DITA For Business Documents? New OASIS Committee Says "Yes!"

Think DITA is just for procedural technical documents? Think again. A new OASIS DITA sub-committee has been announced whose purpose it is to explore using the popular technical documentation standard known as the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) outside technical documentation projects.

Content Wrangler, The (2007). Articles>Business Communication>XML>DITA

How to Select a Proper Article Writing Method

Here are two main methods you can use to launch off your article marketing campaign.

How to Write Anything (2007). Articles>Writing>Marketing>Business Communication

Five Simple Ways to Let Go and Give in to New Digital Routines

The way to be a jack-of-all-trades is to have the right tools in place so you can spend more time on the things you're good at. Here are five simple switches that allow you to shake your fusty old habits and start using the right tools.

Danzico, Liz. Core77 (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Workflow

Practitioners' Views About the Use of Business Email Within Organizational Settings: Implications for Developing Student Generic Competence    

Although extensive research has been done on teaching emails and on the use of emails in organisations, little research exists about how to incorporate organizational practitioners' views as the voices of the community of social practice. To remedy this pedagogical gap, this article uses a genre approach to discuss organizational practitioners' views on the use of email in organizational settings. It also develops seven teaching and learning stages for situated learning and teaching in business communication based upon the presented study findings.

Zhu, Yunxia and Catherine White. Business Communication Quarterly (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email

Consulting On Negotiation: Teaching Business Students Basic Techniques    

My experience as a consultant has provided a wealth of information and ideas that I often share with my college students. Perhaps the most important skill I have honed has been the ability to negotiate deals and contracts. No other factor has had such a direct impact on the success of my consulting business. The art of negotiation is understood by few people or regularly utilized, and yet most people negotiate several times a day. Each time a person buys a product or service, an internal as well as external negotiation occurs. We barter professionally, personally, and psychologically with little or no thought of improving this much-needed skill.

Layng, Jacqueline M. Business Communication Quarterly (2009). Articles>Education>Consulting>Business Communication

Best Practices in Preparing Students for Mock Interviews    

Studies have shown the importance of employment interview preparation in boosting the confidence and performance of students and jobseekers when they interview. This article reviews several techniques for preparing students for mock job interviews and, hence, actual job interviews.

Hansen, Katharine, Gary C. Oliphant, Becky J. Oliphant and Randall S. Hansen. Business Communication Quarterly (2009). Articles>Education>Interviewing>Business Communication

Use of Uncertainty Reduction and Narrative Paradigm Theories in Management Consulting and Teaching: Lessons Learned    

Teaching business communication while performing professional business consulting is the perfect learning match. The bizarre but true stories from our consulting world provide excellent analogies for classroom learning, and feedback from students about the consulting experiences reaffirms the power of using stories for teaching. When discussing this article, we recognized that we used two distinct communication theories for consulting and then for relaying these experiences in teaching. First, we talked about the challenge of truly in-depth process consulting: determining with the client what they need, not simply what they want. This requires extensive uncertainty reduction theory--continuing to drill down until the true nature of the problem is revealed and further consulting can begin.

Barker, Randolph T. and Kim Gower. Business Communication Quarterly (2009). Articles>Education>Consulting>Business Communication

Trends in Industry Supervisors' Feedback On Business Communication Internships    

The purpose of this empirical study is to explore expectations of industry insiders and identify how student interns are performing in relation to those expectations as defined by 11 performance areas. The results of a survey of 238 industry supervisors were collected over a 5-year period in the departments of English and communication at a private university in the Northeast. While the results suggest that student interns tend to meet their supervisors' expectations in many areas, performance categories such as initiative, writing skills, and oral communication skills require increased attention in the ways we prepare students for their internships and post-graduation employment and, perhaps, the ways we help onsite supervisors develop expectations for and evaluate our interns.

Sapp, David Alan and Qin Zhang. Business Communication Quarterly (2009). Articles>Internships>Education>Business Communication

Economic Crises and Financial Disasters: The Role of Business Communication    

In the wake of global economic crisis, some of those responsible were summoned to testify under oath before Congressional committees to explain to the public what went wrong. What they said opened a window onto the thought processes and communication abilities of major business leaders. Many of them denied responsibility, failed to explain what occurred, and undermined their own credibility; as a result they were pilloried by Congress and the media. But how are these people connected to those of us who teach and do research in business communication? Unfortunately, these are our alumni, our former students.

Jameson, Daphne A. JBC (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Financial>Education

Obfuscating the Obvious: Miscommunication Issues in the Interpretation of Common Terms    

We communicate via many forms every day. When what we say or write is misunderstood, the fault may lie with either party. One source of miscommunication is the different meaning people place on commonly used words and phrases. In this article, the authors report preliminary results from a study on such miscommunication and lay out an agenda for research on improving business communication based on the Integrative Model of Levels of Analysis of 'Miscommunication,' developed by Coupland, Wiemann, and Giles.

Brewer, Edward C. and Terrence L. Holmes. JBC (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>Rhetoric

Performing Sustainable Development Through Eco-Collaboration: The Ricelands Habitat Partnership    

In this article, the authors demonstrate this point through a genealogy and textual analysis of the Ricelands Habitat Partnership (RHP), an eco-collaboration between the rice industry and environmental advocates in California's Sacramento Valley. Articulated here as a story of enemies becoming friends, the RHP gives life to a vision of more (if not perfectly) sustainable agriculture, where sustaining business and the natural environment can go hand in hand. The authors argue that sustainable development (like democracy or other abstract concepts) becomes 'real' for businesses and for society at large through local enactment.

Livesey, Sharon M., Cathy L. Hartman, Edwin R. Stafford and Molley Shearer. JBC (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Environmental>Case Studies

The Role of Leader Motivating Language in Employee Absenteeism    

This study investigates the relationship between strategic leader language (as embodied in Motivating Language Theory) and employee absenteeism. With a structural equation model, two perspectives were measured for the impact of leader spoken language: employee attitudes toward absenteeism and actual attendance. Results suggest that leader language does in fact have a positive, significant relationship with work attendance through the mediation effect of worker attendance attitude.

Mayfield, Jacqueline and Milon Mayfield. JBC (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Management>Rhetoric

Business Information Through Spain’s Chambers of Commerce: Meeting Business Needs    

From different public and private requirements, mechanisms have been set in action that allow for companies to obtain information in order to make decisions with a stronger foundation. This article is focused on the description of an entire information system for the business world, developed in the realm of the Chambers of Commerce of Spain, which has given rise to the creation of an authentic network of inter-chamber information. In Spain, the obligatory membership of businesses to the Chambers of Commerce in their geographic areas, and therefore the compulsory payment of member quotas, has traditionally generated some polemics, above all because many firms have not perceived a material usefulness of the services offered by these Chambers. Notwithstanding, the 85 Chambers currently existing in Spain, as well as the organization that coordinates them – the Upper Council or Consejo Superior de Cámaras de Comercio – and the company created expressly to commercialize information services online, Camerdata, have developed genuinely informative tools that cover a good part of the information demands that a business might claim, and these are described here.

Cañavate, Antonio Muñoz and Pedro Hípola. Business Information Review (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Case Studies>Europe

The Changing Nature of Commercial Research    

In this article, Nigel Spencer compares and contrasts his experience of delivering fee-based business information research from 1987 to 2008. Although the article is written from the perspective of the British Library priced research services, many points made could also apply to the changing role of the business information professional.

Spencer, Nigel. Business Information Review (2008). Articles>Research>Business Communication>United Kingdom

Online Customer Communities    

This article describes how the author investigated the business case for the operation of online customer communities, and evaluated their impact. This was achieved through analysis of opinions from members in company-sponsored and member-initiated online customer communities. The research aimed to understand the relationship between customer and company in online communities, explore the motivations of customers to participate in online customer communities, and the benefits of these communities to companies. The main findings of the research revealed that online customer communities are beneficial to both company and customer. The evaluation concludes with a set of recommendations to companies on how online customer communities might be effectively created and managed.

Paterson, Lorraine. Business Information Review (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Social Networking>User Centered Design

Engaging with Social Media in the Business and Intellectual Property Centre (BIPC) at the British Library    

In this article, Neil Infield shares with us the way in which the BIPC has successfully used social media to reach its diverse audience of inventors, entrepreneurs and small business owner.

Infield, Neil. Business Information Review (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Social Networking>Case Studies

Using Research: Supporting Organizational Change and Improvement    

Explores the importance of organizational research as a tool to support business change and improvement. Describes a tried and tested research methodology that has been used within public and private sector organizations and can be easily adapted by in-house research and information services. Demonstrates how research can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of learning and development products and services. Includes a case study from a central government department that investigates the role of the line manager in learning.

Wheeler, Stephanie. Business Information Review (2009). Articles>Research>Business Communication>Case Studies

Market Data and Business Information    

Market Data and Business information have traditionally been two disciplines that have been very separate with no overlap. However, changes in content and delivery now mean that the two professions are much closer than previously and many of the issues and content sets are now common to both. Looking at some of the issues involved we can see how each side can benefit from the experience of the other.

Ainsworth, Martin. Business Information Review (2009). Articles>Information Design>Business Communication

A Small Business Guide to Wikis

Social technology has risen to meet this challenge over the last few years. And while there are a lot of social tools to choose from, one type stands out for this type of collaboration: the wiki. The unique communication model inherent in the wiki makes it ideal for becoming a central business tool for your entire team. The following is an overview of using wiki software for small business.

Parr, Ben. Mashable (2009). Articles>Web Design>Business Communication>Wikis

Grammar on the Web: Some Rules of Thumb for Business

Now that Twitter’s 140 character limit has become commonplace, web shorthand techniques are once again in full use. So what should you, as a businessperson, know about grammar use on the web? Is it ever appropriate to use this type of language shorthand? It’s actually a complicated matter, which is why I’ve written up this short guide on grammar on the web for business.

Parr, Ben. Open Forum (2009). Articles>Web Design>Business Communication>Grammar

Business Communications and Meetings to Become Steady Stream of Enterprise 2.0 Content?

Cisco's $3.2 billion intended acquisition of WebEx has me thinking of what Charles Giancarlo, Cisco's chief development officer, calls "this next wave of business communications." What do you suppose he means?

Gardner, Dana. ZDNet (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Content Management

How To Persuade Your Users, Boss or Clients

Whether you are getting a client to sign off on a website’s design or persuade a user to complete a call to action, we all need to know how to be convincing. Like many in the Web design industry, I have a strange job. I am part salesperson, part consultant and part user experience designer. One day I could be pitching a new idea to a board of directors, the next I might be designing an e-commerce purchasing process. There is, however, a common theme: I spend most of my time persuading people.

Boag, Paul. Smashing (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>Rhetoric

White Paper Writing: Strategies for Success

White papers are a fundamental part of your marketing arsenal. And if you think technical writers don't need to worry about marketing, read on to see why white paper writing is an essential skill, and how to turn a ho-hum paper into a killer communications tool.

HelpScribe (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Technical Writing>White Papers

Why is it so Difficult to Maintain Accurate Process Documentation Across an IT Organization?

I saw this question posed in a discussion on LinkedIn, and thought that it deserved an answer from an IT Process Automation (ITPA) perspective. One respondent to the question stated it well: "The answer is simple, if there is not a common bond and governance mechanism between process documentation and the technology that is executing the process, the documentation eventually atrophies and collects dust." In my days as an independent ITIL consultant, I found that training and getting personnel to use process as part of their daily routine was at least as difficult as maintaining and updating process documentation. There is a chasm between theory and practice when it comes to process execution.

Greene, Travis. NetIQ (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Documentation>Policies and Procedures

Managing Culture Change Within the Context of Mergers and Acquisitions 

The generic term “mergers & acquisitions (M&A)” appeared for the first time at the end of the 19th century in the United States. In times of increased global competition, M&A activities have reached all regions of the world and are not solely concerning large enterprises. However, with many M&A projects never reaching the synergy effects that were expected of them, the successful integration of one company into another remains a challenge.

Bialek, Chantal. TC World (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace>Policies and Procedures