Deck 21: Critical Theory of Communication in Organizations

Question 1

Deetz' communication model emphasizes:

A) Shannon and Weaver's theory that communication is the transmission of information.
B) language's role in shaping social reality.
C) gender and ethnic aspects of managerialism.
D) nonverbal elements of corporate culture.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Deetz' critical theory of communication:

A) emphasizes the structure of corporate culture.
B) requires that researchers observe, but not influence, the corporations they study.
C) suggests that belief will follow behavior.
D) seeks to balance corporate and human interests.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Encroachment of modern corporations into every area of life outside the workplace is called ________.

A) corporate colonization
B) discursive closure
C) codetermination
D) managerialism

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT one of the four different ways corporate decisions can be made?

A) strategy
B) involvement
C) critique
D) participation

Question 5

Through the process of consent, employees of a corporation:

A) reach the highest level of fulfillment.
B) are forced to follow the company's dictates or quit.
C) speak their minds openly, but do not participate in decision making.
D) accomplish the interests of management in the faulty attempt to fulfill their own interests.

Question 6

Deetz is convinced that meaningful democratic participation in corporate decision making:

A) is impossible in a capitalistic society.
B) benefits both the employees and the corporation.
C) systematically undermines managers' credibility.
D) is more important in the earlier stages of an organization than in its maturity.

Question 7

In the context of the four corporate practices for decision making, ________ refers to stakeholders' free expression of ideas that may, or may not, affect managerial decisions.

A) involvement
B) participation
C) consent
D) strategy

Question 8

Corporate decision processes that invite open dialogue among all stakeholders are called:

A) managerial control.
B) consent.
C) strategy.
D) codetermination.

Question 9

The process through which a corporation suppresses potential conflict is called:

A) managerialism.
B) corporate colonization.
C) discursive closure.
D) consent.

Question 10

According to Deetz, the process by which all stakeholders in an organization negotiate power and openly reach collaborative decisions is called ________.

A) attentive constructionism
B) discursive closure
C) corporate democracy
D) generative democracy

Question 11

The communication model is a view that communication is merely a conduit for the transmission of information about the real world.

Question 12

Systematically distorted communication is an open and deliberate process that involves employee participation in decision making.

Question 13

Deetz has developed a critical theory of communication aimed at ensuring the financial health of corporations while increasing the representation of diverse human interests.

Question 14

Unfortunately, the conduit model of communication has been largely discredited in organizations and in everyday life.

Question 15

Deetz' analysis of strategy, consent, involvement, and participation provides the core of his critique of managerialism.

Question 16

Codetermination represents the collaborative constructions of self, other, and the world.

Question 17

Through the process of consent, most employees are richly rewarded for their loyalty.

Question 18

If involvement does not lead to participation, it can create worker cynicism.

Question 19

Deetz envisions at least six classes of stakeholders with multiple needs and desires.

Question 20

Deetz believes that there is no legitimate basis for privileging one group of stakeholders over another.

Question 21

The ________ is a collaborative view of communication based in stakeholder conflict.

Question 22

The ________ model regards language as the principal medium to create and sustain reality.

Question 23

Managerialism promotes workers' unwitting consent through a process of ________.

Question 24

Discuss Deetz' claims that nature did not create corporations-we did.

Question 25

Based on your experience of corporate America, how realistic is Deetz' critical theory of organizational communication?

Question 26

Explain two of Deetz' four different ways a corporate decision is made. Be sure to compare how they are similar where they are divergent.

Question 27

Compare managerial control with codetermination.

Question 28

Consider an organization whose culture is known to you (your college or university, for example). Do the organization's managers/leaders/administrators practice discursive disclosure? What kinds of systematically distorted communication result?

Question 29

Focusing particularly on issues of communication, describe the major strengths and weaknesses of Deetz' concept of participation.

Question 30

Assuming the role of Stanley Deetz, write a response to Griffin's critique of the critical theory of communication in organizations.

Question 31

Is Deetz' contribution to communication studies truly a theory, or is it a political perspective (or, to use Griffin's phrases, an "approach to corporate decision making," a "reform agenda," "a positive alternative to managerialism," or a "critique")? Or is this distinction worth pursuing?

Question 32

How might Deetz interpret the dime-on-the-wall ritual in Dixie's classified advertising department described in the previous chapter? In general, how might Deetz respond to Pacanowsky's approach to corporate culture? How might Pacanowsky (and Geertz) respond to him?

Question 33

To what extent is Deetz' stakeholder democracy an extension of Pearce and Cronen's coordinated management of meaning? What do the two approaches to conflict have in common? Are there any important differences between them?

Question 34

Imagine that Hirokawa and Deetz work in a communication program that's suffering from overcrowded classes. How would they go about discussing/solving the problem? Whose approach would you prefer?