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      Communicative Strategies and the Evolution of Organisations Facing the New Turbulence: ICTs as Problems and Opportunities

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            Abstract

            Traditional organisational structures are currently being challenged by rapid changes in their environments, primarily caused by the introduction of computer and information technology. Successful transition to new patterns of organisation which makes sense of the complex meaning of these new environments require both ‘creative’ (self organising) and stabilising (self referencing) processes. This paper justifies the theoretical importance of considering communication as a necessary response by organisations to non-linear change. The processes by which organisations might accommodate new organisational turbulence and strategies for creating desirable futures within turbulent organisational environments are considered.

            Content

            Author and article information

            Journal
            cpro20
            CPRO
            Prometheus
            Critical Studies in Innovation
            Pluto Journals
            0810-9028
            1470-1030
            April 1997
            : 15
            : 1
            : 101-109
            Affiliations
            Article
            8632054 Prometheus, Vol. 15, No. 1, 1997: pp. 101–109
            10.1080/08109029708632054
            2532553e-e412-418b-9042-22d9941305ee
            Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

            All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

            History
            Page count
            Figures: 0, Tables: 0, References: 49, Pages: 9
            Categories
            PAPERS

            Computer science,Arts,Social & Behavioral Sciences,Law,History,Economics
            information and communication technology (ICT) and sense making,organisational communication,organisational change,communication,organisational learning

            Notes and References

            1. Russell L. Ackoff, Creating the Corporate Future (New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1981), p. 24.

            2. George P. Huber, ‘Organisational Learning: A Guide for Executives in Technology-critical Organizations’, International Journal of Technology Management, 11, 7/8, p. 823.

            3. J. Johanson & F. Wiedersheim-Paul, ‘The Internationalization Process of the Firm—Four Swedish Cases’, The Journal of Management Studies, October 1974, pp. 305–322; J. Johanson & J. E. Vahlne, The Internationalization Process of the Firm, Mimeographed Working Paper, Department of Business Administration, Uppsala, pp. 23–30; Otto Anderson, ‘On the Internationalization Process of Firms: A Critical Analysis’, Journal of International Business Studies, Second Quarter, pp. 209–230.

            4. Theodore Levitt, ‘The Globalization of Markets’, Harvard Business Review, 61, May/June 1983, pp. 92–102; Kenichi Ohmae, ‘Managing in a Borderless World’, Harvard Business Review, 67, May/June 1989, pp. 136–145; Michael E. Porter, ‘The Competitive Advantage of Nations’, Harvard Business Review, 68, March/April 1990, pp. 73–93.

            5. Ackoff, op. cit., Ref. 1, p. 12.

            6. As well, the kinds of work practices these changes may allow, or demand, may be different from those of the first wave of IT innovation.

            7. Ervin Laszlo, Evolution: The Grand Synthesis (Boston & London, New Science Library, 1987), pp. 161–172.

            8. We stress that our analysis is metaphorically based. We regard the application of non-linear systems concepts to organisation as being as yet unsubstantiated.

            9. Peter M. Allen, ‘Coherence, Chaos and Evolution in the Social Context’, First Draft Prepared for the XIII World Conference of the World Futures Studies Federation, Turku, Finland, 23–31 August 1993; Peter M. Allen, ‘Evolutionary Complex Systems: Models of Technology Change’, first draft prepared for the Amsterdam Conference on Developments in Technology Studies, Evolutionary Economics and Chaos Theory, 6–8 May 1993; Ralph D. Stacey, Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics (London, Pitman Publishing, 1993).

            10. F. Malik & G.J. B. Probst, ‘Self-organization and Management of Social Systems’, Cybernetics and Systems, 13, 1982, pp. 153–174.

            11. G. Bateson, Mind and Nature (New York, Dutton, 1979); Allen, op. cit, Ref. 9; David Walnick, ‘Organisational Theory: New Science as a Model for Organizational Development’, Futurics, 19, 1&2, 1995, pp. 47–61.

            12. Margaret J. Wheatley, Leadership and the Mew Science: Learning About Organizations from an Orderly Universe (San Francisco, Berret-Koehler Publishers, 1992); Stacey, op. cit, Ref. 9; Walnick, op. cit, Ref. 11.

            13. D. Katz & R. L. Kahn, The Social Psychology of Organisations (New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1966); Gibson Burrell & Gareth Morgan, Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis (London, Heinemann, 1979).

            14. Peter M. Allen, ‘Evolutionary Theory, Policy Making and Planning’, Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 51, August-September 1992, pp. 644–657; Allen, op. cit, Ref. 9.

            15. Malik & Probst, op. cit, Ref. 10.

            16. More accurately, both speed and meaning are now problems.

            17. Lee Thayer, Communication and Communication Systems in Organization, Management and Interpersonal Relations (Illinois, Richard D. Irwin Inc., 1972); L. Putnam & M. Paconowsky, Communication and Organizations: An Interpretive Approach (Beverly Hills, Sage, 1983); Kym Madden, ‘Householders’ Experiences of “Save the Environment” Messages’, Australian Journal of Communication, 22, 3, 1995.

            18. James R. Taylor & Loren Lemer, ‘Making Sense of Sensemaking’, Work in Progress, Department de Communication, Universitee de Montreal, Autumn 1995.

            19. Peter B. Checkland, ‘Soft Systems Methodology’, Human Systems Management, 8, 1989, pp. 273–289.

            20. For example, P. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art of Practice of the Learning Organisation (Sydney, Random House, 1992); D. Kim, ‘The Link Between Individual and Organisational Learning’, Sloan Management Review, Fall 1993, pp. 3–50.

            21. Ackoff, op. cit., Ref. 1.

            22. I. I. Mitroff & W. Bennis, The Unreality Industry: The Deliberate Manufacturing of Falsehood and What it is Doing to Our Lives (New York, Birch Lane Press, 1989).

            23. Greg Hearn & Thomas Mandeville, ‘The Information Superhighway: The Commodification of Time or the Democratisation of Leisure’, Media Information Australia, 75, 1995, pp. 92–101.

            24. June Dunleavy, Greg Hearn & Ingrid Burkett, ‘New Media: Implications for the Consumer Economy’, The 1993 Conference of the Australian Communication Association, Melbourne, 1993.

            25. ‘Winner take all’, Time, 16 September 1996.

            26. Carole Groleau & James R. Taylor, ‘Towards a Subject-oriented Worldview of Information’, Work in Progress, Department de Communication, Universitee de Montreal, Autumn 1995, p. 4.

            27. Taylor & Lemer, op. cit, Ref. 18, p. 24.

            28. Gerald L. Pepper, Communication in Organisations: A Cultural Approach (New York, McGraw Hill, 1995), p. 273.

            29. Taylor & Lemer, op. cit., Ref. 18.

            30. James Gleick, CHAOS Making a Mew Science (New York, Penguin Books, 1988).

            31. Gareth Morgan & Rafael Ramirez, Action Learning: A Holographic Metaphor for Guiding Social Change’, Human Relations, 37, 1983, pp. 1–28.

            32. Thayer, op. cit, Ref. 17, p. 18.

            33. In James R. Taylor, ‘Are Organization and Communication Equivalent?’, Paper Presented at the Organizational Communication and Change: Challenges in the Next Century Conference, Austin, Texas, 11–13 February 1996.

            34. Convention here refers to the ‘mutually constructed beliefs’ in a firm or social system, Ibid., p. 10.

            35. Katz & Kahn, op. cit, Ref. 13, p. 223.

            36. Thayer, op. cit, Ref. 17, p. 190.

            37. Taylor, op. cit, Ref. 33, p. 9.

            38. Taylor & Lemer, op. cit., Ref. 18.

            39. Michael E. Pacanowsky, Communication and Organizations: An Interpretive Approach (Beverly Hills, Sage, 1983), pp. 356–379.

            40. Taylor & Lemer, op. cit, Ref. 18.

            41. Stacey, op. cit, Ref. 9.

            42. N. Luhman, Macht (Stuttgart, Ferdinand Enke, 1975), cited in Joseph J. Pilotta, Timothy Wildman & Susan A. Jasko, Communication Yearbook, 11, 1988, pp. 310–334.

            43. Ibid., p. 323.

            44. Terrance L. Albrecht, ‘Communication and Personal Control in Empowering Organizations’, Communication Yearbook, 11, 1988, p. 380.

            45. Ikujiro Nonanka, Hirotaka Takeuchi & Katsuhiro Umemoto, ‘A Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation’, International Journal of Technology Management, 11, 7/8, 1996, pp. 833–845; S. Raghuram, ‘Knowledge Creation in the Telework Context’, International Journal of Technology Management, 11, 7/8, 1996, pp. 859–870.

            46. Ibid.

            47. Laszlo, op. cit, Ref. 7.

            48. Steven Towers & Greg Hearn, ‘Conceptualising Innovation in Organisations: A Structurationist Perspective’, Paper Presented to The Australian and Mew Zealand Communication Association Conference, Brisbane, July 1996.

            49. Laszlo, op. cit., Ref. 7; Peter M. Allen, ‘Evolutionary Theory, Policy Making and Planning’, Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 51, August-September 1992, pp. 644–657.

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