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Chapter 23—Communicative Constitution of Organizations

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Title:
The Office, S4, E5, "Local Ad"
Claim:
Institutional positioning is one of the four flows that constitutes organization(s).
Application:
In this episode, corporate rejects Michael's idea for a Dunder Mifflin ad in favor of their version. We see both ads in this clip, and both take different approaches to institutional positioning. For contrast, you might consider what the cultural approach to organizations would say about the stories told in each ad.
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duq5w7tEn84
Discovered  By:
Paige (Andrew's student)

Title:
The Internship
Claim:
Membership negotiation is one of the four flows that constitutes organization(s).
Application:
In this scene, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson's characters are interviewing for internship positions at Google. The question asked by the Google interviewer is a real one used by Google. What does such a question say about their process of membership negotiation? If you were one of the interviewers, what would you think about the interviewees' unusual response?
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HrPr6IQNac
Cue Point:
Webcam interview scene
Discovered  By:
Will (Andrew's student)

Title:
Newsies
Claim:
Membership negotiation and institutional positioning are two of four flows that call organization into being.
Application:
In this song and dance number, watch how the boys use communication to form a union and to position themselves against an organization.
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmFKdyw0QwM
Discovered  By:
Dr. Kate Cooper, DePaul University

Title:
The Big Bang Theory, S2, E18, "The Work Song Nanocluster"
Claim:
The four flows call organization into being
Application:
When Penny creates her own business making flower barrette clips, somehow her male friends get involved. The clip opens with a song, suggested by Sheldon, to enhance productivity--that's activity coordination. Hear the gang discuss institutional positioning as they consider how to connect the product with customers. The clip ends with self-structuring as Sheldon assigns roles--clearly he, not Penny, is now in charge. Throughout the clip, subtle membership negotiation has occurred, whereby the group of friends is now organized around a shared activity.
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yXGxL7dfSg&t=4s
Discovered  By:
Andrew

Title:
"Nest CEO on Culture of Apple vs. Google", CNN
Claim:
Self-structuring is communication that shapes the relationship among an organization's members.
Application:
In this interview, Nest founder Tody Fadell contrasts the corporate cultures of Google and Apple. Google features a less centralized structure whereas Apple more strongly emphasizes hierarchy.
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOd-6oeZiSk&t=5s
Cue Point:
0:00-1:15
Discovered  By:
Andrew

Title:
"USC & UCLA to Big Ten, Notre Dame the next to join a conference?! Pete Thamel explains | SC with SVP", ESPN College Football
Claim:
Institutional positioning is ocmmunication between an organization and external entities.
Application:
This video clip covers the news that USC and UCLA would be leaving the Pac 12 conference to join the Big 10 conference--an earthquake in the college football landscape. From the perspective of CCO, the moves that schools and conferences make to position themselves against each other is institutional positioning. Toward the end of the clip, Pete Thamel argues that economic pressures are reshaping the college sports landscape. CCO would have a different take; how might CCO explain what's going on?
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uibZGRNRCao
Discovered  By:
Andrew

Title:
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
Claim:
Flows are circulating fields of messages that constitute organization.
Application:
CCO addresses how organization is constituted through communication, a process that occurs when closure is achieved through back-and-forth interaction. This entire show focuses on how this was accomplished by Taylor and her collaborators, creating a Grammy-award winning album during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. This clip focuses on the song “Exile,” addressing how the song grew from a piano riff by Taylor’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn, to collaboration with Aaron Dessner, to including Justin Vernon (Bon Iver). Which of the four flows occur in this very organic example of organizing? If you watch the entire show, do you see all four flows present in the creation of the Folklore album?
Link:
https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/folklore-the-long-pond-studio-sessions/3Xlc0EjKtKpp
Cue Point:
19:14-22:10
Discovered  By:
Andrew

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