Anne Maydan Nicotera

Building Theories of Organization : The Constitutive Role of Communication

Chapter 1 Introduction: Communication Constitutes OrganizationLinda L. Putnam, Anne M. Nicotera, and Robert D. McPheeChapter 2 The Communicative Constitution of Organizations: A Framework for ExplanationRobert D. McPhee and Pamela ZaugChapter 3 Agents Of Constitution In Communicad: Constitutive Processes of Communication In OrganizationsRobert D. McPhee and Joel IversonChapter 4 Constitutive complexity: Military entrepreneurs and the synthetic character of communication flowsLarry D. Browning, Ronald Walter Greene, S. B. Sitkin, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, and David ObstfeldChapter 5 Dislocation and Stabilization: How to Scale Up from Interactions to OrganizationFrancois Cooren and Gail T. FairhurstChapter 6 Organizing from the bottom up?: Reflections on the constitution of organization in communicationJames R. TaylorChapter 7 Theory Building: Comparisons of CCO OrientationsLinda L. Putnam and Robert D. McPhee

Beyond Two Dimensions A Grounded Theory Model of Conflict-Handling Behavior

A descriptive model of conflict-handling behavior was developed in an inductive investigation aimed at overcoming problems of assuming two dimensions of conflict behavior. The model delineates and defines strategy categories based on actor-salient aspects of specific behavior in specific situations. Ninety full-time employees of different organizations provided written accounts of recent conflicts in which they were involved at work. Using a grounded theory approach, strategy descriptions were subjected to constant comparison analysis. The emergent categories were then expanded into a three-dimensional taxonomic model of conflict-handling behavior. Further development of the model is addressed and advocated. Finally, implications for theory and research are discussed.

Nursing and conflict communication: avoidance as preferred strategy.

An exploratory study was conducted to examine nurses’ (n = 57) selection of strategies to confront conflict in theworkplace. Communication competence is the conceptual framework, defining competent conflict communication as jointproblem-solving communication that is both effective and appropriate. Items were drawn from tools assessing nurses’ conflictmanagement strategies. Nurses reported a strong preference not to confront conflict directly; nurse managers were less likely to avoiddirect communication. Nurses who do choose to confront conflict are more likely to use constructive than destructive strategies. Theintegration of the social science of health communication into nursing education and practice and other implications are discussed.

Introduction: Communication constitutes organization

Chapter 1 Introduction: Communication Constitutes OrganizationLinda L. Putnam, Anne M. Nicotera, and Robert D. McPheeChapter 2 The Communicative Constitution of Organizations: A Framework for ExplanationRobert D. McPhee and Pamela ZaugChapter 3 Agents Of Constitution In Communicad: Constitutive Processes of Communication In OrganizationsRobert D. McPhee and Joel IversonChapter 4 Constitutive complexity: Military entrepreneurs and the synthetic character of communication flowsLarry D. Browning, Ronald Walter Greene, S. B. Sitkin, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, and David ObstfeldChapter 5 Dislocation and Stabilization: How to Scale Up from Interactions to OrganizationFrancois Cooren and Gail T. FairhurstChapter 6 Organizing from the bottom up?: Reflections on the constitution of organization in communicationJames R. TaylorChapter 7 Theory Building: Comparisons of CCO OrientationsLinda L. Putnam and Robert D. McPhee

Between Rocks and Hard Places: Exploring the Impact of Structurational Divergence in the Nursing Workplace

Recurrent interpersonal conflict in organizational settings is common and impedes goal-attainment. Structurational divergence (SD) theory conceptualizes a distinctive negative communication spiral rooted in unresolved conflict resulting from incompatible rules of intersecting meaning structures. This article expands SD theory by examining the function of human agency, positing that the rendering of communication patterns as incomprehensible and untransformable diminishes agency. After explaining and expanding SD theory, an exploratory study examines the relationship of SD to conflict-related organizational- and communication-related constructs. Destructive communication (verbal aggression, ambiguity intolerance, controlling conflict management style, and taking conflict personally) is related to SD whereas constructive communication (solution oriented conflict management style, argumentativeness) is not. Implications are discussed for understanding conflict in nursing and other organizational settings as well as for intervention.

Conceptualization and Measurement of Structurational Divergence in the Healthcare Setting

Structurational divergence (SD) is a widespread organizational problem, manifesting as recurrent cycles of unresolved conflict rooted in incompatible meaning structures. Heretofore, the program of research investigating SD has been largely qualitative and descriptive. This study developed and tested a quantitative measurement scale of SD in the nursing context. Candidate scale items were constructed from previous interview data and administered to a sample of 281 nurses. A final scale of 17 items was obtained based on expert screening and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The scale and its three subcomponents showed strong internal consistency and correlated as expected with several established measures of related concepts.

Structurational divergence theory as explanation for troublesome outcomes in nursing communication.

Structurational divergence (SD) theory captures negative communication cycles resulting from interpenetration of incompatible meaning structures. It is estimated that 12–15% of practicing nurses suffer from a problematic level of SD. With a sample of 713 nurses (57 departments) in a large hospital, this study tests a model positing SD as a root explanation of nursing job satisfaction and turnover. A number of variables long presumed to be explanations for job satisfaction and turnover were hypothesized as mediators between SD and those outcomes. Path analysis showed support for burnout, role conflict, bullying, and organizational identification as useful mediators, explaining 68% of the variance in job satisfaction, and 45% in intentions to leave. The study also explores relationships between SD and hospital quality indicators. SD is a concern because it powerfully explains a number of poor outcomes and provides an underlying explanation for a number of factors that predict job satisfaction and turnover.

Argumentativeness and Aggressiveness The Flip Side of Gentle Persuasion

This article explores the development and testing of two popular communication instruments: argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness scales. One measures the degree to which an individual engages in verbal attacks on another individuals position on some controversial topic, and the second measures the degree to which one engages in attacks on anothers self-concept. The authors make recommendations about the use of the two instruments and present new evidence of their reliability and validity.

Conceptualization and Test of an Aggression Competence Model

A model of aggression competence was constructed by overlaying a 2-dimensional conceptualization of aggressive communication onto Spitzbergs model of communication competence. An empirical investigation tested the hypotheses that argumentative communication is more effective than nonargumentative communication, and that verbally aggressive communication is less appropriate than communication that is not verbally aggressive. The presumption that argumentative communication that is not verbally aggressive is effective and appropriate communication received strong support. However, the relationships among argumentative communication, verbally aggressive communication, appropriateness, and effectiveness are not linear. Although appropriateness and effectiveness when combined typify competent aggressive communication, non-competent aggressive communication splits them. Totally nonaggressive communication is least effective, whereas nonargumentative verbal aggression is least appropriate. For moderately competent aggression, respondents made finer distinctions in ratings of effectiveness than of appropriateness. A modified aggression competence model is proposed.

Damned If I Do and Damned If I Don’t: How Structurational Divergence Strips Actors of Agency

In this essay, I describe how the concept of agency provides a central explanatory mechanism for structurational divergence (SD). For many years, in research and applied work in diverse organizational settings, I observed similar patterns of impasse rooted in cyclic conflicts. Intrigued, I set about developing an explanation for organizational phenomena that render people unable to break out of these negative cycles. I turned to the presumption that communication constitutes organization, Weick’s notion of collective sensemaking, and Weber’s iron cage, using structuration theory as a foundation for theory construction. The result was SD theory, which captures and explains negative communication cycles resulting from the intersection of incompatible meaning structures (Nicotera & Clinkscales, 2003, 2010; Nicotera & Mahon, 2013; Nicotera, Mahon, & Zhao, 2010). Structuration is the process by which social structures are produced and reproduced in social practice, structure being both medium and outcome of social interaction (Giddens, 1984). When multiple incompatible structures are in simultaneous operation and equally obligatory, their concurrent structurational processes are divergent. As a phenomenon, SD manifests as recurrent unresolvable conflict—damaging relationships, obstructing goal-attainment, and impeding development at individual and organizational levels. In a recent study, we documented several SD cycles among nurses in a geriatric care unit