Accepting Roles Created for Us: The Ethics of Reciprocity  

Grounded in theories of feminist research practices and in two empirical studies we conducted separately, our argument is that seeing reciprocity as a context-based process of definition and re-definition of the relationship between participants and researcher helps us understand how research projects can benefit participants in ways that they desire.

Powell, Katrina M. and Pamela Takayoshi. CCC (2003). Articles>Workplace>TC>Rhetoric

Acquired Disability and Returning to Work: Towards a Stakeholder Approach    

This article examines the potential application of stakeholder theory to the case of a disabled worker returning to work. A gated notion combining both the instrumental and ethical views of stakeholder theory is explored as a way to understand how to determine who may be classified as a stakeholder. This nuanced application of stakeholding to the process of returning to work lends itself to the consideration of mediation techniques as mechanisms of conflict avoidance rather than exclusively as dispute resolution techniques. Implications in terms of the study of the return to work process, disability, and the further potential for practical application are discussed.

Yue, Anthony R. Journal of Workplace Rights (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Accessibility>Workplace

Adaptive Technologies and Techniques for People with Vision Problems  

Talk with Gloria Reece, a senior member of STC’s AccessAbility SIG who can help you understand vision problems and the technologies that exist to make information accessible. Get practical advice for implementing new technologies in your workplace.

Reece, Gloria A. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Accessibility>Visual>Workplace

Adding an Informal Touch to Organizational Communication

Some say it's a revolution that will change radio broadcasting and people's listening habits forever. Others say it's a fad that's of limited appeal or use to anyone but geeks and enthusiasts. Whatever anyone says, something that has rocketed out of nowhere and gotten big companies and radio stations alike interested (and after only eight months) must be worth investigating. That "something" is called podcasting.

Hobson, Neville. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Rhetoric>Workplace

Alienation  

A hypothetical example to help technical communicators think through ethical issues in the workplace (before they occur in real life).

Bryan, John G. Intercom (2003). Articles>Workplace>Ethics>Security

"And Then She Said": Office Stories and What They Tell Us about Gender in the Workplace    

This article calls for a rhetorical perspective on the relationship of gender, communication,and power in the workplace. In doing so, the author uses narrative in two ways.First, narratives gathered in an ethnographic study of an actual workplace, a plasticsmanufacturer, are used as a primary source of data, and second, the findings of this studyare presented by telling the story of two women in this workplace. Arguing that genderin the workplace, like all social identities, is locally constructed through the micro practicesof everyday life, the author questions some of the prevailing assumptions about genderat work and cautions professional communication teachers, researchers, and practitionersagainst unintentionally perpetuating global, decontextualized assumptionsabout gender and language, and their relationship to the distribution and exercise of power at work.

Weiland Herrick, Jeanne. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1999). Articles>Collaboration>Workplace>Gender

Approximately "Real World" Learning with the Hybrid Model

Most workplace professionals write documents in a fairly mature way. They typically write: Independently or with collaborators, without direct or constant supervision; With frequent interaction with team members at remote locations, and not just with those at their own division or company; With computers and other electronic equipment; and With the freedom to make important decisions about project and time management, such as determining when and how to interact with others, how to collaborate with irresponsible writing partners, how to resolve unexpected problems that arise, and how to meet deadlines despite mishaps and obstacles. How can instructors of business and professional writing prepare students for the relative freedom and independence of this kind of thinking and writing?

Spilka, Rachel. Teaching With Technology Today (2002). Articles>Education>Writing>Workplace

Be Concise

When giving overview information, be concise. Save the details and flowing language for those that want them or have the time, but don't slow down the skimmer. This doesn't mean skip the details, just keep them from people who don't need them.

Bricklin, Dan. Good Documents (1998). Articles>Writing>Workplace>Technical Writing

Capital Equipment Workshop  

The purpose of this workshop is to expose members to the complexities of capital equipment budgeting and purchase. Specifically, the topics include: depreciation, useful life of a product, accounting and company policy. This workshop is for you if your group is using obsolete equipment and you need the skills to sell management on an upgrade for your department.

Caernarven-Smith, Patricia. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Workplace>Technology

CEOs Are From Mars...

With a creative background and an M.B.A., I’ve been a professional half-breed over the past 20 years. What I’ve learned is that the antagonism, hostility and resentment often felt on both sides of the equation is the outgrowth of a basic failure to understand what makes the other side tick.

Derricks, Alma. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Workplace>Communication

The Challenge of Line Manager Communication

There is a great deal of research around these days that makes the connection between employee engagement and good line manager communication. After all, as the saying goes, people don’t leave bad companies, they leave bad managers. The reality is there are many elements that make a bad manager. As communication professionals, we are not there to solve all the problems of socially challenged managers, but we do need to help them fulfill their role in effectively communicating to their people.

Cropley, Adrian. Communication World Bulletin (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Management>Workplace

Changing the Process of Institutional Review Board Compliance    

In the past two years I have submitted proposals for the same study to eleven IRBs at colleges and universities across the country. While I strongly support the need for obtaining IRB approval, I believe as a discipline and as individuals we need to work to revise the IRB process. As it is now practiced at many institutions, the IRB process positions composition researchers and composition research in potentially problematic ways.

McKee, Heidi. CCC (2003). Articles>Usability>Workplace

Choose Sunwest: One Airline's Organizational Communication Strategies in A Campaign Against the Teamsters Union    

This article presents a qualitative text analysis of persuasive documents written by a major U.S. airline in a 2004 counter-campaign against the Teamsters union. The methodology for this study is based on Stephen Toulmin's argument model, including his "double triad" and his interpretation of artistic proofs, which parallel the three classical rhetorical appeals. Actual corporate documents are featured in this article, supported by content from management conference calls that were attended by the researchers. The article concludes with implications for teaching and research in the field of technical and professional communication.

Ortiz, Lorelei A. and Julie Dyke Ford. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Management>Workplace

Collaborating with Student Interns and Graduates in Research that Contributes to the Development of Programs in Technical Communication  

In what significant and distinctive ways is writing enmeshed in the professional sites our students will enter after graduation (or earlier, if they work as interns in such sites prior to graduation)? How can we distinguish between general, transportable aspects of writing expertise that can be developed in school and later applied effectively in a range of different workplaces and other, local aspects of writing expertise that are specific to particular professional environments and can only be acquired through on-site experience once there?

Smart, Graham. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Articles>Education>Workplace

Collecting Information: Qualitative Research Methods for Solving Workplace Problems    

There is evidence that technical communicators are not well prepared to collect information designed to answer workplace problems with systematic methods. Because mastering the use of qualitative collection methods such as observation, artifact searches, and interviews is often incorrectly assumed to require little expertise, my goal is to show how much thought has gone into the systematic use of such methods in the social sciences, including business. Thus, I focus on the basic considerations involved in collecting information using qualitative methods, especially (though not exclusively) targeted for technical communicators within industry. To that end, I cover two broad areas: (a) fundamental issues, such as formulating researchable questions and addressing credibility and practicality in workplace research, and (b) the details of collecting qualitative information and also determining the specifics of an information collection plan. The topic of analyzing information after it is collected is not covered

Campbell, Kim Sydow. Technical Communication Online (1999). Articles>Usability>Workplace

Communicating Internally: Achieving Your Balance

Employees are inundated with mass information and messages. It is their responsibility to digest all this information in appropriate ways so that they can be effective in their roles, partner with others and help their company be profitable and competitive. Technology—e-newsletters, web mail, instant messaging—has greatly accelerated this environment of mass-transit communications, and while this saves time, it creates a bigger challenge: connecting and managing internal information clearly to align employees and maximize productivity.

Voss, Rebecca. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace

Communication and Gender in Workplace 2000: Creating a Contextually-Based Integrated Paradigm  

This conceptual article presents a critical review of gender-difference and gender-sameness theory and research. The focus is upon gender workplace communication, a topic often debated in the popular and organizational literature. A contextually-based integrated paradigm is proposed which represents a shift from a gender-difference foundation to a more integrated approach that includes the interaction of gender with Standpoint Theory, culture, organizational climate, and structure and task context. The network of shared meanings concept is introduced as having a major impact on gender communication orientation. Research using an example of communication to create a contextual meaning for social support is highlighted. Implications and conclusions for organizations, researchers, and educators are discussed.

Baker, Randolph T. and Lisa Zifcak. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Communication>Workplace>Gender

Communication and Women in Engineering

Women can be either encouraged or discouraged to take on the role of engineer through communication. Encouraging women to take on the role of engineer is imperative because of the lack of women currently in engineering.

Brown, Sarah. Orange Journal, The (2005). Articles>Workplace>Engineering>Gender

Communicative Practices in the Workplace: A Historical Examination of Genre Development    

Although studies of actual communication practices in the workplace are now commonplace, few historical studies in this area have been completed. Such historical studies are necessary to help researchers understand the often com-plicated origins of genre conventions in professional discourse. Historical research that draws on contemporary genre theory helps address this void. A genre perspective is particularly valuable for helping researchers trace a given type of document s emergence and evolution. This perspective also provides a way of accounting for the connections between communicative practices and the other activities that occupy the attention of workplace organizations. To illustrate what this perspective brings to historical research in professional communication, I examine the development of communicative practices at a national production company that relied on texts to mediate its organizational activities across geographically dispersed locations.

Zachry, Mark. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2000). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace>History

Corporate Culture as a Source of Crisis in Companies

Corporate culture involves certain values and rules of behaviour within and outside the company, which are shared by the company employees. The cause and effect relationship between the company crisis and corporate culture is reciprocal. If the corporate culture is not strong enough when a crisis occurs, its value system can break down or the crisis can unveil inconsistencies between its stated values and relations and its actual ones. On the other hand, the corporate culture can directly launch a crisis causal chain, which means that the original cause of the crisis initiates other imbalances, or deepens the imbalances occurring in another department, speeding up the development of the crisis and making it more difficult or even impossible to pull the company out.

Zuzak, Roman. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace

Corporate Size and Knowledge Management

The more knowledge is hoarded, the less productive we were able to become. It’s difficult to get beyond that “sharing for the benefit of the whole” stigma, but when you can it can be a wonderful thing.

Hauser, Lisa. STC NJIT Student Chapter (2005). Articles>Knowledge Management>Workplace

Corporate Social Responsibility Requires Strong Collaboration Between HR and Internal Communicators

There are ongoing debates about the reporting and working relationship between HR and internal communication, but one thing is certain: When it comes to systemic change, the kind required for effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation, the two must work together in an inextricably-linked collaboration.

Mees, Adine. Communication World Bulletin (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace>Public Relations

Corporate Usability Maturity: Stages 1-4

As their usability approach matures, organizations typically progress through the same sequence of stages, from initial hostility to widespread reliance on user research.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Articles>Usability>Workplace

Corporate Usability Maturity: Stages 5-8

An organization that reaches the managed usability stage still has far to go to reach usability nirvana. Attaining these higher maturity levels requires many years of effort.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2006). Articles>Usability>Workplace