Surveys employees of the Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania to examine why they read "Vital Signs," the employee newsletter. Finds that employees with a higher level of organizational integration often place more emphasis on reading the employee newsletter to survey system functions and the employee social network. (MM)

Argues that one useful means of examining how different interpretations of organizational communication operate is to consider them under four frames of reference (structural, human resources, political, and symbolic). Argues that this approach assists in explaining why organizations are run the way they are. (RS)

Proposes a new thesis about the role of individual differences in managers' media choice behavior. Argues that individual differences influence media choice only under conditions of low message equivocality. Reports that the findings of an exploratory study provide some support for this theoretical notion. (MG)

Reviews the growing body of literature on issue management and surveys the top 21 "Fortune" 500 industrial corporations of 1985. Offers a definition of issue management which may provide a common framework in which issue management may be correctly understood and recognized. (MS)

Focuses on the impact of the motives of participants in organizational romances, the illicitness of the relationship, and the power of the relational participants. Finds that only certain types of relationships showed associations with organizational effectiveness; illicitness was associated with negative outcomes in group work, not with…

Offers a processual (sic) approach suited to the complex nature of organizational commitment during times of radical change. Emphasizes commitment as communication processes that are integrally tied to the creation of organizational cultures, involve identification via symbolic processes, and encompass various degrees of linkages between…

States that in addition to reflecting the social and power relationships between the writer and the reader, politeness strategies in administrative writing reflect the values of the organization. Offers a context-based approach to analyzing administrative writing, an approach that can be used to uncover discourse strategies in other organizational…

Presents a grounded theory study of coordination and communication in the provision of service to the urban homeless, to understand the social world of agencies providing such services. Concentrates on interorganizational relationships that facilitate (or hinder) coordinated efforts to provide homelessness services. (SR)

Suggests that intricate situations occur naturally in the context of work where there is no clearly predetermined division of responsibilities about text production. Observes situations in which a technical writer and a software developer met to clarify specific concepts about the device to be documented, but interesting work in the text actually…

Describes a class project in which students conduct a "communication audit" or assessment of an off-campus organization, providing students with opportunities to explore, examine, monitor, and evaluate communication in a practical way. Discusses grading, beginning the class, contacting clients, instrumentation and procedures, costs, and…

Compares formal and informal organizational communication structures within a large, technically oriented midwestern state governmental agency, specifically focusing on salience, channel factors, and channel usage. Suggests that informal channels in this organization were more highly evaluated in general. (SR)

Finds that, although communicating across organizational boundaries is necessary and beneficial, such communication can result in a struggle for territory. Discusses various social and rhetorical strategies to ease these interactions, enabling professionals to protect the interest of their partners, establish priorities, take a proactive role,…

Finds that as cashiers displayed more courtesy, customers provided more positive evaluations of service and were ultimately more likely to recommend the store and shop at the store if other stores are closer; but that courteous service did not predict customer helpfulness, and explained relatively little variation overall in outcome variables. (SR)

Notes that the words and phrases that make up corporate lingo usually have meaning on two levels: management level and worker level, with huge gaps between them. Offers the author's "redefinitions" of a number of corporate terms. (SR)

Argues and empirically demonstrates that a model based on S. Feld's focus theory validly describes the activity structure of a local church, and that this activity structure is significantly related to communication links among the membership, organized by a latent hierarchy of activation. Finds relationships between activation and personal…