Learning is a lifelong process. It is therefore worthwhile looking at instances where learning takes place outside educational institutions and see how educational principles can be applied there. In a market economy companies have to quest for profit to ensure their long-term survival. In the end, their educational goals have to serve themselves.…

While not presuming to present a model of organizational socialization that is complete and totally accurate, this paper examines organizational socialization in a new way through the lenses of symbolic interactionism and culture theory. The first section of the paper describes the basic tenets of symbolic interactionism and how these have been…

Responds to an article in an earlier issue of this journal. Discusses the state of theorizing in the field of organizational communication. (SR)

Describes the Experience Sampling Method, a quasi-naturalistic method that involves signaling research subjects at random times throughout the day, and asking them to report on the nature and quality of their experience. Discusses the method's applications and value in research topics in organizational settings; with mass and mediated…

Makes three main points in response to their critics. Suggests multiple methodologies are appropriate for the study of almost any communication phenomenon and that organizational assimilation is akin to or encompasses many issues that have been stated as outside its parameters. Identifies with disagreements in the use of several concepts. (SC)

In an effort to establish the domain of organizational communication (OC), this paper defines variables, presents models of their relationships, explains the three dominant approaches to OC, and proposes ways to test their competing claims. Having defined characteristic, causal, and result variables, the paper stresses the importance of…

Explores the idea of a crisis of representation in the context of organizational communication studies. Suggests that this notion should be the leitmotif for critical organizational theory and research across the next 10 years. (RS)

Finds that, of the disciplines under discussion in this special issue, corporate communication is the newest, least understood, and the only one specifically related to a functional area within organizations. Defines corporate communication as a discipline. Examines how it relates to other subdisciplines under consideration (management…

Focuses on the issue of generalizability of laboratory studies. Explores the utility of both laboratory and field studies. Maintains that many laboratory studies can have meaningful applied value to managers in spite of their extreme artificiality. Offers a rationale for each approach and criteria for assessing them. (SR)

Responds to an article in the same issue of this journal which defends the applied value of laboratory studies to managers. Agrees that external validity is often irrelevant, and maintains that the problem of making inferences from any subject sample in management communication is one that demands internal, not external, validity. (SR)

States that recent developments in critical organization studies suggest that feminist theory and research provide an additional domain of inquiry. Explores the intersection of feminism and postmodernism and its potential value for organizational communication studies. Suggests the concept of gendered rationality as a useful way of framing this…

This article identifies a surprising dearth of studies that explicitly link communication and evaluation at substantive, theoretical, and methodological levels. A three-fold typology of evaluation studies referring to communication is proposed and examples given. The importance of organizational communication in program delivery is stressed and…

Describes the development of the concept of ethical sensitivity in the field of cognitive moral psychology. Discusses significance of ethical sensitivity for the field of organizational communication; weaknesses of empirical and theoretical research about moral decision making in the field of business ethics; and questions from organizational…

Reviews the progress of business communication ethics research in recent years. Argues that further improvement will require that scholars identify central issues, use a variety of research methods, address normative issues, make full use of relevant literatures, and support colleagues who choose business communication ethics as a major research…

Identifies the lack of a common conceptual grounding in education, theory, and ideology as three critical factors missing in issues management. Suggests this lack leads to the failure of organizations to communicate readily how they and their leadership stand on crucial concerns. (KEH)