Written Communication Apr 1986

Writing in an Emerging Organization

STEPHEN DOHENY-FARINA

Abstract

This study explored the collaborative writing processes of a group of computer software company executives. In particular, the study focused on the year-long process that led to the writing of a vital company document. Research methods used included participant/observations, open-ended interviews, and Discourse-Based Interviews. A detailed analysis of the executive collaborative process posits a model that describes the reciprocal relationship between writing and the organizational context. The study shows the following: (1) how the organizational context influences (a) writers' conceptions of their rhetorical situations, and (b) their collaborative writing behavior; and (2) how the rhetorical activities influence the structure of the organization.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
1986-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088386003002002
Open Access
Closed
Topics
empirical research multimodality

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (47)

  1. Gunning (2025)
    How Do Nonprofit Proposal Writers Learn Their Jobs? Results of a Nationwide Sur…
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  2. DeJeu (2023)
    The <i>Topoi</i> of Small Business Entrepreneurship
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  3. Read (2020)
    How to Build a Supercomputer: U.S. Research Infrastructure and the Documents Th…
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  4. Weber (2018)
    Seeing like a Rover: How Robots, Teams, and Images Craft Knowledge of Mars
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Spinuzzi (2017)
    Introduction to Special Issue on the Rhetoric of Entrepreneurship
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 47 →
  1. Spartz et al. (2015)
    Writing Entrepreneurs
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Rivers (2011)
    Future Convergences: Technical Communication Research as Cognitive Science
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Mara (2008)
    Ethos as Market Maker
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  4. Brady (2007)
    Article: What We Teach and What They Use: Teaching and Learning in Scientific a…
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  5. Wolfe et al. (2005)
    The Computer Expert in Mixed-Gendered Collaborative Writing Groups
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  6. Schneider (2002)
    Theorizing Structure and Agency in Workplace Writing
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  7. Wolfe et al. (2001)
    From the Margins to the Center
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  8. Wilson (2001)
    Technical Communication and Late Capitalism
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  9. Schryer (2000)
    Walking a Fine Line
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  10. BEAUFORT (2000)
    Learning the Trade
    Written Communication
  11. Smith (2000)
    Strength in the Technical Communication Journals and Diversity in the Serials Cited
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  12. McEACHERN (1998)
    Meeting Minutes as Symbolic Action
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  13. GUNNARSSON (1997)
    The Writing Process from a Sociolinguistic Viewpoint
    Written Communication
  14. Dorazio et al. (1997)
    Research in Context: Ethnographic Usability
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  15. LARSON (1996)
    Patterns in Transition
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  16. BLYLER (1996)
    Narrative and Research in Professional Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  17. Grant-Davie (1996)
    Teaching Technical Writing with Only Academic Experience
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  18. HENRY et al. (1995)
    Workplace Ghostwriting
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  19. Henry (1995)
    Teaching technical authorship
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  20. CHIN (1994)
    Redefining “Context” in Research on Writing
    Written Communication
  21. SMELTZER et al. (1994)
    Managers as Writers
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  22. CROSS (1994)
    Ethnographic Research in Business and Technical Writing
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  23. LAY (1994)
    The Value of Gender Studies to Professional Communication Research
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  24. Horn (1993)
    Network collaboration with UNIX
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  25. CINTRON (1993)
    Wearing a Pith Helmet at a Sly Angle:
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  26. Allen (1993)
    Community, collaboration, and the rhetorical triangle
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  27. Burnett et al. (1993)
    Collaboration in technical communication: A research continuum
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  28. KATZ (1993)
    Aristotle's Rhetoric, Hitler's Program, and the Ideological Problem of Praxis, …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  29. RICHARDSON et al. (1993)
    Power Relations, Technical Writing Theory, and Workplace Writing
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  30. WITTE (1992)
    Context, Text, Intertext
    Written Communication
  31. Mirel (1992)
    Analyzing audiences for software manuals: A survey of instructional needs for “…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  32. LAY (1991)
    Feminist Theory and the Redefinition of Technical Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  33. BAKER (1991)
    Collaborating the Course
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  34. Thralls (1991)
    Bridging Visual and Verbal Communication: Training Videos and Written Instructi…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  35. McCORD (1991)
    The Business Writer, the Law, and Routine Business Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  36. BOCCHI (1991)
    Forming Constructs of Audience
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  37. Thompson (1991)
    The Speech Community in Technical Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  38. ANSON et al. (1990)
    Moving Beyond the Academic Community
    Written Communication
  39. Spilka (1990)
    Orality and Literacy in the Workplace: Process- and Text-Based Strategies for M…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  40. Lay (1989)
    Interpersonal Conflict in Collaborative Writing: What We Can Learn from Gender …
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  41. Beard et al. (1989)
    An Assessment System for Collaborative-Writing Groups: Theory and Empirical Eva…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  42. WINSOR (1989)
    An Engineer's Writing and the Corporate Construction of Knowledge
    Written Communication

Cites in this index (2)

  1. Golen et al. (1983)
    An Analysis of Business Report Writing Activities of Supervisory Banking Personnel
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Bataille (1982)
    Writing in the World of Work: What Our Graduates Report
    College Composition and Communication
Also cites 9 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.2307/356593
     ↗
  2. 10.2307/358259
     ↗
  3. Denzin, N.
    The research act
     ↗
  4. 10.2307/377272
     ↗
  5. 10.2307/356630
     ↗
  6. 10.2307/356600
     ↗
  7. 10.2307/356369
     ↗
  8. 10.2307/357405
     ↗
  9. 10.3102/00346543047002245
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 88 View in citation network →

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