Theories

							    Theoretical Foundations


Communication For Business
     Professionals
      Foundations of Work and
      Organizational Structures

• Nomadic Society
  Economic structures – Communal
  Life Span – short, not sweet
  Work – little specialization – everybody works!
  Leadership – tribal, religious, physical strength
  Social Networks – Extended family – small groups
  Education – roles assigned by community,
         learn by doing/observation
  Leisure time – very little
• Agricultural Revolution
 (@8,000 B.C.E.)


   Economic structures – Barter/exchange/money
   Life Span – longer – store food, shelter, etc
   Work – some specialization – not everyone was a good farmer
   Leadership – class/land ownership/inheritance
   Social Networks – Family names – larger
          communities – need for large families
   Education – roles assigned by status/position
   Leisure time – only little except for landowners,
          religious classes, and high status families
• Industrial Revolution (@1750 C.E.)
    Economic structures –monetary systems
    Life Span – for some, real improvement
    Work – specialization “blue collar” – child labor
    Leadership – accumulation of wealth
    Social Networks – growth of urbanization
    Education – limited advanced education
    Leisure time – more for many – “normal” work
           week – time off etc
• Information Age (@1955 C.E.)
    Economic structures – service/info economy
    Life Span – dramatic increase
    Work – White collar service-oriented
    Leadership – knowledge based accumulation
    Social Networks – de-urbanization – suburbs
    Education – advanced education
    Leisure time – DISNEYLAND!!!!!! Sports etc
    Definition of Organizations

• Consciously formed by people
• Goal-oriented
• Boundary maintaining
• Meant to continue but have a life-cycle
• Operates in an environment
• Traits: a structure, an order or ranks,
  behavior norms and rules, membership,
  communication systems, a history/rituals,
  operates as a system
• Has internal and external communication
  needs
• Business? Not-For-Profits? Government?
  Impact of Early Observers
  of the Workplace
• No theory/little education on how to
  manage workers or run organizations
• Adam Smith – early 18th Century –
  father of capitalism
• Karl Marx 1850’s – wandered Europe –
  what do you think he saw in the
  workplace????
  – Child labor – brutal and unsafe conditions –
    no health benefits – no education for
    workers children etc. (“Les Miserables”)
  Impact of Early Observers
  of the Workplace

• Marx became a severe critic of
  industrialization, capitalism,
  religious institutions and
  advocated revolution

• Socialism/Marxist-Leninism
  emerges in the 20th century as
  an organizational alternative
  Classical/Scientific Management

• Basic Assumption - workers are motivated
  by pay

• Organizations viewed in mechanistic fashion
  – workers as “cogs in the machine” you turn
  it on, you turn it off

• Organization strives to maximize output with
  minimum investment; efficiency/productivity

• Standardization and planning are key
  Classical/Scientific Management


• Key invention of Scientific Management – the
  Time Clock

• Language of Scientific Management - Chain
  of Command, Division of Labor, Management
  decides, labor enacts, Management
  Prerogatives.

• Frederick Winslow Taylor - 1911 -design of
  work based upon time/motion studies,
  produced formulas, etc. to reduce work to a
  science, standardized tools and routines,
  matched employee with job – application of
  scientific method to the workplace (was he a hero??)
• Humanistic Theories of Organizations
  – Human Relations Theory
    • The Hawthorne Studies
    • Chester Barnard
    • McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Theory X and Theory Y: Douglas McGregor

   • Theory X – Scientific
     Management
     – Three Assumptions
       • The average human being has an inherent
         dislike of work and will avoid it.
       • Most people must be coerced, controlled,
         directed, and threatened with punishment
       • The average human being prefers to be
         directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has
         relatively little ambition, wants security.
         Most workers without H.S.
Theory Y - Human Relations
– Assumptions
   • Physical and mental effort in work is similar to play / rest.

   • External control and the threat of punishment are not the only strategies

   • Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with
     their achievement

   • The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to
     accept but to seek responsibility

   • The capacity to exercise a high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and
     creativity in the solution of organizational problems is widely distributed
     in the population – better educated workforce – H.S. diplomas common

   • Intellectual potentialities of the average human being are underutilized

– A more positive perspective of human nature
– The KEY to control and quality production is commitment to
  organizational objectives
           Principles of Human Relations
           Theory
• Human relations theory is characterized by a shift in
  emphasis from TASK to WORKER
• Go beyond physical contributions to include creative,
  cognitive, and emotional aspects of workers
• Based on a more dyadic (two-way) conceptualization of
  communication.
• SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS are at the heart of
  organizational behavior--effectiveness is contingent on
  the social well-being of workers (BENEFITS!!!!!)
• Workers communicate opinions, complaints, suggestions,
  and feelings to increase satisfaction and production
• Origins (Hawthorne Studies & work of Chester Barnard)
• Human Relations School of Management - Elton Mayo
  (Harvard
       Human Resources Theory/
          Org Development

• Formal vs. Informal Organization
  – Formal Organization - a system of consciously
    coordinated activities or forces of two or more
    persons. (definite, structured, common
    purpose)
     • Persons are able to communicate with one another
     • Willing to contribute action
     • To accomplish a common purpose
– Informal Organization - based on myriad
  interactions that take place throughout an
  organization’s history.
  •   Indefinite
  •   Structureless
  •   No definite subdivisions of personnel
  •   Results: customs, mores, folklore, institutions,
      social norms, ideals -- may lead to formal
      organization
• Cooperation
  – Necessary component of formal
    organization
  – The expression of the net
    satisfactions or dissatisfactions
    experienced or anticipated by each
    individual in comparison with those
    experienced or anticipated through
    alternative opportunities