For undergraduate courses in Advanced Business Communication, Organizational Communication, or Managerial Communication, and for first-year graduate courses in Management Communication. This book takes a strategic approach to management thought and action, focusing on communication in transition, communication ethics, listening and feedback, communicating nonverbally, communicating in intercultural and international contexts, managing conflict, business meetings, and dealings with the media.

Many years ago, as an Air Force officer assigned to a flight test group in the American Southwest, I had the opportunity to speak with an older (and obviously wiser) man who had been in the flying business for many years. Our conversation focused on what it would take for a young officer to succeed--to become a leader, a recognized influence among talented, trained, and well-educated peers. His words were prophetic: "I can think of no skill more essential to the survival of a young officer," he said, "than effective self-expression." That was it. Not physical courage or well-honed flying skills. Not advanced degrees or specialized training, but "effective self-expression." In the years since that conversation, I have personally been witness to what young managers call "career moments." Those are moments in time when a carefully crafted proposal, a thorough report, or a deft response to criticism have saved a career. I've seen young men and women offered a job as a result of an especially skillful speech introduction. I've seen others sputter and stall when they couldn't answer a direct question--one that fell well within their area of expertise--during a briefing. I've watched in horror as others simply talked their way into disfavor, trouble, or oblivion. Communication is, without question, the central skill any manager can possess. It is the link between ideas and action. It is the process that generates profit. It is the emotional glue that binds humans together in relationships, personal and professional. It is, as the poet William Blake put it, "the chariot of genius." To be without the ability to communicate is to be isolated from others in an organization, an industry, or a society. To be skilled at it is to be at the heart of what makes enterprise, private and public, function successfully. The fundamental premise on which this book is based is simple: Communication is a skill that can be learned, taught, and improved. You have the potential to be better at communicating with other people than you now are. It won't be easy, but this book can certainly help. The very fact that you've gotten this far is evidence that you're determined to succeed, and what follows is a systematic yet readable review of those things you'll need to pay closer attention to in order to experience success as a manager. WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT This book will focus on the processes involved in management communication and concentrate on ways in which business students and entry-level managers can become more effective by becoming more knowledgeable and skilled as communicators. The second premise on which this book is based is also simple: Writing, speaking, listening, and other communication behaviors are the end-products of a process that begins with critical thinking. It is this process that managers are called on to employ every day in the workplace to earn a living. The basic task of a manager, day in and day out, is to solve managerial problems. The basic tools at a manager's disposal are mostly rhetorical. Management Communicationsupports learning objectives that are strategic in nature, evolving as the workplace changes to meet the demands of a global economy that is changing at a ferocious pace. What you will find in these pages assumes certain basic competencies in communication, but encourages growth and development as you encounter the responsibilities and opportunities of midlevel and higher management, whether in your own business or in large and complex, publicly traded organizations. WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS BOOK This book is aimed directly at the way most professors of management communication teach, yet in a number of important ways is different from other books in this field. First, the process is entirely strategic. We begin with the somewhat nontraditional view that all communication processes in successful businesses in this