#31441
Employees Tune In to Web Radio
The recent buzz regarding corporate web logs (blogs) may have deflected attention from another effective, low-cost medium: corporate web radio. The following article offers a few tips and “lessons learned” for the corporate professional who would like to start web radio within his or her firm—or for the PR agency, another value-added service for your clients.
Loper, Larry. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Audio>Podcasting
#30490
Empowerment: A Manager's and Professional's Perspective 
In today's dynamic business environment, management gurus claim that corporate survival depends upon visionary leadership. The visionary leadership term bandied about most frequently is empowerment. Seminars, courses, books, and corporate communications are educating managers in this concept. The managers return to their jobs charged up and ready to make changes. But how can managers translate abstract concepts into practice? This presentation explores empowerment form a technical communicator and a manager's perspective, giving concrete examples.
Scroggs, Debbie L. and M.L. Eschen. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Business Communication
#19381
I wanted to be a science writer for the same reason that many of you probably wanted to be scientists. For my generation, at least in our youth, truth and beauty were as one. I dabbled in poetry and paleontology, astronomy and architecture. I finally chose writing because it gave me art and science as well. I'd never heard the phrase 'science writer' but science was always my subject. When I went into daily newspapering I told my editor I wanted to be a science writer. He grunted and said the paper didn't need one of those. But history was against him, and the young kid he'd hired had a talent for finding science in any story he was assigned. Early on I turned a story about the city's rat eradication program into a piece that could have blended seamlessly with Zinsser's Rats, Lice and History. In my hands a zoning story metamorphosed into a piece on urban demographics. A school bond issue assignment came back to my editor in the form of an un-rejectable profile of a chemistry teacher. The editors grumbled but the readers loved it – and soon everyone outside the paper referred to me as a 'science writer.' I will never forget the great victory it was, the first time my boss called me that.
Franklin, Jon. NASW (1997). Articles>Scientific Communication
#13770
The Engineer as Rational Man: The Problem of Imminent Danger in a Non-Rational Environment 
Mine safety instruction manuals and training guides reflect an engineering perspective based on the concept of a Rational Man, a perspective which obsstructs effective risk management.
Sauer, Beverly A. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (1992). Articles>Documentation>Risk Communication>Rhetoric
#31348
Review: English for the Energy Industries: Oil, Gas, and Petrochemicals
Not only people preparing to work in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, but also students of industrial chemistry and chemical engineering can immensely benefit from the material provided in this coursebook and supplementary CDs.
Kumar Panda, Prasanta. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Reviews>Business Communication>Engineering
#26737
Enterprise Agility - Is Risk Management
Plain and simple, the value proposition for enterprise agility is rooted firmly in risk management. The purpose of agility is to maintain both reactive and proactive response options in the face of uncertainty.
Dove, Rick. Paradigm Shift International (2005). Articles>Knowledge Management>Risk Communication
#22014
Review: Envisioning Science: The Design and Craft of the Science Image
As an accomplished photographer of science and engineering research, Felice Frankel knows how to capture her readers' attention—her exquisite images in Envisioning science communicate their amazing power, by her design, and ultimately 'teach us to see' science in a different way. We are witnesses to the excitement of discovery represented in such images as cadmium selenide nanocrystals, self-assembled polyhedra, yeast colonies, and mouse embryo lungs, thereby illustrating the book's educational value.
Winn, Wendy. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Graphic Design>Scientific Communication
#14018
Escrever Um Artigo Científico: Das Partes Para O Todo
Apresentam-se, de forma sintética, os principais cuidados a ter na escrita de um artigo científico. Para esse efeito, descrevem-se e comentam-se, sequencialmente, as sucessivas componentes de um documento desta natureza. Pensa-se que esta abordagem constituirá um bom auxiliar para os autores que pretendam reforçar a coerência e adequação dos seus artigos científicos.
Dias de Figueiredo, Antonio. Universidade de Coimbra (1998). (Portuguese) Articles>Scientific Communication>Regional>Portugal
#19738
The Essentials of Effective Communication 
Good writing allows writers to be taken seriously, and being taken seriously is always important in communicating ideas effectively. If a person's writing is awkward, clumsy, or questionable, readers may get the wrong impression. And, first impressions can determine what people will read and what they will not.
Dowling, Dave. Indus (2002). Articles>Communication>Writing
#24169
Are the ethical issues affected by a vendor's status as an offshore operation? By the prospect of Internet gambling becoming illegal in the U.S. (bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives)? By the presumption of shady morals in the gambling industry? Should one's choices be affected by his/her rocky employment history?
Bryan, John G. Intercom (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Ethics
#31313
Ethics and Accountability in the New Media Environment
In May, I had the pleasure of participating in the IABC Newfoundland & Labrador 20/20 Visionary Communications conference. Jo-Anne Polak of Hill & Knowlton, while presenting her thoughts about contemporary crisis communication, made a comment that I haven’t stopped thinking about since her presentation. Jo-Anne pointed out that after September 11th, journalists have had to become more competitive and aggressive because media sources have exploded in number, and technology has provided immediate electronic delivery.
Hattori, Todd. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Risk Communication>Multimedia
#28627
Ethics in the City: How Talk about Ethics Leads to an Ethical Culture
Democracy depends upon trust in public officials; yet, trust in government has been steadily falling as instances of local, state, and federal corruption fill the pages of our newspapers.
Jovanovic, Spoma and Roy V. Wood. Communication Currents (2006). Articles>Communication>Ethics>Civic
#19582
Ever wonder why your last business trip abroad was a bust? Maybe it was something you didn't say. Learn what not to do when travelling in a foreign country.
Hansson, Tomas. Writer's Block (1999). Articles>Business Communication>International
#14936
Eureka! The Importance of Good Science Writing
Today, society is large and scientific experiments across the world are carried out by people who are usually hidden from public view. So much of what scientists do affects our daily lives, yet most people remain largely unaware of how scientists use their (mostly public) funding, and how their work affects them. Good science writing helps us understand what scientists around the world are up to.
Holland, Anton. Writer's Block (2002). Articles>Scientific Communication
#29194
Eureka! The Relationship of Good Science Writing to Risk Communication
A look at the importance of science writing in helping the public to understand issues that affect our daily lives so that we can make informed decisions concerning risk.
Holland, Anton. Writer's Block (2005). Articles>Scientific Communication>Risk Communication
#24584
Evaluating Environmental Impact Statements as Communicative Action
An environmental impact statement (EIS) is supposed to ensure that a government agency thoroughly evaluates a project's impacts, studies feasible alternatives, and gives all stakeholders an active role in project-related decisions. Previous rhetorical studies of the EIS describe a failed or subversive genre routinely used to advance the strategic aims of an agency seeking to implement a project despite significant opposition. This article contends that an EIS motivated by a genuinely persuasive purpose can serve as the discursive focus of democratic decision making about major projects and substantially achieve Habermas's norms of communicative action. This may happen, for example, when a local transportation agency develops an EIS for a federal transportation agency. To illustrate this possibility, two EISs involving distinct federal-local relationships in Puerto Rico are evaluated using criteria proposed by John Forester for investigating the degree to which public decision-making processes fulfill Habermas's norms of communicative action.
Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Communication>Environmental>Government
#31217
Evaluating Your Online Reputation
One of the primary concerns of public relations practitioners is reputation management. Traditionally, PR professionals measured the perception of their brand, products or services through media coverage; whatever was written or broadcast about a company was viewed as indicative of public opinion. The Internet has vastly changed the dynamics of how communicators assess and evaluate public opinion.
Murphy, Allison and Howard Kaushansky. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Public Relations>Online
#28840
Every Email You Send is a Customer Service Email
If you do business online, there are times when you send your customers, prospects and subscribers an email or two. The emails you send tend to fall within one of three categories. Each of these three types of emails requires a slightly different approach. Their purposes are different, and each should be optimized to perform their respective tasks.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
#31061
Everything Counts in Large Amounts
Finance is not a skill set that comes easily to most technical communicators. Many of us earned our college degrees in majors (journalism in my case) that were more related to our verbal SAT scores than to our math scores. Also, those of us who aren't in business for ourselves often rely on invisible corporate functionaries to handle all that tedious, confusing money stuff so we can focus on more important, or at least more familiar, matters.
Dornbrook, Dan. Tieline (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Financial
#31695
This article draws on channel expansion theory to explore the selection and use of communication media by organizational members. Channel expansion theory scholars posit that media richness perceptions are dependent on experiences with communication partners, the message topic, and the communication media utilized. This study tests channel expansion theory in the context of new and traditional communication media. Respondents (N = 269) completed questionnaires regarding their use and perceptions of face-to-face, telephone, e-mail, or instant-messaging interactions. Results indicate that experience with channel, topic, partner, and social influence are all significant predictors of richness perceptions, when controlling for age and media characteristics. Findings also suggest that the richness of a medium is not fixed and may be shaped by interpersonal factors, including one's relevant experiences.
D'Urso, Scott C. and Stephen A. Rains. Management Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Communication>Theory>Surveys
#13846
Exchanging Medical Information with Eastern Europe Through the Internet
The American International Health Alliance, a national not-for-profit healthcare organization initiated in 1992, uses Internet technologies to aid in the exchange of medical information between healthcare providers in the U.S. and their colleagues in Eastern Europe and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union. A major role in the exchange is played by Information Coordinators--physicians, nurses, or administrators in the partnership institutions in the region. Through a questionnaire distributed during a training session in the U.S. and e-mail exchanges, we interviewed these Information Coordinators to learn how Internet technologies are being introduced, disseminated, and adopted in their institutions. We then applied Everett Rogers's theory of the diffusion of innovations to help interpret their responses. Although now only in its preliminary stages, this study shows that technical communicators must be aware of the cultural influences--economic, political, ethnic, and institutional--that accompany technology as they communicate about such innovations across borders of culture, expertise, and ideology.
Daniels, Julie K., Ruth J. Cronje and Beth C. Sokolowski. Technical Communication Quarterly (1998). Articles>Scientific Communication>Regional>Eastern Europe
#10274
The Executive Summary: A Key to Effective Communication
Presenting the correct written information to a business decision maker in the appropriate form is often critical to the success of the project. A lengthy report is not likely to be read, while a project abstract with insufficient information may not allow the decision maker to act. In these cases, the executive summary may be the writer's only opportunity to convince the decision-maker to act.
Emanuel, Joseph T. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Communication>Writing
#20323
Expand Your Income by Writing for Magazines
Technical writers are well-equipped to write how-to articles for magazines. There are many markets for informational articles, and by creating a well-crafted query, a competent technical writer can get an assignment. This work is ideal for generating part-time income and it provides a more creative outlet for writers.. Getting ideas for good articles is as simple as following oneâ*™s own interests. Writing for magazines can become a lucrative â*œsecondâ** career for technical writers.
Agnew, Beth. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Writing>Scientific Communication>Technical Writing
#32014
Expressive Practices: the Local Enactment of Culture in the Communication Classroom
As students participate in corporate communication classes, they may, on occasion, use the term culture to make sense of their experiences. The authors use Mino's idea of a learning paradigm to shift the emphasis away from teaching traditional theories of culture and use student-centered experiences to teach culture as an expressive practice. Using instances drawn from their own classrooms, the authors show how students can recognize the value of understanding their role in creating culture each time they choose how to act, how to evaluate others' behavior, and whether to label what is going on as cultural.
Wolf, Karen, Trudy Milburn and Richard Wilkins. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Education>Business Communication>Cultural Theory
#31227
Technological changes keep happening, and every time a new phenomenon occurs, employers seem to react the same way. Questions that were asked about phones, e-mail, mobile phones and blogs in the workplace are now being asked about online social networks. Why do we keep repeating history? In my view, it’s because we can get so overwhelmed by the possibilities of the tools that we lose focus on the basic functions of communication and how these tools can help us with them.
Barbaro, Geoff. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Community Building>Social Networking
