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Influential Factors Shaping the Manager's Modern Image: A Communication View - Prof. J. Gr, Assignments of Organizational Communication

Idaho State University (ISU)Organizational Communication
Prof. J. Gribas

A collection of discussion questions from the book 'communication and management' by holman and thorpe. The questions cover various topics related to communication, identity, ethics, and managerial practice. Students are encouraged to reflect on their own experiences and engage in critical thinking about the concepts presented in the text.

Typology: Assignments

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Uploaded on 09/24/2009

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COMM 635: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Holman, D., & Thorpe, R. (Eds.). (2003). Management and language. London: Sage.
Introduction
1. What one idea stood out to you as particularly important in the Introduction section? Why?
2. What are some of the limitation to the "manager as practical scientist" model presented in
the reading? Are there any you disagree with? Explain.
3. What factors (cultural, historical, economic, etc.) can you identify that might have
contributed to the modern "dominant image" (p. 2) of the manger as practical scientist?
4. What do the authors mean by "problem setting" (p. 4)? Give an example from your own
experience.
5. On p. 4 in the first full paragraph, see the comment that begins, "Yet serious doubts..."
and ends, "...for successful action." What do you think about the possibility of stepping
outside one<s worldview? What do you think about the idea that situational
"embeddedness" is essential for managerial success?
6. Is all social order "imposed" (see p. 5, top)? Is any social order self-evident and/or
transcendent? Explain and defend.
7. What is the difference between depending on established theory and employing heuristics
to guide managerial action (p. 5)?
8. What is "a subjectivist epistemology" (p. 5)? Do some digging on your own to come up
with a credible answer.
9. The discussion on p. 6 distinguishes viewing language as "predominantly a system of
representation" and viewing language as "predominantly performative, productive, and
formative." Be ready to explain this difference.
10. A number of comments on pp. 7-8 emphasize the idea that practical authorship is not
something a manager imposes on others, but it is a process of joint authorship. What is
the importance this point for managerial practice and for your role as a researcher who will
do analysis of an artifact/text/case?
Chapter 1
1. You will show up for class to discuss this material. Why? Be ready to offer explanation for
your attendance (1) in terms of the realm of behavior, (2) in terms of the realm of action,
and (3) in terms of the realm of relational responsiveness (see p. 16).
2. Consider the excerpt by Rob (pp. 18-19). Try to think of a time you were responsible for
"managing the actions" of others and a time you were responsible for "managing the
interactions" of others. Be ready to discuss the differences in terms of challenges and
strategies.
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COMM 635: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Holman, D., & Thorpe, R. (Eds.). (2003). Management and language. London: Sage.

Introduction

  1. What one idea stood out to you as particularly important in the Introduction section? Why?
  2. What are some of the limitation to the "manager as practical scientist" model presented in the reading? Are there any you disagree with? Explain.
  3. What factors (cultural, historical, economic, etc.) can you identify that might have contributed to the modern "dominant image" (p. 2) of the manger as practical scientist?
  4. What do the authors mean by "problem setting" (p. 4)? Give an example from your own experience.
  5. On p. 4 in the first full paragraph, see the comment that begins, "Yet serious doubts..." and ends, "...for successful action." What do you think about the possibility of stepping outside one<s worldview? What do you think about the idea that situational "embeddedness" is essential for managerial success?
  6. Is all social order "imposed" (see p. 5, top)? Is any social order self-evident and/or transcendent? Explain and defend.
  7. What is the difference between depending on established theory and employing heuristics to guide managerial action (p. 5)?
  8. What is "a subjectivist epistemology" (p. 5)? Do some digging on your own to come up with a credible answer.
  9. The discussion on p. 6 distinguishes viewing language as "predominantly a system of representation" and viewing language as "predominantly performative, productive, and formative." Be ready to explain this difference.
  10. A number of comments on pp. 7-8 emphasize the idea that practical authorship is not something a manager imposes on others, but it is a process of joint authorship. What is the importance this point for managerial practice and for your role as a researcher who will do analysis of an artifact/text/case?

Chapter 1

  1. You will show up for class to discuss this material. Why? Be ready to offer explanation for your attendance (1) in terms of the realm of behavior, (2) in terms of the realm of action, and (3) in terms of the realm of relational responsiveness (see p. 16).
  2. Consider the excerpt by Rob (pp. 18-19). Try to think of a time you were responsible for "managing the actions" of others and a time you were responsible for "managing the interactions" of others. Be ready to discuss the differences in terms of challenges and strategies.
  1. On p. 21, it states, "We cannot separate talk and action from self, nor self from others." One way to verify this claim is to consider examples at failed attempts to do just that. Identify an example of someone attempting to separate talk and action from self. Also identify an example of someone attempting to separate self from others. Be ready to discuss why such attempts ultimately fail.
  2. What do the authors mean when they state, "Good mangers must do more than provide a picture" (p. 23)? Explain.
  3. Look at the excerpt and discussion on pp. 24-25. This section focuses on metaphor and suggests that Vince<s use of metaphor is a kind of "coauthoring." but if Vince or any individual unilaterally suggests a metaphor, how is that coauthorship and not imposition? What makes metaphor inherently cooperative?
  4. Explain the idea of a "literalized" metaphor (p. 25). Can you give an example?
  5. Find an example for each of the six social poetics strategies listed on pp. 28-29.
  6. The authors suggest on p. 29 that "reflexive self-awareness" is one key to effective managerial practical authoring. Do you agree? Explain. Can you see any growth in reflexive self-awareness in yourself as you have studied communication?
  7. Consider the following quotes from the section on ethical discourse:

"...ethics rests not in agreement to principles, but in avoidance of the suppression of alternative conceptions and possibilities" (p. 30).

"To have a voice in establishing one<s own conditions of work, and to be listened to seriously (in the sense of others visibly responding to what one has to say) is a part of what it is to feel oneself fully a person, and not subject to a reduced status in one<s workplace" (p. 32).

Both claims appear to suggest some fundamental (universal? transcendent?) ethical standard (truth? reality?). Are such claims consistent with social constructionist positions and subjective epistemology? Explain.

Chapter 2

  1. The chapter begins with an account of wait staff in Paris, used as an example of people "performing stories that were not their own" (p. 41). have you ever had a similar experience? Explain. If (ala Erving Goffman and other dramatistic theorists) all social action is a performance, what distinguishes "authentic" and "inauthentic" performances?
  2. According to the author, in what ways can a storytelling system be both "good" and "bad" (see p. 43)?
  3. Consider figure 2.1 (p. 44). Which types make the most sense to you? Explain. Think of some managerial storytelling you have heard in your own organizational experiences. What type of storytelling organizations do these stories suggest?
  1. What are the implications of viewing "leadership as organizing" (p. 86) instead of viewing leaders as part of organizations?
  2. Explain your understanding of the difference between "stories lived" and "stories told" (p. 86). Tell us about your day (story told). Then consider how that narrative differs from your story lived.
  3. Consider Greimas four phase narrative model (pp. 87-90). Reflect on a familiar story that you tell often (family experience, accomplishment, injury, embarrassing moment, etc.). Identify the different narrative actants (subject, object, sender, receiver) in your story and demarcate the narrative phases (manipulation, competence, performance, sanction). What insights does this exercise offer to you about your story?
  4. Read the paragraph on pp. 90-91 that begins, "According to the approach, ..." Can you identify any "black boxes" or "helpers" in your story from question #4?
  5. Consider the discussion of leadership as the art of translation and the illustrative case study on pp. 92-99. Does this challenge the way you believe that most people understand organizational leadership? If so, how? How might your own organizational experiences be/have been different if this was the dominant view of organizational leadership?

Chapter 6

  1. The authors state, "Joint action can suffer from too much agreement or too little" (p. 104). In your experience with "joint action," which has been the more common problem? Explain.
  2. The authors state, "Social structures emerge from interactants' shared perceptions, and as shared creations they then exist at least partially outside any individual's control" (p. 106). What are your thoughts on this claim? think of a time when you as an individual wanted to control a socially constructed reality but could not on your own.
  3. Consider the explanation of Message Design Logic (pp. 107-115). Identify someone you believe to clearly function as (a) an Expressive, (b) a Conventional, and (c) a rhetorical. Give examples to illustrate.
  4. The old expression "Birds of a feather flock together" suggests that people characterized by a particular MDL would tend to prefer managers who are guided by the same MDL. But research (see p. 116) suggests that managers guided by a Rhetorical MDL are seen as more competent by all, even by Expressives and Conventionals. Can you offer an explanation? If Rhetorical MDL is recognized as superior, why do many (most) still rely on Expressive or Conventional assumptions and strategies?
  5. How do you think you would be categorized in terms of overall MDL?

Chapter 7

  1. What do you think of the author's warning (p. 121) about the potential dangers of the whole concept/metaphor of "authoring" as a solitary and controlling activity?
  2. What does the author mean when he says that we are "authors but authors without necessarily knowing it" (p. 122)?
  1. See the paragraph on p. 123 that begins, "What was authored..." Does it make sense to you as an example of the kind of heterogenous discussion agreement/disagreement suggested by the author? Explain.
  2. This author focuses on identity negotiation issues much like the authors of chapter three. How are these perspectives similar and/or different? If you had to choose one of the two frameworks to look at identity authoring, which would you choose and why?
  3. On p. 125, the author states, "Management literature on diversity, however, continues to treat personal identity in organisations as essentialist, categorical, coherent, singular and normalised by the dominant group." Unpack this claim.
  4. "All stakeholders have a right of authoring rather than simply being authored" (p. 127). Consider is and how you would defend this claim. How does the idea of "negotiation" relate here?
  5. Discuss the difference between "organising" and "organisation" (p. 129).
  6. The author claims that, as time progresses, "more visions of the future are being authored" (p. 132). How much do you accept the dominant values of the modern 20th century corporation, and in what ways do you embrace a new vision of the corporate future?
  7. What is your understanding of the author's discussion of competition and the social good (p. 132)?
  8. Ultimately, what guidelines does the author offer for helping practical authors?

Chapter 8

  1. As with the other chapters in this book, this chapter promotes a “constructivist tradition” over a “structural-functionalist tradition” (p. 141), to the point of philosophical vilification. Review the structural-functionalist tradition. Can you see any benefits to this perspective over the constructivist approach?
  2. What do the authors mean when they claim that “shifts in context provide for shifts in action which provide for shifts in the results that are produced” (p. 142)? Can you offer an example to illustrate these shifts?
  3. What were your thoughts overall in regard to the introduction of this particular understanding of “conversations” (pp. 142-146)? How about the distinction between committed and uncommitted conversations (pp. 146-148)?
  4. The authors state that “since managers engage in conversations every day, they have the opportunity in each and every conversation to choose between having a committed or uncommitted conversation” (p. 148). What might be the limits of this choosing? How might the authors of chapters focused on identity authoring respond to this claim?
  5. Did the distinctions among the four types of committed conversation (pp. 148-153) makes sense to you? What points need clarification?