This overview of an English course, "Writing for Government, Business, and Industry" (listed as English 339 at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota), emphasizes the essential elements of audience and voice. Composition theorists' assertion that the absence of voice is symptomatic of a profound developmental deficit (suggesting an…

A course at California State University, Northridge, titled Applied Organizational Communication, allows students to apply their understanding of group and organizational communication theory to an actual situation and then in turn to analyze the observations in the organization in terms of those theories. The class forms a simulated organization…

This paper discusses the growing trend toward businesses in United States becoming multinational corporations, particularly in the Latin American countries. Specific attention is given to the skills needed by the organizational communicator in order to function in those settings. The paper presents a cross-cultural business simulation designed to…

This paper describes a series of assignments called "Internet Explorations," which were developed for an introductory public relations course. The three rationales for the assignments in the paper were illustration and application of course concepts to ongoing public relations activities, student exposure to communication strategies, and…

The meteoric rise of Multinational Enterprises (MNE's) and the concomitant increase in international trade and investment speak to the crucial need for a global perspective to be incorporated into the curriculum of the organizational communication course. The communication functions of MNE's are an increasingly important focus for students of…

Most speech communication curricula have room for only three organizational courses: (1) business and professional speech communication (B and P), usually offered to freshmen and sophomores; (2) an introduction to organizational communication, presented to sophomores and upper-class students; and (3) a seminar in organizational communication, for…

The Administrative Medicine Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has developed a course entitled "Medicine and the Media" for clinician-executives and health care professionals who may assume administrative responsibilities. The course is designed to help students (1) understand the respective roles and demands of both the…

Public relations as strategic communication is one possible theme for an introductory course in public relations. This perspective focuses attention on messages (their content, timing, media, and so forth) as strategic responses to the audience and the situation. It provides a defensible rationale for including certain relevant topics in the…

Communication as a discipline is studied in varied contexts: interpersonal, group, organizational, mediated, and public communication. To make clear to students the commonness and not the differences among the contexts, the hybrid basic course should not be taught in separate units as if group communication were a different species from…

The case study method, a technique for examining realistic organizational problems through systematic analysis, is a very useful tool in the organizational communication class. Case analysis involves the identification and examination of salient issues causing the problems that organizational members are experiencing, as well as the development of…

An effective communication learning experience is the nonverbal communication field trip in organizational settings. Objectives for this activity include defining and describing nonverbal areas such as "proxemics,""chronemics,""objectics,""kinesics,""haptics," and "vocalics," and to observe these areas in an organizational setting. The experience…

The philosophy, objectives, and assignments and projects of Ohio University's introductory course in organizational communication and its practicum in organizational communication are described in this paper. After presenting a brief overview of the undergraduate curriculum at the university and its relation to organizational communications, the…

Students in the beginning public relations course at Kansas State University work in small groups to make case studies of the public relations needs of organizations (usually campus groups or nonprofit community organizations) and to develop public relations plans for them. After receiving project instructions, students suggest possible clients,…

Noting the rapid increase in the training needs of industry, this paper argues that speech communication graduates with a strong background in organizational communication can meet those needs. Following a brief discussion of the need for university speech communication departments to develop communication training courses, the paper identifies…

It is unfortunate that the field of organizational communication has neglected communication in political settings, because the bulk of students enrolled in social science curricula are likely to work in public or semipublic institutions. Problems unique to the political setting stem from the fact that most public agencies must tailor their…