Leading Organizations through Transition: Communication and Cultural Change

This volume addresses the role of communication in cultural change efforts within organizations, especially during periods of transition, mergers, technological innovations, and globalization. Included is a development of the nature and function of organizational cultures, discussion of the role of leadership in providing visions and framing organizational events, investigations of ethical issues, and careful examination of the importance of member involvement in change processes. Specific organizational cases are highlighted throughout. These materials were initially developed as the electronic text for an online course in organizational culture and cultural change as part of an executive masters program at Seton Hall University. The success with this course led to the development of a book to aid students and professionals work with organizational cultural change.

Stanley Deetz, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus and a President’s Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research and professional practice has focused organizational culture and change, micro-practices of power in organizations, and designing interaction processes for collaborative decision-making. Deetz is author/co-author of over 150 scholarly essays and several books including Leading Organizations through Transitions, Doing Critical Management Research, Managing Interpersonal Communication, Transforming Communication-Transforming Business, and Democracy in an Age of Corporate Colonization. He was a Senior Fulbright Scholar and is a National Communication Association Distinguished Scholar and an International Communication Association Past-President and Fellow. He has lectured widely giving well over one hundred visiting scholar and invited lectures in twenty-four countries.

Dr. Sarah J. Tracy (Ph.D., University of Colorado, 2000) is associate professor or organizational communication. Her scholarly work examines emotion, communication and identity in the workplace with particular focus on emotional labor, workplace bullying, burnout and work-life wellness