21878 Organisational Dialogue: Theory and Practice

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular semester, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Handbook description

This subject is designed to develop students' sensitivity to the importance of organisational communication and dialogue. It enables students to evaluate communication practices in terms of their capacity to facilitate shared understanding among various organisational stakeholders. By integrating current management and communication theory, the subject emphasises the link between communication and the broader strategic and socio-cultural contexts of organisations. Cultural issues and leadership challenges are specifically considered to develop an understanding of the complexity of facilitating organisational dialogue. On a practical level, the subject assists students in developing their communication skills for academic and professional purposes.

Subject objectives/outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

1. discuss communication theory and its implications for leadership practice in organisations
2. appraise key communication issues in organisations
3. critically evaluate the factors contributing to effective organisational communication.

This subject also contributes specifically to the following Program Learning Objectives:

• be able to convey information clearly and fluently, in high quality written form appropriate for their audience (PLO 3.1)
• demonstrate effective oral presentation skills for academic and professional audiences (PLO. 3.2)
• be able to interact effectively with others in order to work towards a common outcome (PLO3.3).

Contribution to course aims and graduate attributes

This subject contributes to the MBA through developing students’ understanding of effective communication in organisations. Students learn how to evaluate communication practices and their implications for individual, group and organisational performance. By assisting students in developing their academic and professional communication skills, the subject also provides a foundation for enhanced performance in other studies.

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject is delivered through a variety of face-to-face and online teaching strategies. Students will attend 1.5 hour lectures to develop an understanding of key issues in organisational communication. In addition, workshops/tutorials provide an opportunity for a more interactive in-depth engagement with the lecture content and reading material. Both individual and group work is expected.

UTS online provides access to subject material and assessment task information.

Content

1. Foundations of communication
2. Evaluation of organisational communication
3. Leadership communication
4. Communication structures & networks
5. Organisational culture and communication
6. Communication & change management

Assessment

Assessment Item 1: Essay (Individual)

Assessment Item 2: Oral Presentation (Groupwork but individually assessed)

Assessment Item 3: Organisational Case Study (Group and Individual)

Minimum requirements

Students must achieve at least 50% of the subject’s total marks.

Required texts

A list of weekly eReadings has been compiled for students and is accessible via the UTS Online 'readings' content area. Readings will be used for tutorial discussions so please ensure that you prepare the assigned readings and bring them to class for reference.

Recommended texts

The purchase of a textbook is not required. However, if you are looking for a good resource to improve your workplace communication skills that is aligned with the content of this course, we recommend:

Dwyer, J. 2012, The Business Communication Handbook, 9th edn, Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest. (Available via UTS Library Open Reserve)

Further to this, the following resources are recommended to support your group project 'Organisational Communication Analysis':

Downs, C.W. & Adrian, A.D. 2004, Assessing Organizational Communication. Strategic Communication Audits,Guilford Press, New York. (Available via Library Open Reserve)

Hargie, O. & Tourish, D. 2009, Auditing Organizational Communication: A Handbook of Research, Theory and Practice, Routledge, London. (Available via Library Open Reserve)

Tourish, D. & Hargie, O. 2004, 'Communication Audits: Building World Class Communication Systems', in S. Oliver (ed.), Handbook of Corporate Communication and Public Relations, Routledge, London, pp. 131-44. Available from: https://openair.rgu.ac.uk/bitstream/10059/198/1/auditchapter.pdf

References

Dixon, N.M. 1998, Dialogue at Work. Making Talk Developmental for People and Organizations, Center for Creative Leadership, London.

Downs, C.W. & Adrian, A.D. 2004a, Assessing Organizational Communication. Strategic Communication Audits, Guilford Press, New York.

Eisenberg, E.M., Goodall, H.L. & Tretheway, A. 2009, Organizational Communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint, 6th edn, Bedford/St. Martin's, Boston.

Eunson, B. 2012, Communicating in the 21st century 2nd edn, 3rd ed., Wiley, Milton QLD.

Gerard, G. & Ellinor, L. 2001, Dialogue at Work: Skills for Leveraging Collective Understanding, Pegasus Communications, Waltham, MA.

Gergen, K.J., Gergen, M.M. & Barret, F.J. 2004, 'Dialogue: Life and Death of the Organization', in D. Grant, C. Hardy, C. Oswick & L. Putnam (eds), The Sage Handbook of Organizational Discourse, Sage, London, pp. 39-59.

Fairhurst, G.T. 2007, Discursive Leadership, Sage, Thousand Oaks.

Heizmann, H. (2011) 'Knowledge sharing in a Dispersed Network of HR Practice: Zooming in on Power/knowledge Struggles', Management Learning vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 379-93.

Isaacs, W.N. 1999, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together: A Pioneering Approach to Communicating in Business and in Life, Currency, New York.

Mazutis, D. & Slawinski, N. 2008, 'Leading Organizational Learning Through Authentic Dialogue', Management Learning, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 437-56.

Miller, K. 2012, Organizational Communication. Approaches and Processes, 6th edn, Cengage Learning, Boston.

Tourish, D. & Hargie, O. 2004, Key Issues in Organizational Communication, Routledge, London.

Walker, R. 2011, Strategic Management Communication for Leaders, 2nd international ed., South Western, Mason.

Other resources

UTS Online features two online modules that are designed to support your assignments:

1) Avoiding Plagiarism tutorial to support you in understanding the conventions of academic writing.

2) Business Report Writing Module to support your group asignment 3a and provide foundational understanding of business report writing skills.

In addition, the 'learning support' area provides a range of useful resources on 1) academic writing, 2) presentation skills, and 3) business report writing.