Understanding Organization Through Culture and Structure: Relational and Other Lessons From the African American Organization (Volume in Lea's Communication Series)

343 Pages·2003·2.99 MB·English

by  Anne Maydan Nicotera

UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONS
THROUGH CULTURE
AND STRUCTURE
Relational and Other Lessons From
the African-American Organization
LEA's COMMUNICATION SERIES
Jennings Bryant/Dolf Zillmann, General Editors
This title is included in the Organizational Communication Subseries
(Linda Putnam, series advisor):
Geist/Hardesty • Negotiating the Crisis: DRGs and the Transformation
of Hospitals
Haslett • Communicating and Organizing: An Integrated Frame
Taylor/Van Every • The Emergent Organization: Communication as Its Site
and Surface
Nicotera/Clinkscales/with Walker • Understanding Organizations Through
Culture and Structure: Relational and Other Lessons From the African-American
Organization
For a complete list of titles in LEA's Communication Series, please contact
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONS
THROUGH CULTURE
AND STRUCTURE
Relational and Other Lessons
From the African-American Organization
Anne Maydan Nicotera
Marcia J. Clinkscales
Howard University
with
Felicia R. Walker
Howard University
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
2003 Mahwah, New Jersey London
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
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Copyright © 2003 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced in
any form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other
means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers
10 Industrial Avenue
Mahwah, New Jersey 07430
Cover design by Kathryn Houghtaling Lacey
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nicotera, Anne Maydan, 1963-
Understanding organizations through culture and structure : relational and other lessons
from the African-American organization / Anne Maydan Nicotera, Marcia J. Clinkscales
with Felicia R. Walker.
p. cm. - (LEA's communication series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8058-3728-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Communicaation in organizations—United States—Case studies. 2. African
Americans—Communication. 3. African American business enterprises. 4. Diversity in
the workplace—United States—Case studies. 5. Organizational behavior—United
States—Case studies. I. Clinkscales, Marcia J. II. Walker, Felicia R. III. Title. IV. Series.
HD30.3 .N53 2003
302.3'5'08996073—dc21
2002029474
Books published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates are printed on acid-free paper,
and their bindings are chosen for strength and durability.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
ISBN 1-4106-0748-8 Master e-book ISBN
List of Tables
Table 1.1 Examples of the Appropriation of Rules and Resources 12
From European-American Organizational Structure Into
Social Practice
Table 2.1 The Collapse of Themes Into Constructs 35
Table 3.1 Nichols1 (1976, 1987) Philosophical Aspects of Cultural 69
Difference
Table 3.2 Examples of the Appropriation of Rules and Resources 70
From African-American Human System Into Social
Practice
Table 3.3 Warfield-Coppock's (1995) Afrocentric Conceptual 100
Framework for Organizations (omits the enculturated
organization)
Table 4.1 Warfield-Coppock's (1995) Afrocentric Conceptual 155
Framework for Organizations (includes the enculturated
organization)
Table 5.1 Orbe's (1998b) Model of Co-Cultural Communication 188
Orientations
Table 7.1 Lawler's (1996) Six New Logic Principles Contrasted 248
with Six Old Logic Principles
Table 7.2 Summary of Convergences between Triangular and 272
Circular Rules/Resources: A Baseline for the Convergent
Organization

List of Figures
Figure 1.1 The baseline model 11
Figure 2.1 The emergent model 49
Figure 3.1 The interpenetration of contradictory structures 68
Figure 3.2 Examples of Afrocentric organizational charts as 101
working collectives. From Warfield-Coppock (1994)
Figure 5.1 The downward spiral of communication processes 161
Figure 5.2 Human communication in the predominantly African- 175
American organization with traditional U.S. corporate
form/design
Figure 6.1 The interpenetration of complementary structures 204
Figure 6.2 An upward spiral of communication processes in 205
a circular organization
Figure 6.3 Human communication in the predominantly African- 206
American organization with circular form/design
Figure 6.4 An upward spiral of communication processes in 208
a triangular organization
Figure 6.5 Human communication in the triangular organization 208
Figure 6.6 Participatory representation as a circular communication 221
pattern imposed on a triangular organizational form
Figure 6.7 The organizational system resulting from a participatory 222
organizational design imposed on a traditional
organizational form and its attendant organizational/
corporate culture
vii
viii LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 6.8 The downward spiral of communication resulting from a 229
participatory structure imposed on a traditional
organizational form and its attendant
organizational/corporate culture
Figure 6.9 Human communication in the organizational system 239
resulting from a participation program imposed on a
traditional organizational form and its attendant
organizational/corporate culture
Figure 7.1 Graphic depiction of the change in organizational form 277
advocated by theorists of organizational restructuring
Figure 7.2 Graphic depiction of the change in organizational culture 278
advocated by theorists of organizational restructuring
Figure 7.3 The interpenetration of multiple structures creating the 278
convergent organization
Figure 7.4 Graphic depiction of the change in organizational culture 279
that can be made in African-American organizational
culture
Figure 7.5 The upward interaction spiral of the convergent 280
organization
Figure 7.6 Human communication in convergent organizational life 281
Dedicated to our parents,
Who walk before us in wisdom