Browsing by Subject "Organizational communication"
Now showing 1 - 15 of 15
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Can organizational communication strategies that activate associations with mindfulness and flow enhance novel-idea production in an open-ended problem-solving task?(2015-12) Moode, Michael Stephen; Ballard, Dawna I.; McGlone, Matt; Browning, Larry; Treem, Jeffrey; Cox, StephenCreativity is the production of solutions to problems that are both original and appropriate. Although organizational communication literature offers insights regarding overt strategies for enhancing creativity at work (e.g., brainstorming rules), processes whereby creativity may be tacitly enhanced remain largely under-explored. Drawing upon creativity’s associations with heightened awareness (i.e., mindfulness) and the experience of flow—a psychological state characterized partially by distorted perceptions of the passage of time—the present study considers whether exposure to phrases related to these concepts influence the likelihood of one producing more novel ideas in an open-ended problem-solving task. The pursuit of new, tacit means for enhancing the originality of solutions to problems may benefit organizational communication practitioners in the following way. The creativity of employees may be facilitated if new tacit means are used (or avoided) alongside extant overt strategies. Employees may be more capable of producing novel ideas in response to a problem-solving task if organizational communication practitioners develop a more nuanced understanding of how the presentation of problems, and the methods used in solving them, exposes employees to incidental and unobtrusive meanings that shape the socio-environmental context in which problem-solving takes place. The present study used a two-by-two, between subjects factorial design, that presented participants with a set of phrases related to different levels of mindset (i.e., mindfulness and mindlessness) and psychological state (i.e., flow and anti-flow). For example, phrases representing the combination of mindfulness and flow included, “I’m focused,” “my goals are clear,” “I’m tuned in to my feelings,” and “I’m up to the challenge at hand.” Exposure to these phrases sought to activate associations with the mindset of actively and fluidly processing social information (i.e., mindfulness) and the psychological state whereby deep concentration leads to the reduction of self-awareness and awareness of the passage of time (i.e., flow). Conversely, phrases representing the combination of mindlessness and anti-flow included, “I’m not focused,” “my goals are not clear,” “I’m not tuned in to my feelings,” and I’m not up to the challenge at hand.” After being exposed to one of four sets of phrases, participants were then administered a novel-idea production task in which they were instructed to produce a list of solutions to a problem (i.e., people driving while using text messaging on their cell phones). Results of the experiment failed to demonstrate a relationship between the presentation of phrases aiming to trigger associations with mindset and psychological state; however, measures to assess internal reliability suggested that methodological limitations confounded the present study’s ability to accurately test how the activation of associations between mindset and psychological state are related to the likelihood of one producing novel ideas. As such, the present study concludes by drawing a number of insights regarding methodological considerations for future investigations. Specifically, recommendations are drawn regarding participant selection, the research milieu in which novel-idea production may be empirically observed, how associations with different mindsets and psychological states may be primed, and how a problem should be presented within an experiment intending to measure novel-idea production. Summarily, the present study represents a valuable starting point for investigators seeking to contribute to an under-explored topic within the organizational communication literature; for explorations of how the implementation of overt strategies to enhance novel-idea production in organizations may be enhanced by practitioners’ attention to whether and how employees are exposed to stimuli which may prime associations with peak creativity.Item Change is inevitable but compliance is optional : coworker social influence and behavioral work-arounds in the EHR implementation of healthcare organizations(2015-05) Barrett, Ashley Katherine; Stephens, Keri K.; Browning , Larry D.; Ballard, Dawna; Treem , Jeffrey W; Jones, TerryThe implementation of planned organizational change is ultimately a communication-related phenomenon, and as such, it is imperative that organizational communication scholars examine the interactions surrounding EHR implementation and understand how users (e.g. healthcare practitioners) utilize, evaluate, and deliberate this new technological innovation. Previous research on planned organizational change has called for researchers to adopt a more dynamic perspective that emphasizes the active agency of organizational members throughout implementation processes and focuses on informal implementers and change reinvention (work-arounds) as individuals actively reinterpret and personalize their work roles during implementation socialization. This dissertation seeks to fill this gap in research by demonstrating how communication between doctors, nurses, and other health professionals affects the adoption, maintenance, alternation, modification, or rejection of EHR systems within health care organizations. To delve into these inquiries and examine the intersecting domains of medical informatics and organizational communication research, this dissertation proceeds in the following manner: First, a literature review, capitalizing on Laurie Lewis’s work in planned organizational change and social constructionist views of technology use in organizations, outlines the assumptions that undergird this research. Next, this dissertation builds a model that predicts the communicative and structural antecedents of the study outcome variables, which include 1) organizational resistance to EHR implementation, 2) employees’ perception of EHR implementation success, 3) levels of change reinvention—or work-arounds—due to change initiatives and activities, and 4) employees’ perceptions of the quality of the organizational communication surrounding the change. Hypotheses guiding the model specification are provided and are followed by a description of the empirical methods and procedures that were utilized to explore the variable relationships. Results of the SEM model suggest that work-arounds could play a mediating role governing the relationship between informal social influence and the outcome variables in the study. In addition, one-way ANOVAs and multiple regression analyses reveal that physicians are the most resistant to EHR implementation and perceived change communication quality positively predicts perceived EHR implementation success and perceived relative advantage of EHR and negatively predicts employee resistance. A discussion of the expected and unexpected results is offered in addition to study limitation and future directions.Item Dogging it at work : developing and performing organizational routines as a minor league baseball mascot(2015-05) Birdsell, Jeffrey LaVerne; Browning, Larry D.; Berkelaar, Brenda L; Streeck, Jürgen; Brummett, Barry; Green, B. ChristineReferring to an employee as “the face” of an organization suggests that an individual worker’s actions may transmit information about the kind of organization they represent. Mascots in a baseball stadium make that metaphor material by wearing an organizationally prescribed mask and performing in the name of the organization (Keller & Richey, 2006; MacNeill, 2009). This study investigated how one baseball mascot, Spike of the Round Rock Express, embodied his team’s identity through the activation of organizational routines by analyzing video recordings, autoethnographic field notes, and stories (Heath & Luff, 2013). Recognizing the highly symbolic work of a mascot work has implications for the performer, audience members, and organizations who rely on mascots to enhance the stadium experience. Additionally, this research provides suggestions for future mascot performers on how they might come to “know your role and play it to the hilt” (Devantier & Turkington, 2006). Organizational routines combine three recursive dimensions: the ostensive, understandings an employee brings to his or her work, the performative, actions an employee takes while doing his or her work, and the artifactual, material objects an employee uses or creates in order to facilitate work tasks (Feldman & Pentland, 2003). This research begins with an exploration of how I developed occupational and organizational role expectations. In order to know my role, I had to learn Spike’s identity: what he must do, may do, and can do (Strauss, 1959; Enfield, 2011). I specifically recognize the ways I came to understand my role as someone who embodies the mission of the organization through the preparation of artifacts for performance and protection of the audience for whom I am performing. The performative dimension is explored by identifying instances when my performance challenged established understandings of Spike’s identity, specifically in instances where I was unprepared for a scenario or chose to protect one group’s interest over another’s. In these unanticipated moments, I often found myself turning other participants in the stadium event, like fans and coworkers, into co-performers and relied on their improvisational offerings to inform my ongoing performance (Eisenberg, 1990; Meyer, Frost, & Weick, 1998).Item Food, Peace and Organizing: Liberian Market Women in Peacetime(2012-10-19) Cruz, JoelleThis dissertation explores Liberian market women's food distribution activities and specifically focuses on their organizations and practices in postconflict times. During the last few years, Liberian market women have received considerable national and international attention. They have been hailed as heroines because of the significance they played in supplying food to Liberians during the civil war. However, little is known of their micro-world. This paradox constitutes the starting point of my dissertation, which explored market women's micro-level understandings and practices as related to peacebuilding. I used African feminist ethnography as a theoretical and methodological lens to investigate market women's organizations and practices surrounding food distribution in the capital city of Monrovia. African feminist ethnography incorporates insights from African feminist theory and feminist ethnography. It gives attention to issues of importance in West Africa like food and violent conflict. It also rejects the framing of African women as victims of war and recognizes their full agency. I conducted 40 in-depth semi-structured interviews with market women as well as observations in Fiamah, a daily food market located in central Monrovia. I examined market women's grassroots organizations called susu groups. Susu groups are informal credit unions that provide money to market women, necessary to purchase food items and maintain the market business. Findings illuminated the significance of wartime memories on postconflict susu group organizing practices. In this sense, memories of disruption and distrust engendered susu groups that were different from their prewar counterparts. Results also pointed at the invisible nature of susu groups, which had to balance their tendency towards secrecy with the pressure to become visible in a postconflict context where questions of organizational transparency dominated. I also investigated how market women made sense of their food distribution position in the peacebuilding era. Findings revealed that the women framed their role as one of community keeping. They emphasized the physical nature of food distribution which also necessitated maneuvering. Ultimately, food distribution gave them a sense of empowerment in postconflict times. These understandings reified class distinctions between market women and Liberian elites.Item For Better, For Worse: An Analysis of the Communication Within Work-Linked and Dual Career Marriages(2013-05) Henderson, Joy; Punyanunt-Carter, Narissa M.; Olaniran, Bolanle A.; Hughes, Patrick C.Communication is an integral part of everyday life. Often, there are intersections of portions of life that are usually categorized or segregated that usually pass by without any thought or awareness to their impact upon communication interactions with others. One such intersection is that of organizational and interpersonal communication and the mutual influences that these can have upon one another. To examine this particular intersection of organizational and interpersonal communication this research focused upon analyzing differences and similarities between married couples who are Work-linked (WL) and those who are Dual Career (DC). The findings of this research serve to add to literature and increase awareness of a need for further and continued study of subtlety and nuanced aspects of communication within relationships and the effects that it can have within the lives of the participants and upon those surrounding and interacting with those relationships.Item Government as work : temporal communication design through genres(2015-05) Ford, Emily Anne; Ballard, Dawna I.; Jarvis, Sharon EThis thesis describes the current research that has been done on governments in communication and opportunities within organizational communication, then offers an example of research that could expand this area of scholarship. The content analysis of U.S. Digital Services' forums on GitHub, a software development website used for open coding projects, investigates communication genres and genre systems through a codebook of genre norms (Im,Yates, & Orlikowski, 2005) to analyze the temporal aspects of communication design as a theoretical perspective and the practical implications of considering time scale in coordination, collaboration, and idea generation. Temporal landmarks led to four specific patterns in forum participation, and the temporal foci of proposed ideas were overwhelmingly in the present. Third, it calls for a new model of communication, one that does not use a process definition of communication.Item How organizational communication strategies and training influence healthcare employees' perception of crisis readiness(2009-05) Buck, Emily L.; Callison, Coy; Seltzer, TrentTo better understand perception of crisis readiness, 731 hospital employees were surveyed online. Employees who participated in crisis training, attended a meeting, etc., perceived themselves and their hospital to be more crisis ready. Results showed awareness of the crisis communication plan leads to higher levels of perceived crisis readiness. This research showed training, two-way communication, and face-to-face communication all lead to greater perceived crisis readiness. Unlike previous research indicated, occupation (medical personal v. administration) and time employed did not lead to differences in perceptions of crisis readiness. Participants also reported that hospitals presented crisis plans through oral presentation more frequently than any other method. This type of face-to-face meeting is also the most preferred method of communication selected by participants. The top crisis concern of hospital employees is the threat of a nurse shortage followed by a natural disaster. Finally, previous crises experience leads to higher level of perceived awareness. Findings of this study can assist hospitals and other organizations when training and preparing employees to deal with crises.Item "I don't want no membership card" : a grounded theory of the facets, responses, and outcomes of involuntary membership in US and Norwegian prisons(2010-05) Peterson, Brittany Leigh; Browning, Larry D.; Ballard, Dawna I.; Stephens, Keri K.; Gossett, Loril M.; Szmania, Susan J.This study investigated the experience of involuntary membership in U.S. and Norwegian prisons. The purpose of the study was two-fold: 1) offer a comprehensive understanding of the construct of membership, and 2) develop a substantive, mid-range theory of involuntary membership (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Merton, 1968; Weick, 1974). The research questions posed were designed to clarify the experience of involuntary membership and included: What facets comprise involuntary membership?, In what ways do individuals describe the experience of involuntary membership?, and In what ways does Norwegian involuntary membership differ from U.S. involuntary membership in a prison setting? In order to answer these questions, I conducted 62 in-depth interviews in the United States and Norway with incarcerated individuals (n = 41), correctional officers (n = 10), wardens (n = 3), and prison teachers (n = 8). The interviews were dispersed across four separate prison facilities. I took a grounded theoretical approach to the data and used the constant comparative method in my analysis. Participants spoke about involuntary membership in relation to 10 distinct facets: Activities, Belongings, Body, Communication, Mind, Organizational Boundary Management, Space, Sound, Relationships, and Time. In addition, the participants in the study described their experience with involuntary membership in relation to their 1) responses to, and 2) outcomes of the phenomenon. Similarities and differences in the experience of involuntary membership between the United States and Norway were also discussed. The three-macro themes in this study came together to create a substantive, mid-range theory of involuntary membership in prisons. In order to explicate this theory, I offered a Process Model of Involuntary Membership and subsequently elucidated the theory using a structurational ontology (see Banks & Riley, 1993; Kirby & Krone, 2002) or worldview (Kilminster, 1991). This study contributes to communication research and theorizing by illuminating and addressing the limitations of previous scholarship. Theoretical implications and future research directions are also discussed.Item The language of legitimacy : the role of institutionalism in entrepreneurial communication(2016-05) Waters, Eric DeMar; Stephens, Keri K.; Bailey, Diane; Barbour, Joshua; Jarvenpaa, Sirkka; Treem, JeffreyRecently, entrepreneurship has become an increasingly attractive career option for American adults (Fairlie, 2011; Kelley et al., 2014). This major shift from the security of membership in a conventional organization to the high risk/high reward process of founding a new venture is drawing interest from researchers in a variety of fields. This trend represents a sea change, exerting effects on organizational scholarship as well as society as a whole. Recognizing that even entrepreneurial organizations are communicatively constituted (McPhee & Zaug, 2008), some organizational communication scholars have begun investigating entrepreneurial activity from a communicative perspective. Such inquiries have examined entrepreneurial identity and difference (Gill, 2012; Gill & Ganesh, 2007), the Grand Discourses of entrepreneurship per the popular and business press (Gill, 2013), and the role of narrative (Dempsey & Sanders, 2010; Lounsbury & Glynn, 2001). More research is necessary, however, to explicate how entrepreneurs strategically engage in communicative behaviors to gain legitimacy for their organizations. To address this gap, I observed entrepreneurs at two technology incubators for six months and conducted 55 interviews of entrepreneurs, mentors, and investors. Using the framework of legitimacy (Deephouse & Carter, 2005; Meyer & Rowan, 1977; Suchman, 1995) as a guide, my grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1967) analysis identified venture viability discourses and engaging founder resources as two major categories of normative entrepreneurial communicative behaviors used to perform legitimacy. The analysis also established inspirational and instructional messages as the means by which entrepreneurs learn to perform legitimacy. This study contributes to theory by explaining and illuminating entrepreneurial firm creation process from a communicative perspective. The findings reveal how entrepreneurs utilize topics of discourse, communication delivery strategies, and social aptitude to influence legitimacy judgements. This dissertation allows researchers to more easily recognize the motivations for entrepreneurial communicative acts during organizational formation and growth.Item Leader perspectives of organizational growth and communication(2006-05) Nail, Adrianna Noel; Lewis, Laurie K.This study examines the growth phase of the organizational life cycle and its impact on internal and external organizational communication. A qualitative case study of a national nonprofit operating foundation was performed, revealing several changes brought on by the recent growth of the organization. Interviews with the organization's leaders and other members reveal the communicative challenges experienced within the organization. Findings bolster previous claims presented by organizational scholars and highlight the role of communication in the organizational growth process. Further, three hypotheses regarding organizational growth and communication are proposed for future research regarding growth in the field of organizational communication.Item The modern, mobile me : an exploration of smartphones, being always on, and our relationship with work in the United States(2010-05) Davis, Jennifer Deering; Browning, Larry D.; Stephens, Keri; Ballard, Dawna; Cherwitz, Richard; Scott, CraigExperts estimate that by 2013, every adult in the world will own a mobile phone. Mobile technologies are one of the fastest growing and most widely adopted technologies in history. This study seeks to understand the impacts of an increasingly mobile culture in the United States, focusing on how being “always on” impacts individuals' relationships with work. Being always on refers to an individual’s propensity to remain continuously connected to the world through a web-enabled, mobile technology device, such as an iPhone or BlackBerry. Influenced by Clark's (2000) work-family border theory, I conducted 49 in-depth interviews, in order to develop a communicative model of being always on. The model is characterized by using new mobile technologies, needing to be connected, blurring boundaries between work and non-work spheres, identifying with work, working long hours, and having work-life balance. Being always on is linked to a strong work identity and desire for control over one's time. However, being constantly connected with a smartphone also means being more connected to work; it has become easier to work longer hours, have work leak into personal time, and slowly but ultimately lose control over the boundaries between work and non-work domains. Ironically, individuals who are always on in order to gain more control over their time may actually end up giving up more control than they gain. However, always-on individuals actually feel like they have an appropriate work-life balance, which complicates traditional understandings of the meaning of “balance.” Instead, these findings suggest always-on individuals actually “atomize,” a term that refers to the breaking down of communicative tasks into small pieces to can be completed anywhere, at any time, enabling flexibility and control.Item The Norwegian success story : narrative applications of interpretation, understanding, & communication in complex organizational systems(2013-12) Goins, Elizabeth Simpson; Browning, Larry D.Stories about the oil and gas industry are made for drama; these are tales of unimaginable wealth, unimaginable power, and oftentimes, unimaginable deeds. But what should we make of an oil and gas narrative without a blood feud or villain? This is the story of the Norway Model, a unique system of natural resource management responsible for this country’s transformation since 1969 when massive oil reserves were discovered on the North Sea continental shelf. After centuries of foreign occupation, the Norwegian government has built a thriving petroleum sector to fund its social welfare system beyond even the highest expectations; somehow, this nation of five million people grew from a poor maritime society to a global leader in environmentally conscious energy production with the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. Despite these results, this oil economy faces new challenges in the coming years; as North Sea production declines, Norway increasingly looks north for fossil fuels in the Arctic and how these resources are discovered, produced, and regulated will require new innovations to ensure the sustainability of this welfare state. Thus, the next chapter of the Norwegian success story remains to be written and this dissertation explores how narratives about the past, present, and future of the Norway Model will shape the course of natural resource management policies. In presenting the case of Norway’s success from a narrative perspective, this research breaks new ground in both applied and theoretical territories. As perhaps the most successful system of its kind in the world, scholars and policy makers alike have much to learn from studying this model. But when it comes to understanding the dynamic connections between energy management, international policy, and global warming, positivistic models for prediction and causality have fallen short (Smil, 2005). In contrast, narrative can communicate nuanced meanings in complex systems of organization. Therefore, this research explores the connections between narrative and complexity, as well as the communicative applications of narrative for understanding and organizational decision-making. Overall, conceptualizing this model’s evolution as a narrative offers tangible entry points for understanding how one country’s story can change the world.Item Performing in the virtual organization(2010-12) Sinclair, Caroline Louise, 1971-; Stephens, Keri K.; Browning, LarryThis qualitative study examined fifteen organizational members across four international technology companies to discover how they behave and manage daily interactions in a virtual environment within a geographically distributed team. Using a grounded theory methodology, an extensive analysis of the interview data was conducted. Three core themes emerged that focus on the individuals’ attempts to manage impressions in an environment that demands multicommunication. The themes of time stacking, participation predications and performance are discussed in detail using the theoretical lens of impression management.Item Time out : organizational training for improvisation in lifesaving critial teams(2012-08) Ishak, Andrew Waguih, 1982-; Browning, Larry D.; Ballard, Dawna I.; Stephens, Keri K.; Maxwell, Madeline M.; Ziegler, Jennifer A.Exemplified by fire crews, SWAT teams, and emergency surgical units, critical teams are a subset of action teams whose work is marked by finality, pressure, and potentially fatal outcomes (Ishak & Ballard, 2012). Using communicative and temporal lenses, this study investigates how organizations prime and prepare their embedded critical teams to deal with improvisation. This study explicates how organizations both encourage and discourage improvisation for their embedded critical teams. Throughout the training process, organizations implement a structured yet flexible “roadmap”-type approach to critical team work, an approach that is encapsulated through three training goals. The first goal is to make events routine to members. The second goal is to help members deal with non-routine events. The third goal is to help members understand how to differentiate between what is routine and non-routine. The grounded theory analysis in this study also surfaced three tools that are used within the parameters of the roadmap approach: experience, communicative decision making, and sensemaking. Using Dewey’s (1939, 1958) theory of experience, I introduce a middle-range adapted theory of critical team experience. In this theory, experience and sensemaking are synthesized through communicative decision making to produce decisions, actions, and outcomes in time-limited, specialized, stressful environments. Critical teams have unique temporal patterns that must be considered in any study of their work. Partially based on the nested phase model (Ishak & Ballard, 2012), I also identify three phases of critical team process as critical-interactive, meaning that they are specific to action/critical teams, and they are engaged in by critical teams for the expressed purpose of interaction. These phases are simulation, adaptation, and debriefing. These tools and phases are then placed in the Critical-Action-Response Training Outcomes Grid (CARTOG) to create nine interactions that are useful in implementing a structured yet flexible approach to improvisation in the work of critical teams. Data collection consisted of field observations, semi-structured interviews, and impromptu interviews at work sites. In total, I engaged in 55 hours of field observations at 10 sites. I conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with members of wildland and urban fire crews; emergency medical teams; and tactical teams, including SWAT teams and a bomb squad. I also offer practical implications and future directions for research on the temporal and communicative aspects of critical teams, their parent organizations, and considerations of improvisation in their work.Item What happens before full-time employment? Internships as a mechanism of anticipatory socialization(2014-05) Dailey, Stephanie Layne; Stephens, Keri K.; Bailey, Diane E., 1961-Every day, people seek organizations to join, work in companies, and leave firms; thus, scholars consider socialization a key construct in organizational communication and management. Research explains the socialization process in four stages—anticipatory socialization, encounter, metamorphosis, and exit—yet studies have paid disproportionate attention to “experiences after entry” (Bauer & Green, 1994, p. 221). This study sheds light on an understudied stage by examining the consequences of anticipatory socialization. Research has demonstrated the importance of prior experiences in the socialization process (e.g., Gibson & Papa, 2000), but scholars have yet to explore internships as a mechanism of anticipatory socialization that prepares people for full-time employment. Whereas less than 3% of students held internships in 1980, 84% of current undergraduates have participated in internships (Kamenetz, 2006), and the number of post-college internships has increased from 5% in 1995 to 20% in 2002 (“Internships for all ages,” 2007). Despite this growth, scholars have yet to theoretically explore internships as a prior experience that fosters socialization. Some studies have used socialization as a framework to study how people adapt to internships, but this research has explored socialization within internships instead of as anticipatory socialization for future employment. To fill this gap, I collected qualitative and quantitative data over 15 months: before people’s internships, after their internships, and upon full-time employment. Results from interview, observation, and questionnaire data suggest that participants learn about and adapt to organizations and vocations during their internships, but more importantly, internships may provide more realistic anticipatory socialization than other means of anticipatory socialization (e.g., recruitment, vocational messages). This study helps us reconsider the role that anticipatory socialization plays in work. Whereas previous research has described anticipatory socialization as a beneficial endeavor for prospective employees (Phillips, 1998), this study shows an unfavorable side of prior experiences. Internships showed interns and organizations exactly what full-time employment would be like, dissuading most interns or organizations (78%) to continue their relationship. Whereas traditional means of anticipatory socialization (e.g., recruitment, vocational messages) provide just enough of an introduction, internships may provide such an in-depth preview that they make applicants and organizations less desirable.