Roberta H. Krapels

The legitimacy of Business Communication

Establishing the legitimacy of a profession is not a new idea. Many others have attempted to do so within their own field, most notably Kenneth Boulding. As an economist and a philosopher, Boulding published over 400 papers during his career. About 10 of these were concerned with the concept of legitimacy. The authors will use the model developed by Boulding and used by him to establish the legitimacy of economics to advance the legitimacy of the profession of business communication. Examples meeting the criteria identified in the model will be discussed to support this legitimacy. The future of the profession must include an awareness of characteristics that assist in the legitimization of a profession. Internal and external acceptance of professional legitimacy is necessary for continued success.

Communication in the Transition to Self-Directed Work Teams

Although adopting self-directed work teams (SDWTs) presents a challenge, this study shows that subordinates’ perceptions of managers’ influence strategies affect the success of change within organizations. Using data collected over 18 months, this study examined employees’ perceptions of managerial communication used prior to and during the implementation of SDWTs at a manufacturing firm as well as the effect of team and organizational communication on team members’ participation. First, the results indicated that managers who communicated persuasively using “soft” influence tactics in the team development process were perceived to be more effective. Second, team communication was found to have a significant positive effect on team members’ participation. Thus, the findings provide strong support for use of soft influence tactics in managerial communications when implementing SDWTs.

A Comparison Of The Top Six Journals Selected As Top Journals For Publication By Business Communication Educators

This study compares the top six journals selected in an earlier survey of Association for Business Communication members as the top journals in which to publish for professional advancement. Those journals include Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Journal of Business Communication, and Management Communication Quarterly. Using variables found in other disciplines’ journal assessment articles, comparisons were made with the following: length of articles published, disciplines of authors, statistical methodology included, major discipline of article focus, number of references included, and research methods used with sample size where appropriate. The analysis indicated significant differences among many of these journals. In selecting where to publish BMOC (business, management, organizational communication) articles, prospective authors in the area will find the information on these six journals informative and beneficial.

Communication Training in Two Companies.

COMMUNICATION EDUCATORS strive to learn what colleagues are doing in the classroom and what businesses say they need in order to improve teaching skills and to insure students are provided the skills necessary for success after graduation. In today’s economy with low unemployment, companies are coi-npeting for competent employees-our college graduates. Firms provide training when employees lack specific skills. By improving students’ communication competencies, we can increase their job readiness skills. In a study analyzing the Bureau of Labor Statistics database reporting training results from selected companies with over 50 employees, Franzis, Gittleman, and Joyce (2000) reported 4% of work time and

The Use of Source Notations by Organizations.

16 billion in direct costs were directed toward

Organizations and internships

or artistic piece, the developer of a concept or model, or the originator of a quotation, and thereby avoid plagiarism, a primary ethical consideration (Haas, 1995). Business writing class instructors generally assign reports that require source notations in a specific format. However, current guidelines or examples of what businesspeople use to document sources is needed. To determine what type of material might be referenced and what publication methods organizations use, if any, to indicate the source of information, members of the Business Practices Commit-