employee) Loner: Low level of loyalty and no congruence - Usually protected socialization process (continuous failure)

Socialization tactics - Collective vs. individual - Collective tactics involve putting recruits through a similar experience together - Make people go through same things togethe - Ex. Orientation for a new job - Individual tactics put each employee through a unique experience - Make people do things on their own - Formal vs. informal - Formal practices segregate newcomers from regular employees - Informal practices do not segregate employees or treat them differently in any way - Sequential vs. random - Sequential is when the org specifies certain steps to be completed - E.x. if you want to go to medical school, you know the steps to become a doctor - Random is when the sequence of steps leading to the target role is unknown - No specific order or sequence to things happening - Fixed vs. variable - Fixed is when organizations provide the newcomer with a precise timetable for progression - ex. monitoring process with a mentor, tutor, etc. or being paid a certain amount until you are with the org. - Serial vs. Disjunctive - Serial practices use an experienced employee to groom the newcomer - In disjunctive practices no role models are available - Investiture vs. divestiture - Investiture practices affirm the personal characteristics of the newcomer - Divestiture practices seek to strip away personal identity Outcomes? - Collective, formal, sequential, fixed, and serial tactics are related to custodial responses (newcomer accepts role as is without questioning status quo) - Individual, informal, random, variable, and disjunctive tactics are related to innovative responses (newcomer creates a new role without knowledge base) Superior-Subordinate Communication Importance of Supervisor-Subordinate Relationship

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Sometimes you hold your boss or superior up to a standard that is a lot higher and you don’t want to talk to them. They want you to become part of organization and succeed - Don’t feel uncomfortable asking questions

Why superior-subordinate relationship is critical to both superior and subordinate - Crucial to the subordinate because… - Supervisor may serve as a role model for the subordinate - Supervisor has formal power to reward and punish subordinate - Supervisor mediates downward flow of communication - Supervisor may develop a personal relationship with subordinate - Crucial to the superior because… - Subordinate is an important channel of informal communication - Subordinate satisfaction with the relationship can impact job outcomes - Supervisor performance is dependent on subordinates performance Strategic ambiguity - A situation in which contextual cues are purposefully omitted from communication to allow for multiple interpretations - your boss leaves information out on purpose because they want creativity or a different idea - People are stuck in their ways, you can come in as a new employee and have new ideas - May contribute to misunderstandings, but may also be used to promote creative problem solving - Allows for meaning projection (subordinates must fill in the blanks, which may lead to perceptions of similarity) - Leads to a restricted code (superior and supervisor create own language together) - Allows people to regulate what and how they want to share Upward distortion - A term used to describe the hesitancy of subordinate to communicate negative news up the chain of command and their tendency to distort such news to be more positive - Fear being held personally responsible for negative news - May fear that the supervisor will think they are being criticized (if the bad news is about them in some way) - Desire for promotion, need for security, trust, and motivation also play a role - You distort the information with your boss - Don’t want to seem like you aren’t capable of things - This can lead to distrust or a situation where your boss doesn’t believe in you capabilities Ethics? - Ethics must be considered when using upward distortion and strategic ambiguity - Upward distortion may be more ethically suspect (conscious effort to mislead) - Strategic ambiguity does not seek to mislead - What do YOU think? Value congruence - Not an answer on the exam

Perceptual Incongruence Semantic-Information Distance - The gap of information and understanding that exists between superior and subordinate on specific issues - Also known as perceptual incongruence - May have negative individual, relational, and organizational effects - Perceptual congruence has been shown to have positive effects on job satisfaction and the relationship between the superior and subordinate - You don’t want perceptual incongruence with your boss. You don’t want them to expect something they won’t get Leader-Member Exchange relationships - Used to be called Vertical Dyadic Linkage Theory - Assumes that supervisors have a limited amount of time and resources - Distinct Relationships will form with subordinates - Relationships may be placed on a continuum - Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) (in-group relationships) - In group: the people who seem like they’re “best friends” with the boss, trusted individuals - Really involved with the organization - Your boss could choose you based on trust, you’re good at what you do, you’re very similar - Leads to more job satisfaction, makes you more motivated - Characterized by mutual trust, reciprocal support, liking, and greater interaction - related to subordinate turnover, satisfaction, promotions, and job performance - Middle Group Relationships - where most people fall - Combination of SX and LMX characteristics - Supervisory Exchange (SX) (out-group relationships) - People who are just there to get money - Role-defined and contractually-based How are LMX Relationships formed? - Based on 2 factors: - Liking the leader (mutual affection based on interpersonal attraction, demographic similarity, and shared values) - Perceived ability of the subordinate by the leader - Impacted by TRUST and similarity - After relationship is established, the subordinate must exert energy to maintain the relationship Subordinate maintenance tactics - Personal - Informal interaction used to build and maintain a friendship - Contractual - Conformity to formal role requirements

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- You can fill whatever task, have to be skilled/good at what you do Regulative - Strategic regulation of messages and impressions - Maybe you don’t email all the time, don’t ask a lot of questions Direct - Direct negotiation of the terms and relationships In-group subordinates used more personal contractual, and direct maintenance communication Out-group members use more regulative tactics Subordinates tend to use these tactics more than supervisors Research on women leaders suggests that high LMX leaders minimize power differences using the following techniques - Show value congruence - Encourage creativity - Insider markers (inside jokes) - Provide support - Coaching Tactics used to MAXIMIZE power differences include performance monitoring, face-threatening acts, competitive conflict, power games

Trust - 5 strategies that influence subordinates perception of supervisor’s trust: - Behavioral consistency - Behavioral integrity - Sharing and delegating control - Demonstrate concern - Open communication - Opposite of trustworthy - Machiavellian leaders - How do you measure trust Immediacy - Immediacy is any communication that indicates interpersonal warmth or closeness - May be verbal or nonverbal - Examples - Valuing input - Being attentive - Expressing confidence - Showing interest - Expressing verbal appreciation - Demonstrate a willingness to assist Feedback - Any communication between organizational members that provides task guidance, personal evaluation, or other guidance - May involve both task and personal elements - Positive feedback has been found to impact motivation, satisfaction, commitment, and performance

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Seeking feedback is just an important as providing feedback! Be able to read people. Do they want to talk to you? Are they distorting messages?

Other Strategies? - Compliance Gaining - Strategies used to get the subordinate to perform as a fully functioning organizational member - Things like politeness - May include open persuasion, strategic persuasion, and maybe even manipulation ...