Organizational Communication Commons^™

Everyday Phenomenology And An Exploration Of “The Transcendental Attitude”, Joy Beatty

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Phenomenology Redux: Doing Phenomenology, Becoming Phenomenological, Thomas A. Conklin

Organization Management Journal

This article revisits the phenomenological method with particular focus on how it is meaningful for me. The effort is to present this method as a personal journey that has evolved over 13 years and to illustrate how it might become a more accessible approach for meaning-making and serving others. This is partly accomplished by dethroning it from its lofty philosophical perch such that it is available for daily use by practitioners, educators, and researchers. Further accessibility is provided through the presentation of various examples in health care, higher education, and personal reflections on the experience of understanding and employing phenomenology. …

First Annual Competition Winners For Best Articles Of The Year, William P. Ferris

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

The Bubble Factory: Addressing Difficult Issues In Hrm, Drew L. Harris

Organization Management Journal

The Bubble Factory is a fish-bowl, participatory exercise wherein three to eight students participate in a “factory” that produces high-quality soap bubbles using wands and soap and glycerin solution (such as Mr. Bubbles brand) typically found in toy stores or department stores. The instructor doctors the materials prior to the exercise so that unequal results are produced across “production lines.” This sets up discussion of the relative importance of individual versus situational influences, Deming-style quality problem solving, and industrial design of experiment, and discussion of the limitations of traditional HRM practices and how one might apply quality concepts to HRM. …

An Examination Of Entrepreneurial Orientation In Dedicated Biotechnology Firms: Context Matters, Dorothy Mary Kirkman, Dt Ogilvie

Organization Management Journal

The goal of this article is to explore under what contexts do biotechnology firms exhibit an entrepreneurial orientation? To achieve this goal, we assess entrepreneurial orientation as a configuration and individual dimension across three contexts: organizational structure, location, and age. Analyses of survey data from U.S. biotechnology firms indicate that ownership structure was the only contextual factor to yield differences in biotechnology firms’ entrepreneurial orientation when assessed as a configuration. However, the analysis identified differences at the multidimensional level within all three contexts. Both theoretical and practical implications of our findings are provided.

Overcoming The “Dual-Delivery” Stigma: A Review Of Patient-Centeredness In The Costa Rica Medical Tourism Industry, Alicia Mason

Faculty Submissions

Due to the growing globalization of health care and an increase in access to technology many consumers are utilizing the World Wide Web for securing medical services abroad, a phenomenon commonly known as medical tourism. The current investigation employs an emic cultural approach for analyzing the Western concept of patient-centeredness within several public and private medical facilities within Costa Rica. Through a detailed field investigation and personal interviews with directors of Costa Rica’s largest accrediting institutions (AAAAF and ProMed), hospital organizations, and private health clinics an interpretative framework for evaluating patient-centeredness and quality of care is offered. Discussion, implications, and …

Adverse Impacts Of Furlough Programs On Employee Work Rate And Organizational Productivity, Adedeji B. Badiru

Faculty Publications

This article is primarily a research-provoking exposition against the management approach used in the 2013 government furlough program. It is intended to prompt potentially productive research investigations on the impact of personnel furloughs, particularly on defense acquisition programs. Defense acquisition programs are time-sensitive and systems oriented. What appears as a minor delay in one unit of an acquisition life cycle can lead to long-term encumbrances within the entire defense system, resulting in enormous cost escalation. Pertinent analytical techniques/methodologies are provided to illustrate potential pathways for further research studies of furloughs and how they adversely impact organizational productivity. The author’s intent …

Talking Organization, Donncha Kavanagh

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Announcing New Annual Awards For Best Articles Of The Year, William P. Ferris

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Cultural Identity And Ethical Decision Making: An Experiential Exercise, Cheryl Tromley, Catherine Giapponi, Roselie Mcdevitt

Organization Management Journal

This experiential exercise enables students to explore an ethical decision and the relationship between cultural identity (as operationalized by Hofstede) and ethical decision making. The exercise involves a short case that can also be used as a role-play. Complete instructions for running and debriefing the exercise as either a case or a role-play and all materials are included.

Being In The Know: Socio-Epistemics And The Communicative Constitution Of A Management Team, Jonathan Clifton

Organization Management Journal

Increasingly, organizational research is taking the linguistic turn in social sciences seriously. Consequently, the central role of communication in the constitution of the organization is also finding greater acceptance. Using conversation analysis as a research methodology and transcripts of naturally occurring talk as data, the purpose of this article is to add to this growing body of research and to explicate how orientation to epistemic rights talks the hierarchy of the organization into being. Findings indicate how the negotiation of rights to have and to display status-based knowledge of head office index the discursive identities of knowing participants, which enacts …

A Case Of Ability And Disability: What Managers Must Know About The Ada, Elizabeth A. Corrigall, Carol Cirka

Organization Management Journal

This teaching exercise addresses a relatively neglected area of diversity, the employment of persons with disabilities. In the first part of the two-stage exercise, students are required to make a hiring decision based on a case that includes candidates who are disabled. This decision raises issues concerning the legal and ethical responsibilities of a hiring manager and uncovers some of the myths concerning candidates with disabilities. The case is subsequently used to anchor a lecture on essential information every manager should know about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and disability in the workplace. As a result of this exercise, …

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza: A Competitive Strategy Exercise, Norman T. Sheehan

Organization Management Journal

While business students are typically comfortable identifying and extrapolating trends uncovered during competitive analyses, they often fail to take the Red Queen Effect into account when formulating new competitive strategies. This competitive strategy exercise employs Kim and Mauborgne’s (2005) strategy canvas to help students to anticipate rivals’ potential reactions and then develop new competitive strategies for firms competing in highly competitive markets. The exercise concludes with key takeaways as to how students may best develop and evaluate new competitive strategies. Student feedback indicates that students found the exercise useful, as 97% of students (n = 69) recommended that instructors at …

Context And Content: Four Ways To Learn About Management Education, Steven Meisel, Catherine Giapponi, Barbara Ritter

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

50th Anniversary Eastern Academy Of Management Presidential Address, Theodore D. Peters

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Management Education And The Professions, Mark Somers, Katia Passerini, Annaleena Parhankangas, Jose Casal

Organization Management Journal

Ongoing concerns about a perceived disconnection between management education and management practice and the limited skill base of business school graduates are evident in the literature. These problems have been looked at through various lenses, and the professional model of education has shown promise in addressing perceived problems with business schools and their graduates. Using concepts from the sociology of the professions including jurisdiction, professional identity, and the nature of professional work, this article explores recent criticisms of management education and addresses the stages and issues involved in migrating to a model of education that mirrors that used in the …

Organizational Culture, Knowledge Structures, And Relational Messages In Organizational Negotiation: A Systems Approach, Vincent P. Cavataio, Robert S. Hinck

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

This study examines a recent bargaining process between the Faculty Association and Central Michigan University. Taking a systems approach, we began with the assumption that a healthy organizational culture produces negative feedback which can help keep participants at the bargaining table despite disagreement. However, if organizational members’ relationships are threatened, organizational culture unravels as destructive messages provide positive feedback to disrupt the system and make impasse more likely. To understand how an university’s culture is impacted during contract negotiations we examined messages published in a university student newspaper, transcripts from the local NPR station, CMU’s press releases, a Facebook page, …

Youthbuild Providence: Public Relations Plan, Madeline Armater, Clayton Durant, Michelle Ryder, James Paternostro, Kaiwen Zhu

Marketing and Communications

Understanding what incentives drive businesses to partner with non-profits, as well as understanding what media business owners will pay attention to can help our firm get YouthBuild Providence’s name and message in the correct places that will have a higher probability of being consumed by these higher level managers or small business owners. To get the message out correctly, we are going to leverage the use of social media and local media to push our message out to small businesses.

Empowered And Engaged: Exploring Social Media Best Practices For Nonprofits, Tessa Warner, Alexis Abel, Frauke Hachtmann

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Although nonprofits see value and potential in social media, many have not yet mastered social media and harnessed their full potential. This phenomenological study sought to identify the best social media strategies and tactics for effectively engaging existing and potential donors, volunteers and stakeholders, according to social media nonprofit professionals. Six themes emerged: listening to the audience; engaging instead of fundraising; sharing relevant, valuable and actionable content; being honest, accessible and responsive; using social media as part of a multi-channel strategy; and that measuring is mandatory.

Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Are Public Accounting Firms Subject To Diverging Standards Of Conduct Between Federal Courts And The Pcaob In Securities Fraud Claims?, Pierre Ciric

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

Discourses Of Inter-Expertise Creative Collaborative Performance In The Terra Nova Of Dublin’S Science Gallery, Diane Tangney, Olivia Freeman, Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

Discourses of creativity tempt us with promises of treasures from terra incognito (Cox, 2005). Creativity is central to the enterprise culture of our age and there is a dark side to such temptations (O'Rourke, 2010;Osborne, 2003; Rehn & De Cock, 2009). Creativity’s role in the enterprise culture may mean that like other aspects of enterprise culture, though many are called, few are chosen (Ainsworth & Hardy, 2008). This paper presents preliminary findings on data deriving from a larger project investigating creativity on the interactions between some special people that might be expected to be particularly creative (discipline experts from different …

Performing Collaborative Creativity: Learning From Diverse Experts Interacting In Ireland’S Science Gallery, Diane Tangney, Olivia Freeman, Brendan O'Rourke

Conference papers

This paper presents preliminary findings deriving from a larger project investigating the performance of collaborative creativity and is primarily concerned with describing the communication patterns of such performance. Interactions between different domain experts in Ireland’s Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin, were observed and recorded over the course of four months in 2011. The interactions have been loosely transcribed using the basic principles of CA. Preliminary findings include three observations. Firstly, creative performances involve a type of content we call ‘idea talk’. Secondly, performances of creative collaboration involve variance, not equality, in participation by individual experts. Variance in participation in group …

Using Inoculation Messages To Protect “Stay In The Market” Beliefs During Financial Crises, Lindsay Lyles Dillingham

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

This paper focuses on the problem of collapsed “stay in the market” (SIM) beliefs during financial crises. The primary purpose of this investigation was to ascertain whether or not inoculation messages represent a viable communication strategy to preemptively protect SIM beliefs during forthcoming financial crises. Ancillary purposes of this study were to further investigate the role of print and video crises, explicit instructions regarding post-inoculation talk (PIT), and gain and loss frame inoculation messages on the inoculation process. This study used a between subjects factorial design (3 x 2 plus four additional conditions) to explore ten hypotheses. Data collected from …

Communication And Effectiveness In A Us Nursing Home Quality-Improvement Collaborative, Priscilla Arling, Kathleen Abrahamson, Edward J. Miech, Thomas S. Inui, Greg Arling

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

In this study, we explored the relationship between changes in resident health outcomes, practitioner communication patterns, and practitioner perceptions of group effectiveness within a quality-improvement collaborative of nursing home clinicians. Survey and interview data were collected from nursing home clinicians participating in a quality-improvement collaborative. Quality-improvement outcomes were evaluated using US Federal and State minimum dataset measures. Models were specified evaluating the relationships between resident outcomes, staff perceptions of communication patterns, and staff perceptions of collaborative effectiveness. Interview data provided deeper understanding of the quantitative findings. Reductions in fall rates were highest in facilities where respondents experienced the highest levels …

Developing A Method For Measuring "Working Out Loud", Dennis E. Pearce

Theses and Dissertations--Finance and Quantitative Methods

Enterprise social network software platforms (ESNs) are increasingly being deployed in firms across almost every industry as a means of fostering employee collaboration. Although benefits in increased productivity, innovation, and employee engagement are highly touted, there is a high failure rate of these deployments. This often occurs because (1) there is a misapplied focus on technology adoption rather than adoption of the employee behaviors that are ultimately required to obtain those benefits, and (2) it is unclear what those behaviors are and how to measure them.

“Working Out Loud” is one possible framework for understanding and measuring the behaviors necessary …

Improving Professional Skills Through Adversity: A Phenomenological Study Of Mergers And Acquisitions, Randy Anita Rutledge

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Company mergers and acquisitions often create tremendous conflict for employees because they force them into a spiral of organizational change. In this environment, employees are challenged with redefining themselves within a new organization. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover and explain the particular conflict experiences of professional employees who experienced the merger and acquisition of their company. A phenomenological research study was conducted to discover and describe the shared conflict experiences of professional employees during the merger and acquisition of their consulting firm. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 self-identified professional employees. It was found through …

Gender And Corporate Sustainability: On Values, Vision, And Voice, Joan L. Slepian, Gwen E. Jones

Organization Management Journal

This article presents an exploratory empirical study of the role of gender in sustainability initiatives and practices in a sample of 925 men and women from American companies. We explore gender differences and their implications for sustainability values, priorities, and perceptions of sustainability-related activities in the workplace. Drawing from studies of sustainability, gender, and environmental values and action, our study finds that corporate women hold sustainability-related concerns and values to be significantly more important to them personally than do their male colleagues, and they view and evaluate their companies’ sustainability-related value priorities, initiatives, and activities from these foundational ethical and …

From Endogenization To Justification: Strategic Responses To Legitimacy Challenges In Contentious Organizational Fields, Paul-Brian Mcinerney

Organization Management Journal

Fields are contested social arenas. By examining the case of a single organization, in this case a social enterprise, the author shows how organizations respond to legitimacy challenges from members of the field and how such responses shape the organization’s form and practices. At times, organizations endogenize, that is, incorporate practices from the field. Findings indicate that responses reflect strategies under constraint. Endogenizing institutionalized practices constrains managers’ ability to exercise agency. Endogenizing contested practices afford agency by allowing managers to translate those practices to accord with local exigencies. This article extends literature on impression management and institutional theory by showing …

The Org: The Underlying Logic Of The Office By Ray Fisman And Tim Sullivan, Joanne L. Tritsch

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Integrating Corporate Sustainability And Organizational Strategy Within The Undergraduate Business Curriculum, Jamie R. Wieland, Dale E. Fitzgibbons

Organization Management Journal

Corporate sustainability (CS) requires organizations to shift focus from short-term financial goals to further consider the long-term social, environmental, and economic implications of their operations. Despite a lack of regulations in the United States requiring companies to disclose social and environmental measures, more than 80% of U.S. corporations voluntarily release corporate responsibility reports. The increased focus of CS in practice has impacted many business curricula to adapt CS-related courses (such as business ethics); however, we present results that indicate that such means may have limited influence on students’ views concerning the legitimacy of social and environmental issues in regard to …