Organizational Communication Theories

Managerialism and the Conduit Model

Western industrialization brought with it a keen interest in the role of communication in promoting organizational effectiveness. Up through the 1960s, organizational communication (and organizational studies, more generally) was an eager accomplice to the seemingly inevitable expansion of bureaucracy and the rationalization of Western society. The foundational research on leadership and organizations in the United States was funded by grants and contracts issued by large corporations and the U.S. military.

With few exceptions, the organizational communication theories that were developed during the first half of the 20th century reflected a conduit model of communication that saw the process solely as the transmission of information (based on an engineering perspective) and sought to identify communication breakdowns that impeded productivity. These theories reflect classical views of organization as a top-down, management-controlled activity for which downward communication was paramount, and effectiveness had mainly to do with understanding and following orders.

Human Resources and Employee Participation

By the 1950s, a number of factors had conspired to disrupt and challenge this wholly transmissional view of organizational communication. World War II and its aftermath caused many to have second thoughts about the moral superiority of expanding bureaucracy and technology, deployed to perfection in the Nazi death camps and on the wrecked cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At the same time, labor movements in the United States and in Europe increasingly challenged the unwillingness of so-called captains of industry to afford workers a greater voice in decisions that affected their livelihood. The theories that developed during this time period went beyond downward communication to focus on horizontal communication (among peers, as documented in the Hawthorne Studies) and upward communication (of employee suggestions and opinions). These new theories characterized employees as human resources whose active input and agency were essential to organizational effectiveness.

Viewing employees as active participants in organizational decision making led researchers to focus on the relationship that is most paramount in employees' work lives—that which they have with their supervisors. One of the most researched forms of organizational communication is the superior-subordinate relationship, and this work has been highly theoretical (e.g., leader-member exchange, [Page 701]upward influence). Central to these theories is the notion that this relationship is complex, is subtle, and always involves multiple goals. Superiors must be clear about performance expectations, but tactful to maintain a good working relationship. Subordinates must be forthright about their ideas and suggestions, but not seem insubordinate. What emerged from this work is that the quality of this relationship is a critical factor shaping employee morale, commitment, and productivity.

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