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2014/2015  KAN-CMLMV1048U  Postmodern Organizational Communication

English Title
Postmodern Organizational Communication

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Course period Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MA in International Business Communication
Course coordinator
  • Steffen Blaschke - MSC
Main academic disciplines
  • Communication
  • Organization
  • Economic and organizational sociology
Last updated on 01-07-2014
Learning objectives
Learning objectives
The course introduces students to postmodern approaches to organizational communication. In particular, ideas such as the communicative constitution of organization, organization as communication, and structuration provide a fertile theoretical backdrop for in-class discussions and latter application to empirical data.

Upon completing the course students should be able to:
  • identify and describe issues of organizational communication in postmodern terms,
  • analyze and explain the causes for these issues by drawing upon the scholarly literature introduced in the course,
  • argue for the relevance of their choice of a theoretical approach,
  • explain and apply the key theoretical concepts to empirical data,
  • critically reflect on the shortcomings of their account, and
  • put their work into good academic writing (clear, accurate, and precise prose, correct use of relevant terminology, coherent structure of arguments, correct use of references).
Examination
Postmodern Organizational Communication:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Assignment type Project
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Autumn Term
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content and structure
Course content and structure
Postmodern organization theories increasingly assume that communication constitutes organization (e.\,g., Cooren, Taylor, and Van Every, 2006; Putnam and Nicotera, 2008).
The emphasis on communication as the constitutive element sheds a new light on structures and dynamics of organization, necessarily putting collectivity before individuality. For example, we cannot maintain that managerial decisions are immediately and unmistakably carried out by employees. Instead, organizational communication constructs decisions which, in turn, demands further decisions for the implementation, etc.
 
The first part of the course introduces the theoretical and methodological tools that students will apply to specific research issues during the second part of the course. Themes and topics addressed include: The linguistic turn in organizational communication, the communicative constitution of organization, a communicative theory of the firm, organization between conversation and text, organizations as networks of communication episodes, organizational knowledge, learning, and memory, organizational change, identity, and image, crisis and failure, open innovation, and issues of social media.
Teaching methods
The course consists of a combination of lectures, discussions, assignments, and exercises.
Student workload
teaching 20 hours
preparation 55 hours
assignments 50 hours
examination incl preparation 82 hours
Further Information

Changes in course schedule may occur
Wednesday 09.50-12.25, week 36,38,40,42,44,46,48,50
Expected literature
Reader (Postmodern Organizational Communication)
Supplementary literature: CBSLearn
Last updated on 01-07-2014