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Contribution Details

Type Journal Article
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Niklas Luhmann’s radical communication approach and its implications for research on organizational communication
Organization Unit
Authors
  • François Cooren
  • David Seidl
Item Subtype Original Work
Refereed Yes
Status Published in final form
Language
  • English
Journal Title Academy of Management Review
Publisher Academy of Management
Geographical Reach international
ISSN 0363-7425
Volume 45
Number 2
Page Range 479 - 497
Date 2020
Abstract Text In this review essay, we explore how Luhmann’s radical communication approach, which conceptualizes communication without recourse to human beings’ intentions, can reorient existing research on organizational communication. We show how Luhmann’s perspective puts decisions back into organizational communication studies, how it changes our perspective on organizational continuity and on organizational boundaries, and how it redirects our understanding of human agency in organizations. We also discuss three areas in which Luhmann’s theory could draw inspiration from other research on organizational communication. Keywords: autopoiesis, communication, Niklas Luhmann, organization studies, systems theory.
Free access at DOI
Digital Object Identifier 10.5465/amr.2018.0176
Other Identification Number merlin-id:18181
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