Organizational Communication: Foundations, Challenges, and Misunderstandings examines how communication is central to organizational life and the complexities and complications that arise as people attempt to coordinate their organizational activities. The text underscores the importance of the relationships we establish with the people with whom we work and how a better understanding of organizational communication theory and application can help us anticipate and manage misunderstandings in the workplace. In Part One, students learn about classical and modern management theories, systems theory, and frameworks for understanding organizational communication, including organizational culture and critical theory. In Part Two, the text covers topics traditionally covered in organizational communication textbooks through the lens of misunderstandings. Stories from organizational members highlight challenges and opportunities related to communicating in the organization. Realistic recruitment, socialization, the relationship between supervisors and subordinates, peer and team relationships, and leadership communication are addressed. The fifth edition features new interview data; broader coverage of diversity; expanded discussions of emotions at work; and examinations of workplace bullying, blended relationships, and technology as it relates to gender and age. Offering students a balanced mix of theoretical and practical information, Organizational Communication is an exemplary textbook for introductory organizational communication courses.

Origins and Traditions of Organizational Communication provides a sophisticated overview of the fundamentals of organizational communication as a field of study, examining the field’s foundations and providing an assessment of the field to date, explaining and demonstrating a communicational approach to the study of organization. It provides a set of literature reviews on focused topics written by experts in each area, and links organizational communication theory and research to practice. In reviewing foundational management theory, the book analyzes how early to mid-20th-century management theories shaped contemporary organizations, providing students both with background knowledge of these foundational theories and an understanding of their influence on our thinking and our organizational world. Written at an accessible level for early graduate students, yet still sophisticated enough for doctoral students, the book is ideal for students and teachers of organizational communication and communication history. Downloadable ancillary materials include chapter PowerPoints and a set of instructors' materials containing chapter abstracts, glossaries, discussion questions, annotated supplementary readings lists, and practitioners' corners. Please visit www.routledge.com/9781138570313.

While traditional in its coverage of the major research traditions that have developed over the past 100 years, Organizational Communication is the first textbook in the field that is written from a critical perspective while providing a comprehensive survey of theory and research in organizational communication. Extensively updated and incorporating relevant current events, the Second Edition familiarizes students with the field of organizational communication—historically, conceptually, and practically—and challenges them to critically reflect on their common sense understandings of work and organizations, preparing them for participation in 21st-century organizational settings. Linking theory with practice, Dennis K. Mumby and new co-author Timothy R. Kuhn skillfully explore the significant role played by organizations and corporations in constructing our identities.

Publisher description

Organizational communication as a field of study has grown tremendously over the past thirty years. This growth is characterized by the development and application of communication perspectives to research on complex organizations in rapidly changing environments. Completely re-conceptualized, The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Communication, Third Edition, is a landmark volume that weaves together the various threads of this interdisciplinary area of scholarship. This edition captures both the changing nature of the field, with its explosion of theoretical perspectives and research agendas, and the transformations that have occurred in organizational life with the emergence of new forms of work, globalization processes, and changing organizational forms. Exploring organizations as complex and dynamic, the Handbook brings a communication lens to bear on multiple organizing processes.

Movements in Organizational Communication Research is an essential resource for anyone wishing to become familiar with the current state of organizational communication research and key trends in the field. Seasoned organizational communication scholars will find that the book provides unique insights by way of the intergenerational dialogue that is found in the book, as well as the contributors’ stories about their scholarly trajectories. Those who are new to the field will find that the book enables them to familiarize themselves with the field and become a part of the organizational communication scholarly community in an inviting and accessible way. Key features of the book include: A review of current issues and future directions in 13 topical areas of organizational communication research. Intergenerational dialogue and collaboration between both established and emerging scholars in their specialty areas. Reflections by the authors on their scholarly trajectories and how they became a part of the field. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter that prompt reflections and debate. The book also features online resources for instructors: Sample course syllabus Suggested case studies from the book Cases in Organization and Managerial Communication to align with this book’s chapters The book is recommended as the anchor text for introductory graduate-level courses and upper-level undergraduate courses in organizational communication. It is also an excellent supplementary text for advanced doctoral-level courses in organizational communication, and courses in related fields such as organization studies, organizational behavior, and management. Chapters 3 and 8 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

"This book offers a refreshing and engaging overview of the ways some research traditions in organizational communication have unfolded over time and continue to be connected to everyday, real events." —Patrice Buzzanell, Purdue University Engaging Organizational Communication Theory and Research: Multiple Perspectives is a book unlike any in the field. Each chapter is written by a prominent scholar who presents a theoretical perspective and discusses how he or she "engages" with it, personally examining what it means to study organizations. Rejecting the traditional model of a "reader," this volume demonstrates the intimate connections among theory, research, and personal experience. Significant theoretical perspectives such as post-positivism, social construction, rhetoric, critical theory, feminism, postmodernism, structuration theory, and globalization are discussed in terms of their history, assumptions, development, propositions, research, and applications. In addition to editors Steve May and Dennis K. Mumby, contributors include Brenda J. Allen, Karen Lee Ashcraft, George Cheney, Steven R. Corman, Stanley Deetz, Robert McPhee, Marshall Scott Poole, Cynthia Stohl, Bryan C. Taylor, and James R. Taylor. Key Features • An introduction that addresses the idea of engaged research. • Accessible and cutting edge accounts of important research traditions written by well-known leaders in the field. • Personal accounts of each scholar′s place in his or her field of study. • A conclusion that explores the future of organizational communication studies. • An extensive body of references on each perspective. Engaging Organizational Communication Theory and Research is an indispensable resource for anyone wishing to be familiar with current trends in the field of organizational communication. It is recommended as the main text for upper-level undergraduate and entry-level graduate courses in organizational communication theory. It is also an excellent supplementary text for related courses in departments of communication studies, business and management, sociology, and industrial relations.