Communicatively constituted organization theory (CCO) concerns the idea that organizations are products of the communicative actions of the constituents involved. Organizations are built on individual and social processes of development of meanings, perceptions, social norms, and internal trust relationships. Since organizational reality is created through the cognitive processes of interpretation rooted in individual mental maps and shared among people, as Karl Weick wrote in the 1970s, communication is paramount for organizational functioning and effectiveness. Communication is the fuel that makes organizations come into being and survive. That being the case, the question that needs to be asked is “How does communication do that?”

This entry answers that question by first discussing what is meant by “communication constitutes organizations” and what are the four main flows of ...