Theories of Organizational Communication Comm 604 Stultz 110 W 6-8:45

Instructor: Zachary White, Ph.D. Office Location: Dana 102-D Office Phone: 704-688-2731 Email: whitez@queens.edu Twitter: @Zmwhite (#Comm604) Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:30-11 a.m., and by appointment

Required Materials: Eisenberg, E.M., Goodall, H.L., Jr., & Trethewey, A. (2010). Organizational communication: Balancing creativity and constraint (6th Edition). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. Supplemental Readings: Additional readings and research examples will be posted on the Queens Learning Management System (Moodle). http://moodle.queens.edu/ You must have and actively use your Moodle account to access readings, assignment sheets, and other essential items.

COURSE DESCRIPTION/OBJECTIVES In this course, we will examine historical and contemporary approaches to studying organizations, organizational communication, and a variety of communication processes, structures and strategies. Specifically, we will critically analyze how various theories of management, organizing, and communication theory shape our understanding of such essential issues as efficiency, employee motivation, organizational identity and identification, power, leadership, organizational culture, and ideology. The specific objectives of this course are to: Critically explore the major schools of organizational communication theory Understand the significance of communication in creating, maintaining, and transforming organizations Understand the significance of communication in creating, maintaining, and transforming individuals in organizations Appreciate how various theoretical conceptions of organizational communication illuminate our understanding of organizational communication processes

2 Improve students ability to create and consume communication by applying a variety of theoretical frameworks to everyday organizational communication practices

Course Policies: 1. Expectations: At the graduate-level, I expect students to come to class ready to discuss, analyze, critique, and apply course-related material. Given we meet only once a week, each class period is vitally important to your ability to do well in the course. Moreover, your active and ongoing participation throughout the course is essential to enhancing both your own success and that of the overall class experience. My goal will be to introduce you to graduate level studies and provide you the basic knowledge and skills necessary to explore, study, and contribute to the field of communication and to your particular area of interest/expertise/audience. Moreover, I hope to introduce you to the communication theories and approaches that will help you best understand and study the communication texts you are most interested in. 2. Written Work: Any assignments submitted to me after class time will be considered late. Assignments not turned in on the assigned day during the assigned class period (not after) will receive a full grade deduction. For each calendar day beyond the assigned due date, a full grade will be deducted. If you know you will miss class for any reason when an assignment is due, you must submit the completed assignment BEFORE you leave to receive credit. Written work must be TYPED and PROOFREAD for errors. Handwritten assignments will not be accepted (unless otherwise specified). Written assignments are required to follow the APA format. For example, typed assignments should be 11- to 12-point font size, Times New Roman, doublespaced, and one inch margins--a few of the basic guidelines for APA format. Be sure to keep a copy of all major assignments for your records. Also, make sure to save all assignments as you will need to collect and digitize this material for your eventual capstone course. 3. Class Attendance: A great deal of learning in this course comes from in-class discussions, so it is essential that you attend class consistently. More than 1 unexcused absence will result in a deduction of participation points. This course meets 14 times over the semester. Therefore, a student who misses class more than 3 times (and thus misses almost 1/3 of the class meetings) will receive a failing grade in the course. 4. University Closings/Cancelled Classes: In the rare occasion when it is necessary to close the university, announcements will be made on TV and radio, and will be posted on the Queens web site (www.queens.edu). Students who live on campus will be notified of a decision to cancel classes through their voice

3 mail. Commuter students should call the Queens Information Hotline (704-3372567). NOTE: If classes are meeting but you find that you cannot find a safe way to get to class, you should notify me as soon as possible. 5. Academic Integrity: Papers/assignments found to contain plagiarized material will result in an automatic failure for the assignment, and possible future action by the university. The Honor Code, which permeates all phases of university life, is based on three fundamental principles. It assumes that Queens students: a) are truthful at all times, b) respect the property of others, and c) are honest in tests, examinations, term papers, and all other academic assignments. Please contact me if you believe a violation of the Honor Code has occurred. It is a violation of the Honor Code for a student to be untruthful concerning the reasons for a class absence. 6. Intellectual Property Policy: Queens University of Charlotte faculty and students adhere to the Queens Intellectual Property Policy. See Faculty Handbook, http: moodle.queens.edu and the Queens University of Charlotte Website at: http://www.queens.edu. 7. Human Participant Research: All student-directed research that involves human participants must have a faculty sponsor. Additionally, all research that involves human participants must be reviewed and approved by the university institutional review board (IRB) PRIOR to the initiation of any research activities. IRB Information and approval forms are available on the myQueens portal (http://myqueens.queens.edu). First, sign into myQueens and then click the Shared Documents link on the left side of the screen. This will take you to the Institutional Review Board Documents folder. 8. Class decorum: Students are not to talk over the professor or others during class. Students are to come to class on time. Students are expected to turn off cell phones and other electronic devices while in class. Violation of any of these simple rules of decorum will negatively affect a students participation grade. Continued violation will result in the student being expelled from the class. 9. Disability Accommodations: If you are a student with a verified disability, please give to your professor, the LETTER OF ACCOMMODATION provided by Student Disability Services. Students who have a disability, or think they have a disability (e.g. psychiatric, attentional, learning, vision, hearing, physical, or systemic), are invited to contact Sandy Rogelberg, Manager of Student Disability Services for a confidential discussion. The Office of Student Disability Services is located in Dana 014 (in the Center for Academic Success) or contact at 704337-2508 or at rogelbes@queens.edu. Additional information is available at the SDS website: http://www.queens.edu/studentlife/resources/disability.asp.

4 10. Grading: You will receive feedback and a grade on each assignment completed. Final grades will be calculated by summing your numerical grades and assigning the appropriate letter grade. The grading scale is as follows: A B C D F 100-90 89-80 79-70 69-60 59 and below

11. Graded Assignments: Exam #1: 20% You will take a midterm exam. This test includes material from all of the chapters, supplement readings, and class lectures during the time period specified on the syllabus. Critical Analysis Papers30% (3 papers @ 10%each) Analysis papers will provide you an opportunity to critically reflect, analyze, and apply the material we learn in class to real-life organizational settings. In total, there will be three analysis papers that ask you to address a particular topic of importance to communication and organizational theory. Prompts for the analysis papers will be provided in class and posted on Moodle. Papers should be no shorter than 3 pages and no longer than 4 pages and should adhere to the standards of good writing and APA format. In addition, be prepared to orally share your analyses with the class as the papers will often be used as a starting point for discussion. Theoretical Analysis and Digital Presentation (40% Total20% Annotated Bibliography and 20% Digital Analysis) The goal of this assignment is to help you use a communication theory to make sense of a particular organizational communication issue, idea, problem, crisis, etc., of your choice. This theoretical analysis will include an annotated bibliography, including at least 6 academic sources per the chosen theory and a digital presentation that showcases your application of the theory to a particular communication issue, text, problem, etc. Participation10% Your participation grade is partly based on your active engagement as assessed by the quality (relevant, course driven, thoughtful) of in-class discussion and outof-class Twitter participation in which I expect you to apply theoretical concepts to unfolding organizational communication issues, processes, theories, etc.

Tentative Date Syllabus (*subject to change)

Wed. Jan. 18

Introduction to Course Introduction to Organizational Communication Pre Modern and Modern Mindsets For January 26, Read: Eisenberg, Goodall & Trethewey: Ch.s 1 & 3 (pp. 59-70) Morgan, Mechanization Takes Command (Moodle) Crawford, The Separation of Thinking from Doing (Moodle) Stores Count Seconds At Starbucks

Wed. Jan. 25

Early Theoretical Perspectives Scientific Management/Classical Management/Bureaucracy Read (for Feb. 1): Eisenberg, Goodall & Trethewey Ch. 3 (pp. 7079) Miller, Ch.s 2 & 3 (Moodle) Watch: Daniel Pink, What Motivates Us Alain de Botton, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work (Moodle) Mathew Crawford, Work, Leisure, and Full Engagement (Moodle) Section (p. 40-48) from Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life by Albert Borgmann (Moodle)

Wed. Feb. 1

Early Theoretical Perspectives: Human Relations and Human Resources Read (for Feb. 8): Eisenberg, Goodall & Trethewey Ch. 3 (pp. 7995) Morgan, Ch. 3 (Moodle) Weick (1995), Ch. 1 & 2 (Moodle) Weick (1993), The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster (Moodle) So Were All in Agreement Analysis Paper #1 Assigned

Wed. Feb. 8

Contemporary Approaches (Systems Theory, Learning Organizations, and Sensemaking) Read (for Feb. 15): Eisenberg, Goodall & Trethewey, Ch. 4 Gibson & Papa (2000) (Moodle) Van Maanen, Smile Factory (Moodle) Morgan, Ch. 5 (Moodle) When Legends Leave Analysis Paper #1 Due

Wed. Feb. 15

Organizational Culture and Assimilation

Wed. Feb. 22

Midterm Exam Read (for Feb. 29): Eisenberg, Goodall & Trethewey, Ch. 5 Deetz (1992), Corporate Colonization (Moodle) Foucalt, Panopticism Cheney (2006) Ch 9, Power and Control in Organizational Life (Moodle) Pierce, T., & Dougherty (2002), The Construction, Enactment, and Maintenance of Power-As-Domination (Moodle)

Wed. Feb 29

Critical Approaches to Organizing Discuss Annotated Bibliography and PowerPoint Presentation Read (for March 14): Eisenberg, Goodall & Trethewey, Ch. 6 Spradlin (1998), The Price of Passing Violanti, M. T. (1997), Men Will Be Boys and Analysis Paper #2 Assigned

Wed.

March 7

SPRING BREAK

Wed. March 14

Critical ApproachesGender and Identity Read (for March 21): Cheney, Christensen & Zorn, Ch. 5 (Moodle) Burke, The Rhetorical Situation (Moodle) Cheney (1983) The Rhetoric of Identification (see Moodle) Living by the Book of Apple Analysis Paper #2 Due

Wed. March 21

Identity, Identification and Division in Organizational Life Read (by March 28): Eisenberg, Goodall & Trethewey, Ch. 8 Who Will Be The Next Steve Jobs? The End of the Performance Review? The C.E.O. in Politics America Isnt a Corporation

Wed. March 28

Identity, Identification, and Division in Organizational Life/ Communication and Leadership Analysis Paper #3 Assigned Read (by April 3): Fisher, Narrative Paradigm (Moodle) Lives Worth Living in a Secular Age by Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Kelly (Moodle) The Secular Prophet One-Page Theory Proposal Due Narrative Theory: The Self in Organizations and the Search for Meaning Read (by April 10): Tracy (Moodle) Eisenberg, Goodall & Trethewey Ch. 7 (pp. 206-231) TBA Read: The Rise of the New Groupthink Read: When a Facebook Rant Gets You Fired Analysis #3 Due

Wed. April 3

Wed. April 10

Emotions and Burnout/Teams and Collaboration Read (by April 17): The Entrepreneurial Generation TBA

Wed. April 17

The Entrepreneurial Self Annotated Bibliographies Due

Wed. April 24

Digital Presentations (Final Exam Period)