Many workers are employees of companies. These workers agree to do what the companies' owners tell them to do. In return, the companies pay the employees a wage or salary. This relationship, or contract, is an example of a principal-agent agreement: The company is the principal and the worker is the agent. The principal-agent agreement is the most…

The emphasis in this course is placed upon employer/employee relationships. It is based on the idea that information about and experience with Transactional Analysis can help adolescents and adults to understand some of the powerful dynamics that can happen among people. Once those dynamics are understood, the student can access experience to make…

Presents an instructional unit designed to represent the organization as a social system constraining its members's freedom of speech. Discusses statement of goal and educational objectives, and a proposed strategy for achieving these objectives. (JMF)

Discusses performance appraisals in business. Describes a performance appraisal assignment that involves written assignments, role-playing an appraisal interview, and subsequent discussion of issues that arise. Includes several figures describing assignment activities. (SR)

Describes a basic unit on ethics for technical communicators and offers suggestions on how to go about teaching the unit. Includes a brief definition of ethics, an explanation of the employee's three basic obligations, ways to analyze common dilemmas in technical communication, the role of the code of conduct, and a case study. (SR)

Suggests that newsroom employees may have difficulty seeing a direct link between performance and assessment because they are operating from a paradigm based on their experience of academic courses and grades. Provides guidelines for both the newsroom manager and the college teacher on how to change attitudes and the perception of workplace…

Presents a case study for use in business communication classes to help students understand and learn both the context and the strategies for communication with business and management. Deals with situation in a sports training equipment firm in which a new president and the board decided to cut a successful and popular sales training program.…

These two lesson plans deal with the historical role of government in resisting and/or protecting the activities of organized labor and the goals and methods of both management and labor. They are multiclass activities and may be used alone or together. The first lesson plan provides materials for a trial to be conducted by the students. The topic…

The bargaining simulation unit is a useful educational tool in the introductory organizational communication course. It provides students with the opportunity to apply concepts such as communication, authority, and decision making already taught in the course, and teaches responsibility in analyzing, enacting, and discussing the bargaining case.…

Discusses how the communication between supervisor and subordinate is taught in undergraduate business communication courses. Describes the theory and principles of the management process, outlines a teaching unit for developing better communication skills, and presents a series of in-class activities illustrating three needs in…

This handbook provides seven hours of training in human relations skills for employers and social workers dealing with transitional black women (the population of women who are underemployed, unemployed, undereducated, poor, or unaware of educational or occupational opportunities available to them). The workshops are designed to allow employers…

To help students find job satisfaction, teachers should advise office education students about what employers will expect of them, how to fill out a job application, what to expect in clerical tests, the reason for personality and intelligence tests, and different aspects of the job interview. (CT)

Examines and defends two forms of dissent in organizational life, "rocking boats" and "blowing whistles." Suggests ways speech communication teachers can prepare students to cope with the organizational world. (PD)

Designed for office occupations teachers, this guide presents seven critical incidents that provide students with practice in human relations. The critical incidents focus on the following topics: office rumors, excessive borrowing, remembering names, adapting to change, carrying your load of work, personal calls on office phones, and coffee break…

This guide contains thirteen dialogues designed to help students become aware of reasons workers lose their jobs. Each dialogue involves young workers in confrontations with their bosses, fellow workers, or customers. Dialogues included are (1) Be on Time; (2) Be Responsible; (3) Stick to the Schedule; (4) Follow Directions; (5) Be Friendly and…