A Preliminary Integration of New Knowledge on Communication in Philippine Organizations Based on the Orcom Undergraduate Theses

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, numerous information on Organizational Communication (Orcom) were already discovered through students’ theses. However, such pieces of information have not been processed as one solid contribution from the academe. There has been no attempt to integrate these into new, actionable knowledge. An initial step towards this direction has been made though by De Mesa (1994), but his work was limited to content analysis of the dominant topics of the Orcom undergraduate theses for only three years and at a time when the Orcom program has just begun to take off. Given this situation and in view of the big number of theses that have been made since that first effort, this study attempts to look into the information offered by BA Organizational Communication undergraduate theses which are rich sources of data on Philippine-based communication. This study is significant for it could to fill in an acknowledged gap in knowledge about Philippine- based communication. This study seeks to answer this problem “What new knowledge on communication in Philippine organizations are evident from a preliminary integration of the results of UP OrCom undergraduate theses?” Towards this goal, it seeks to determine not only the topical distribution of communication-related theses done by UP OrCom students, but also the emerging subtopics for each major topic. Moreover, it seeks to derive new knowledge from an integration of the results of theses with related sub-themes. While the researcher initially wanted to involve all the theses dealing with communication, time constraints and the unavailability of some theses due probably to losses and damage during the last repair of the faculty room of the Department of Arts and communication led to the exclusion of some known theses on the topic. Thus, this research is limited only to the communication-related which are accessible at the Department of Arts and Communication and at College of Arts and Sciences Library. To achieve the above goals of this study, this study employed a qualitative research approach. The embedded case study technique was also used whereby each thesis is considered a case and the results of each case is integrated or embedded with one another. To collect and analyze the data from each of theses used, the Brunswikian Lens Model served as the model of the data integration process. Following this model, the theses were clustered into major topics and these major topics were further clustered into sub-themes. Then knowledge integration followed through the three levels of processing-understanding, conceptualizing, and explaining. Open coding and conceptually clustered matrix also employed during the data analysis. Finally, the data were organized and woven together. From the data, it was found that the communication-related Orcom undergraduate theses has three major topics-public relations (PR), interpersonal communication, and networking strategies. The data on PR revealed that this concepts has been viewed as the process of building the organization’s good image, which could be distinct from those of others among both the external and the internal publics through several strategies which can be either face-to-face or mediated communication. The use of these strategies may affect the public’s intent to purchase the service offered by the organization, their level of satisfaction, and their loyalty to the organization. Corporate and social responsibility (CSR) and advocacy campaigns in which organizations assume social responsibility to the community are also used by the PR practitioner whose roles may be that of a spokesperson, corporate communicator, customer service officer, frontliner, or and counterperson. On interpersonal communication whose aim is to promote harmonious relationship, it was found that self-disclosure, interconnectedness or interdependence, identification, trust, and intimacy exist in organizations. On informal relationships, two different views were identified; one position suggests that it can bring positive effects, while the other view recognizes its negative effect on work. Some organizations were found to apply in their organizations effective interpersonal strategies, appraisals, criticisms, and counseling. Lastly, the data on networking strategies revealed that grapevine exists. It is practiced and is generally accepted as a fast means of communication, thus it is considered to be more of an asset in the organization rather than otherwise. On the other hand, data on using symbolic messages showed that organization use editorial cartoons to inform, create impact, and move the audience’s emotion. Related to symbolic message through letters, it was discovered that letters written by American- educated writers differ a lot from those of Philippine-educated writers in terms of the type of message, interactivity, and courtesy employed in the letters. In conclusion, PR is seen as using particular strategies to make or build organizational image on the public through strategies that can be either mediated or unmediated depending upon the type of the target audience or public, and on the objective or goal of the organization. Interpersonal communication, meanwhile aims to achieve harmonious relationship in an organization, and this is associated with factors such as the level of self-disclosure, trust, rapport, inter-connectedness, and intimacy. Some interpersonal relationships are said to have negative effects on work. Finally, and in relation to networking strategies, it was revealed that a message can be disseminated through fast and accurate means including the grapevine, but that symbolic communication such as through letters is affected by the background of the writers.