I’m so proud and excited that this labor of love from my awesome colleague (and friend) Jamie McDonald and I is finally out in PRINT! “Movements in Organizational Communication” is available for purchase through its publisher (Routledge) website HERE.
This book is the culmination of our vision for a volume that tackled state-of-the-art organizational communication research and related them to everyday events, in a way that felt more accessible for students. In short, something that made organizational communication seem personal and relevant! Personally, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my amazing undergraduate and graduate students at Wayne State University and Purdue University, where I have taught classes on organizational communication, leadership, small group communication, professional issues, and communication technologies. Their questions and experiences helped stimulate the process for thinking about, designing, and creating this volume!
So what do we mean by “movements” in organizational communication?
As we discuss in Chapter 1 of the book, Jamie and I understand “movement” in the field to mean not just shifts in specific paradigms or approaches to key topics, but ongoing contestations of what organizational communication (or perhaps #orgcomm if you’re on social media, which is everybody these days!) means, and who gets to speak and/or set the terms of these conversations, shifting values and norms over time and space. The book contains 13 chapters (in addition to the Introduction and Conclusion) that address crucial subjects, such as leadership, business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR), identity and branding, negotiating organizational structures, workplace socialization and organizational culture, gender and sexuality at work, diversity and inclusion, workplace relationships and emotions, crisis and resilience, change management, organizational networks and communication technologies at the workplace. (Whew!)
Each chapter is coauthored by at least two writers, both established and emerging scholars, who narrate their personal journey and why they study what they do. They explain what MOVES them to do their work, so that new readers can discover their own spark for organizational communication!
Also, check out the Online Resources for our book HERE, including sample course syllabus (for both MA-only and MA&PhD graduate seminars) and suggested case studies from another recent Routledge book on organizational communication (co-edited by my friend Jeremy P. Fyke and PhD adviser Patrice M. Buzzanell!) to align with our book’s chapters!
Finally, we were thrilled and privileged to receive the wonderful endorsements of scholars we have long looked up to, such as Linda L. Putnam, Boris Brummans and Keri Stephens. Here is a sampling of what they had to say about this edited volume:
At last, the field has a high quality, exciting advanced-level text for undergraduate courses and classes for beginning graduate students! This edited volume captures organizational communication — its twists and turns, continual movements, and contributions to classic arenas of research. Written in a captivating, accessible style, each chapter centers on a key topic, provides historical development of research traditions, and shows how bodies of knowledge are in constant movement through new and emerging ideas. The pairing of senior and junior scholars who provide personal reflections on their research topics offers a unique and refreshing cast that makes this book a must read for organizational communication students and scholars.
— Linda L. Putnam, Distinguished Research Professor, Emerita
University of California, Santa BarbaraThis timely, engaging, fluidly-edited book shows how organizational communication research is moving forward, laying down diverse inspirational paths for new generations of students and scholars. Essential for those who are new to the field as well as those who know it well.
— Boris H. J. M. Brummans, Professor of Organizational Communication,
Université de MontréalGrounded in the human experiences of the scholars engaged in each of the topic areas, this book offers a refreshing and contemporary approach to understanding organizational communication. By focusing on actions like organizing and communicating, as well as including organizations and forward-thinking topics, the chapters breathe life into the research to benefit a wide range of students.
— Keri K. Stephens, Associate Professor Moody College of Communication and Distinguished Teaching Professor, The University of Texas at Austin
I hope you will love the book as much as we have come to!
Rahul Mitra 