College of Communication Master of Arts Theses

Date of Award

Fall 11-2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Organizational and Multicultural Communication

First Advisor

Suchitra Shenoy

Second Advisor

Lucy Lu

Third Advisor

Elizabeth Ortiz

Abstract

Organizational communication influences organizational culture and identity, as well as employee identification with an organization. Even though extant literature on organizational culture, identity, and identification explains how these topics occur and relate within organizations, we know less about how employees develop identification to the culture specifically from the third party companies. The purpose of this study is to explore how a third party organization, “One Corporation,” communicates its organizational culture and identity to its employees and how the messages communicated by “One Corporation” influence employee identification. The researcher utilizes thematic analysis of organizational documents, face-to-face interviews, and participant observation for collection of data in this study. Findings indicate that organizational documents communicate One Corporation’s culture and identity utilizing the following themes: communication tools such as language and artifacts, and organizational development, which refers to the development of One Corporation as a business. These findings were found to influence employee identification with One Corporation through the creation of shared meanings and values, as well as creating a values dilemma between One Corporation and contracting organizations and a socialization dilemma among the different locations. Suggestions for resolving these dilemmas are discussed. Limitations of this research and directions for future research are discussed.

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