Ch. 8 Organizational Communication Ethics

This chapter caught me off guard/intrigued me due to me never thinking of certain themes of life as dwelling places.  From using technology to going to church, school or to a sporting event, a dwelling place is created, and norms and customs are created which produce a communicative gathering as a result.  The chapter said, "organizational communication ethics is about the kind of dwelling place we construct in our life together" (137).  I liked that quote because it reminded me that we have the choice/responsibility to create a type of culture, and we can place foundational principles upon the culture we adopt together.  Also, the chapter said, "There are as many different goods as there are different organizations; the uniting theme is the implicit or explicit commitment to a type of dwelling place" (138).  This made me contemplate the written or unwritten rules we have created as a society in certain walks of life.  For example, you don't use profanity in church.  There isn't a specific rule that says you can't, but we all know that is forbidden.
There were 4 metaphors for this specific type of communication ethic: 1) organizational communication 2) Dwelling Place 3)organizations and institutions and 4)community of memory within our organizations.  Organizational communication is how we communicate, formally or informally, within a given organization.  What was interesting to me was that this metaphor calls for a purpose or end-goal.  The chapter says we need to "accomplish a purpose or given purposes" (138).  This means that there is a point to why we come together in a certain setting.
Dwelling place is essentially the type of communicative foundation an organization invites based off of what the organization practices.  I liked how the chapter confirmed that, "The notion of home doesn't suggest all warmth and care" (138).  I think this means that practices or a certain organization are not always positive or optimistic.  Examples of this are strip clubs, KKK meetings, trap houses, etc.
Organizations and Institutions, to me, basically is how an organization creates its own identity.  The chapter states that institutions provide "a background identity that guides and shapes the horizon of possibilities played out in a particular fashion within a particular organization" (139).  An institution essentially creates avenues and different paths for an organization to partake in.
Lastly, if I had to summarize community of memory within our organizations, I'd say that this is the consciousness of an organization, where it contemplates on what worked and did not work in the past.  This reminded me of America, where are customary views have changed quite drastically compared to 50 years ago.  We now value racial integration to a degree, sexual orientation freedom, and female independence.  These are things that weren't popular in the past, but we have made these changes to our country to benefit our present citizens and the future of what America's principles are.  This will be an interesting chapter to talk about on Tuesday!