Text and conversation theory
Encyclopedia
Text and conversation is a theory
in the field of organizational communication
illustrating how communication
makes up an organization
. In the theory's simplest explanation, an organization is created and defined by communication. communication “is” the organization and the organization exists because communication takes place. The theory is built on the notion, an organization is not seen as a physical unit holding communication. text and conversation theory puts communication processes at the heart of organizational communication and postulates, an organization doesn’t contain communication as a “causal influence,” but is formed by the communication within. This theory is not intended for direct application, but rather to explain how communication exists. The theory provides a framework
for better understanding organizational communication.
Since the foundation of organizations are in communication, an organization cannot exist without communication, and the organization is defined as the result of communications happening within its context. Communications begin with individuals within the organization discussing beliefs, goal
s, structure
s, plans
and relationship
s. These communicators achieve this through constant development, delivery, and translation of “text and conversation.” The theory proposes mechanisms of communications are “text and “conversation
.”
. text is the meaning made available to individuals through face-to-face
or electronic mode of communication. conversation is defined as what is happening behaviorally between two or more participants in the communication process. conversation is the exchange or interaction itself.
The process of the text and conversation exchange is reciprocal
, text needs conversation and vice versa for the process of communication to occur. text, or content, must have context to be effective and an conversation, or discourse, needs to have a beginning, middle and end. Individuals create the beginning, middle and end by using punctuation
, bracketing
or framing
. When conversation is coupled with text, or meaning, communication occurs. Taylor submits this process is a translation process of: translation of text to conversation and the translation
of conversation into text.
, introduced text and conversation theory in 1996 with François Cooren
, Giroux and Robichaud and then further explored the theory in 1999. Taylor drew on the work of sociologist and educator John Dewey’s
pragmatic view society exists not “by” but “in” communication. Taylor followed the same principle, putting communication as the essence of an organization.
He was born in 1928 and is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Communication of the Université de Montréal
, which he founded in the early 1970s. Drawing from research in fields of organizational psychology
(Karl E. Weick), ethnomethodology
(Harold Garfinkel)
, Deirdre Boden), phenomenology
(Alfred Schütz)
and collective minding (Edwin Hutchins)
, Taylor formed the original text and conversation theory. This line of thought has come to be known as "The Montreal School" of organizational communication, sometimes referred to as TMS, and has been acknowledged as an original theory by authors such as Haridimos Tsoukas
, Linda Putman, and Karl E. Weick.
s are possible and the duality of formal and informal communication.
This theory is based on concepts of structure and agency
. structure is defined as rules and resources of an organization; agency is the free will to choose to do otherwise than prescribed through structure.
Structuration theory identifies structure and agency
as coexisting. Formal rules and resources impact informal communication and discourse. This duality and coexistence ensures a cyclical nature between structure and agency, which has a cause and effect: new structure and agency is created from the causal relationships of previous structure and agency decisions. The concept to understanding structuration is to understand to duality of structure The similarity of Giddens’ theory and conversation and text theory is a mutual-existing and causal relationship of communication. The main difference, between the two, is structuration theory explains how communication impacts the organization, text and conversation, by means of structure and agency. Giddens' construct of structuration explains how mutually causal relationships constitute the essence of an organization. This concept illustrates how communication within an organization depends on the translation of meaning.
", proposed by Gordon Pask
in the 1970s, identifies a framework to explain how scientific theory
and interactions formulate the “construction of knowledge”
Conversation Theory is based on the idea social systems are symbolic and language-oriented. Additionally, these systems are based on responses and interpretations, and the meaning interpreted by individuals via communication
This theory is based on interaction between two or more individuals, with unlike perspectives The significance of having unlike perspectives is that it enables a distinctive standpoint: it permits the ability to study how people identify differences and understand meaning. Additionally, these differences create shared and consensual pockets of interactions and communications as discussed in Structure-Organization-Process
.
Another idea of conversation theory is learning happens by exchanges about issues, which assists in making knowledge
explicit. In order for this to happen, Pask organized three levels of conversation, according to:
Additionally, to facilitate learning, Pask proposed two types of learning strategies.
Ultimately, Pask found versatile learners neither favor one approach over the other. Rather, they understand how both approaches are integrated into the structure of learning. The similarities of conversation theory and text and conversation theory are they both focus on the foundational aspects of meaning. Specifically, how and why meaning is established and interpreted amongst individuals. However, the difference between the two theories is conversation theory specifically focuses on the dynamics of two people. Text and conversation theory is typically applied to at least two people. Conversation theory emphasizes the construct of knowledge of meaning and the cause and effect
relationship that occurs as a result of self-learning
from communication, based on meaning.
Contrary to leaders, "managers" are responsible for day to day problem solving
. Their core framing tasks are solving problems and stimulating others to find solutions.
Individuals, regardless of positional authority, can manage meaning. Meaning management is to communicate with a specific goal by controlling the context and message Individuals utilizing meaning management are communicating and shaping the meaning by using the power of framing.
" is a unique set of behaviors, including language, belief and customs learnt from being raised in social groups or by joining a particular group throughout time. Culture defines context and is the social totality that defines behavior, knowledge, beliefs and social learning
. It is a set of shared values characterizing a specific organization. Fairhurst identifies culture as defining events, people, objects, and concepts. Communication and culture are intertwined. Shared language of a group links together individuals and joins common cultures. Culture influences mental model
s. "Mental models" are the images in your mind about other people, yourself, substance and events.
Additionally, culture defines social interactions and how individuals and groups interpret and apply context. Organizations with good communication foundation are able to interpret and differentiate individuals’ cultural discourses, as well as creatively combine and constrain these discourses. Ir defines the ideological basis for people and lays the foundation for how they frame and can be observed and described, but not controlled. It is defined by the group or individual accepting the specific patterns of behavior, knowledge, or beliefs Individuals can shape culture and make changes over time, as long as they are clear about specific attitudes and behaviors that are desired As Weick and Sutcliffe (2007) discussed, culture can be changed through symbols, values, and content — organizations shape culture. An organizational culture
emerges from a set of expectations that matter to people, from things like [inclusion, exclusion, praise, positive feelings, social support
, isolation, care, indifference, excitement and anger Individuals are shaped by an organization's culture. However, an organization has its own culture. According to Martin (1985), within that organizational culture, three forms of culture can result: integration, differentiation and fragmentation.
With Integration, all organizational members consistently share values and assumptions about work. As a result the members of the organization share uniquely organizational experiences and thus, a unique culture
If differentiation occurs, cultures are not unitary. Sub-groups consistently share values and assumptions about work. Members tend to operate in different areas, different projects and at different levels of the hierarchy.
Cultures are often ambiguous if fragmentation happens. Individuals are interconnected with some members and disconnected with others. This creates inconsistently shared values and assumptions about the organization As a result friendship/romantic as well as enemy/competitor type relationships are cut across an organization’s sub-groups.
Two types of structures exist within an organization.
Goldsmith and Katzenback (2008) explained organizations must understand the informal organization. For example, of being a part of an informal or formal structure, it is important for managers to learn to recognize signs of trouble in order to shape context as they attempt to coordinate meaning and solve day-to-day problems. Specific implications for organizational learning
include enhanced performance, coordinated activity and structure, division of labor and collective goal setting
While a formal organization is visually represented by a typical hierarchical structure, it visually shows how formal responsibilities are spread, as well as job dispersal and the flow of information In contrast, the informal organization embodies how people network to accomplish the job, via social relationships and connections or subject-matter expert
s that are not represented on the organizational chart By leveraging this informal organization, people within the organization are able to use their social network
to access and shape the decision-making processes quicker, as well as establish cross-structural collaboration amongst themselves.
Additionally, by understanding and using both structures, leaders and managers are able to learn more about their people. Interpreting all forms of communication, verbal and visual, whether you are a supervisor or a subordinate is invaluable. The hierarchical and network structures can allow an organization to recognize signs of trouble from people, accomplish core framing tasks, and to be able to communicate with mindfulness and meaning. By unlocking the value of an organization's structure, leaders and managers can use this knowledge to boost performance or achieve specific goals. Signs of trouble can be emotional, hidden, physical, or in plain sight.
s and cultural discourse. Additionally, by noticing abnormalities and not being blind to details, an organization should be able to recognize signs of trouble within day-to-day operations and management, whether it is fraud, lack of maintenance standards, sexual harassment
, or even a poor framework for communication.
Understanding and the ability to recognize signs of trouble empower managers to employ the rules of reality construction: control the context, define the situation, apply ethics, interpret uncertainty, and design the response, which leads to communicating by a structured way of thinking.
Ultimately, by understanding how an organization works, you enhance communication collectively. Additionally, by knowing how employees and relationships are shaped and the context that defines how each person interacts with one another, you can shape contagious emotions.
Basic building blocks of Taylor’s theories is the relationship of text and conversation, and how that relationship requires a "two-step translational process"
Following this translational process, text and conversation is transferred to organizational communication. If context, or text, defines the organization then ongoing introductions and meaning are crucial to define what is meant by the term organization.
To examine this further, Taylor defined "six degrees of separation" to understand organizational communication:
Taylor sresses the importance and impact of dialogue, specifically relating to how people interact with one another and interpret context. Taylor explains in Heath et al (2006) that virtuous reasoning embodies entire discussions. Additionally, he points out dialogue should not prevent issues that arise from debate Since 1993, Taylor’s theory has been the focus of more than six organizational communication books. Additionally, Taylor’s ideas are referred to as "The Montreal School" of organizational communication Within the field of communication, TMS has been recognized for its contributions to organizational communication as well as related disciplines. Books focusing on text and conversation theory have sold internationally One to the largest and simplest contributions this theory provided the communication academic field was the ability to describe and characterize and organization. From this, people could better understand and fully construct and organization’s identity.
is the study of how collectives adapt to, or fail to adapt to, their environments. It utilizes tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge.
Ultimately, organizational learning achieves enhanced performance, coordinated activity and structure, and achievement of collective goals by externalization and internalization.
Text and conversation theory places significant challenges and burdens on the organization to articulate knowledge. Whether knowledge is passed directly by individuals, up and down or horizontally on the formal or informal organizational structure, there is no guarantee text has proper context to be effective as conversation. Additionally, conversation codes are influenced by how the organization ensures knowledge carriers pass information and communicate with purpose, message, and meaning.
How information is passed can be unclear, and consistently has to adapt to new challenges. Some of these challenges, or factors, include how individuals and an organization adapt to meaning, culture, structure, and knowledge, in order to communicate.
Ultimately, within the organization itself, people are impacted by bias’ on group and individual levels.
"Problems with Group Learning"
"Problems with Individual Learning"
Theory
The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...
in the field of organizational communication
Organizational communication
Organizational communication is a subfield of the larger discipline of communication studies. Organizational communication, as a field, is the consideration, analysis, and criticism of the role of communication in organizational contexts....
illustrating how communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
makes up an organization
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
. In the theory's simplest explanation, an organization is created and defined by communication. communication “is” the organization and the organization exists because communication takes place. The theory is built on the notion, an organization is not seen as a physical unit holding communication. text and conversation theory puts communication processes at the heart of organizational communication and postulates, an organization doesn’t contain communication as a “causal influence,” but is formed by the communication within. This theory is not intended for direct application, but rather to explain how communication exists. The theory provides a framework
Conceptual framework
A conceptual framework is used in research to outline possible courses of action or to present a preferred approach to an idea or thought. For example, the philosopher Isaiah Berlin used the "hedgehogs" versus "foxes" approach; a "hedgehog" might approach the world in terms of a single organizing...
for better understanding organizational communication.
Since the foundation of organizations are in communication, an organization cannot exist without communication, and the organization is defined as the result of communications happening within its context. Communications begin with individuals within the organization discussing beliefs, goal
Goal
A goal is an objective, or a projected computation of affairs, that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve.Goal, GOAL or G.O.A.L may also refer to:Sport...
s, structure
Structure
Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society...
s, plans
PLANS
People for Legal and Non-Sectarian Schools is an organization based in California in the United States which campaigns against the public funding of Waldorf methods charter schools alleging they violate the United States Constitution's separation of church and state...
and relationship
Relationship
Relationship or relationships may refer to:* Interpersonal relationship* Intimate relationship* In mathematics and statistics:** Binary relation** Causal relationship** Correlation and dependence** Direct relationship** Inverse relationship...
s. These communicators achieve this through constant development, delivery, and translation of “text and conversation.” The theory proposes mechanisms of communications are “text and “conversation
Conversation
Conversation is a form of interactive, spontaneous communication between two or more people who are following rules of etiquette.Conversation analysis is a branch of sociology which studies the structure and organization of human interaction, with a more specific focus on conversational...
.”
Definitions
The foundation of this theory is the concepts of text and conversation. Text is defined as the content of interaction, or what is said in an interactionInteraction
Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect...
. text is the meaning made available to individuals through face-to-face
Face-to-face
The face-to-face relation refers to a concept in the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas' thought on human sociality.Lévinas' phenomenological account of the "face-to-face" encounter serves as the basis for his ethics and the rest of his philosophy...
or electronic mode of communication. conversation is defined as what is happening behaviorally between two or more participants in the communication process. conversation is the exchange or interaction itself.
The process of the text and conversation exchange is reciprocal
Reciprocal determinism
Reciprocal determinism is the theory set forth by psychologist Albert Bandura that a person's behavior both influences and is influenced by personal factors and the social environment. Bandura accepts the possibility of an individual's behavior being conditioned through the use of consequences...
, text needs conversation and vice versa for the process of communication to occur. text, or content, must have context to be effective and an conversation, or discourse, needs to have a beginning, middle and end. Individuals create the beginning, middle and end by using punctuation
Punctuation
Punctuation marks are symbols that indicate the structure and organization of written language, as well as intonation and pauses to be observed when reading aloud.In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences...
, bracketing
Bracketing
In photography, bracketing is the general technique of taking several shots of the same subject using different or the same camera settings. Bracketing is useful and often recommended in situations that make it difficult to obtain a satisfactory image with a single shot, especially when a small...
or framing
Framing (social sciences)
A frame in social theory consists of a schema of interpretation — that is, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes—that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events. In simpler terms, people build a series of mental filters through biological and cultural influences. They use these...
. When conversation is coupled with text, or meaning, communication occurs. Taylor submits this process is a translation process of: translation of text to conversation and the translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
of conversation into text.
- ”text” = content and meaning
- ”conversation” = discourseDiscourseDiscourse generally refers to "written or spoken communication". The following are three more specific definitions:...
and exchange
Theorist
James R. TaylorJames R. Taylor
James Renwick Taylor is Professor Emeritus at the of the Université de Montréal, which he founded in the early 1970s.Drawing from research in fields such as organizational psychology James Renwick Taylor (born in 1928) is Professor Emeritus at the of the Université de Montréal, which he founded...
, introduced text and conversation theory in 1996 with François Cooren
François Cooren
François Cooren, Ph.D, is a French sociologist of organisational communication and, until 2008, the editor of . He completed his Ph.D. at the of the Université de Montréal in 1996, under the supervision of James R. Taylor. He is now chairman of that same department, where he is full professor...
, Giroux and Robichaud and then further explored the theory in 1999. Taylor drew on the work of sociologist and educator John Dewey’s
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
pragmatic view society exists not “by” but “in” communication. Taylor followed the same principle, putting communication as the essence of an organization.
He was born in 1928 and is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Communication of the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
, which he founded in the early 1970s. Drawing from research in fields of organizational psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology is the scientific study of employees, workplaces, and organizations. Industrial and organizational psychologists contribute to an organization's success by improving the performance and well-being of its people...
(Karl E. Weick), ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology is an ethnographic approach to sociological inquiry introduced by the American sociologist Harold Garfinkel . Ethnomethodology's research interest is the study of the everyday methods people use for the production of social order...
(Harold Garfinkel)
Harold Garfinkel
Harold Garfinkel was a Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is known for establishing and developing ethnomethodology as a field of inquiry in sociology.-Biography:...
, Deirdre Boden), phenomenology
Phenomenology (psychology)
Phenomenology is an approach to psychological subject matter that has its roots in the philosophical work of Edmund Husserl. Early phenomenologists such as Husserl, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty conducted their own psychological investigations in the early 20th century...
(Alfred Schütz)
Alfred Schütz
Alfred Schütz was an Austrian social scientist, whose work bridged sociological and phenomenological traditions to form a social phenomenology, and who is gradually achieving recognition as one of the foremost philosophers of social science of the [twentieth] century.-Life:Schütz was born in...
and collective minding (Edwin Hutchins)
Edwin Hutchins
Edwin Hutchins is a professor and former department head of cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego. Hutchins is one of the main developers of distributed cognition....
, Taylor formed the original text and conversation theory. This line of thought has come to be known as "The Montreal School" of organizational communication, sometimes referred to as TMS, and has been acknowledged as an original theory by authors such as Haridimos Tsoukas
Haridimos Tsoukas
Haridimos Tsoukas is a Greek professor of organization studies.Tsoukas holds the Columbia Shipping Company Chair of Organization and Management at the University of Cyprus, and Professor of Organization Studies at the Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. He is editor-in-chief of...
, Linda Putman, and Karl E. Weick.
- Taylor said,“…organization emerges in communication, which thus furnishes not only the site of its appearance to its members, but also the surface on which members read the meaning of the organization to them.” Taylor argues communication is the “site and emergence of organization.”
Structuration Theory
"Structuration theory" identifies how text and conversation theory evolved from this communication construct. Proposed by Anthony Giddens (1984) in ‘’The Constitution on Society,’’ structuration theory, originated in the discipline of sociology. Giddens’ theory has been adapted to the field of communication, particularly organizational communication; specifically, how and why structural changeStructural change
Structural change of an economy refers to a long-term widespread change of the fundamental structure, rather than microscale or short-term output and employment. For example, a subsistence economy is transformed into a manufacturing economy, or a regulated mixed economy is liberalized...
s are possible and the duality of formal and informal communication.
This theory is based on concepts of structure and agency
Structure and agency
The question over the primacy of either structure or agency in human behavior is a central debate in the social sciences. In this context, "agency" refers to the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. "Structure", by contrast, refers to the recurrent...
. structure is defined as rules and resources of an organization; agency is the free will to choose to do otherwise than prescribed through structure.
- "structure": is rules and resources, the reason we do things because of the structure of how we were raised (culture, sociological and physiological). Giddens (1984) explains these rules as recipes or procedures for accomplishing tasks within an organization. Resources have two subsets: allocative and authoritative, which can be leveraged to accomplish desired outcomes. Allocative are quantitative resources, while authoritative are qualitative.
- "agencyAgencyAgency may refer to:* Agency * Agency , refers to a person who acts on behalf of another person.* Agency * Agency , the ability of social actors to make independent choices....
": is the free will to choose to do otherwise. Agency is the reason people do things, because they have a choice This is the process individuals internalize actions and make choices, rather than making decisions because the structure says they should. structure is based on the formal organization and accepted policy. agency is informal communication and individually-based. - "DualismDualismDualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
": mutually exclusive answer (i.e., either/or) - "DualityDualismDualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
": mutually constitutive answer (i.e., both/and) - "StructurationStructurationThe theory of structuration, proposed by Anthony Giddens in The Constitution of Society , is an attempt to reconcile theoretical dichotomies of social systems such as agency/structure, subjective/objective, and micro/macro perspectives...
": society itself is located in a duality of structureDuality of structureDuality of structure is one of Anthony Giddens' coined phrases and main propositions in his explanation of structuration theory. The basis of the duality lies in the relationship the Agency has with the Structure. In the duality, the Agency has much more influence on its lived environment than...
in which the enactments of agency become structures that, across time, produce possibilities for agency enactment. - Another way explain it is structure is the context.
Structuration theory identifies structure and agency
Structure and agency
The question over the primacy of either structure or agency in human behavior is a central debate in the social sciences. In this context, "agency" refers to the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. "Structure", by contrast, refers to the recurrent...
as coexisting. Formal rules and resources impact informal communication and discourse. This duality and coexistence ensures a cyclical nature between structure and agency, which has a cause and effect: new structure and agency is created from the causal relationships of previous structure and agency decisions. The concept to understanding structuration is to understand to duality of structure The similarity of Giddens’ theory and conversation and text theory is a mutual-existing and causal relationship of communication. The main difference, between the two, is structuration theory explains how communication impacts the organization, text and conversation, by means of structure and agency. Giddens' construct of structuration explains how mutually causal relationships constitute the essence of an organization. This concept illustrates how communication within an organization depends on the translation of meaning.
Conversation Theory
"Conversation theoryConversation Theory
Conversation Theory is a cybernetic and dialectic framework that offers a scientific theory to explain how interactions lead to "construction of knowledge", or, "knowing": wishing to preserve both the dynamic/kinetic quality, and the necessity for there to be a "knower"...
", proposed by Gordon Pask
Gordon Pask
Andrew Gordon Speedie Pask was an English cybernetician and psychologist who made significant contributions to cybernetics, instructional psychology, experimental epistemology and educational technology....
in the 1970s, identifies a framework to explain how scientific theory
Scientific theory
A scientific theory comprises a collection of concepts, including abstractions of observable phenomena expressed as quantifiable properties, together with rules that express relationships between observations of such concepts...
and interactions formulate the “construction of knowledge”
Conversation Theory is based on the idea social systems are symbolic and language-oriented. Additionally, these systems are based on responses and interpretations, and the meaning interpreted by individuals via communication
This theory is based on interaction between two or more individuals, with unlike perspectives The significance of having unlike perspectives is that it enables a distinctive standpoint: it permits the ability to study how people identify differences and understand meaning. Additionally, these differences create shared and consensual pockets of interactions and communications as discussed in Structure-Organization-Process
Structure-Organization-Process
In The Tree of Knowledge , Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela set out a way of describing the nature of living things: “… [An] organization denotes those relations that must exist among components of a system for it to be a member of a specific class...
.
Another idea of conversation theory is learning happens by exchanges about issues, which assists in making knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
explicit. In order for this to happen, Pask organized three levels of conversation, according to:
- "Natural languageNatural languageIn the philosophy of language, a natural language is any language which arises in an unpremeditated fashion as the result of the innate facility for language possessed by the human intellect. A natural language is typically used for communication, and may be spoken, signed, or written...
": general discussion - "Object languageObject languageAn object language is a language which is the "object" of study in various fields including logic, linguistics, mathematics and theoretical computer science. The language being used to talk about an object language is called a metalanguage...
s": for discussing the subject matter - "Metalanguages": for talking about learning/language
Additionally, to facilitate learning, Pask proposed two types of learning strategies.
- "Serialists": progress through a structure in a sequential fashion
- "Holists": look for higher order relations
Ultimately, Pask found versatile learners neither favor one approach over the other. Rather, they understand how both approaches are integrated into the structure of learning. The similarities of conversation theory and text and conversation theory are they both focus on the foundational aspects of meaning. Specifically, how and why meaning is established and interpreted amongst individuals. However, the difference between the two theories is conversation theory specifically focuses on the dynamics of two people. Text and conversation theory is typically applied to at least two people. Conversation theory emphasizes the construct of knowledge of meaning and the cause and effect
Cause and effect
Cause and effect refers to the philosophical concept of causality, in which an action or event will produce a certain response to the action in the form of another event....
relationship that occurs as a result of self-learning
Self-learning
Self-learning can refer to:* Learning Theory* Autodidacticism* unsupervised machine learning...
from communication, based on meaning.
Meaning
"Meaning management" is the control of "context" and "message" to accomplish a desired communication effect. According to Fairhurst, leaders are change agents Leaders define the value of the organization and shape communication by implementing unique organizational communication approaches. Within an organization, leaders and managers establish the framework for communication, which helps to manage meaning. "Leaders" provide information to followers, such as the organizations’ mission, vision, values, as well as its collective identityCollective identity
The term collective identity may refer to a variety of concepts. In general however, these concepts generally pertain to phenomena where an individuals' perceived membership in a social group impacts upon their own identity in some way. The idea of a collective identity has received attention in a...
Contrary to leaders, "managers" are responsible for day to day problem solving
Problem solving
Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...
. Their core framing tasks are solving problems and stimulating others to find solutions.
Individuals, regardless of positional authority, can manage meaning. Meaning management is to communicate with a specific goal by controlling the context and message Individuals utilizing meaning management are communicating and shaping the meaning by using the power of framing.
Culture
"CultureCulture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
" is a unique set of behaviors, including language, belief and customs learnt from being raised in social groups or by joining a particular group throughout time. Culture defines context and is the social totality that defines behavior, knowledge, beliefs and social learning
Social learning
Social learning may refer to:* Observational learning , learning that occurs as a function of observing, retaining and replicating behavior observed in ones environment or other people....
. It is a set of shared values characterizing a specific organization. Fairhurst identifies culture as defining events, people, objects, and concepts. Communication and culture are intertwined. Shared language of a group links together individuals and joins common cultures. Culture influences mental model
Mental model
A mental model is an explanation of someone's thought process about how something works in the real world. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a person's intuitive perception about his or her own acts and their consequences...
s. "Mental models" are the images in your mind about other people, yourself, substance and events.
Additionally, culture defines social interactions and how individuals and groups interpret and apply context. Organizations with good communication foundation are able to interpret and differentiate individuals’ cultural discourses, as well as creatively combine and constrain these discourses. Ir defines the ideological basis for people and lays the foundation for how they frame and can be observed and described, but not controlled. It is defined by the group or individual accepting the specific patterns of behavior, knowledge, or beliefs Individuals can shape culture and make changes over time, as long as they are clear about specific attitudes and behaviors that are desired As Weick and Sutcliffe (2007) discussed, culture can be changed through symbols, values, and content — organizations shape culture. An organizational culture
Organizational culture
Organizational culture is defined as “A pattern of shared basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration" that have worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to...
emerges from a set of expectations that matter to people, from things like [inclusion, exclusion, praise, positive feelings, social support
Social support
Social support can be defined and measured in many ways. It can loosely be defined as feeling that one is cared for by and has assistance available from other people and that one is part of a supportive social network...
, isolation, care, indifference, excitement and anger Individuals are shaped by an organization's culture. However, an organization has its own culture. According to Martin (1985), within that organizational culture, three forms of culture can result: integration, differentiation and fragmentation.
- "IntegrationIntegration- Sociology and economy :*Social integration*Racial integration, refers to social and cultural behavior*Economic integration, refers to trade unification between different states*Educational integration of students with disabilities*Regional integration...
" (bring people together) - "DifferentiationDifferentiationDifferentiation may refer to:* Differentiation , the process of finding a derivative* Differentiated instruction in education* Cellular differentiation in biology* Planetary differentiation in planetary science...
" (act or process by which people undergo change toward more specialized function) - "FragmentationFragmentation-In biology:* Fragmentation , a form of asexual reproduction* Fragmentation * Habitat fragmentation* Population fragmentation-Music:* Fragmented , the debut album from the Filipino independent band Up Dharma Down-Other:...
" (process of state of breaking or being broken into smaller parts)
With Integration, all organizational members consistently share values and assumptions about work. As a result the members of the organization share uniquely organizational experiences and thus, a unique culture
If differentiation occurs, cultures are not unitary. Sub-groups consistently share values and assumptions about work. Members tend to operate in different areas, different projects and at different levels of the hierarchy.
Cultures are often ambiguous if fragmentation happens. Individuals are interconnected with some members and disconnected with others. This creates inconsistently shared values and assumptions about the organization As a result friendship/romantic as well as enemy/competitor type relationships are cut across an organization’s sub-groups.
Structure
Individuals who understand the structure and inner working of their organizations can leverage knowledge toward achieving communication goals. Likewise, organizations can also leverage their hierarchical structures to achieve targeted outcomes.Two types of structures exist within an organization.
- "Hierarchical" (formal hierarchical structure, typical flow/pyramid chart)
- "NetworkNetwork-Mathematics:* Graph * Complex network* Structure* Flow network-Electric, electronic, biological, and biosocial: * Electrical network* Computer network* Biological network* Artificial neural network* Social network...
" (informal structure, based on relationships, go to people, subject-matter experts)
Goldsmith and Katzenback (2008) explained organizations must understand the informal organization. For example, of being a part of an informal or formal structure, it is important for managers to learn to recognize signs of trouble in order to shape context as they attempt to coordinate meaning and solve day-to-day problems. Specific implications for organizational learning
Organizational learning
Organizational learning is an area of knowledge within organizational theory that studies models and theories about the way an organization learns and adapts....
include enhanced performance, coordinated activity and structure, division of labor and collective goal setting
While a formal organization is visually represented by a typical hierarchical structure, it visually shows how formal responsibilities are spread, as well as job dispersal and the flow of information In contrast, the informal organization embodies how people network to accomplish the job, via social relationships and connections or subject-matter expert
Subject-matter expert
A subject matter expert or domain expert is a person who is an expert in a particular area or topic. When spoken, sometimes the acronym "SME" is spelled out and other times voiced as a word ....
s that are not represented on the organizational chart By leveraging this informal organization, people within the organization are able to use their social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
to access and shape the decision-making processes quicker, as well as establish cross-structural collaboration amongst themselves.
Additionally, by understanding and using both structures, leaders and managers are able to learn more about their people. Interpreting all forms of communication, verbal and visual, whether you are a supervisor or a subordinate is invaluable. The hierarchical and network structures can allow an organization to recognize signs of trouble from people, accomplish core framing tasks, and to be able to communicate with mindfulness and meaning. By unlocking the value of an organization's structure, leaders and managers can use this knowledge to boost performance or achieve specific goals. Signs of trouble can be emotional, hidden, physical, or in plain sight.
Knowledge
Knowing individuals’ personalities, conflict tendencies, as well as their unique circumstances help an organization to understand its mental modelMental model
A mental model is an explanation of someone's thought process about how something works in the real world. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a person's intuitive perception about his or her own acts and their consequences...
s and cultural discourse. Additionally, by noticing abnormalities and not being blind to details, an organization should be able to recognize signs of trouble within day-to-day operations and management, whether it is fraud, lack of maintenance standards, sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
, or even a poor framework for communication.
Understanding and the ability to recognize signs of trouble empower managers to employ the rules of reality construction: control the context, define the situation, apply ethics, interpret uncertainty, and design the response, which leads to communicating by a structured way of thinking.
Ultimately, by understanding how an organization works, you enhance communication collectively. Additionally, by knowing how employees and relationships are shaped and the context that defines how each person interacts with one another, you can shape contagious emotions.
Basic building blocks of Taylor’s theories is the relationship of text and conversation, and how that relationship requires a "two-step translational process"
- translation One: From text to conversation
- translation Two: From conversation to text
Following this translational process, text and conversation is transferred to organizational communication. If context, or text, defines the organization then ongoing introductions and meaning are crucial to define what is meant by the term organization.
To examine this further, Taylor defined "six degrees of separation" to understand organizational communication:
- First Degree of Separation: Intent of speaker is translated into action and embedded in conversation.
- Second Degree of Separation: Events of the conversation are translated into a narrative representation, making it possible to understand the meaning of the exchange.
- Third Degree of Separation: The text is transcribed (objectified) on some permanent or semi-permanent medium (e.g., the minutes of a meeting are taken down in writing).
- Fourth Degree of Separation: A specialized language is developed to encourage and channel subsequent texts and conversations(e.g., lawyers develop specific ways of talking in court, with each other, and in documents).
- Fifth Degree of Separation: The texts and conversations are transformed into material and physical frames (e.g., laboratories, conference rooms, organizational charts, procedural manuals).
- Sixth Degree of Separation: The standardized form is disseminated and diffused to a broader public (e.g., media reports and representations of organizational forms and practices).
Impact
This theory uses interactions of text and conversation to construct networks of relationships. By doing so, the theory enables a deep understanding of personal communication within an organization. Additionally, it explains how that communication ends up actually defining the organization, rather than the individuals within the organization. Taylor’s theory places more importance on personal communication, rather than individuals. The practical application, as a result, is communication behaviors can constitute how and what we think of an organization. Additionally, by manipulating communication processes, not only could structure be altered, but the entire organization could be changed as well whether change is beneficial or negative, is based on desired meaning, or context and message, people within the organization want to exchange and translate.Taylor sresses the importance and impact of dialogue, specifically relating to how people interact with one another and interpret context. Taylor explains in Heath et al (2006) that virtuous reasoning embodies entire discussions. Additionally, he points out dialogue should not prevent issues that arise from debate Since 1993, Taylor’s theory has been the focus of more than six organizational communication books. Additionally, Taylor’s ideas are referred to as "The Montreal School" of organizational communication Within the field of communication, TMS has been recognized for its contributions to organizational communication as well as related disciplines. Books focusing on text and conversation theory have sold internationally One to the largest and simplest contributions this theory provided the communication academic field was the ability to describe and characterize and organization. From this, people could better understand and fully construct and organization’s identity.
Weakness
According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), organizational learningOrganizational learning
Organizational learning is an area of knowledge within organizational theory that studies models and theories about the way an organization learns and adapts....
is the study of how collectives adapt to, or fail to adapt to, their environments. It utilizes tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge.
- "Tacit KnowledgeTacit knowledgeTacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. For example, stating to someone that London is in the United Kingdom is a piece of explicit knowledge that can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient...
": personal, contextual, subjective, implicit, and unarticulated - "Explicit KnowledgeExplicit knowledgeExplicit knowledge is knowledge that has been or can be articulated, codified, and stored in certain media. It can be readily transmitted to others. The information contained in encyclopedias are good examples of explicit knowledge....
": codified, systematic, formal, explicit, and articulated
Ultimately, organizational learning achieves enhanced performance, coordinated activity and structure, and achievement of collective goals by externalization and internalization.
- "ExternalizationExternalizationExternalization means to put something outside of its original borders, especially to put a human function outside of the human body. The opposite of externalization is internalization....
": getting key workers to make their tacit knowledge the organization’s explicit knowledge that can be shared - "InternalizationInternalizationInternalization has different definitions depending on the field that the term is used in. Internalization is the opposite of externalization.- General :...
": getting the organization’s explicit knowledge to become workers’ tacit knowledge
Text and conversation theory places significant challenges and burdens on the organization to articulate knowledge. Whether knowledge is passed directly by individuals, up and down or horizontally on the formal or informal organizational structure, there is no guarantee text has proper context to be effective as conversation. Additionally, conversation codes are influenced by how the organization ensures knowledge carriers pass information and communicate with purpose, message, and meaning.
How information is passed can be unclear, and consistently has to adapt to new challenges. Some of these challenges, or factors, include how individuals and an organization adapt to meaning, culture, structure, and knowledge, in order to communicate.
Ultimately, within the organization itself, people are impacted by bias’ on group and individual levels.
"Problems with Group Learning"
- Responsibility bias: belief of group members’ that someone else in the group will do the work
- Social desirability biasSocial desirability biasSocial desirability bias is the tendency of respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. It can take the form of over-reporting good behavior or under-reporting bad behavior. The tendency poses a serious problem with conducting research with self-reports,...
: group members are reluctant to provide critical assessments for fear of losing face or relational status - Hierarchical mum effect: subordinates’ reluctance to provide negative feedback for fear of harming identifies of superiors
- GroupthinkGroupthinkGroupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people. It is the mode of thinking that happens when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without...
: failure to consider decision alternatives - Identification/ego defense: highly identified group members begin to associate their identify with their group membership and will in turn refuse to see the group as wrong, and themselves by extension
"Problems with Individual Learning"
- Confirmation biasConfirmation biasConfirmation bias is a tendency for people to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses regardless of whether the information is true.David Perkins, a geneticist, coined the term "myside bias" referring to a preference for "my" side of an issue...
: individuals seeks to confirm their own ideas, guesses and beliefs rather than seek dis-confirming information - Hindsight biasHindsight biasHindsight bias, or alternatively the knew-it-all-along effect and creeping determinism, is the inclination to see events that have already occurred as being more predictable than they were before they took place. It is a multifaceted phenomenon that can affect different stages of designs,...
: individuals tend to forget when their predictions are wrong - Fundamental attribution errorFundamental attribution errorIn social psychology, the fundamental attribution error describes the tendency to over-value dispositional or personality-based explanations for the observed behaviors of others while under-valuing situational explanations for those behaviors...
: individuals tend to attribute others shortcomings to their character, while attributing their own shortcomings to external forces
See also
- Tacit KnowledgeTacit knowledgeTacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. For example, stating to someone that London is in the United Kingdom is a piece of explicit knowledge that can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient...
- Explicit KnowledgeExplicit knowledgeExplicit knowledge is knowledge that has been or can be articulated, codified, and stored in certain media. It can be readily transmitted to others. The information contained in encyclopedias are good examples of explicit knowledge....
- Conversation TheoryConversation TheoryConversation Theory is a cybernetic and dialectic framework that offers a scientific theory to explain how interactions lead to "construction of knowledge", or, "knowing": wishing to preserve both the dynamic/kinetic quality, and the necessity for there to be a "knower"...
- Mental modelMental modelA mental model is an explanation of someone's thought process about how something works in the real world. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a person's intuitive perception about his or her own acts and their consequences...
- Organizational structureOrganizational structureAn organizational structure consists of activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization and its...
- Organizational cultureOrganizational cultureOrganizational culture is defined as “A pattern of shared basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration" that have worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to...
- Organizational CommunicationOrganizational communicationOrganizational communication is a subfield of the larger discipline of communication studies. Organizational communication, as a field, is the consideration, analysis, and criticism of the role of communication in organizational contexts....
- Structuration Theory