Organizational Communication Commons^™

Building Bridges: What We Can Learn From Combining Otherwise Separated Debates, Kees Boersma

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Approaches To Corporate Sustainability, Kristin Backhaus

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Using Procedural Justice To Understand, Explain, And Prevent Decision-Making Errors In Forensic Sciences, Scott J. Behson, Roger Koppl

Organization Management Journal

It has been estimated that in the United States there are 20,000 false felony convictions a year due to deficiencies in the forensic science and criminal justice systems (Koppl, 2010c). As many of these errors can be attributed to flaws in the processes by which forensic science decisions are made, the principles of procedural justice are a useful lens for analyzing these processes and recommending improved practices. In this secondary analysis of current research, decision-making processes in forensic sciences are analyzed using Leventhal’s six criteria for establishing procedural justice. Specifically, we assesses the current state of forensic science, explain how …

The Emotions Of Change: A Case Study, Kerri S. Kearny, Kayla D. Siegman

Organization Management Journal

The purpose of this article is to report on a specific team intervention, a rapidly constructed response to a request for help with a situation that was believed by the chief executive officer (CEO) to have reached a crisis stage. The effort was, of necessity, “on the fly,” and the roles of consultant, participant, researcher, and collaborator were blurred and evolving as answers to the immediate problem were sought. This article presents and reflects on four tools used as a part of the intensive work with the emotional aspects of the team’s experiences of revolutionary organizational change. In extended follow-up …

Institutional Theory And Corporate Sustainability: Determinant Versus Interactive Approaches, Jeffrey Gauthier

Organization Management Journal

Institutional theory has shifted from determinant to interactive arguments in recent decades, and sustainability scholarship reflects this change. In this article, I consider whether this shift is empirically justified. I review the use of both determinant and interactive arguments in sustainability research and test two sets of competing hypotheses regarding the likelihood of adoption of sustainable practices. Through logistic regression analysis of a sample of 391 U.S.-based firms, I find no support for hypotheses grounded in determinant arguments, but strong support for hypotheses based on interactive arguments. The results of this study offer implications for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.

Tough Cookies: Leadership Lessons From 100 Years Of The Girl Scouts By Kathy Cloninger With Fiona Soltes, Claudia Harris

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Where Have All The Women Gone?, Devi Akella

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

From Purpose To Production In Crafting The Organizational Tale, Sally Riad, Michael B. Elmes

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Three Stories—And A Writer’S Tale: A Creative Writing Case Study Of Workplace Bullying, Margaret H. Vickers

Organization Management Journal

I present a creative writing case study of workplace bullying using three stories: Story 1—The Writing Context contextualizes the case study’s development in an Australian higher education institution; Story 2—The Writing Process describes the creative writing process, including interpretation of public domain secondary empirical sources enmeshed with a writer’s imagination; and Story 3—The Writing Product presents a creative writing case study of workplace bullying. Interleaved with these three stories of context, process, and product are fragments of my more reflective and reflexive story—A Writer’s Tale—shared to assist reader understanding of some of the ambiguous, paradoxical, and pernicious outcomes of workplace …

From Initiate To Insider: Renegotiating Workplace Roles And Relations Using Staged Humorous Events, Kirrilly Thompson

Organization Management Journal

Like anthropologists entering the field as “outsiders,” initiates to organizations need to learn new cultures as they transition to “insiders” or veterans. Organizational research has identified the role that spontaneous humor plays in this transition. However, there has been little research into “staged” humorous events. At the same time, anthropological practice has identified various ethnographic research techniques designed to expedite entrée to a social group or organization. However, there has been no research on the implications of a colleague delivering an ethnography of a group back to itself. In this article, I detail a strategy that combined humor and the …

Developing Your Inner Entrepreneur, Margaret Schneider

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Womenpreneurs: 21st Century Success Strategies By Dorothy Perrin Moore, Lisa A. Mainiero

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

Prescribed Reading: May 2013, Centracare Clinic

Prescribed Reading

• Health Care Matters: Name change signals focus on health
• Recognizing employees who Lead with Care
• Patient Satisfaction Scorecard
• Welcome to our new CentraCare providers!
• Clinic leader expands her role
• Celiac Disease/Gluten-Free Diet
• New interpretive services vendor selected
• Diversity tip
• Physician of Excellence award
• Review new e-Communications policy
• Get the shot!
• Dialysis program receives 5-diamond patient safety status
• Thank you for your support and generosity!
• Adolescent Residential Facility Open House
• May 19-25 is Medical Transcription Week
• Perinatology Clinic to move May 28
• Spring into good health!
• Reaching out to Spanish-speaking women
• Lean improves process and performance
• Baa baa black sheep, have …

The Risks And Rewards Of Serving As A Department Chair, Jon A. Hess

Communication Faculty Publications

Serving as chair is a significant point in the career of any faculty member who inhabits the office. It is a position with high highs and low lows, significant stressors and some perks, the chance to have a positive impact on a program, and the near certainty that at some point you will generate disagreement with almost everyone in the department. The department chair is a boundary position between the university administration and the faculty; a chair inhabits both worlds, but resides fully in neither. Chairs are charged with numerous responsibilities and often lack full authority needed to accomplish their …

Making Good: An Exploratory Study Of The Socialization, Identity, And Sensemaking Of Mission Trip Volunteers, Katelin Frederick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research explored how mission trip volunteers assume various roles throughout their volunteer experience. By seeing the various roles that emerge in mission volunteer work, the identities that they construct based upon these roles are revealed. Discovering the ways in which these roles and constructed identities affect the way that mission trip volunteers could potentially help colleges improve their recruitment messages and distinguish themselves from other institutions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain data from the participants, and the data were analyzed through a thematic, constant comparative method. Findings revealed the types of stories heard from other mission trip volunteers …

Communicating Creativity: A Workshop And Communication Tools For Teaching And Consulting In Creativity, Stephen J. Hammond

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project developed tools to support a consulting practice integrating the author’s interests in creative process, design and organizational strategy. The focus is on educating students and clients about creativity, creative thinking, design and innovation. Design thinking concepts of user feedback and rapid prototyping were used during the project. The resulting products are materials for a multi-day graduate level workshop for design students, a creativity website including blogging capability and a four minute educational video aimed at helping establish an Aerospace Technology Center in Northern Illinois.

Meet Them Where They Gather: An Analysis Of Nasa’S Communications Approach For The 21st Century, Amanda D. Stein

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Since the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been tasked with not only governing the United States’ space activities, but also sharing those efforts and subsequent findings with the American public. When President Barack Obama issued the Open Government Directive in 2009, NASA was well positioned to meet the objectives. Today, the administration has built one of the most successful web-based information-sharing presences by government agency, largely by tailoring communications efforts to reach the public on popular social media platforms. This paper will explore how NASA has utilized two-way symmetrical communications …

The D.B. Weldon Library's Instruction Portfolio: A Grassroots, Team-Based Approach, Kim Mcphee, Melanie Mills, Marg Sloan

Western Libraries Presentations

In an effort to address ever-shifting staffing levels and evolving service demands, staff in the Research & Instructional Services department of The D.B. Weldon Library at Western University developed and implemented a new and strategic approach to structuring their work. The ‘Portfolio Model’ provides a framework for organizing the primary functions of the department - collections, instruction and reference - while at the same time preserving liaison at its core. Through a close examination of this grassroots effort and in particular, the achievements realized and challenges faced by the team of librarians and library assistants who together comprise the ‘Instruction …

Webmail Crisis 2012: A Case Study Analysis Of The Western Michigan University Webmail Plus Failure, Matthew Vargo

Honors Theses

Background Electronic mail, or email, can trace its origin to Arpanet. Arpanet was a network of interlinked computers created by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (Harrison, 2003). The proliferation of email from Arpanet in the 1970's to modern use has been apparent. Today, over 3.4 billion email accounts exist worldwide with expected growth (The Raticati Group, Inc., 2012). Webmail Plus is the email platform used at Western Michigan University. The system is a third-party cloud based service provided by Merit Network Inc. (Merit Network Inc., 2013). On September 2ih, 2012, five hard drives failed at Merit Network in Southfield, Michigan. …

Portraying Sense Of Community Through Communication: How To Maximize The Benefit Of Social Media For A Community Agency, Julia Walter

Honors Theses

Perceptions of social media networks are changing rapidly. Their purpose, function, effectiveness, and relevance are being widely debated while their global popularity and societal influence escalate. While individuals used the networks to share, manage, and change their personal lives, organizations jumped at the chance to benefit from low-cost public relations, advertising, and market research. Many organizations speedily adjusted their communication strategies to access these low-cost resources. Due to historical marginalization many nonprofit community agencies were slower to integrate this new media costing them the opportunity to compete for audience attention on level with the private industry. Neglecting to integrate these …