Assessing Organizational Communication : Strategic Communication Audits - (rev edition

"The ultimate book on this subject. Comprehensive and brilliantly written, it is a complete guide to planning, implementing, and interpreting the results from communication assessments. It will be indispensable reading for professionals seeking a 'how to' guide, for students in management communication courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and for anyone interested in organizational communication more widely. The authors have made a major contribution to scholarship in this aspect of our discipline."

--Dennis Tourish, Aberdeen Business School, Scotland

"My students and I have been eagerly awaiting the followup to Downs's groundbreaking Communication Audits, and the current volume meets all our expectations. Communication, the essence of organizational functioning, is all too often overlooked in the complex world of contemporary business. This book provides the background and the strategies for understanding and assessing communication in a range of organizational contexts. Written in a straightforward, commonsense style, this is an outstanding text for researchers, students, and practicing managers at all levels, and a 'must have' for serious management and communication scholars."

--Bill Ticehurst, Faculty of Business, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia; past president, Australian Communication Association

"Assessing communication patterns in organizations has a long legacy in the field of organizational communication, a legacy to which this volume makes a significant contribution. The volume synthesizes knowledge about how auditors can build comparative knowledge about organizational problems, tailor assessment tools to particular organizations, and improve the diagnosis of problems through the use of multiple methods. As a text, it is particularly valuable for advanced undergraduate-- and graduate--level classes that focus on field methods, diagnostic processes, and training and consulting in organizational communication."

--Linda L. Putnam, Department of Communication, Texas A&M University

Publisher Web Site, October, 2004

1. Communication Audits as Organizational Development

2. Initiating and Planning an Assessment

3. Conducting Team Audits, David Cook, James Patterson, and Cal W. Downs

4. Choosing Focal Areas to Assess

5. The Interview: The Most Basic Assessment Technology

6. Diagnosis through Questionnaires

7. The International Communication Association Survey

8. Downs-Hazen Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire, Phillip G. Clampitt and Cal W. Downs

9. Critical Communication Experience Survey

10. ECCO Analysis

11. Diagnosing Communication Networks, D. Thomas Porter and Allyson D. Adrian

12. Focus Group Interviews

13. Final Analysis and Interpretation

14. The Final Report