Organizational Communication Commons^™

Patient Care News: May 2014, St. Cloud Hospital

Patient Care News

Happy Nurses Week 2014

Bedside Report

Nominate a Nurse for the March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Awards

Staff Perceptions Of Work-Environment Factors Affecting Morale In Southeastern Registrar's Offices, Rheanna Plemons

Dissertations

Studies on morale are prevalent in industry, healthcare, and public educational systems. However, morale studies are limited within higher education and focusing on the support staff at universities. This qualitative study used focus groups to identify themes among support staff in selected Registrar’s Offices in the Southeastern region of the United States. Institutions were chosen based on comparable enrollments and similar organizational structure. The researcher asked participants to discuss their perceptions on current morale levels in the office and how different work responsibilities affect morale. In addition, participants were asked to discuss motivators used by leaders and whether those motivators …

Tensions And Metaphors In Higher Education Fundraising Profession, Jessica Martin Carver

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research examined the language used by higher education development professionals, specifically similar and dissimilar tropes and how they shape the perception of those development professionals. By studying these linguistic devices, insight is provided into this particular occupation and the effects these devices have on perceptions and interpretation. The findings in this study could help to produce more skilled communicators in the field and could be used as a framework to study other professional positions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather data from twelve participants, and the data was then analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings revealed the types of metaphors …

Developing An Intentional Mentoring Model For Disciple Formation At The Mayfair Church Of Christ, Jason Bybee

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This doctor of ministry thesis presents the results of a project to lead a team in the development of an intentional mentoring model for disciple formation at the Mayfair Church of Christ. This intervention involved the team members in a series of sessions during September and October 2013. Project sessions were designed to provide participants an intentional mentoring experience through exposure to four core practices: exploration of the biblical text, appreciative inquiry exercises, communal sharing, and prayer. Sessions were informed by (1) an understanding of discipleship as following behind Jesus and walking alongside our fellow sojourners, (2) the nature of …

A Case Study Of An All Female Workplace: The Coffee Crew, Ashley C. Henry

Senior Honors Projects

Dealing with different personalities and gender roles is nothing new in the workplace. Today, the workplace is filled with an abundance of elements that affect the overall climate of the work environment. The elements have a direct influence on the ways in which co-workers interact with one another on a daily basis. In order to see how an organization works, it is important to observe the employees of the organization. The employees each play vital roles in the company and add to the organization’s overall climate and dynamics.

Typically at organizations, there are both male and female employees. However, I …

Enterprise Social Networks : Effective Internal Organizational Communication Strategies, Makeda A. Boucaud

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as Facebook and Twitter have reinvented how publics communicate with one another. Enterprise Social Networks (ESNs) are a form of Social Network Sites (SNS) which many organizations are adopting within their communication practices. The primary goal of ESNs is to engage employees through social interaction which is intended to create company communities which users can use to access business information, team updates and team performance statistics. The current study examines assumptions present in purveyor literature about how ESNs are intended to provide benefit in six aspects of organizational development: organizational communication, information communication technology, technology …

Organizing Livelihoods: An Examination Of Political Discourses Organizing A Public Park, Jared Kopczynski

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Organizational communication scholars have a history of challenging previous understandings of organization and complicating the ways organizations are understood and practiced. As organizations have been studied from communicative perspectives, some scholars have suggested moving beyond the organization to apply the rich insights gained to new problems and phenomena. Guided by the call to take organizational communication insights beyond the “organization,” this thesis examines constitutive communicative interactions and lived experiences within a public park. Public parks are frequently overlooked as mundane places in contemporary Western society, but this study demonstrates how that they are important places for meaning making and organizing. …

Knowledge, Perceptions, And Outcomes Of Agricultural Communications Curriculum In Arkansas Secondary Agricultural Classrooms, Carley Payne Calico

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method study was to assess the effectiveness of agricultural communications curriculum developed and incorporated into a semester-long agricultural leadership and communications course for secondary agricultural education programs in Arkansas. This study was comprised of three parts including a pilot test, teacher training assessment, and a descriptive field test over a two-year period. For the pilot test portion of the study, students (N = 297) participated in newly developed instructional modules (careers, writing, design, and multimedia) predetermined by a committee of agricultural education and communications faculty at the University of Arkansas. The pilot test indicated students' …

The Impact Of Intolerance Of Uncertainty On International Students' Intercultural And Intracultural Conflict Management, Yekaterina Syrtsova

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the role of intolerance of uncertainty in international students' conflict management in intracultural and intercultural settings. International students at a large U.S. university were surveyed and their responses were analyzed using quantitative methods. Analyses indicated that the higher the intolerance of uncertainty scores, the higher the use of dominating and avoiding strategies. The results in this study also revealed that when controlling for sex, the higher the individuals' intolerance of uncertainty score, the lower their preference for integrating-compromising strategy. Finally, there were limited differences between the ways international students handle conflict with conflict partners from their own …

Right Flier: Newsletter Of The Aaup-Wsu Volume 14, Number 5, 2013-2014, American Association Of University Professors-Wright State University

The Right Flier Newsletter

A three page newsletter created by the Wright State University chapter of the American Association of University Professors. The newsletter features a single article reporting on the administration's opening positions on compensation and benefits, which together will yield a significant pay cut for all faculty.

You Bring Yourself To Work: An Exploration Lgb/Tq Experiences Of (In)Dignity And Identity, Sara J. Baker

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The workplace can be a hostile space for people who perform their gender, sex, and sexuality in ways that differ from heteronormative expectations. These employees are often met with messages that are particularly undignifying, thereby denying desires for respectful communication with others and damaging an individual’s sense of self-worth and value. Therefore, the goal of my project was to learn about the experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer individuals in the workplace and what kinds of interactions either affirm or threaten workplace dignity, their strategies for resistance, and how the communication of (in)dignity influences processes of LGB/TQ identity …

Clearing The Smoke: Understanding Organizational Change Communication And Misalignment In High-Risk Contexts, Laura E. Young

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Recent economic turbulence in the United States has resulted in budget cuts for many city-funded organizations, including high-risk organizations such as local fire departments. Budget cuts trigger organizational change and create uncertainty among employees, which is a major concern for high-risk organizations. This dissertation examined internal communication practices used during organizational change in an urban fire department and the influence of organizational structure and culture on communication satisfaction. This robust case study used a multi-method approach including interviews with middle managers (i.e., district majors), and focus groups and channel preference surveys with full-time firefighters from lower level ranks (i.e., firefighters, …

Exploring Workplace Friendship Through Social Exchange Theory To Reduce Job Stress, Jennifer Ptacek

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Stress experienced at work over time can lead to a number of negative outcomes for employees and organizations, including decreased work performance and morale, absenteeism, burnout, and turnover (Jones & Elliott, 2004; Pines, 2002). Positive, socially supportive workplace communication has been found to enhance quality of work life and aid in coping with stress (Sias, 2009). Social exchange theory (SET) offers helpful insight into explaining how work friendships provide social support in ways that mitigate stress and enhance coping ability (Buunk & Hoorens, 1992). However, many gaps exist in the research literature regarding social support among work peer friends and …

From Micro To Macro: Examinations Of Individual Level Work–Family Conflict And Organizational Level Entrepreneurial Orientation, Kristin B. Backhaus

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Older-Worker-Friendly Policies And Affective Organizational Commitment, Kerri Anne Crowne, Jeremy Cochran, Caryl E. Carpenter

Organization Management Journal

In the United States the Baby Boomer generation is advancing toward retirement age and many are choosing to stay in the workforce. This study develops and analyzes a model of the impact of older-worker-friendly (OWF) policies in organizations on job satisfaction, strain-based work/family conflict, and affective organizational commitment in older workers. The data included 368 full-time employed persons age 50 years or older who participated in a telephone survey. Linear regression was used to analyze the hypothesized relationships. Results indicated that the model was supported. Older workers who were employed at organizations with more older-worker-friendly policies had higher levels of …

Addressing Difficult Issues In The Hrm Bubble, Steven Meisel

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Linking Interactional Justice To Work-To-Family Conflict: The Mediating Role Of Emotional Exhaustion, Ivy A. Kyei-Poku

Organization Management Journal

This study examined the effect of interactional justice on work– to-family conflict and whether emotional exhaustion was a mediator of this relationship. Field survey data were obtained from 141 employees from various organizations and occupations. The findings suggest that perceptions of interactional justice are related to work-to-family conflict and, as predicted, emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between interactional justice and work-to-family conflict. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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.