Disciplining Organizational Communication Studies

Abstract

The authors argue that, although ostensibly organizational communication as a field of study appears fragmented, one can make the case for its status as a discipline. This status is rooted in four central problematics that implicitly frame a sense of community and identity among organizational communication scholars. These are: (a) the problematic of voice, (b) the problematic of rationality, (c) the problematic of organization, and (d) the problematic of the organization-society relationship. Together, these problematics articulate a conception of organizational communication that defines it as both object of study and discipline in a way that is radically different from other fields that study organizational phenomena.