Communication, Organization, and Performance

This book examines the relationship between communication and organizational structure. It demonstrates that organizational structure must align itself with communication structure for effective performance. A detailed table of the communication process is used to examine a range of organization structures including scientific management, bureaucracy, functional integration, management by objectives, strategic alignment, quality management, and self-managing teams. The examination concludes that the structure required for the 21st century will put into effect Follett’s principle of functional integration, but associate with it techniques such as strategic alignment and quality management. Functional integration requires mutual negotiation of meaning and relatedness built on integration of the individual, the group, and the organization. The development of controlled cooperation resulting from mutual negotiation and integration will make formidable demands on managerial competence. This book provides readers with a strategy for organizing a workforce with expectations of personal fulfillment from work, in a climate of intense international competition.