Presents an analysis of the organizational culture at Olivet College in Michigan. Discusses the legacy, roots, and history of the institution; the recent organizational history; and the changing nature of the organization at the time of a racial conflict in the spring of 1992 that gained both state and national attention. (SR)

Presents a critical-interpretive case study of an organization that illustrates the communicative accomplishment of organizational power. Details how the managing ownership espoused a rhetoric of self-directive management which obscured conflicting political interests and relations of power. Demonstrates the difficulties organizational members…

Discusses defining value added as return on investment. Addresses finding ways to measure value added and working with measures of value added. Looks at literature from other professions. Discusses a case study illustrating problems. (RS)

Discusses the development of a pragmatic model of the writing process in the workplace, focusing on the importance of "drafting" as part of that process. Discusses writers' attitudes about drafting and the structures of the workplace that drafting has to accommodate. Introduces a drafting model and discusses results of using this model…

Finds that root organizational metaphors significantly influence writers' rhetorical choices and perception of their communication role. Shows that 23 staff writers described their communication activities in mechanistic terms, which complements their organization's view of itself as a smoothly operated machine, and explains why writers were not…

Finds that differential treatment from a supervisor to his or her subordinates influences coworker communication by leading coworkers to talk about the differential treatment itself, and influencing the nature of communication relationships among the coworkers. Indicates that fairness perceptions are often socially constructed by work group…

Uses structuration theory to examine the discursive responses of organizational members of a merging utility company as they cope with uncertainty associated with the change. Reveals how members position themselves ideologically not only as a response to the merger, but also to produce and reproduce organizational structures that enhance or…

Eleven colleges worked with the Association of American Colleges to design comprehensive leadership development programs for administrators, faculty, students, support staff, and nonteaching professionals. A variety of models were developed which are intended to maximize benefits to the institution through unique combinations of college community,…

Describes a newsletter produced by the science education program at Louisiana State University that serves as an information conduit for the university's science departments. The newsletter fills an information void by identifying science seminar opportunities, innovative teaching projects, and grant activity on the campus. (PR)

Examines the relationship between identification and communication using organizational identification (OI) as a theoretical framework for studying communication networks among incoming graduate students in three university departments of communication. Concludes that, irrespective of initial OI, stronger initial multiplexity predicts the growth…

Discusses communication theory and practice for public library administrators. The purposes and necessity of information are examined, the attitudes and awareness of administrators and staff are discussed, obstacles to internal communication are described, and how to conduct a communications audit to appraise an existing communication system is…

Examines corporate videos as cultural texts, claiming that they function as rites and ceremonials in modern organizations that facilitate organizational socialization. Notes that video-enacted rites can be a valuable tool in communication ethnographies. Defines and analyzes four types of rites: integration, passage, renewal, and enhancement. (SR)

Examines the dynamics of organizational communication following corporate implementation of quality circles. Describes the rhetorical visions of people at three organizational levels closely associated with quality circles: (1) managers; (2) facilitators who organize the quality circles; and (3) employees. (SR)

Looks at the views of some of the seminal contributors to the development of conflict theory and then describes the broad range of library conflicts, the value and danger of those conflicts, and some techniques for lowering or raising the level of conflict. (14 references) (LAE)

Develops a contingency model for managing a variety of corporate crises. Views crisis management as an information-processing situation and organizations that must cope with crisis as information-processing systems. Attempts to fit appropriate information-processing mechanisms to different categories of crises. (PRA)