Winning Is(n't) Everything: The Paradox of Excellence and the Challenge of Organizational Epideictic

Encompassing both the controlled messages of values advocacy and less explicit rhetorical actions such as philanthropy, community programs, and volunteerism, organizational epideictic affirms common values. This essay argues that such common values are problematized by the presence of paradox even in seemingly innocuous epideictic subjects. Through a case study of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's “Stay in Bounds” program teaching children to be good sports both on and off the field, the essay demonstrates the challenges of organizational epideictic through the paradox of excellence. It also provides suggestions for the management—but not elimination—of paradox in organizational epideictic, particularly directed at external publics.     

Epideictic Rhetoric in the Service of War: George W. Bush on Iraq and the 60th Anniversary of the Victory over Japan

This essay explores the relationship between epideictic discourse and war through the analysis of George W. Bush's August 20, 2005, address at the Naval Air Station near San Diego, ostensibly to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Japan. The case also serves as an exemplar for how Bush routinely interwove epideictic appeals with collective memories of World War II in order to promote the Iraq war and deflect criticism of his policies there. Bush praised the greatest generation and linked it to the current generation; blamed and dehumanized enemies of the past and present; advocated for war based on “lessons” from the past; and reinforced a shared identity to instill both obligation and confidence.     

Work Calling: Exploring the Communicative Intersections of Meaningful Work and Organizational Spirituality

In the present study, we first describe three themes from the interdisciplinary literature: sacred and secular variations; calling as historically and culturally situated; and potential benefits, alienation, and marginalization. Second, through a thematic analysis (Owen, 1984) based on participant data, we examine how participants’ understanding and interpretation of work calling as an overarching meaningfulness, a combination of personal passion and skill set, and a contribution to society serve as definitional makers. We argue that these findings emphasize the processural and constitutive nature of work calling. We conclude by highlighting the communicative dimensions of work calling as they may contribute to future critical and empirical work, noting the possibilities for sense-making theory to intervene in this interdisciplinary area of inquiry.     

Family Communication Patterns as Predictors of Organizational Dissent: A Replication Study

This study replicated a previous research project addressing connections between family-of-origin communication and organizational dissent expression. We predicted that family communication patterns (FCPs), specifically conversation and conformity orientations, would predict upward, lateral, and displaced dissent. As in the original study, significant findings emerged for upward dissent and conformity orientation. This replication study indicated family type as an inconsistent predictor of expressed dissent. Contrary to the original study, we found no evidence to support a connection between pluralistic family types and upward dissent. Finally, as an extension of the original study we analyzed effects of FCPs on displaced dissent, finding an inverse association with conversation orientation. Implications for future research are discussed.     

The Message Design Logics of Organizational Change

This study investigated the influence of context in the production of messages by stakeholders about organizational change. We analyzed messages produced in response to hypothetical organizational change scenarios. The message production task was implemented within a 2×2 experimental design (N = 1,205) fielded at three different organizations. We included multiple replications for each manipulation, and multilevel structural equation modeling allowed for analysis across scenario replications. Results indicated that perceptions of change and context do influence message design mediated by intensity of beliefs about a change. The study extends message design logics theory and contributes to a conceptualization of stakeholder interaction during organizational change as a problem of communication design.     

Trends in Organizational Communication Research: Sustaining the Discipline,Sustaining Ourselves

This paper began as a keynote address delivered at the 16th annual Organizational Communication Mini‐Conference hosted by Western Michigan University. In it, I identify topical trends in organizational communication research, noting ways in which these trends are flexible, enduring, diverse, and problem‐centered. I go on to invite current doctoral students to join us in developing these trends further. Specifically, I discuss how we might engage research in ways that sustain the vitality of the discipline as well as our own personal vitality. I conclude by offering a list of key articles that could serve as starting points in the on‐going conversation centered around organizational communication.     

Organizational Responses to Consumer Complaints: An Examination of Effective Remediation Tactics

Mistakes are common in business and can lead to negative repercussions for organizations. However, through the use of explanations, firms can diminish the negative consequences of their errors. The current study used a field stimulation to examine organizational explanations (excuses, justifications, and excuses) and their components (believable, appropriate, considerate, and responsible) to determine which factors make a difference in consumer satisfaction following organizational failures. Results, interpreted through the lens of expectancy violations theory, suggest that various components of explanations and the form of explanations used in remedial responses influence people's perceptions of organizations and organizational responses following complaints about failures.     

组织学习与绩效的关系：基于动态能力的中介效应

基于资源基础观构建一个反映组织学习、动态能力以及绩效关系的理论模型。以我国广东珠三角地区317家企业为调查对象,采用结构方程模型方法进行实证检验。结果发现：企业的组织学习对组织绩效没有显著的直接影响,但是组织学习可以通过动态能力对组织绩效产生显著的影响。该研究结果可为中国企业如何运用组织学习以增强动态能力和最终改善绩效提供有益的借鉴。     

We Are People First: Framing Organizational Assimilation Experiences of the Physically Disabled Using Co-Cultural Theory

This study explores how organizational members with disabilities experience and manage organizational assimilation in the workplace. The organizational socialization model was used to initially analyze participants' assimilation experiences and co-cultural theory was used as a framework for examining how participants negotiate assimilation. Interviews with 24 participants with physical disabilities were analyzed. Results illustrate a dynamic and difficult process of managing and negotiating assimilation, using a variety of communication strategies such as accommodation (attempts to keep some cultural identity) and assimilation (attempts to conform), as opposed to separation (rejecting common connection with dominant members and bonding only with co-cultural members).     

Testing the Connectivity Paradox: Linking Teleworkers' Communication Media Use to Social Presence,Stress from Interruptions,and Organizational Identification

Scholars emphasize the importance of rich communication media for the development of Teleworkers' organizational identification, but tests of these relationships have produced inconsistent results. The connectivity paradox helps explain these findings. The paradox suggests that Teleworkers' connectivity to others through communication media facilitates remote work by affording greater social presence, while also negating the benefits of telework by enabling stressful interruptions. These outcomes of connectivity may benefit and detract from identification. We propose a model linking the core features of the connectivity paradox to organizational identification. Teleworkers and office workers were surveyed, and a multigroup path analysis was utilized. Results indicate that connectivity increases stress from interruptions and indirectly diminishes Teleworkers' identification.     

The Rate and Delay in Overload: An Investigation of Communication Overload and Channel Synchronicity on Identification and Job Satisfaction

This study investigates the relationship between communication overload and uses of diverse communication channels in terms of their level of synchronicity. Emphasis on the synchronicity of any given channel reveals how temporal elements (i.e., rate and processing time) play an important role in perceptions of communication load. Additionally, this study examines the association between communication overload, organizational identification and job satisfaction. Findings reveal: (a) both high and low synchronous channels are associated with increased reports of communication overload; (b) a mediating effect of organizational identification on the relationship between communication overload and job satisfaction; and (c) a moderating effect of communication overload on the relationship between low synchronous channels and organizational identification.     

跨文化认同与政治修辞——基于对中美当代政治传播实践的考察

本文通过对当代中美政治修辞观念演进的历史梳理,对中美政治修辞文本构成的核心要素的比较,分析中美在政治修辞认识论与方法论上的异同,并尝试提出新时期中国政治修辞的策略要点。本文认为,政治修辞对实现跨文化认同具有重要的理论价值和实践意义。     

The Flexible Organization: How Contemporary Employees Construct the Work/Life Border

The subject of work/life balance and boundaries has received much scholarly attention in the last 15 years. How employees understand these concepts and organizational response to this construction can and does have real consequences for an employee's work/life balance. Consistent with work/life border theory, initial qualitative data indicated that employees identify flexibility and permeability as key concepts in work/life balance. We sought to understand how contemporary employees define these terms. Interview data suggested that contemporary employees desire four distinct but interdependent types of flexibility: time, space, evaluation, and compensation. The emphasis on flexibility suggested a trend, at least among this sample, toward integrating the domains of work and life consistent with work/life boundary theory and raised questions about the changing conception of work in contemporary organizations. Conclusions and implications are discussed. Results of this study suggest that future research should seek to uncover what communicative strategies organizations and employees use to co-create and negotiate this work/life border.     

A post-crisis discourse of renewal: the cases of malden mills and cole hardwoods

This investigation employed two case studies of post-crisis discourse to describe an alternative to apologia as the primary rhetorical stance following organizational crisis. The authors identify three themes of this discourse; strong commitment to stakeholders, an immediate and unequivocal commitment to rebuild, and crisis as an opportunity for renewal. Conclusions are offered regarding the directionality of post-crisis discourse, crisis as a force for organizational renewal, the importance of emphasizing possibilities over issues of cause, blame, and culpability and the role of C.E.O. discourse in framing the meaning of crisis. Implications for enactment, for image restoration theory, and for improved crisis management are offered.     

The Communication Glue that Binds Employees to an Organization: A Study of Organizational Identification in Two Thai Organizations

Organizational communication scholars have paid scant attention to the motivations of people who choose careers in social service organizations. This study examined organizational identification in the context of two Thai social service organizations: government-run Community Development Department (CDD) and non-governmental Population and Community Development Association (PDA). The degree to which CDD members identified with CDD and PDA members identified with PDA was assessed by using the Organizational Identification Questionnaire constructed by George Cheney (1982 Cheney , G. (1982) . Organizational identification as process and product: A field study . Unpublished master's thesis , Purdue University . [Google Scholar]). Comparison of CDD and PDA scores on Cheney's OIQ provided findings that mirror those of previous studies of organizational identification. Specifically, the level of organizational identification among employees who work for the non-governmental privately-run social-cause organization (PDA) was significantly higher than for employees who work for the government organization (CDD). Thus, the non-governmental organization appears to be more effective than the government organization in fostering employee identification. Interestingly, a factor analysis of Thai responses to the Cheney instrument revealed three dimensions that were different from the three dimensions theorized by Cheney (1982 Cheney , G. (1982) . Organizational identification as process and product: A field study . Unpublished master's thesis , Purdue University . [Google Scholar]). While Cheney's conceptualization of identification included employees sense of membership, similarity, and loyalty to their organization, the Thai dimensions reflected life values (‘pride in membership’), social values (‘fit with organization’), and personal values (‘comfort zone’). These findings hold important implications for communication scholars who study employee motivation in non-Western organizational contexts.     

The Most Integrated Hour in America: Reframing the Organizational Discourses of Church Purpose

Religious organizations have increasingly drawn the attention of communication scholars. This interest is due in part to the significant role these organizations have in building social capital – particularly in regard to improving racial/ethnic relations. This potential has remained largely unrealized, however, since the Civil Rights Movement over 50 years ago. Consequently, this study seeks to understand how church pastors frame the ambiguous discourse of organizational purpose. Building on an earlier research phase that included 42 pastoral interviews, this study adds to our understanding of framing practices via three dialectical tensions: integration-segregation, belief-practice, and vertical-horizontal. The analysis also reveals how these dialectics were framed through improbability, double bind, alternation, selection, connection, and transcendence, as well as their impact upon ethnic relationships. Theoretic and practical implications are provided.     

Cultural Competence and Institutional Contradictions: The Hydropower Referendum

This study explores a corporate campaign to pass a referendum to enable the development of a hydropower plant in a small Swedish community. In the changing institutional context that grounds this case, the organization needed to develop communicative practices that embodied “cultural competence,” a set of processes identified as critical for the legitimacy and success of business organizations in the emerging global/intersectoral environment. Findings suggest that the MNC's communication strategy captured important components of cultural competence. However, institutional contradictions impeded enactment of the strategy and resulted in delegitimizing paradoxical communication. The results indicate that organizational awareness of institutional change and culturally competent strategy are insufficient without special attention to contradictions and resultant communicative paradoxes embodied within a particular institutional context. The importance of a reflective communication approach that engages contradictions and tensions in the surrounding micro–macro institutional contexts is underscored.     

The Evolution of Organizational Archetypes: From the American to the Entrepreneurial Dream

Throughout much of the twentieth century, the image of the organization man dominated the cultural imagination and undergirded capitalist organizing. Yet, in the last 20 years, there has been a signal shift away from the organization man and toward the entrepreneur as an ideal. Although scholars have suggested that entrepreneurship in the new economy is rooted in neoliberal ideology, I argue that neoliberalism alone does not account for the ease with which entrepreneurialism has become a dominant discourse. By critically examining entrepreneurial discourse as communicated through US business periodicals from 2000 to 2009, I present a case for the “entrepreneurial man” as formed at the partial inclusion and/or rejection of aspects of the self made man, organization man, and neoliberalism. Ultimately, this analysis critiques the entrepreneurial man archetype as a rejection of the social contract and the embracing of a privatized, entrepreneurial American dream.     

The impact of supervisor and subordinate immediacy on relational and organizational outcomes

Hypotheses were advanced based on the immediacy principle, accommodation theory, reciprocity theory, and previous research in another applied context which argue that increased nonverbal immediacy behaviors of supervisors have the potential to enhance subordinates’ perceptions of that supervisor, increase subordinate satisfaction with the supervisor and communication with the supervisor, and increase motivation and job satisfaction on the part of the subordinate. All of the hypotheses were supported by the results. The “principle of immediate communication” received strong support. It is concluded that increased immediacy on the part of either the supervisor or the subordinate is likely to generate reciprocity and accommodation leading to a more positive work environment and more desirable outcomes.