Critical Theory of Communication in Organizations
an 'Interpretive' theory
by Stanley Deetz
Presented by:
Madison Barnett
Lindsey Ferguson
Lindsay McDonald
Molly Weinand
Deetzs' Theory seeks to balance corporate interest and human interests within an organization.
The communication theory can be used by people in a position of authority in order to improve the work environment.
Today, our goal is to explain the 4 approaches and for you to be able to apply these approaches and techniques for making decisions
- At a past or current job, did you feel like you had a platform to address an issue or make a change?
- How?
- In your experiences, what kind of one-on-one communication have you had with your boss?
Who are the stakeholders?
Investors
Workers
Consumers
Suppliers
Host Communities
Greater Society & the World Community
Can stakeholder democracy work for everybody?
Why or why not?
Investors: Numbers are completely available to all members of the company, therefore you have an idea of what you are investing your money in. You then have the obvious right to sell or buy more stock.
Workers: Have options for moving up, based solely on the performance of the team. You have incentive to be better with promotions and pay-raises that are directly in your hands.
Consumers: Whole Foods only sells produce that are not artificially colored, artificially flavored, or contain preservatives. They buy all organic, and as local as possible. All meat and seafood products are chemical and hormone free.
Suppliers: Whole Foods buys organic, trying to ensure the trend keeps up (demand), and they also buy local (supporting local and other small business).
Host Communities: Bringing business into a community has a chance for increasing financial stability. Buying local from farmers increases local profits. Plus, the benefit of having an organic food supplier may increase quality of life for citizens in that community.
Greater Society and the World Community: Whole Food's principals of diversity and a non-heirarchical business model ensure a much more equal wage than other companies can (or want to provide). Whole Food's principal of buying local, organic, and sustainable ensure a lesser environmental impact and sometimes a more humane way of farming.
The Critique...
Although democratic, it's not always in everyone's best interest to have universal participation in decisions that effect the company/family/public.
It can also be unrealistic to assume that it's even possible for everyone to participate equally.
For example our government.
It's a work-in-progress, but Deetz believes that companies can get close to the 'participatory' model.
A Stakeholder Democracy in action...