This is the third class in a course on Org. Communication in Social Context; in it I pull together the need for business strategy and communication strategy to be aligned. And, I criticize stakeholder theory as too limiting.

1. The Alignment Factor
Session 3: February 1, 2016
Organizational Communication in Social Context
Prof. Susan J. Stehlik
NYU Stern
Follow your selected document in class today to apply
The concepts of Alignment and Communication Strategy

2. But first….. What’s in the news?
Xerox – Amazon
Facebook on guns
WSJ: what college grads
want
WSJ: Job Hunt – Class of 2015 employment
expectations (2.1.2016)
What students want:
• 93% Personal growth opportunities
• 86% job security
• 80% good benefits package
"Facebook has never been directly involved in
gun selling, but it has been a place where
buyers and sellers have negotiated sales," she
explains. (Laura Sydell from NPR News)

3. • Read the course outline and ask
questions early (well before the
assignment is due!)
• Check the specific assignment
wording in the course outline
• Follow directions! (in class, in
assignments, in grading rubrics)
• Check emails and updates –
especially if you must miss class
• What is due when? Let’s look
– Deliverables: Assignments,
Forums, Presentations
And another first,
an important word
from Prof. Stehlik:
How to get
an A in this
class!

4. And, now to the BIG IDEA

5. What global changes affect –
and are affected by – communication?
How has the world changed?
How have organizations changed?
How has communication changed?

6. Global changes in your lifetimes!
What makes these changes important?
How do they affect communication?
How are they affected by communication?

7. “The real difficulty in changing the
course of any enterprise
lies not in developing new ideas,
but in escaping old ones.”
– John Maynard Keynes
Innovator of the theory and practice of
modern macroeconomics and contributor to
the economic policies of governments.

8. “Communication is a complex
process of continually creating
and negotiating the meanings
and interpretations that
shape our lives.”
Prof. Matt Koschmann
Univ. of Colorado Boulder
What we said in the last class

9. Communication is more than
information exchange
• Not linear
• Not circular
• Not looping
• Double helix
• What’s the impact
of this view?

10. It always
starts with
discovery
Formal
Rhetoric
Other models of
Communication

11. Environment
Stimulation/
Motivation
Stimulation/
Motivation
Encoding (Code; channel) Decoding
Person/
Group
Feedback
Person/
Group
Decoding (Code; channel) Encoding
Frame of
Reference
Frame of
Reference
Environment
noise noise
noise
noise
Source: C. Hamilton
Essential elements of communication

12. Effective communication: strategic thinking
• Understand your task
• Analyze your audience
• Clarify your intent
• Refine your message

13. • Who are they?Audience
• What do you
want them to
do?
Intent
Message!
Basic concept of effective communication

14. • Who are they?Audience
• What result
do you want?
Intent
Message!
Add task: who wants you to do this?
Task!

15. Intent
Task
Audience
MessageT+AIM
Intent
Task
Message
Audience

16. The most important formula in OC:
Effective
Communication
Strategy

17. Consider the communication within cell networks;
that lead to curing diseases; it’s complicated

18. with the right strategy…

19. Your name
here..

20. What were you expected to do for today?
• Watch the video of Prof. Cees van Riel on the
Alignment Factor
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUhkEZbU9uY
• Read OC text: The Corporation and its Stakeholders

21. What is Alignment in business?
“Alignment in business is a mutually rewarding
relationship between a company and its key
stakeholders – which enables the firm to
meet its objectives and realize its purpose.”
Cees Van Riel
Erasmus University
Consider Facebook on
guns….are there other
companies that need a
second look?

22. Why is this important for
business and society?
Why do we care about alignment?

23. Business and society need each other
Not in isolation: Constant interaction
Society
Business
Business
Society

24. How do companies achieve alignment?

26. Strategy? Effective?
You decide.

27. Our Purpose
We will provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improve the
lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come. As a result, consumers will
reward us with leadership sales, profit and value creation, allowing our people, our
shareholders and the communities in which we live and work to prosper.

28. Toyota: Let's Go places: the BOLD new Camry
Since its foundation, Toyota has been using its Guiding Principles to produce reliable
vehicles and sustainable development of society by employing innovative and high
quality products and services.

29. Microsoft:
At Microsoft our mission and values are to help people and businesses
throughout the world realize their full potential.

30. Microsoft:
At Microsoft our mission and values are to help people and businesses
throughout the world realize their full potential.

31. How can you manage the complexity of
communication in organizations?

32. Consider what we’ve discussed so far….
• If the elements of
communication are:
• And the process is
dynamic:
• And constitutive
communication pushes us
away from flat earth
thinking:
• What can
strategy do?
Environment
Stimulation/
Motivation
Stimulation/
Motivation
Encoding (Code; channel) Decoding
Person/
Group
Feedback
Person/
Group
Decoding (Code; channel) Encoding
Frame of
Reference
Frame of
Reference
Environment

33. A communication strategy can
reshape the social reality for
stakeholders

34. • To achieve an intent with a particular audience for a given
task with
• A message: what the communicator wants/needs to tell
• A structure: how to organize the content
• And specific delivery: how to get the message across with
the optimum medium, channel
A strategy creates a specific plan:

35. Prepare for Class 4:
Watch:
• Amy Edmondson talk about Teamwork on the fly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV15JvPwOOE
• Steve Jobs talks about teams and managing people at Apple
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f60dheI4ARg
Read:
• http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/opinion/sunday/why-some-teams-are-
smarter-than-others.html?_r=0
Recommended Read:
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2016/01/14/how-companies-like-
uber-facebook-and-salesforce-engage-in-team-building-its-not-what-you-
think/#7d0ad60d6157
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/upshot/when-teamwork-doesnt-work-
for-women.html
Review:
• Free app: https://slack.com/ Can it help you in OC?

36. Want to see more?
The job skills gap on Bloomberg
very cool graphic.
http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-job-skills-report/