Gossip in organisations: Contexts, consequences and controversies

This article examines the key themes surrounding gossip including its contexts, the various outcomes (positive and negative) of gossip as well as a selection of challenges and controversies. The challenges which are highlighted revolve around definitional issues, methodological approaches, and ethical considerations. Our analysis suggests that the characteristics and features of gossip lend itself to a process-oriented approach whereby the beginning and, particularly, end points of gossip are not always easily identified. Gossip about a subject or person can temporarily disappear only for it to re-surface at some later stage. In addition, questions pertaining to the effects of gossip and ethical-based arguments depend on the nature of the relationships within the gossip triad (gossiper, listener/respondent and target)

Rumor rest stops on the information highway: Transmission patterns in a computer-mediated rumor chain

Classic simulation studies of rumor transmission chains often have been characterized as lacking mundane realism. The present study spawned new insights on the basis of an analysis of the structure and composition of a naturalistic rumor chain that surfaced on the information highway. Content analyses of the individual messages during a 6-day period revealed distinctive patterns in both content and level of individual participation. In general, the results were consistent with the idea of rumormongering as a collective, problem-solving interaction that is sustained by a combination of anxiety, uncertainty, and credulity. The study extends the literature on temporal patterns in group computer-mediated communication (CMC) by showing that in a naturalistic setting, group development patterns of a CMC group were similar to those reported in the face-to-face (FtF) group literature

The politics of gossip and denial in inter-organizational relations

Organizational gossip has largely been discussed in terms of effects at the individual level. In this article we turn our attention to the organization level. The article makes a research contribution that addresses gossip that spreads fact-based rumours about organizations in terms of their shifting role in circuits of power. The research question asks what happens when organizations officially formulate themselves as doing one thing while other organizational actors that are influential in significant organizational arenas (in which these formulations circulate) counter that these formulations are patently false. Theoretically, we draw on the literature on organizational gossip and rumour as well as on the politics of non-decision-making. Our argument is advanced by reference to a case study of the Australian Wheat Board and UN Resolution 661. Basically, organizational gossip plays a key role in the production of interorganizational power dynamics, an insight previously neglected. Copyright © 2008 The Tavistock Institute® SAGE Publications