The paper assumes that communication is an elementary social act. It follows, therefore, that, in organizations, communication should be viewed as constituting other higher level processes. In order to test the truth of these assumptions, a general model of behavior in organizations is proposed, and communication data used as a measure of variation in the abstract variables of the model. Data analyses support the hypotheses that personal dispositions and social status influence work effort, and that work effort and satisfaction (with the organization generally, and with the department) determine worker performance. The analyses, therefore, also support the initial assumptions.