Communication and Organizational Culture: A Key to Understanding Work Experiences

A clear and concise introduction to the different approaches to studying organizational culture

Joann Keyton introduces the basic elements―assumptions, values, and artifacts―of organizational culture, draws on communication and management research findings, and integrates practical applications throughout the text. The book helps students to identify and read organizational culture through different lenses, create cultural interpretations, and ultimately make informed work and employment decisions.

Key Features

• Offers a communication perspective: The focus on communication practices and processes helps students understand how they can influence the organization culture
• Synthesizes the research: By bringing together research sources from across many disciplines, Keyton provides a unique analysis of the organizational culture literature
• Provides a multi-perspective view of organizational culture: Perspectives covered include symbolic performance, narrative reproduction, textual reproduction, management, and power and politics
• Concludes with a practical "Culture Toolkit": The toolkit provides quantitative and qualitative techniques for conducting analyzes of organizational culture
• NEW! The Second Edition examines how organizational culture is shaped by communication technology and globalization, provides more international examples, and includes a new section on mergers and acquisitions

Joann Keyton (Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 1987) is Professor of Communication at North Carolina State University. Specializing in group and organizational communication, her current research interests are relationship issues and interdisciplinary collaboration in organizational teams, the communication processes that constitute work, organizational culture, and sexual harassment. Her research has been published in Business Communication Quarterly, Communication Theory, Group Dynamics, Human Factors, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies Management Communication Quarterly, Small Group Research, Southern Journal of Communication, Western Journal of Communication, and Communication Yearbook and numerous edited collections. She has published texts on group communication (Oxford) and research methods (McGraw-Hill), as well as an organizational communication case book (with Pam Shockley-Zalabak; Oxford). Professor Keyton has served on the editorial boards of Communication Monographs, Communication Studies, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Small Group Research, and Southern Communication Journal. She served as editor of the Journal of Applied Communication Research, volumes 31–33; and was the founding editor of Communication Currents, volumes 1-5. She currently serves as editor of Small Group Research.