Key Terms
Boundary spanner – company employees who have direct contact with the public
Communication network – relationships with trusted coworkers characterized by quick, verbal communication
The most dynamic source of power in contemporary organizations because of the role they play in responding to a turbulent business environment
Communication technology – any type of electronic tool or device that may be used to enhance or enable information sharing or person-to-person interaction
Globalization – the closer integration of the countries and peoples of the world which has been brought about by the enormous reduction of costs of transportation and communication, and the breaking down of artificial barriers to the flows of goods, services, capital, knowledge and people across borders
Identity theft – someone steals your identifying information and impersonates you in transactions with various stores and institutions
Knowledge management – the ways organizations make use of knowledge as a resource and commodity
Multicultural management – the ability to adapt one’s leadership style to both respond to and make the most of pervasive cultural differences in values and practices among a diverse employee population.
New social contract – an employment relationship where job security is fleeting and tied expressly to whether one’s skills fit the organization’s need at that time
Organizational communication – the interaction required to direct a group toward a set of common goals
Organizational environment – the sum total of people, institutions, and activities that exist outside of the organization’s boundaries but exert actual or potential influence over the company’s internal operations
Outsourcing – when a labor pool encourages businesses to search the globe for the lowest possible labor costs and to move jobs wherever cheap labor can be found
Quality of life – overall satisfaction with his or her work experience in the context of other life experiences, constraints, and aspirations
Trafficking – the illegal trade of human beings across borders
Urgent organizing – companies whose main challenge is to shorten the time in which they develop new products and respond to customer demands
Worldview – habitual ways of seeing the world

Key Terms
Balance of creativity and constraint – the moment-to-moment working out of the tension between individual creativity and organizational constraint
Creativity – thinking innovatively, being willing to reexamine taken-for-granted routines and practices, encouraging new ideas
Constraints – the constructions of reality that limit the individual’s choice strategic response
Duality of structure – the creative and constraining aspects of structure
Empathic conversation – the ability to understand or imagine the world as another person understands or imagines it
Equitable transaction – when all participants have the ability to voice their opinions and perspectives
Ethics – the systems of rules, duties, and morality that we use to guide our behavior
Information transfer approach – views communication as a metaphoric pipeline through which information flows form one person to another
Language allows us to transfer thoughts and feelings form one person to another
Speakers and writers insert thoughts and feelings into words
Words contain those thoughts and feelings
Listeners or readers extract those thoughts and feelings from the words
Integrity – acting and communicating purposefully to fulfill the promises and commitments you make to others
Mindful – a mental and relational activity that is both purposeful and strategic
Mindful in life:
There is a conflict between perceived message goals
Undesirable consequences are expected from the use of a particular message strategy
There are time delays between messages and mental-processing difficulties, such as interpreting the meaning or intention of the message
Mindful in workplace requirements:
Analyze communication situations and develop strategies for