COM 332 OL:
Semester:
Instructor:
Organizational Communication & Leadership
Summer 2012
Gerald M. Gibson
Home Phone:
Cell Phone:
(On Line Course)
gibson@elon.edu
336.584.5348
336.260.5685
Catalogue Description:
Every organization has its own internal patterns and practices of communication. This
course addresses the theories and workplace issues related to leadership, teams,
interpersonal relations, and organizational culture and strategy. You will analyze global,
technological and ethical dimensions of communication in organizations.
In other words, this is a theory course: How can we predict or describe the communication
activity of an organization? What tools do we have for examining the effectiveness of their
communication efforts? Why do groups fail in their attempts at communicating their
messages? What can you do as a communications professional to improve the success of
communication efforts by your organization or company?
Suggested Additional Classes:
There are no prerequisites for Organizational Communication. If you’ve had trouble with
any of your writing classes, please talk with me immediately. Let's make sure that
following the APA style guide isn't going to be a problem for you.
This is a junior-level course that expects higher-order thinking on your part and a
willingness to work independently. In addition, every on-line course requires a high level
of maturity and self-motivation to stay on schedule, and to be able to work independently
to successfully complete the assigned tasks. I will do everything within my power to help
you succeed in this class but I ask that you consider carefully your particular situation this
summer: Will you be working or have an internship or be taking another class at the same
time? You need to have both the time and the time management skills essential for doing
well in your online course.
Course Objectives:
After successfully completing this course, you should be able to:
Define organizational communication and describe the relationship between the
process of communicating and organizing.
Identify current organizational communication theories and discuss their individual
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strengths and weaknesses.
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Differentiate among different forms of organizational power and practices of
participation.
Utilize effective strategies performing communications research: writing, interviewing,
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researching, and presenting your findings to others.
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Academic Responsibility:
Academic Message:
An Elon student's highest purpose is Academic Citizenship: giving first attention to
learning and reflection, developing intellectually, connecting knowledge and experiences,
and upholding Elon's honor codes.
Academic Honor Code:
This course recognizes and adheres to the principles of the Elon Academic Honor Code.
Students are expected to be familiar with the code and follow it consistently, regardless of
whether the professor is present to enforce it. Questions about possible violations should
be directed to your instructor. Suspected violations will be reported to the Associate Dean
for Academic Affairs.
Student Responsibilities:
You are expected to log in daily and to be prepared for class (threaded) discussion.
Preparation for class is a shared responsibility of the instructor and the students. Prior to
each class session you are expected to have read the assigned text and handouts, and
viewed any non-print materials, to have given due consideration to their substance and
significance, and to be prepared to ask and answer thoughtful questions about the
materials. You will often be asked to bring source materials you have found to our
discussion; i.e., newspaper articles, links to web sites, etc., that relate to that day's class
discussion.
The work you present to the instructor should be solely yours unless you have been
assigned a group project, at which time the work should be equally shared.
Textbook and Materials:
Eisenberg, Goodall, jr. and Trethewey. Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity
and Constraint, 6th ed. © 2010.
Other Materials:
Access to an APA Style Guide, either as a text or by web:
APA Style Resources
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(http://www.psywww.com/resource/apacrib.htm)
APA Style Essentials
(http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.aspx?doc_id=796)
APA Formatting and Style Guide
(http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1)
You will need access to NetFlicks, Hulu, Blockbuster or another video source so that you
can view movies that are used to illuminate a topic or provide a starting point for an online
discussion. While the past should not be viewed as a predictor for the future, previous
movies have included, among others, Gung Ho, Volunteers, The Replacements, In Good
Company, Robots, New In Town, Chicken Run, Man About Town, Star Trek and Barbarians At the
Gate. You will view between three and five movies during the summer session.
This should not be considered a definitive list. Check the link to Class Movies on Moodle
for a finalized list and their “view-by” dates. (Please feel free to suggest other movies that
you feel fit the topic being examined.) The movies will be the basis for online discussions
and homework assignments.
High-speed Internet Access*
• QuickTime for Macintosh or Windows for viewing video clips.
• Adobe PDF reader (or Apple’s Preview) for reading handouts.
• Access to Microsoft Word and PowerPoint for presentations.
* If you plan on having periods of time without high-speed access, you will need to download the
class PowerPoint presentations before you leave Elon or contact me so that I can “snail-mail” a CD
of the presentations to you. They are my “lectures” on the material.
School of Communication and Course Policies:
Attendance:
The School of Communications has a demanding attendance policy for regular classes.
Since this class is an online course, we have to ponder how this applies: You must
participate daily in the threaded discussions or the submission of a homework assignment
or email or you will be considered “absent.” This is a thought and discussion course: you
are allowed only three unexcused “absences,” or days without contact. Each unexcused
absence in excess of this will reduce your final course grade by one-third level (i.e., an Abecomes a B+ with a second unexcused absence).
There will be a threaded discussion question, or questions, almost every day. They take the
place of the give-and-take exchanges of the classroom. The rubric for grading threaded
discussions may be found in the Course Documents section of our Moodle site.
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Assignments:
All work is due by 11:00 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time on the day assigned. Late work
is subject to a reduction of one-third-letter grade for each day late, with delivery after the
assigned time considered as one day late. For a written paper or assignment, each spelling,
grammar or mechanical error will also reduce your writing assignment grade by one-thirdletter grade. A factual error will reduce the grade on a writing assignment by one full letter
grade. Due to the limited time in summer school, past due work will not be accepted if
submitted more than three days late.
If you are experiencing technical problems with Moodle, call Elon's Help Desk
IMMEDIATELY. Then call me. (Equipment and IP providers fail: a thunderstorm can
wreak havoc on servers and cable modems!)
You are expected to comply with the Elon University Honor Code in performing the work
in this course.
Exercises, discussions, and quizzes are for a scheduled time window and are considered a
“class” activity. You cannot make up missed class work. A quiz will have a window of
availability during which you are expected to go online and complete it.
A response to your work will be generated to you as quickly as possible. While I’m not new
to this online system of teaching and learning, but still realize that there will be a
tremendous amount of writing (and reading) taking place, for me as well as you.
Handouts:
All handouts are PDF or Word.docx files on this class Moodle site. My class PowerPoint
“presentations” are located there as well.
Grading:
Scale:
All grading is on a ten-point scale. Letter grades are converted to points, and points to
letter grades as follows:
A
AB+
B
BC+
94– 100
90 – 92
87 – 89
83 – 86
80 – 82
77 – 79
C
CD+
D
DF
73 – 76
70 – 72
67 – 69
63 – 66
60 – 62
0 - 59
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Tests and Quizzes:
There will be a short online quiz every few days consisting of multiple-choice, short
answer, true-false and perhaps short essay questions covering the textbook material,
outside readings, and lecture material for that day. This open-book quiz should take about
20 to 30 minutes, but you will always be permitted at least 60 minutes for the quiz. The
quiz will be made available for a 48-hour time period so you need to be prompt in taking
them. Missed quizzes cannot be made up (except for some extremely unusual
circumstances involving technology issues).
The final exam is scheduled for Friday, June 29, 2012. You should plan on blocking out
two to three uninterrupted hours on this day. The format of this final exam will be short
answer and essay, requiring you to respond to questions that ask you to utilize or respond
to specific examples from an assigned film. You must take the exam on the assigned date
unless you have been granted permission to change by the Dean of the School of
Communications.
Case Studies:
Each chapter of the textbook presents a case study for your analysis. While we certainly
will not attempt to utilize all of them in our limited time frame, you must respond to those
case studies listed on the course schedule. You will be given guidelines for creating your
response to the case studies.
Ethnography Project:
You will research and write a corporate ethnography, a study of individual or group
leadership, or a communications audit of a real company or organization. Don’t worry if
you don’t know what these are—learning what they are, what value they offer the
organization, and how to do them is part of the reason for this course. You will generate a
paper and submit a presentation using PowerPoint (or Keynote).
Grade Computation:
Quiz Average (open-book, but timed)
30%
Case Study/Homework Average
15%
Threaded Discussion Participation*
15%
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Ethnography/Leadership Project
30%
Final Exam
10%
* As determined by instructor, based on the participation rubric. Look on your Moodle
class site. Your participation in role-playing activities will count here as well.
Other Information:
Instructor:
Gerald M. Gibson
E-Mail:
gibson@elon.edu
gerald.gibson60@gmail.com
Office:
107 C McEwen Building, School of Communications
Phone:
Office:
Home:
Cell:
Office Hours:
336.278.5665 (No reason to call—I'm not there!)
336.584.5348 (Before 11:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Zone)
336.260.5685
I will be checking my email no less than every 3 hours from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m.
EDT Monday through Friday so that I can respond quickly to your concerns or
problems. On Saturday and Sunday I will check every 4 to 5 hours. If this doesn't meet
your needs, please feel free to call my home and/or cell phone any day of the week
between 8:30 AM and 11:00 PM EDT.
Should you need an immediate response, please call my cell phone. I’ve given you a
secondary email address as a “safety” backup way of reaching me: I can check my gmail
account from my mobile phone.
This is my initial plan, which may be modified after we have a chance to talk during our
first few days of class. I am willing to revise my planned availability as YOU need me to.
Keep me posted on what you want me to schedule.
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