organizations and text metaphor

In Chapter 15, Cheney et al. suggest that "the metaphor of text draws our attention to how much of an organization is written, spoken, and, thus, constructed by its members through the linguistic and other symbolic resources available to them" (p. 438). Other communication scholars have argued that organizing is communicating. Still, the text metaphor presents a specific view of communication. The authors go on to note that the metaphor illuminates issues of authority and power and takes the mystery out of organizational structures and processes.

Although the text metaphor is intriguing, it is also static and linear, as is the notion of "reading" an organization. Text also suggests a notion of permanency, which considering the latest failings of financial firms in the last few weeks, may not provide a useful representation of the changes and flux organizations experience. Particularly in the current turbulent environment, other metaphors may better serve our understanding of organizations and organizing.

The recent near-collapse of very large and very old U.S. financial institutions suggests that as communication scholars we must go beyond a myopic focus on communication and consider the real implications of accounting in organizations. One of my colleagues at Central Michigan University suggested that all organizational communication students take at least one class in accounting so they could read a balance sheet. There's no doubt that communication played an integral part in the rise and fall of the subprime mortgage fad, but when the money simply isn't there, all the talk in the world won't bring it back.

~ Professor Cyborg