Business Communication Research Foundation Grant Recipients

The Business Communication Research Foundation was formerly the C. R. Anderson Foundation.

Completed Work

Recipients may advise us of accomplishments here.

2021 Recipients

Bertha Du-Babcock and Hyejung Chang studied expatriate adjustment in Asian multinational corporations.

Clive Muir examined derogatory business postcards of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Yingying Tang performed a case study on the use of automated writing technologies in business.

Wei Shi studied how Japanese family firms manage knowledge transfer.

2020 Recipients

Craig "CP" Moreau studied how to teach students rhetorical practices for innovation.

Resulting publication:
Moreau, C. "Teams That Innovate: The Language of Difference-Driven Inquiry at the Workplace." Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, September 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329490620949864

Tina Coffelt researched business communication skills important to employers of recent college graduates.
Yafei Zhang and Chuqing Dong studied corporate social responsibility communication and its effects on employees.

2019 Recipients

Judith Ainsworth studied how the Situated Cultural Learning Approach enables management students to achieve greater understanding of context-based socio-cultural phenomenon and creates greater student engagement.

Sky Marsen researched the texts produced by organizations during and after crises related to data breaches.

Leila Valoura investigated cultural competence and cross-cultural communication training experienced by United States expatriates in Brazil.

2018 Recipients

Rebekka Andersen investigated intercultural communication competence through an onsite qualitative case study of a professional writing internship abroad.

Stephen Carradini studied the emerging genre of crowdfunding campaigns by gathering data from over 400,000 campaigns to determine successful multimodal and rhetorical strategies.

Resulting Publication:

Carradini, S., & Fleischmann, C. (2022). The Effects of Multimodal Elements on Success in Kickstarter Crowdfunding Campaigns. Journal of Business and Technical Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10506519221121699

This article investigates multimodal elements—images, links, gifs, videos, and galleries—of crowdfunding campaigns on the platform Kickstarter to develop an understanding of characteristics of successful campaigns.

Carradini, S. & Nystrom, E. (2023). An emergent style guide for Kickstarter campaigns. Technical Communication, 70(1), 54-82. https://doi.org/10.55177/tc679601

The authors conducted a corpus analysis of successful and unsuccessful writing tactics in crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter to deliver communication guidance to professionals.

2017 Recipients

Ashley Clayson examined the use and effectiveness of ePortfolios in the job marketplace.
Sara Doan investigated the effectiveness of instructor feedback in business communication courses.
Leslie Salazar studied the impact of mindfulness and self-compassion on business leaders’ communication competence, communication satisfaction, job satisfaction, and personal well-being.

2016 Recipients

Dale Cyphert identified employer expectations for undergraduate applicants’ writing and speaking skills.

Resulting publication:

Cyphert, D., Dodge, E.N., Holke-Farnam, C., Hillyer, K., Iyer, K., Lee, W.M.E.,  & Rosol S. (2016). Defining employer expectations: Communication activities, behaviors, and events in the 21st Century business environment. In Whittle, L.A. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Association for Business Communication Annual Conference. Association for Business Communication. ISSN 2472-0658 

YeonKyung Lee compared the social media content of U.S. and South Korean consumer products and airline companies and compiled indicators of effectiveness related to cultural context.

Vincent Robles investigated language strategies, particularly inquiry, associated with successful routine technical support interactions instructing users in an effort to enhance the effectiveness of such interactions in business contexts.

Resulting publication: 

Robles, V. (2018). Resolving Discourse at Technical-Support Helpdesks. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication.

2015 Recipients

Gregory Kohler conducted an ethnographic study to identify the relative effectiveness of discourses used in the production, sale, and consumption of products from a dairy cooperative in Arborea (Sardinia) Italy.

Ryan Patrick Fuller validated a survey instrument assessing organizational resiliency as a tool to evaluate an organization’s preparedness for a crisis.

Yeonkwon Jung compared South Korean business communication pedagogy and professional needs in Korean organizations. 

Resulting publication:

Jung, Y. (2018). Trends in business communication research, teaching, and academic societies in Korean higher education. Business Communication Research and Practice, 1(1), 26-32.

2014 Recipients

Tana Schiewer studied how a community nonprofit in Southwest Virginia uses genres to communicate their mission and stakeholder responses to these communications.

2013 Recipients

Sean Williams investigated the rhetorical construction of global entrepreneurship in international entrepreneurial narratives. 

Resulting publication: 

Williams, S. D., Ammetller, G., Rodriguez, I.,  & Li, X. (2016). “International entrepreneurship narratives: A perspective on the rhetorical construction of global entrepreneurship.” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. 

Kim Sydow Campbell identified individual and organizational factors influencing the quality of writing in the workplace.

Resulting publication:

Campbell, K. S., Amare, N, Kane, E., Manning, A., & Naidoo, J. S.  (2017). Plain Style Preferences of U.S. Professionals. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 60(4), 401-411.

Campbell, K. S., Naidoo, J. S., & Smith, J. (2023). When your boss says,“you need to sound more professional”: Writing style and writer attributions. International Journal of Business Communication, 60(4), 1071-1094.

2012 Recipients

Augustine Pang & Yan Jin researched organizational factors that influence the adoption of ethical stances during crises as a step toward better understanding ethical issues in business crisis communication.

Resulting publications:

Jin, Y., Pang, A., & Smith, J (forthcoming 2017). How crisis managers define ethical crisis communication in North America: Identifying organizational factors that influence adoption of ethical stances. Journal of Business Strategy.

Pang, A., Jin, Y., & Ho, B. (2017). How crisis managers define ethical crisis communication in Singapore: Identifying organizational factors that influence adoption of ethical stances. Media Asia.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01296612.2016.1276316

Jin, Y., Pang, A., & Smith, J. (2014). How crisis managers define ethical crisis communication practice: Identifying organizational factors that influence the adoption of ethical stances during crises. In Genest, C. M. (Ed.), Proceedings of the 12th Conference on Corporate Communication, 237-259.  Abstracts of proceedings available at: http://www.corporatecomm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Abstracts_CCI-Conference-on-Corporate-Communication-2014.pdf

Jacob D. Rawlins studied rhetorical myth-building practices and their role in communicating technological change at a large Midwestern university.

Resulting publications: 

Rawlins, J. D. (2017). Localized myth: Creating and maintaining persuasive power. Enculturation, 25.

Rawlins, J. D. (2014). Mythologizing change: Examining rhetorical myth as a strategic change management discourse.” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 77(4), 453–72. ISSN 2329-4906 

Rawlins, J. D. (2013). Building Consensus: Workplace Myth-Building as a Unifying Rhetorical Strategy. Graduate Theses and Dissertations. Paper13016.
http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/13016

2011 & Earlier Recipients

Jolanta Aritz & Robyn Walker investigated whether cultural values and beliefs influence the discourse behavior of U.S. and Asian managers. 

Resulting publication: 

Aritz, J. & Walker, R. (2014). Leadership styles in multicultural groups: Americans and East Asians working together.” International Journal of Business Communication, 5, 72-92. 

Eva Brumberger examined the business communication curricula at top 50 undergrad business schools.

Resulting publication:

Sharp, M. & Brumberger, E. (2013). Business communication curricula today: Revisiting the top 50 undergraduate business schools. Business Communication Quarterly 76(1), 5-27.

Susan E. Jennings identified communication skills that business professionals really use.

Joelle Davis Carter examined how undergraduate business students’ participation in case study competitions impact their engagement in academic and career development activities.

Resulting publication:

Burke, M.G., Carter, J.D. & Hughey, A. (2013). Use of case study competitions to better prepare students for the world of work. Industry and Higher Education, 27(3), 157-162.

Marcy Leasum Orwig analyzed business genres in the government archives of World War I at Kansas City museum.

Resulting publications:

Orwig, M. L. (2014). The “Genreology” of US Army reports: An exploration of historical genre change during a World War. Connexions: An International Professional Communication Journal, 2(1), 33-55. connexionsj.files.wordpress.com

Orwig, Marcy Leasum. (2012). The “Genreology” of U.S. Army Reports: The Relationship between Organizational Communication and World War One. Ph.D. dissertation. Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
https://connexionsj.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/orwig1.pdf