This week we'll blog about the web posters. I first developed the idea for web posters based on student research when I had to design web posters for my classes. I started teaching online in 1999 and because online learning was so new, one of the staff members in eCampus (called the Distance Education program at the time) suggested web posters to get students interested in our online classes. The poster provided a useful way of summarizing information. So I adapted the idea for several of my classes. For the class this semester, students submitted 14 web posters. I'll briefly discuss two or three each day this week, grouping them together by themes. I'll start with some of the web posters that addressed organizing and culture. Kartik focused on cross-cultural communication in organizations that operate in the U.S. and India. The two countries have become quite intertwined in many ways, but certainly in terms of organizations working in new communication technologies. And the recent terrorist attacks in India aimed at prominent Indian, U.S., and British executives underscores the close ties between U.S. and Indian organizations. Kartik's suggestions for future research demonstrate the gaps in the literature.SS & Garota de Ipanema examined culture from an intercultural perspective. The authors provide several avenues for future research that identify areas where current research is sparse. One neglected area is the impact of local culture on global culture. This parallels the general cause-effect bias in culture research, which often assumes that a more dominant culture is impervious to the effects of a less-powerful culture. For example, there's much concern about the impact of Western culture on developing nations without considering the flow of culture in the other direction.One of the most-discussed issues in the organizational culture literature is the ability of leaders and managers to change an organization's culture, the topic Hapa's web poster addresses. If all organization members participate in creating and maintaining organizational culture, is it possible for managers and leaders to bring about change? Although those in the upper echelons of organizational hierarchies may attempt changes in organizational cultures, research does suggest these attempts often fail. As Hapa points out, "The most striking finding of my research was the relatively low success rate of cultural change efforts."~ Professor Cyborg
I didn't post yesterday because I wanted to report on the final reading group discussion that took place this afternoon. Faculty and students participated in the discussion of Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine, with co-author Dr. Richard Webb leading the discussion. This conversation was different from the previous ones in that we had quite a few questions for Dr. Webb.
The book includes an interview with Dr. Webb in which he describes his experience as a caregiver for one of the WAMM members. The person became so ill that he lived with Dr. Webb for about 10 weeks, until the person died. In discussing this experience with us today, Dr. Webb told us that working with the people in WAMM and serving as a caregiver had led him to feel more compassion for others. That's a theme throughout the book, and speaks to the ethics of compassion briefly mentioned in Chapter 14 of the text. The authors note, "a number of Buddhist traditions embrace widening circles of compassion to include not only those close to us but also those distant and even our enemies" (p. 425). The members of WAMM seem to work hard to take this approach with those inside and outside the organization, designing a system of justice focused on meeting people's needs rather than assuring everyone contributes equal amounts to the organization.
Although this was the last department reading group discussion of the book, Dr. Webb will be presenting in the University Scholar Series in the spring. In addition, the department plans to sponsor a colloquium for next semester in which Dr. Webb discusses the book. In the meantime, read Dying to Get High. It's engaging and informative on multiple levels.
~ Professor Cyborg
Yesterday I met with the second reading group for the department's book choice this semester, Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine, by Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb. Dr. Webb joined the group, so we got first-hand insight into the story underlying the book as well as an update on the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana.
The book includes several interviews with organizational members and those involved in the medical marijuana movement. For one discussion question I asked, "In the interview with Dr. Arnold Leff [pro-medical marijuana Santa Cruz physician] he states, 'Advertising by big corporate pharma giants has helped to create a culture that encourages drug use' (p. 35) and uses the example of Ambien, a sleeping pill. What other examples can you think of to support his claim?" Discussants easily identified other examples of our "take a pill to fix it" culture. The discussion then turned to what constituted acceptable versus unacceptable drugs and the role of pharmaceutical companies in defining "good" and "bad" drugs.
In Dying to Get High, Chapkis and Webb note the power of large organizations such as the pharmaceuticals, the AMA, and government agencies to define terms and dominate the discussion of medical marijuana. As Cheney et al. discuss in Chapter 9, "the ability to define terms is an extremely important part of the debate" (p. 258). Chapkis and Webb identify the ways in which powerful groups set the agenda for the discussion of medicine and drugs, limited the availability of information of the medicinal uses of marijuana, and silenced viewpoints about the plant.
~ Professor Cyborg
Yesterday afternoon six students and I discussed Chapkis and Webb's book, Dying to Get High, Marijuana as Medicine. I had developed 25 questions to guide the conversation, which lasted two hours. One question focused on the context in which the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana developed: "In Chapter 2, the authors discuss the set and the setting and argue that Santa Cruz provided the petri dish in which WAMM could grow. What about Santa Cruz made WAMM possible? Could WAMM exist anywhere else?"
I asked this question because organizational communication researchers often ignore the cultural and political environment in which organizations function. In Chapter 11, Cheney et al. discuss the socio-historical context of organizational change, tracing the history change in terms of what was happening at the time. For example, "the movements that began in the 1970s (organizational culture, quality circles, and Toyotism) all reflect a shift in the change-constancy dialectic toward a greater valuing of change" (p. 318). WAMM represented a change in addressing the needs of the those with chronic pain or illness, especially those who were poor and lacked health insurance. The organization grew out of an intersection of a particular political climate (progressive) and particular group of people (activists). WAMM enjoyed strong support from the community, including the major and city council and several health care groups. In addition, the group worked with the sheriff, who was supportive of California's medical marijuana initiative.
The reading group discussants agreed that an organization such as WAMM might be possible in another place with similar cultural and political leanings. At the time WAMM was organized, the climate in Santa Cruz related to the issue of medical marijuana was supportive of the change side of the change-constancy dialectic. However, the group also acknowledged the importance of the organization's founders and additional members who kept the organization going, especially in times of adversity.
~ Professor Cyborg
In Chapter 15 Cheney et al. discuss collecting and analyzing organizational communication data. The authors identify four primary ways to gather data: artifacts, surveys, interviews, and observations. Chapkis and Webb's research reported in Dying to Get High relies primarily on artifacts, interviews and observations. The authors devote two chapters to artifacts. One chapter provides extensive details on the methods the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana used to process the medical marijuana. In "Mother's Milk and the Muffin Man" readers learn about alternatives to smoking marijuana, such as ingesting it in soy milk and chocolate muffins. While some members are able to tolerate smoking marijuana, many cannot but still need the medical benefits of the plant. More importantly, the chapter describes the tremendous amount of work several members of the collective go through to transform the marijuana into appropriate delivery systems. The members use every part of the plant, developing tinctures, mari-caps, and a liniment. The production of these artifacts reflects the complex nature of the plant and the issues associated with it.The chapter "Love Grows Here" provides the most insight into the organization's culture and its essence. In this chapter, the authors describe WAMM's garden, situated in Santa Cruz county with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. The space is defined as a healing garden in which "relationships are formed between garden volunteers and the plants under their care" (p. 161). Members form strong bonds as they work in the garden. Growing marijuana well is labor intensive and requires a cooperative effort among members--a cooperation that isn't always achieved. The garden provides a symbolic representation of the organization. When the DEA raided the garden in 2002, the event devastated the garden as well as the organization. Including a chapter that focuses on the garden provides key insights into how members felt during and after the raid.This afternoon I'm leading the first discussion of the book. I'll report on that tomorrow.~ Professor Cyborg
As I've mentioned in previous entries, much of my research in organizational communication as focused on small groups and teams. Chapter 8 discusses democracy and participation in alternative organizations (noncorporate entities, which are the vast majority of organizations to which we belong). The authors discuss the problems these organizations often encounter, such as lack of time, emotion, inequality, self-maintenance, autonomy, and goal persistence. I just finished reading Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine, by Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb. Rick is a lecturer in my department. He earned his M.A. in communication studies at SJSU and was in BUS/COMM 244 the first time I taught it. He then went on to earn his Ph.D. from the U of Texas at Austin in organizational communication.
The book is at once a narrative about a social movement, medical marijuana, and a case study of an organization, the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), located in Santa Cruz. Structured on the notion that everyone should take what they need and give what they can, the organization attempts to function as a collective, holding weekly meetings in which the group addresses policy, structural, and process issues. But as an almost entirely volunteer organization, the group encounters the challenges associated with any alternative organization. For example, some members actively participate, tending the garden, making cannabis products, planning events. Others just show up for the meetings, don't say anything, and leave with their medicine. Some people are simply too ill and too poor to contribute much. Still, those who enjoy better health and wealth feel conflicted, understanding on one level that everyone can't contribute equally, but resenting those who don't participate.
I'll be writing more about the book this week because it's the department's reading group book for the semester. This week I'm leading three discussions about the book and participating in a fourth (Dr. Webb will lead that one). The story is fascinating for me as an organizational communication scholar as well as someone who's lived in Santa Cruz since 1994.
~ Professor Cyborg
