Intraorganisational communication and its integration in the organisation is increasingly being recognised as a fundamental contributor to organisational success and needs to be prioritised as a strategic priority. In light of the contribution that intraorganisational communication can make, the measurement of its effectiveness, especially in relation to its integration, is critical. As such, a measurement instrument that measures the integration of intraorganisational communication would enable organisations to improve such integration of intraorganisational communication from a holistic perspective. In the context of this research the Communication Audit provides the framework for the measurement of intraorganisational communication and its integration and endeavours to establish whether the Communication Audit can measure the integration of communication / Communication Science / M.A. (Organisational Communication)

Thesis (MTech (Public Relations Management))--Cape Technikon, 2004. / This case study set out to determine the extent to which communication satisfaction exists amongst the employees of a Gauteng based utility. This is important firstly, because employees influence the quality of external relationships and secondly, employees are critical stakeholders in organisational goal achievement. The Utility has a critical, strategic, public function in supplying potable water daily to about 12 million people in Gauteng. The Utility's Corporate Business Plan for the period 2003 to 2008 expressed the strategic intent to transform the organisation into a customer orientated organisation. This transformation is underpinned by, inter alia, Organisational Culture Change. The improvement of internal communication was amongst the initiatives undertaken by the Company to promote an organisational culture more reflective of its values. The management communication issue of not knowing whether communication satisfaction exists amongst the employees of The Utility militates against the effectiveness of The Utility's internal communication. In turn, the effectiveness of its internal communication impacts on the organisation's intentions of affecting an organisational culture change and transforming into a customer orientated organisation. To determine the extent to which communication satisfaction exists is therefore important in the facilitation of such a culture change. The study was positioned in the communication domain, more specifically the sub-domain of management communication. The meta-theoretical framework of the study was the Excellence theory of public relations and communication management. The literature study clarified the major concept of communication satisfaction, as well as its constructs. The second concept of the study, relating to supervisory communication skills, was also described.

Thesis (MTech (Public Relations Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011. / The purpose of this limited scope research study is to investigate the research question "What are the internal communication needs of the Cape Town based employees at Metropolitan Health Group?" The research will investigate whether the current internal communication practise/s and communication content at Metropolitan Health Group satisfy the needs of employees. The research will be informed by the Downs and Hazen (1977:72) factor analytic study of communication satisfaction which concluded that "the concept of satisfaction can be a useful tool in an audit of organisational communication."

This dissertation examines coercion in its relationship to persuasion and conflict resolution and prevention. Building on the analysis of coercion by Alan Wertheimer, this dissertation offers a new conceptualization of coercion as a communication phenomenon and examines how existing conceptualizations of coercion may be shaping both the discourse on international conflict and practical approaches to its resolution. It also offers a discussion of several key implications of the revised conceptualization of coercion for the theory and practice of conflict resolution and prevention and outlines second-order changes necessary for the creation of a workable conflict prevention protocol capable of averting deadly conflict. The theory of conflict provention by John Burton serves as a starting point for the analysis of the theory and practice of conflict resolution and prevention. The author argues that coercion is a bona fide mode of communication, closely related to persuasion. Contrary to the assumption underlying other analyses, coercion is not a single conceptual entity. Rather, the term has at least two distinct meanings, coded in the dissertation as moralized and sociological. The chief factor that defines coercion within the framework of sociological discourse is the source of punishment threatened by the sender. Within the framework of moralized (ordinary language) discourse, the key factor that separates coercion from other modes of influence is the legitimacy of the threat. Freedom of choice and rationality do not separate persuasion from coercion. Building on the analysis of coercion in part 2 of the dissertation, part 3 offers an examination of the current state of the theory and practice of conflict resolution and prevention through the lens of Applied Behavioral Analysis and Performance Management. The author challenges several dominant assumptions about conflict, such as the assumption that negotiation, mediation, or problem solving are always the best means of resolving deadly conflicts. He concludes that the exclusion of legitimate coercion from the arsenal of conflict resolution and prevention is at the root of the systemic failure to end deadly conflict. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2004. / November 1, 2004. / Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Conflict, Communication, Persuasion, Coercion / Includes bibliographical references. / Marilyn Young, Professor Directing Dissertation; Maria Morales, Outside Committee Member; Stephen McDowell, Committee Member; Jay Rayburn, Committee Member.

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of doctor of literature and philosophy in the subject communication science at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2000. / This study investigates the ontological and psychological conditions of the process of prevenient message making leading to the constitution of the communicative self. It articulates the dimension of prevenience involved in the process of message making contextualized within the emerging computer-mediated communication milieu. The study clarifies the significance of associating prevenient message making with the development of the communicative self with respect to constituting oneself as a contemporary in contradistinction to the contingent. In the context of human communication, the study presents a • particular focus on authenticity associated with the communicator as a genuine individual. In developing a linkage between prevenient message making and the communicative self, the study traces the traditional Christian theological concept of prevenient grace in its ultimately spiritual roots. It situates prevenient message making in the context of a more fundamental understanding of intra and interpersonal communication, and orientates the thesis within the work of key thinkers such as Simone Weil, Soren Kierkegaard, George Simmel, and Martin Versfeld.

This study investigated the relationship between an individual's communicator style and conflict management style (CMS). Six hypotheses and one research question were addressed. Specifically, hypothesis one predicted a positive correlation between Norton's contentious communicator style and scores for ROCI-ll's competitive management style. Hypothesis two predicted a positive correlation between Norton's dominant communicator style and scores for ROCI-II's competitive management style. Hypothesis three predicted a positive correlation between Norton's friendly communicator style and scores for ROCI-II's collaborative management style. Hypothesis four predicted a positive correlation between Norton's friendly communicator style and scores for ROCIII's compromise management style. Hypothesis five predicted a positive correlation between Norton's open communicator style and scores for ROCI-ll's collaborative management style. Hypothesis six predicted a positive correlation between Norton's open communicator style and scores for ROCI-II's compromise management style. The research question evaluated whether there were relationships between communicator style and conflict management style other than those tested in the six hypotheses. The total sample size was 272 undergraduate students enrolled in communication courses at a small private university and a moderate-sized state university. Two instruments, the Rahim Organizational Conflict Indicator- II (ROCI-ll) and Norton's Communicator Style Measure (CSM), were used to measure the variables. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the six hypotheses and the research question. Results indicated a positive correlation between Norton's contentious communicator style and the CMS competitive, a positive correlation between Norton's dominant communicator style and the CMS competitive, a positive correlation between Norton's friendly communicator style and the CMS collaborative, a positive correlation between Norton's friendly communicator style and the CMS compromise, and a positive correlation between Norton's open communicator style and the CMS collaborative. No correlation was found between Norton's open communicator style and the CMS compromise. The results for the research question provided positive correlations between Norton's relaxed, attentive, precise, and animated communicator styles and the CMS collaborative. The impression leaving, precise, animated, and dramatic communicator styles had a positive correlation with the CMS competing. The open communicator style had a positive correlation with the CMS accommodating and the attentive communicator style had a positive correlation with the CMS compromise. It is suggested that future research explore the relationship between communicator styles and personality traits.

There is a separation between interpersonal political communication research and traditional interpersonal communication theory. The current study bridges this divide by introducing social support theory to political communication. Social support has been shown to aid coping, build self-efficacy, and enhance psychological well-being. It is argued that politics can be a source of stress and individuals exchange political social support (PSS) when facing challenges in their political environments. The current study defines the concept of PSS and its applications in political communication through an initial survey-based proof of concept study and an experiment. The first study, a nationwide cross-sectional survey (N = 2004), was conducted through a Qualtrics panel in September 2018 to assess the internal structure of providing and receiving PSS in citizen-to-citizen relationships. A little more than a quarter of the sample (n = 563, 28.1%) reported having received some type of PSS in the past 18 months, and an even larger percentage (n = 728, 36.3%) reported providing PSS during the same time period. Results from a cross-sectional survey reveal a solid percentage of U.S. adults exchanging PSS across many channels (e.g., face-to-face, social media) with a wide range of political phenomena sparking these communicative activities. Building on the survey’s gender and political-specific communicative dynamics, the second study, an online experiment, was conducted in October 2021. In the online experiment, a 2 (politician’s gender: male vs. female) x 2 (politician’s party identification: Democrat vs. Republican) x 4 (message levels) x 2 (citizen’s gender: Male vs. female) x 2 (citizen’s party identification: Democrat vs. Republican) between-subject design, provides a theoretical rationale on how the gender and the political identification in citizen-to-politician relationships are associated with the level of perceived social support. Results from the experiment reveal that the level of social support messages that include different numbers of social support components does not have an effect on the level of perceived PSS. However, the characteristics of politicians and the gender of politicians and citizens were significant in predicting the higher PSS. Theoretical and practical implications for the theory advancement and future research are explored. / Media & Communication

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As much as the mining and construction industries in South Africa have been the backbone of the South African economy since the discovery of gold at the turn of the 19th century, so too have they been responsible for most work-related deaths in their employee population, due to their inherent hazardous working conditions. It is for this reason that the governing bodies of these industries have started to clamp down on safety in organisations, legislatively ensuring that all organisations adhere to comparatively stringent and austere regulations, or face possible shutdown. Internal safety communication is, therefore, not only literally a matter of life and death, but also forms part of complying with the laws of the country. Notwithstanding its importance, this inimitable form of internal organisational communication has yet to be widely researched. Positioned within this void, this study proposes the first model for internal safety communication within the context of the South African mining and construction industries, as well as a measuring instrument for its evaluation. The research into these two contributions is based on a sound and rigorous literature review, focusing on the chronological development of germane theories, onwards from the systems theory – the meta-theory of this research. Subsequently, the empirical research of the study was done at two organisations seated within the mining and construction industries of the country, and comprises interviews, focus group discussions and a questionnaire. In this way, the research took the form of a longitudinal study, in terms of the testing of the two contributions, but specifically the measuring instrument. This testing was done during the first stage of the empirical research at the Gautrain project and after the research intervention yielded from the findings of this first stage, the Abstract contributions were reworked and tested again in the second empirical stage of the research, at Diesel Power Opencast Mining. The model and the empirically tested and validated measuring instrument for internal safety communication – both for the context of the South African mining and construction industries – expand and contribute to the field of internal organisational communication in an imperative and relevant way, providing new theory from the South African context. / Communication Science / D.Litt et. Phil. (Communication)

This dissertation explores a fundamental feature of all human interaction, behavioral coordination. Since early work on motor mimicry, scholars of human communication have invested tremendous energy to discover patterns of behavioral adaptation and the impact these patterns have on individual and relational outcomes. Outcomes such as individual health and well-being, as well as relationship satisfaction and divorce are all contingent on the ability to adapt and coordinate actions (Niederhoffer & Pennebaker, 2002; Stehl et al., 2008; Kulesza et al., 2013; Ireland et al., 2011). Several decades of research have advanced our understanding of specific characteristics of supportive messages and their relationship to important outcomes (for review see MacGeorge, Feng, & Burleson, 2011), and work by communication scientists has uncovered the importance of supportive relationships to health and well-being (Holt et al., 2010). This dissertation focuses on a set of language behaviors and how people repeat, paraphrase, and align language use during supportive conversations. Conversations between friends, strangers, and active listeners all engaged in a supportive conversation were analyzed. The analysis of transcripts of conversations between listeners and disclosers engaged in a 5-minute supportive interaction were conducted in two ways. First, two measures of linguistic coordination, Language Style Matching (LSM) (Ireland & Pennebaker, 2010) and Local Lexical Repetition (LLR) (Cannava & Bodie, 2015) were computed using textual analysis software. Results show that LSM was a significant variable in explaining supportive outcomes, whereas LLR failed to have predictive power. Second, stance analysis (Du Bois, 2007) was used to address supportive communication from a discourse analytic perspective. Results revealed that each relational group accomplished supportive conversations that varied on boundaries of coordination, investment, and affiliation. In general, this dissertation provides full or partial empirical support for the application and conceptualization of LSM and LLR. LSM is shown to be a positive predictor of supportive outcomes, whereas LLR is not. While providing three discourse analytic profiles of alignment, his dissertation also showed that dyads enact linguistic coordination and alignment in variety of ways depending on relationship type. Finally, this dissertation seeks to represent the repertoire of linguistic coordination used during a supportive interaction.