ABSTRACT
A meaning-centered approach to understanding organizational performance is one of several that can be used to study and improve the performance of people in companies. This chapter reasons that meaning leads to, results from, and guides the actions people use to enact companies. The perspectives employees hold are not dictated by managers but negotiated by the players inside and outside of the company—by what each person says and does. Many thoughtful observers of the dynamics of companies have begun to reconsider the management point of view that has dominated organizational research. Organizational events, what people do and say, are meaningful because individuals need to interpret them as the basis of their organizational world. People seek and give instructions; they use persuasive messages to gain compliance from co-workers, supervisors, subordinates, and customers. People decide whether to comply with others’ requests. Communication serves many functions in organizations: informing, persuading, seeking information, coordinating, including, rewarding, and punishing.
