Annotated Bibliography Judith Malveaux COMM 602 July 13, 2011 Barker, R., & Gower, K. (2010).

Strategic application of storytelling in organizations: Toward effective communication in a diverse world. Journal of Business Communication, 47(3), 295-312. doi:10.1177/0021943610369782 This article looks at using storytelling or narrative paradigm theory as an effective communication tool for a diverse workforce. The authors build their case for this practice by defining diversity as noticeable heterogeneity, stating that this definition recognizes not just culture but the rich system of difference that exist between all people. Narrative paradigm theory could be used since it has yielded a large amount of positive research. They listed many findings about storytelling, including how it is used to relay the text and context of a conversation, thereby leading to coordination and effective interpretation of the message. They also included research that said storytelling is effective in introducing change, conveying complex ideas, establishing dialogue in public administration research, conveying authentic leadership characteristics and cross-cultural leadership effectiveness and building on corporate culture. The authors continued to say storytelling has successfully brought about a sense of community, an idea that would benefit a diverse workforce. This report offers a creative option to communicate with a workforce of differing ages and educational levels. I found the idea of applying storytelling to internal communication efforts in a diverse workforce to be an intriguing option, especially since newspapers and other media have applied the technique to put a face on issues. While this report offers many good examples of research suggesting the practice would benefit a diverse organization, it does not apply the theory through original research, which would validate the theory.

Dortok, A. (2006). A managerial look at the interaction between internal communication and corporate reputation. Corporate Reputation Review, 8(4), 322-338.

This study looks at the correlation between a corporations reputation and its internal communication. It has two hypotheses: (1) There is an interaction between corporate reputation and internal communication and (2) The approach of the top 10 companies and the bottom 10 companies to internal communications differ from one another. Using a survey method, qualitative research was conducted to determine the attitude toward internal communication at companies with excellent reputations and companies with lower reputations. The study took the top 10 and the bottom 10 most-admired companies in Turkey, as determined by the countrys leading business magazine, Capital. Researchers surveyed the senior managers of communications in the top and bottom companies about the interaction between corporate reputation and internal communication. Researchers found companies with good reputations attached more importance to internal communications than companies with lower reputations did. While both groups said the importance given to internal communications was lower than it should be, the importance attached to internal communication by companies of lower reputations was lower than the importance the highly regarded companies placed on internal communication. This study, though not using American companies, was particularly interesting to my research. It shows there is value in communicating with employees and this communication impacts to the overall reputation of the company. It also strengthens the argument that a deliberate focus on internal communication can have an impact on a companys notoriety and should, therefore, be a priority.

Effective organizational communication: A competitive advantage. (2008). HRMagazine, 53(12), 1-9. This report discusses effective organizational communication, focusing on openness between senior management and employees that can result in employees being more engaged and productive. In this writing, organizational communication is said to include marketing, public relations, investor relations, corporate advertising and environmental communication. It states that organizational communication encompasses the organizations initiatives that demonstrate social responsibility and good citizenship. It cites research from the Society for Human Resource Managements 2008 job satisfaction

survey, which notes that communication between employees and senior management is among the top five very important aspects of employee job satisfaction. It further notes that strategic and continuous communication lends credibility to an organizations leadership, while a lack of communication or poorly communicated information can lead to distrust, dissatisfaction, cynicism and unwanted turnover. This study not only strengthens the argument for effective internal communication, it also specifically discussed the benefits of strategic communication with employees within an organization. It also details how a lack of this type of communication negatively affects employees views of the company and its leadership and how these negative views hurt the company.

Madlock, P. E. (2008). Employee satisfaction: An examination of supervisors' communication competence. Human Communication, 11(1), 87-100. This study examined the influence of supervisor ability to communicate and their leadership style on employee job and communication satisfaction. It examined the idea that supervisors task leadership style, relational leadership style and communication competence significantly influenced employee job and communication satisfaction. A questionnaire was given to 220 individuals to test these hypotheses. The results supported the idea that a strong relationship exist between a supervisors ability to communicate effectively and a subordinates communication satisfaction. A moderate correlation was found between a supervisors ability to communicate and an employees job satisfaction. A supervisors leadership style was also found to have a significant and positive relationship with employee job and communication satisfaction. This study showed that one major piece of internal communication supervisor to subordinate can affect an employees job and communication satisfaction. This is important because it builds on other research that found face-to-face communication to be a majority of the way supervisors communicate with their subordinates. If these managers are effective at communication and leading, then this can further the companys overall goal of having effective internal communication because employees find this communication area to be of great importance in determining their perception of a company.

McCann, R. M., & Giles, H. (2006). Communication with people of different ages in the workplace: Thai and American data. Human Communication Research, 32(1), 74108. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2006.00004 This study examined intergenerational communication in the workplace. It investigated younger workers accounts of intra- and intergenerational communicative satisfaction in the workplace with variables such as age, culture and organizational rank. It also expanded in concept to understand intergenerational attitudes and how age is perceived in daily workplace conversations in different cultures (Thailand and the United States). It details how the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that ageist language appeared with alarming frequency in the 20,000 age-discrimination cases filed in 2002. Using this as a basis for research, the study found that young bankers perceive that they are communicated with differently (accommodated less) by older bankers than by young bankers. It also found that young bankers perceive they communicate more respectfully with older bankers than with young bankers. In general, the research found young workers favored intragroup communication versus communication with different age groups. This study offers some insight in effectively communicating with younger workers. While it does not detail the types of communication employed beyond calling it conversation, it does offer direction in how younger workers perceive their interaction with workers in their age group versus older workers. More details should have been included about the context of those conversations, including if they were they face-toface, electronic, telephone or more. In the absence of this information, I still find this study useful because it offers some ideas on helping older employees understand how they may better communicate with younger workers and how younger workers perceive conversations with older employees. This information is valuable when trying to engage and communicate with a workforce of diverse ages.

Schnake, M. E., Dumler, M. P., Cochran Jr., D. S., & Barnett, T. R. (1990). Effects of differences in superior and subordinate perceptions of superiors' communication practices. Journal of Business Communication, 27(1), 37-50. This study examines superior-subordinate communication to determine the degree of difference, or perceptual disparity, between managers and their subordinates regarding

the managers communications and communication practices. It also examined the effects of managers and subordinates perceptions of superiors communication practices on subordinates job satisfaction, work motivation and perceptions of intergroup and intragroup conflict, structure, warmth and support, participation and performance. This study included research stating that 50 to 90 percent of managers time is spent communicating and much of this time includes face-to-face communication with subordinates. The researchers used a survey to deduce that managers perceived their communications practices more positively than their subordinates perceived them. It also found the disparity in how managers and their subordinates perceived managers communication practices negatively affected subordinates job satisfaction as well as their perceptions of conflict and the climate of the organization. While the research that the authors included built an effective case, the study lacked information in the methodology that raises several questions about the research collection, including whether the survey was voluntary and how it was conducted. The findings do strengthen the idea that effective communication has an impact on employee job satisfaction and performance and the overall performance of a company.

Twenge, J. M., Campbell, S. M., Hoffman, B. J., & Lance, C. E. (2010). Generational differences in work values: Leisure and extrinsic values increasing, social and intrinsic values decreasing. Journal of Management, 36(5), 1117-1142. doi:10.1177/0149206309352246 In this study, researchers assessed differences in work values such as leisure, social interactions, intrinsic rewards, extrinsic rewards and altruism for three generations of workers. Those generations included Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964), GenX (1965-1981), and GenY (1982-1999). The study looked at how work values motivated employees in these different generations to perform on the job. They cited research which said work values shape employees perceptions of preferences in the workplace, exerting a direct influence on employee attitudes and behaviors. Researchers found that different generations are motivated by different work values. In fact, the study found that, compared with Baby Boomers, GenX held stronger values for leisure time and place more value on work that provides tangible rewards external to the

individual, such as income, advancement opportunities and status. This was even stronger with GenY workers, who placed less value than Baby Boomers on intrinsic and social rewards, such as the inherent interest in the work, the learning potential and the opportunity to be creative. This suggests that corporations must develop and implement different recruitment and retention strategies for GenY than those that have been used with Baby Boomers and even GenX workers. Internal communications must be included in the retention conversation because the research clearly shows a need to rethink how companies engage and retain young workers. Other studies have shown the value in internal communications shaping employees perception of companies, so efforts must be made to use internal communication to make young employees feel valued and motivated to perform.

White, C., Vanc, A., & Stafford, G. (2010). Internal communication, information satisfaction, and sense of community: The effect of personal influence. Journal of Public Relations Research, 22(1), 65-84. doi:10.1080/10627260903170985 This studys purpose was to examine how employees view information flow and their communication preferences. It looked at 147 employees of a multi-campus university, asking open-ended interview questions about communication practices at the university. The researchers interviewed top management, professional employees, exempt and nonexempt staff. Researchers found that employees preferred direct internal communication. Many of those surveyed said they were concerned that information from top managers is filtered or distorted as it is relayed through bureaucratic layers. While they said email was the most efficient method to receive information, most preferred face-to-face, interpersonal interactions. The companys website was also found to be a poor communication tool. While it was effective for getting information that was needed, employees said it was not a good channel to receive news and updates. Though employees found meetings to be time-consuming, the employees said they valued them as an opportunity for face time with managers and as a channel to receive feedback. What I found most interesting about this research is employees at all levels said access to information affects their morale and, when given more information, they feel respected

and important. Employees at all levels also said they resent learning things about their organization through the media and believed members of the family should know first. This study is perhaps the most important one I have found in my research because it discusses both preferences in communication strategies and tactics. I believe the openended questions used in this study would help me in my own research about how to communicate effectively with a multi-generational, educationally diverse workforce. The findings the researchers got from this study are along the lines of what I want to discover about how employees of the company I am hoping to study prefer to receive information.

Zickuhr, K. (2011). Generations and their gadgets. Retrieved from the Pew Research Centers Internet & American Life Project website: http://pewinternet.org/ Reports/2011/Generations-and-gadgets.aspx This research deals specifically with electronic devices such as cell phones and laptop computers and how different generations use them. The results are based on data from telephone interviews conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International in the fall of 2010. They surveyed 3,001 adults in English and Spanish, on landlines and cell phones. Researchers found cell phones, laptops and desktop have become popular across generations. While use of these devices is increasing across generations, younger adults are increasingly using mobile devices and in more ways than other age groups. For example, 85 percent of adults own cell phones, and 90 percent of all adults including 62 percent of those 75 and older live in a household with at least one working cell phone. Millennials, however, are far more likely to use cell phones for a wider range of functions than other generations. A majority of millennials use cell phones to go online, send email, play games and listen to music. The researchers found that about nine percent of adults or one in 11 do not own any of the electronic devices discussed, including cell phones, laptops and desktop computers. This research establishes a good understanding of the electronic tools that various generations use and prefer. In establishing effective internal communication in an age-diverse organization, a clear understanding of how different generations prefer to receive information and communicate is important. Understanding which tools are preferred and used and

applying this knowledge to communication planning helps to increase the likelihood that communication will be received across a broad demographic of employees.

Summary My research topic involves how best to communicate internally with a workforce that is diverse in both age and educational level. To build a case for my research, I have sought research that discusses establishing the need for an organization to have strong internal communications, defining effective internal communication and understanding workforce diversity and how to communicate to a diverse group. My research has helped me to find information in many of these areas and narrowed my focus to looking at one tactic that may positively affect internal communications in a diverse workforce. In my research, I found many studies establishing a need for organizations to have effective internal communication. My research shows a correlation between a corporations reputation and the value that corporation places on internal communication. This idea is furthered by research that found employees at all levels said the more access they have to information, the higher their morale and the more likely they are to advocate on behalf of the organization. The study that included this information also included findings about how employees preferred to receive internal communication, which helps me not only establish the idea that internal communications must insight into the diverse channels employees find to be the most effective. In this study, most of the employees said they preferred face-to-face, interpersonal communication. From this finding, I began to look at effective communication between managers and their subordinates. I included research that found openness between management and employees results in employees being more engaged and productive, which benefits the organization as a whole. Other research found that managers perceive their communication practices to be more effective than their employees perceive them to be. Since my research focuses on communicating with a diverse workforce, I have looked for information about this, including findings about how different generations perceive communication in the workplace and what electronics different generations prefer to use to receive information. I think this is important because it can help establish some tactics for communication that would engage different generations of employees. I have not been able to find research about communicating with employees of varying educational backgrounds, which is a very important part of my research. I continue to look for information on this topic to help shape my research.

I did find a journal article that advances the idea of using storytelling to communicate effectively in a diverse workforce. While it does not directly establish storytelling as a best practice for communicating with a diverse workforce, I found the idea intriguing because it is something that journalists have long practiced. Reporters have put a face on an issue as a way to help readers or viewers see beyond a topic and identify with a person affected by that topic. This research has led me to consider narrowing my research to investigating the effectiveness of using storytelling as a communication tool for workforce that is diverse in age and educational levels.