Deck 1: Introducing Organizational Communication

Question 1

Which of the following educational practices is not based on the premise of an information transmission model of communication?

A)Large,lecture-based class
B)Discussion board used by an online class
C)Podcast made available by the professor to the students
D)PowerPoint presentation

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The coordination of a class schedule that allows the smooth running of your day on campus as you move from class to class is a form of:

A)Direct control
B)Bureaucratic control
C)Technological control
D)Ideological control

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The study of "organizational culture" is most closely aligned with which perspective on organizational communication?

A)Feminism
B)Interpretivism
C)Critical theory
D)Postmodernism

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following questions concerning a particular communication technology (CT)best reflects a functionalist perspective?

A)In what ways does the CT shape organizational power relations?
B)How does the CT have a gendered effect on organizational communication processes?
C)How can the CT increase organizational efficiency?
D)How do organization members experience and manage their interactions through the CT?

Question 5

Students often worry about how competitive they will be in the job market,working to continually improve their image and brand themselves as intelligent,motivated,hard-working multitaskers.This practice is a form of:

A)Bureaucratic control
B)Ideological control
C)Technological control
D)Disciplinary control

Question 6

On a recent flight,two men who had obviously overindulged at the airport bar,began acting increasingly loudly and rudely on the airplane.The airline attendant went to them and told them to stay in their seats,be quiet,and informed them that she would not serve them anything alcoholic.Which form of control best describes this situation?

A)Direct
B)Disciplinary
C)Bureaucratic
D)Ideological

Question 7

An organizational communication scholar,Michaela,spent several months observing and participating in the Occupy movement in New York City and interviewing many of its participants.Her goal is to reveal participants' experience of the movement and to understand how they collectively shape their social reality.Michaela is working from which perspective on organizational communication?

A)Functionalism
B)Interpretivism
C)Critical theory
D)Postmodernism

Question 8

Luis is studying organizational narratives to explore how they constitute reality for members and subtly reinforce what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior.He is most likely working from which perspective on organizational communication?

A)Functionalism
B)Interpretivism
C)Critical theory
D)Postmodernism

Question 9

Anthony believes that organizational communication research should destabilize common sense views of the world and reveal the multiple,competing,and fragmented narratives that exist simultaneously within an organization.Anthony is working from which perspective on organizational communication?

A)Functionalism
B)Interpretivism
C)Critical theory
D)Postmodernism

Question 10

Cameron's research focuses on how teenaged boys in the Bronx are constrained by gendered expectations which limit their career choices.Cameron is most likely working within which perspective on organizational communication?

A)Interpretivism
B)Critical theory
C)Postmodernism
D)Feminism

Question 11

The "crisis of representation" refers to:

A)The recent emergence of challenges to the belief in an objectively existing world that can be accurately represented
B)The emergence of multiple voices,challenging a single (white,male)vision of society
C)Both of the above
D)Neither of the above

Question 12

Those who argue against a strictly "Western Canon" in university education call for the inclusion of previously marginalized voices (e.g.African American,Asian,Chicana/o,women,gay,lesbian).These proponents of an expanded representation of voices are most likely associated with which perspective?

A)Interpretivism
B)Critical theory
C)Postmodernism
D)Feminism

Question 13

Fred views his department as a primarily political site,where power is fundamental in the creation of social reality.Assuming that this power is largely hidden,however,he seeks to reveal it through exposing how communication within the department inscribes or sustains current power relations.Fred is operating from which perspective on organizational communication?

A)Functionalism
B)Interpretivism
C)Critical theory
D)Postmodernism

Question 14

Charles Redding,widely regarded as the founder of the field of organizational communication,proposes each of the following as an essential feature of complex organizations except:

A)Interdependence
B)Goal orientation
C)Control
D)Communication processes

Question 15

At many large companies,employees wear security badges and must swipe the badge each time they enter the building or a specific area.This practice is a type of:

A)Direct control
B)Ideological control
C)Technological control
D)Disciplinary control

Question 16

Which of the following is not a form of ideological control?

A)Cameras that are installed in the store and directed toward the employees
B)Orientation and training programs
C)Vetting of potential employees to make sure that they are a good "fit"
D)Employee handbook which specifies appearance requirements such as the appropriate length of sideburns

Question 17

In Company X if a project is expected to take longer than three weeks to complete,a project plan detailing the objectives,plan of action and timeline must be written and approved.This practice represents most closely a form of:

A)Bureaucratic control
B)Ideological control
C)Technological control
D)Disciplinary control

Question 18

Sue is taking an online class.When it is time for the mid-term exam,she is told that it is open-note and open-book.However,she has a strict time limit of 90 minutes to complete it.As she finishes each answer,she must click "submit" before she can move on to the next question.She moves quickly through the multiple choice questions at the beginning.The essays,however,take her more time to complete.She finishes her second,and final,essay at 91 minutes.She clicks "submit" but the answer is not accepted since it is beyond the time limit and she automatically loses 20 points from her grade.This situation illustrates which type of control?

A)Direct control
B)Technological control
C)Ideological control
D)Disciplinary control

Question 19

Mark,an organizational communication researcher,envisions communication problems as problems of transmission.His goal,then,is to improve the communication process so that a message from person A reaches person B clearly,without distortion or noise.Mark is working from which perspective on organizational communication?

A)Functionalism
B)Interpretivism
C)Critical theory
D)Postmodernism

Question 20

AJ is an organizational communication scholar whose research focuses on increasing job satisfaction during corporate mergers and acquisitions.His goal is to make predictive and generalizable claims so that he can recommend best practices.AJ is working from which perspective on organizational communication?

A)Functionalism
B)Interpretivism
C)Critical theory
D)Feminism

Question 21

Scientific management,bureaucracy,and human relations theory were all built on the principles of interpretivism.

Question 22

The discourse of _____________________ refers to the feminist perspective on organizational communication.

Question 23

Because the placement of armrests discourages napping,seats in many airports function as a form of technological control.

Question 24

____________________________ is the process of creating and negotiating collective,coordinated systems of meaning through symbolic practices oriented toward the achievement of organizational goals.

Question 25

Mumby refers to interpretivism as a discourse of __________________.

Question 26

Architect Charles Jencks places the symbolic birth of ________________ at 3:33 p.m.on July 18,1973-the moment when the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St.Louis was demolished.

Question 27

Many functionalists argue that the symbolic world is the only world we can possibly know because the world around is always mediated by language,symbols,and communicative practices.

Question 28

According to the interpretivist perspective,corporate rituals such as Christmas parties and corporate breakfasts function to subtly reassert the worldview of the management élite in the organization.

Question 29

The development of less explicit and coercive forms of control means that control is no longer an important issue in daily organizational life.

Question 30

Control is a linear,cause and effect phenomenon (like one billiard ball hitting another).

Question 31

Postmodernism is both a historical epoch and a way of thinking that rejects any single overarching social reality or grand narrative.

Question 32

Tensions between the goals,beliefs,and desires of individual organization members and those of the larger organization are usually resolved by subordinating the goals and beliefs of individuals to those of the organization.

Question 33

We can define ___________ as the dynamic,ongoing process of creating and negotiating meanings through interactional symbolic practices,including conversation,metaphors,rituals,stories,dress,and space.

Question 34

The discourse of suspicion refers to the _______________ perspective on organizational communication.

Question 35

_________________ is both a historical epoch and a way of thinking in which science,rationality,and progress are the dominant themes.

Question 36

__________________________ is the dynamic communication process through which organizational stakeholders struggle to maximize their stake in an organization.

Question 37

The feminist perspective on organizational communication argues primarily for creating a level playing field to provide women voice and opportunity in organizations.

Question 38

Goal orientation,as an essential feature of an organization,is complex because organizations often have multiple and competing goals.

Question 39

Michel Foucault uses the term _______________ to describe a system of possibilities for the creation of knowledge.

Question 40

A ________________ framework is a "theory about theories" that enables us to compare and contrast the different assumptions on which competing theories and perspectives are based.