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While technical communication consultants and researchers agree that content strategy requires attention to both customer needs and business goals, we found no evidence that technical communication educators promote an accurate understanding of business goals among their content strategy students. Through industry-academia collaboration, we integrate two existing models, using content tactics within organizational characteristics that define the maturity level of an organization's content operations. Analyzing the current state of maturity for each characteristic highlights gaps that can define a content strategy with prioritized tactics and, ultimately, encourages the growth of technical communicator leadership and the empowerment of our profession.

To prepare students for the workforce, instructors of business, technical, and professional communication must incorporate team projects in their curriculum. However, both instructors and students have negative perceptions of team projects due to a variety of factors including team dysfunctions like social loafing. No prior study has examined the relationship between leader rapport management (LRM) and social loafing. LRM refers to the use of linguistic strategies to manage relationships between leaders and members. Therefore, we built and tested a model that examines the relationship between LRM and social loafing that is mediated by leader-member exchange and communication quality.

Purpose: This teaching case examines challenges in developing technical communication students as organizational leaders managing content strategy through analysis of a graduate course incorporating a client project. Method: Forty-five graduate students enrolled in a content strategy course conducted content audits and assessments for six clients. Their final strategic roadmap reports were analyzed to determine their aptitude for aligning content strategies with business goals. Results: While students adeptly identified technical content quality issues, the majority struggled to connect these to business implications. A minority of students explicitly linked their strategic recommendations to business metrics, such as revenue growth. This outcome suggests a deficiency in achieving the course's intent to instill a businessoriented approach to content strategy. Conclusion: The case identifies several challenges, including client maturity levels, the intricacy of business contexts, and the ambitious scope of the course's objectives. Proposed enhancements involve restructuring client interaction, integrating more industry expertise, focusing the project's reporting component, and refining the course's aims. These measures aim to strengthen the strategic business thinking and leadership capabilities of technical communication students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flipping originated in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, where didactic transmission of conceptual knowledge has been the standard pedagogy. Flipping has resulted in additional focus on procedural knowledge within class meetings. This article argues that business and professional writing pedagogy, which already focuses largely on procedural knowledge within class meetings, would benefit from flipping because it could create an additional focus on conceptual knowledge outside of the classroom. The article explains why we need to teach conceptual foundations, why video is a good choice for that teaching, and what challenges we face in creating those instructional videos.

Hostile challenges to planned organization change are common and challenging to deal with effectively. Little research has explained successful responses to such stakeholder hostility. To address this gap, we use the concept of readiness to characterize the content of hostile challenges. We also use rhetorical strategies based on speech act theory to describe options for responding to those challenges. Because change agents must choose among multiple strategies, we continue a line of research investigating relative preferences among them. Ultimately, our aim is to offer six lessons for change agents who face hostile challenges based on evidence from research.

Examines self and peer ratings of oral business presentations in business classrooms. Finds that both holistic and analytical peer assessments are reasonable substitutes for instructor assessment when raters are trained; self assessment does not closely reflect either peer or instructor assessments; and peer assessment of delivery characteristics, command of material, and content strongly predict peer ratings of overall presentation quality. (SR)

Provides a descriptive basis for assessing three areas in research methods course work for United States students specializing in business and technical communication: research methods topics, required readings, and teaching or assessment methods. Suggests a proposed agenda for preparing students specializing in business and technical communication for their future work roles in both academe and industry. (SG)

Explores whether instruction in writing style at the word and sentence level leads to improvements in the quality of students' writing in a business-communication class. Finds that informative memos written after instruction were of higher quality than those written before instruction, with students' styles changing for the better after instruction. (SR)

States that current guidance for organizational spokespersons lacks a clear theoretical and empirical foundation. Describes a study designed to rank preferences for five previously identified rhetorical strategies for responding to hostile questions in environmental meetings based on speech act theory. Finds responses based on the timing strategy most preferred, with those based on the agency theory least preferred. (PA)

Suggests that cohesion is best understood as a general perceptual phenomenon rather than a purely semantic one. Discusses three types of structural cohesion based on an analysis of technical texts: cohesion produced through thematic progression, parallelism, and graphic devices. (SR)

Evidence is presented that the analogy between oral and written language development is misleading and that literacy has few of the characteristics of naturally acquired behaviors. It is contended that researchers should concentrate on the differences between oral and written language development. (SLD)

Applies speech act theory to professional writing. Argues that speech act theory supports the use of an explanation in composing negative messages and also provides a useful classification of such explanations based on five universal strategies for politely refusing requests. Notes that this classification illuminates novice writers' problems in inventing explanations and has pedagogical implications. (SR)

Analyses concepts from speech act theory to clarify the most effective use of first and second person pronouns in two types of structures frequently found in professional communication: commissives and directives. (KEH)

To help writing faculty learn the language of discourse communities across campus, we conducted faculty interviews as a first attempt to describe knowledge about disciplinary cultures, specifically with regard to writing. Based on the data received from the interviews about disciplinary definitions and characteristics of good writing and how writing is learned, we advocate (a) awareness: recognizing that the particular beliefs and practices of a discipline may differ from those of other disciplines; (b) knowledge: learning about others' values, particularly regarding the definition and practice of writing; and (c) skills: altering perceptions and even communication strategies based on awareness and knowledge. Our interview data suggest that when writing faculty limit cross-disciplinary discussion to characteristics of good writing only, discipline stereotypes are reinforced, and communication may be restricted. However, when writing faculty discuss learning-to-write strategies with faculty in other disciplines, the results reveal commonalities about writing ideology.

White papers are commonly produced by for-profit organizations to market high-tech products and services and are often created by technical writers. But writers of this genre have little evidence-based research to guide them. To fill this void, the authors tested a rhetorical move structure with a sample of 20 top-rated marketing white papers and found that, despite the lack of industry standards for white papers, those written for marketing purposes display similar rhetorical moves: introducing the business problem, occupying the business solution niche, prompting action, establishing credibility, and providing disclaimers or legal considerations. Based on the results of this study, the authors advance guidelines for writers of this genre and suggest areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A chapter from the book "Biennial Review of Health Care Management: Meso Perspectives" is presented. It discusses the impact of physician burnout or depersonalization on the physician-patient relationship and patient results. It defines burnout as a psychological response to work stress and has three major elements, namely, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal achievement. It cites the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory that assesses the psychological process involving stress through the use of valued resources.