Organizational Diagnosis: Functional & Cultural Perspectives in Communication
Organizational Approaches to Diagnosis
The organizational assessment is divided into two main perspectives: functional and cultural. Each has its own objectives, methods, and techniques. They complement each other and give rise to two types of diagnosis:
Types of Organizational Diagnosis
- Functional Diagnosis
- Cultural Diagnosis
Functional Diagnosis
Functional diagnosis (named for its functionalist perspective) mainly examines formal and informal structures of communication. This includes communication practices related to production, personal satisfaction, organizational maintenance, and innovation. It uses a diagnostic process in which the auditor is almost entirely responsible for the design and execution (objectives, methods, and interpretation of results).
Objectives of Functional Diagnosis
- Assess the internal structure of formal and informal communication systems and various communication channels.
- Evaluate systems and communication processes at the interpersonal, group, departmental, and interdepartmental levels.
- Evaluate systems and external communication processes of the organization, including public and private entities with which there is interdependence.
- Evaluate the role, efficiency, and the need for organizational communication technology.
- Assess the impact of communication processes on job satisfaction, productivity, commitment, and teamwork.
Methods and Techniques
Within the functionalist perspective, the methods used are interviews, questionnaires, analysis of communication networks, group interviews, analysis of critical communication experiences, and analysis of the distribution of messages.
Specific techniques applied include:
- Interview: This technique, often complemented by questionnaires, allows for the collection of detailed information through personal conversations with members of an organization.
- Questionnaire: Questionnaires efficiently gather information from many people faster and cheaper than other methods, facilitating statistical analysis.
- Analysis of Message Transmission: This specialized questionnaire reveals the dissemination process of a message throughout the organization, from its origin to its reception by different members. This method reveals the time it takes to spread a message, the communication process, potential bottlenecks, informal communication networks, and how information is processed.
- Analysis of Critical Communication Experiences: This technique helps understand the positive and negative communication experiences within the organization and their effectiveness.
- Analysis of Communication Networks: This assesses the structure and effectiveness of an organization’s communication. It analyzes who communicates with whom, existing groups, members who act as bridges between groups, information bottlenecks, communication content, and the amount of information disseminated.
- Group Interview: This technique involves interviewing a group of representative members of the organization to gather insights into critical aspects of organizational communication.
Cultural Diagnosis
Cultural diagnosis involves a series of actions to uncover an organization’s values and principles. It examines the extent to which these values are known and shared by members and their consistency with organizational behavior.
Objectives from an Interpretivist Perspective
- Evaluate the role of communication in creating, maintaining, and developing the culture of an organization.
- Assess the content of communication production and its meaning for members, such as conversations, rituals, myths, philosophy, and values.
- Understand organizational life and the role of communication from the perspective of the organization’s members.
Diagnostic Categories of Cultural Analysis
An organization’s values and principles can be determined through the fields in which they arise. Analyzing more cultural events leads to a richer and more accurate diagnosis.
Conceptual and symbolic manifestations consist of the following categories and items:
- Spiritual: Ideology/Philosophy, symbols, myths, and history.
- Behavioral: Language, nonverbal behavior, rituals, and forms of interaction.
- Structural: Policies and procedures, standards, systems of internal status, the power structure.
- Materials: Technology, facilities, furniture, and equipment.
Methods and Techniques
The cultural assessment process utilizes specific tools and generally involves two approaches: qualitative and quantitative.
While the former seeks accurate measurements of pre-established variables for comparison, the latter relies more on the researcher’s perception to analyze the data.
Qualitative techniques applicable:
- Observation: The researcher can choose to become a member of the group (participant observation) or observe from the outside (non-participant observation). Building trust with the subjects is crucial to ensure acceptance and minimize interference with the group’s daily activities.
- Interviews: Establishing a climate of mutual trust, understanding, and emotional affinity (sympathy) between the interviewer and interviewee is essential for insightful interviews.
- Document Analysis: By interpreting a diverse collection of documents, researchers can extract information about the organization’s history, characteristics, and infer important cultural aspects.
- Small Group Discussion: Facilitated discussions with small groups provide valuable insights into shared perspectives and experiences.
- Dramatization: This technique offers data on people’s perceptions of specific roles, relationships, and work situations.
- Projective Techniques: Presenting unstructured material with vague instructions allows subjects to project their personality structures and perceptions by organizing the material in their own way.
Quantitative techniques applicable:
Survey. The information collected by this technique can be used for quantitative analysis to identify and understand the magnitude of the problems that are assumed or known partially or inaccurate. The method can be used to lift the survey is the questionnaire.