A cooperative model of human communication proposes that speakers take into account what they expect their listeners to understand and update that information as they are speaking. Listeners have an obligation to indicate their state of knowledge and to cooperate with the speaker to produce an utterance.
Krauss, R. M. & Fussell, S. R. (1990).Mutual knowledge and communicative effectiveness. In J. Galegher & R. E. Kraut, et al. (Eds.), Intellectual teamwork: Social and technological foundations of cooperative work (pp. 111-145). Hillsdale, NJ, England: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Clark, Herbert H. & Brennan, Susan E. (1991). Grounding in communication. In L. B. Resnick, R. M. Levine, & S. D. Teasley (Eds.). Perspectives on socially shared cognition. (pp. 127-149). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
3. Jan 20: The role of visual information in grounding
Whittaker, S. & O'Conaill, B. (1997). The role of vision in face-to-face and mediated communication. In E. E. Finn, A. J. Sellen, & S. B. Wilbur. (Eds.) Video-mediated communication. (pp. 23-50) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kraut, R. E., Gergle, D., & Fussell, S. R. (2002). The use of visual information in shared visual spaces: Informing the development of virtual co-presence. In Proceedings of the 2002 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (pp. 318-327). New York, NY: Association of Computing Machinery.
Mintzberg, Henry (1990, March/April). The manager's job: Folklore and fact. Harvard Business Review, 68(2),163-176.
Kraut, R. E., Fish, R.S., Root, R.W., & Chalfonte, B.L. (1990). Informal communication in organizations: Form, function, and technology. In S. O. S. Spacapan (Ed.), Human Reactions to Technology: The Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology (pp. 145-199). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
6. Jan 29: Communication and time
Perlow, L. A. (1999). The time famine: Toward a sociology of work time. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(1), 57-81
Dabbish, L., & Kraut, R. (2004). Controlling interruptions: Awareness displays and social motivation for coordination. CSCW'04: Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work.
Kanki, B. G. & Foushee, H. C. (1989). Communication as group process mediator of aircrew performance. Aviation, Space, & Environmental Medicine, 60(5), 402-410.
Ginnett, R. (1990). Airline cockpit crew. In R. Hackman (Ed.). Groups that work (and those that don't). pp. 427-448. San Francisco. Jossey-Bass, 1990.
8. Feb 5: Communication, familiarity and coordination
Having common beliefs and views of a situation should allow groups to communicate more efficiently. How does this work?
Argote, L. (1999). Organizational learning. Boston: Kluwer. Chapter 3. Organizational Memory. pp. 67-98.
Many analysts stress the value of having demographically and intellectually diverse work groups, for reasons of fairness and performance. What are the benefits and costs of diversity of work groups? Can we identify techniques for getting value from diversity, while minimizing some of its known costs? This class focuses on organizing to gain benefits from diversity.
Ideo (http://www.ideo.com/) is arguably the best product design firm in the United States. We'll be examining the innovation process that Ideo uses, through the Hargadon & Sutton article below and through an ABC News video, The Deep Dive. Come to class familiar with Ideo and its products, and be prepared to describe how it institutionalizes creativity.
Hargadon, A. & Sutton, R. Technology brokering and innovation in a product development firm. (1997). Administrative Science Quarterly, 42, 716-749.
10. Feb 12: Diversity in groups (II)
This class examines some of the problems associated with diversity in groups.
Williams, K. & O'Reilly, C.A. (1998). Demography and diversity in organizations: A review of 40 years of research. Research in Organizational Behavior, 20, 77-140.
Thompson, L. L. (2003). Making the team: A guide for managers (2nd ed.). Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Chapter 7: Conflict in teams.
Barker, J. R. (1997). Disciplining a teammate. In B. D. Syher (Ed.), Case studies in organizational communication (Vol. 2, pp. 97-109). New York: Guildford Press.
13. Feb 24: Social loafing
Karau, S. & Williams, K. (1993)Social loafing: A meta-analytic review and theoretical integration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(4), 681-706.
Thompson, L. L. (2003). Making the team: A guide for managers.Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. (pp. 29-36).
14. Feb 26: Negotiation
Cialdini, R. (2007). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Morrow: New York. Chapter 3: Reciprocal Concessions Pp. 36-56
Thompson, Leigh (2005). The mind and heart of the negotiator (3rd edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hal. Chapter 9: Multiple Parties, Coalitions, and Teams
16. Mar 5: Problems in distributed groups
Hinds, P. J., & Bailey, D. E. (2003). Out of sight, out of sync: Understanding conflict in distributed teams. Organization Science, 14(6), 615-632.
Cramton, C. D. (2001). The mutual knowledge problem and its consequences for dispersed collaboration. Organization Science Special Issue, 12(3), 346-371.
Argyres, Nicholas S. (1999). The impact of information technology on coordination: Evidence from the B-2 'Stealth' bomber. Organizational Science, 10(2), 162-180.
Ibarra, H. (1999). Provisional selves: Experimenting with image and identity in professional adaptation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(Dec), 764-791.
Gabarro, J. J. (1978). The development of trust, influence, and expectation. In A. G. Athos & J. J. Gabarro (Eds.), Interpersonal behavior: Communication and understanding in relationships (pp. 290-303). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hal
20. Mar 26: Organizational self-presentation
Van Maanen, J. (1991). The smile factory: Work at Disneyland. In P. Frost, L. Moore, M. Luis, C. Lundberg, & J. Martin (Eds.), Reframing organizational culture (pp. 58-76). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. (also available here.)
Sutton, R. I. (1991). Maintaining norms about expressed emotions: A case of bill collectors. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 245-268
Barley, S. (1993). Codes of the dead: The semiotics of funeral work. Urban Life, 10(4), 54-61.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84(5), 888-918. (excepts)
Cialdini: Influence: Science and practice. Social Proof, pp. 94-135.
22. Apr 2: Persuasion and liking
Cialdini, Robert B. (2008) Influence: Science and practice (5rd Edition). Talman Co. Chapter 5: Liking. 136-170.
Lynn, M. (1996). Seven ways to increase your servers' tips. Cornell HRA Quarterly, 37(June), 24-29.
Zajonc, R. B. (2001). Mere exposure: A gateway to the subliminal. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(6), 224-226.
Optional: Other Cialdini chapters: Reciprocity, Chapter 2; Consistency, Chapter 3; & Scarcity, Chapter 6. (Note: these will be very useful in writing your analysis of charity appeals.)
23 Apr 7: Persuasion and social pressure
Cialdini, Robert B. (2008) Influence: Science and practice (5rd Edition). Talman Co. Authority. pp.171-193.
Fay, George (2004, Aug). Investigation of the Abu Ghraib Detention Facility and 205th Military Intelligence Brigade
24. Apr 9: Persuasion class presentations (subset of class)
25. Apr 14: Friendly fire (I)
Snook's book Friendly Fire describes an incident following the war in the Persian Gulf when two US F-16 fighters shot down two US Blackhawk helicopters ferrying UN diplomats around the area, resulting in the death of 26 peacekeepers. In some sense, this incident represents a failure of communication, at multiple levels. We'll treat the book as a case study in the types of actions that can go wrong in communication within and between groups.
Snook, S. (2000). Friendly fire. Princeton, NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press. Chapters 2-3, pp. 26-98.
Snook, S. (2000). Friendly fire. Princeton, NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press. Chapters 4-6, pp. 98-201.
optional: Leveson, N. G., Allen, P., & Storey, M.-A. (2002). The analysis of a friendly fire accident using a systems model of accidents. Paper presented at the International Conference of the System Safety Society, Denver, CO.
27 Apr 23: Friendly Fire (III)
Debate on who is responsible for the breakdowns revealed in Friendly Fire. You will be assigned to defend one of the groups involved in the shootdown -- AWAC crew, F-15 pilots, Blackhawk crew, or senior management -- using ideas from theories and empirical articles covered in this class.
28. Apr 28: Social networks/Communication boundaries (I)
People are important sources for information and other resources. Interpersonal networking is important to gain these resources, but getting to new pockets of information is what is crucial.
Allen, T. (1977). Managing the flow of technology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp. 141-181. The technological gatekeepers.
Krackhart, D. (1993, Jul/Aug). Informal networks: The company behind the chart. Harvard Business Review. 104-111.
Swift, Sam (2003). Social Network Assignment for 88-341. Sam did a good network analysis of project teams in one CMU class a few years ago
Cross, R & Cummings, J. (2004) Tie and network correlates of individual performance in knowledge intensive work Academy of Management Journal, 47(6), 928.
Milgram, S. (1967). The small-world problem. Psychology Today, 1(1), 60-67.
