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Contribution Details

Type Working Paper
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Organizations as networks of communications: A methodological proposal
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Steffen Blaschke
  • Dennis Schoeneborn
  • David Seidl
Language
  • English
Series Name IOU Working Paper Series
Number 102
Date 2009
Abstract Text Organization studies increasingly draw on the idea that organizations are constituted by communications. The theoretical assumptions and empirical implications are well in development at both the Montréal School of Organizational Communication and Social Systems Theory. However, we notice that the corresponding methodologies limit themselves to the analysis of local communications. While this micro-level research pays tribute to the inherent complexity of communication, it fails to depict organizations at the macro-level of global communications. We propose to broaden the methodological range with the help of network analysis. In particular, we suggest turning organization studies inside out by using communications—not individuals - as nodes in networks. Studying organizations as networks of communications allows us to analyze the emergence of themes that drive the business of organizations. We illustrate our proposal with an empirical network analysis of two organizations.
Official URL http://ssrn.com/abstract=1512471
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Keywords Organizational Communication, Social Network Analysis, Montreal School, Social Systems Theory, communication constitutes organizations (CCO)