Joel P. Bowman

The layer-based, pragmatic model of the communication process

Modern culture, with its rapidly increasing reliance on information exchange, requires that we develop a better understanding of the communication process. Because communication is such a complex process, previous communication models have generally oversimplified the process and failed to provide a usable, systematic overview of it. The Targowski/Bowman model introduces a new paradigm that isolates the various components for individual measurement and analysis, places the components into a unified whole, and places communica tion and its business component into a larger cultural context.

Desktop Publishing: Things Gutenberg Never Taught You

This paper provides an overview of advantages and disadvantages of desktop publishing, an introduction to the hardware and software required to produce docu ments with desktop publishing, and a look into the near future of DTP. This paper also examines such considerations as cost-effectiveness, conftdentiality, and credibility as they relate to DTP systems and uses. Also considered are the possible impact DTP could have on the amount of paper-based communication produced, an increase in training in layout and design, and formal researching DTP strategies and effects.

It's Not Easy Being Green: Evaluating Student Performance in Online Business Communication Courses

respectively. As the article explains, this system not only reduces the time commitment of instructors, but also encourages students to take ownership of their written work. Although her approach differs somewhat, Nancy Schullery also adopts the holistic approach to grading, using seven foundation concepts that are essential to every business communication, regardless of genre. Such assessment, she argues, more clearly simulates the response of supervisors, clients, customers, and other readers in the business world.

Topics for Business Communication Research

*Members of the Subcommittee were: John D. Pettit, Jr., Chair; Joel P. Bowman; Bernadine Branchaw; Howard Greenbaum; Leah Grubb; James M. Lahiff; John M. Penrose; William Sharbrough; Norman B. Sigband; Gretchen N. Vik; Morris P. Wolf; Mohan Limaye; Robert Insley; Lamar Reinsch; and Larry Smeltzer. This report combines efforts of the 1985, 1986, and 1987 Committees. ORGANIZATIONAL/MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION

The Impact of Microcomputers on ABC with Recommendations for Teaching, Writing, and Research.

This article reports the results ofa study on the impact of nticrocowputer.s on ABC members. The findings include reports on such topics as the level of computer expertise of the respondents, time spent weekly using a computer, the type of hctrdware used by respondents and their students, the software used, and the application use of the respondents. Additionally, actions for both the Association and individual members are recommended. Members are encouraged to expand their individual use and to bring the computer into the classroom.

The Application of Behavioral Techniques to Business Communication Instruction

A review of the history of writing instruction reveals that current instructors face essen tially the same problems as did their counterparts in previous generations and that their complaints remain essentially the same as well. With the commonly used methodologies for writing instruction, many students fail to learn as much as their in structors expect, and composition classes are typically endured rather than enjoyed by student and instructor alike. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of several common methodologies for the teaching of writing and suggests that the tech niques of behavior analysis offer the best hope for developing instructional methodologies that will provide the best results for both writing students and their teachers. Students participating in a pilot study employing behavioral strategies showed a significant decrease in the frequency of errors between pre- and posttest letter samples. Similar testing across instructional methodologies may indicate consistently effective instructional techniques.

Business Communication: Its Process and Product.

our computers, for example, we composed on yellow legal tablets before typing the material in what we hoped would be final form. In many cases, composing was slow and painful because we tried to be pe~ fect with as little revision as possible. Now that we are working with computers, it’s an easy matter to begin with a germ of an idea and build on that by adding and rearranging hits and pieces until a final product results. Even though the physical process of writing with computers is similar for us, however, the Iln·atal process each of us goes through is diuerent. Branchaw approaches writing tasks in a methodical way, researching things she is unsure of and proceeding carefillly from start to finish. Bowman, on the other hand, writes intuitively, rarely checking sources and writing rapidly from start to finish. Is either one of these approaches a hetter process? And what is more important for the discussion here, could either be taught? From a personal perspective, Branchaw would not enjoy being forced to write Bowman’s way, nor would Bowman enjoy being forced to write Branchaw’s way. At its deepest level, the processes of writing and thinking intertwine. Some of those processes can be taught by illustrating productoriented techniques. We can teach people, for example, how to be more logical: how to subdivide a whole into parts, how to recognize a cause and its prohahle effect, how to distinguish between general principles and specific facts, and the like. These are product-based skills: we teach

I Replies to Marilyn S. Butler's Article "a Reassessment of the Case Approach: Reinforcing Artifice in Business Writing Courses"

In &dquo;A Reassessment of the Case Approach: Reinforcing Artifice in Business Writing Courses, (The Bulletin, September 1985, pp. 4-7), Marilyn S. Butler raises some important questions about whether the case study approach really helps students address the complexities which practicing writers face. As is evident from her title, she concludes that what case studies actually do, in spite of the claims of adherents of the method, is &dquo;encourage students to avoid the real choices that writers face&dquo; (p. 4). I agree with her broad goals for writing instruction, and I agree with Butler that we need to ask hard questions about the validity of our teaching methods, but I disagree with her conclusions. The major problem, as I see it, is with the particular cases which Butler uses as examples. In essence, she selects very poorly designed and presented cases, treats them as representative of all cases, and then condemns the method. I am afraid we have a straw man

And not a Shot Was Fired

According to a recent article in PC WEEK, 98 percent of business establishments with more than 1000 workers are equipped with personal computers, with desk workers constituting the largest group of computer users.* Graduating seniors from many universities are now routinely asked about their familiarity with computer applications. By the 1990s (only three years away), office workers &dquo;will be using computers as readily as [they] do the telephone today.&dquo;§ Good language skills are no longer sufficient for success in communication intensive occupations-graduating seniors need to know how to use computers to solve communication problems. Some social analysts go so far as to predict that modern society will be essentially a two-class society, divided primarily by computer

Review Essay: Megatrends: Unshocking the Future:

Books promising to reveal thefuture, like Megatrends and Future Shock, have been especially popular recently because the rapid changes in technology and culture make the future uncertain. A shift from an industrial to an information-based economy and culture began in the 1950s and will probably be complete by the end of the century. This shift is of special importance to those concerned about communication and its business application. Just as the importance of communication is increasing, the ways in which it is conceived of and taught are changing. To be able to take advantage of the expanding options made possible by technology, we need to identify and understand the cultural trends currently shaping the future.