Given the increasing presence of nonprofit organizations and their impact upon American society, colleges and universities are recognizing the need to offer courses and programs to train current and future employees, volunteers, and supporters of the nonprofit sector. This volume, featuring empirically-based case studies, provides an opportunity to analyze communication and other organizational issues in nonprofit, volunteer, and philanthropic contexts. Each case is designed to help readers critically think about the particular nonprofit context, the organizational issues presented, the ways in which those issues could be addressed, whose interests are served, and potential consequences for the organization and its various stakeholders. This collection offers a unique glimpse into everyday issues and challenges related to working in and with nonprofit organizations, making it a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate courses in nonprofit management, nonprofit communication, voluntarism, philanthropic studies, and social entrepreneurship. Each case also addresses a broader conceptual or theoretical framework of organizational studies, making it appropriate in other organizational communication courses as well.

Developing Women Leaders in the Academy through Enhanced Communication Strategies explores the experiences, strategies, and triumphs of women who have attained leadership roles within the academy as well as the shortfalls, disappointments, and battle scars many women leaders have experienced in their quest to lead. Clear direction, focused strategies, and enhanced communication are necessary to increase the ever-growing number of women in leadership positions in the academy. Contributions to this book discuss the ways in which these concepts have been employed to transcend the "academic ceiling" by creating mentoring networks for women, training programs, and other "ladders of ascension," encouraging future leaders to be more assertive, self-assured, and strategic within the academic terrain. Scholars of communication, education, and women's studies will find this volume particularly useful.

This book won the 2017 NCA Applied Communication Division Distinguished Edited Book Award The second volume of Volunteering and Communication seeks to build upon the agenda set in motion by the first volume, which demonstrated the breadth of research being conducted on volunteers. The focus of this second volume is on the important issues related to volunteering in international and intercultural contexts. The chapters present empirical studies of volunteering divided into three sections. The first section includes six studies of the experiences of volunteers from a variety of countries including Thailand, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. The second section includes studies of volunteers from the United States in other countries in Asia, Africa, and South America. The final section includes two studies of volunteers serving recent immigrants to their home country. This volume provides a unique focus by providing a more nuanced examination than the first volume did of some of the unique differences of volunteering in international and intercultural contexts. It is hoped the two books will stimulate additional research on volunteers.

In this book, Michael W. Kramer applies uncertainty reduction theory (URT)--a key theory in current communication scholarship--to the context of organizational communication. Examining URT and the range of research applicable to organizational settings, Kramer proposes a groundbreaking theory of managing uncertainty (TMU), which synthesizes prior research while also addressing its criticisms. Examples are provided to illustrate the principles of the TMU at both the individual and collective (group/organizational) levels of analysis. Original studies based on the theory show that it provides a useful extension of URT, addressing some concerns raised by critics of that earlier model. Kramer illustrates that, as a model in progress, TMU will change as new research and insights build upon it. Managing Uncertainty in Organizational Communication assists readers in understanding and researching uncertainty in communication, which encourages additional changes and improvements to the model. It is of primary interest to scholars, researchers, and practitioners in organizational, interpersonal, and group communication.

In this book, Michael W. Kramer applies uncertainty reduction theory (URT)--a key theory in current communication scholarship--to the context of organizational communication. Examining URT and the range of research applicable to organizational settings, Kramer proposes a groundbreaking theory of managing uncertainty (TMU), which synthesizes prior research while also addressing its criticisms. Examples are provided to illustrate the principles of the TMU at both the individual and collective (group/organizational) levels of analysis. Original studies based on the theory show that it provides a useful extension of URT, addressing some concerns raised by critics of that earlier model. Kramer illustrates that, as a model in progress, TMU will change as new research and insights build upon it.
"Managing Uncertainty in Organizational Communication" assists readers in understanding and researching uncertainty in communication, which encourages additional changes and improvements to the model. It is of primary interest to scholars, researchers, and practitioners in organizational, interpersonal, and group communication.

Developing Women Leaders in the Academy through Enhanced Communication Strategies explores the experiences, strategies, and triumphs of women who have attained leadership roles within the academy as well as the shortfalls, disappointments, and battle scars many women leaders have experienced in their quest to lead. Clear direction, focused strategies, and enhanced communication are necessary to increase the ever-growing number of women in leadership positions in the academy. Contributions to this book discuss the ways in which these concepts have been employed to transcend the "academic ceiling" by creating mentoring networks for women, training programs, and other "ladders of ascension," encouraging future leaders to be more assertive, self-assured, and strategic within the academic terrain. Scholars of communication, education, and women's studies will find this volume particularly useful.

This book won the 2014 Applied Communication Division Award for Outstanding Edited Book There is a growing interest in studying nonprofit organizations and volunteers as an alternative to studying employees in for-profit businesses and government agencies. This is driven in part by the recognition that volunteers make important contributions to society and the economy. This book is the first edited volume written primarily by communication scholars to focus on volunteers. It explores the experience of being a volunteer and managing volunteers through a focus on empirical examination of communication in volunteering. The contributors explore volunteers broadly and are divided into five sections which cover becoming a volunteer; learning about self as a volunteer; dark sides of volunteering; organizationally supported volunteering; and voice and dissent. The final chapter suggests areas of future research and application of the book. An important focus of the book is its data-based, empirical studies. Although each chapter includes applications, those recommendations are based on systematic studies of volunteers rather than primarily on anecdotal evidence or previous literature. Furthermore, each chapter includes a brief field experience narrative written by a volunteer, as well as addressing a broader conceptual or theoretical issue of organizational studies. In this way the book provides more than just case studies of volunteers, but also addresses general organizational issues.