MDSA01H3 Lecture 3: MDSA01 - Chapter-3
May 27, 2014
May 27, 2014
Organizational Ritual – attending weekly meetings (involve routine
Chapter 3 – Organizational Analysis
The Social Network was a success in the box office:
o
Marxist
as a big bidget motion picture released by a multinational corporation, the film followed
a clear logic of safety
had nothing to do with Facebook but simply the themes of friendship,
loyalty, jealousy, class and power
Media scholars employing an
Organizational
perspective seek to understand “why media organizations, a
specific medium, o the mass media institution produces the kinds of content it does”
o
Scholars understand that an organization is more than merely an assemblage of disparate parts
o
The manner in which media companies organize and divide labor directly influences the character of
content they produce
Organizational Theory: An Overview
Organizations
– a system or network of ordered relationships and coordinated activities directed toward
specific goals
o
Structure
– describes the underlying framework that shapes an organization over time, and includes
3 key elemtns
Hierarchy
– the specific arrangement of job roles and positions based on authority within an
organization (some groups have more deicision-making power than others
central to
creation and maintenance of corporate culture)
Differentiation & Specialization
– accounts for the division of companies into units,
departments, and positions, each of which performs specific tasks
•
Tasks require a unique set of skills and training therefore positions are filled by
“professionals”
•
Professionals
– individuals who possess expertise in a particular area or field that
allows them to accomplish the distinctive tasks of their position
Formalization
– the degree to which specific practices must conform to accepted
organizational and professional conventions
o
Process
– the actual substance erected upon the above framework; contents are always shaped and
thus constrained to some extent by the “container” (aka. Structure)
Actions and hevaiours are always constrained and limited by the principles of structure
(hierarchy, differentiation &specialization, formalization)
Organizational critic
interested in the precise ways that structure and process mutually
influence one another within a media organization
•
Analyzing communicative practices that occur within organizations and how those
practices create and maintain a particular type of organizational culture
Assessing Communicative Practices
Organizational culture
– the set(s) of norms and customs, artifacts and events, and values and assumptions
that emerge as a consequence of organizational members’ communicative practices (note: communicative
practices are dynamic, contingent, transactional, not static, not universal or bounded; continuous)
o
5 ways to study an organization’s culture:
1.
Performance
– expressive (i.e., productive/purposeful) displays that carry symbolic
significance (meaning/implication) in a particular context
4 types of organizational performances:
Ritual
– personal or organizational behaviours that members engage in on a
regular basis
Personal Ritual – drinking coffee while reading emails
behaviours that are expected within a workplace environment)
Sociality
– the codes of etiquette that are enacted with regard to friendliness,
small talk, joking, privacy within an organization
Politics
– performed differently in every organization and influence the type
and degree of independence, negotiating, and coalition building that are
acceptable
Enculturation
– communicative performances wherein the newcomer learns
the social knowledge and skills of the culture
2.
Narratives
– the stories members tell about their workplace experiences are another way to
evaluate the endless (re)creation of an organization’s culture
What does and does not get told speaks to an organization’s values and norms
Narratives can be:
Personal – individual subjective experiences
Collegial – stories told about other organizational members
Corporate – stories told about the organization itself
Narratives that glorify the success of an action or event invite emulation and those
that recount or accentuate failure sound a cautionary tone
3.
Textual
– written or electronic documents such as company bylaws, policy manuals,
procedure handbooks, training manuals, office memos, etc. it produces
Explicitly identifies what are considered to be acceptable and unacceptable actions
and activities within an organization
One way of understanding an organization’s culture is by examining the differences
and similarities between formal and informal texts between promoted/ authorized
views
4.
Management
– concerns how organizational culture is developed and directed by managers
for the purpose of improving operating efficiencies, enhancing the bottom line, creating
satisfied customers
5.
Technology
– examine the ways in which technology structures work activities, as well as
influences organizational members’ work roles and work relationships
Technology has fundamentally altered the skills required to perform some jobs
Studying performances, narratives, texts, management, and technology
ways for scholars to evaluate and
assess how communicative practices mediate the tension between structure and process within an
organization
Professional culture
– set of norms and customs, artifacts and events, values and assumptions that emerge
as a consequence of formal training (i.e., education, apprenticeships), membership and participation (i.e.
nurse associations), and recognition within a profession
Characteristics of Conventions:
Conventions
– describe the norms that govern the technical and creative choices made by workers in the
execution of their duties, art, or craft
o
If it were not for conventions, workers would not confront virtually infinite array of options in how
to carry out their job-related tasks
o
Conventions operate at various levels
unit or department level, corporate level, occupational or
professional level
Motivated
develop out of some pragmatic need even if that need is as simple as
efficiency or the desire for a sense of community, belonging, and group cohesion
Shared
for practices to function as norms, they must be internalized by other employees
therefore shared
Document Summary
Organizations a system or network of ordered relationships and coordinated activities directed toward specific goals: structure describes the underlying framework that shapes an organization over time, and includes. Hierarchy the specific arrangement of job roles and positions based on authority within an organization (some groups have more deicision-making power than others central to creation and maintenance of corporate culture) Differentiation & specialization accounts for the division of companies into units, departments, and positions, each of which performs specific tasks: tasks require a unique set of skills and training therefore positions are filled by. Organizational ritual attending weekly meetings (involve routine behaviours that are expected within a workplace environment) Sociality the codes of etiquette that are enacted with regard to friendliness, small talk, joking, privacy within an organization. Politics performed differently in every organization and influence the type and degree of independence, negotiating, and coalition building that are acceptable.
