Examines a number of specific paradoxical situations found in participative organizations; compares them to the paradoxes found in select Zen stories or koans--each set of stories or examples focuses on one or more aspects of empowerment. Reveals, through narrative analysis, counterintuitive ideas on how to understand and cope with organizational…

Examines whether it is possible to determine the gender of a message sender from cues in the message. Finds partial support for the hypothesis that women use more graphic accents than men do in their computer-mediated communication. Finds also that women tend to challenge and "flame" more than men. Discusses implications and poses…

Reviews briefly accounting writing skill research, discusses the subject bias prevalent in that research, and relates this weakness to a potential bias toward grammar and syntax in curriculum development. Argues that the user of accounting information is an important but neglected party in the communication process, whose input should be…

Introduces a special issue focusing on ways in which communication and information policy are forms of power for the state. Discusses problems in analysis of the state; history of the concept of the nation and the state; the decline of the state; problems in the analysis of power; and phases, forms, attributes, and units of power. (SR)

Notes that the literature of group studies is controversial and confusing on the effect of communicative variables on small-group decision making. Postulates that two classes of variables (homogeneity and task) moderate the relationship between group communication and group performance. Advances the ambiguity model to reconcile the contradictory…

Investigates the relationship between the Family Communication Patterns (FCP) Inventory and parent-child discourse, and the effect of parent discourse strategies on child compliance. Finds that the perceptions of communication and control are related to different discourse patterns for parents and children. Suggest that the FCP can be used to…

Investigates positive claims about total quality management (TQM), comparing employee responses from an organization not implementing TQM with those from two organizations using TQM. Finds organizational commitment and perceived organizational support to be higher in TQM organizations, along with more positive employee-top management and coworker…

Considers age and sex differences on aggressive and responsive communication traits. States that participants reported their verbal aggressiveness, argumentativeness, communication apprehension, cognitive flexibility, and other characteristics. Finds significant interactions for argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness. Concludes that studying…

Examines two approaches to explaining the relation between interaction and participator judgments in small groups--expectations states theory and the local management model. Notes that a social relations analysis of participator assessments in same- and mixed-sex groups of undergraduate students revealed consensus in participator judgments; and…

Explores the role of mediation content and its grammatical structure in children's responses to a violent television program. Develops mediation strategies that emphasized the program as either factually inaccurate or socially unrealistic. Reveals that the utility of various approaches to mediation depend on the age and viewing history of the…

Finds that fathers' verbal aggressiveness was inversely related to both the appropriateness and effectiveness of plans they generated (in response to a five-phase scenario) for interacting with oppositional sons. (SR)

Investigates changing interpersonal relationships in contemporary Taiwanese society through an examination of popular books on interpersonal skills and communication, translated from American and Japanese sources. Analyzes the modern cultural constructs of "self,""relationship," and "communication" from the…

Analyzes events surrounding the 1993 withdrawal of Zoe Baird as nominee for U.S. Attorney General. Indicates that, under certain conditions, when deliberation by surrogates (professional communicators) becomes unrepresentative of the general public's values, direct popular intervention may occur through alternative communication channels,…

Describes Social Representation Theory (SRT), an important and controversial development in European social constructivism. Argues that, although SRT and Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT) come from different research traditions, they are complementary. Maintains that DSIT goes further in providing a clear mechanism for how dialog creates…

Shows that an increased level of humor in commercials was beneficial to recall and purchase intention; increased humor in the television program was detrimental to recall of products advertised; and gender interacted with program humor levels, such that products were viewed less negatively by men when they were exposed to commercials in a more…