Management Communication Quarterly

The theory of psychological contracting provides a framework to explore occupational work group differences in the promises and violations employees perceive. Prior research suggests that work status may affect perceived promises and violations, but the perception will depend on the promise issue. To test previous qualitative findings using quantitative methods, 163 full-time employees from approximately 25 organizations completed a survey assessing perceived quality communication and work-life promises and violations. As predicted, data reveal a significant interaction suggesting that white-collar employees perceive quality communication promises to a greater extent than blue-collar employees, but there is no significant difference in perception about work-life promises. A similar interaction pattern emerges for perceptions of promise fulfillment; however, contrary to what was predicted, participants report perceptions of promise overfulfillment rather than negative violations.

Organizational discourse has very little meaning outside its context. To understand any discourse's meaning, we must theorize about both the discourse's possibility and the circumstances of its constitution. Otherwise, we abstract text, sundering it from context. The present article asks what is context and what types of discourse structures and discourse strategies construct context? The author develops four distinct dimensions of context: when, where, as whom, and why people speak. To collaboratively construct meaning, an organization's members use several discursive means whereby a discourse from one context can be inserted, reframed, appropriated, and recursively placed into a discourse from another context—to achieve cross-contextual organizing of their accounts. Through such cross-contextual discursive work, members strive to balance these four (sometimes conflicting) contextual dimensions.

This study examines the impact of Maoist (Mao Zedong Thought; MZT) influence on organizational communication practices in the People's Republic of China. The authors developed an instrument from a thematic analysis of Mao's writings. Findings from the thematic analysis were used to create an instrument to measure MZT from an organizational communication perspective that was subsequently tested in a survey of more than 400 mainland Chinese employees working across 15 different organizations. Results suggest that MZT can be measured with some confidence with respect to reliability and validity. The results also suggest that MZT influences organizational communication practices to varying degrees in various mainland Chinese organizations. The findings are especially useful in today's global market for understanding organizational communication practices in China as well as other cultures.