AN INVESTIGATIVE ANALYSIS INTO THE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCIES IN A RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY IN A HIGH-TECHNOLOGY COMPANY

• Main Author: HARPER, VICTORIA LORRAINE
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-1984
• Subjects: Educational administration; School administration
• ISBN: 9798205691147

This study describes and analyzes the patterns of communication at a research and development laboratory within a large, high-technology company, with the aim of redesigning the communication patterns to be both more effective and more responsive to the needs of the laboratory's staff. To assess the current communication patterns in this unique setting, the researcher has documented and analyzed different forms of rationality, language use, and meaning, and the understanding of these forms by those in the laboratory. This study includes an inquiry into communication in the conventional sense, as an exchange of symbolization. It also considers what is communicated, as well as the forms of communication, interpersonal factors affecting it, and the shared conception of reality on which it is based. The study has been conducted in the light of the theory of communication developed by Jurgen Habermas (1975; 1979), as a basis for discovering the extent to which workers share a consensus and for providing the means to negotiate a wider consensus that could result in improved communication. Data were collected through analysis of documents, library research, direct observation, and extensive interviews with laboratory personnel. Hermeneutic analysis provided an interpretive approach where understanding could emerge rather than mere explanation. This interpretation includes both practical and political agendas, since the meaning changes could not be derived from neutral or systematic type of analysis. Implications. The findings of this research have importance for management training programs in the areas of cultural interaction and awareness, managerial intentionality, consensus building, and shared responsibility. These findings further suggest that many problems within high-technology companies could be addressed more effectively through a qualitative, ethnographic approach.