Unit III communication in the corporate culture context

Reading_________________________________________________________

Write out any terms that you did not understand in the reading. Look at its context, and try to figure out the meaning. Discuss these terms with your classmates.

Company structure5

Enlightened companies are realizing that frontline managers working closer to the customer have better information with which to make decisions.

In traditional organizations, power and influence are not in the hands of the workers. In a top-down hierarchy, responsibility resides at the top of the pyramid. The top manager is the chief decision maker and strategist whose orders flow down through the troops to those at the front lines. Information from the front lines slowly filters backup the pyramidal structure, but it tends to become distorted on the way. This structure is based, therefore, on the presumption that senior managers can successfully lead alone. However, as organizations are becoming flatter, rather than being ruled by a narrow group at the top, organizational tasks and responsibilities are being relegated across the organization.

As the structure of the organization shifts, the roles of those working inside the organization are also shifting, as are the talents and skills needed. The rigid structures and systems of the past are giving way to more versatile configurations that provide environments which support creativity, innovation, and an entrepreneurial spirit. As structures flatten, entrepreneurialism, usually associated with smaller firms, is being adopted by larger companies. Big corporations have successfully maintained entrepreneurial environments, often by decentralizing and keeping units and divisions small and autonomous.

A sense of partnership is being fostered throughout the modern corporation. Companies are getting closer to their employees and relying on them in new ways. A new partnership is developing between the organization and its employees, who are experiencing broader freedom as well as greater responsibility. Rules and regulations exist in entrepreneurial companies, but rather than creating a restrictive environment, they are designed to guide employees and provide means for them to develop and grow.

At Nordstrom, a high-end retailer, employees set their own sales goals. Rules for employees' behavior are printed on a single card, which contains only one rule: "Use your judgment in all situations." Employees are also given an organizational chart an inverted pyramid with customers at the top followed by sales and support people. The board of directors sits at the very bottom point of the pyramid. Nordstrom salespeople, who are known for their excellent customer service, are given training in entrepreneurial behavior and are expected to act independently in making decisions about the service they provide to meet customers’ needs.

Be sensitive to the culture in which your audiences work and the discourse community of which they are a part. An organization's culture is its values, attitudes, and philosophies. An organization's culture is revealed verbally in the organization's myths, stories, and heroes and nonverbally in the alloca­tion of space, money, and power. A discourse community is a group of people who share assumptions about what channels, formats, and styles to use for communication, what topics to discuss and how to discuss them, and what constitutes evidence.

In an organization that values equality and individualism, you can write directly to the CEO and address him or her as a colleague. In other companies, you'd be expected to follow a chain of command. Even if you know the name of the real decision maker, you'd be expected to send your message through your boss - and to be deferential to your superiors. Some organizations prize short messages; some expect long, thorough documents. Some cultures expect people to float trial balloons; others prefer that people work out all the details before they propose a change. Messages that are consistent with the organization's culture have a greater chance of succeeding.

Every organization - businesses, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, even colleges - has a culture. An organization's culture is constructed by the people who found and change the organization

Comprehension___________________________________________________