Organizational Communication Theory and Ideology: An Overview

Abstract

Organizational communication researchers, while paying thoughtful attention to recent assertions about the almost total absence of significant theory, should profit by the kinds of searching inquiry being undertaken in other areas of communication and of the social sciences in general. We should be reflecting upon such questions as: what kind of theory is needed? How “big” (in terms of scope or domain) should our theories be—for example, overarching or middle-range? What deeply-rooted assumptions and ideologies underlie the variables and propositions comprising theories in this field (“theories” here taken in the most broad, generous sense and referring really to bits and pieces of theories, or to vaguely defined theoretical approaches, such as “human resources” or “systems”)? Most of the research questions described in our literature not only fall short of theoretical sophistication, but they typically incorporate various philosophical and ideological premises; these premises (usually not stated explicitly) decisively influence both the nature of the research questions themselves but also, of course, our methodologies, our categories, our study designs, and our conclusions. We need not necessarily have “more” theories, but rather critical analysis of our frames of reference.