A constructivist approach to communication and projection (S. 211-212)

Hans Skytte

Abstract

In connection with a study on relationships between food producers and retail chains a new theory on communication and projection was developed. To position the new theory the paper first gives a short presentation of the traditional communication theory. Then there is a short presentation of the paradigm including the research strategy used for the development of the new theory. Following that you will find a section concerning the conceptual framework used for the analysis of the companies. This section is followed by a discussion of the main results and the new communication and projection theory. The paper ends with a short discussion of implications for management.

1 Aim of the study

The aim of the study was `to explore the phenomenon of organization` (Smircich 1983, 348) from a constructivist approach, in order to obtain an understanding of ’... the processes of knowing’, in a company or, more explicitly, to obtain an understanding of ’... how patterns of organization are achieved, sustained and changed’ (Smircich/Stubbart 1985, 727, italics in the original text) through ongoing intra-organizational and inter-organizational meaning construction and action. In the part of the study discussed in this paper, the focus is on communication and projection.

2 The traditional communication theory

The traditional theory of communication was developed by Shannon (1948) and Shannon and Weaver (1949) in their now classical ‘General Communication System’. This framework includes the following well-known terms or concepts: Information source, message, transmitter, signal, noise source, received signal, receiver, and destination. This ‘General Communication System’ is seen as a one-way system or process, from sender (information source) to receiver – there are no iterative processes. In the framework or model the concept ‘Information source’ is used for the person or company that produces the message to be transmitted.

The concept ‘transmitter’ is used for a technical unit. This technical unit changes the message into a signal which is sent through the communication channel to the receiver. Similarly, the ‘receiver’ is a technical unit, this unit receives the signal and converts it so that it can be understood by the ‘destination’, i.e. a person or a company. At the time of their paper and their book i.e. Shannon (1948) and Shannon and Weaver (1949), their interest was concentrated on the engineering aspects such as how to increase channel capacity and minimize noise. According to Shannon and Weaver (1949) the semantic aspects of communication are irrelevant to the engineering aspects, but the engineering aspects are not irrelevant to the semantic aspects. This means that they were not interested in the meaning that messages convey.

As examples of communication channels Shannon and Weaver (1949) mention the telephone, the telegraph and television systems. Later ‘The Conduit Metaphor’ was developed. This metaphor focuses more on the persons or companies involved in the communication process than on the technical aspects (Reddy 1979, Axley 1984). This metaphor or model, which is inspired by the above-mentioned ‘General Communication System’, builds on four main assumptions.