Examines changes that technology has made in librarianship and offers personal observations concerning changes in the future. Discussion covers allocation of responsibilities among library personnel; mobilization to work; behavior and skills critical for efficiency and productivity; changes in work based on flow of, and access to, information; and…

This paper explores three different implementations of technology in newsrooms: electronic editing, pagination, and computer-assisted reporting. Also examined are the ways in which newspapers are using newsroom technology both to gain greater control over the content and appearance of the newspaper and to gain greater control over the labor…

A study illustrated an interpretive approach to investigating personal commitment during radical organizational transition by examining how people talk metaphorically about commitment and identification as a process. A questionnaire was constructed to be used in phone interviews with six employee assistance program (EAP) counselors who contract…

A study examined organizational culture change to determine the effectiveness of a communication based intervention program to increase productivity and motivation. The cultural change was measured through a triangulation approach combining questionnaires, interview data and direct observation. Pre- and post-intervention data were obtained in the…

Organizational communication research needs a conceptual model or taxonomy of variables for developing a knowledge base for past and future findings and information access and retrieval. The proposed Outcome-Determinant-Interface (ODI) model distinguishes three major groups of variables, each divided into classes and subclasses. The outcome…

Instructionally, schools tend to be "weakly normed" organizational systems in which teachers bring relatively little pressure upon each other to change and/or improve their classroom performance. Because teachers tolerate a wide range of behavior among their colleagues and are reluctant to offer criticism of each other, those responsibile for…

Information technology is changing the workplace. Forecasts range from wondrous visions of future capabilities to dark scenarios of employment loss and dehumanization. Some predict revolutionary impacts, while others conclude that the way we do business will change only gradually if much at all. The less positive visions of the future workplace…

This paper explores the dynamics of managing collective problem solving and decision making, and the application of tools and strategies to deal with the emergent complexity of systems in which educators work. Schools and educational programs are complex adaptive systems that respond to changes in internal and external environments. Functioning…

This paper presents a brief survey of several contemporary macro-issues in human work organizations as context for--and part of the work of--scientists-practitioners in organizational communication. A special attempt has been made to identify concerns or issues--called "TransIssues" for the purposes of this paper--that appear to cut across two…

Issues in understanding organizational change from an interpretive viewpoint are explored in this paper, which discusses two perspectives for viewing organizational responses to their environments: (1) "environment" as an open concept (i.e., how "environment" is defined by participants in a given organization); and (2)…

The art of effective management is addressed, along with motivational factors that affect the way in which employees respond to management. To meet challenges for better production, organizational systems are taking into account the development of individual employees. Since human behavior must be fully understood to develop human resources, "new…

The first of the four papers in this symposium, "The Role of the Survey in the Assessment of an Organization for High Performance Redesign: A Case Study" (Teresa K. Moyers, Oris T. Griffin), looks at how one company used a survey to analyze the way the social system currently is designed and operates. "Thriving on Change: An…

In an era of deregulation, technology, foreign competition, and merger mania, corporations are forced to respond to a changing corporate culture climate. Traditionally based on a top-down structure, corporate culture--loosely defined as the sum total of how employees and management think, feel, act, or do not act--is changing toward a structure in…

Chaos theory provides a useful mental model for guiding change as leaders garner the energy from unpredictable events for realizing transformation goals. The paper considers chaos theory as a framework for managing school change toward Total Quality Management work cultures. Change is possible to manage when plans are made and then followed by a…

This paper reviews the work environment surrounding integrated office systems, synthesizes the known effects of automated office technologies, and discusses their impact on work efficiency in office environments. Particular attention is given to the effect of automated technologies on networks, workflow/processes, and organizational structure and…