Yes, but how the decision to lay you off was made, and the meaning of that decision—whether
seen as cost‐cutting efficiency or ruthless bottom‐line thinking—and how you make sense of
this event are matters of communication…and the culmination of these communication
processes are what make organizations what they are. I’m not suggesting that organizations
exist in an imaginary land of perceptions and symbols and wishful thinking…like the material
world doesn’t matter, it’s all in your mind. No, no…this constitutive perspective of
organizations as communication is very‐much rooted in the material world of things and stuff.
But what I am suggesting is that these material things come together and have meaning as an
organization only through communication…thus leading us to the conclusion that organizations
exist as communication.
And my argument is that this second approach—organizations as communication—is a much
better perspective to guide our study of organizational communication. Now of course we
need effective communication within organizations…that’s a given. But if we limit ourselves to
just this perspective we miss important opportunities for deeper insight and understanding