Metaphors as Effective, Efficient, Accurate and Consistent Implements for Organizational Communication
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Authors
Yeager, Chris
Issue Date
2015-11
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Business, Engineering, Science, & Technological Innovation , Organizational Communication , Leadership , Metaphors
Alternative Title
Abstract
This is a qualitative study to form a grounded theory on how metaphor can be used by organizational leaders to communicate effectively, efficiently, accurately and consistently. While metaphor is used in most forms of human communication whether artistic, scholastic, religious, or secular, metaphors in organizational theory are often used to describe how to conceptualize the organization as a whole. However, as a linguistic device, metaphor can be very useful to transfer meaning from one object to another to increase understanding of and accessibility to complexity in the object being described. Because of its common use in human language, metaphor is in use at the organizational level, both by leaders and organizational members. Yet if the leader and the organizational members do not have the same understanding of the metaphors in place or have different metaphors they use to conceptualize the organization, communication within the organization is difficult. This study attempts to assess characteristics of metaphors in use by organizational leaders to determine what can make them effective, efficient, accurate, and consistent, specifically in organizational communication.