Organizational Decision Making: The Luhmannian Decision Communication Perspective

Abstract

Studies of organizational communication around decision-making and decision communication have largely concerned how decisions should be made and promoted. Less efforts have focused on how decisions should be communicated inside organizations and how they influence organizational effectiveness and performance. This study examined decision communication in an engineer-based organization 2008–2009. Key findings demonstrate that effective decision communication can be considered as the backbone of organizational communication, which can benefit the whole organization from the top management to lower levels. This paper also discussess the concept of decision communication generally and from theoretical point of view. Decision communication can be seen as a very special part of organizational communication. Additionally, it can also be seen as the guiding force of organizational effectiveness. Organizations need to make decision-making processes visible. From the organizational communication perspective this means holding decisions’ meetings, certain rites and documents. Organizations as systems need a rational type of order to follow the decision-making process. The public relations or communication management workers’ (specifically internal relations management) role in organizations has traditionally been to communicate the goals and objectives of current decisions at hand.