Blackwell Reference Online

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Organizational assimilation refers to the process by which individuals move from “outsider” to full membership in an organization. Fredric Jablin (1982 , 1987, 2001 ) developed a framework to consider the influence of communication on the social construction of role expectations and their enactments that considers the stages of vocational socialization, organizational entry, metamorphosis, and organizational exit. From childhood, vocational socialization messages from family, school, peers, media, and part-time work experiences shape individuals' beliefs regarding the nature of work, how to communicate with others at work, and appropriate vocations to pursue. Employment interviewing and pre-entry experiences then provide information which becomes the basis of job and occupational expectations (though incomplete and at times misguided) ( Jablin 2001 ). Organizational entry and the development of role and task competencies center on two related, ongoing experiences: role-taking and role-making. Role-taking events convey the expectations of members for unit and organization membership. Orienting, socializing, training, formal and informal mentoring, and information-giving and -seeking are the chief means of learning task priorities and preferred manner of role performance ( Katz & Kahn 1978 ). Role-making involves newcomers' attempts to change work assignments and environments ... log in or subscribe to read full text