Aims

By the end of the seminar, students will be able to:
1. analyse international organisation processes of communication using organisations as
case studies;
2. analyse, on the basis of clearly defined cases, the organisation as a communication
phenomenon and communication as an organisation phenomenon, and develop the organisation culture or 'enterprise culture'.

Main themes

To interpret communication in organisations on the basis of certain key concepts
(enterprise culture, sectoral culture, professional culture and organisational positioning).
To evaluate the importance and role of these elements:
1. in the regulation of internal and external communication of organisations;
2. in the construction of strategies and policies relating to communication in
organisations.

Content and teaching methods

In this extension of specialist study, the seminar is mainly based on case studies. It
will seek to analyse internal communications processes and the development of 'organisation culture' in its temporal (i.e. historical) and pragmatic (i.e. interactions and modes of communication) dimension.
The seminar will start off with a presentation of analytical models: phenomena of
identity in the organisation (Sainsaulieu), and culture as an organisational regulator (strategic analysis approaches overlapping with the pragmatics of communication).
Students will be divided into sub groups, and invited to analyse a clearly defined case
of an organisation; this will be done on the basis of models introduced at the beginning of the seminar.
An agenda will be agreed with each sub group to determine dates for presenting work in
an open session. On the day of the presentation, each sub group will introduce a few pages of text setting out the main data of the case study, and highlighting the communication processes and observable characteristics of the enterprise culture.
A summary presented by the tenured university teacher at the end of the seminar will aim to highlight certain internal communications issues for communications professionals.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Before the seminar starts, students will be able to use concepts of organisational analysis and organisational communication (through reading, or from Course COMU2139 (Communication and organisation)).
In the analytical work in sub groups, the tenured teacher will use them to guide and check the analytical process. Presentation of work in open session. Assessment of a text 5 10 pages long setting out the main data of the case study.
The seminar requires supervision by Assistants.

Programmes in which this activity is taught

Other credits in programs