Organizational Communication: Theory, Research, and Practice

Jason S. Wrench (Ed.D., West Virginia University) is an associate professor in the Communication and Media department at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Dr. Wrench specializes in workplace learning and performance, or the intersection of instructional communication and organizational communication. His varied research interests include communibiology, computer-mediated communication, empirical research methods, humor, risk/crisis communication, and supervisor-subordinate interactions. Dr. Wrench regularly consults with individuals and organizations on workplace communication and as a professional speech coach for senior executives. Dr. Wrench has published five previous books: Intercultural Communication: Power in Context, Communication, Affect, and Learning in the Classroom (2000, Tapestry Press), Principles of Public Speaking (2003, The College Network), Human Communication in Everyday Life: Explanations and Applications (2008, Allyn & Bacon), Quantitative Research Methods for Communication: A Hands-On Approach (2008, Oxford University Press), and The Directory of Communication Related Mental Measures (Summer 2010, National Communication Association), among others. Dr. Wrench was the editor of the Ohio Communication Journal from 2005– 2007, and has served as an associate editor for Communication Research Reports from 2007– 2010. Furthermore, Dr. Wrench has published over 30 research articles that have appeared in various journals: Communication Quarterly, Communication Research Reports, Education, Human Communication, Journal of Homosexuality, Journal of Intercultural Communication, Southern Communication Journal, The Source: A Journal of Education, and The NACADA Journal (National Association of Campus Advising). Many of his writings are available on his website at http://www.JasonSWrench.com.

Narissra Maria Punyanunt-Carter (Ph.D., Kent State University, 2002) is an associate professor in the department of communication studies at Texas Tech University. Narissra teaches interpersonal communication, gender, nonverbal, and romantic relationships. Dr. Punyanunt-Carter's research interests include romantic relationships, computer-mediated communication, father-daughter communication, and mass media portrayals of romance. She has published many articles, which have been featured in Southern Communication Journal, Howard Journal of Communication, Communication Research Reports, and Communication Quarterly.

Mark Ward Sr. (PhD, Clemson University, 2010) is a professor of communication at the University of Houston-Victoria. His ethnographic research on religious communication and media has been published in more than forty scholarly articles and essays. These works are cited for their innovative applications of organizational communication theory to analyze congregational cultures.

His seven books include the multivolume series The Electronic Church in the Digital Age (2016, Praeger), which received the Clifford G. Christians Ethics Research Award, Introduction to Public Speaking: An Inductive Approach (2022, FlatWorld), and most recently God Talk: The Problem of Divine-Human Communication (2023, Peter Lang). His book Inside Evangelicalism: The Culture of Conservative White Christianity (Lexington Books) is forthcoming. He is the originator and author of Speech Codes Theory Proposition 8.

Dr. Ward is a winner of the David R. Maines Narrative Research Award, Digital Religion Research Award, and multiple Article of the Year awards from the Religious Communication Association. In 2022 he was named Outstanding Scholar in Communication Theory by the Southern States Communication Association and in 2018 named his institution’s scholar of the year. Currently he serves on National Communication Association Legislative Assembly, Religious Communication Association Executive Council, and the editorial boards of the Journal of Communication and Religion, Journal of Media and Religion, and Women & Language.

Before entering academe, Dr. Ward was communications director and journal editor for several national nonprofit organizations. As an independent writer he has authored more than 2,000 feature articles for national trade and professional magazines, and as a broadcaster his experience ranges from local radio announcer and deejay to national program syndication and voice talent.