Surveys of business managers provide evidence that organizations need help in developing employee communication competencies. Recognizing this need, the speech profession has begun to show an increasing interest in developing both undergraduate and graduate courses in organizational communication. The need for developing communication skills…

An organizational need hierarchy can be used by consultants as a model for diagnosing organizational problems, after which an intervention plan can be made. The need hierarchy, which approximates Abraham Maslow's individual need hierarchy, is composed of five ascending levels related to organizational needs in the areas of survival of the…

Surveys of businesses and business managers indicate that developing communication skills within organizations is a priority. Communication consulting exists over a wide spectrum of activities that include guest speaking, conducting workshops, and conducting management training programs. These three processes can include a "canned program" that…

In a study of the role of internal communication as a contributor to total organizational effectiveness, 300 employees of a large manufacturing plant were surveyed to determine the relationship between supervisory communication and employee noninjury medical visits to the company hospital. The survey form consisted of 61 items requesting…

A growing number of speech communication graduates are unable to find employment in their field. To ameliorate this situation, speech communication educators should consider the following three recommendations. First, the mission of higher education should be reassessed. In addition to the creation and dissemination of knowledge, higher education…

Ongoing research programs conducted at General Motors Institute are motivated by the practical objective of improving the company's organizational effectiveness. Computer technology is being used whenever possible; for example, a technique developed by Herman Chernoff was used to process data from a survey of employee attitudes into 18 different…

The three sections of this paper, written by General Motors Corporation employees from three different countries, discuss different aspects of communication consulting and factors involved in becoming a successful international organizational consultant. The first section, written by an American, outlines the need for communication consulting,…

This paper explores the relationship between communication style and organizational effectiveness. The first section of the paper reviews eight empirical studies that illustrate the importance of communication style in organizational effectiveness. The second section of the paper discusses management functions and particular communication styles…