Leadership Communication and Organizational Culture: A Communicative Constitution of Organizations Perspective
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study explores the role of leadership communication in shaping organizational culture through the lens of the Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO) theory. While previous studies often treat leadership and culture as separate organizational elements, this research positions communication as the core mechanism that constitutes both. The objective of this study is to examine how leaders’ communicative practices—ranging from narrative construction to discursive interactions—actively create, maintain, and transform organizational culture. Employing a qualitative case study method, data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis within a values-based organization. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify communicative patterns that reflect the enactment of leadership and the constitution of cultural values. The findings indicate that leadership communication does not merely reflect organizational culture but functions as its constitutive force, particularly through symbolic narratives, strategic language, and everyday interactions that reinforce shared meanings. Furthermore, the study reveals how organizational members co-author these cultural narratives through engagement with leadership discourse. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of viewing leadership as a communicative process that continuously shapes organizational reality. This study contributes to the development of communicative organizational theory and offers practical implications for leaders aiming to build strong, value-driven organizational cultures through intentional and inclusive communication
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Allsop, David B., Joe M. Chelladurai, Elisabeth R. Kimball, Loren D. Marks, and Justin J. Hendricks, ‘Qualitative Methods with Nvivo Software: A Practical Guide for Analyzing Qualitative Data’, Psych, 4.2 (2022), doi:10.3390/psych4020013
Central Board of Muhammadiyah, A Treatise on Progressive Islam, 1st edn (Muhammadiyah, 2023), I
Chaput, Mathieu, and Joëlle Basque, ‘AFTERWORD: The Emergence of the Communicative Constitution of Organization and the Montréal School: An Interview with James R. Taylor’, The Routledge Handbook of the Communicative Constitution of Organization, 2022, doi:10.4324/9781003224914-39
Cherfan, Joy, and Myria Allen, ‘Preferred Leadership Communication Styles Across Cultures’, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 51.2 (2022), doi:10.1080/17475759.2021.1963306
Cooren, François, Interacting and Organizing: Analyses of a Management Meeting, Interacting and Organizing: Analyses of a Management Meeting, 2013, doi:10.4324/9780203810736
Criscione-Naylor, Noel, and Petar Dobrev, ‘A New Perspective on Fostering Organic Diversity Within Organizations’, Journal of Business Diversity, 23.4 (2023), pp. 37–49, doi:10.33423/jbd.v23i4.6736
Dieste, Marcos, Philipp C. Sauer, and Guido Orzes, ‘Organizational Tensions in Industry 4.0 Implementation: A Paradox Theory Approach’, International Journal of Production Economics, 251.October 2021 (2022), p. 108532, doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2022.108532
Fairhurst, Gail T, and Linda L Putnam, ‘Organizational Discourse Analysis’, The Sage Handbook of Organizational Communication, 2011, 2014
Jamal, Jamilah, and Hassan Abu Bakar, ‘The Mediating Role of Charismatic Leadership Communication in a Crisis: A Malaysian Example’, International Journal of Business Communication, 54.4 (2017), doi:10.1177/2329488415572782
Klein, Galit, ‘Transformational and Transactional Leadership, Organizational Support and Environmental Competition Intensity as Antecedents of Intrapreneurial Behaviors’, European Research on Management and Business Economics, 29.2 (2023), doi:10.1016/j.iedeen.2023.100215
Konya, Valentin, Leposava Grubic-Nesic, and Dejan Matic, ‘The Influence of Leader-Member Communication on Organizational Commitment in a Central European Hospital’, Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, 12.3 (2015)
Lannes.H, ‘Effect of Organizational Communication on Organizational Climate and Organizational Effectiveness’, Undergraduate Journal of Psychology, 31.1 (2021)
Maulana, Rasyid Ezha, and Iman Sumarlan, ‘Digital Da’wah Communication of the Muhammadiyah Central Leadership Tablighi Council Using YouTube Account’, Symposium of Literature, Culture, and Communication (SYLECTION) 2022, 3.1 (2023), p. 707, doi:10.12928/sylection.v3i1.14072
McCollom, Marion, Harrison M. Trice, and Janice M. Beyer, ‘The Cultures of Work Organizations’, The Academy of Management Review, 19.4 (1994), doi:10.2307/258750
McPhee, Robert D., ‘Agency and the Four Flows’, Management Communication Quarterly, 29.3 (2015), pp. 487–92, doi:10.1177/0893318915584826
McPhee, Robert D., and Joel Iverson, ‘Agents of Constitution in Communidad: Constitutive Processes of Communication in Organizations’, in Building Theories of Organization: The Constitutive Role of Communication, 2008, doi:10.4324/9780203891025
McPhee, Robert D., and Pamela Zaug, ‘The Communicative Constitution of Organizations: A Framework for Explanation’, in Building Theories of Organization: The Constitutive Role of Communication (Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2008), pp. 21–47, doi:10.4324/9780203891025
McPhee, Robert D, and Pamela Zaug, ‘The Communicative Constitution of Organizations’, Building Theories of Organization: The Constitutive Role of Communication, 10.1–2 (2009), p. 21
Mergel, Ines, Noella Edelmann, and Nathalie Haug, ‘Defining Digital Transformation: Results from Expert Interviews’, Government Information Quarterly, 36.4 (2019), p. 101385, doi:10.1016/j.giq.2019.06.002
Mossberg, Johanna, Johan Frishammar, Patrik Söderholm, and Hans Hellsmark, ‘Managerial and Organizational Challenges Encountered in the Development of Sustainable Technology: Analysis of Swedish Biorefinery Pilot and Demonstration Plants’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 276 (2020), doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124150
Muhammadiyah, Guidelines for the Implementation of Muhammadiyah Cadre Development, ed. by Arif Budiman, Guidelines, 1st edn (Muhammadiyah, 2016)
Nordby, Halvor, ‘Communication and Organizational Culture’, in A Closer Look at Organizational Culture in Action (IntechOpen, 2021), doi:10.5772/intechopen.92318
Putnam, Linda L., and Anne Maydan Nicotera, Building Theories of Organization: The Constitutive Role of Communication, Building Theories of Organization: The Constitutive Role of Communication, 2008, doi:10.4324/9780203891025
Ruiz-Mora, Isabel, Gisela Goncalves, and Ian Somerville, Organizational and Strategic Communication Research: Global Trends, ed. by Thomas William, 1st edn (LabCom.IFP, 2019)
Schein, Edgar H., ‘Organizational Culture and Leadership, Third Edition’, Published by Jossey-Bass, 7.San Francisco,CA (2004)
Sumarlan, Iman, and Ibrahim T.I.Ukka, ‘Public Relations to Foster Organization’s Values and Identity: The Case of Muhammadiyah’, Komunikator, 16.2 (2024), pp. 146–59, doi:10.18196/jkm.23747