The purpose of this course is to provide you with a closer examination of the taken-for-granted, communicative nature of organizational life. Readings, discussions and assignments will challenge you to think critically about the diverse perspectives people bring into organizations as they perform tasks and make sense out of their work experiences. We will focus on the role that communication plays in shaping both relationships and structures of organizing. As you prepare for your careers, this course will help you develop your critical thinking and writing skills of and about communication.
First, we will explore various approaches to studying organizational communication and discuss how these perspectives are a part of organizational life today. We will investigate these issues by progressing through a number of topics important to organizational communication (decision making, identification, teamwork, democracy, conflict, gender, race/class and emerging issues in the field).
Organizational communication is a complex phenomenon. Throughout the semester we will define communication in a number of ways, including: (a) tool or a "skill" used in interactions with co-workers or with customers, (b) a linkage creating information or relational networks between organizational actors, (c) a symbolic process or performance constructing organizational reality, and (d) a "voice" often silenced or needing to be heard in the organization. We will not only explore what organizational communication "is" but what it “could be” by challenging what scholars know about organizing and communicating today.
Students will identify and define primary concepts and apply them to discussions of real-world situations. As such, students are encouraged to share personal perspectives and experiences in class and use course concepts to evaluate their own organizational experiences as well as case studies.
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