The authors applied the semantic differential technique to measure
managerial and white-collar employee perceptions of the grapevine. In
general, the grapevine was viewed as an influential, but negative factor in
the informal organization. Managers now have available to them methodologies
for evaluating not only the mechanics of the grapevine, but also its impact on
employees. Several implications for managers are also discussed.
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References
1.
Davis, Keith. "Grapevine Analysis for Organizational Communication," Arizona Business Bulletin, 1971, August-September, 10-14.
2.
--------, Human Behavior at Work: Human Relations and Organizational Behavior . (4th ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972, 261-267.
3.
Reif, William E., Robert M. Monczka, and John W. Newstrom , "Perceptions of the Formal and the Informal Organizations: Objective Measurement Through the Semantic Differential Technique ," Academy of Management Journal, (forthcoming in 1973).
4.
Sutton, Harold and Lyman W. Porter , "A Study of the Grapevine in a Governmental Organization," Personnel Psychology, 1968, 21, 223-230.
