Organizational Communication Final

Front 1

According to Media Richness theory, please select the most appropriate order of media from “richest” to “leanest.”

Back 1

face-to-face, telephone, memo

Front 2

Differentiate between the types of technology used—particularly newer organizational technologies.

Back 2

E-mail, cell phone, text messaging, web/video conferencing, intranets, fax, IM, WWW

Front 3

List the different types of communication goals AND explain how the different goals of a communicator influence the sequence or media selected.

Back 3

-inform, persuade,document, social, entertainment(See ppt tech 2, slides 5,6,7)

Front 4

A group decision support system (GDSS) can facilitate participation during decision making processes because it supports this type of interaction (that email, chat, voicemail, and face-to-face do not):

Back 4

Anonymous interaction

Front 5

Explain what is Stephen and Davis’ (2008) multicommunicating

Back 5

-Multicommunicating is defined as engaging in at least two overlapping,
simultaneous conversations with different partners, something that happens
frequently with telephone calls and IM (Reinsch, Turner, & Tinsley, 2008).
Multicommunicating is a type of multitasking that focuses on multiple
interactions with others. Multicommunicating is a very common practice at
work; Turner and Reinsch (2007) found “business communicators can and
do intentionally allocate their personal attention across a number of ongoing,
interleaved conversations” (p. 52).

Front 6

Social Information Processing Theory has unique and relevant contributions to the literature on using communication technology in the workplace. Which of the following is the key contribution.

Back 6

Co-workers can influence how you use communication technology.

Front 7

Explain what is workplace bullying and provide an example.

Back 7

-Workplace Bullying is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms:
 Verbal abuse
 Offensive conduct/behaviors (including nonverbal) which are threatening, humiliating, or intimidating
 Work interference — sabotage — which prevents work from getting done

Front 8

Explain the major considerations for media richness theory – feedback, channel, richness, and best in what contexts.

Back 8

Must consider if there is equivocality (ambiguity) in the message to determine if you should use rich or lean media (channel). Also must consider the necessity to receive instant feedback in the given situation.
The media richness theory is on the slides.

Front 9

Describe what makes social information processing theory different from media richness and the dual capacity model.

Back 9

Social information processing suggests that there is problems with media richness model because it “assumes rationality.” Social information processing tells us that people are socially influenced by others opinions about different channels.

Front 10

According to the social information processing model, technology use is a function of multiple factors including social information. Social information refers specifically to:

Back 10

past experience and knowledge

Front 11

Based on the article, explain who is involved in workplace bullying

Back 11

-Males females, supervisors non supervisors, multiple employees, solo employees. Basically it says everyone does.

Front 12

The dual capacity model made a unique contribution to our understanding of how media is used. What is considered this theory’s unique contribution?

Back 12

Media have symbolic meanings associated with them.

Front 13

Describe the Dual Capacity Model’s unique contributions to the study of organizational technology.

Back 13

Dual Capacity Model proposes that every organization medium has the ability to carry two kinds of messages, data-carrying capacity (the degree to which a medium is able to effectively and efficiently convey task-relevant data) and symbol-carrying capacity (a company that values “personal touch” might send a thank you letter, even when an e-mail might be more efficient).

Front 14

Someone using Feminist Theory to study sexual harassment would be most likely to:

Back 14

Believe that women in organizations can become marginalized because of male-dominated structures.

Front 15

Describe the concepts of permeability and flexibility from Cowan & Hoffman (2007)

Back 15

-Flexiblity: degree to which physical and temporal markers between boarders are movable.
-Permeability: emotions, concerns, attitudes spill over into other domains

Front 16

Describe the potential problems/issues with technology—overload, introducing new technology, changes to the organizational structure…

Back 16

Effects on Communication Content
Ex. E-mail would be missing many vocal and nonverbal cues.
Ex. Junk e-mail? Flaming and trolling



Effects on Communication Patterns
New technologies do not typically replace the old ways of communicating but rather supplement them.
All these new ways of communicating might give us too much information, we feel like we are “drowning in data.”



Effects on Organizational Structure
It has created the new kind of organization. “Virtual organization.” This allows different work to be done at different times. Also it allows for “virtual teams,” which consists of different people working in different geographical locations.

Front 17

Sally is a new member of a team that has worked together for about six months. They all come to work at 6am and leave between 5 and 6pm. Sally needs to drop off her children at daycare and it does not open until 7am. Therefore, Sally comes to work around 7:30am and stays until 6:30pm. Sally loves coffee and she runs in the door to get a fresh cup each morning. Her teammates decide that they will dump the coffee pot promptly at 7:15am to show Sally that they think she is getting to work too late. This is an example of:

Back 17

A team using concertive control to make Sally change her behavior

Front 18

Describe the different types of flexibility suggested by Cowan & Hoffman (2007)

Back 18

-Time flex: approach where time was flexible, think about alternative time and schedules
-Space flex: think about working from home
-Eval flex: eval not based on time, but the job done and quality of work.
Compensation flex: clearing dividing work from home, getting paid for what you do leave it at work.

Front 19

Explain how the various theories use the concept of “Power.”

Back 19

Critical theorists see power as “a defining, ubiquitous feature of organizational life.”
Traditional approach considers power to be a relatively stable entity that people or groups posses.
Symbological approach views power as a product of communicative interactions and relationships.

Front 20

Explain the difference between Ideology and Hegemony.

Back 20

Ideology refers to the “taken for granted assumptions about reality that influence perceptions of situations and events.”
Hegemony refers to a process in which a dominant group leads another group to accept subordination as the norm.

Front 21

Susan is the only female firefighter in her department and often experiences sexual harassment on the job by her male coworkers. When asked about the appropriateness of this behavior, Susan sighs, stating that, “Boys will be boys; What can I do about it, anyway?” According to the critical approach, Susan is:

Back 21

ideologically reproducing the organizational power structure

Front 22

Describe Kirby’s (2006) two implications (a) and (b) of the appropriation of family-like roles by organizations.

Back 22

-managerialism that seeks effiency productivity, and loyalty from employees.
-ethic of paternalism where an individual’s right and capacity to make a decision is taken away.

Front 23

• List Barnard's (1938) three elements of organization AND explain how communication links all three together.

Back 23

Communication, common purpose, willingness to serve. You need communication to start with each of the others.

Front 24

Explain Redding's (1972) five characteristics of an ideal organizational climate.

Back 24

-Supportiveness- willingness to help and support employees

-participative decision making- letting people help with the decision making.

-Trust confidence and credibility--Openess and Candor- be open to criticism

-emphasis on high performance goals-Avoid the country club atmosphere.

Front 25

• List the five principles of Nucor's communication philosophy and create examples for each principle.

Back 25

1. Every employee must be made aware of exactly what is
expected of him and her-and those expectations Me "not low" at
Nucor . (Women are now entering Nucor's workforce; Iverson claims
they make the best crane operators.)

2. Every employee must have an understanding of the rewards,
and these are formalized in writing.

3, Every employee has to know where to go to get help.

4. Every employee is encouraged to participate, to offer his or
her ideas on all aspects of Nucor , including production.

5. Every employee deserves feedback on "how I, my group, and
the company are doing:'

Front 26

You are working in an organization where most of the upper level managers have families. They reassure other organizational members that better benefits for employee’s children are better for everybody than getting a bonus. You and other organizational members are single but feel like you must go along because they said the majority would benefit. What is this called?

Back 26

Hegemony

Front 27

Which of the following issues might best be examined by a critical theorist?

Back 27

Lack of voice/influence of temporary workers

Front 28

Describe concertive control

Back 28

Concertive control consists of three parts: Control (Simple -- Technological -- Bureaucratic -- Concertive (team-based)), Identification, and Discipline. Definitions of these three parts are on page 110-112.

Front 29

Describe the studies cited in the textbook regarding feminist theory

Back 29

The “Framing” of Sexual Harassment - Clair’s research suggests that when women talk about sexual harassment they often “normalize” it and suppress further discussion of harassment as an oppressive feature of the workplace.


Discourse at a woman-owned business - Edley found that while many woman-owned businesses promoted the idea of a cooperative and flexible workplace, they did not really act on it. Also she found that communication in these organizations was often marked by emotion and conflict, such interaction was often labeled as simply the way women talk. Despite these problems, the rewards for women was they saw themselves as working in an ideal workplace in which they could speak and act as women.



Disciplined Bodies - Basically this research suggest that women must have a certain shape and size, and must present themselves in a certain way.

Front 30

Describe the glass ceiling effect and sexual harassment.

Back 30

The glass ceiling is a concept popularized in the 1980s to describe a barrier that is so subtle that it is transparent, yet so strong that it prevents women and minorities from moving up in the management hierarchy.

Front 31

Describe the difference between prejudice and discrimination.

Back 31

Prejudice refers to negative attitudes toward an organization member based on his or her culture group identity, and discrimination refers to observable behavior for the same reason.

Front 32

Describe the four relational barriers to diversity in organizations.

Back 32

1. Limited access to informal networks
2. lack of mentors
3. Tokenism
4. lack of visible assignments.

Front 33

Explain what is transformational leadership and how it is different from managing.

Back 33

Transformational leaders strive to change,
elevate, and unify the goals of followers as well
as inspire them to pursue challenging and
shared objectives. – Bass 1985


Differs in long term vision inspiring not managing macro not micro

Front 34

Explain what is strategic ambiguity.

Back 34

Putnam and Sorenson (1982) define ambiguity both in terms of message attributes which means lack of specific details, abstract language, absence of a course of action and receiver interpretation perceived equivocality of the message. This can also be a negative definition due to the fact that the meaning of the message can be perceived differently by people

Front 35

Explain what is crisis communication.

Back 35

crisis communication is to address the need for organizations to respond to a crisis by choosing the most appropriate response.

Front 36

Explain why trust and reputation are important consideration during crisis communication.

Back 36

Trust is a very important element in crisis communication because without trust between employees, the crisis can become a disaster.
Reputation management is vital to a company’s success. Reputation management is how a company changes the public’s opinion from negative to positive (n.a, 2009).

Front 37

3 strategies of strategic ambiguity

Back 37

§ Unification of Diversity

§ Facilitates Organizational Change“

§ Amplified Existing Source Attributions and Preserves Privileged Positions

Front 38

Four relational barriers to diversity in organizations are…

Back 38

Limited access to informal networks, lack of mentors, tokenism, and lack of visible assignments.

Front 39

Sexual harassment refers to…

Back 39

Unwelcome sexual advances or sexual innuendo in the workplace.

Front 40

Both John and Mary excel at their jobs and have been rated similarly by their coworkers. Their supervisor Jake decides to assign a highly visible, rewarding project to John rather than to Mary who is a Hispanic single mother. Jake’s action could be an example of…

Back 40

Discrimination

Front 41

According to Pettigrew, the five conditions necessary for intergroup contact (interaction) to reduce prejudice across groups are equal group status, common goals, intergroup cooperation, authority support, and...

Back 41

the opportunity to become friends

Front 42

Intergroup prejudice and conflict is ALWAYS reduced through the contact (interaction) of members from both groups.

Back 42

False

Front 43

List AND explain the five necessary conditions to reduce intergroup conflict

Back 43

1. Equal group status
2. Common goals
3. Intergroup cooperation
4. Authority support
5. Opportunity to become friends

Front 44

Explain the difference between emotional labor and emotional work

Back 44

Emotional Work - genuine emotion on the job. It involves people who are not on frontline service jobs, but instead hold professional positions such as health care, education, or human service.

Emotional Labor - refers to jobs in which workers are expected to display certain feelings in order to satisfy organizational role expectations.

Front 45

Name Waldron’s (2000) four sources of emotion at work

Back 45

1. The tension between the public and private in work relationships
2. Relational networks and emotional “buzzing.”
3. Conflicting Allegiances
4. Emotional rights and obligations at work

Definitions found on pages 201-03

Front 46

Explain what is emotional intelligence

Back 46

Emotional intelligence suggests that there are some people who are naturally better at understanding and managing emotional content of workplace relationships and that emotional intelligence is also a skill that can be developed through training. It involves both a clear understanding of the emotional needs of the situation and the self-awareness and self-control necessary for using the right emotional display to cope with the situation.

Front 47

Cowan and Hoffman (2007) suggest that organizational members balance work and other aspects of their life through flexibility and permeability. PERMEABILITY refers to...

Back 47

the spillover of concerns, emotions, and attitudes from one domain to another.

Front 48

Cowan and Hoffman (2007) suggest that organizational members balance work and other aspects of their life through flexibility and permeability. FLEXIBILITY refers to..

Back 48

the degree to which temporal and physical markers between domains are movable.

Front 49

The four different types of flexibility suggested by Cowan and Hoffman (2007) are...

Back 49

Time flexibility, space flexibility, evaluation flexibility, and compensation flexibility.

Front 50

Kirby (2006) describes two family-like roles that organizations have appropriated. These two roles are a)..., and b)...

Back 50

a) the concern for physical and mental health, and b) the promotion of spirituality.

Front 51

Kirby’s (2006) two implications of the appropriation family-like role by organizations "reflect the colonization of the life world" (p. 478) and are...a)...and b)...

Back 51

a) an ideology that seeks efficiency, productivity, and loyalty from employees, and b) a paternalism that takes away the right and ability of employees to make decisions.

Front 52

Describe five emotional display rules (Table 11.1)

Back 52

1. “Express emotions in a professional manner”
2. “Express emotions to improve situations.”
3. “Express emotions to the right people.”
4. “Express emotions to help individuals.”
5. “Do not manage emotions for personal benefit to the detriment of others.”
6. “The expression of certain emotions is always inappropriate.”

Definitions of these rules are on page 204.

Front 53

Describe three stressors that lead to burnout

Back 53

Workload, role conflict, role ambiguity, life events, home/work conflict.

Front 54

Explain the difference between emotional contagion and empathic concern

Back 54

Emotional contagion is an affective response in which an observer experiences emotions parallel to those of another person. (Feeling with someone)


Empathetic concern is an affective response in which an observer has a nonparallel emotional response. (Feeling for someone while not feeling the same emotion).

Front 55

Explain what is supervisor communication competence.

Back 55

The supervisor's ability to understand and be understood verbally and nonverbally by others.

Front 56

List different ways in which we can improve supervisor communication competence.

Back 56

• Open communication opportunities (open door policy)
• Learning/utilizing better listening skills
• Receiving/utilizing input from others

Front 57

Explain what is sustainability.

Back 57

Sustainability is the need to make things better like creating recycling programs, creating less waste, conserving electricity, and utilizing recycled materials to allow us to maintain our environment for a longer period of time.

Front 58

Explain the three pillars of sustainability.

Back 58

Social, Economic, and Environment

Front 59

Explain what is social identity theory (SIT) and how it relates to organizational identification.

Back 59

Essentially, Organizational Identification is just one of the many ways human beings create their Social Identity; the way people perceive themselves based on the groups they belong to such as their family, friends, religious and charitable groups, clubs, and, in this case, the organization

Front 60

Which of the following jobs is the most likely to involve emotional labor?

Back 60

Wait Staff

Front 61

Which of the following jobs is the most likely to involve emotional work?

Back 61

Nurse

Front 62

Janet gets better tips than the other wait staff at the restaurant where she works because she is aware of the correct emotional displays required in different situations and she is also aware of her own emotional displays. In other words, she has higher __________ than her peers.

Back 62

Emotional Intelligence

Front 63

John has been working 80-hour weeks for several months and cannot take it anymore. A high workload is…

Back 63

A stressor that leads to burnout

Front 64

The three major functions of social support are...

Back 64

Emotional, informational and instrumental

Front 65

Workplace bullying refers to...

Back 65

a pattern of hostile messages and abusive behaviors persistently targeted at one or more persons in work settings

Front 66

Behaviors that are considered bullying include...

Back 66

all of these answers are bullying behaviors.

Front 67

The main point in this article is that bullying...

Back 67

Is a communal phenomenon

Front 68

People in this position are more likely to be perceived as the perpetrator of bullying:

Back 68

Supervisors and managers

Front 69

Laissez-faire managers may...

Back 69

do nothing when bullying occurs