Date of Award

5-1989

Degree Type

Report

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Journalism and Communication

Committee Chair(s)

Louis Emil Bohn

Committee

Louis Emil Bohn

Committee

Jim Derry

Committee

Richard Krannich

Abstract

Social scientists widely believe that symbols can reveal important information about personalities, values, beliefs and characteristics of the communicator. Although scholars from fields such as semiology, psychology, sociology and anthropology have analyzed symbols and the messages they reveal as cultural indicators, few communication researchers have studied organizational symbols as organizational cultural indicators. In an article entitled, "Organizational Symbolism: A Topic to Expand Organizational Analysis," Dandridge, Mitroff and Joyce chastened communication researchers for overlooking a wealth of organizational data available through the study of organizational symbols. Stephen R. Barley supported these claims when he wrote that culture is embodied in and transmitted by "stories," "myths," and "symbols," and urged researchers to scrutinize these vehicles more closely when analyzing organizational culture.

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Communication Commons

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