A study examined the decision making climate of organizations that are using issues management and what type of model of issues management is followed--theorists have been attempting to define issues management since it began appearing 20 year ago. Subjects, 112 males and 30 females who were professionals working in the area of issues management…

Noting that the encouragement of employee commitment to the organization is a top-priority item across much of corporate America, this paper focuses on numerous rhetorical employee identification strategies utilized by USAir, one of America's largest airlines. After a brief synopsis of the history of USAir, the paper first reports on an…

A study examined the listening needs experienced by people who engage regularly in small group communication situations. Subjects were 137 students, including graduate communication students, senior level students in organizational communication classes, undergraduate communication students in an adult re-entry program, and undergraduate students…

A study identified and categorized different types of internal communication systems and developed an applied model of internal communication in adaptive organizational systems. Twenty-one large organizations were selected for their varied missions and diverse approaches to managing internal communication. Individual face-to-face or telephone…

Presenting a collection of seminar papers aimed at improving mutual understanding in the workplace, this book brings together the views of prominent South Africans on effective communication in organizations. The papers collected in the book will be of interest to communication students, practitioners, personnel managers and anyone else concerned…

The article describes the types of memberships and the services (conventions, publications, and workshops) of the National Audio-Visual Association (NAVA), a dealer organization, emphasizing their availability and importance to manufacturers and users of audio-visual equipment. (MS)

This paper focuses on the organizational group, noting the lack of an integrated theoretical base, describing the nature of group behavior theories, and suggesting the employment of a metatheory framework to improve both the theoretical integration and the practical application of group behavior research. The paper first considers four general…

The newsletter, a publication printed on a regular basis that has a clearly defined, intriguing, and thoughtful content purpose for serving a specific audience, usually acts as a conceptual bridge between an organization and that group. A newsletter begun without good planning and without a clearly defined purpose, however, could end up being…

A study combined direct observation with self-report measures in examining both communication characteristics and functional activities of managers to identify how managers really communicate. Subjects were 120 supervisors from a financial institution, a state agency, a medium-sized manufacturing plant, a campus police department, and the Navy and…

Because the grapevine can precipitate managerial nightmares (employee resentment, distorted messages, instant diffusion of incendiary rumors), managers are well-advised to study this informal communications network and diffuse its organizational impact. This paper discusses the development, accuracy, resilience, and management of the grapevine.…

Leaders in any organization can usually see beyond their immediate surroundings and stir the consciousness, emotions, and energies of others to move in a similar direction. This paper suggests metaphor as a useful construct for understanding how people in schools respond to these elusive, yet persuasive leadership influences. Metaphoric languages…

The author, who is Executive Director of the National Association for Mental Health, remarked in this article about the rights of members to know the progress being made in the field of mental health. (Editor/RK)

A survey was conducted of 51 company sales managers in the Los Angeles, California, area to determine their opinion of the importance of the telephone as a sales instrument. The managers were asked a series of questions concerning their responsibilities and their attitudes toward selling by telephone. Results revealed that the managers (1)…

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…

This paper outlines a model for a management team that can be used in a school district. The topics covered include the relationship between the management team and the school board, the selection of team members, and the team's primary functions. A description of a model currently in operation is included. (Author/LD)