CRITICAL THEORY OF COMMUNICATION APPROACH TO ORGANIZATIONS Stanley Deetz

CRITICAL THEORY APPROACH Deetz has developed a critical communication theory to explore ways to ensure the financial health of corporations while increasing the representation of diverse—and often noneconomic—human interests. Dietz’s theory seeks to balance corporate and human interests

CRITICAL THEORY APPROACH Premise: corporations are political as well as economic institutions. Communication theory is used to -- diagnose distorted corporate decision making.

CRITICAL THEORY APPROACH Work places can be more productive and democratic through communication reforms. Corporate colonization of everyday life

CORPORATE COLONIATION Deetz shows that corporations have become political as well as economic institutions. The corporate executive suite is the place where most decisions are made regarding the use of natural resources, development of new technologies, product availability, and working relations among people.

CORPORATE COLONIATION Deetz says that corporations “control and colonize” modern life in ways that no government or public body ever thought possible. The fallout of corporate control is a sharp decrease in the human quality of life for the vast majority of citizens.

Information Versus Communication: A Difference That Makes a Difference Deetz warns that as long as we accept the notion that communication is merely the transmission of information, we will continue to perpetuate corporate dominance over every aspect of our lives. All corporate information is an outcome of political processes that are usually undemocratic and have consequences that usually hurt democracy.

Information Versus Communication: A Difference That Makes a Difference In place of the information model of messages, Deetz presents a communication model that regards language as the principal medium through which social reality is conveyed. “Language does not represent things that already exist. In fact, language is a part of the production of the thing that we treat as being self-evident and natural within our society.” (Deetz)

Information Versus Communication: A Difference That Makes a Difference Instead of asking What meanings are in people, Deetz asks, Whose meanings are in people? “The fundamental issue in my analysis is control and how different groups are represented in decision making…Since industrialization, managers in American corporations have primarily operated from a philosophy of control.” (Deetz)

Information Versus Communication: A Difference That Makes a Difference

Strategy—Overt Managerial Moves to Extend Control Individual managers are not the problem. The real culprit is managerialism. Managerialism is discourse based on “a kind of systematic logic, a set of routine practices, and ideology that values control above all else.” (Deetz) Stockholders want profits and workers desire freedom, but management craves control.

Consent—Willing Allegiance to Covert Control The force of an organizational practice is strongest when no one even thinks about it. Practices that have this taken-for-granted quality are often equated with common sense. Without a clear understanding that communication produces rather than reflects reality (the bottom half of figure), employees will unknowingly consent to the managerial mentality that wants to expand corporate control.

Involvement—Free Expression of Ideas, But No Voice Both in national politics and in corporate governance, meaningful democracy requires that people affected by decisions have forums at which they can discuss the issues and a voice in the final result. Forums provide the opportunity for involvement—the free expression of ideas.

Involvement—Free Expression of Ideas, But No Voice It means expressing interests that are freely and openly formed and also having those interests represented in joint decisions. People won’t have a voice if they regard communication as the transmission of information

Participation—Stakeholder Democracy in Action Deetz sees at least six groups of stakeholders with multiple needs and desires: Investors Workers Consumers Suppliers Host communities Greater society and the world community