Communication of values during socialization to a corporate culture

One approach to the study of organizations and communication is the cultural perspective. Putnam and Cheney (1985) suggest that culture, as an anthropological perspective, refers to a group's collective notion of what reality is, what it means to be a member of a group, and how members should act. Students of organizational culture most often study the creation or achievement of inter subjective meaning, understanding, and common pursuits of a groups members. This study builds on the framework developed by Pribble (1987) by conducting research that examines the communicative processes associated with organizational socialization of new employees at a large software consulting organization headquartered in the suburbs of a major mid-western city. Particular emphasis is placed on discovering the organizational values being transmitted to new employees and details how this process helps create and maintain an organization's culture. Additionally, this study offers insights into how these processes function during socialization of immigrant employees and employees whose work locations are outside the hiring organization.; The primary focus of this research is the process of socialization as enculturation. Field research in a corporate setting seeks to determine the following; the values an organization and its leaders hold towards constituencies, how those values are communicated to new members, and whether or not the values espoused by the organization are broadly held among members and ultimately help form a coherent culture. Other areas examined are the influence corporate culture has on the socialization process and ethics relating to organizational socialization of individuals. A fundamental assumption is that communication (in various forms) acts as the primary mechanism during socialization enabling newcomers to acquire the values of an organization. A second assumption is that an organization's culture plays an important role in determining what is being communicated and why.; The important role values play in the development of organizational culture and particularly during socialization of new members at CSS, provides a unique problem for communication research. This study adds to diverse bodies of work on values, socialization and culture by focusing more closely on how members use communicative process to create meaning.