Instructor:
- Dr. Brant Short
- Office: Bldg. 16, Room 188I
- Phone: (520) 523-4701);
E-Mail: brant.short@nau.edu
COURSE GOALS:
Help students understand the complex and dynamic aspects of communication in contemporary organizations.Direct students to consider the relationship among organizational behavior, communication practices, and environmental sustainability.Develop student skills in collecting information, analyzing primary data, presenting findings in formal essays.
ASSIGNMENTS:
- Midterm Examination 20%
- Final Examination 20%
- Culture Examination 20%
- Green Marketing Examination Essay 15%
- Book Review 15%
- Participation 10%
REQUIRED BOOKS:
Eric Eisenberg and H. L. Goodall, Jr. Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993).
Tom Chappell, The Soul of a Business: Managing for Profit and the Common Good (New York: Bantam, 1993).
Fred "Chico" Lager, Ben and Jerry's: The Inside Scoop. How Two Real Guys Built a Business with a Social Conscience and a Sense of Humor (New York: Crown, 1994).
Readings Packet:
COURSE SCHEDULE:
week one
Course Introduction, Communication Theory and Organizations, History of Organizational Communication
Read: Eisenberg & Goodall, chapters 1,2,; P. Mirvls, "Environmentalism in Progressive Businesses," Journal of Organizational Change Management, 7 (1994) 82-100.
week two
Paradigms of Organizational Behavior and Communication: Classical, Human Relations/Resources, Systems Theory
Read: : Eisbenbera & Goddall, chapter 3,4; M. Salvador and S. Sikes, "Refuge in a Fragmented World: A Case Study of Consumer Organizing," Communication Reports 6 (1993) 109-115. guidelines for essay one distributed (due week six)
week three
Sustainability and Organizational Communication
Read: K. Parker, "Economics, Sustainable Growth, and Community," Environmental Values 2 (1993) 233-45; L. Reynolds, "A New Social Agenda for the New Age," Management Review 82 (1993) 39-41; H. D. Johnson, Green Plans: Greenprint for Sustainability (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 19-5), chapters 1,2; L. Martell, Ecology and Society: An Introduction (Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1994), chapter 2.
week four
Culture and Communication
Read: Eisenberg & Goodall, chapter 5; D. Roy, "Banana Time: Job Satisfaction and Informal Interaction"; Pacanowsky and Trujillo, "Communication and Organizational Cultures"; Banks and Zimmerman, "The Mary Kay Way" (see packet)
week five
Postmodern Perspectives and Organizational Communication
Read: Eisenberg & Goodall, chapter 6; T. Gitlin, "What is PostModernism?"; P. Shrivastava, "Castrated Environment: Greening Organizational Studies," Organization Studies 15 (1994) 705-726.
week six
Students present essay one, a cultural assessment of Tom's of Maine; Readings include Tom Chappell's The Soul of a Business and selected articles from popular and scholarly sources midterm examination
week seven
experience of work
Read: Eisenberg & Goodall, chapter 7; C. Bullis and J. Kennedy, "Value Conflicts and Policy Interpretations," Policy Studies Journal 19 (1991) 543-552; C. Builis and P. Tompkins, "The Forest Ranger Revisited: A Study of Control Practices and Identification," communication Monographs 56 (1989) 287-306; guidelines for essay two distributed (due week eleven)
week eight
Dyadic and Group Communication in Organizations
Read: Eisenberg & Goodall, chapter 8; guidelines for essay three distributed (due week fifteen)
week nine
Organizations and Environmental Sustainability
Read: P. Upadhyaya, "The Sacred, the Erotic and the Ecological: The Politics of Transformative Global Discourse," Journal of Organizational Change Management 8 (1995) 33-59; R. Eisler, "From Domination to Partnership: The Hidden Subtext for Sustainable Change," Journal of Organizational Change Management (1994) 32-46; M. Starik, "Should Trees Have Managerial Standing? Toward Stakeholder Status for Non-Human Nature," Journal of Business Ethics 14 (1995) 207-211
week ten
Ethics and Organizational Communication
Read: S. Tracy, "Can Public Relations About Social Responsibility be Socially Responsible? The Ethical Implications of Public Relations/Social Responsibility Mix and an Investigation of The Body Shop," paper presented to the 1996 Western States Communication Association Manual Meeting, Pasadena, CA; "CERES Earning Notice Among Industry Giants," Environment Today 5(1994) 16; A. Arkin, "Open Business is Good for Business," Personnel Management 2 (1996) 24-25; A. Hershowitz, "Green vs. Greenbacks: Environmentalist Decries Symbolic Label," Advertising Age 62 (Oct. 28 1991) 10-11; B. Wiesendanger, "Ben & Jerry Scoop Up Credibility," Public Relations Journal 49 (1993) 20.
week eleven
"Green Marketing" and Organizational communication
Students will present papers that examine the practice of "green marketing" from the perspective of organizational advocacy;
week twelve
Crisis Communication and the Organization
Read: D. Williams and G. Treadaway, "Exxon and the Valdez Accident: A Failure in Crisis Communication," Communication Studies, 43 (1992) 56-64; R. Ice, "Corporate Publics and Rhetorical Strategies: The Case of Union Carbide's Bhopal Crisis," Management Communication Quarterly 4 (1991) 341-362; T.Sellnow and D. Johnson, "Deliberative Rhetoric as a Step in Organizational Crisis Management: Exxon as a Case Study, "Communication Reports 8 ('995) 54-60
week thirteen
Conflict and Organizational Communication
Read: G. Walker and S. Daniels, "The Clinton Administration, the Northwest Forest Conference, and Managing Conflict: When Talk and Structure Collide," Society and Natural Resources 9 (1996); S. Daniels and G. Walker, "Managing Local Environmental Conflict Amidst National Controversy," International Journal of Conflict Management 6 (1995) 290-311; J. Lange, "The Refusal to Compromise: The Case of Earth First!" Western Journal of Speech Communication 54 (1990) 473-494
week fourteen
Book reviews due; class discussion of Ben and Jerry's: The Inside Scoop
week fifteen
Future of Organizational Communication
Read: Eisenberg and Goodall, chapter 10, 11
Final Exam as scheduled
Assignments for SC 467
Essay One is an assessment of the corporate culture created, managed, and reinforced at Tom's of Maine. Students will read The Soul of a Business as well as selected essays from newspapers, magazines and journals. Using the model of culture and communication identified by Pacanowsky and Trujillo, students will review and assess the organizational culture that is unique to Tom's of Maine. The essay should be five to eight pages in length (typed/double-spaced) and use correct bibliographic citations (most current edition of APA or MLA handbook). Relevant readings include:
Hardy, E. "Eco-Entrepreneurs: Maine's Green Shoppers Reward Business that Respect Nature," American Demographics 12 (1990) 49-50.
Henderson, K. "Doing Good by Making Toothpaste," Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 4, 1994, p. 8.
Martin, M. "Toothpaste and Theology," Boston Globe, Oct. 10 1993.
McCarthy, J. "Through the Needle's Eye: The Spiritual CEO," Chief Executive 110 (Jan./Feb. 1996) 48-51.
Nichols, M. "Does New Age Business Have a Message for Managers?" Harvard Business Review (March/April 1994) 52-60.
Quin, J. "Tom's of Maine," Incentive 167 (Dec. 1993) 42-43.
Essay Two is an evaluation of the concept of "green marketing" as an example of corporate advocacy. Students will select three to five accounts of "green marketing" from popular sources for evaluation. The writer should compare/contrast his or her examples of "green marketing" with two scholarly assessments of this t-end. The essay should be five to eight pages in length (typed/double-spaced) and will be presented in class. The two Readings required for this paper include:
Delicate, J. "The Rhetoric of Green Consumerism: A Social Ecological Critique," Speaker and Gavel 33 (1994) 2-26.
Salvador, M. and J. Samosky. "Is Doing Something Better Than Doing Nothing? Environmentalism and the Paradox of Green Consumerism." Argument in Controversy (Annandale, V~: SCA, l993) 325-330.
Essay Three is a book review of Fred "Chico" Lager's history of Ben and Jerry's ice cream company. This review should be four to six pages in length (typed/double-spaced). The review should focus upon what students of organizational communication can learn from Ben and Jerry's experiences, especially in the context of organizational stewardship and environmental sustainability.