Case Studies in Organizational Communication

Using a descriptive approach to illuminate the topic, this volume presents accounts of how organizational life is accomplished communicatively in a variety of retail, manufacturing, public service, and newspaper organizations. The cases in this book focus on the ways in which communication creates and maintains organizational realities, with some demonstrating how communication can hinder organizational functioning and others highlighting creative and positive uses of different communication practices. Providing a view of organizational life that reflects the experiences of those who have not only observed, but taken part in its functioning, this volume is unique in the breadth of issues covered, the variety of methodological choices used in gathering data, and the focus itself.

Beverly Davenport Sypher, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas where she teaches and does research on organizational communication. In 1987, she was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Chisholm Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and in 1985 she was named a University of Kentucky "Great Teacher." Her research focuses on communication and communication related abilities and their relationship to individual success at work. In addition to the evaluation research at IBM as discussed in this volume, she has also worked on communication projects at CIGNA Corporation, Corning Glass, General Electric, and various nonprofit, governmental, and health-related organizations.