Organizational communication, broadly speaking, is: people working together to achieve individual or collective goals. The field traces its lineage through business information, business communication, and early mass communication studies published in the 1930s through the 1950s.
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Communication Currents is an online web magazine designed to translate current communication scholarship published in scholarly journals of the National Communication Association.
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Communication in Cross-Functional Teams: An Introduction to This Special Issue 
The importance of teams has grown during the past decades as increasing numbers of organizations have turned to collaborative models of work. The emphasis on 'cross-functional' reflects the growing complexity of today's work, where no single individual or job function possesses sufficient knowledge or skill for developing or maintaining innovative products and services. One of the biggest challenges of teams is developing patterns of effective communication. As with all processes and practices in the workplace, communication within cross-functional teams must be examined, discussed, and taught explicitly for such teams to succeed. The articles in this issue provide insights into the communication challenges facing individuals working in teams in today's workplace. In addition, the issue discusses a variety of tools and techniques for improving communication and efficiency within teams and the quality of work produced.
Smart, Karl L. and Carol M. Barnum, eds. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Communication>Collaboration
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Communication in Customer Service 
Expounds on the ins and outs of customer service, specifically with regard to effective communication practices.
Wiley, Ann L. Intercom (2008). Articles>Business Communication
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Communication in Technology Transfer and Diffusion: Defining the Field
Provides an introduction to our field’s connections with technology transfer and diffusion. Technology transfer, the complex social process that moves technology from bench to market, drives global economic growth; technology diffusion, the market-driven process by which innovations are adopted and implemented, follows similar patterns. Indeed, technology transfer and diffusion may be considered synonymous with the phenomenon of growth in a global economy.
Coppola, Nancy W. Technical Communication Quarterly (2006). Articles>Communication>Technology>Technical Writing
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Communication in the 21st Century: The Original Liberal Art in an Age of Science and Technology
Communication is dramatically changed by new technologies. In the 20th century, we have seen the effects of the telephone, radio and television, film, high-speed printing, xerography, desk-top publishing, electronic mail. These communication technologies have changed our national political life, corporate management styles, family connections, individual work habits. Additional change in the next century is inevitable, as we adopt video conferencing, multimedia, and internet technologies. Many of the effects of new technologies are unpredictable: the predicted 'paperless office' has failed to materialize, for example, and word-processing software has transformed the labor of writing in a way that was never anticipated (and later was resisted) by computer developers. But some aspects of communication, both oral and written, have not changed. Communication is still the social glue that holds together nations, corporations, scientific disciplines, and families.
Miller, Carolyn R. North Carolina State University (1996). Articles>Communication>Online
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The Communication Initiative Network
The Communication Initiative (The CI) network is an online space for sharing the experiences of, and building bridges between, the people and organisations engaged in or supporting communication as a fundamental strategy for economic and social development and change.
Communication Initiative Network, The. Resources>Business Communication>Communication>Online
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Communication Patterns Between Organizations: Implications for the Classroom
Because many corporations now outsource significant portions of their business to external companies, it is important to study and understand the role of writing and, more generally, differing communication structures between organizations. In my experience, this is not a topic that is discussed in most technical communication classrooms.
McCord, Michael. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>Communication>Collaboration
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The Communication Quality of Kuriiri Project 
The aim of this research is to investigate the communication quality of employees working in Keski-Suomen Yhteisöjen Tuki (KYT), the Supporting Association for Third Sector Organisations in Central Finland, which were involved in the national project Kuriiri and in the transnational project 4Work. Specifically it will be considered communication quality as indicator of functionality and efficiency of such group. The reasons of this investigation are related to the future developments of this project and its need for a better communication and functionality. Essential basis for this analysis comes from my questionnaire which were sent in summer 2004 to those people who were in 2002-2004 collaborating at the 4Work Transnational Partnership.
Valentini, Chiara. Chiara Valentini Communication Management (2005). Articles>Communication>Assessment>Scandinavia
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Review: Communication Reference Books for Engineers and Scientists
Over the past years, many reference books have been published for various science and engineering disciplines. Based on publishers’ descriptions, I selected four for review.
Kaempf, Charlotte. ATTW Bulletin (2005). Articles>Reviews>Scientific Communication>Engineering
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Review: Communication Skills for the Processing of Words, 5th Edition
This text aims to prepare students for entry-level jobs and foster their career progress after they enter the workplace. The focus of this book is not as broad as the typical introductory text on business communication. However, this book could be the right choice for an advanced business writing course in a high school or an introductory business writing course in a college, university, or technical school. This book might also work well as a supplement in a postsecondary business communication course for use by students who either have not completed a 1st-year composition course or who have completed that course without mastering grammar, mechanics, and style. This textbook includes 18 units: 8 discuss specific types of punctuation (e.g., commas and colons); 7 cover usage and mechanics (e.g., capitalization and numbers); and 3 cover grammar (e.g., subject and verb agreement).
Stallworth Williams, Linda. Business Communication Quarterly (2007). Articles>Reviews>Textbooks>Business Communication
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Communication Strategies for Implementing Organizational Change
This work advances a stronger conceptual and empirical understanding of two broad, conceptual communicative treatments for implementing change: programmatic and participatory. These theoretical approaches are elucidated respectively through established communication models, activities, and strategies advanced by previous scholarship within the communication and business disciplines. In addition, conclusions are drawn about the supposed limitations and benefits of using these change implementation approaches in applied settings. This article concludes with potential strategies for advancing for research in this arena.
Russ, Travis L. Association for Business Communication (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Management>Rhetoric
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ACA's Communication Studies Center is an annotated collection of communication-related hyperlinks organized by subfields within the commmunication discipline. Its goal is to provide a centralized index of web resources on Communication research and practice.
American Communication Association. Resources>Directories>Communication
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Communication World Bulletin is the e-newsletter supplement to Communication World magazine. CW Bulletin presents articles, case studies and additional resources on timely topics in communication.
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Communication, Cognition, and Community
There is a vast assortment of schools of thought concerning how it is possible to communicate. Empiricism, romanticism, materialism, psychoanalysis, and cognitive psychology all have been used as rationale for, and to describe the genesis of, the simple and natural activity of communication. How is it possible that we are able to communicate successfully? Much scholarly work has been generated documenting our interpretation of written discourse in an attempt to describe how we successfully convey meaning from within to without. Whether a theorist is an advocate of New Criticism, Reader Response, Phenomenology, Social Constructionism, rhetoric, or plain style, the basic question remains the same: How are we able to convey concepts successfully and accurately from one source to another?
Smith, David C. Orange Journal, The (2001). Articles>Communication>Community Building
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Communication, Culture and Surveys
Interest in corporate culture has been on the increase ever since studies over a decade ago found a link between certain cultural aspects and successful business outcomes. Buthow can you measure the bottom-link impacts of culture in your own organization?
Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (2000). Articles>Business Communication>Cultural Theory>Surveys
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Communications and CARE Models
Customer communication is a key element in a technical communicator's life. Our customers are usually our subject matter experts (SMEs). Yet, customers are more than just SMEs. They are our co-workers, managers, and others both internally and externally that we interface with. In this paper, We start by finding out who your customers are and why you may treat them differently. Following this brief discussion, we then look introspectively into the common communication forms and review different CARE (Customers Are Really Exciting) models that you can use to make your customer communication, whether face-to-face or in written form, more enjoyable.
Damrau, Jackie. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Business Communication>User Centered Design
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Communications and CARE Models
Customer communication is a key element in a technical communicator's life. Our customers are usually our subject matter experts (SMEs). Yet, customers are more than just SMEs. They are our co-workers, managers, and others both internally and externally that we interface with. In this paper, We start by finding out who your customers are and why you may treat them differently. Following this brief discussion, we then look introspectively into the common communication forms and review different CARE (Customers Are Really Exciting) models that you can use to make your customer communication, whether face-to-face or in written form, more enjoyable.
Damrau, Jackie. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Business Communication>User Centered Design
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Communications Is Everyone's Business
As we enter the new millennium, we have the benefit of a host of electronic tools that make the dissemination of information to an unlimited number of recipients virtually instantaneous. But these relatively new tools are only as effective as the quality of the content they carry, and are still dependent on a person's ability to organize and present information in a coherent manner.
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A Communications Renaissance: Developing Tomorrow’s Developers
Mathematics and computer science can be difficult subjects for the communications teacher to penetrate. In 1997, the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo initiated the development of a pilot course in communications for Mathematics and Computer Science students. This paper explores the research and discoveries that built a successful course: a definition of “numeracy” that equates with academic “literacy” as knowledge creation; perceiving the students as “end users” and doing ongoing “usability tests” during the pilot course; and using case studies as social action to empower students and envision math and technology as dynamic, socially rich fields through communications.
McKenzie, Andrea. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Scientific Communication>Mathematics
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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
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Communicators and Lawyers: Winning in Both Courts
Professional communicators and attorneys have long stood side by side as both fought to win in court—one in the court of law, the other in the court of public opinion. These two sometimes wary compatriots, however, are now beginning to partner more frequently to garner the best results for the executive suite.
Deveney, John and Meghan Ozcan. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Legal
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Communicators Must Have Business, Financial Knowledge
For decades, communicators have been able to advance in their careers while avoiding anything to do with numbers and most things having to do with the essence of how business decisions are made. To succeed in the future, this will no longer be the case. A recent series of conversations with 31 chief executive officers for a study conducted by the Arthur W. Page Society revealed that the No. 1 quality CEOs want in a communication chief is a detailed knowledge of the company’s business.
Gentry, James K. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Financial
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Company Research: Effects of Recent European Union Company Legislation
A considerable amount of company legislation has been added to the European Union (EU) statute book in the last few years. There have also been many initiatives to modernize existing law. Much of the legislation affects every type of company, but some is specific to listed companies, securities markets and financial institutions. It is all very significant for business information professionals, who need to follow these changes, monitor developments and understand the impact on their day-to-day work. This article reviews the major EU company legislation that has been implemented recently and looks at some calls for further controls on company activities and practices. Following a brief review of all the legislation, with links and references for further study, the main part of the article describes the effects and implications for the ongoing and future work of business information professionals.
James, Sylvia. Business Information Review (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Legislation>Europe
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Risk issues are unarguably contentious. People evaluate risks in incompatible ways and propose conflicting proposals for mitigating or litigating risk issues. The sources of contention are multiple. Sometimes people differ because they have different information; sometimes they differ because they have incompatible interests. This paper addresses one of the more philosophical and systemic bases for differing opinions and approaches: The possibility that people have fundamentally or substantially different conceptions of risk. The philosophical basis for contention over risk is most evident in the scholarly and scientific literature. Experts who study risk or risk issues are more likely to develop well-defined, internally consistent conceptions of risk than members of the lay public. If distinct philosophical and linguistic presumptions underlie competing conceptions of risk, it should be possible to formulate the contentiousness over alternatives in terms of a principled philosophical debate, with implications for risk analysis, risk evaluation and risk communication.
Thompson, Paul B. and Wesley Dean. Franklin Pierce Law Center (1996). Articles>Risk Communication>Rhetoric
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Competitive Analysis: Are you Gathering Information or Intelligence?
Finding online information about your competitors is easy--The difficult part is finding meaning. When researching the competition, you can avoid pitfalls by seeking 'intelligence' instead of 'information.'
Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive (2004). Articles>Research>Business Communication
