This paper argues that while organizational research includes a diverse array of naturalistic approaches, a gap exists in the organizational literature that can only be filled by the ethnography of communication (EC). The paper proposes that, instead of using speech to do qualitative research, speech itself should be studied as the topic of interest, thus providing a fresh approach to organizational communication research along with practical potential for reducing misunderstandings and alleviating organizational conflict. Defining the ethnography of communication as the study of communicative conduct, the paper states that it is an approach to culture which has only recently been applied to the study of organizations. The paper explores the following: (1) the ethnography of communication as a field of study; (2) how organizational ethnographies of communication (OECs) differ from other naturalistic, interpretive studies of organizations; and (3) the unique contributions of OECs to organizational communication research and to management. Three pertinent studies are identified and then analyzed in the paper--those undertaken by L. A. Baxter (1993), by D. Carbaugh (1988), and by M. R. Huspek (1986). The studies reviewed in the paper illustrate some of the specific benefits available to the organizations examined in the studies; the EC approach also has obvious application in multinational companies where interaction between subsidiaries located in different countries may prove bewildering. Contains 47 references and 14 notes, a table, and an explanatory appendix with a table. (NKA)