As we have been reading in the text, hierarchical organizations often have rigid "patterns" of communication practices (p. 440). As all of us who have worked for organizations know, informal sources of information can be more timely (and accurate), than official announcements, newsletters and memos. I believe the way these two sources of information are reconciled (or not), by members, significantly affects the communication climate, organizational culture and identity.
I recently read a research study about the "acculturation" of foreign students at an American university. The authors used a Communication Theory of Identity to measure the affect of being treated as outsiders, on the "education satisfaction" of foreign students. I think the constructs outlined in the article could be a useful way to look at the way organizational identity is impacted by the reconciliation of formal and informal communication practices.
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Organizational identity provides a site of tension in organizations, with organizations often wanting a singular identity and having everyone be part of the team, while individuals may have their own ideas of how an organization fits in with their person identity. Previous research in organizational communication climate finds the key factor in how employees rate the climate is the their relationship with their supervisor. Good relationship, positive climate; bad relationship, negative climate. I'd imagine that relationships within the organization greatly impact feelings of organizational identity.
I think that the idea of studying the effects of informal communication versus formal communication is great. I would say that usually formal communication (memos, newsletters, official announcements, etc.) is usually more accurate than informal communication. I guess I don’t understand exactly what you mean by informal communication; maybe e-mails would fall under this banner. If that is the case then I would agree with you concerning timeliness and accuracy.
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