Home / Summaries / Organizational Communication Perspectives and Trends / system-equivocality-human

Organisation Theory: Metaphors of biology

4 important questions on Organisation Theory: Metaphors of biology

What does system theory exist of?

system = set of elements bound together in interdependent relationship
wholeness= the effect of elements working in relationship to one another differes from the effect of their isolated, individual acitons taken colelctively
hierarchy: the relationship among elements in a system are specified by rules
openness: active exchange with their outside environment, taking energy and materials, transforming them and returning them
feedback: maintenance, keep certain system conditions the way they are now, and adaption; bring about change and growth. negative= change, positive= reinforcement
feedback is defined by human values, choice to ignore or act and organisational subsystem and individual influence each other

When is information equivocal?

when it can be given different interpretations because it is ambigious, conflicted or obscure or it introduces an element of uncertainty into a situaiton

What are the three fundamental propositions of Wick's theory?

where environmental inputs have little equivocality, organisations can rely heavily on rules to guide their response
as equivocality increases, more communicative effort is required to respond to it. interlocked behaviour cycle: double interact; adjustment message
as equivocality increase, the use of interlocked behaviour cycles increases in an effort to reduce equivocality

What are the main premises of Evolutionary Psychology?

human beings become what they are throguh learning, socialisation and acculteration
environmental determinism; who we are and what we do is a product of environmental influences --> evolution
culture is influenced by innate psychological mechanisms in human beings that did not develop under modern conditions but have evolved from beginning of time
brain = collective of domain-general and domain-specific mechanisms adapted throguh evolution to handle the problems confronted by early human beings
behaviour arises froman interaction of the present environment with the evolutionary heritage of a past epoch