Communicative Constitution of Organization

In socio-cultural tradition, relatively interpretive.

Theorist: Robert McPhee

Basic Idea: Communication constitutes/creates organization.

1）Constitution: Communication calls organizations into being

Sensemaking: Communication behaviors can reduce ambiguity.

2）Four flows of communication

• Membership negotiation: communication that regulates the extent to which a person is an organization member. [socialization - you are socializing into your role, and learning the land]
• Self-structuring: communication that shapes the relationships among an organization’s members – who is who
• Activity coordination: communication that accomplishes the organization’s work toward goals – how we get things done
• Institutional positioning: communication between an organization and external entities

3）Four principles of the flows

• All flows are necessary for organizations
• Different flows happen in different places
• The same message can address multiple flows
• Different flows address different audiences

4）Critiques

• Top-down approaches
• Flows are not sufficient conditions for producing an organization.