Matthew A. Koschmann

The Communicative Constitution of Collective Identity in Interorganizational Collaboration

This study reconceptualizes collective identity from a communication perspective using a constitutive model of communication as a theoretical framework. A longitudinal case study is used to explain the complications and inaction of a social services interorganizational collaboration as a lack of collective identity, also tracing the emergence of a new collective identity. Collective identity is theorized as an authoritative text that emerges through communicative practice and is drawn on for certain strategic ends. A communicative model of organizational constitution—based on the ‘Montreal School’ theory of coorientation—shows how textual representations of situated conversations can gain authority through abstraction and reification, providing a mechanism to organize and direct the voluntary actions of diverse stakeholders. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

Collaborative Tensions: Practitioners' Experiences of Interorganizational Relationships

Organizations and the relationships they create are rife with tensions that pull individual participants and whole organizations in opposing directions. When multiple organizations form relationships with one another these tensions may take on new forms and create new challenges for individual and organizational participants. This study utilized a focus-group methodology to explore how participants in collaborative interorganizational relationships (IORs) experience and cope communicatively with tensions. The data suggest that tensions exist across two areas: relationships and structures. We found that tensions in collaboration are common, acknowledged, and that the tensions manifest and are addressed through communication.

Developing a Communicative Theory of the Nonprofit

Organizational communication scholars have a vested interest in developing theoretical perspectives of nonprofit organizations and the nonprofit sector. As Lewis (2005) points out, several key aspects of the nonprofit sector (e.g., social capital, mission, governance, volunteer relationships, etc.) are inherently communicative and warrant research and theory building that understands and appreciates the complexities of human interaction. What does it mean to take a “communication perspective” toward research and theory building in the nonprofit sector? I argue that it involves placing communication at the foundation of our investigation, developing uniquely communicative explanations for various nonprofit phenomena, and showing how these communicative explanations complement, challenge, and extend existing theoretical frameworks. This approach would see communication as a distinct mode of explanation (Deetz, 2009), helping to enhance our understanding of various nonprofit phenomena. In addition to studying communication in nonprofit organizations, we should also advance communicative explanations of nonprofit organizations and develop theories that arise from a communicative understanding of

Communicative Tensions of Community Organizing: The Case of a Local Neighborhood Association

This study investigates the communicative tensions of community organizing within the context of a local neighborhood association. Results of our qualitative analysis revealed two themes of organizational tension shaping this community organization: dispositional disagreements and positional paradoxes. These tensions were illustrated within the issues of prayer, diversity, gentrification, and neighborhood quality. Analysis also showed that communication practices of balance, diversion, deflection, sense-making, reframing, and qualifying served to manage tensions and sustain the participation and involvement of voluntary collective action.

Organizational Rituals, Communication, and the Question of Agency

This study explores the performative aspects of organizational rituals to explain their agentic capacity and understand how rituals participate in the accomplishment of organizational action. We develop an alternative framework of organizational rituals based on insights from communication theory and the literature on the communicative constitution of organization/ing (CCO) and demonstrate how rituals “make present” abstract representations of organizational power and value in ways that convey authority and bear down upon the activities and decisions of organizational members. This can be understood through a logic of “attribution and appropriation” that both constitutes rituals as actants and enables them to possess the actions of their participants. This represents a departure from previous research on organizational rituals but can also enhance our understanding of rituals, agency, and symbolic action in organizations—especially in terms of exploring sources of action and agency beyond human intentionality.

Communication as a Distinct Mode of Explanation Makes a Difference

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Infrastructure hazard resilience trends: an analysis of 25 years of research

Hazard research has made significant strides over the last several decades, answering critical questions surrounding vulnerability and recovery. Recently, resilience has come to the forefront of scholarly debates and practitioner strategies, yet there remain challenges implementing resilience in practice, the result of a complex web of research that spread across numerous fields of study. As a result, there is a need to analyze and reflect on the current state of resilience literature. We reviewed 241 journal articles from the Web of Science and Engineering Village databases from 1990 to 2015 to analyze research trends in geographic location of studies, methods employed, units of analysis, and resilience dimensions studied, as well as correlations between each of these categories. The majority of the studies analyzed were conducted in North America, used quantitative methods, focused on infrastructure and community units of analysis, and studied governance, infrastructure, and economic dimensions of resilience. This analysis points to the need to: (1) conduct studies in developing country contexts, where resilience is particularly important; (2) employ mixed-methods for additional depth to quantitative studies; (3) connect units of analysis, such as infrastructure and community; and (4) expand on the measurement and study of environmental and social dimensions of resilience.

Forum Introduction: Communication-Centered Contributions to Advancing Scholarship in/of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations

The nonprofit and voluntary sector “occupies an increasingly critical and visible position in our political, social and economic life” (Frumkin, 2002, p. 1). As critical, nonprofit and voluntary organizations (NPVOs) deliver a myriad of services, foster social entrepreneurship, enable civic/political engagement, and facilitate the enactment of private/religious values. As visible, registered nonprofits numbered more than 1.5 million in 2010 in the United States alone and included public charities, private foundations, chambers of commerce, fraternal organizations, and civic leagues (National Center for Charitable Statistics, 2011). These numbers increase dramatically when figuring in more informally organized volunteer community groups, not to mention the vast amount of nonprofit work happening across the world. In virtually every area of society, NPVOs offer alternatives to corporate and governmental forms of organizing—from banking and housing, to education and retail. In other Forum

Connecting Nonprofit and Communication Scholarship: A Review of Key Issues and a Meta-Theoretical Framework for Future Research

The purpose of this review is to analyze the current relationship between communication and nonprofit studies, and to demonstrate how the field of communication can make a significant contribution to nonprofit scholarship by offering a unique way to analyze and explain nonprofit phenomena. To accomplish this we begin with a brief review of communication research in the nonprofit literature to see how scholars in this interdisciplinary field understand communication. Next we review key developments in the history of communication as an academic discipline in order to situate contemporary perspectives toward our field. We then explain how communication scholars have progressed from our intellectual origins. Our subsequent review of communication scholarship in and of the nonprofit sector highlights this evolution toward a more complex and nuanced approach to communication. From there we develop a distinct “communication perspective” toward the nonprofit sector based on a constitutive view of communication—a key meta-theoretical framework currently influencing the field of communication. Our primary contribution is thus to explain the implications of a constitutive approach to communication and how such an understanding can advance nonprofit—communication scholarship, as well as provide a meta-theoretical framework to further galvanize all scholars interested in this kind of work.

Rethinking Recidivism A Communication Approach to Prisoner Reentry

Prisoner reentry is one of the main criminal justice challenges confronting the United States, especially as the costs of recidivism and incarceration take increasing tolls on city and state budgets, and the effects of criminal activity are felt by families and local communities. Our goal in this article is to develop an alternative approach to prisoner reentry. Our contention is that many reentry efforts focus mainly on the visible effects of recidivism (e.g., parole violations, criminal behavior, and treatment compliance) but do not get at the underlying causes that lead to recidivism in the first place. While traditional methods of surveillance and control focus on the observable problems of recidivism, we argue that the underlying cause is a communication breakdown of being cut off from networks and meaningful relationships that provide the necessary social capital needed for successful reintegration. Therefore, we propose reframing prisoner reentry from a communication perspective, and developing subsequent communication solutions. We suggest that mentoring is one such communication solution, and we present a case study of a successful reentry mentoring program. Our case study uses a mixed research methodology, including quantitative data from a third-party assessment and qualitative data from in-depth interviews. Our key conclusions are that mentoring provides important communication links to enable coordinated service delivery for ex-prisoners, and that mentoring is a valuable conversational resource to help socially construct a favorable postrelease environment for successful reentry. Our target audience are those interested in prisoner reentry and reforming the overall criminal justice system.