The Business Communication Profession: Essays on the Journeys of Leading Teacher-Scholars

Description

This book provides a unique orientation to the present, past, and future of the field of business communication by collecting reflective essays from some of its most influential scholars, teachers, and leaders. Through a series of essays that bridge personal narrative and critical analysis, this book mentors a new generation of students, teachers, and professionals as they encounter the challenges and opportunities of business communication and shape the future of the field. The authors—all influential figures and award winners—describe their personal histories with the field and discuss how major aspects have evolved over time. The essays examine the pathways through which scholars encounter the discipline, the professional challenges they face, the evolving content of the business communication curriculum, the development of business communication programs and institutions, the value of an entrepreneurial mindset for career development, and the relationships between research, teaching, and professional practice. They offer stories about a diversity of paths for achieving personal and professional success and invite readers to think about what lessons they can apply to their own career advancement and satisfaction. In total, this collection provides both a living history of the field and a series of real-world examples of business communication at its finest. This book is essential reading for students and scholars of business communication and can be used as a supplemental text for courses in business communication, professional communication, and communication Cover Endorsement Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Contributors 1 Introduction Why the Essay Why the Journey Questions for the Rising Generation of Teacher-Scholars in Business Communication and in Other Academic Disciplines Lessons Learned From the Essays Collaborative Work An “Unending Conversation” References 2 Take Two Xanax and Call Me in the Morning; Or, Career Tension in Business Communication First Conference and First Academic Job Assistant Professor Associate Professor With Tenure Full Professor—A New Set of Tensions A 17-Year Administrative Aside—1988–2005 The Final Chapters: 2005– Wrap Up References 3 Cultivating a Liberal Arts Perspective On Workplace Communication The Journey A Writing-Centered Career Material Culture and Rhetoric The Journal Business Communication at the University of Delaware Material Culture Studies: A New Position Rhetoric and Material Culture Studies: Research On the Workplace From Context to Community: Revisiting a Textbook After 20 Years This Is Not a Box Learn With Your Students Learn With Your Colleagues Work Smart Integrate Your Teaching and Research Write, Read, and Support the Writing of Colleagues Take a Broad Perspective References 4 “Only Connect” Between Personal Life and Professional Choice, Scholarship and Teaching, My Generation and the Next Connections Between the Personal and the Professional Links Between a Business School’s Mission and the Discipline of Business Communication An Entrepreneurial Frame of Mind and Moment Translation as Cross-Cultural Communication and Political Act Connections Between My Students and My Work as a Teacher-Scholar: Observe, Listen, Respond, and be Entrepreneurial Observe the Millennials as a Way to Figure Out How to Teach Them Listen to Students’ Account of Their Progress and Goals for the Session and Adjust Accordingly Listen and Respond as an Expert Listen First for Students’ Draft Story of Next-Stage Development for an Organization—and Then Respond Establish a “Clearing” for Listening and Responding to Emerging Stories Apply My Work in Translation Theory and Practice to Teaching Apply Genre Theory View Persuasion as Performance Be Entrepreneurial From E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End to T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets: From My Generation to the Next References 5 Collaborative Networking for Better Teaching and Research Beginnings Post-MBA Career Early Academic Career Mid Academic Career The Future and Concluding Advice References 6 To Summon the Future: Defining the Field and Deciding What to Teach “That’s Not Business Communication” Defining Business Communication Teaching Business Communication Do Overs? Research Administration Teaching Look to the Future In Conclusion References 7 The Visual Expeditions and Related Adventures of a Teacher, Scholar, and Administrator Uncertain Beginnings: Transitioning From Student to Professor The Emergence of “Professional Communication”: Developing a Doctoral Program Visual Communication: Blending Past and Present in New Scholarly Directions Journal of Business and Technical Communication: Mentoring Other Scholars Administration: Practicing Business Communication in the Academic Workplace Takeaways for New(er) Teacher-Scholars: Connecting Past and Future References 8 Persisting in the Field of Business Communication: “There’s Really Something to It” Texts-in-Use—What Do Business Communication Academics Do? Interest—What Pursuits Does a Business Communication Career Require? Pursuing Personal Interests Pursuing Public Interest Belonging—Where Do Business Communication Academics Fit? “Something to It” Going Forward In Closing References 9 Selling My Soul: Moving From the Humanities to Business Communication Understanding the Conflict Between Business and the Humanities Historical Origins of the Conflict Cognitive and Perceptual Origins of the Conflict Criticisms of Business and Business Schools Negative Perceptions of Business Negative Perceptions of Business Schools Reconciling the Conflict Between Business and the Humanities Teaching Students to Take a Critical View of Business Enron Walmart Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers For-profit Colleges Starbucks Applying Literary Theory to Business Discourse What the Future Holds for Business Communication References 10 My Experiential Learning Journey as a Management Communication Teacher-Scholar A Constant Imperative: An Experiential Learning Style Entrée Into the Field of Business and Management Communication Crafting a Philosophy for Teaching, Research, and Consulting Teaching Philosophy Research Philosophy Consulting Philosophy Influences That Shaped My Teaching, Research, and Consulting Philosophies Institutional Influence Mentors, Muses, and Collaborators Closing References 11 Developing From a Teacher to a Scholar Across Cultures: The Moves From the East to the West and Back Again Stage 1: Formative/Preparation Stage (1971–1992) What Path to Choose: An Unknown Future and the Need to Change My Career Goals Stage 2: From Teacher Only to Teacher-Scholar (1993–2020) The Initial Period (1993–1998) The Intermediate Period (1999–2013) Insulating Myself and Taking On a College-Based Administrative Role (2006–2012) The Final Period at CityU (2013–2020) Professional Growth in the Field of Business Communication Professional Recognition Beyond the Department and the University ABC Support Network Stage 3: Maturity Stage (2020 Onwards) Concluding Remarks and Suggestions for Young Scholars Perseverance, Determination, and Focus Flexibility Networking References Acknowledgments Index