This case, developed for the 2025 ABC Case Writing Competition and sponsored by the ABC Student Competition Committee, asks students to apply persuasive communication strategies to a real-world crisis in public service. Following a violent incident at the Worcester (Massachusetts) Public Library, students step into the role of Board President to advocate for staff safety and resources before the City Council. The case highlights the challenges of community advocacy, secondary traumatic stress, and organizational resilience while offering students practice in crafting persuasive, high-stakes messages.

This grounded theory study, informed by Communication Accommodation Theory, explores how frontline managers ( n  = 11) support early-career employees’ communication development. Findings identify three support strategies—structured scaffolding, adaptive leadership, and onboarding for cultural fit—and suggest colleges emphasize verbal and intercultural communication, applied learning, and professional presence. These insights reframe communication readiness as a relational process shaped by emotion, power, and organizational norms. The study calls for stronger collaboration between higher education and employers.

This article features a grounded theory study that explored communication in online Master of Business Administration (MBA) group work, with an emphasis on skills transferable to remote professional collaboration after graduation. Data were collected from nine online MBA students through individual reflection documents and a focus group discussion. These data were analyzed and revealed themes about the importance of agreeing on not just norms and resources but also normative actions to facilitate online collaboration. Findings led to recommendations for designing online group assignments that enhance communication skills during online collaboration—skills that are becoming increasingly integral to professional success.