Power and Communication in Worker Cooperatives: An Overview

Avery C. Edenfield Utah State University

Abstract

Technical communication research has critically engaged with organizational trends toward flattened organizations like networks, horizontal arrangements, and adhocracies, assemblages that hybridize top-down management in favor of autonomous groups. There has been no engagement with a related but distinct trend: worker cooperatives. Co-ops promise similar advantages but are distinct as they claim to deliver what flat organizations promise: access to governance, empowerment, and autonomy. In this article, I survey literature on flattened organizations, apply technical communication theory to account for cooperative communication, and conclude with an analysis from a qualitative study at a cooperative site.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2017-07-01
DOI
10.1177/0047281616641921
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (5)

  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Written Communication
  3. Technical Communication Quarterly
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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