Communication Best Practices at Dell, General Electric, Microsoft, and Monsanto

By Donald P. Cushman, Sarah Sanderson King
Contributions by Ted J. Smith III, and William C. Adams

Subjects: Communication
Series: SUNY series, Human Communication Processes
Paperback : 9780791457405, 163 pages, July 2003
Hardcover : 9780791457399, 163 pages, July 2003
Out of print (Hardcover)

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Table of contents

Preface

1. The Benchmarking of Organizational Communication Best Practices

Part 1: Benchmarking Foundational Communication Processes

2. Best Practices at the Dell Computer Corporation: Benchmarking a High-Speed Management Communication System

3. Best Practices at the General Electric Company: Benchmarking a World-Class Leadership Communication System

4. Best Practices at the Microsoft Corporation: Benchmarking a World-Class Marketing Communication System

5. Best Practices of the Monsanto Company: Benchmarking World-Class Annual Reports
Ted Smith III and Williams C. Adams

Part 2: Limiting Factors in Implementing Best Practices

6. Organizational Learning as a Limiting Factor: A Case Study of IBM's PC Unit

7. Time as a Limiting Factor: A Case Study of the Danville Bumper Works

8. Culture as a Limiting Factor: A Case Study of ABB

Part 3: The Significance of Benchmarking Backbone Communication Processes

9. Backbone Communication Processes in the Benchmarking of Best Practices: The Development of Organizational Communication Theory

Index

Highlights successful communication practices at Dell, General Electric, Microsoft, and Monsanto.

Description

Through case studies of communication best practices at Dell, General Electric, Microsoft, and Monsanto, this book provides specific and powerful theories for leadership, marketing, and stockholder communication. Best practice limitations are also revealed in the cases of IBM, the Bumper Works, and Asea Brown and Boveri, where organizational learning, a firm's timeline, and corporate culture made implementation difficult. Taken collectively, these case studies suggest several ways in which benchmarking can become an important research methodology and theorist tool for understanding excellence in organizational practice.

Donald P. Cushman is CEO of The Cushman Group and Professor Emeritus of Communication, University at Albany, State University of New York. He is also the coeditor of the SUNY series, Human Communication Processes. Sarah Sanderson King is CFO of The Cushman Group and Professor Emerita of Communication at Central Connecticut State University. Together they have written many books, including Excellence in Communicating Organizational Strategy, also published by SUNY Press.