Communication Theories
Javier Cintron
University of Phoenix
COM310
Hilary Clay Hicks, M.A.
December 15, 2008
Communication Theories provides us with current and comprehensive influential theories within communication. In studying the complex strengths and weaknesses of communication theories, I further understand how to accommodate these into the broad scheme of our personal and professional lives. In order to reach a more sophisticated level of understanding, I will focus particularly on three of these theories, with an emphasis in applying them to my own real-life experiences. The Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory, as described in Chapter 13 by West and Turner (2004), suggests that we manage relationships while concealing and revealing private information. “Groupthink refers to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment that results from in-group pressures (West & Turner, 2004).” The Organizational Culture Theory paints a broad stroke in their understanding of organizations by stating that “culture is not something an organization has; a culture is something an organization is (West & Turner, 2004).”
“CPM theory explains that after connections are established, the decision to disclose our private information to others involves negotiating expectations about how the information will be collectively managed once divulged.” (Metzger, 2007) On a daily basis, in order to compete effectively among my peers, I must manage information in a way that strategically benefits my department. I must constantly reveal and conceal information from individuals, in an effort to ensure that my agenda is not compromised. Last month, while working on a project with a group of my peers, I knew one of them had a reputation of going back to her leader and divulging every single detail of information shared and claiming some of the ideas as their own. In order to prevent from losing my ideas to this colleague,...