1. Critical Theory of Communication Approach to Organizations*
07/16/96
Critical Theory of Communication Approach to Organizations
Of Stanley Deetz in
Em Griffin, A First Look at Communication Theory (4th ed.)
5/5/2019 *

2. *
07/16/96
CLICKER
Deetz views multinational corporations such as GM, AT&T, IBM, Time-Warner, and Amoco, as the dominant force in society;
A = TRUE
B = FALSE
5/5/2019 *

3. *
07/16/96
CLICKER
Deetz challenges the view that communication is the transmission of information (the conduit model);
A = TRUE
B = FALSE
5/5/2019 *

4. *
07/16/96
CLICKER
According to Deetz’s view, language does not represent things that already exist, language takes part in creating reality;
A = TRUE
B = FALSE
5/5/2019 *

5. CLICKER THE APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT THAT DEETZ FAVORS IS: A = STRATEGY;
B = CONSENT;
C = INVOLVEMENT;
D = PARTICIPATION;
5/5/2019

6. Corporate Colonization of Everyday Life*
07/16/96
Corporate Colonization of Everyday Life
Deetz views multinational corporations such as GM, AT&T, IBM, Time-Warner, and Amoco, as the dominant force in society;
The multinational corporations are seen as more powerful than the church, state or family in their influence of individuals’ lives;
For instance, over 90 % of mass media outlets--newspapers, broadcast, cable, telephone lines, and satellites--are owned by just a handful of corporations;
5/5/2019 *

7. *
07/16/96
Critical
Deetz’s theory of communication is critical in that he wants to critique the easy assumption that “what’s good for General Motors is good for the country;”
Deetz wants to examine communication practices in organizations that undermine fully representative decision making, thus reducing the quality, innovation, and fairness of company policy;
5/5/2019 *

8. Information versus Communication*
07/16/96
Information versus Communication
Deetz challenges the view that communication is the transmission of information (the conduit model);
Implicit in this model of transmission is the idea of an independent reality [World View I], one that is referred to by words that represent those things;
5/5/2019 *

9. *
07/16/96 :
A CONDUIT OR TRANSMISSION MODEL
5/5/2019 *

10. Information versus Communication*
07/16/96
Information versus Communication
Deetz sees the belief in a transmission (conduit) model as part of perpetuating corporate dominance;
As examples, the annual report of the corporation is presented as facts that stand apart from human decisions;
Instead, Deetz points out that what seems to be value-free information is really meaning in formation;
5/5/2019 *

11. Information versus Communication*
07/16/96
Information versus Communication
In place of the information model, Deetz offers a communication model that regards language as the principal medium through which social reality is produced and reproduced;
[DOES THIS IDEA SOUND FAMILIAR TO YOU? IT SHOULD. What comes to mind here is the Semiotic Tradition, Symbolic Interactionism and Constructivism];
5/5/2019 *

12. Information versus Communication*
07/16/96
Information versus Communication
According to Deetz’s view, language does not represent things that already exist, language takes part in creating reality;
5/5/2019 *

13. Information versus Communication*
07/16/96
Information versus Communication
People who adopt the language of big business may not be aware that they are putting corporate values into play;
For instance, “the bottom line” (an economic metaphor) is not necessarily the most important thing, there may be non-financial considerations to take into account;
5/5/2019 *

14. *
07/16/96
Communication & Power
Deetz thinks of communication as ongoing social construction (like Pearce and Cronen, chapter 5);
But Deetz differs in adding the issue of power as central;
For Deetz, the fundamental issue is control and how different groups are represented in decision-making;
5/5/2019 *

15. Overt control Covert control Stakeholder democracy in action*
07/16/96
Free expression but no voice in decisions
Overt control
Stakeholder democracy in action
Covert control
5/5/2019 *

16. Strategy: Overt Control*
07/16/96
Strategy: Overt Control
Managerialism: discourse based on “a kind of systematic logic, a set of routine practices, and ideology;”
It comes down to control;
Choice is limited to loyalty or exit;
Regardless of a company’s product line or service, “control is the management product and is most clearly the one on which individual advancement rests.”
Efficiency becomes control as the key;
5/5/2019 *

17. *
07/16/96
Control
Nowhere is the quest for control more apparent than in the corporate aversion for public conflict;
Managers are rewarded for “putting out fires,” “running a tight ship,” or “making things run smoothly;”
5/5/2019 *

18. Consent: Covert Control Without Objection*
07/16/96
Consent: Covert Control Without Objection
Consent is when employees willingly give loyalty to the organization without getting much in return;
The employee actively, though unknowingly, “is complicit in her or his own victimization”;
The force of an organizational practice is strongest when no one even thinks about it [“That’s the way it’s done around here”];
5/5/2019 *

19. INVOLVEMENT: FREE EXPRESSION OF IDEAS*
07/16/96
INVOLVEMENT: FREE EXPRESSION OF IDEAS
Shifting from the Managerial Control side of the figure on Organizational Practices to the Co-Determination side, is a shift from autocracy to liberal democracy;
Deetz says “the right of expression appears more central than the right to be informed or to have an effect;”
5/5/2019 *

20. INVOLVEMENT: FREE EXPRESSION OF IDEAS*
07/16/96
INVOLVEMENT: FREE EXPRESSION OF IDEAS
Many managers use these open sessions as a way to let employees blow off steam;
When workers find out that their ideas aren’t represented in the final decision, they quickly become cynical about the process;
5/5/2019 *

21. Participation: Stakeholder Democracy in Action*
07/16/96
Participation: Stakeholder Democracy in Action
Deetz believes that joint, open decisions in the workplace are possible;
One of the goals of his theory is to reclaim the possibility of open negotiations of power;
5/5/2019 *

22. Participation Expand the list of people who should have a say:*
07/16/96
Participation
Expand the list of people who should have a say:
investors
workers
consumers
suppliers
host communities
greater society and the world community
5/5/2019 *

23. *
07/16/96
Participation
Deetz believes that those who are affected by corporate decisions have a say;
He sees no legitimate basis for privileging one group of stakeholders over another;
5/5/2019 *

24. *
07/16/96
Participation
Deetz maintains that managerialism impedes democratic stakeholder participation through systematically distorted communication;
Systematic distortion operates through norms and expectations--it is subtle, e.g., arbitrary authority relations within an organization, suppression of conflict;
5/5/2019 *

25. *
07/16/96
Participation
Deetz would have managers take the role of mediators rather than persuaders, coordinating the conflicting interests of all parties affected by corporate decisions (p. 268);
Deetz suggests management start by gettting to know workers;
5/5/2019 *

26. Saturn: A Model of Stakeholder Participation*
07/16/96
Saturn: A Model of Stakeholder Participation
Saturn does much of what Deetz recommends:
Every member thinks and acts like an ownerl;
Management of work is reintegrated with the doing of work;
Quality information is widely distributed;
Social structure grows from the bottom rather than enforced from the top, i.e., work teams with authority;
5/5/2019 *

27. *
07/16/96
Critique
If everything is in play (constructivism), then do we have a right to participate in decisions that affect us;
Tongue-in-cheek summary:”If we just didn’t find it natural and right and unavoidable to hand power over to managers, everything would be very different and our problems would be solved” (quoting McPhee, p. 269);
5/5/2019 *