SUNY series, Human Communication Processes – serie

Speaking Culturally presents case studies of two cultures, focusing on how speaking is thematized and enacted in each. The Teamsterville culture is drawn from the author's studies of the spoken life of an urban, working-class neighborhood in Chicago, while the Nacirema culture draws upon studies of communication among middle-class Americans, primarily on the West Coast.Using fieldwork conducted over a period of twenty years, Philipsen shows how listening to a people's spoken life can reveal expressions of underlying codes-or social rhetorics-of what it means to be a person, how persons can and should be linked together in social relations, and how communication can and should be used in interpersonal conduct. From these studies of speaking in two cultures emerges an understanding of communication as an activity in which people not only draw from and express but also shape and fashion their understandings of self, society, and strategic action.

Using the theatric metaphors of a passion play in Poland, simultaneous ethnic dramas in Yugoslavia, a heroic poem in Armenia, and a bunraku puppet play in the People's Republic of China, the authors of this book chronicle the massive confrontation by citizens through the Socialist Block with their communist governments in 1990-91. These historic and dynamic communication processes are analyzed and placed in theoretic perspective by three communication scholars from a political, rhetorical, and strategic interaction perspective.

Explores how organizational communication and management intersect with globalization, examining regional economic systems, cultural differences, and emerging communication technologies shaping international business and public-sector leadership.Organizational Communication and Management brings together leading scholars to explore how global communication systems, cultural diversity, and management strategies are reshaping the modern economy. Moving beyond narrow, single-author perspectives, this volume offers a rich, multidisciplinary examination of globalization in action.From regional market systems in North America, Europe, and East Asia to the evolving challenges of telecommunications, workforce management, and technological diffusion, the book provides a truly international framework for understanding organizational behavior in a rapidly changing world.

A concentration on communication processes is essential to sorting out fundamental problems in interpersonal relationships. This book provides a general theory of the role of communication in interpersonal relationships that is grounded in the rules perspective and focuses on self-concept and interaction as the generative mechanisms of relationship formation and growth. The authors explore the kind of information that is exchanged in the process of initiating, developing, and maintaining friend and mate relationships. Both types of relationships are explored in numerous cultural settings-including America and American subcultures as well as Korea, Nigeria, Japan, and China. The inclusion of Nigerian culture is particularly significant because the research literature in interpersonal communication is lacking any information from the continent of Africa. Implications are then considered for communication exchange across three categories of interpersonal communication-culture, conflict, and quality.

This book provides a review and synthesis of contemporary theory and research on organizational culture. Chapters focus on a wide variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to culture, identifying types of organizational cultures, tracing phases in cultural evolution. In addition, several chapters are devoted to dealing with practical applications, such as the processes of socialization and identification, as well as the management of culture in organizations.

Placing identity within its cultural context, Fitzgerald offers ethnographic case material to examine the meaning and changing metaphors of ethnicity, male and female identity, and aging and identity. He opens up an exciting multidisciplinary dialogue for improving interpersonal and cross-cultural communication. The book provides a clear synthesis of the interrelated meanings of culture, identity, and communication, examining self-concept and its role in the communication process, and exploring cultural and biological research on self, individuality, personality, and mind-body questions.

This book is the first to provide a summary of the state of knowledge about communication in Japan and the United States. Included is an overview of the major approaches used in the study of communication in these two countries, an overview of the major cultural factors influencing communication, a description of the sociolinguistic differences between English and Japanese, an examination of Japanese-American communication as a function of the cultural values learned from the two cultures, and a summary of research comparing interpersonal research in Japan and the United States, as well as research on intercultural communication between Japanese and North Americans. The book also examines communication in organizational contexts in Japan and the United States and describes differences in mass communication between the two cultures.

This book presents a survey of rural and urban Chinese people examining the dramatic changes in traditional culture that have taken place, and documenting the nature of contemporary Chinese culture. Chu and Ju examine attitudes about family relations, social relations, job preferences and work ethic, organizational relations, community life, and belief systems.Although there remains some limited continuity with the past, mainly in family stability, the book shows how lifestyle and values in post-Mao China today reveal a radical departure from traditional Chinese culture. The authors discover that Chinese people no longer endorse the Confucian precepts of harmony and tolerance, nor do they submit compliantly to authority as previous generations did. They now demonstrate, in an environment of rising aspirations and mounting frustration, a new assertiveness, as seen in the tragic outburst in the Tiananmen demonstrations.

This book addresses the cross-cultural variations in the conceptions of face and facework from a multidisciplinary communication perspective. Facework represents one of the most important theoretical concepts available to us in contemporary communication literature as it encompasses a dynamic network of cross-cultural, social cognitive, affective, interpersonal, interactional, and identity issues. The book serves a dual purpose: to raise issues and to extend some of the current ideas in face and facework research in the cross-cultural and interpersonal communication settings, and to illuminate some specific directions for future research into the face and facework management process. Face and facework are presented in conjunction with phenomena such as politeness, request interaction, embarrassment, conflict, business negotiation, and international diplomacy.

High-Speed Management and Organizational Communication in the 1990s provides a unique, systematic, and practical treatment of the role communication plays in the new organizations. It treats organizational integration, coordination, and control as central communication processes and explores their transformation of traditional organizational topics such as leadership, corporate culture, teamwork, and continuous improvement programs.The central thesis of this analysis is that increasing the speed with which products get to market helps to make an organization more productive, develop better quality products, become more responsive to customer needs, and generate more profits for investors. Why and how this takes place as well as the central role communication plays in the process is treated here in detail.

This book discusses the place of communication in economic development and social change, not only as it pertains to "developing" societies, but also as it relates to the "developed" societies where socio-economic advancement has created a pressing need for social change or the elimination of the dysfunctional effects of industrial development.Addressed are historical development, theoretical perspectives, and implementation strategies and methods. In doing so, the contributors touch on the relevance of economics, sociology, psychology, organization, public relations, management and ethics, as well as the impact of multinational corporations on host-country development and social change.

This book discusses the place of communication in economic development and social change, not only as it pertains to "developing" societies, but also as it relates to the "developed" societies where socio-economic advancement has created a pressing need for social change or the elimination of the dysfunctional effects of industrial development.Addressed are historical development, theoretical perspectives, and implementation strategies and methods. In doing so, the contributors touch on the relevance of economics, sociology, psychology, organization, public relations, management and ethics, as well as the impact of multinational corporations on host-country development and social change.

This groundbreaking book presents conceptual, theoretical, and applied chapters demonstrating the strengths of interpretive approaches in the study of interpersonal communication. It extends our understanding of interpersonal communication through the incorporation of interpretive and critical theory paradigms. Until now, no text has systematically described interpersonal communication and theory by drawing on insights from interpretive or critical theory approaches. The authors fill two contemporary needs: (1) they provide a collection of essays that raises theoretical and methodological issues in the study of interpersonal communication relevant to all researchers in this area of study, and (2) they present a general approach to interpersonal communication that has gained wide acceptance among practitioners and educators, but has been under-represented by advanced research texts.Included here are interpretive and critical perspectives including phenomenology, feminism, hermeneutics, symbolic interactionism, semiotics, and postmodern ethnography. The book provides information that extends our understandings of interpersonal communication by demonstrating the ways in which interpretive perspectives can contribute to the development of theory and research on interpersonal communication.

This groundbreaking book presents conceptual, theoretical, and applied chapters demonstrating the strengths of interpretive approaches in the study of interpersonal communication. It extends our understanding of interpersonal communication through the incorporation of interpretive and critical theory paradigms. Until now, no text has systematically described interpersonal communication and theory by drawing on insights from interpretive or critical theory approaches. The authors fill two contemporary needs: (1) they provide a collection of essays that raises theoretical and methodological issues in the study of interpersonal communication relevant to all researchers in this area of study, and (2) they present a general approach to interpersonal communication that has gained wide acceptance among practitioners and educators, but has been under-represented by advanced research texts.Included here are interpretive and critical perspectives including phenomenology, feminism, hermeneutics, symbolic interactionism, semiotics, and postmodern ethnography. The book provides information that extends our understandings of interpersonal communication by demonstrating the ways in which interpretive perspectives can contribute to the development of theory and research on interpersonal communication.

New Approaches to Organizational Communication brings together three major conceptual developments. First, it sheds new light on standards used to evaluate processes and practices of organizational communication. Second, individual chapters delineate new, vital mechanisms of organizational communications. Third, the book outlines the practical consequences of these new mechanisms of organizational communication.

Communication has become more complex as businesses compete globally. This book explores corporate communication as both a professional practice and as an academic discipline. The essays and case studies provide numerous perspectives on topics such as diversity, sexual harassment, global corporate communications, and communicating corporate culture. These essays are meant to stimulate thought and encourage additional research.

Although opinion leadership has been the subject of numerous studies, in areas ranging from politics to fashion and in many societies and cultures, The Influentials represents the first systematic analysis of the concept. It offers a multidisciplinary presentation of the definitions, typologies, methods, and findings of opinion leadership, from its early formulation, through the emergence of the first empirical evidence, to the most recent research.Weimann examines opinion leadership and personal influence in a number of areas, including marketing, public opinion and elections, education, fashion, science, agriculture, and health care. He also examines the growing criticism of the model based on theoretical and empirical weaknesses of the original concept and evaluates for the first time modifications that have emerged, including a new measure (the PS Scale) and its testing and application. The final chapters for the first time link opinion leadership with the important theoretical and research tradition of agenda setting.

The first book to discuss teamwork and the recent phenomena of high-speed management. It addresses the intersection of these two areas of research and organizational practiceTeamwork in the context of high-speed management has never before been treated systematically, and high-speed management as a concept or as a field of study has only been a recent phenomenon. This book addresses the intersection of these two areas of research and organizational practice. Both areas are seen as fundamental parts of the communication processes that sustain an organization's competitive advantage in an increasingly chaotic environment.What makes this book unique is that the subject of teamwork in high-speed management is treated at three important levels: philosophical, theoretical, and practical. Issues covered include: how organizational structure affects teamwork; how teams should anchor themselves and be anchored in organizational life; and how an organization should coalign its internal and external resources with its competitive environment.Finally, the book addresses and prescribes how organizations can meet the challenge of an uncertain future using the skills of teamwork and high-speed management successfully.

Provides a new understanding of the role communication plays in integrating, controlling, and coordinating high performance organizations.High-speed management is used to competitive advantage by some of the most successful organizations in the world-General Electric; Toyota; ASEA, Brown, and Boveri; Motorola; Intel; and Matsushita. In these very successful companies fast cycle time or high-speed management translates into two important organizational capabilities. First, it creates a high level of performance that management can build into a firm's operating systems. More specifically, increases in effective communication are employed to eliminate bottlenecks, delays, and errors in production, cutting costs and improving quality. Second, high-speed management is an organizational strategy which continuously improves a firm's integration, coordination, and control systems. It transforms all of a firm's communication activities such as leadership, corporate climate, teamwork, worker and unit interfaces, process mapping, and outside linking processes into a more responsive customer adaptation system.

Focuses on and presents watershed research traditions in human communication (interpersonal, organizational, and mass communication).This sampling of watershed research traditions in interpersonal, organizational, and mass communication manifests how communication theory is developed, defended and extended at a philosophical, theoretical and practical level of inquiry from a plurality of research perspectives.The book includes the foundational works of Pearce, Cronen, and Associates on the coordinated management of meaning; Berger, Gudykunst, and Associates on uncertainty and anxiety reduction theory; Cushman, Nicotera and Associates on the communication rules involved in establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships; Delia, Clark, and Associates on constructivism; Deetz, Mumby, and Associates on critical theory; Desmond and Associates on mass communication theory; Sanders and Gottman on communication sequences; Cushman, King, and Associates on high-speed management; and Philipsen and Associates on the ethnography of communication.

Focuses on and presents watershed research traditions in human communication (interpersonal, organizational, and mass communication).This sampling of watershed research traditions in interpersonal, organizational, and mass communication manifests how communication theory is developed, defended and extended at a philosophical, theoretical and practical level of inquiry from a plurality of research perspectives.The book includes the foundational works of Pearce, Cronen, and Associates on the coordinated management of meaning; Berger, Gudykunst, and Associates on uncertainty and anxiety reduction theory; Cushman, Nicotera and Associates on the communication rules involved in establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships; Delia, Clark, and Associates on constructivism; Deetz, Mumby, and Associates on critical theory; Desmond and Associates on mass communication theory; Sanders and Gottman on communication sequences; Cushman, King, and Associates on high-speed management; and Philipsen and Associates on the ethnography of communication.

Focuses on the constructive nature of conflict and stresses conflict management as opposed to conflict resolution. Presents a comprehensive view of organizational conflict.This collection provides a well-rounded view of organizational conflict in three broad categories: ways of thinking about organizational conflict, individual processes, and interaction processes. It enriches the positivistic literature on conflict and organizations with a focus on non-reductionistic views of conflict, individual and interactive processes of conflict, conflict management (as opposed to resolution), and the constructive nature of conflict-aiming at understanding rather than prescription.Recounting the history of the study of organizational conflict, the book presents alternative views to the traditional positivistic approach and the traditional assumption that conflict is destructive. Rather, conflict is seen as a naturally-occurring human phenomenon, which may manifest itself on different levels with negative or positive outcomes. The book also focuses on the individual, showing how predisposition or skills impact on conflict in the organization, and vice versa. It also examines conflict interaction processes and their reciprocal influence on individuals, the organization, and/or the environment.

Focuses on strategies for solving communication problems in presidential campaigns.Communication problems faced by presidential candidates in modern elections are examined from a variety of perspectives. The book focuses on the decisions candidates must make about political discourse, such as the speeches, interviews, debates, and ads which make up national campaigns, and the media reporting of these messages. The contributors include Frederick J. Antczak, Sandra Bauman, Paul E. Corcoran, Suzanne M. Daughton, Gail Fairhurst, Richard Gregg, Susan Herbst, Montague Kern, Kathleen E. Kendall, Joshua Meyrowitz, Diana Owen, Marilyn Roberts, Craig A. Smith, Mary E. Stuckey, Jimmie Trent, Judith Trent, and Ron Wendt.

Provides a communication theory of identity. Shows how listening to communication in cultural scenes can help reveal how deeply identity is situated in various communicative practices.Theories of identity have been built largely upon biological, psychological, sociological, and anthropological grounds. Missing from each of these, yet of potential relevance to them all, is a community theory of identity such as the one developed here. Situating Selves presents studies of five American scenes, focusing on the ways social identities are communicatively crafted. Based on 15 years of fieldwork, the book presents fine-grained analyses of the playful self during sporting events (with special attention given to crowd activities at college basketball games), the working self in a television company, the marital self in weddings and marriages, the gendered self in television "talk shows," and conflicted selves during a community's hotly contested land-use controversy.Carbaugh shows how listening to communication in cultural scenes like these can help reveal how deeply identity is situated in various communicative practices. These include a ritual of play, symbolic allusions to different classes of people, a diversity in the forms of names used upon marriage, the play between genders and gender-neutral language, and the relationship between language, nature, community, and politics. Concluding commentary links the studies to the contemporary American scene, and shows how the focus on communication can integrate into community living both shared and separate identities. Emerging from these studies is a view of communication as not only a situated expression of selves in American scenes, but also an active contributor in constituting those very identities and scenes.

Leading scholars present the principal findings and conclusions of a long-term program of research into the nature and dynamics of human communication.Well-known authors present not only their own theories of human communication, but also describe, from personal vantage points, the process by which they constructed their theories. The authors' narratives of their experiences in posing, formulating, and empirically investigating their questions provide invaluable instructional models for current students.The vitality of this book derives from the communal focus on the theory and practice of language and other means of communicative conduct. Each chapter is concerned with the pragmatics of human communication and describes an original and systematic study of the phenomena with recourse to data. Together, these chapters represent a range of important contemporary directions in communication studies.

The basic theme of this volume is excellent. Readers are treated to fascinating explorations of communication at the boundaries between discourses and selves. The essays address important theoretical issues, and do so often by treating significant social issues. Most welcome is the constructive tone that is for the most part maintained throughout the volume, demonstrating an effort to understand, engage, and critically assess different discourses and selves (and others) at once, without valorizing one over the other.An essential theme running through this volume is the idea that our efforts to engage, as well as other's efforts to engage us, have been seriously impaired because of problems which are fundamentally communicative in nature. More specifically, there is general agreement among the contributors that the voice of other has not been sufficiently heard, and this on account of how discourses of the human sciences, as well as other dominant discourses (e.g. law) have structured our interaction with other. Each of the essays helps to clarify the nature of the communicative failing and to develop an appropriate corrective action.

Summarizes the important and promising emerging theories of human communication.This book summarizes the important and promising emerging theories of human communication that go beyond received traditions. It includes essays on emerging theories of communication and culture; relational communicative competence; conflict communication; communication and peace; agenda setting and the role of mass media in democratic political processes; new rhetoric and new social movements; and communication and management of public-sector competitiveness.Contributors to this volume include Deborah Blood, Dudley D. Cahn, Donal Carbaugh, Ron B. Cullen, Donald P. Cushman, William A. Donohue, Timothy Gibson, Gerard A. Hauser, Trudy Milburn, Hiroshi Ota, Jiro Takai, Susan Whalen, John M. Wiemann, Mary O. Weimann, and Jian H. Zhu.

Provides research applications of a rules theory of mate relationships to several American cultures and two non-American cultures.This book presents research applications of a rules theory of mate relationships of several American cultures and two non-American cultures. The theory is summarized in seven basic propositions, several of which have been previously tested and supported. The research contained here expands the depth of the work by examining attributes and levels of mateship in several American co-cultures, one Caribbean culture, and one Asian culture, and extends the breadth of the work by moving into the areas of relational quality, maintenance, and conflict.Seven propositions presented are 1) perceived self-concept support is the basis of interpersonal attraction; 2) different types of perceived self-concept support are the basis for different types of interpersonal relationships; 3) different types of self-concept support are the basis for entry into and increasing intensity of interpersonal relationships; 4) the type and form of self-concept support is homogeneous by culture; 5) conflict which threatens self-concept support on crucial relationship variables-the lack of it or attacks on it-is the most potentially dangerous type of conflict in interpersonal relationships; 6) negotiation of differences in perceptions of self-concept support on crucial relationship variables cements interpersonal relationships; and 7) quality interpersonal relationships consist of intimacy, personal growth, and effective communication on the crucial relationship variables.

This strategic tool for executives to lead, motivate, persuade, and inform numerous audiences inside and outside their organizations explores corporate communication as an executive practice.Communication becomes more complex as businesses compete in a global environment. The complexity brought on by an explosion in the number of tools for communication-computers, digital media, interactive corporate television, faxes, e-mail, the Internet-fuels the need for a corporation to consider its communications as central to its strategic plans. Corporate Communications for Executives looks closely at the professional practice of corporate communication. It offers numerous perspectives on ethics, science and society, employee motivation, corporate social responsibility, internal communication, global corporate communications, and communicating corporate cultures.