Synopses & Reviews
Review
"This text provides a refreshing cast on the role of paradigms and theory development in organizational communication. Grounded historically in key developments in the field, the book provides provocative insights on issues of common ground, dissensus, and the management of diverse perspectives. The editors and contributors lay a foundation for embracing alternative perspectives, engendering dialogue, and building a communication community among scholars. This book is a 'must read' for all organizational communication and organizational theory scholars. Its unique format is particularly suited for thoughtful deliberation in upper-division/graduate-level communication theory and organizational communication classes." --Linda L. Putnam, Department of Speech Communication, Texas A&M University
"Academic disagreements about scholarly paradigms are notoriously difficult to resolve. Bringing together the various sides to voice their opinions is not for the faint-hearted or the unskilled. Corman and Poole have taken up this challenge, and they have produced a remarkable volume. The reader finds chapters written by renowned champions of a wide variety of perspectives, who articulate their viewpoints in a coherent, logical, and engaging manner--and largely without vitriol. Moreover, the discerning reader discovers areas of agreement between and divergence of opinion within each of the various camps, suggesting that they are not strictly monolithic paradigmatic blocks. This volume is a 'must' for seminars on alternative perspectives on organizational communication, and an excellent companion for an overview course on communication theory." --Michael E. Roloff, Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern University
"This volume offers uniquely personal views of divergences and commonalities in the landscape of organizational communication. It allows students to watch leading scholars grapple with defining issues, bringing into high relief the depth and subtlety of metatheoretical perspectives. It challenges us to abandon caricatures and direct our intellectual passions toward productive discourse. This is essential reading for graduate students and developing scholars trying to make sense of contradictions in the field." --Janet Fulk, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
Synopsis
This unique volume promotes constructive dialogue among the basic methodological positions in organizational communication today. Essays from three distinguished scholars discuss the concept of common ground from interpretive, post-positivist, and critical vantage points.
Synopsis
This unique volume promotes constructive dialogue among the basic methodological positions in organizational communication today. The goal is to identify theoretical moves and scholarly practices that can help people with divergent views compare or integrate their ideas instead of waging war. Essays from three distinguished scholars first discuss the concept of common ground from interpretive, post-positivist, and critical vantage points. Brief commentaries from a diverse array of colleagues then expand on key issues raised in the essays, explore creative tensions among the different perspectives, and reexamine the role of paradigms in organizational communication scholarship and scholarly discourse.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-253) and index.
About the Author
Steven R. Corman, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. He serves on the editorial board of
Human Communication Research. His publications on communication networks, interaction processes, and computer models of communication have appeared in a number of professional journals.
Marshall Scott Poole, PhD, is Professor of Speech Communication at Texas A&M University. He has conducted research and published extensively on the topics of group and organizational communication, computer-mediated communication systems, conflict management, and organizational innovation. The coauthor or editor of four books, he has published widely in professional journals. He is currently a Senior Editor of Information Systems Research and Organization Science.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
1. The Need for Common Ground, Steven R. Corman
II. Three Essays
2. Interpreting Interpretive Research: Toward Perspectivism without Relativism, George Cheney
3. Common Ground from the Post-Positivist Perspective: From "Straw Person" Argument to Collaborative Coexistence, Katherine I. Miller
4. Common Ground from the Critical Perspective: Overcoming Binary Oppositions, Dennis K. Mumby
III. Commentary
5. Commentary on Common Ground in Organizational Communication, George A. Barnett
6. On the Destiny of Acceptance Frames: Organizational Communication Discourse, Charles Conrad
7. The A Priori of the Communication Community and the Hope for Solving Real Problems, Stanley Deetz
8. The Kindness of Strangers: Hospitality in Organizational Communication Scholarship, Eric M. Eisenberg
9. Paradigm Skirmishes in the Review Process, Gail T. Fairhurst
10. Disciplinary Controversies and Interdisciplinary Consequences, Michele H. Jackson
11. A Case for a Different Kind of Dialogue: The After Action Review, Robert L. Krizek
12. Becoming Deeply Multiperspectival: Commentary on Finding Common Ground in Organizational Communication Research, Kathleen J. Krone
13. "Paradigm" Critique: How to See Our Task as a Common One, and How to Work on It, Robert D. McPhee
14. Challenges for the Professional Newcomer in Doing Common Ground Research, Craig R. Scott and Laurie K. Lewis
15. Potential "Sites" for Building Common Ground across Metatheoretical Perspectives on Organizational Communication, David R. Seibold and Andrew J. Flanagin
16. Pedagogy and Paradigms: The Search for Common Ground, Cynthia Stohl
17. A Common Ground, Common Grounds, or Footbridges?, James R. Taylor
18. The Shifting Common Ground: Feminism(s), Organizational Communication, and Productive Paradigmatic Tensions, Angela Trethewey
IV. Afterword
19. Reflections on Finding Common Ground, Marshall Scott Poole and Owen Hanley Lynch
References
Index