The Canadian population is aging, as is the Canadian workforce. Today, four generations find themselves cohabiting in the workforce together. This may have an impact on workplace collaboration and communication, as both of these processes are influenced by group perceptions. Academic research has focused upon workplace interactions mainly from a younger worker’s perspective; hence, the older worker’s voice has been overlooked. The objective of this study is thereby from an older worker’s perspective, to understand how generations perceive each other in the workplace, and further, understand how these perceptions influence intergenerational communication and collaboration. To do so, we have relied upon Communication Accommodation Theory and Social Identity Theory, and have conducted a survey to measure the influence of ageist stereotypes on communication and its accommodation, in addition to such influences on knowledge transfer. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The Canadian population is aging, as is the Canadian workforce. Today, four generations find themselves cohabiting in the workforce together. This may have an impact on workplace collaboration and communication, as both of these processes are influenced by group perceptions. Academic research has focused upon workplace interactions mainly from a younger worker’s perspective; hence, the older worker’s voice has been overlooked. The objective of this study is thereby from an older worker’s perspective, to understand how generations perceive each other in the workplace, and further, understand how these perceptions influence intergenerational communication and collaboration. To do so, we have relied upon Communication Accommodation Theory and Social Identity Theory, and have conducted a survey to measure the influence of ageist stereotypes on communication and its accommodation, in addition to such influences on knowledge transfer. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

It is well known that international project teams and collaboration partners are operating in complex cultural settings influenced by factors such as postcolonial power dynamics, communication differences and dissynergies in motivation. Such discrepancies may have impeding effects on end-results, according to some scholars of intercultural communication. This paper aims to explore similarities and differences in communication and collaboration perspectives through the lens of Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) and Face Negotiation Theory (FNT). It does so by analysing qualitative data collected through in depth interviews with project team members from the NGO sector and the government in Cambodia. The project serving as an example case for this study is “An Inclusive Labour Market in Cambodia - Support to People with Disabilities 2021-2023”. The project is a collaboration between a Swedish government agency, five Cambodian NGOs, and a Finnish NGO as well as a number of international organisations operating in Cambodia. The Cambodian government, in particular National Employment Agency, (NEA), are also involved to anchor project results on a systematic level and create sustainability after the end of the project implementation period. The study agrees with postcolonial perspectives of international development and puts the Cambodian project partners’ perspective at the core of the analysis. In doing so, the aim is to outline and analyse differences and similarities found among representatives from different Cambodian stakeholders. In short, the key findings focus on how to strengthen communication and collaboration for more sustainable outcomes. In doing so, the study hopes to make a valuable contribution towards disability inclusion on the Cambodian labour market.

Adjusting one’s communication is a fundamental requirement for human interaction (Gasiorek, 2016a). Individuals adapt communication behavior according to the circumstances surrounding the situation, resulting in different patterns and forms of speech relative to spouses, family members, coworkers, or friends. Yet, researchers in instructional communication have not yet substantially applied adjustment as a theoretical lens for understanding instructor-student classroom interactions (Gasiorek & Giles, 2012; Soliz & Giles, 2014; Soliz & Bergquist, 2016). Apart from overlooking this useful theoretical approach, instructional communication scholarship can also be improved by accounting for 1) shifting group identities in higher education that change how instructors and students communicate, 2) incomplete conceptualizations of student perceptions in existing research, and 3) a consistent lack of concern for the hierarchical structure of educational data. This dissertation seeks to resolve these limitations through an application of one of the most prominent theories of adjustment: communication accommodation theory (CAT; Giles, 1973; Giles, Willemyns, Gallois, & Anderson, 2007a). The research specifically extends the CAT framework to an instructional setting by investigating how student perceptions of instructor nonaccommodation across several modes of communication (i.e., nonverbal, linguistic/verbal, content, support) influence information processing ability, relationships with instructors, and beliefs about instructors. Data were collected from 573 undergraduate students across 38 sections of a basic communication course (BCC). Students completed an online questionnaire assessing perceptions of the appropriateness of their instructor’s behavior (i.e., nonaccommodation), extraneous load, communication satisfaction, instructor-student rapport, instructor credibility, and instructor communication competence. The results first forward a nuanced measure for assessing nonaccommodation in a manner consistent with the theoretical propositions of CAT. Second, a series of analyses using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM; Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) showed significant associations between perceptions of nonaccommodation across modes and students’ reported classroom outcomes. Interestingly, several of the individual, direct relationships disappeared when multiple modes of nonaccommodation were considered simultaneously, introducing the possibility that individuals may prioritize the appropriateness of certain behaviors within context. The data hierarchy (i.e., students enrolled in course sections) did exert some influence on the relationships between variables, yet the majority of variance accounted for across models occurred at the student level. Implications of the results related to both theory and practice within the basic communication course are presented in the discussion.

Climate Science Communication is an important tool for helping organizations set strategies to reduce their climate impact. As a major contributor to global climate warming emissions, the food industry needs to take stronger action to reduce their climate impact if the world wants to achieve the global climate goals committed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement. To ensure they meet the climate commitments in their Corporate Social Responsibility strategies, corporations in the food industry should use science-based targets, which research shows are more effective and ambitious. Through the context of Sweden, a country which has set strong emissions reduction policy, this thesis investigates the role that Climate Science Communication and stakeholder communication play in the actions that corporations in the food industry are taking to help achieve the global climate goals. This qualitative study analyzes the firsthand accounts of ten professionals across the food, science communications, and science research industries. Interviews with the participants explore stakeholder management in science communication, the role of collaboration within the science and food industries, and what gaps they see between the science community and the food industry when establishing corporate climate strategies. Results suggest that there is a necessary, and often missing, link between the food industry’s climate strategies and the climate research that informs them. Using principles from Stakeholder Theory, Communications Accommodation Theory, and Cross-Sector Collaboration can help bridge this gap. Improved stakeholder collaboration, better efforts to help decision makers understand climate science, changes to corporate behaviors, and systemic changes in both the corporate world and academia can improve the relationship between the science community and food industry, leading to more effective and impactful climate strategies and results.