Th is article introduces one emergent theoretical perspective from the North
American research fi eld of organizational communication that has come to be
called “communication constitutes organization“ (CCO). Th e CCO perspective
ascribes to communication a fundamental role in the constitution of organizations:
Organizations basically consist of interconnected events of communication.
Aft er a brief summary of the CCO perspective, I highlight parallels of this
view to Luhmann’s “theory of social systems“ that have received only limited
attention in the international realm, up until today. Finally, I discuss potential
contributions of the CCO view to the German-speaking research fi eld of organizational
communication and public relations