Foundations of Communication Theory Series – serie

A comprehensive guide to essential theories and practices of change creation and implementationOrganizational Change provides an essential overview to implementing deliberate and focused change through effective communication strategies. Author Laurie Lewis integrates academic rigor with real-world case studies to provide a comprehensive examination of both theoretical and pragmatic approaches to alterations and modifications of organizational structures. Emphasizing the importance of formal and informal communication in implementation of change, this text investigates methods of information dissemination and examines various channels for communicating change. Coverage of stakeholder relationships, concepts of uncertainty and resistance, assessing change outcomes, and more provides readers with a solid foundational knowledge of change dynamics in organizations.Extensively revised and updated, this second edition provides new case studies on topics such as design of input solicitation, and current research in areas including the persuasive effects of sidedness or inoculation, and socially supportive communication. Improved pedagogical tools, streamlined organization of topics, and additional charts, graphs, and images reinforce efficient presentation of material and increase reader retention and comprehension.  Examines empirical, theoretical, and conceptual approaches to strategic communication during organization changeExplores key elements of change, appropriate communication strategies, and outcome evaluation methodsPresents adaptive and programmatic strategic implementation modelsProvides studies of real-world companies and actual research on organizational changeDebunks popular myths and clarifies misunderstandings of research and theory on implementation of changeDemonstrates how Individuals, groups, and entire organizations can create change and influence implementation.Organizational Change provides a thorough survey of the communication and implementation strategies, methods, and conceptual foundations of change in public and private sector organizations, suitable for undergraduate and graduate study and practitioners with interest in complex change implementation.

Assembles the most important theories in the field of health communication in one comprehensive volume, designed for students and practitioners alikeHealth Communication Theory is the first book to bring together the theoretical frameworks used in the study and practice of creating, sending, and receiving messages relating to health processes and health care delivery. This timely volume provides easy access to the key theoretical foundations on which health communication theory and practice are based. Students and future practitioners are taught how to design theoretically-grounded research, interventions, and campaigns, while established scholars are presented with new and developing theoretical frameworks to apply to their work.Divided into three parts, the volume first provides a summary and history of the field, followed by an overview of the essential theories and concepts of health communication, such as Problematic Integration Theory and the Cultural Variance Model. Part Two focuses on interpersonal communication and family interaction theories, provider-patient interaction frameworks, and public relations and organizational theories. The final part of the volume centers on theories relevant to information processing and cognition, affective impact, behavior, message effects, and socio-psychology and sociology. Edited by two internationally-recognized experts with extensive editorial and scholarly experience, this first-of-its-kind volume: Provides original chapters written by a group of global scholars working in health communication theoryCovers theories unique to interpersonal and organizational contexts, and to health campaigns and media issuesEmphasizes the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of health communication researchIncludes overviews of basic health communication theory and applicationFeatures commentary on future directions in health communication theoryHealth Communication Theory is an indispensable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying health communication, and for both new and established scholars looking to familiarize themselves with the area of study or seeking a new theoretical frameworks for their research and practice.

Discusses interrelations or confluences among communication flows as the Four Flows Model of organizational communicationThe Four Flows Model illustrates how communication makes an organization what it is, presenting in-depth information on the Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO). Written by a team of renowned experts in the field, this comprehensive resource is designed for all those involved in the study of organizations, particularly advanced students and researchers in Business, Sociology, Communication Studies, and the subdiscipline of Organizational Communication.Organized into eleven substantial chapters, the text clearly and thoroughly explains all key aspects of Four Flows Theory (4F) and provides a theoretical grounding in its parent, Structuration Theory (ST). The book draws upon original research and evidence to demonstrate that organizations are not constituted in merely one way, but rather by four analytically different yet interconnected characteristic flows: Membership Negotiation, Self-Structuring, Activity Coordination, and Institutional Positioning. Throughout the book, the authors describe their theoretical developments through discussion of other key schools of CCO thinking, as well as important issues such as critical perspectives on organizing.Articulating the significance of the Four Flows Theory for CCO scholarship, this innovative volume: Discusses interrelations or confluences among flows and explores relations of the Four Flows Model with alternate perspectivesEmphasizes the need to ask broader questions in CCO theorizing regarding the ways socio-material things are constitutedLays out the context of 4F theory and identifies the key issues CCO theories should addressDescribes how conlocutions allow sensitive exploration of relationsIntroduces the concept of transtruction to Structuration Theory, explaining how communication produces and reproduces organizationsHighlighting the importance of studying organizations as novel social entities that rule the world, The Four Flows Model: The Communicative Constitution of Organizations is an excellent textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses on Organizational Communication, Structuration Theory, Organizational Communication, Management, Organizational Studies, and Public Administration, as well as an invaluable reference work for researchers and practitioners in the field.

Explore the major theories within crisis communication, fully revised and updatedTheorizing Crisis Communication provides a comprehensive and state-of-the-art review of both current and emerging theoretical frameworks designed to explain the development, management, and consequences of natural and human-caused crises. A critique of the many theoretical approaches of crisis communication, this volume provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the management, response, resolution, and significance of failures in corporate responsibility, as well as destructive global events such as pandemics, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, chemical spills, and terrorist attacks.This second edition contains new theories from related subfields and updated examples, references, and case examples. New chapters discuss metatheoretical considerations and theoretical advancements in the study of social media. Throughout the text, the authors highlight similarities, patterns, and relationships across different crisis types and offer insight into the application of theory in the real world. Integrating work from organizational studies, social sciences, public relations, and public health, this book: Covers a broad range of crisis communication theories, including those relevant to emergency response, risk management, ethics, resilience and crisis warning, development, and outcomesPresents theoretical frameworks based on research disciplines including sociology, psychology, applied anthropology, and criminal justiceProvides clear and compelling examples of application of theory in contexts such as rhetoric, mass communication, social media, and warning systemsOffers a systematic and accessible presentation of topics by explaining each theory, describing its applications, and discussing its advantages and drawbacksTheorizing Crisis Communication, Second Edition, is the perfect textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of crisis and risk communication, and an importance reference for scholars, researchers, and practitioners in fields including crisis communication, emergency management, disaster studies, sociology, psychology, and anthropology.

Discover the fundamentals of human communication with this comprehensive and insightful resourceWritten in four sections, The Work and Workings of Human Communication identifies the underlying fundamentals that make our communication distinctively human. These fundamentals are the common ground that tie together the many topics and subject matters covered by the study and discipline of communication. They are also the basis of the unique contribution of the communication discipline to the social sciences.Professor, researcher and theorist Robert E. Sanders starts by focusing on what is unique about human communication and moves on to an examination of the complexities of scientific inquiry in the social sciences in general and in the communication discipline specifically. At the heart of the matter is the fact that humans are thinking beings who can make choices and therefore are not entirely predictable. This points towards new topics and questions that are likely to arise as the discipline evolves.Sanders' approach leads to recognition of the fact that communication is at the center of how humans build our ways of life and participate together. By focusing on the underlying fundamentals that give rise to the discipline's topics and subject areas, The Work and Workings of Human Communication encourages students to engage in independent thought about what they want to contribute by: Emphasizing the importance of communication in creating, sustaining or changing—and participating in—our ways of life on an interpersonal level and on a societal levelRecognizing that human communication is inherently collaborative; people affect situations by interacting with others, not acting on othersExplaining the history, current agendas and possible future of the social science side of the Communication disciplineA perfect resource for new graduate students in introductory communication courses who have an interest in the social science side of the discipline, The Work and Workings of Human Communication is also highly valuable for undergraduate communication and liberal arts students who don't possess a background in the discipline.