The text is organized topically around the most important issues in organizational communication. Five themes recur throughout the chapters: the interdependence of internal and external forms of organizational communication, the disciplinarity and multidisciplinarity of organizational communication, global and multicultural perspectives of organizational communication, the unity of theory and practice, and critical thinking in the analysis of organizational messages and discourses.
Discussions highlight language and symbolism. The authors weave analysis of the multiple levels of messages throughout the chapters; stimulate critical thinking about contemporary work and organizational life; approach the familiar as unfamiliar; ask probing questions about commonly accepted practices; and offer more imaginative ways of working together. Readers gain an appreciation for the social, political, economic, technological, and ideological contexts in organizations and the place of organizations within the broader culture. The authors lead by example in encouraging readers to think about, talk about, and experience organizational communication in entirely new ways.
Titles of related interested also available from Waveland Press: Allen, Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity, Second Edition (ISBN 9781577666738); Andrews-Baird, Communication for Business and the Professions, Eighth Edition (ISBN 9781577663799); and Johnson-Hackman, Leadership: A Communication Perspective, Seventh Edition (ISBN 9781478635024).