Showing papers in "Journal of Business and Technical Communication in 1995"
TL;DR: The report for decision making as discussed by the authors is one of the most popular decision-making genres in the literature. But it shares some common ground with the proposal, the report of scientific experiment, and even the persuasive essay, yet these genres differ.
Abstract: The report for decision making shares some common ground with the proposal, the report of scientific experiment, and even the persuasive essay, yet these genres differ. Recognizing these differences is necessary for effective inquiry, pedagogy, and decision making. The genres are means of solving different types of problems: practical, empirical, and theoretical. They serve different aims: action, demonstration, and conviction. The proposal, like the report, may solve practical problems, but the proposal advocates, whereas the report inquires. These genres all embody assumptions about problem solving and inquiry in their forms. Applying the problem-solving goals and methods of the proposal, experimental report, or essay to the report for decision making compromises the quality of the inquiry and of the resulting decision. Complex problems for decision making require a rhetorical method of inquiry based on Aristotle's special topics. The report genre reflects the invention heuristics and analysis in its form.
40 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the relationship between current theoretical definitions of risk communication, the unique national role that EPA plays in defining health and environmental risks, and possible explanations for EPA's inability to persuade the city of Aspen, Colorado, to accept its plan for a massive cleanup of toxic lead mine wastes.
Abstract: This article explores the relationship between current theoretical definitions of risk communication, the unique national role that EPA plays in defining health and environmental risks, and possible explanations for EPA's inability to persuade the city of Aspen, Colorado, to accept its plan for a massive cleanup of toxic lead mine wastes. Many explanations for the reversal of EPA's cleanup plan at Aspen could be advanced, but we concentrate on the definition of risk communication upon which EPA's internal risk communication guidelines are based—guidelines that its field representatives are invited to follow. In particular, we now explore ownership messages conveyed through metacommunication conflict with EPA's risk communication guidelines.
31 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe German correspondence styles in order to assist American managers in their correspondence with their German counterparts, and explain typical conventions of both memo and letter formats, emphasizing the need to appreciate differences between formal and informal modes of communication.
Abstract: This article describes German correspondence styles in order to assist American managers. In the coming years, more and more American managers will find that they must correspond with their German counterparts either as colleagues within international organizations or as associates representing collaborative and competing businesses. The article explains typical conventions of both memo and letter formats, emphasizing the need to appreciate differences between formal and informal modes of communication. American managers who know and respect these differences can communicate more clearly and persuasively with their German contacts.
19 citations
TL;DR: It is posited that narrative can provide a basis for a pedagogy of social action that enables students to understand the workings of power and cultural reproduction in professional settings and that fosters reflection, critique, and dialogue.
Abstract: Scholars in professional communication have called for a reexamination of pedagogy, asking that it instruct students not simply in the forms of workplace discourse but also in the connections between that discourse and socially responsible communicative action. This article posits that narrative can provide a basis for a pedagogy of social action—for a pedagogy, that is, that enables students to understand the workings of power and cultural reproduction in professional settings and that fosters reflection, critique, and dialogue. The article first reviews narrative theory supporting this claim, then discusses ways that teachers can use narrative to help students critique examples of professional discourse and their own composing choices. The article closes by discussing both the concerns about and the possibilities for such a pedagogy.
17 citations
TL;DR: Some practical solutions and effective pedagogical techniques are suggested that will make the course more real-world oriented and, therefore, more useful for today's business graduate.
Abstract: This article explores the problems with most business communication courses today—the general lack of real-world applicability in the textbooks and approaches used to teach the subject. Based on ma...
17 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study of journal keeping to focus business students' attention on their listening behaviors and the need for improvement was described, and 42 students wrote daily on listening behaviors.
Abstract: This article describes a study of journal keeping to focus business students' attention on their listening behaviors and the need for improvement. Guided by an instructor, 42 students wrote daily o...
15 citations
TL;DR: Focusing on student learning aspects, this article presents six aspects of business school videoconferencing: a rationale for using videoconFerencing in the business curriculum, budgetary considerations and resources, learning objectives for student videocon ferencing, sample business videconferences for class purposes, and essentials for successful student Videoconferences.
Abstract: As more and more companies use videoconferencing to conduct business, training students to communicate through this medium becomes increasingly important. With the rapid development of videoconferencing, business schools should investigate equipment purchase, for it may be within their budgets. Focusing on student learning aspects, this article presents six aspects of business school videoconferencing: (a) a rationale for using videoconferencing in the business curriculum, (b) a description of the Videoconferencing Center in the Texas Christian University business school, (c) budgetary considerations and resources, (d) learning objectives for student videoconferencing, (e) sample business videoconferences for class purposes, and (f) essentials for successful student videoconferences.
15 citations
TL;DR: This study compares the effectiveness of five leading grammar/style analysis software packages in analyzing business students' writing and found PowerEdit to be the overall superior package, demonsrating proficiency in detecting errors in punctuation, sentence structure, passive voice, and weak wording.
Abstract: This study compares the effectiveness of five leading grammar/style analysis software packages in analyzing business students' writing. The software exhibited considerable differences in the follow...
13 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated the effects of case and traditional assignments on the writing products and processes of community college students and found that the elaborated case assignments generally produced better writing products than did the short case scenarios.
Abstract: This study investigates the effects of case and traditional assignments on the writing products and processes of community college students. Specifically, each of 57 first-year business students in three sections of a business composition course wrote in response to either (a) two traditional assignments, (b) two short case scenario assignments, or (c) two lengthy, elaborated case assignments. Participants' letters were scored using a performance criteria rating scale for determining both overall quality and specific trait quality. Results indicate that the case assignments generally produced more effective writing products than did traditional paradigm assignments. Results also indicate that the elaborated case assignments generally produced better writing products than did the short case scenarios. However, results also suggest that the writing of participants who already possess business-related experience was not as affected by assignment type as the writing of inexperienced participants. Finally, qua...
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors sent questionnaires to 2,200 chief executive officers (CEOs) and directors of personnel or training to find out more about the communication needs of people in business.
Abstract: To find out more about the communication needs of people in business, the author sent questionnaires to 2,200 chief executive officers (CEOs) and directors of personnel or training. I received 207 answers. Respondents believe that oral communication before a small group is important and that principles of communication should be stressed over formats for letters and memos. They believe reading and editing, as well as grammar skills, are very important. In many respects, the results of this survey are similar to those of others done across the country in the past 20 years, but there are some comments on reading, editing, and writing letters with bad news that were not part of earlier surveys.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the ways in which writers' and designers' processes of collaboration directly affect the form and substance of a finished manual, arguing that when these developers have dialogue, draft iteratively, and jointly make decisions, they produce manuals that could not possibly be developed through linear, assembly-line collaborative processes.
Abstract: Few, if any, studies on collaboration examine interactions between software manual writers and graphic designers. This study analyzes these collaborations, inquiring into the ways in which writers' and designers' processes of collaboration directly affect the form and substance of a finished manual. We argue that when these developers have dialogue, draft iteratively, and jointly make decisions, they produce manuals that could not possibly be developed through linear, assembly-line collaborative processes. We characterize three possible models of collaboration—assembly line (linear drafting), swap meet (iterative drafting and joint problem solving), and symphony (codevelopment in every aspect)—and use as a case study our own collaboration in developing a manual, detailing the concerns that writers and designers bring to a manual project. Analyzing our collaboration as an example of a swap-meet model, we examine four design problems that we faced and explain the ways in which our collaborative processes un...
TL;DR: This article described the roles and responsibilities of three editors employed in the publications unit of a large government agency and presented generalizations about the editing process in this particular organization, suggesting that editing is a complex, meaning-making process.
Abstract: This study describes the roles and responsibilities of three editors employed in the publications unit of a large government agency. Along with the story of each editor, the article presents generalizations about the editing process in this particular organization. The description suggests that editing is a complex, meaning-making process. The three editors seem to make changes in the documents they edit based on their expert knowledge of writing, their empathy for readers, and their assumption of authority over a document. Although they all make rule-based changes that rely on external authorities, such as style manuals, they vary greatly in their readiness to use their personal authority in interpreting the needs of an audience. The editors gain the authority they need to make reader-based changes by assuming the role of language specialists and by enhancing the teaching role important in their organization.
TL;DR: The results indicate that main effects and interactions involving hierarchical level, message length, message complexity, anticipated reaction, communication task, need for documentation, and communication across work shifts affect preferences for wordprocessed versus handwritten messages.
Abstract: Workers at a Canadian industrial site read a vignette asking them to send a message to a co-worker and then rated their preferences for available message channels. We explored the respondents' preferences for either a word-processed or a handwritten message. The results indicate that (a) main effects and interactions involving hierarchical level, message length, message complexity, anticipated reaction, communication task, need for documentation, and communication across work shifts affect preferences for wordprocessed versus handwritten messages; (b) the cost control perspective can explain preferences for word-processed versus handwritten messages; and (c) scholars should distinguish between various types of written messages rather than grouping all written messages together in a single category.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss how the organization's culture may affect communication practices of members and learn to read the various signs of organizational culture, which may be critical to the consultant's success or failure.
Abstract: Many teachers of technical and business communication consult in business, industrial, and governmental organizations. To make the consulting experience successful and to understand the communication problems in an organization, the consultant should be aware of how the organization's culture may affect communication practices of members and should learn to read the various signs of organizational culture. Effective reading of cultural signs may be critical to the consultant's success or failure.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify several typical, but not predictable, organizational problems that involve technical communicators and present them in a how-to, anecdotal fashion, in order to demonstrate that formal classroom instruction and literature in the field never replace the learning that occurs from actual experience in the workplace.
Abstract: Formal classroom instruction and literature in the field never replace the learning that occurs from actual experience in the workplace. Recognizing this, the authors—two senior technical communicators—identify several typical, but not predictable, organizational problems that involve technical communicators and present them in a how-to, anecdotal fashion.
TL;DR: Although more research needs to be conducted to better understand the relationship between verbal and visual rhetoric in technical communication, integrating document design principles early appears to be a promising pedagogical technique.
Abstract: In teaching a technical communication course, I introduced document design principles before discussing traditional verbal rhetoric. A comparison of the writing of two students—a competent writer and a weak one—before and after the design discussion indicates that a basic understanding of design principles helped them improve document macrostructure. They saw the need to involve the audience, to provide an introduction and a forecast, and to organize and highlight information using headings. The design discussion, however, appears to have had little effect on document microstructure. Although more research needs to be conducted to better understand the relationship between verbal and visual rhetoric in technical communication, integrating document design principles early appears to be a promising pedagogical technique.
TL;DR: This article explored the relationship between forensic, deliberative, and epideictic modes of rhetoric in the cold fusion controversy, and suggested that rhetorical practices interact with scientific practices to allow diverse researchers to arrive at constructive agreements and resolve competing interpretations.
Abstract: This study explores the relationship between forensic, deliberative, and epideictic modes of rhetoric in the cold fusion controversy. The purpose of this exploration is threefold: (a) to show the interactions between these three modes of rhetoric more comprehensively than they have been shown in previous case studies of scientific controversies; (b) to examine the ways in which all three modes have shaped the emerging scientific consensus and, further, through a close analysis of key experimental reports, to reveal how forensic rhetoric in the cold fusion controversy has come to occupy pride of place; and (c) to suggest how the events in this controversy support Robert Sanders's contention that rhetorical practices interact with scientific practices to allow diverse researchers to arrive at constructive agreements—not merely political ones—on both research findings and ways to resolve competing interpretations.
TL;DR: In this paper, survey responses of 98 experienced national and international tax practitioners revealed that the barriers perceived to be the most serious relate to behavioral and personality concerns, personal conditions, inflexible thinking, physical concerns, technical competence, and closed-minded attitudes.
Abstract: Improving communication between tax practitioners and IRS agents requires identification of specific barriers that impede effective communication. This study extends prior research on communication barriers to the tax practitioner-IRS agent relationship. Survey responses of 98 experienced national and international tax practitioners revealed that the barriers perceived to be the most serious relate to behavioral and personality concerns, personal conditions, inflexible thinking, physical concerns, technical competence, and closed-minded attitudes. Although these perceptions generally were invariant to gender and age, some differences were observed by the level of work experience of the respondents. The results of this study may be used by the IRS to develop outreach and education programs consistent with Compliance 2000, a philosophy of tax administration that aims to improve communication channels between the practitioner community and IRS agents. In addition, practitioners may use the results to devise ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the instructor-facilitated and peer-faciliated interviewing exercises and found that students preferred the instructor facilitated over the peer facilitated training exercises.
Abstract: Instructors of business and technical communication courses continually search for ways to improve their classroom and professional training exercises. Toward that end, this investigation examines two methods of conducting an employment interviewing training exercise for interviewees. Specifically, instructor-facilitated and peer-facilitated interviewing exercises are compared. Data collected from interviewing classes show that students preferred the instructor-facilitated over the peer-facilitated training exercise. Advantages and disadvantages of the instructor-facilitated exercise are discussed, and suggestions for further examination are offered.