How does the transformational theory apply to organizational communication?

Managers have traditionally spent the majority of their time communicating in one form or

another (meetings, face-to-face discussions, memos, letters, e-mails, reports, etc.). Today,

however, more and more employees find that an important part of their work is communication,

especially now that service workers outnumber production workers and research as well as

production processes emphasize greater collaboration and teamwork among workers in different

functional groups. Moreover, a sea-change in communication technologies has contributed to the

transformation of both work and organizational structure. For these reasons, communication

practices and technologies have become more important in all organizations, but they are perhaps

most important in knowledge-intensive organizations and sectors and, as such, are of great

significance to science organizations and to public science management.

The study of organizational communication is not new, but it has only recently achieved some

degree of recognition as a field of academic study. It has largely grown in response to the needs

and concerns of business. The first communication programs were typically located in speech

departments, but most business schools now include organizational communication as a key

element of study. The study of organizational communication recognizes that communication in

organizations goes far beyond training managers to be effective speakers and to have good

interpersonal communication skills. Moreover, it recognizes that all organizations, not just

business organizations, have communication needs and challenges.

The field of organizational communication is highly diverse and fragmented, as evidenced by

results of literature searches on the topic, textbooks in the area, and the Harvard Business

Reviews (1993) compilation of its communication articles, The Articulate Executive. It spans

communication at the micro, meso, and macro levels; formal and informal communications; and

internal organizational communication practices (newsletters, presentations, strategic

communications, work direction, performance reviews, meetings) as well as externally directed

communications (public, media, inter-organizational). Innovation, organizational learning,

knowledge management, conflict management, diversity, and communication technologies are

also addressed. As a new academic discipline, organizational communication is struggling to

develop and convey some sense of coherency across these many areas.

In addition to its fragmented nature, organizational communication, perhaps more than any other

aspect of organizational theory and practice, has been subject to dramatic change. Before 1920,

communication in small organizations was largely informal. As organizations increased in size,

formal top-down communication became the main concern of organizational managers.

Organizational communication in todays organizations has not only become far more complex

and varied but more important to overall organizational functioning and success. While research

used to focus on understanding how organizational communication varied by organizational type

and structure, the emphasis has increasingly turned to understanding how new communication

technologies and capabilities can help bring about new and more effective organizational forms

and processes (Tucker et al. 1996; Desanctis and Fulk 1999).