Masters of the Universe? Resource Dependency and Interorganizational Power Relationships at NASA

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart as it re-entered the atmosphere. Months later, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board determined the immediate cause of the crash, but it also alluded to relationships NASA has with other organizations as being problematic, suggesting that Columbia was a painful symptom of a deeper disease. This paper uses resource dependency theory and structuration theory together to examine NASA's interorganizational network, illustrating that NASA is involved in multiple toxic relationships and that a pattern has developed through NASA miscues in the last 20 years. This case study demonstrates the advantages of using these two theories together, how such integration provides a useful perspective for understanding power and change in interorganizational relationships. The paper also discusses practical suggestions for NASA specifically, but also for others as organizations become more dependent on external stakeholders and interorganizational relationships.     

Dialectical Tensions of Small Group Leadership

This study examined dialectical tensions faced by leaders of small task-oriented groups. Interviews with 10 male and 13 female group leaders revealed three major categories of internal dialectical tensions: group control by leader/by members, leader's focus on task-related/nontask-related concerns, and leader's focus on group process/outcome. Tensions were nonbinary; for example, task concerns contrasted with three different types of nontask concerns. Future research should investigate the relationship between group leader effectiveness and dialectical tension management, the relative importance of managing specific tensions, and the consistency of group leader/member perspectives.     

Divergent Perspectives on Language-Discordant Mobile Medical Professionals' Communication with Colleagues: An Exploratory Study

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart as it re-entered the atmosphere. Months later, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board determined the immediate cause of the crash, but it also alluded to relationships NASA has with other organizations as being problematic, suggesting that Columbia was a painful symptom of a deeper disease. This paper uses resource dependency theory and structuration theory together to examine NASA's interorganizational network, illustrating that NASA is involved in multiple toxic relationships and that a pattern has developed through NASA miscues in the last 20 years. This case study demonstrates the advantages of using these two theories together, how such integration provides a useful perspective for understanding power and change in interorganizational relationships. The paper also discusses practical suggestions for NASA specifically, but also for others as organizations become more dependent on external stakeholders and interorganizational relationships.     

Assessing the Effectiveness of Collaborative Interorganizational Networks Through Client Communication

A hallmark of today’s civil society sector is the prevalence of collaborative interorganizational networks. The purpose of this study is to investigate how collaborative interorganizational network structures affect interactions within client networks, and how this in turn impacts assessments of collaborative interorganizational network effectiveness. In particular, we focus on recommendations as key indicators of collaborative interorganizational network effectiveness in relation to client networks. We identify client networks of phantom populations as an important but unexamined aspect of collaborative interorganizational network effectiveness that warrants further research. We present an empirical investigation of a collaborative interorganizational network of social service agencies working to address the problem of homelessness in Boulder County, Colorado (USA). Findings indicate that organizations with a greater number of connections with other organizations generate more recommendations within client networks. Our study demonstrates a relationship between the degree of connections within a collaborative interorganizational network structure and the recommendations generated with a phantom population.     

Communication and Social Exchange Processes in Community Theater Groups

This study explores the communication experiences of two volunteer groups involved in the production of community theater musicals. Based on social exchange theory, it examined what group members perceived to be the positive benefits (primarily meeting people and having an opportunity to perform) and the negative costs (primarily disorganization, lack of coordination, and time issues) of participating in the groups. The study found that peer support and opportunity for social interaction, along with positive audience response, were the best predictors of positive reactions to their experiences and commitment to the show and community theater in general. These results provide insight into social exchange theory in group settings and can be applied to other community theater groups, as well as other volunteer organizations.     

Collaboration for Compliance: Identity Tensions in the Interorganizational and Interdisciplinary Regulation of a Toxic Waste Storage Facility

Safely securing toxic waste necessitates collaboration across organizational and disciplinary boundaries. This study focused on the Waste Compliance Team (WCT), an interorganizational and interdisciplinary collaboration of a team of experts responsible for the regulatory documentation of a toxic waste storage facility. The results distill four coherent premises for self-definition evident in their collaboration: knowledge creating/scientist, knowledge checking/regulator, knowledge applying/engineer, and knowledge scheduling/project manager. Our analysis emphasized the implications of identity tensions among these competing premises for how the WCT made sense of their documentation work, safety concerns, and conflict and decision-making. Integrating multiple data sources, including interviews, observations, and a workshop with participants, we employed mosaic portraiture, a methodology developed through the study, to understand and convey the polyphony of the site. We conclude by discussing implications of the findings for theory and practice and the utility of mosaic portraiture for engaged scholarship.     

Workplace Relationship Quality and Employee Information Experiences

This study examined the extent to which the amount and quality of work‐related information employees received was associated with the quality of their relationships with peer co‐workers and their immediate supervisors. Results indicated that supervisor–subordinate relationship quality was positively related to both the amount and quality of information employees received from their immediate supervisor. In addition, employees’ proportions of information peer relationships were negatively related, and their proportions of collegial peer relationships were positively related, to the quality of information they received from their co‐workers. Regression analyses also indicated that the quality of information employees received from their supervisors and co‐workers was positively related to their job satisfaction and commitment to the organization.     

Collaborative digital government in Mexico: Some lessons from federal Web-based interorganizational information integration initiatives

The use of information and communication technologies in government has been characterized as one powerful strategy for administrative reform. From recent experiences around the world, it seems clear that in order to enjoy some of the greatest benefits of digital government, the integration of information across organizational boundaries is necessary. However, these digital government initiatives face additional challenges, since the required level of interorganizational collaboration and trust is often not supported by existing institutional arrangements, organizational structures, and managerial processes. In fact, many institutions and administrative structures found in government contexts offer incentives for single-agency work only, which produces stove-pipe systems. Based on an extensive case study in the Mexican federal government, this paper explores how certain institutional arrangements and organizational structures can enable or hinder cross-agency collaboration and consequently, interorganizational information integration.     

The Evolution of Networks and the Resilience of Interorganizational Relationships after Disaster

This study uses social capital and evolutionary theory to examine organizational resilience in terms of interorganizational networks of disaster-struck organizations following Hurricane Katrina. Approaching post-disaster organizational resilience using social network analysis highlights the way pre-disaster relationships and networking patterns play a vital role in post-disaster rebuilding. Data support the idea of structural inertia, suggesting that disaster is an event that further strengthens pre-existing networks and is not a time when organizations might benefit from forging new networks in seeking support and fueling survival. Implications suggest that the social capital accrued through long-standing partnerships and efficient pre-disaster networking through building communities of practice significantly impact post-disaster resilience.     

Predicted Outcome Value Theory in Ongoing Relationships

Theory and research reported in this paper provide both theoretical and methodological advances in the study of predicted outcome value theory (POV) in established, ongoing relationships. From a theoretical perspective, POV, previously a theory focused solely on initial interaction behaviors and consequences, is extended into the realm of ongoing relationships. The propositions of the theory are reformulated and hypotheses derived from them are tested. Overall, the results strongly support this extension and shed new light on its role in understanding the effect of unexpected events. Methodologically, the study provides a longitudinal approach for assessing ongoing relationships both before and after the occurrence of an unexpected event.     

A Relative Commitment Approach to Understanding Power in Romantic Relationships

In some romantic relationships, one partner has more power over joint decisions than the other. This study examines relative commitment as a key predictor of which partner has more power and developed a model based on classic interdependence theory. A survey was conducted (N = 324) using new measures of the key variables to test the model. When desire for control was high, relative commitment predicted self-perceived power, which predicted major and minor decision making as well as dominant conflict strategies. These results are consistent with the proposed modification of interdependence theory concerning desire for control.     

Risk,threat, and information seeking about genital herpes: The effects of mood and message framing

This paper examines the effect that mood and message frame has on perceived threat, efficacy, attitude, intention and, ultimately, behavior regarding genital herpes information seeking. A 2 (message frame: negative/positive) X 2 (mood: happy/sad) independent groups experiment examining the interaction between mood and message framing was conducted. A two‐way interaction between mood and message framing on the dependent variable(s) was hypothesized such that persons in a sad mood will be more persuaded (as evidenced by heightened threat, efficacy, attitude, intention and behavior) by a negatively framed message given its mood congruent qualities. And, persons in a happy mood were posited to be more persuaded by a positively framed message given its mood congruent qualities. A main effect for mood was also proposed, given that sad persons are expected to pay closer attention to the message(s) overall. These data were partially consistent with the hypotheses. In the main, frame and mood elicited separate effects. Sadness is positively correlated with severity and susceptibility of genital herpes. Frame increases response efficacy. A path model articulating the relationships among all variables is proposed.     

Exploring Dialectical Tensions of Leading Volunteers in Two Community Choirs

Leaders of volunteers face different challenges than leaders of paid employees due to different motivations and reward expectations. After synthesizing previous research applying dialectical theory to group members or leaders, this study examines the dialectical tensions that leaders of volunteers experienced and the communication they used to manage those tensions as reported by both the leaders and the volunteers. A constant-comparison method was used to analyze observations and interviews of members and leaders of two community choirs. The findings suggest that leaders of volunteers face eight dialectical tensions representing three broad categories: (a) task and relationship; (b) process and outcome; and (c) internal and external. Leaders negotiated these dialectical tensions through communication strategies including use of humor and appeals to artistic spirituality. These strategies represent hybridization and dualistic discourse rather than a monologic emphasis of one course of action over another.     

Tensions in Community Health Improvement Initiatives: Communication and Collaboration in a Managed Care Environment

Between the years 1993 and 2000, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation sponsored the Comprehensive Community Health Models (CCHMs) Initiative in three Michigan counties. CCHMs was comprised of three closely related community initiatives carried out in the midst of a failed national health care reform effort and the continued penetration of managed care arrangements into many health care systems. This experimental initiative set out to test the hypothesis that traditional healthcare system animosities and exclusionary practices could be overcome by stakeholder participation in an ongoing, structured, collaborative dialogue about improving access to health services. In the process of collecting data through surveys, interviews, content analysis, and observation, we were struck by the occurrence of several overarching tensions that we perceive to exist in our data. The present article elucidates five such tensions and suggests how third parties such as communication researchers, evaluators, and practitioners can facilitate community health improvement initiatives and better their own data interpretation by acknowledging and understanding these tensions.     

Tensions in Community Health Improvement Initiatives: Communication and Collaboration in a Managed Care Environment

Between the years 1993 and 2000, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation sponsored the Comprehensive Community Health Models (CCHMs) Initiative in three Michigan counties. CCHMs was comprised of three closely related community initiatives carried out in the midst of a failed national health care reform effort and the continued penetration of managed care arrangements into many health care systems. This experimental initiative set out to test the hypothesis that traditional healthcare system animosities and exclusionary practices could be overcome by stakeholder participation in an ongoing, structured, collaborative dialogue about improving access to health services. In the process of collecting data through surveys, interviews, content analysis, and observation, we were struck by the occurrence of several overarching tensions that we perceive to exist in our data. The present article elucidates five such tensions and suggests how third parties such as communication researchers, evaluators, and practitioners can facilitate community health improvement initiatives and better their own data interpretation by acknowledging and understanding these tensions.     

Relational Maintenance and the Influence of Commitment in Online and Offline Relationships

The study of relational-maintenance behaviors has sometimes included the impact of medium as a peripheral variable, but rarely has the impact of medium been tested directly. Participants (N = 1336) delineated themselves into four separate groups depending on the initial and continued use of mediated communication. They reported their use of relational-maintenance behaviors, as well as feelings of commitment towards the relationship. The medium had an impact on the use of relational-maintenance behaviors, primarily between people who had only met their partners in a mediated environment and those who had met them face-to-face. However, commitment level appears to strongly moderate the relationship between group and use of maintenance behaviors.     

Institutional Repositories: An Analysis of Trends and a Proposed Collaborative Future

This study seeks to give libraries a plan for interinstitutional cooperation for institutional repositories that will benefit all involved: researchers, institutions, and, ultimately, global scholarship. This research uses repository studies, interviews with existing repository managers, and the input of libraries considering a repository to inform the exploration of the opportunities for collaboration in IR development and maintenance. This article proposes opportunities for collaboration between institutions in order to convince libraries that it is possible and effective to work together toward a common goal: highlighting existing working groups or alliances, sharing technology and hardware, building separate interinstitutional bodies to house repositories, and sharing the work of specialists.     

“You're My Parent but You're Not”: Dialectical Tensions in Stepchildren's Perceptions About Communicating with the Nonresidential Parent

The nonresidential parent plays a role in the lives of stepchildren and in stepfamily households. The focus of the present study was on the interaction between the nonresidential parent and his/her child who resides as part of a stepfamily household. Grounded in relational dialectics theory, the researchers performed an interpretive analysis of 50 transcribed interviews with college-aged stepchildren. Stepchildren's perceptions of communication with the nonresidential parent were animated by two contradictions: parenting/nonparenting and openness/closedness. These two contradictions form a totality, interwoven with one another. The parenting/nonparenting contradiction reflected stepchildren's ambivalence over parenting attempts of nonresidential parents. Stepchildren wanted nonresidential parent involvement and parenting, and at the same time they resisted it, often finding communication to be awkward and challenging. In addition, stepchildren wanted open and intimate communication with their nonresidential parents, yet they found openness to be problematic and managed these contradictory demands via segmentation. Implications of these findings are discussed, along with insights to guide professionals working with stepfamilies and adults co-parenting children to better understand and interact in ways that promote healthy stepfamilies.     

Communication as Ventriloquism: A Grounded-in-Action Approach to the Study of Organizational Tensions

Tension-centered analyses are increasingly popular in organizational communication studies. Hence, how tensions emerge and are dealt with by organizational members in their work activities are key issues of debate in our field. The purpose of this article is to develop a ventriloqual approach for investigating how organizational tensions (whether expressed in the form of contradictions, dilemmas, paradoxes, or situational ironies) are communicatively constituted through the mobilization of figures that contradict or clash with each other. To demonstrate the theoretical and empirical value of this approach, we use it to analyze two fieldwork cases from a seven-year ethnographic study of Médecins sans Frontières, and thus show how tensions shape organizational members' realities by being felt and sensed in interactions.     

Interorganizational collaboration and community building for the preservation of state government digital information: Lessons from NDIIPP state partnership initiative

As a part of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP), the Library of Congress (LC), partnering with the Center for Technology in Government (CTG), launched an effort in 2005 to integrate state governmental entities into the national network to preserve born-digital information that is both significant and at risk of loss. The main theme that emerged from the efforts of LC, CTG, and the state and federal digital preservation community was the importance of partnership efforts and collaborative strategies for the preservation of state government digital information. Based on the findings of the initiative, this paper discusses challenges and opportunities regarding interorganizational collaboration and community building for digital preservation of state government information. Following the community of practice framework, it is recommended that a “state government digital information preservation community” be developed to facilitate collaboration across agencies and knowledge professionals in state governments.