What is a Theory? Contemporary Organizational Communication

What is a Theory? “An organized set of concepts, explanations, and principles of some aspect of human experience” (Littlejohn & Foss, 2005, p. 17). A plausible explanation for a phenomena

What is a Theory? “A theory is a way of seeing and thinking about the world” (Deetz, 1992). A theory is a lens

What is a Theory? Theories are constructed by people Theories emerge out of the research and the deep thinking of people, often scholars Generally, theories are built upon (or are the reactions to) the earlier theories of others

What is a Theory? Different theories involve different aspects of an object or a phenomena. For example: Broad view View of one detail Historical view Process view

Statue of Liberty View from ground up View from far away

Statue of Liberty View from inside the statue

Statue of Liberty An historical view of the statue

Statue of Liberty Symbolic view

Organizational Communication Theory

Communication Theories about communication in organizations are often grouped within in three broad categories AKA: Three theoretical perspectives

Theoretical Perspectives Traditional: Organizations are objects that can be studied and observed Interpretive: Organizations are shared experiences of those who construct them Critical: Organizations are instruments of power and control

Communication Theories The textbook organizes various theories about communication within organizations under the umbrellas of these three perspectives Traditional Interpretive Critical

Example - Meetings Let’s examine the topic of meetings in organizations You might look at this topic from one of the three theoretical perspectives

Meetings - Traditional View Organizations are objects that can be studied and observed What was included in the agenda? What action items resulted from the meeting? Where can the minutes be found?

Meetings - Interpretive View Organizations are shared experiences of those who construct them Why was the meeting necessary? How did participants perceive the usefulness of the meeting? What was the tone of the meeting?

Meetings – Critical View Organizations are instruments of power and control Who dominated the meeting? How were differing views handled? Which participants were silent?

Meetings Communication involving office meetings was examined Each perspective drove different questions Varying theories would emerge out of attempts to answer those questions

What is a Theory? Theories help us to understand and make sense of the world around us Different perspectives are the foundations for different theories Perspectives are not wrong or right…just different from each other!