A Critique of Transmission Communication Models in Introductory Management and Organizational Behavior Textbooks

Abstract

Shannon and Weaver’s communication process model is a dominant model used to understand communication between a sender and receiver. The model is used to explain communication in management and organizational behavior textbooks. Despite its proliferation, few studies have examined this model’s role in introductory management and organization behavior texts or critiqued its use in foundational business courses. This paper investigates the role that transmission models such as Shannon and Weaver’s play in communication textbooks and argues that this model, and the way it is used, can be limiting for students when they are trying to understand the dynamic nature of communication in organizations. The authors call for more critical reflection on teaching communication to management students.