Welcome to Communication and Organisational Practices!

 

With just 10 weeks to digest a significant volume of communication theory, based on a compilation of readings from a range of textbooks, we will use popular culture and contemporary events as a way of interrogating and engaging with the material.

 

Some students may have limited workplace experience, and this may make some of the theory about communication in organisations somewhat challenging. For every topic, start by perusing the headings and sub-headings in the readings textbook (Crossman 2014) and consider what you already know, based on your experience in other aspects of your life, such as family, friendships, intimate relationships, and as a member of organisations such as university, sporting clubs, religious groups, special interest clubs, volunteer work, etc.

 

Then watch the video (links are provided on the homepage) and use it as a springboard and motivation to read the key concepts in the corresponding reading. The videos are meant to be a lighthearted way to introduce you to the main ideas in the textbook – we hope you have a bit of a laugh as you consider which of the ideas and concepts are demonstrated. We also want you to take a critical approach and think about what’s missing in the readings, which concepts seem outdated or not in keeping with your experience and come to class prepared to engage in discussion and debate.

 

During Preparation Week, every student is encouraged to locate a Youtube video (of less than 5 minutes) which demonstrates any aspect of communication in organisations – look at the Contents page of the readings to get an idea of the various topics – and provide the link to the video on the Course Discussion Forum. Along with the link, write one short sentence about which aspect of communication is covered. I will peruse all the suggestions during Preparation Week and will choose the best ones to incorporate into class activities during the study period. If your video is chosen, come and see me for a free coffee voucher!

 

I look forward to sharing the learning journey with you over the next 10 weeks. Come and see me anytime if you have any questions or concerns. My office is Elton Mayo 4-21, City West. Or contact me via the Course Discussion Forum or email: tracey.bretag@unisa.edu.au

 

With best wishes,

 

Tracey

 

Associate Professor Tracey Bretag, Course Coordinator

School of Management.

 

BUSS 1060 Career Development for Professionals

There are no corequisite courses to be completed in conjunction with this course.

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

CO1. Discuss strategies for the effective management of organisational communication

CO2. Explore the implications of diversity in the context of communication theory and practice with particular emphasis upon inter-cultural and international contexts

CO3. Analyse and apply negotiation strategies, including conflict resolution

CO4. Apply communication knowledge to common practical contexts in organisations

CO5. Identify and manage emotions in organisational communication

CO6. Demonstrate Business School Enterprise Skills in the context of the Management discipline: i) Problem Solving (intermediate level); ii) Written Communication (intermediate level); and iii) Oral Communication (intermediate level)

Upon completion of this course, students will have achieved the following combination of Graduate Qualities and Course Objectives:

A graduate of UniSA:

GQ1. operates effectively with and upon a body of knowledge of sufficient depth to begin professional practice

GQ2. is prepared for life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice

GQ3. is an effective problem solver, capable of applying logical, critical, and creative thinking to a range of problems

GQ4. can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional

GQ5. is committed to ethical action and social responsibility as a professional and citizen

GQ6. communicates effectively in professional practice and as a member of the community

GQ7. demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and as a citizen

Organisation communication theories, implications of diversity for communication (for example; gender, generation, culture, disability, spirituality, inter-cultural and international contexts), negotiation and conflict resolution from a communication perspective (strategies, perception, emotion, relationships, culture), managing emotions in organisational communication, communicating power, persuading others in business contexts and self-disclosure in organisations and implications for management.

4.5 units

You will need continual access to the following text(s) to complete this course. Where possible the Library will make the book available for student use. Please check the Library catalogue before purchasing the book(s). The Library will always seek to purchase resources that allow an unlimited number of concurrent users, however availability is dependent on license arrangements with book publishers and platforms. http://www.library.unisa.edu.au

Crossman, J (2014). Communication and organisations ((Custom) 5th edn). McGraw-Hill.

All course related materials can be accessed through your learnonline course site which you will be able to access from the my Courses section in myUniSA.

All study related materials can be accessed through: https://my.unisa.edu.au

Details of assessment submission and return are listed under each assessment task. Assessment tasks will be returned to you within two to three weeks of submission.

If the Course Coordinator allows submissions in hard copy format, you will be required to attach an Assignment Cover Sheet which is available on the learnonline student help (https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=1843&chapterid=567) and in myUniSA.

The feedback proforma is available on your course site.

The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to personally reflect on and apply the communication theory from Topics 1 and 2 to your experience of communication in organisational settings.

 

Choose an organisation or group to which you belong. Ideally this will be in a workplace setting. If you do not have any work experience, choose another organisational setting such as university, social, sporting, religious or voluntary group in which you have experience as a member. Analyse the influence of at least two specific aspects of the theory in each topic (Topic 1: Understanding and working with diverse others and Topic 2: Interpersonal communication from the Crossman 2014 Course Readings).

 

Some of the key ideas from those topics include:

 

Topic 1:
      Barriers to accepting diversity
      Prejudices and stereotypes
      Strategies to build relationships with diverse others
      Gender similarities and differences
      Cross-cultural differences
      Affirmative action vs managing diversity

 

Topic 2:
      Communication climate
      Confirming and disconfirming communication (empathy, self-disclosure, humour)
      Communication and self
      Communication styles
      The role of emotions
      Personality and listening

 

Analyse the impact of the specific factors on the communication that occurs in the group. Hint: When thinking about communication in the group, it would be useful to recall instances of miscommunication or conflict. If you cannot recall any such incidents, perhaps recall a specific project that was successful and consider why this might be the case.

 

Following your reflection and analysis, suggest how individuals or the organisation (including yourself) might contribute to improving communication, again referring to the theory from Topics 1 and 2. As this assignment relates to your own experience, you are encouraged to use the first person (eg. I think, in my opinion, etc) as well as the third person where appropriate.

 

In addition to referring to the Readings for both topics (Crossman 2014*), use a minimum of 4 recent (2010-2019) academic sources to support your analysis.

Structure of assignment

1. Title which reflects the content of the assignment

2. Introduction

     a. Indicate which aspects of the theory in Topics 1 and 2 will be used.
     b. Provide brief background on the context. For example, describe the organisation, its purpose, your role and the roles of other people in the group. Use pseudonyms to ensure confidentiality.

3. Analysis – Use the theory (from the Readings and other academic sources) to reflect on and analyse the communication in your organisation, providing examples to illustrate your points. Use the specific aspects of the theory in Topics 1 and 2 as the framework for this section.

     a. Communication aspect from Topic 1
     b. Communication aspect from Topic 1
     c. Communication aspect from Topic 2
     d. Communication aspect from Topic 2

 

4. Conclusion – provide a brief summary of the key issues identified.

5. Recommendations – Using ideas from the theory, make recommendations for how communication within the group and broader organisation could be improved.

6. References (Harvard style) – use the course readings and a minimum of 4 other recent (2010-2019) academic sources (eg peer reviewed journal articles, textbooks and academic reports). Ensure that any quotes are shown correctly in “quotation marks” and that in-text citations match the reference list.

*How to reference the course Readings

The course textbook is a compilation of chapters and learning materials from a number of textbooks. To reference an idea from Topic 4: Intercultural communication, for example, your in-text reference simply needs to provide the original reference and then cite the Readings book, as in the following example:

 

     According to Northhouse (2007, p. 338), culture is ‘the commonly shared beliefs, values and norms of people’ (cited in Crossman 2014, p. 119).

 

For the above in-text citation, the full reference in the reference list is simply the Course Readings book:

 

Crossman, J 2014, Communications and organisations, University of South Australia, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill Education, Australia.

The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to apply communication theory to your everyday experiences of communication practices.

 

Choose an example of a ‘communication exchange’ (that is, a situation where two or more people are communicating) from any of the following sources:

      - Social media (eg Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, WeChat, etc)
      - Youtube video on any topic
      - Current affairs (eg print news, television, radio, online news)
      - Segment of a television program (eg reality show, documentary, drama, comedy, etc)
      - Novel or other creative work

 

Please complete the following tasks for this assignment:

1. Provide a title which reflects the content of your report.

 

2. Provide a link to the source (or append a scanned copy of the printed document to your assignment).

 

3. Introduce the main ideas to be covered in the report.

 

4. Write a 250-500 word summary of the communication exchange.

 

5. Use any three topics from Topics 3-10 of the course as the framework to analyse the communication exchange. These include:

 

     a. Gender and communication
     b. Intercultural communication
     c. Intergenerational communication
     d. The diversity and complexity of disability
     e. Online communication: Balancing the personal and professional
     f. Self-disclosure and trust
     g. Negotiation and conflict management
     h. Persuasion, power and communication

 

Use the three topics as headings to structure the paper. Although you are not expected to explicitly address Topic 1: Understanding and working with diverse others and Topic 2: Interpersonal communication, these topics overlap with most of the other topics in some way, so feel free to use some that theory as well if it’s useful (but you still need to use three other topics).

 

6. Demonstrate your understanding of the key ideas and concepts from each of the three topics you have chosen by showing how those ideas are present, absent or perhaps challenged in the communication exchange.

 

7. In addition to referring to the Readings for each topic (Crossman 2014), use a minimum of 6 recent (2010-2019) academic sources to support your analysis. These references might support the Reading in some way, critique the Reading, or provide additional insights from recent research.

 

8. Conclude the paper by summarising the key communication ‘lessons’ from the communication exchange under investigation.

 

9. Provide a list of the references used, in Harvard Style.

 

Structure of assignment

1. Title
2. Link to source/append copy of source
3. Introduction
4. Summary of communication exchange
5. Communication topic 1
6. Communication topic 2
7. Communication topic 3
8. Conclusion
9. References (Harvard style). Must use Course Readings, plus 6 recent academic sources (as per instructions in Assignment 1). 

See above under Assessment details.

This course does not have an exam.

Extra time in exams (ENTEXT) and the use of a dictionary is available to some students (for example, Aboriginal peoples and those of non-English speaking background) as follows:

• extra time for reading or writing. This will be an extra ten minutes per hour for every hour of standard examination time, and
• the use of an English language or bilingual print dictionary (without annotations). (APPM 7.2.2)

More information about variation to assessment is available in section 7.2 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual. http://w3.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp (section 7)

Supplementary assessment or examination offers students an opportunity to gain a supplementary pass (SP) and is available to all students under the following conditions unless supplementary assessment or examination has not been approved for the course:

1. if the student has achieved a final grade between 45-49 per cent (F1) in a course
2. if a student who has successfully completed all of the courses within their program, with the exception of two courses in which they were enrolled in their final study period, a supplementary assessment or examination may be granted where the final grade in either or both of these courses, is less than 45 percent (F1 or F2) and all assessments in the courses were attempted by the student. Supplementary assessment will not be available for a course under investigation for academic integrity until the investigation is completed, and determined that it did not constitute academic misconduct.

More information about supplementary assessment is available in section 7.5 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual.
http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/

There is no supplementary assessment for this course.

All students must adhere to the University of South Australia's policies about assessment:
http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/.

There are no additional assessment requirements identified for this course.

Students with disabilities or medical conditions or students who are carers of a person with a disability may be entitled to a variation or modification to standard assessment arrangements.  See Section 7 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual (APPM) at:  http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/

 

Students who require variations or modifications to standard assessment arrangements should make contact with their Course Coordinator as early as possible in order to ensure that appropriate supports can be implemented or arranged in a timely manner.

 

Students can register for an Access Plan with UniSA Access & Inclusion Service. It is important to make contact early to ensure that appropriate support can be implemented or arranged in a timely manner. See the Disability Hub for more information:  http://www.unisa.edu.au/Disability/Current-students

Students are advised there is a deadline to finalise Access Plan arrangements for examinations. Further information is available at:  http://i.unisa.edu.au/campus-central/Exams_R/Before-the-Exam/Alternative-exam-arrangements/

Deferred assessment or examination is not available for this course. APPM 7.6.4

Special consideration is not available for this course. APPM 7.7.4

Variation to assessment methods, tasks and timelines may be provided in:

Unexpected or exceptional circumstances, for example bereavement, unexpected illness (details of unexpected or exceptional circumstances for which variation may be considered are discussed in clauses 7.8 - 7.10 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variation to assessment in unexpected or exceptional circumstances should be discussed with your course coordinator as soon as possible.

Special circumstances, for example religious observance grounds, or community services (details of special circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clause 7.11 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variations to assessment in expected circumstances must be requested within the first two weeks of the course (or equivalent for accelerated or intensive teaching).

 

Students with disabilities or medical conditions please refer to Students with disabilities or medical conditions.

Academic integrity is the foundation of university life and is fundamental to the reputation of UniSA and its staff and students. Academic integrity means a commitment by all staff and students to act with honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, respect and responsibility in all academic work.

An important part of practising integrity in academic work is showing respect for other people's ideas, and being honest about how they have contributed to your work. This means taking care not to represent the work of others as your own. Using another person's work without proper acknowledgement is considered Academic Misconduct, and the University takes this very seriously.

The University of South Australia expects students to demonstrate the highest standards of academic integrity so that its degrees are earned honestly and are trusted and valued by its students and their employers. To ensure this happens, the University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. For example, work submitted electronically by students for assessment will be examined for copied and un-referenced text using the text comparison software Turnitin http://www.turnitin.com.

More information about academic integrity and what constitutes academic misconduct can be found in Section 9 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM): http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/. The Academic Integrity Module explains in more detail how students can work with integrity at the University: https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=252142

The assignments for this course have been updated and there is now a strong emphasis on providing students with an opportunity to apply communication theory to every aspect of their lives, including but not limited to the workplace.