Addressing the needs of Latino workers can help improve working conditions, job satisfaction, and productivity of both employees and the companies hiring Latino workers. The study reported here assessed educational needs, communication gaps, and technical skills of Latino workers working in the horticultural industry in Iowa--an ethnic group that…

The failure rate of information systems development (ISD) projects continues to pose a big challenge for organizations. The success rate of ISD projects is less then forty percent. Factors such as disagreements and miscommunications among project manager and team members, poor monitoring and intermediary problems contribute to project failure.…

Intended to help individuals as well as companies thrive in a working world made up of increasingly diverse work forces and ever more competitive markets, this book addresses the differences in men's and women's speaking styles, without maintaining the superiority of any one style of speaking. Reinforced with extensive examples drawn from…

Enhancing the awareness of (1) the organization of "typical" computer projects, (2) the communication that emerges from those structures, and (3) the problems that technical communications inherently hold is the purpose of this paper. It begins by presenting the organization of the working group of a computer project (a college that is going to…

Discusses executives' behaviors that create both defensive and supportive climates for workers, indicating ways in which transactional analysis can be used to interpret these behaviors and their effects. (RL)

An adaptation of "communication audit" procedures was used to evaluate the communication patterns at a mental health center (MHC). The evaluation included initial interviews with 28 MHC workers/administrators, a survey of 215 staff members for a communication network analysis, and followup interviews with another 28 persons. The data produced four…

A case study used focus groups to examine employee attitudes and concerns. Subjects, about 60 employees and managers of a major university teaching hospital in the southeast, were formed into 4 focus groups to discuss their attitudes. Employees hoped that management would use the information gathered to improve the communication environment and…

In a study of turnover in a midwest trucking firm, the files of 199 terminated drivers were used in a statistical analysis of 19 variables that might have been correlated to length of service. A series of interviews with drivers and key management personnel supplemented the statistical data. It was found that previously identified biographical…

As the first volume in a set of programmed instructional materials to help college students improve their communication skills in preparation for the job market, this booklet presents an overview of communication skills and a section on active listening. Designed for students to use on their own, the format of the program is to present a situation…