This article presents a case-based exploration of the complex interactions between learning, research, and practice in the field of business and professional communication. It focuses on a student research project in the area of corporate social responsibility in the biopharmaceutical industry. Adopting an autoethnographic approach, we aim to…

Summarizes the scholarly discussion about negative messages and reports the results of two pretests and two experiments using negative letters. Shows that buffers did not significantly affect college students' responses to simulated letters refusing credit and denying admission to graduate school and that strong "resale" was…

Evaluates the influence of quality of information communicated about both nontraditional and traditional benefits on the recruitment of college graduates. Examines how communicating different degrees of information influences willingness to accept a job. Finds that increasing the quality of information communicated about traditional benefits…

Examines whether the preference or abhorrence of various communication topics might be related to personality type. Finds no statistically significant correlation between business communication students' personality types and their preferred topics in business communication. (SR)

Describes the author's research to identify and describe effective and satisfying pedagogical designs to provide guidance in making technological delivery choices for professional communication distance education. Reviews research questions asked and describes her use of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to compare two Internet-based…

To analyze the effects of nonverbal environment factors--specifically of plants--on the perceived attitudes of a visitor to a business, a survey examined the use of plants to project warmth and caring on the part of the office occupant. Subjects, 170 students in a basic communication course, completed a survey regarding feelings and opinions…

Reports the results of a study on perceptions of stress among business communication students, from a questionnaire completed by students and an alternate form completed by faculty. Finds that faculty perceived students to be more stressed than students reported. (SR)

Describes a prewriting problem-solving plan intended to help students achieve effective organization and persuasion in writing business documents. Finds that business communication students felt the plan was beneficial, particularly for persuasive messages, individual writing, and small-group writing, and that many felt the plan was worth…

Describes a packet of instructional forms to guide students' reflections on their collaborative writing group's process and progress. Reports that student self-reports at the end of the project reveal that group satisfaction did increase and that those groups that used the forms regularly found them useful. (RS)