Organizational Communication, Informal

Some scholars argue that the informal organization is more powerful than the formal organization. Scholars also suggest that a great deal of communication in organizations is informal communication. Elton Mayo and his famous Hawthorne studies found that informal communication influenced the development and reinforcement of performance [Page 1096]standards, member expectations, and values at the work group level. Informal organizational communication consists of episodes of interaction that do not reflect formally designated channels of communication. P. H. Tompkins wrote that informal organizational communication is not rationally specified. An organization may be formally structured with specific communication rules and patterns, such as chain of command; however, that does not mean that all activities and interactions strictly conform to the original formalized organization. A great deal of time ...