COMM 547: ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION THEORY
SYLLABUS
WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
FALL 2014
HOLLY PAYNE, Ph.D.
Department of Communication
100 Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center
holly.payne@wku.edu
(270) 745 - 5876
OFFICE HOURS
Tuesday and Thursday: 9:00-11:00; Thursday 12:30-1:30 & By Appointment
REQUIRED MATERIALS
§ Cheney, G., Christensen, L.T., Zorn, T. E., & Ganesh, S. (2010). Organizational
communication in an age of globalization (2nd ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
(ISBN: 978-1-57766-640-0)
§ Course Pack of Readings from Blackboard
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Welcome to COMM 547 – Organizational Communication Theory. This course is designed to
introduce graduate students to theory and research on human communication in complex
organizations. We will explore historical and contemporary approaches to studying organizations,
organizational communication, and communication processes. This course will give you a working
knowledge of the field and expose you to a variety of organizational communication theories from
different perspectives. The purpose is not to make you an expert of any one theory, but to lay a
theoretical foundation on which you can build, grow, and expand in detail and complexity in your
future studies.
Reading and understanding theory can be an intimidating process for some, particularly if you
have little or no experience with communication literature. As you read, I encourage you to ask
yourself questions on two levels to aid your comprehension of the material:
Micro Level – Who developed the theory, why, and in what context? What are the
important concepts of the theory? How does the theory further our understanding about
organizations and communication? How has the theory been studied, applied, or extended
by other scholars? How does the theory relate to other theories was have discussed?
Macro Level – What are the underlying assumptions of this theory? What would count as
evidence? How would evidence using this theory likely be gathered? What is not
articulated or addressed by this theory that might also be important?
COURSE OBJECTIVES
§ To survey organizational communication theory and research.
§ To understand the application and implications of theory to organizations and organizational
members.
§ To apply communication concepts, models, and theories using multiple perspectives.
§ To become a knowledgeable and critical consumer of organizational communication theory,
research, and literature.
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§
To recognize and explore the ethical issues of organizational communication.
COURSE STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS
Participation and Class Structure
The lecture method of dispensing information is often an inefficient method of instruction especially
at the graduate level. With teacher direction and facilitation, students acquire more information and
employ personal learning strategies. This course is structured as a graduate seminar where you
can play with ideas and concepts via discussion with classmates. Learning to jump into these
discussions and to communicate and develop your ideas is one of the most important outcomes of
this class. Come to class prepared to question, to discuss, to defend, to debate, to disagree, to
apply, to integrate, to develop…etc. In addition, I encourage you to bring forward research that
informs and explores the days’ issues that you have noted in your own readings. It is essential for
you to actively participate in the course activities and to keep up with the readings. If you do not do
the reading, do not expect to benefit substantially from the course or to score well on the
assignments. Assigned chapters and journal articles should be read in accordance with the
schedule and referred to in the class discussion.
Course Attendance
Successful learning requires you to actively participate and attend the course for the entire length
of time scheduled. Attendance and participation for this course are required. If you are unable to
participate due to prolonged serious illness or personal emergency, you are expected to contact
me as soon as possible. All assigned work must be completed regardless of the reason for
nonparticipation.
Writing Expectations
This is a writing intensive course, and I expect your writing to demonstrate graduate level writing
skills. At a minimum, this includes grammatically correct sentences, well-developed paragraphs,
and organized, coherent patterns of thought. Throughout the course you will expand your personal
vocabulary through the study of terms related to the course. Your written work will be evaluated on
both content and mechanics. Good writing should be reasonably free of mistakes and without
composition errors, which are called gross errors (sentence fragments, run-on sentences, subjectverb disagreement, misspelled words, and typographical errors which result in such errors). All of
your work should use no more than 12 point type with margins not exceeding 1 inch) and doublespaced—unless otherwise indicated. Please use APA 6th edition for citing and documenting
sources. Additionally, your papers should meet the appropriate page limits as assigned and be
submitted in hard copy the day it is due.
Academic Integrity
Western Kentucky University and the Department of Communication are committed to the highest
standards of ethical conduct and academic excellence. Issues of academic misconduct include a
range of offenses including: copying the work of other students, plagiarizing other sources by
incorrectly citing sources, presenting someone’s information as your own without crediting the
source, incorrectly citing primary sources from a secondary source, submitting assignments
previously submitted for another course without prior consent of both professors, and cheating
on exams.
The Department takes academic offenses seriously. Professors may routinely ask students to
submit their written work to a plagiarism detection database. Any student found guilty of academic
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dishonesty will receive one of the following consequences at the discretion of the faculty member:
written warning, reduced grade on the assignment, failing grade on the assignment, reduction in
course grade, failing grade in the course, and/or referral to the University Disciplinary Committee.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS/ASSIGNMENTS
Discussion Leader Presentations
Each week a discussion leader will be assigned to review one of the readings for the week and to
provide the class with questions for discussion. Discussion leaders will provide a one page
abstract/overview of the article (with the full citation at the top in APA format) and lead the class in
the discussion. Students should strive for an interactive “teaching” presentation, not a book report.
More specifically, discussion leaders should do the following:
1) Prior to class: prepare 3 or 4 critical questions per article and post them on the Blackboard
discussion board. These questions should be posted at least two days before the class meeting
(i.e., by SUNDAY evening).
2) Day of class: provide a one page abstract of the article to the class including key points
3) Day of class: begin by giving a brief overview of the topic/construct explored in the article(s)
and open the discussion with the questions you posted on Blackboard
4) Day of class: facilitate discussion, ask additional questions, and explicitly relate the week’s
topic/readings to communication theory and to previous readings or discussions
Every student is expected to have thought about the questions and have points prepared for class
discussion. Ideally, discussions will aid students’ understanding of material and their ability to
utilize the content in both a practical and academic way.
Discussion leaders will be evaluated on their overall delivery, content covered, discussion
questions, and participation of others, as well as the application of communication theory/concepts.
See grading rubric for more details.
Weekly Thought Papers
When you are not the discussion leader, you will be asked to turn in a one to two page analysis or
thought paper. The thought papers are intended to help you start integrating and applying the
material that you have read for that week. For feedback purposes, I will evaluate these on a simple
check, plus, and minus basis with check being “acceptable,” plus being “very good,” and minus
being “needs significant improvement.” Thought papers should be 1-2 pages double-spaced, and
should answer the following questions (unless another topic is assigned):
· Summarize the theory/concepts discussed and answer the “So what?” question. What is
significant about this research? Why is it important?
· From what theoretical perspective or lens is the article written and how do you know?
· How does this theory/concept relate to other course concepts/readings?
· How might the theory/concepts be applied to contemporary organizational contexts?
Exams
A midterm and final exam will be given (see course schedule for date). The exams will consist of
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your responses to questions that synthesize and apply course readings and discussions. The
questions will require your critical analysis, original thought, and appropriate support/citations.
Organizational Communication Application Paper
Choose a recent (within the last 6 months) story you have seen or heard about in the news that
relates to organizational communication practices and processes. Begin by summarizing the story
to offer adequate context. Then explain an organizational communication theory/concept from our
course materials and discussions that applies to the situation and how. Be sure to address the
following:
· How is the communication theory/concept applicable or relevant to this organization? What
organizational communication practice or process is involved?
· How does this communication theory/concept help explain what is going on in the
organization?
· In what ways is the communication theory/concept demonstrated, supported, or challenged
by this organization?
· What might the communication theory/concept suggest to management or other
organizational leaders?
· Using this organization as a case study, what are 2-3 research questions you could explore
to further study this theory/concept in this organizational context?
DETERMINATION OF FINAL GRADE
Assignments are weighted as follows:
Class Participation & Discussion
Discussion Leader Role & Abstract
Thought Papers (10)
Org. Comm. Application Paper & Presentation
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
10%
10%
15%
25%
20%
20%
On the following pages, you’ll find a schedule that outlines the topics we’ll be discussing each week
and the articles that you should read prior to each class. This is a challenging list of readings, so
please plan your time accordingly. If you are worried about how the class is going or your learning
process, please come and talk to me about it. We both have the same goal—to help you develop
your knowledge and skills!
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